the Little Pea

I've pretty much written this season off for Man Utd.

There's been some good spots :

* Rooney

* Valencia

* Nani finally realizing that it's OK to pass the ball

* Fletcher & Park doing what they do. Not necessarily glamorous work, but effective. And in Park's case, when used in the right role.

* Evra, the rubber man who never seems to get injured

* Giggs' early season form

* Van Der Sar not showing his age

* did I mention Rooney ? He ain't Messi or Ronaldo but 34 goals speak loudly.

And the bad ?

* The squad is totally inadequate. Against Bolton, in a game they needed to win, SAF didn't have a single striker on the substitute's bench !

* Injuries to defenders were as prevalent as wet tissues at a screening of 'Titanic'

* Scholes showing his age. It's been a long time coming but I don't think that SAF can have missed this.

* Carrick still hasn't recovered from that final against Barcelona

* Ben Forster hasn't really cut it, has he ?

* Owen's injured. Not really a surprise here.

* Berbatov. Berbatov. Berbatov. All the skill in the world but ...

* The impetuosity of Rafael. Exciting player but loses his head often enough for it to be a flaw. A fatal one in the match against Bayern Munich. Do you think opposing teams will not target him in the next season ?

* Obertan and that Diouf guy. Are we talking a 3 year learning curve a la CR7 and Nani ?

* Anderson lost his way before he lost his knee to an ACL injury

* The whole business with the Red Knights was an unnecessary distraction. Despite all the noise they made and publicity they got, their valuation of Man Utd was unrealistic and the Glazers had rejected better offers than the Red Knights were prepared to offer.

So while the season seems to be petering out, SAF has been acquiring young, 'cheap' players. Some of them work spectacularly (CR7) and some don't pan out (who ?)

But here's the latest.

Javier Hernandez, 'the little pea' :

"Suddenly I’m going to be playing with the players I know from PlayStation

and television. I’m living in a dream. I thank God that I am living it.”