Scouting report

Well, not really. But I did spend an interesting and entertaining evening at Old Trafford last night watching Manchester United demolish Fenerbahce. It was interesting seeing how the other half live, so to speak. I travelled up to take advantage of a spare ticket a mate had and we sat in the middle tier of the North Stand, the massive one opposite the cameras. We were in row 21 of 34, in line with the penalty spot at the Stretford End. View was fantastic, though you're further away from the pitch than a similar height would be at the Riverside, and leg room is a completely alien concept. You also need to be able to manage a reasonable Sherpa Tensing impression to get there. Still, by Premier League and Riverside standards, £27 is a reasonable price, especially for the level of football on display. Equivalent seat at the Riverside to watch Boro play United, such as the one I sat in to endure Chelsea's kick and tug masterclass, would be £39.

As for Sunday's opposition, it's hard to know what to make of them, since half this team probably won't play against us. Ferguson didn't deem Fenerbahce a serious enough challenge to select Keane, Ronaldo or O'Shea. Kleberson was in, Bellion was in (and played like a Mackem reject, I might add) and you really know United aren't taking you seriously when Djemba-Djemba gets a start. Apart from the above, most of the usual suspects played, plus some Shrek lookalike they picked up recently from a third-rate shower of scousers.

Obviously Rooney had rather a successful debut (and whilst I shudder to think of the multiple five-fingered shuffle this must have caused on ITV, it must said that he was absolutely sensational and looked every inch a £27m player), and the likes of Giggs and Van Nisteldive were excellent too. I was delighted that Rooney played the whole game as I was hoping he'd end up too knackered to play much part on Sunday. Since Smith would presumably start in his place I doubt this would do us much good anyway. That said, whilst the midfield played very well and the forward line were superb, at the back they looked reassuringly dodgy. Neville played well, and Heinze looks hard and useful (like Queudrue, but doesn't pass the ball as well) but they were all over the place in the middle and it came as no surprise at all to me that Fener scored without undue difficulty both times they really got in the box. Silvestre is good in the air but deeply ordinary elsewhere and I saw nothing to dissuade me from the view that Ferdinand is a superb stopper but has the positional sense of a lost sheep. Carroll doesn't look as though having a blinder is a particularly imminent prospect either.

So I reckon if we have a go at them we will score. What happens at the other end is anybody's guess but I fear the worst, especially if Rooney and Van Nistelrooy both play. I don't think we should fear them and that we should have a real pop - Downing should get a chance to skin Neville, in my opinion - because they are definitely beatable and if this were a normal Saturday game, rather than one following a long trip to Eastern Europe with two days' less rest than United I would fancy our chances. As it I expect we'll probably get humped and it'll be another missed chance like Saturday was. Still, it should be interesting, though annoyingly I can't go because having been moved back a day it clashes with a Kate Rusby show I bought tickets for before the season started.