Hope we don't miss our "VILLA HUNTER"

Federico Macheda was loaned out to Sampdoria to gain experience as you can see above

Manchester United are set to face Aston Villa this Tuesday, after the weekend FA Cup tie against the Saints, and with no Federico Macheda on the team sheet, Houllier’s men will breathe a sigh of relief. Kiko Macheda, who was bought by United from Lazio as a 16 year old has made 16 appearances for United from 2008-11; before returning back to his homeland Italy with the Serie A club Sampdoria on loan. In the 16 games he played, Macheda managed to score 4 times. Let’s rewind a bit and look at why Villa players are afraid of Macheda:

5 April 2009: United vs. Aston Villa

United had to suffer in defense with Rio injured and Vidic suspended. Gary Neville started with O’Shea in the heart of defense. The Villa players made full use of this mismatch and scored twice to take the lead by 58^th minute. United were in all sorts of trouble and ON came Macheda for Nani in the 61^st minute. United leveled the score, courtesy Ronaldo’s goal in the 80^th minute. In the 90^th minute, Macheda got a pass from the Giggs inside the penalty box and beating the defender, he turned a complete 180 degrees before curling the ball past a helpless Friedel. It was a happy moment for the Italian who had scored a hat-trick earlier against Newcastle in a reserve match just last week.

13 November 2010: Aston Villa vs. United

Aston Villa had won just 1 out of last 29 games against United. And this time, it was almost an Aston Villa youth team playing against United, with the likes of Albrighton, Bannan, Warnock etc. An exciting addition was Jonathan Hogg, for whom this was a debut match. After an entertaining first half, where Villa had the upper hand, United showed some signs of a comeback, only to see themselves going 2 goals down by the 75^th minute. ON came Macheda. The Italian took just 6 minutes to hammer a ball past Friedel to score the first goal for United. The rejuvenated team went all attack against Villa for the next few minutes and the result was a goal from Super-Vidic from a header.

Thus, this time around, Villa will be a bit more relaxed though I see Rooney giving them a hard time!!

I go for Rooney to score in this match and an easy United victory..!! 3-1 I'm guessing, c'mon! it's at home!!!

GGMU

Kiko shines on his debut (Video)

Kiko Macheda made his debut for Sampdoria as they ran out 2-1 winners at home to Roma. The United striker came off the bench in the 78th minute with the scores locked at 1-1 and nearly made an instant impact with a header that went narrowly wide. That miss was negated, however, when Macheda played a part in teeing up Stefano Guberti's late winner for the hosts

Macheda loaned out to Sampdoria (Italy) till the end of 2010-11 season

Federico Macheda is more than happy to be on loan at Sampdoria for the remainder of the season where he would get enough experience to be #1 at United. C'mon! Let's all hope he comes back to United in the coming season.

Several Italian clubs were believed to have been chasing the player for a temporary move, as well as West Brom, while manager Sir Alex Ferguson had hoped that the youngster would remain in England and ply his trade in the Premier League.

However, it appears that the 19-year-old fancies a short-term move back to his homeland, and has pushed the deal through to continue his footballing education at the Genoa-based club.

"There are still a couple of faxes [to be sent] but sometime between Wednesday and Thursday I will be in Italy," Macheda told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Genoa is a beautiful city and I am happy."

He added: "I am only playing 10-20 minute spells in games currently and that is not helping my growth. Ferguson is of the same opinion.

"In this regard, we are all happy because in six months' time, Manchester United will get a stronger player."

The Italy Under-21 international also hoped that he would not be viewed as a replacement for Antonio Cassano, who left the club under controversial circumstances to join AC Milan.

"Cassano is a champion while it's the first time I will have played in Serie A," said Macheda. "Cassano and I are players with very different characteristics and on two different levels.

"I know there is a lot of expectation on me but the responsibility does not scare me. If I don't play I won't mature.

"Here the football is very tactical but I have no fear."