Man Utd find Barca combo: Xavi, Iniesta and Van Persie

Manchester United are ready to be Barcelona; and beat them.

Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson, by default, may have finally found the winning combination.

A complicated mix of injuries, player trouble and over-reliance on ageing stars has left United often looking confused, starting slow and in seven matches this season having to come from behind to win or save the game.

Yesterday against the Romanian side Cluj in the Champions League it seemed to finally fall in to place.

Old Trafford can say goodbye to Wayne Rooney scoring 30 goals, but say hello to him setting up Robin Van Persie for 30 more.

In a role reminiscent of Barcelona’s Xavi, Rooney reveled in the midfield, orchestrating the game in a manner that would make Paul Scholes consider retiring again.

Anderson’s hustle, bustle, work rate and movement going forward keeps the United engine room working at optimum.

However, best of all is Tom Cleverley and his combination with Rooney.

Again, bringing to mind the Xavi, Iniesta combination that made life easy for Lionel Messi, Cleverley and Rooney linked up, floated freely and always looked good going forward.

This leaves us with the holding midfielder – Michael Carrick or Darren Fletcher?

Either one is a choice that reflects Sir Alex Ferguson’s faith in the ability of those two, that the rest of the league is not quite convinced about.

With Robin Van Persie and Javier Hernandez upfront, this is a United combination that looks ideal for the likes of Valencia and Ashley Young to come back in to and provide the necessary width.

It’s Newcastle next and Sir Alex should retain this winning combination.

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