Fergie's Defense the Cause for Concern

The Red Devils manger Sir Alex Ferguson seems to be impressed by the team’s comeback at the Reebok stadium against the home side in there 6^th premier league match. The manger might have felt this as a great fight back by the team, but the point of concern is they are continuously giving away goals this season. They have already conceded nine goals in there 6 matches and have lost all two points in there away games. It is the worst start defensively for the team in last nine years.

If they continue to concede goals in this pace they will end up conceding around 54 goals. With the draw against Bolton this Sunday they missed an opportunity to narrow the difference with league champions Chelsea by just a point.

The attack seems to put altogether a good performance upfront but the defense continues to be shaky. The absence of Rio Ferdinand seems to be the major problem, with the replacement Jonny Evans the Irish international doesn’t plays to its potential. The Irish international is poor in the air and lacks behind in terms of physical strength in front of strong players like Torres, Zamora, and recently against Bolton striker Elmander. The lack of a proper right back in the team is also a major concern for the team. With John O'Shea playing as right back is actually a utility player who can play in any position but still his performance as a right back is not up to United Standards. Another problem is with Left full back Patric Evra; he is not performing the way he played last season. The Frenchman seemed to have lost his confidence after a poor performance in world cup and all the drama followed by it. United defense is beset by the problems and Jonny Evans, John O'Shea, Patric Evra and even Vidic have made costly individual errors.

Point of concern’s:

Ferguson’s Faith in Ferdinand:

In spite of Ferdinand declared fit from his knee injury, he seemed to be in the stands for the match. The shifting of Captains Arm Band from him to his defensive counterpart Vidic at the beginning of the season was a clear indication of loose of Ferguson’s belief in the Englishman; his onetime defensive cornerstone.

No spark from youngsters:

The highly rated youngster like Evans, the twin Silva brothers and the latest signing Chris Smalling doesn’t seem to play well as per the expectations. So in spite of having so much promising youngsters in the team, none has yet displayed a performance to get a first team spot.

Lack of Options in defense:

On paper united might seem to have many options in defense but when it actually comes to selection there seems to be very little players, Neville doesn’t seems to be fit enough to play for complete 90 minutes and Brown also struggling with his poor form doesn’t have a first team spot.

After having such a poor away record it will be nerve breaking test with two consecutive away battle i.e. Champions league clash against Valencia and there Premier league battle against Sunderland and inform Darren Bent. The pressure will be automatically on the midfield so Darren Fletcher and Nani both have to be on top form to both stop Valencia and Sunderland from getting forward but also launch United attacks themselves.

Ajanta Mendis : Profile

Balapuwaduge Ajantha Winslo Mendis a Second Lieutenant in Sri Lankan army is one of the latest to the list of the funny named player in Sri Lankan cricket team. As lengthy his name is; so are his variations in balling. He is one of those rare kinds of bowlers who can ball a mixture of deliveries, including googlies, off-breaks, top-spinners, flippers and leg-breaks, as well as the Carrom Ball, released with a flick of his middle finger. The Sri Lankan spinner who made the predictions of former Australian cricketer Peter Philpott come true that “there is a great future for an accurate off-spinner who produces a difficult to detect leg spinner every now and then”. His appearance in international cricket turned out to be the answer of the long term question i.e. ‘who will replace Muttiah Muralitharan?’

On the basis of a strong domestic and first class background Mendis made his One day debut at the year 2008 against Caribbean Giants in their homeland. Playing an away match at its debut never seemed to add any kind of pressure; rather he made an impressive start with a fantastic figure of 3 for 39. He made his test Debut on July 23, 2008 against India where he continued his stunning performance by picking up 8 wickets. His potential to ball with different variations gave him the nick name of ‘The Mysterious Bowler’.

The young charismatic bowler came to the lamplight when he took his carrier best figures of 6 for 13 later that year in the finals of Asia Cup against India’s strong batting lineup. His 17 wickets in the tournament duly earned him the Man-of-the-Series award and soon after earned a call-up to the Test squad to face India at home. On September 10, 2008, Ajantha Mendis has won the “Emerging Player of the Year” award at the ICC Awards ceremony in Dubai. Barely six months after this incident Ajanta Mendis came under the microscope of critics because of his poor form. The critics pointed out that he is spoilt by the fanfare and was framed as a clumsiest fielder in the team. His batting skills where compared to a roadside soft ball player. After all the fame and fortune in 2008, he was dropped from both one day and test squad in 2009.

Treated rather shabbily by the Indian and Pakistani batsmen after that magical debut series; Mendis made his comeback to the test team against India in the second test match 2010 and made an emphatic statement with a figure of 6 for 67 including wickets of Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, V.V.S Laxman. This seemed to be a special comeback after being dropped out of the first test.

His performance proved to be better after trying to overcome all his technical flaws in his balling, but it was true that a ‘bit better’ wouldn’t be enough for him to survive in international cricket. But the youngster has still much more surprise packages to offer.

The Mysterious Facts:

1. His first class record is quite astonishing - 19 matches, 111 wickets at an average of 14.5.

2. His List A record even more so - 20 matches, 40 wickets at an average of 11.5.

3. In a test match against India in 2010 he made an impressive maiden half century with 78 runs, in which he played the maximum number of balls than any player in the team. This seems to be something rare for a number 10 batsmen.

4. He has a record of completing the fastest 50 wickets breaking the wicket of Ajit Agarkar in just 19 matches.

5. With a figure of 8 for 32 he became the first Sri Lankan bowler to get an eight-wicket haul on Test debut.

Jacques Kallis: Profile

The broad shouldered figure in South African cricket team creates calm in some and dread in others. Described as the greatest cricketer to play the game by the senior protagonist, Jacques Henry Kallis a Right-handed batsman and fast-medium swing bowler is one of the best all-rounders the game has ever witnessed. His fielding is also next to perfection, his viper like reflexes in slip makes difficult catches look regulation. His achievements are many and he has been awarded the ICC Test Player of the Year 2005, ICC Player of the Year 2005 and Wisden Leading cricketer of the Year 2007.

The South African maestro made his test debut in the year 1995 but was sluggish initially. He later portrayed himself as one of the toughest both mentally and physically and started waving his magic. He caught the eyes of everyone with his famous Boxing Day innings at Melbourne against Australia where he made a 101 on a worn last day pitch. He created another landmark event at 2003/04 season by making a century in five consecutive test matches. In 2007 he again made an achievement by, making 5 centuries in 4 test matches. Jacques Kallis has also grabbed many 5 wickets and 4 wickets in both test and one day international. His role as a bowler diminishes with each passing season; he will be remembered as a purveyor of sometimes surprising pace and swing, and awkward bounce.

He has been often criticized for not dominating attacks and for unnecessarily slow scoring. He was later dropped from T20 Squad for world cup. But he proved his mettle again after he was recalled to the team for the Pakistan tour in 2007. His last season’s performance in IPL for Royal Challengers must have stunned all the critics.

His greatness can’t be questioned as he is a committed player who puts his team first and his personal ambitions some way behind.

Astonishing Facts:

· He is the only cricketer in the history of the game to hold more than 10,000 runs and 250 wickets in both one day and Test match cricket.

· Kallis is one of only four players in Test history to make a century in five consecutive matches.

· Kallis is one of only four players in Test history to score 5 centuries in 4 Tests.

· He set the record for the fastest half-century, as measured by balls faced, in Test cricket history, scoring 50 against Zimbabwe off only 24 balls.

· Kallis currently holds a number of South African cricket records, including most ODI and Test runs, highest ODI and second highest Test batting average and most Test centuries by a South African.