Fresh Recruitment At... Batatunde Ajala & Co ..Admin & Front Desk Officer - NeededEmployer: Batatunde Ajala & Co
Batatunde Ajala & Co, requires for immediate employment, the services of a young & articulate lady
Vacancy - Admin & Front Desk Officer - Needed
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(Chartered Accountants)
Audit - Tax - Accto Software Deployment - Fin.Adv.
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Fresh Recruitment At... Batatunde Ajala & Co ..Admin & Front Desk Officer - Needed
Exciting Vacancies @ Targeted States High Impact Projects (TSHIP)
Exciting Vacancies @ Targeted States High Impact Projects (TSHIP)Our Client:
TSHIP (Targeted States High Impact Projects) is a five-year program focused on the improvement of Health Systems and the Management of Health Systems for higher quality Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health, Family Planning, and Reproductive Health service delivery in Nigeria.
TSHIP is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Implemented by a group of foreign and local non-governmental organizations consisting of John Snow Research & Training Institute, Inc, (JSI), Center for development & Population Activities (CEDPA), Futures Group International LLC, JHPIEGO, and Management Strategies for Africa (MSA).
The Targeted States High Impact Project (TSHIP) Nigeria announces the following vacancy (s).
Vacancy - Senior Monitoring & Evaluation Advisor - Needed
Location: Bauchi & Sokoto
Contract Type: Permanent
Vacancy - Senior Security Advisor - Needed
Location: Bauchi, Nigeria
Contract Type: Permanent
Method Of Application:
Interested candidates should send application, suitably statements and recent curriculum vitae before the closing date to: http://www.tshipnigeria.org/index.php/current-vacancies
Closing Date: Wednesday 20th March 2013
JSI is an equal opportunity employer.
Please visit our web site
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Sunday, 10 March 2013
David Silva and Samir Nasri played as Man City's 'wingers' against Barnsley
MANCHESTER CITY 5-0 BARNSLEY
Whatever Carlos Tevez's troubles with the law, Manchester City are in breach of the Trades Description Act. At no club are terms like 'left winger' and 'right winger' as deceptive. This is false advertising.
In an age of inverted wingers, looking infield rather than hugging the touchline, many a winger is not always on the wing. At the Etihad Stadium, they are rarely wingers to begin with. Instead, they are attacking midfielders who like to float between the lines, sometimes on the sides and sometimes in the middle. It is why, although Roberto Mancini’s preferred formation can be called 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1, it may be more accurate to call it 4-2-2-2. It is a shape various Brazilian teams have favoured, including the Selecao at the 2006 World Cup when Kaka and Ronaldinho operated behind Adriano and Ronaldo, and where the full-backs were the sole source of width. It is an approach that means pace and stamina are essential ingredients for right-backs and left-backs, whose duties involve going past the central midfielders when they attack.
City's system gives them an advantage against teams who set up with that traditional British defensive structure, two banks of four, as Barnsley did. The licence to roam that City's nominal wide men – in this case, David Silva and Samir Nasri – have makes it hard for teams who defend zonally. One of the back four may find the area he patrols flooded by attackers while others have no one to mark.
In the 2-0 win over Chelsea, when Silva was supposedly on the left, in effect City operated without anyone there for large swathes of the game. Versus Barnsley, when the Spaniard was officially on the right, in reality he spent much of the match in a central position. He was in a striker's natural habitat to tap in City's fifth goal against Barnsley and, as Tevez scored each of his hat-trick goals, if the pitch had been divided vertically into three strips, only one of their players – full-back Pablo Zabaleta – was in the right third.
For the opener, Nasri was on the left and Silva, who hit the post before Tevez put the rebound in, was in the middle. For the Argentine's second, Silva, supplier again, and Nasri were both in the middle. When he added a third, Silva was behind him in the centre and Nasri, who had provided the pass, on the left. While, when a side attacks on one flank, the other wide man is often encouraged to come in to provide an option on the far post, City go far beyond that.
A typical City move is for both wingers to appear on the same flank and give them an overload which, with their ability to pass and move in packed areas, they can exploit.
The prime example of that tactic came in the 2-2 draw against Liverpool when Edin Dzeko scored after a combination of James Milner and Nasri in the inside-left channel. In another side, the wide men would have been separated by 40 yards. Particularly when Silva and Nasri both play, City's are often in close proximity.
