Tall order for MLS All-Stars vs. ManU

Oh so media savvy and almost inhumanly self-assured, David Beckham didn't so much as blink when asked the question that always gets asked when a U.S. crew is pitted against a slick European side: Essentially, do you have a chance?

"I think we have a lot of young, good talent," Beckham said of the MLS All-Stars, who Wednesday night have the unenviable task of taking on Manchester United, kings of the English Premier League, at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. "There's a lot of youth throughout this league. It's going to grow. It's continuing to grow."

Yes, yes. But can you win?

"We have a chance," he said, finally, at the MLS pre-All Star Game news conference in SoHo. "It's going to be tough. It's never easy coming up against Manchester United. It's going to be a difficult game."

It was, perhaps, lukewarm assurance from Beckham, who jump-started his pro career with United in 1993 and who is all too accustomed to the Red Devils' history of dominance. It's hard to blame him: The All- Stars, who will be playing without Landon Donovan (calf injury), are looking to bounce back from last year's 5-2 drubbing, also at the hands of the Premier League champions. United has defeated three MLS opponents this month by a combined score of 14-2.

Red Bulls coach Hans Backe who will be at the helm for the All-Stars, was on hand for the news conference, along with the Houston Dynamo's Brad Davis and the Red Bulls' Thierry Henry. Other roster selections include the Red Bulls' Tim Ream and forward Juan Agudelo, an 18-year-old, homegrown fan favorite who has struggled for minutes under Backe.

United also made its presence known at the news conference, which attracted manager Sir Alex Ferguson, along with superstar striker Wayne Rooney and rookie phenom Chicharito.

Despite the overabundance of talent, Ferguson stressed that past results didn't portend future success.

"You never sit on the success of last year because it does you no good," he said, adding that United's recent victories were not a clear indicator of how it would do against the All-Stars. " has more teams [now] and more players, and the danger of that is the talent spreads out . . . You look at results this year and say we're winning comfortably, but the games have been difficult in different ways."

Manchester United, though, remains what Beckham called "the biggest club in the world." It would not be easy, Backe said, but a good show still was to be expected.

"A game like this is important for the league,'' Backe said. "It would be nice to pick up a result to show you can compete, especially a preseason game."

If anything, Backe has experience with the opponent. As assistant coach at Manchester City, he watched his side sweep United in the 2007-08 derby games. He is 2-0 against the Red Devils.

It was that bit of history that prompted another version of The Question. Would Backe's perfect record against United remain unblemished? Could this team beat that team?

"I'm very confident," he said, smiling.