Time to shine, Wayne

The season opener at Wembley today will be an interesting watch for football fans around the country.

With a summer of speculation at both clubs, the game today provides will show how two of last seasons top performing teams cope with the upheaval at their respective clubs.

Manchester United will sorely miss the talents of Cristiano Ronaldo as would any club, but the game today offers Sir Alex’s men the perfect chance to put the World Footballer of the year behind them and send a message to the rest of English Football.

Their appears to have been no single replacement for Ronaldo, but between them, Antonio Valencia and Michael Owen can go some way to accounting for the goals and assists which the Portuguese star gave United.

Owen has his doubters, but a partnership with Wayne Rooney would be one that blessed any team in the world. Owen will be eager to make a statement today, on the eve of his omission from the England squad yesterday.

Valencia has serious potential, with electric pace and a fierce shot that is reminiscent of Ronaldo. They will both be looking forward to pulling on United shirts at Wembley today and giving the clubs fans hope for the new season.

Wayne Rooney will finally have his chance to shine at United, having long played a supporting role to Ronaldo, this could be the season he starts to achieve his full potential. Playing him as an out an out striker could prove to be a master stroke by Ferguson if Rooney’s England form is anything to go by.

United’s opponents today have had a summer of change off the field rather than on it.

The arrival of Carlo Ancelotti is the 5th manager in 3 seasons for Chelsea but he looks to be an ideal fit for the ageing Chelsea squad. The Italian achieved great success at Italian giants AC Milan with a team of experienced professionals similar to the current Chelsea side.

Other than the arrival of talent Russian Yuri Zhirkov, their have been few ins and outs at Chelsea this summer. Fortunately for them, they didn’t have to find replacements for their top star, John Terry. He showed the class expected of an England Captain and stayed loyal to his boyhood club, resisting the money on offer from Manchester City.

Chelsea fans will be keen to see how they line up today, with rumours of a subtle new formation being implemented by the new manager. A narrow diamond formation could be effective with the talented central midfielders at his disposal, but Ancelotti could learn the hard way about the difficulty of breaking English teams down without wingers.

After a summer of questions, the answers start today.