As Manchester United prepare for their first competitive match of the new season- the Community Shield against Chelsea at the Wembley Stadium on 08 August 2010- the only game I have on my mind is the Champions’ League final which will be played on 28 May 2011... at the Wembley Stadium! Don’t get me wrong, I know that the CL final is very, very far away but I can’t help wondering how amazing it would be if Man United’s season began and ended at Wembley, with a few other trips there during those 10 months for the League Cup and the FA Cup.

· Main Target

Ask any Manchester United fan which trophy they want to win this season and I believe the majority of them would reply: “All of them!” Of course, winning the Premier League title for a 12^th record time and knocking Liverpool off their perch remains the paramount objective but who would say ‘No’ to lifting the trophy with big ears in front of a ‘home’ crowd at Wembley?

Last season was tough: Manchester United conceded the title by a single point to Chelsea after winning it for 3 consecutive years and lost to Bayern Munich on away goals in the Quarter Finals of Champions’ League after 2 European finals in a row. The ‘only’ silverware lifted was the League Cup.

Knowing the players and the staff, I am sure that as this new season kicks off, they will be hungrier than ever before. History has it that usually when the Red Devils finish second, they bounce back to win the title in the next campaign. It happened in 1992/93, 1995/96, 1998/99 and 2006/07, so hopefully history will be repeating itself.

As for the Champions League, it seems the club is one or two top level players away from lifting it again, but if the boys in red play their cards right in the second half in the competition (the knock out phase) and the club benefits from some favourable draws, you never know what can happen.

Also it would be good to see Manchester United lift the FA Cup again. It’s been a while now since the Red Devils last won this trophy and I am sure it would please all the fans if the club had renewed success in this domestic competition.

· Thoughts on the man in charge

Players and staff members come and go at Manchester United, only one man stays: Sir Alex Ferguson. The man has won everything with this club but he still has the passion and he has yet to achieve what he openly declared as his main objective several years back- overcome Liverpool. He’s nearly there and with one more title win, he will have accomplished that too. This season, it will take every bit of his experience to find the right balance between experienced and young players, but if there is one person who can do it, it has to be Fergie.

· The Star Man

The key man in this campaign will probably once more be Wayne Rooney. He was in splendid form for Manchester United last season as he gained new responsibility and found a higher level of importance within the team and finished with a tally of 34 goals but he will be looking forward to erase the memories of World Cup 2010 where he failed to find the back of the net even once. Should Wayne Rooney manage to keep away from injuries and find his top form right from the start of the season, he will surely be a nightmare for his opponents.

· The Youngsters

The club has got several youngsters coming through the ranks and the likes of Rafael, Johnny Evans, Obertan, Gibson and Macheda will be hoping to force their way into the first team on a regular basis so that they can display the full extent of their talent. In addition, with an excellent display at the World Cup 2010 and a promising pre-season campaign, the new signing Javier Hernandez a.k.a. Chicharito has led to new hope among the fans.

· Great expectations

One player who will have to be at his very best if the club wants to push for major silverware is Nemanja Vidic. With Rio Ferdinand regularly on the sidelines because of back problems, Wes Brown also hindered by injuries and Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling having yet to prove their worth, Vidic will have to be ever-present in the central defence. After an average season (by his standards) in 2009/10, the fans will expect the Serbian to deliver and to display the kind of form he had in his first seasons at the club, when he was rock solid and nothing went past him.

· The Weak Link

The weakness of the team this season must be in central midfield. The ever-improving Darren Fletcher might not be enough to compete with the likes of Chelsea and Barcelona in that department. Owen Hargreaves’s future remains highly uncertain, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs are getting older, Park Ji-Sung and Michael Carrick have demonstrated their limitations and Anderson hasn’t really lived up to the expectations so far. As such, Manchester United’s Achilles' heel in that key area proves to be not in quantity but in quality.

· The dates to encircle on your calendar

With the Manchester City neighbours having renewed ambitions since the takeover of the club by wealthy owners, the Manchester derby has taken a whole new dimension. The 2 head-to-heads in the Premier League on 10 November 2010 and 12 February 2011 promise to be electrifying, specially as the Citizens have been left bitter after the Red Devils clinched victories against them in the last minute three times last season!

· The opponents

This season again, the toughest opponents on the domestic front should be Chelsea. Liverpool no longer seem to pose the threat they did two seasons back while Arsenal have yet to demonstrate mental and physical strength over a prolonged run. Manchester City will surely push for a place in the Top Four, but the league title still seems a bit beyond them.

On the European front, the biggest threats are posed by Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan. In order to lift the trophy again, the Red Devils will have to slalom through obstacles which are embodied by Europe’s finest.

All in all, it should be yet another exciting season for the Red Devils.. A personal piece of advice: make sure you know the lyrics of the ‘Glory Glory Man United’ anthem- it might come in handy!

Dim lights

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Poonam D.