The new Premiership season is underway and United have suffered their first 'major' setback by losing to Chelsea in the Community Shield. Not a major setback for the campaign itself, by any means, but it was an important evaluation encounter regardless.

You probably noticed that unlike on previous editions of the final, this was not the case where the new players and substitutes went out first. Both teams more or less fielded their big guns, both sides were trying to re-access themselves ahead of the long campaign, with everything they had at their disposal, except for those that were injured, of course.

United striker Wayne Rooney, who is relishing the prospect of finally being deployed in his favourite position, at the spearhead of the strike force, has said in an interview that Dimitar Berbatov is desperate to impress the supporters and his manager and to carve out a name for himself in this United side.

The Bulgarian "is a sharper and more determined player this season", according to his Manchester United team-mate, as quoted by the Guardian. Rooney insists that the Bulgarian's attitude in training and in friendly games has altered substantially and that he is adamant to be all over the park and assist in every part of the field.

"You can see in training, and in our pre-season games, that he's looking sharper. He's looking more determined, tracking back to help the full-backs," said Rooney of his team-mate for the Guardian. "He's definitely working harder and trying to impress. He's a brilliant player."

Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney were deployed together against Chelsea in the classic 4-4-2 formation, before eventually Michael Owen subbed the Bulgarian.

With Michael Owen for now failing to fire on full cylinders, and thus failing to earn an England recall, and with Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez both sold, it is obvious that Berbatov and Rooney will be United's first choice partnership up front, with Owen acting as a support.

Rooney and the Bulgarian will have to assume the greater goal scoring burden to fill in the gap left by the departed Portuguese star. Berbatov netted 14 goals in last season's campaign, whereas Rooney scored 20. The Portuguese scored 26, a considerable decrease from his all time record of 42 goals in all competitions in the 2007/08 season.