From The Guardian (before last nights match):
For the moment Ferguson is standing behind his third front man. Last Friday, a few hours before United's first match in the Amsterdam event, he struggled to convince sceptical journalists that Forlan had been "our best player during pre-season".
Forlan showed little to support that contention over the weekend. His greatest talent seemed to lie in disturbing the spectators in the upper seats of the Amsterdam Arena. His anonymity over 90 excruciating minutes against Ajax was such that, just after half-time, the public announcer mistakenly proclaimed that he had been substituted.
Forlan admits he is suffering a loss of self-belief. It was, he acknowledged yesterday, a harrowing time. "I can't explain what has gone wrong," he said. "But it is with me all the time, even when I try to sleep. And the more I think about it, the harder it becomes."
At least he is confronting the issue. He spoke yesterday of being homesick in his early days in Manchester. He did not have a car and was living in a hotel. Above all, the young Uruguayan has missed his sister Alejandra. When he was 12, growing up in Montevideo, she was paralysed in a car crash that killed her boyfriend Gonzalo. Forlan has adapted his £700,000 house in Alderley Edge so that she can visit.
"I came without anything. I missed my friends, my family, the culture of Uruguay and the South American people and there were a few problems," he said. "But it is settled now. I have become good friends with Seba [Veron] and the young players. I am happy here. It's just that I need to start scoring."
His team-mates have offered support but, elsewhere in the club, patience is wearing thin. One director was overheard towards the end of last season discussing Forlan's career as a junior tennis champion and wondering aloud whether "he ever hit the net then".