Culina tips Manchester United to come out swinging against A-League All Stars

EXCLUSIVE: Manchester United are set to school the A-League All Stars in their debut, says Seven football analyst and former Socceroo, Jason Culina.

After suffering a surprise 1-0 loss to Thailand’s All Star team in their Asian tour opener, Culina believes the English Premier League champions will be determined to show their class on Saturday.

“I’d love to see the All Stars win, but big clubs like Manchester United don’t like to lose two games in a row,” Culina said.

The game in Thailand was the first outing for Sir Alex Ferguson’s replacement, David Moyes. Even though it is very early in United’s pre-season, Culina believes the visitors will bring their A-game in Sydney.

“With a new manager, everyone is going to want to impress,” Culina said.

There remains doubt over the line-up Moyes will name, despite Dutch striker Robin van Persie and Spaniard David de Gea joining the squad this week. If they do get a run, as is the case in most pre-season matches, a halftime reshuffle should allow others in the squad to strut their stuff.

“I’d keep my eye on some of the new players, in particular Wilfried Zaha,” Culina said.

“He’s a very young player who has been playing for Crystal Palace on loan. He’s a big talent, a really exciting player with speed and skill.”

Similarly for some players in the A-League All Stars, the clash with Manchester United will be a golden opportunity to showcase the current talent pool in Australia’s domestic league.

In addition to his 17-year career playing in the Netherlands, Belgium and Australia, Culina was one of the legendary Socceroos at Homebush in 2005. On that fateful November night he helped Australia sink Uruguay in front of a capacity crowd to send Australia to the World Cup finals for the first time since 1974. Culina knows what it’s like playing football on the big stage and is excited to see some of his A-League mates get a chance to experience it on home soil.

“There’s nothing better than playing against the best teams in the world,” he said.

“In front of 80,000 people, against top opposition, they will be super excited.

“It’s a big test for all the A-League players just to see what level we’re at and where we stand as a league.”

The rate at which Australian football has grown in recent years is something to be proud of, says Culina.

Visits from Manchester United and Liverpool this month, along with news that Football Federation Australia CEO David Gallop is chasing Barcelona to make a trip down under, is all confirmation that football is going strong here.

“I think it shows how far we’ve come in being taken seriously by the bigger leagues around the world,” Culina said.

“It’s the most participated sport in Australia.

“Bringing out these teams creates a buzz and not just with football people, but with those who support other codes.”

Culina says people only need to look at the last time Manchester United visited Australia in 1999 to see how much the sport has grown.

“They played against our national team whereas now they’re playing against A-League players,” Culina said.

“We’ve now become a lot more professional. Our game has developed so much more since those days.

He may have tipped Manchester United to down the A-League All Stars 2-0 at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night, but Culina is confident we’re in for a memorable match.

“To have 80,000 people come out to ANZ to watch a pre-season friendly is a great spectacle,” he said.

“It just shows that Aussies love our sport and we love our football.”