The Luck of Manchester United

In a few days Henrik Larsson will return to Sweden at the end of a loan period which represents one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s most inspired decisions. He leaves with the thanks of everyone who works for and supports Manchester United because he has made a tremendous contribution to the season, both through his performances on the field and through the influence his professionalism has had upon the younger players.

Unfortunately, his scheduled departure could scarcely have come at a worse time. Injuries to Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have left Sir Alex with only Wayne Rooney and Alan Smith as recognised senior strikers – and Smith can hardly be regarded as back to his best after a long recovery from such a horrendous injury.

Add to that Mikel Silvestre’s dislocated shoulder and Paul Scholes’ three match ban and you can see why Sir Alex has advised Jose Mourinho to ‘button it’ after he had been bleating on about United being lucky with injuries.