The other factor in City’s fluidity is that their strikers, particularly Tevez and Sergio Aguero, are also capable of interchanging positions, dropping into the No. 10 position and going out to either flank. When they both play, it is reminiscent of Tevez's partnership with Wayne Rooney at Manchester United, marked by energy and movement and without a conventional No. 9. When Dzeko starts, as he did against Barnsley, there is more of a focal point for the attack. It allowed Tevez more of a roving brief: when he was in the penalty box, the system looked to be 4-2-2-2, when he was deeper or wider, it seemed more like 4-2-3-1.
He was the supplier of their second and scorer of the third in the thrashing of the Championship club: in both cases, he had been on the right flank seconds earlier. Indeed, for the second, Nasri occupied the centre-forward position while Aleksandar Kolarov, the overlapping left-back, was making the run a left winger would in many sides.
Nasri's removal with 40 minutes remaining brought a rare appearance for Scott Sinclair. The Englishman is the nearest thing to a conventional wide man in the City squad, even if, as right-footer often used on the left, he was an inverted winger for much of his time at Swansea. During a rare outing, Sinclair offered more genuine width than the regulars. He also appeared less between the lines. In short, he didn’t really play like a City winger.
Mancini: No problem with Tevez
• Tactics Board: Wingless wonders
Tevez was in top form as he registered his fifth treble for the club, a few days after being arrested on suspicion of driving whilst disqualified, as goals from David Silva and Aleksandar Kolarov compounded the Championship side's misery.
But Mancini, who famously fell out with Tevez last season, said their relationship was fine. "I asked him if he had a problem (injury), but he said no.'' Mancini explained: "Three goals for Carlos are good for him.''
But City assistant boss David Platt said he was replaced due to injury: "His hamstrings just tightened up at the end, which is why we took him off. Hopefully with a couple of days test he will be back again and ready for next week.''
Mancini said he was "very pleased'' with his side's display. The City boss added: "After the game it's easy, but before it's never easy. For this reason it's important to have good concentration. The other team don't have anything to lose.''
Defender Kolo Toure paid tribute to Tevez as he clicked into clinical mode. Toure told ESPN: "He's a great player. We know what he can do and he's shown that again.
"It was a tough game. Barnsley came here and they put us under pressure. But we had a good response by scoring the first goal and the second goal killed the game.
"(The early goal) made a big difference because when you play against that kind of team you need to knock them down from the first minute, which we did and after that they lost confidence.''
Toure's contract is up at the end of the season and he said: "I hope something will happen.''
Barnsley boss David Flitcroft accepted City outclassed his side from start to finish. "I've got a dressing room of players who are all in agreement we've come up against world stars,'' Flitcroft said.
"They came out in the second half and still wanted to put us to the sword. If they're the second best team in the country at the moment I would not like to have played Manchester United. Some of the football was incredible.
Gerrard Spot on for Victory
Luis Suarez edged the battle of the PFA Player of the Year contenders as he scored and earned the match-winning penalty to eclipse Gareth Bale and keep Liverpool's slim top-four hopes alive.
Whalley: AVB frustrated as Reds snatch spoils
The Premier League's leading scorer drew first blood with his 29th of the season - and 22nd in the top flight - and, although his opposite number had a hand in both of Tottenham's goals, the Uruguay international had the last laugh by winning the late spot-kick from which Steven Gerrard scored.
Centre-back Jan Vertonghen had scored twice after Suarez had put the home side ahead only for calamitous misjudgements by Kyle Walker and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to gift Stewart Downing the equaliser.
Suarez showed again just how sharp he is in the penalty area with an instinctive first-half finish and while Bale's danger was restricted to crosses he could not match his rival's threat in the penalty area.
The Wales international drilled in an early swerving free-kick which Brad Jones, back in the side because of Jose Reina's calf injury, batted away unconvincingly but then had to cede centre-stage to Suarez.
Philippe Coutinho, who impressed last week at Wigan and had already curled a shot over, combined well down left with Jose Enrique, starting the move with a cheeky backheel.
The pair then exchanged passes before Enrique, holding off Walker, slid a perfectly-weighted pass for Suarez to run onto and surprise Lloris at his near post with the outside of his right foot.
Bale's response was to plant one left-footed shot into the Kop and then drive an angled right-footed effort wide
Gylfi Sigurdsson, who rejected a summer move to Anfield, missed an even better opportunity from Bale's flick as he shot wide of Jones' right-hand post with only the goalkeeper to beat.
Suarez had been receiving particularly close attention from the visitors without much interest from referee Mike Oliver but when Gerrard challenged for a header with Tottenham's flying Welshman the Reds captain was penalised by a free-kick in the centre-circle.
