http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=445988&root=england&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos1&cc=5901Fergie's Red army is overpopulatedThe First XI: Van der Sar; Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Ronaldo, Scholes, Hargreaves, Giggs; Tevez, Rooney.
The Second XI: Foster; O'Shea, Brown, Pique, Heinze; Anderson, Fletcher, Carrick, Nani; Solskjaer, Saha.
The Third XI: Kuszczak; Bardsley, Evans, Silvestre, Eckersley; Park, Eagles, Lee, Martin; Smith, Rossi.
The Fourth XI: Heaton; Simpson, Cathcart, Shawcross, Lea; Gibson, Gray, Jones, Barnes; Campbell, Fangzhou
The Copa America must have ranked high among Carlos Tevez's priorities last week. So, presumably, did completing his move to Manchester United.
The warrant issued for his agent Kia Joorabchian's arrest probably occupied his attention as well. But he could have another concern: getting a spot in the Old Trafford dressing room.
Forget competition for places, there will be competition for pegs at Old Trafford. Presuming Tevez joins Nani, Anderson and Owen Hargreaves among United's summer signings, there will be 45 footballers jostling for Sir Alex Ferguson's attention.
The size of the United squad suggests the Scot is intent on emulating his friend Barry Fry, who accumulated a half-century of players at Birmingham; that was a squad in a permanent state of rotation. United, with a high-calibre collective of automatic choices, is another matter.
Unlike Fry's scattergun selections, many of Ferguson's fringe players can barely glimpse the first team, let alone aspire to joining it. Yet they remain at Old Trafford. If the Glazer family and David Gill have surpassed most expectations in funding Ferguson's spending, heightened optimism is only one consequence. Another is an increase in the deadwood and the marginalised among the mediocrity at Old Trafford.
In part, it is a result of the youth policy Ferguson implemented two decades ago. It has often produced quality - and in Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, there are three remnants of its greatest generation - but has always delivered quantity.
Graduates of the United youth policy are scattered across the lower leagues. Now David Gray, Darren Gibson, Ryan Shawcross, Craig Cathcart and Michael Barnes challenge the assumption that Manchester United players are instantly recognisable.
In addition, the ranks at Carrington are bolstered by returning loanees.
Ferguson's popularity among his fellow managers is probably not unrelated to his ability to lend them 18 players last season. Some, such as Danny Simpson, Phil Bardsley and Lee Martin, have displayed enough to suggest they have a future in the higher divisions, if not at Manchester United. Their role model, rather than Giggs or Scholes, could be David Jones who, recognising the improbability of establishing a regular place for himself in the United midfield, opted to join Derby and was promptly promoted to the Premier League.
Giuseppe Rossi, who has only featured occasionally in England but was prolific for Parma in Serie A, would be well-advised to encourage the attentions of his Italian suitors.
Others have been assured of a United future. But for injury, Ben Foster would have been expected to challenge Edwin van der Sar for the goalkeeping jersey. Jonny Evans and Gerard Pique, while at Sunderland and Real Zaragoza respectively, prospered to such an extent that they have been informed they are in contention for the first team this season.
The problem is that the defensive ranks are already overpopulated. The arrival of three midfielders means John O'Shea can be redefined from a utility player to merely a versatile defender.
But to accommodate Evans and Pique, departures are required and only Gabriel Heinze, attracting the attention of Liverpool, seems likely to leave. The aggressive Argentine would be mourned at Old Trafford after acquiring cult status; seeing him at Anfield would prove particularly painful for the Stretford End regulars.
But then there is Wes Brown, alternately impressive, inadequate or injured, who seemingly settled for the role of a stand-in long ago; he and O'Shea mean Bardsley and Simpson are respectively fourth- and fifth-choice right-backs. And below Brown in the hierarchy is Mikael Silvestre.
The Frenchman, bizarrely awarded a new contract 12 months ago, is entering his ninth year at Old Trafford, even if only a third of them, at most, were seasons to savour. He previously declined a move to Lyon that would have included a pay cut yet, especially if displaced by the younger generation of Evans and Pique, represents an unnecessary drain on the wage bill for one who does not rank among United's 22 best players.
The same applied to Kieran Richardson, whose posturing, coupled with his continued mediocrity, led to his unpopularity with the club's supporters.
The willingness of other Premier League managers to inquire about him is an indication of the rarity value of young, quick, left-footed England internationals, rather than the standard of his performance at United, and it was a surprise when he became the first meaningful departure this summer. Perhaps Roy Keane, previously assumed to be one of Richardson's critics, saw something in training to justify the excessive fee Sunderland paid.
Alan Smith is another to occupy the thoughts of Ferguson's counterparts elsewhere. United's reluctance to offer a new contract to a striker with a solitary goal since his recovery from long-term injury, along with the imminent arrival of Tevez, has highlighted his precarious position in the pecking order.
If admiration for his combative qualities abounds, a return of 12 goals in 93 games, albeit distorted by appearances in midfield and off the bench, indicate why he could be available. With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer invaluable as a substitute and Louis Saha's sporadic excellence, Smith appears the forward Ferguson can dispense with (assuming the sceptics' interpretation of Dong Fangzhou's presence at Old Trafford is correct).
But leaving Old Trafford involves a drop in salary and status. It has long been suggested that few prosper after leaving United - though Ruud van Nistelrooy may have joined Paul McGrath on the list of notable exceptions - but who benefits from an extended spell in the second team?
If it is unlikely that Heinze and Smith would settle for the lucrative inactivity some squad players enjoy, plenty of others do. It is a reason why Manchester United have 45 players and, while Ferguson's lending policy will surely continue, why their squad has a bloated look.
Playing for Manchester United may amount to a dream realised but, some of their underused and unwanted players may reflect, does playing for their reserves?
