Manchester United Dugout

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is back at Old Trafford today with Cardiff but his former club Machester United will aim to ensure it's not a winning return.

There's no doubt about the way Solskjaer reads a football game. He was good as a player and then proved himself in management with Manchester United Reserves

and Molde. With Cardiff, the Norwegian has a new challenge.

Widely regarded as a "super sub" Ole's defining moment was in injury time of the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final, where he scored the winning last-minute goal against Bayern Munich, completing a remarkable comeback and winning The Treble for United.

Here's a neat infographic that examines those historic last few seconds from various perspectives on the night.

Juan Mata has joined Manchester United from Chelsea for a club-record fee of £37.1 million. The 25-year old Spanish international has reportedly signed a four-and-a-half year contract worth £150,000-a-week with United.

Mata is the second signing of new manager David Moyes after he bought Marouane Fellaini in the summer from Everton for of £27.5m. However, Mata is United's most expensive ever player.

On joining Manchester United, Juan Mata said: "I am thrilled to be joining United. I have enjoyed some very happy years at Chelsea but the time has come for a new challenge. United is the perfect place for me and I am excited at the chance I have to be part of the next phase in the club's history."

The top five expensive players to join Manchester United before Mata are:

1. Dimitar Berbatov - £30.75m

2. Rio Ferdinand - £29.3m

3. Juan Sebastián Verón - £28.1m

4. Wayne Rooney - £27m

5. Robin van Persie - £24m

Now the obvious question is whether paying club record fee for Mata will mean he will be a success at Old Trafford?

While it is true that United's expensive buys have endured mixed fortunes but I don't see any specific reason why he can't be a success. He is a proven dynamo in midfield and can play even on wings and can be lethal infront of the goal two. Plus, he's an international and just 25-years old.

Juan Mata has enjoyed two very good seasons with Chelsea. Had he fitted into Mourinho's plans, I'm sure the Special One would not have approved his sale. 

Anyways, the fact remains that Juan Mata is now a Manchester United player. Hopefully, Mata will make his debut in Tuesday's Barclays Premier League encounter with Cardiff at Old Trafford.

Let us hope the Spainish star brings his good form and performace to Old Trafford and helps Manchester United to stamp their dominance in the Premier League.

Manchester United will take on Sunderland today and need to overturn a 2-1 deficit to secure a final date with Man City in the Capital One Cup at Wembly on March 2.

United lost to Chelsea past Sunday and they would be desperate to return to winning ways. One thing that may work in the home team's favor is the support of Old Trafford fans. If United does pull off a victory to reach the final, it will be a night to remember, especially for David Moyes.

The Manchester United manager has said he is motivated to beat Sunderland to thank the United supporters. He said, "We’re going to go out and do everything we can to get through. I want to give the supporters something to cheer about. There’s not been an awful lot and I’m fully aware of that."

Team selection is surely going to be a major challenges for Moyes. Vidic is suspended, RVP and Rooney are still not fully fit while midfield is in such a crisis that we had to play a center-back (Phil Jones) in the midfield against Chelsea.

Whoever makes it to Moyes' team will have to play exceptionally well to at least have a chance of winning some silverware this season, even if it is the Capital One Cup.

Infographic Courtesy: www.livefootball.co.uk

The Brazilian twins, Rafael and Fabio seem to be frustrated at the lack of game time this season and are very likely to leave Manchester United in the summer, says their agent Cassiano Pereira.

The two full-backs joined Manchester United in 2008 but they have not been able to reach their full potential at United. While Rafael did have a great season last term and became an integral part of Sir Alex Ferguson's starting XI, Fabio could never break into the first team. He was either warming the bench or sent out on loan.

With FIFA World Cup 2014 scheduled to start in another five months time, Rafael and Fabio are considering a move away from Old Trafford to resurrect their playing career and get more appearances for the national team.

Their agent confirmed this and said, "At the moment I can say that they will remain in Manchester until the end of the season, but in summer it is very likely that they can go."

It will be interesting to see if Moyes allows his two full-backs to leave at the same time because Patrice Evra is very likely to leave United in summer. If he loses all three full-backs at the same time, whom is he going to recruit to fill in those positions? What do you think?

Rio Ferdinand recently revealed how he urged Cristiano Ronaldo last summer to rejoin Manchester United.

The Portuguese superstar was unable to agree terms to a new contract during summer and it was widely speculated that he would leave Real Madrid. Sensing it would be a good time to encourage his old pal to come back to Old Trafford, Ferdinand contacted Ronaldo several times during the off-season.

Admitting his constant follow-up with CR7, Ferdinand said,

I wonder how much Manchester United would have achieved if Ronaldo would have returned to Old Trafford last summer.

Manchester United were recently knocked out of the FA Cup by Swansea City after a shock 2-1 defeat at home. After three consecutive defeats (in all matches) David Moyes has to pick up his players and face The Swans again in a league encounted on Saturday.

Swansea boss Michael Laudrup has already put pressure on Moyes saying, "Manchester United will come out and have a real go at us. "This is a game they want to win, they have to win this game and we must be ready for that."

Manchester United is not used to digest three straight losses. But it has happened this season - for the first time in 13 years and several pundits and fans have termed it a mini crisis at the club.

While I agree, this Old Trafford game is 'must-win' for Manchester United, but I don't think its crisis time yet. Obviously, there are going to be rough times when a club transitions between two managers. Expecting Moyes to achieve success like Fergie, that too in his first season is simply not reasonable.

I'm confident United will put up a strong show infront of the home fans and beat Swansea. Here's an infographic showing head to head history data and current form stats for both teams.

  Infographic Courtesy: www.livefootball.co.uk

Last summer, Chelsea made every possible attempt to lure Man United striker Wayne Rooney to London but couldn't succeed. 

Since then, Rooney has been in fine form and scoring regularly in the absence of hit man Robin Van Persie. As soon as the January transfer window opened, there have been reports of Chelsea preparing 30 million bid for Rooney.

Ed Woodward will soon be opening negotiations with Wazza's agent over renewing his contract which runs until 2015. After failing to acquire several transfer targets in the summer, Woodward is under extreme pressure and he will make every possible attempt to stop Rooney from joining their title rivals.

Since the arrival of Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea haven't look very confident. Obviously, they are struggling with scoring goals and they need a goal scoring machine and Rooney fits the bill perfectly. Moreover, Mourinho has been a long admirer of Wayne Rooney and he will test United's resolve in keeping their star striker.

I believe Rooney will prefer to stay at United and continue with his great form to achive more trophies in the long run. What do you think? Will Chelsea's new bid unsettle Rooney?