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The FA has banned Rooney and Scholes for 3 matches. I am not complaining about Scholes ban because his tackle was a dangerous one from behind. However Rooney’s was just a brush against the other players face.

The inconsistancy of the FA is ridiculous. Two Liverpool player got sent off in the same tournament two or three years ago and got no ban. I wish I could say I am shocked and surprised but you expect this crapness from The FA.

I just had to send an email to The FA – they wont respond or read it but it lets me get it off my chest!!

Once again the FA proves itself to be a joke. The inconsistancy is just ridiculous.

Get your act together!

Its not just United fans who think this is stupid and the FA are idiots

Get over it!! Rooney has said all is fine now – please remember it was not Ronaldo who got him sent off. Rooney was the one who pushed Ronaldo and stamped on Carvalho.

Gerrard has said its a “disgrace” for his part in Rooney’s red card.

Of course this is from the completely good as gold Gerrard. He never cheats and dives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIzawprkcHo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L073tGdLETo&NR

Hes just trying to make excuses – at the end of the day England were not good enough and that includes Gerrard who was poor aswell.

NB This quote is from his book (and he may have wrote this right after the incident) and he may not feel like this anymore – however he properly still does!

In other football stuff, United beat Sevilla 3-0 in the friendly match which was the ‘celebrate’ the opening of the new quadrant. Ronaldo got a great reception and scored again. Thats 3 goals in 2 pre-season games.

In worse news, it looks like Rooney to miss start of season However Chelsea lost against Liverpool in the Community shield

I went to a Manchester United hospitality open day today. Got a chance to see the new facilities, see the first team train and the final of the Manchester United Premier Cup. The game was between Arsenal and Chivas Guadalajara (Mexico). Chivas Guadalajara won 2-1.

I got a call from United on Tuesday at work. They were calling for my boss but hes on holiday. Luckily I answered and said I would go instead!! Also my boss is a massive City fan so wouldn’t have of gone – texted him after the call and he said he would have given it to me anyway.

The best part was seeing the United team train. They all seemed like they were in great spirits. Ronaldo and Scholes had some real good shots. They trained for about 80 minutes which was mainly warming up, and shooting and crossing exercise and finally a 10 men mini match with the goalkeepers all rotating. It was good to see how they train and may put into training for the team I play for some of the things they did! Missing from the training session was Rio, Carrick, Rooney and Neville who were injured.

The match afterwards was alright with some good goals. Afterwards on the way out, at the reception area of the Treble Suite I was given a couple ‘souvenirs’. A United pen and also some sort of card holder (I think its a card holder!). They are both from Aquascutum and have the United emblem on them.

I have been thinking about getting the new United top. When I went to the United megastore at OT it cost a massive £44, £55 with a name on it. I went to Sport Soccer afterwards and it was only £31 (about £38 with name on back). They only had in stock ones with Rooney on the back. I want one with Solskjaer (either No. 20 with his name or “legend”) or Cantona on the back.

View photos and vids

There was a press conference this afternoon with new England manager Steve McClaren, new captain John Terry and the new assistant manager Terry Venables. I think its a great choice to have Venables as assistant. He will hopefully help get passion in the team playing some great flowing attacking football.

One of the first question McClaren had to answer was about dropping Beckham from this squad for the game versus Greece next week. He said he spoke to Becks last Monday and he took it well. “He took the news well and will fight for his place. I will never close the door on that”. He said that this is a new era. The way he was talking though it sounds like it may be the end of Becks England career, which is a real shame. He is still one of the best right sided players in the world and although not as consistant recently, his crossing, passing and freekicks are top class.

However, as I have said before, I suppose this is a good sign that he will drop players he feels are not in form and not just pick them because they are big names and just pick them on reputation. I still think Becks should be in the squad though.

A lot of people dont seem to remember that although Becks had poor WC he still did score 1 goal and a couple assists. (Thats half of Englands goals – most of the England team had a poor WC).

Here is the England squad for the game versus Greece:

Goalkeepers:
Robinson (Tottenham), Kirkland (Liverpool), Foster (Man Utd).

Defenders:
Bridge (Chelsea), Brown (Man Utd), Carragher (Liverpool), A Cole (Arsenal), Dawson (Tottenham), Ferdinand (Man Utd), G Neville (Man Utd), P Neville (Everton), Terry (capt, Chelsea), Young (Charlton).

Midfielders:
Downing (Middlesbrough), Gerrard (Liverpool), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Jenas (Tottenham), Lampard (Chelsea), Lennon (Tottenham), Richardson (Man Utd), Wright-Phillips (Chelsea).

Strikers:
Ashton (West Ham), Bent (Charlton), Crouch (Liverpool), Defoe (Tottenham).

Only 9 players who were in Sven’s WC squad are in this squad. Just a sign of the new direction McClaren is taking – however there are a few players out because of injury and future suspensions e.g. Carrick and Rooney.

In other news (United news) United have signed a new goalkeeper and a couple of players have extended their contract. United have signed West Brom keeper Tomasz Kuszczak. The first year is on loan and then it will be permanent. He is likely to replace Van Der Saar as first team goalkeeper when his contract ends at the end of the 2008 season.

J S Park and ‘Micky’ Silvestre and extended there contracts until 2010 and 2009 respectively. Rooney looks set to extend his contract which is already until 2010. Rooney recently said he wants to stay at United for the rest of his playing career. Read about this in the ManUtd site. United have also loaned out Lee Martin to Rangers. Hes done really well in pre-season and looks like he could be a real decent player. Loaning him out to Rangers will hopefully give him good first team experience.

I just have to say a really like the new United official site. Just shows what a difference a good web design company makes and Lightmaker is one of the best.

The new England football captain is John Terry. I think its the right decision.

Neville would have been a good choice but he is not exactly young (I think hes about 31) and will potentially be retiring in a few years.

Both Gerrard and Terry have many years ahead of them. I think its best that the captain is Terry. His place is guaranteed. Although Gerrard is almost certain to be in the team with the problem of Gerrard and Lampard not being able to play in the same team he may be dropped. This would mean a change in the captain. I think its best to have the same captain for as many games as possible.

Also, with Liverpool if Gerrard is not playing well, Liverpool tend to not play well. We cannot afford to have this sort of situation for England.

Former England captain David Beckham has apparently not been picked for the England friendly game versus Greece next week according to The Sun. The Sun is making lots out of it saying its the end of his England career. However Becks has only just returned to training after the injury he picked up in the world cup and playing 45mins for Real Madrid recently. I am still a little surprised he was not picked in the squad (maybe he shouldnt be in first 11 but I would have picked him in squad). However its a good sign for England in that the manager is picking players who he feels are in form and not just because they are big names (or play for big clubs) e.g. Theo Walcott.

Becks has 94 caps for England – I hope he makes it to 100. If he plays well for Real Madrid (which he did last season) he should be able to but its up to McClaren. It also depends on the form of other players, namely Aaron Lennon.