Anderson Out For Season

26 Feb 2010

Manchester United have suffered a blow ahead of Sunday's Carling Cup final with the news that Brazilian international midfielder Anderson will be out for the season.

The 21-year old ruptured his cruciate ligament in Tuesday's 3-0 Premier League victory over West Ham.

The 8-cap Brazil midfielder has struggled to live up to his wonder kid reputation and his £18 million price tag since joining United from FC Porto in 2007.

Despite this, fans and people within the club will not be happy about facing the rest of the season without a player who has already made 23 appearances this season.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson likes to utilise all of his large squad, will see few positives in this situation, especially with the continued absence of England international Owen Hargreaves.

"The real bad news is that Anderson has a cruciate knee injury," said Ferguson. "He will be out for the rest of the season. It is a bad blow.
"He was looking forward to the match on Tuesday and he was showing great energy to do well.

"It is a bit of a blow to us, particularly with the AC Milan game coming up because Michael Carrick is suspended.”

His United team mates will certainly miss Anderson's influence on the pitch, though they will be hoping that his injury will allow someone else, from the fringes of the squad, to come into the first team and inspire the them to success as we reach the final stage of the season.

Though they have not quite reached the heights of last season, Manchester United are facing the home stretch of their season still in contention for the Premier League, Champions League and the Carling Cup.

And with Wayne Rooney in such good form, the England forward has scored 19 goals in his last 19 games, United will feel confident that they will end the season with at least one trophy.

They are currently at 2/1 with William Hill to win their 4th consecutive Premier League title whilst also being 11/2 and 5/6 to win the Champions League and Carling Cup respectively.

All odds correct at time of writing and are subject to change