ALEX FERGUSON confirmed last night that Cristiano Ronaldo was ready to start his first match of the season at Chelsea tomorrow and, with Dimitar Berbatov also fit again after a knee injury, the Manchester United manager is now deliberating whether Wayne Rooney might have to sacrifice his right to be considered a mandatory first-team pick.

Ferguson was not prepared to say whether he will relegate the England striker to a place among the substitutes, but someone is inevitably going to be disappointed unless Ferguson takes the gamble of trying to squeeze Ronaldo, Rooney, Berbatov and Carlos Tevez all into the same side.

Ferguson described it as "possible" to include his full attacking quartet but he also accepted that it would mean "sacrificing a bit" elsewhere and that Stamford Bridge was generally not a place for opposition managers to experiment.

"I've got selection problems," he acknowledged. "It's the right kind, mind you. We've got a collection of talents and we want to make sure we pick the right ones."

The other options are to leave out Tevez, or disappoint either Ronaldo or Berbatov by asking them to start on the bench. Rooney, however, must be considered the most vulnerable after what, by his standards, has been an erratic start to the season.

While Tevez, for example, has won the club's player-of-the-month award for August and has a happy knack of scoring in big games, Rooney has not scored in any of United's opening six matches and, although he is regarded as one of Ferguson's favourites, it is also understood the manager singled him out for criticism after the 2-1 defeat to Liverpool last Saturday.

With Berbatov making his debut, Rooney had been asked to take Ronaldo's usual position on the right wing and struggled to have any impact. Ferguson is said to have been shocked by the frequency with which Rooney gave away the ball, although the striker did partially redeem himself against Villarreal on Wednesday.

The only certainty is Ferguson's recruitment of Berbatov makes it his most difficult selection process since Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Teddy Sheringham were fighting for two places a decade ago.

"We had four fantastic strikers and no matter what combination I chose, you were always disappointing two of them every game," Ferguson recalled. "There were a few occasions where I was able to play Solskjaer as a wide player but, in the main, I was always disappointing someone. That's what a manager has to do. The name of the game is to win and if I've got a stronger squad than last season - and hopefully I have now after bringing in Berbatov - then that is the right thing to do. Whether it gives me one per cent improvement or 10 per cent, no matter. Any improvement is what we're looking for. And Berbatov was signed for that reason."

It made it sound like Berbatov should now be considered his first-choice striker, although it might also play on Ferguson's mind that the Bulgarian could be a little rusty. "He has played only one and a half [games] with Tottenham and one with us," said Ferguson. "He needs games. But he's okay."

As for Ronaldo, Ferguson was encouraged by the player's first appearance of the season, as a second-half substitute against Villarreal. "I have no qualms about playing him," said Ferguson. "He's bursting to play, nibbling in my ear all the time. When Ronaldo's playing and he's really, really buzzing and attacks people with speed, they're forced to go back.

"That was the case on Wednesday. He was on fire, the boy. He was revved up to perform really well and that's what surprised me given that he had had an operation and been in rehabilitation for two months. You have to say that his performance level was outstanding, really good."

Guardian Service