Bale - playing mainly through the middle - went off after treatment which allowed him to rejoin play on the right wing and this contributed, in some part, to the equaliser on the stroke of half-time.
The ball was soon worked out to him on that flank and he curled a left-footed cross over the head of Jamie Carragher, on his 500th league appearance, for Vertonghen to get in front of Glen Johnson and head inside far post.
Liverpool may have been aggrieved they did not get a penalty late in the half when Coutinho appeared to be pulled back by Walker as he tried to get on the end of a cross but they had conceded 10 minutes' of pressure to the visitors.
Bale played a part in Tottenham's second just after the break when his free-kick was weakly headed down by Carragher to Vertonghen who fired home.
A trademark driving run by the Wales international saw him pick out Sigurdsson in acres of space at the far post but his shot was deflected onto a post by Johnson.
Liverpool had lost all their composure and their disposition was not helped by Jones flapping at a Moussa Dembele shot but it was Tottenham's nerves which faltered next.
Walker's attempted an inexplicable back-pass/crossfield ball from the right touchline which succeeded only in drawing Lloris out of his goal to clear.
When he failed Downing nipped in to advance on goal and drill a shot through the legs of Vertonghen on the line.
The pace of the game went up a notch and Sturridge headed into the side-netting and Bale nodded wide before another dreadful backpass, this time by Jermain Defoe, forced Benoit Assou-Ekotto to barge into Suarez.
Gerrard, so often Liverpool's big man for the big occasion, stepped up to slot home his ninth of an increasingly profitable campaign.
Chelsea Force Replay with United
Wayne Rooney ended a tortuous week by scoring, but David de Gea proved to be Manchester United's hero for saving their FA Cup skins after Sir Alex Ferguson's team threw away a two-goal lead in their quarter-final with Chelsea.
FA Cup semi-final draw
Second-half goals from Eden Hazard and Ramires had pulled the visitors level after Javier Hernandez and Rooney struck early.
It seemed certain Juan Mata would complete a memorable comeback when he stepped inside Jonny Evans in the final minute.
But De Gea, so often the target of criticism, stuck out a leg to keep Mata out and United in the tournament.
The replay will not suit Ferguson, still less so Rafael Benitez given it could potentially force Chelsea into four games in a week or trigger the postponement of a Premier League fixture.
However, both have reason to be thankful, United because their collapse from a position of such immense promise could so easily have been total, Chelsea as at half-time it seemed Benitez was being given another hefty shove towards the Stamford Bridge exit door.
It had all been about Rooney before kick-off, given the intense speculation that followed his omission from the United side that faced Real Madrid on Tuesday.
Yet from the moment he was captured bouncing off the United team bus with a wide smile of greeting for the security staff in attendance, it seemed certain this would be a day of redemption.
Rooney's name was chanted by the United faithful, not in criticism of Ferguson, but in confirmation of the striker being one of them, part of a United family so carefully pieced together by their manager, who until Nani's dismissal in midweek truly believed another Treble was on.
Hernandez, someone with just as great a claim on a starting berth and whom did not appear for a single minute against a team held in so much affection in his native Mexico, had already struck in quite spectacular fashion before Rooney found the net.
Lining up a free-kick wide on the United right, level with the penalty area, Rooney aimed for the far corner.
David Luiz and Jonny Evans both jumped but missed it and by the time Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech could react it was too late. The ball flew into the corner and Rooney had his goal.
He did not really mean it but he took the acclaim anyway, raising his arms and turning slightly to acknowledge those in rapturous celebration.
Rooney nearly got a second in first-half stoppage time, as he deliberately sent another free-kick from a similar position on the other side of the pitch fizzing on to the roof of the net.
United's only other opportunity of that opening period also involved Rooney, but it was far more notable for a ridiculous attempted clearance from Luiz after Cech had saved Rooney's shot, which forced his goalkeeper into another reaction save.
Amid all this, Chelsea had done quite well.
Frank Lampard came close on a couple of occasions, Mata teased the United defence and rolled an inspired backheel into the path of Victor Moses, only for the former Wigan man to screw his shot so badly wide it actually hit the corner flag, prompting the rather cruel taunt of ``Are you Torres in disguise?'' from the home support.
The vitriol from the away contingent to their own 'interim' boss was even worse when Benitez took Lampard off as part of a double change nine minutes after the re-start.
But Benitez is not quite the no-nothing Chelsea's disgruntled supporters think and his tactical switch worked a treat as one of the men introduced, Hazard, injected fresh hope into the Blues by curling a superb effort into the far corner beyond De Gea.
