Q & A with Letter of the Week Winner Eugene Chan

When and why did you become a Man United fan?
As far back as I can remember, I started supporting Manchester United in the 1992-1993 season. That was a special year being the first season of the Premier League and for United to finally be crowned champions after a long 26 year wait.
Obviously I didn’t know that then but I remember slowly following them on television with my family, attracted by their spirit and their will to always play attractive football. There was one more reason why that season was special. That year, the ‘King’ arrived – Eric Cantona joined United and the revolution started.

Does Giggs deserve the PFA Player of the Year award this season?

VETERAN Manchester United player Ryan Giggs won the PFA Player of the Year award last night (Singapore time), one of the few awards that the Welshman had not won in his glittering career.

The 35-year-old beat United teammates Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Cristiano Ronaldo and Edwin van der Sar, as well as Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard to the award, adding to his two PFA young player awards among other team accolades.

While few will argue that the United vice-captain deserves some form of recognition for his achievements – he has 10 league titles to his name, and has won 4 FA Cups, 3 League Cups and the Champions League twice in his 17-year United career – but does Giggs deserve the award this season?

Is United’s unpredictability harming them instead?

IT SUDDENLY struck me as I was watching the Porto-United game early this morning, and trying to look at the game from a tactical point of view.

Is it me or is United’s front-line resembling more and more like a disorganised volleyball formation? Let me explain.

You know how volleyball player rotate positions clockwise after gaining a serve? Well, watching United these days is something like that, only that it is not as systematic as volleyball.

It used to be just Cristiano Ronaldo switching flanks with Ryan Giggs/Park Ji-Sung/Nani, but these days you would see CR7 as the targetman, while Dimitar Berbatov in a deeper playmaking midfield position, while Rooney literally has a free role on the field.

Sure, this free-flowing, fast-switching strategy is cool and could theoretically confuse opposing defenders into conceding more spaces and opportunities than more traditional rigid formations, but is this laissez faire form of attacking football confusing United players as well?

Who is your EPL Player of the Year?

THE 08/09 Premiership season is coming into its final stretch and talk is hot on who might be crowned the PFA Player of the Year at the end of the season.

Unlike last season, where Cristiano Ronaldo and Fernando Torres were clear cut choices with their blazing performances, not one player seems to have set the league ablaze this season with his brilliance and consistency.

Ronaldo has been a pale shadow of his previous season’s form, while Torres’ sophomore season has been wrecked with injuries, even though he remains brilliant when he is fit.

Other than perennial favourite Steven Gerrard, players such as Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic’s name has popped up several times in recent times, while PA Sport’s Frank Malley argued his case for Ryan Giggs in today’s edition of The New Paper.

Who do you think deserves the accolade?

Will United suffer a similar slump as Barca?

MANCHESTER United head into a crucial 11-day period which could very well define their quintuple dreams this season, starting with tomorrow morning’s Premiership game against Newcastle.

The English and European champions then face Fulham in the FA Cup, and Inter Milan next week at Old Trafford for the second-leg Champions League knockout round game before hosting Liverpool in a game that could prove vital to United’s Premiership title dreams this season.

Sir Alex Ferguson could not have chosen a better time to sound off a warning to his charges, especially the young ones such as Rafael and Danny Welbeck that complacency would be costly and would not be tolerated in his dressing room.

The Scot pointed to Barcelona’s recent slump in the La Liga after an impressive first half of the season, which led the league by 11 points at the start of the year. That lead is now cut to just four points, no thanks to their recent erratic form, which includes the latest 4-3 loss to Atletico Madrid.

The question now is: with United still challenging on three fronts – the Premiership, the FA Cup and the Champions League – will they crack or start to get complacent, as they once did in 1998, where they threw away a 12-point lead to hand Arsenal the Premiership crown?

Was Fergie right in putting Giggs on the right?

MOST would gush about the wonderful winning goal Manchester United veteran Ryan Giggs scored against West Ham last night, but if you look hard enough, that is just about the only contribution in the game, save for a defence-splitting pass to Cristiano Ronaldo towards the end of the game.

Which leaves me to the question: Did Fergie get it wrong by putting Giggsy on the right?

Any football fan – including non-United fans – worth their salt would know that the left-footed Giggs is a natural on the left flank, although now he is still effective in the centre of the park. He may switch flanks with Cristiano Ronaldo or Nani from time to time during a match, but it’s the left where Giggs is truly devastating.