Gerard Pique: Manchester United's Man?

In summer 2004 a youngster by this name was signed from Barcelona and was touted to be the next Jaap Stam. He made his debut a few matches later and impressed everyone with a good performance.

Four years on, and today he might just be the most important man in Manchester United's quest for glory in Europe and in England.

With the ever reliable partnership of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand broken once again by injury problems, mighty Manchester United seemed to have been hit back.

At Middlesborough over the weekend, Ferdinand looked distinctly ill at ease without the reliable Vidic by his side. The result was two goals conceded...two very soft goals conceded. Nothing that would make you stand up and applaud at the creativity of the goals.

And just when it seemed that things wouldn't get worse, out goes Ferdinand with a groin injury, an injury that has been haunting him for the past few months.

In comes Gerard Pique, and after a long time it seemed that United had stability in the back. It was a good perfromance when called for, and he recieved special mention from Sir Alex Ferguson in the post-match conference.

However, looking at the bigger picture, Pique's role looks even more important than ever.

Tonight Roma will go all-out to seek revenge for last year's thrashing, and will try to make the most of every ball that finds its way into the Man United half. With goal poachers like Mirko Vucinic in their ranks, Roma is fully capable of doing the unthinkable.

Come Sunday, United has another make-or-break fixture against bitter rivals and fellow Premiership contenders Arsenal. With a heartbreaking loss at Anfield in the week, the Gunners will be doubly determined to bounce back, after they were humiliated at Old Trafford by United in the FA Cup few weeks back.

Also, Vidic will not be available during this game and this will heap pressure on the young Spaniard's shoulders.

This daunting prospect of being the wall for Man United will be frightening for any defender now, but Gerard Pique is no rookie or novice himself. Having spent an entire season at Real Zaragoza where the team was a very successful outfit, he has had a lot of exposure to cope with such pressure.

Overall, his physical prescence of 6'3" is very impressive and he is also very good in the air, and has also scored this season against Roma.

All these things will definitely boost his confidence and help him in the encounter.

But the question remains...will he or will he not be able to cope up? With the Arsenal tie looming, and with the injury to Ferdinand, Ferguson might put Pique with Wes Brown, who isn't that good at centre back.

However, Franz Beckenbauer once remarked, "If there is one thing that a defender should have in abundance, it's pressure." According to "Der Kaiser", a carefree defender is a bad defender.

Pique tonight finds himself in a position that could either make or break his club's chance of glory thsi season. A few good performances by him and United might not miss Vidic and Ferdinand after all. No matter how he performs, the coming few weeks will be one of the busiest times of his life.

Considering his past performances for Man United, Pique seems to be a mixed bag; even though he might lack the defensive acumen that the likes of Sergio Ramos possess at this age, he certainly makes that up for with a keen eye at goal from corners.

This season might be his coming-of-age after all. Only time will tell how good a defender Pique will turn out to be, but as of now I think he is fully capable of filling in Ferdinand's shoes.

My prediction is that he will perform well in the upcoming games and be a better defender overall. But there is no denying that Gerard Pique might be the most important man for Man United at the moment, probably even more so than Cristiano Ronaldo himself.

Will he stand up tall against the challenges thrown at him?

ONLY TIME WILL TELL.