The impetus it gave Chelsea was marked, and when Rooney lost possession deep in the visitors' half, United were caught out with a classic counter-attack that ended with Ramires expertly drilling home.
It was the second time this season the Brazilian had completed a Chelsea comeback from two goals down against United.
On the first occasion, at Stamford Bridge in October, Chelsea then had two men sent off and were beaten by Hernandez.
This time they managed to keep everyone on the pitch and they would have been the ones to claim victory had it not been for De Gea.
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Saturday, 9 March 2013
QPR and Villa rally for vital wins
Andros Townsend blasts home QPR's second goal against Sunderland
QPR and Villa rally for vital wins
Queens Park Rangers' Premier League survival bid is well-and-truly alive after they earned only their fourth win of the season against Sunderland on Saturday. However, Reading remain in deep trouble following defeat in the big relegation six-pointer against Aston Villa, while Southampton stay close to the bottom three after a stalemate at Norwich.
GettyImages Gabriel Agbonlahor scored Aston Villa's valuable winner at Reading
Paul Lambert's Aston Villa side claimed three enormous points with a 2-1 win over Reading at the Madejski Stadium, leaving the Royals 19th in the Premier League - only above QPR by virtue of the goals scored column. Strikes from Christian Benteke and Gabriel Agbonlahor lifted Villa out of the relegation zone above Wigan, and they had to come from behind on away soil.
Reading actually took the lead thanks to a horror show for 21-year-old Villa defender Nathan Baker on the half-hour, diverting the ball into his own net with his standing leg as he attempted to clear Jobi McAnuff's cross.
However, within two minutes Villa were level, Benteke's deflected effort finding its way past Stuart Taylor after the ball came in from the flank. Reading then contributed to their own downfall with some awful defending for Villa's second on the stroke of the interval, although nothing should detract from Agbonlahor's emphatic finish.
The home crowd howled with disapproval in the second period when Noel Hunt's strike was flagged for offside - replays showing it was a matter of inches. Reading pressed forward, having carved out a reputation for fightbacks this season, but they could not rescue the situation on this occasion, leaving them four points adrift of safety.
Harry Redknapp has history when it comes to defying the Premier League trapdoor, earning the nickname "Harry Houdini" for his magic act at Portsmouth. He requires something similarly spectacular at QPR, and a 3-1 come-from-behind victory over Sunderland courtesy of Loic Remy, Andros Townsend and Jermaine Jenas gave Rangers a giant shot in the arm. The Loftus Road club found themselves staring at a potential six-point gulf to 17th place at one stage in the afternoon, but they broke their league goalscoring drought - stretching back to Boxing Day on home soil - to keep the gap at four.
Steven Fletcher netted Sunderland's opener in the 20th minute, converting a quick counter after Adam Johnson's shot was blocked. However, Remy scored his first goal at Loftus Road to equalise with a classy finish at the near post, before Townsend smashed the goal of the day - chesting and volleying home from 25 yards to win it. Jenas then added another high-quality strike as Rangers enjoyed a rare moment of comfort in the dying minutes.
Southampton will be looking nervously over their shoulders following a 0-0 draw away to Norwich. Mauricio Pochettino has taken a mere six points from seven games in charge since he controversially replaced Nigel Adkins as manager, and Saints remain only four clear of drop zone.
GettyImages.. Artur Boruc saved Grant Holt's 90th minute penalty to preserve a 0-0 draw for Southampton at Norwich
They had plenty of chances in a lively first half at Carrow Road, although it was early in the second period that the first real gilt-edged opportunity went begging when Adam Lallana fired over with the goal at his mercy. Controversy arrived in injury-time when Norwich were awarded a soft penalty, but Artur Boruc proved the Saints hero with a save from Grant Holt.
In the day's other game, West Brom maintained their hunt for European football, beating Swansea 2-1 at the Hawthorns. Victory lifts the Baggies above Liverpool into seventh and came courtesy of goals from Romelu Lukaku and Jonathan De Guzman (OG).
Michu missed a couple of early chances for the Swans but Luke Moore steered home a clever header on the half-hour to open the scoring. Lukaku used his pace and power to equalise close to half-time, but then saw a second-half penalty saved. The Baggies were not to be denied, De Guzman the unlucky man as Angel Rangel's clearing heading ricocheted in off his back.
Wigan off to Wembley
Wigan made history by reaching an FA Cup semi-final for the first time after three goals in a devastating four-minute spell saw them beat an abject Everton 3-0 at Goodison Park.
