MANCHESTER UNITED’S injury-blighted season has continued with the news that Anderson will miss the remainder of the campaign after suffering the injury that footballers fear the most, rupturing his cruciate knee ligaments, and Rio Ferdinand was ruled out for another two games, including the second leg of the Champions League tie against Milan.
Anderson faces a minimum six months on the sidelines, automatically ending his chances of winning his place back in the Brazil national squad ahead of the World Cup. The midfielder twisted his knee eight minutes into the 3-0 defeat of West Ham United on Tuesday, his first match back in the team after being frozen out of the squad for the previous seven games because of a fallout with the manager, Alex Ferguson.
“The really bad news is that Anderson has suffered a cruciate knee injury and he’ll be out for rest of the season,” Ferguson said. “It’s unfortunate for the boy, a bad blow. He stretched to pass the ball and his knee just popped. It’s a bad bit of bad news for him because he was just getting back into the first team after being out for a few weeks.
“He needs an operation and that will be done in two weeks’ time when the swelling has gone down. Hopefully, six months should have him about right for the new season. But it is a blow to us with the Milan game coming up, because Michael Carrick is suspended for that one.”
Ferdinand’s back problems are a recurring issue and it is less straightforward predicting when he will play again.
Already ruled out of Sunday’s League Cup final against Aston Villa and what would have been his first game as England’s new captain when Egypt visit Wembley on Wednesday, the latest diagnosis is that Ferdinand is unlikely to be available in the game at Wolves on Saturday week or the Milan tie four days later.
“It is a blow for us because I was looking forward to having Ferdinand and Vidic back (against West Ham) on Tuesday,” Ferguson added.
Meanwhile, Petr Cech will miss the return leg of Chelsea’s Champions League last-16 tie against Internazionale, together with a clutch of important Premier League fixtures, after the club ruled him out for three to four weeks with a torn calf muscle.
The goalkeeper suffered the injury in Wednesday night’s first-leg against Inter at the San Siro, which Chelsea lost 2-1, and after undergoing scans, he now knows the extent of the damage. If the prognosis is accurate, Cech will miss the league games against Manchester City and West Ham United, the FA Cup quarter-final with Stoke City and the second leg against Inter on March 16th.
And he would still be a doubt for the league matches against Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth.
Henrique Hilario, the Portuguese reserve, stands by to deputise. “It’s a huge blow to lose Pete,” Frank Lampard said. “He’s in fantastic form as everyone knows. He’s always been up there with the best in the world and no one wants to lose that.
“But Hilario has never let us down. Whenever he’s come in, whether it’s for one game here or there, or a run of a few games, he’s always been fantastic. It’s not something we’re worried about.”
Elsewhere, Shay Given has defended Roberto Mancini after Manchester City were dumped out of the FA Cup this week and is adamant the Blues remain on track to achieve their targets this season.
City were beaten in their FA Cup fifth-round replay by Stoke last night, cranking up the pressure on the Italian boss.
Coming after their League Cup semi-final loss to Manchester United, the defeat was a blow to the lofty ambitions of the club’s owners, which include a place in next season’s Champions League.
“We were disappointed, obviously, after last night – it was a huge disappointment for the players, the club and the supporters,” said Given.
“But what can you say? We’re knocked out of the cup and we have to move on.”
