Manchester United Blog | The Stretty Rant

I’m leaving home at about 6:30am my time to drive to Kansas City in order to see the Manchester United match, but not before I compile all of today’s United news. Sadly, it’s actually a pretty slow day for news and there is only one story I can find worth reporting. Sir Alex confirmed Rio Ferdinand will be sidelined for six more weeks while also providing the status of other injured players. And for today’s fun fact, SkyBet has United has the favorites to sign Mesut Ozil.

Depending on the internet situation at my hotel, there may or may not be a Stretty Stories for Monday. If there isn’t one tomorrow, I promise I’ll make up for it with exclusive pictures from the match!

Continue reading 25.07.10 Stretty Stories

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It’s been another quiet day on the news front. Seems the rumors have died down while United are across the pond on tour. Of course, even on the quiet days the press can’t stay away from Manchester United. The press seems to be posing a lot of questions. Is this group of youngsters the next wave of Fergie’s fledglings?  Could Hargreaves’ career be nearing the end? Is Patrice Evra on his way to Spain? And the question that seems to be popping up in multiple sources: Are United too old to win the Premier League?

Continue reading 18.7.10 Stretty Stories

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Manchester United defender and England captain Rio Ferdinand has slammed stories that suggested Owen Hargreaves is set to announce his retirement this week. Ferdinand, who was using the social networking site Twitter, was bemused at the origin of these rumours. Hargreaves made a single appearance last season in the 1-0 victory over Sunderland at the back end of the season. His previous appearance was against Chelsea in September of the 2008/09 season. Many fear that the injuries will take their toll on the former Bayern Munich man, who had audaciously been linked with a return to the England setup before the World Cup finals in South Africa.

Continue reading Ferdinand: Hargreaves retirement stories are way off mark

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Well done, media, you got what you wanted..

After months of doom-mongering and encouraging with the ridiculous leading question “What if Wayne Rooney gets injured”, the media finally got their wish last night in Germany when the 34 goal striker pulled up with what looked like either a nasty ankle injury or even the dreaded m word, and left the stadium on crutches.

Continue reading Well done, British Media, for constantly asking “what if..”

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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson believes that Wayne Rooney will be fit to play against Bolton Wanderers tomorrow evening after concerns grew following the striker ‘limping’ after the 2-1 victory over Liverpool last weekend. Wayne Rooney has been in excellent form this season, scoring 33 goals so far in this campaign. There was a concern that Sir Alex Ferguson might rest Wayne Rooney with Bayern Munich next up on Tuesday night.

Continue reading Bolton Wanderers vs. Manchester United Preview

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Michael Owen’s injury nightmare continues as Sir Alex Ferguson revealed that he believes United’s number seven will be out for few weeks. Michael Owen started the League Cup final against Aston Villa on Sunday and scored the opening goal to help United to a 2-1 victory. Owen pulled up half way through the first half to be replaced by Wayne Rooney, who scored the winner in the second half. Ferguson stated that both Owen and Rafael will go for scans on the injuries they sustained in the match.

Continue reading Ferguson: Michael Owen will be out for a few weeks

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Back in December I got some stick for defending Sir Alex Ferguson for fielding a makeshift three man defense against Fulham at Craven Cottage. Some readers seemed to think that I was a 3-5-2 advocate, when in fact I do not feel it is effective in top level football anymore. Forwards are withdrawn to the flanks and cut inside to attack, so there is little need for a three center halves, with one effectively spare – but that is for another blog/discussion! My defense for Ferguson was based on the fact that United were suffering from a defensive injury nightmare with Van Der Sar, Vidic, Ferdinand, Brown, Evans, O’shea, Neville, Rafael and Fabio all unavailable for selection. Could it be that Chelsea are now experiencing similar problems?

Continue reading Chelsea to experience United defensive injury crisis?

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Brazilian Anderson will miss the rest of the season after damaging his cruciate ligament injury early in the West Ham game on Tuesday. The midfielder was making his first start after alleged disciplinary issues and got injured after less than ten minutes, hobbling round as a passenger until the 18th, but now it seems that the damage is far worse than first anticipated.

Continue reading Anderson injured: Cruciate ligament damage rules midfielder out

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Manchester United’s defeat to Everton was only the third time in Premier League history Evertonian’s got one over us at Goodsion Park. The first defeat at Goodison in the Premier League was in February 1995, when a Daniel Amokachi gave the Toffees a 1-0 victory. They had to wait another ten years to taste victory against United, another header from an Everton legend – Duncan Ferguson – gave the home side a 1-0 victory, which helped in their push for a fourth place finish. On both occasions we lost the league to Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea respectively. In 1995 we were without our talisman Eric Cantona, whilst in 2005 we arguably had a team in transition – but what was our excuse yesterday?

Continue reading Goodison defeat does not bode well for title aspirations

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Manchester United’s Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic is set for a 10 day spell on the sidelines after tweaking a nerve in his leg before the embarrassing 1-0 defeat to Leeds United on Sunday. There are a number of reports suggesting that Vidic is looking for a transfer out of United, although his agent has stated that the defender is ‘happy’ at Old Trafford.

Continue reading Nemanja Vidic out injured for ten days

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