Jolly: Underdogs have their day at Goodison
Maynor Figueroa, Callum McManaman and Jordi Gomez scored within just 202 seconds of each other in the first half to demolish last year's semi-finalists hope of a return to Wembley.
Strangely for Everton they failed to produce anything like the expected response and exited the cup with a whimper - much to the disgust of an angry home crowd.
Somewhat oddly for this stage of competition the FA Cup is not something either manager had considered a priority.
Toffees boss David Moyes said he would rather secure Champions League football than a place in the final while Roberto Martinez insisted he would not allow the FA Cup to deflect attention from their fight for Premier League survival.
Now the Spaniard, who has fielded weakened teams in cup competitions throughout his reign at the DW Stadium, has to seriously consider the best way forward.
There are also plenty of questions for Moyes, who will mark his 11th anniversary at the club next week still not having won silverware.
With his contract up at the end of the season and a top-four finish by no means guaranteed the Scot has a significant personal decision to make.
Of more pressing concern, considering he values Champions League football so highly, is how Wigan - who had beaten only two of their last 10 top-flight opponents in the FA Cup since 1987 - and are battling relegation could score - and win - so easily.
Everton had created the first chance with Sylvain Distin heading wide but from then it was almost one-way traffic as Shaun Maloney, who caused the hosts numerous problems with his movement in from the left, curled a shot past Jan Mucha but back off the post.
The hosts' only other real chance of the first half fell to Nikica Jelavic, without a goal in two months, but his low effort was palmed away by Joel Robles.
Then the madness began as Wigan incredibly put the game beyond their opponents in the space of less than four minutes.
Mucha, making his FA Cup debut and only his ninth appearance in two and a half years at the club with Tim Howard sidelined by broken bones in his back, passed his first real test by turning James McCarthy's shot behind.
However, from Gomez's 31st-minute corner the Slovakian got himself in a tangle inside the six-yard box and Figueroa powered home a far-post header.
If Everton looked stunned by that what followed in barely a matter of seconds left them staggered and virtually out for the count.
Huyton-born McManaman, released by Everton as a 16-year-old, outsprinted Distin to expertly clip a shot past Mucha.
The 21-year-old would probably have preferred to have scored at the Gwladys Street end, where he used to stand as a young season ticket holder, but a goal at Goodison Park was still special.
His family, all Scousers but among the away fans, must have not known where to put themselves.
But while they were all still celebrating that goal Wigan made it 3-0 as Gomez fired home from 20 yards.
The goal was greeted by loud boos from the majority of the crowd, who having been told Wigan would field a weakened side - they made four changes to the team which were thrashed 4-0 at home by Liverpool last weekend - saw their own dreams of a Wembley return collapsing in front of their eyes.
McManaman would have been desperately disappointed to be forced off by injury after a clash with Leighton Baines but he departed six minutes from the interval to be replaced by Ryo Miyaichi.
The change did little to affect the visitors' momentum though and Mucha had to be at full-stretch to tip over Maloney's curling, dipping free-kick.
It is safe to assume the Everton dressing room would not have been a pleasant place during half-time with Moyes most certainly unhappy with the lack of fight his side had shown.
Phil Neville was removed to allow Victor Anichebe to partner Jelavic up front but it was the previously quiet Marouane Fellaini who was first to show, volleying wide early in the second half.
Although the performance improved the hosts rarely threatened and when substitute Ross Barkley blazed wide late on it ended any fanciful hopes of a dramatic comeback.
Benitez seeks refuge at Old Trafford
Chelsea interim manager Rafa Benitez just might be counting down the days until the 2012-13 season ends
Rafa Benitez and Fernando Torres' finest afternoon in English football came at Old Trafford. A Saturday lunchtime in March 2009 saw their Liverpool team pump Manchester United 4-1. United led through Cristiano Ronaldo but Torres was soon terrorising Nemanja Vidic, who was eventually sent off for one desperate challenge too many. It was the same week that the Liverpool pair had shared the joy of destroying Real Madrid 4-0 in the Champions League. Their stock had never been higher. It has never reached those levels since.
In different colours, Benitez, the unwanted interim, and Torres, the most public and costly of transfer failures, arrive at Old Trafford off the back of another European night, but a 1-0 defeat to Steau Bucharest finds them at a nadir rather than their 2009 zenith levels. As Benitez grumblingly directed from the sidelines, Torres put in another performance to remind of how risky it is paying £50 million for one solitary footballer. Sluggish and on a wavelength somewhere over the Carpathian Mountains rather than in Bucharest's National Stadium, Torres tottered around aimlessly. He was by no means Chelsea's only misfire, since Juan Mata and Eden Hazard were both quiet but this was another Blues performance of the walking dead, a team marking time until something changes.
