Post-season thoughts, hopes, doom, gloom and Welbeck (and Carrick) love
Ten year anniversary for a key, unsung, cog at United
Podcast: transfer rumours assessed, youth development, buying success and more…
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Reports in Spain have suggested that both Barcelona and Manchester United turned down the chance to sign young striking prodigy Mario Balotelli – who now applies his trade for Inter Milan in Serie A – earlier in his career. United beat Internazionale 2-0 (over two legs) last season – with Balotelli coming on as sub in first game and being subbed off at Old Trafford. On both occasions the youngster appeared to lose his head in the heat the game.
Manchester United centre half Rio Ferdinand could be fit for the trip to London to take on Spurs on Saturday after Sir Alex Ferguson claimed he had a ‘chance’ of making the squad. Ferdinand has been out for nearly a month after injuring a thigh muscle in training for United – with young Evans deputising for the experienced defender.
Having been away from so long I haven’t been able to update the Statistics on the website – until now that is. So far we’ve played five games (including the Charity Shield) , scored ten goals, conceded four and Wayne Rooney leads the scoring charts with five goals in all competitions.
Manchester United centurion Wayne Rooney has shrugged off the claims from Arsenal fans that he was on his way down already before contact from Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia in the 2-1 victory over the Gunners last Saturday. Rooney scored from the resulting penalty – which brought United back into the game.
Yes – we’ve been as slow as old cart horse John Terry chasing an old granny lately but with good reason! My house move is all done just waiting on broadband activation now – but when there is connection everything will be up to speed!
Anyhow that is enough of my pathetic excuses, on to more promising matters of Owen Hargreaves return with his inclusion in the Champions League squad. If there was no chance of him playing – like when Mourinho left out Michael Ballack in 2007 after his injury – Fergie wouldn’t have even thought about including the midfielder in his list. Turns out Hargreaves is back at United this month – and hopefully not too far away from first team action.
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The future of midfielder Anderson has been cast into doubt according to reports in the Daily Mirror and Daily Mail.
The Mirror claims that Sir Alex Ferguson did not take kindly to Anderson’s reaction at being left out of the entire squad for the Community Shield clash with Chelsea – the Brazilian apparently saying he would rather be elsewhere than not in the squad prompted Ferguson to call his bluff.
The Mail goes a little further than this and claims that the coaching staff at Old Trafford have got concerns over Anderson after his “best friend” Ronaldo was sold in the summer.
After not featuring against Chelsea, Anderson was due to come on against Birmingham but an injury to Jonny Evans meant he was not brought on. He was played on the left wing in the defeat at Burnley before coming off.
The departure will be a blow for many United fans who were hoping after his difficult second season that he would flourish this year. However the loss of form that afflicted him last year divided many fans, though it would still be a bizarre move for Ferguson to ship Anderson out this close to the transfer deadline given that the alleged incident happened over 2 weeks ago.
Sir Alex Ferguson has already written off Liverpool’s chances of challenging for the Premier League next season – even before a ball has been kicked. The United manager was speaking on Wednesday when he claimed that ‘Chelsea were a bigger threat’ and that ‘other teams will know more about them’ – indicating they’ll work out how to play against Benitez’s 4-2-3-1 favoured formation.
Rio Ferdinand has been one of the best defenders in Europe over the past three years – a far cry from the criticism aimed at him for failing to turn upto a drugs test and his reluctancy to sign a new contract back in 2005. However, Ferdinand has taken a swipe of Manchester City’s pursuit of Chelsea captain John Terry – questioning why the man who slipped and missed the crucial penalty in Moscow last season – would want to join a team that aren’t going to win any trophies?
United and Arsenal have had some fantastic contests throughout the years – with United putting in an exhilarating performance against Arsenal in the 3-1 victory in May. However, Sir Alex Ferguson believes that Arsenal have got the ‘biggest test’ in 2009/10 due to the fact that the club is apparently ‘strapped for cash’. Fergie’s comments come after striker Emmanuel Adebayor left the club for Manchester City this week.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that the Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech may well have moved to United prior to his transfer to Chelsea from French club Rennes. The Chelsea goalkeeper was bought, along with former United target Arjen Robben, by Claudio Ranieri before Roman Abramovich came to power at Stamford Bridge. Fergie spoke on how close United were ingetting the Czech Republic International.
