Good reason to stop mid-season

I have no doubt that the mid-season breaks in Italy, Spain and Germany help the national teams of those countries prepare for major international tournaments.

Certainly all professionals in England would support a mid-season break, and the national team would benefit. The Italians, the Spanish and the Germans all benefit from a two- or three-week break and they come out refreshed for the next part of the season.

One of the biggest obstacles to introducing a mid-season break in our league is that we have 20 teams and two domestic cup competitions, so we have a lot games. We would probably need to reduce the Premier League to 18 clubs, and it would be very difficult to persuade clubs to accept this.

I think a game on Christmas Eve would be a great spectacle, perhaps a local derby. And then we could shut down for a few weeks until January 5/6.

It's a very different culture in England though; you have a lot of fans who look forward to Christmas football. The Boxing Day match has been an institution for years and years, so it's very difficult to change that. It's not a big problem for me personally - I've played throughout my career on Boxing Day and New Year's Day. But generally, it would be beneficial for England and for players.

One more win needed

Our performance in the 1-0 mid-week Champions League victory against CSKA Moscow was professional and the win was deserved. We trained on the plastic pitch in Moscow the night before and we thought it would be really difficult.

I don't mind admitting that the pitch seemed really fast and difficult to play on because of the way the ball bounced. But as we got into the game, we found the pitch played a lot truer and we coped quite well. We were the team bringing on forwards and trying to win the game in the last 20 minutes, while they seemed to be playing backwards and accepting the draw.

The win puts us in a great position in the group. We have games at home against CSKA and Besiktas and if we win one of them then we're probably guaranteed qualification. So we'll be looking to complete the job in a few weeks against CSKA and then the manager can look at utilising the squad in the last two games so we can prioritise the league in the difficult winter months until February when the Champions League returns.

The recovery is more difficult than the preparation when we make these long trips abroad mid-week. We went out there last Monday so we had two days preparation. But we got to bed on average between 3 and 4 a.m. last Thursday morning and we have the big game against Liverpool today so it's not ideal. We essentially lost a night's sleep, because it's difficult to sleep on the plane, so I just had a few hours sleep when I got home.

Players do feel tired for a few days after, but we left a few players in Manchester who should be fighting fit for today's game, and we're used to it.

Liverpool will be hoping to bounce back after losing to a freak goal against Sunderland and again in the Champions League last Tuesday. In all honesty, I think the rules state that the goal they conceded at Sunderland, with the ball being deflected off a beach ball, shouldn't have stood. But it has created a talking point which adds to the excitement of football.

Personally, the strangest thing I have experienced in football is the game against Lille a few seasons ago when their players all wanted to walk off after we scored from from a quick free kick. Bizarre.

United fans may want to commemorate the beach ball goal at Anfield today, but I'm wary about saying anything about Liverpool because of the way things get twisted. I doubt Liverpool fans will be commemorating Michael Owen on his return in a United shirt, but he won't be expecting a good reception. No United player will get a good reception; it's a very, very passionate affair.

Over to you

I think everything is being centred on Wayne Rooney following the departure of Ronaldo and the absence of a suitable replacement. Do you consider it is right to put so much importance on Rooney considering the very long and hard season ahead? Godwin Pulis, Fgura

We don't put so much emphasis on one player, and we didn't when Cristiano Ronaldo was here. That may be the fans' perception, but it's not the perception at Old Trafford.

Rooney hasn't even played in the last two matches. He is an important player, but we have important players throughout the team and we don't focus our efforts on one man.

We have 10 to 12 players who can win us matches and 10 to 12 who can save us matches, and we all contribute at different points in the season.

Some may contribute more than others because they are world class, but we all have our part to play.

Send your questions to Gary Neville to sunday@timesof malta.com.