The Europa League and FA Cup are all that remains of a season of seven trophies, and the former is a consolation. Chelsea is an unhappy club, a confused club, and many of their recent performances have followed those emotions. Benitez might now actually be more popular at Old Trafford than he is at Stamford Bridge. Sunday, though, may provide Chelsea with an opportunity to puncture another's clubs ambitions, and reduce Manchester United to a single target.
Talk of a treble was little but hype, and especially at such an early juncture of the season, and so a plain old double will have to suffice for Manchester United. That in itself, would still look difficult for United. Chelsea are no mean opponent and Manchester City lie in wait at some point. The Premier League title will remain the priority, and especially after last season's last-minute denial.
Chelsea may consider that for all their civil war, there might be one raging at United too. Though in Wayne Rooney's case, his latest fall-out with Sir Alex Ferguson looks like a singular battle against the system rather than the bemusement with Benitez that lies at the heart of Chelsea's current battle. Rooney faces a test of his professionalism in the light of his latest reverse. Being dropped from his team's biggest match of the season is not something that happens to the indispensable, the star players. His cause has not been helped by his team matching Madrid without him until Nani's red card.
Ferguson's managerial career, right back to his East Stirlingshire days, have been built from turning a reverse into a positive, a feeling of being wronged against into a unifying force. Manchester United feel a definite sense of injustice after the intervention of red Mancunian's least favourite Turkish insurance agent. They are also seeking to win their first FA Cup since 2004. A trophy Ferguson made his own in the 1990s, it has evaded him since the rolling over of Millwall in Cardiff nine years ago. Only Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes of his current squad have won the trophy. Rio Ferdinand missed out when banned for his missing of a drugs test, Rooney did not arrive until the following summer.
And then there is the decided enmity between the two managers. Benitez has barely concealed his contempt for Ferguson, even getting swept into the rather childish Liverpudlian trait of never referring to his knighthood. "Mr Ferguson" meanwhile has been viciously dismissive, sarcastically calling Benitez a "genius" at one point, and "clown" in the next breath. "I'm not going to kick anyone when they are lying down," was Sir Alex's latest comment on someone he now views as a former rival though Ferguson would clearly relish robbing Benitez of a career opportunity. His opponent would enjoy helping whittling away a treble into a single.
Manchester United player to watch - Wayne Rooney
Even if he should be sat in the stands, or even back in his Prestbury armchair, there is little doubt of the name on everyone's lips ahead of this game. Ferguson said on Friday that Rooney will be a United player next season, even giving his word that he would be, but Chelsea might be the type of club that may fancy Rooney if he should become available. For the moment, and in the light of Robin Van Persie looking somewhat tired of late, Rooney should be required and able to prove a point to his doubters, a group that would look to include his manager.
Chelsea player to watch - Marko Marin
If there is a player to embody the Benitez tenure at Chelsea, it is Marin. Benitez's belief in rotation and a big squad have been nixed by the rather bare resources on offer at Stamford Bridge. There is definite quality on offer but not quantity and the German is yet to suggest he offers the former. One of a trio of playmakers bought in the summer and much the lesser to Hazard and Oscar, Marin's performances have too often been confused and ineffective. With the battle for fourth place on, and Bucharest to be beaten, Marin will most probably play a role at Old Trafford.
Key battle: Jonny Evans v Fernando Torres
Nemanja Vidic is not the type to be readily afraid yet Torres used to give him the heebie-jeebies. Torres, deep in his gloom, may even have hoped to take on his old whipping boy but even that may not be granted to him. Vidic played two games in quick succession against Norwich City and Real Madrid, something supposedly beyond him in his long recovery from serious injury. In his stead will come Evans, unlucky not to play against Real in what has been his best season in United colours. Perhaps Demba Ba will play instead. Perhaps even Torres would be happy with that. His last visit to Old Trafford was the scene of the horrendous miss – in September 2011 – that may just personify his disastrous move to Chelsea.
Trivia: Manchester United have faced Chelsea 11 times in the FA Cup, and won eight of those encounters. Their last meeting was in the 2007 final, where Didier Drogba's extra-time goal won a truly dreadful match. United defeated Chelsea four times in the 1990s in this competition, including in the 1994 final.
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