BILLY BUNTER

Weblog: The football punter

Toffees look a Real Value Price to get stuck into

FAR be it for me to criticise Sir Alex Ferguson but I do have my doubts as to whether Manchester United would have been better spending money elsewhere on the squad rather than snatching Robin van Persie from the Arsenal.

Don't get me wrong, RVP is one of my favourite players but when you've got Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez do you really need another centre forward?

It's a bit like when you order that extra double cheeseburger to go with the large Big Mac meal. You know you shouldn't, you know you'll feel sick afterwards but you know it tastes so good that you simply cannot turn it down.

I think Sir Alex's eyes have got too big for his belly on this occasion and surely there were better practical signings that could have been made? I only ask because flimsy midfielder Michael Carrick is apparently going to play centre-back at Everton on Monday and they will be relying on 37-year-old Paul Scholes to dominate the engine-room, which suggests other areas of the squad need strengthening.

Fergie's won 48 trophies in his career (well that's what it says on Wikipedia), including 12 Premier League titles, two Cup Winners Cups and two Champions Leagues but I nearly matched that with Hyde on Football Manager so I think I know what I am talking about when I say United look unbalanced.

They'll no doubt hammer the rubbish teams who come to Old Trafford but away from home it will be difficult and Goodison Park will be a tough test. Tough enough anyway for me to get involved in the outsiders.

The Toffees trumped Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham at Goodison last season and Everton look a Real Value Price – see what I did there? – to beat United.