Posts Tagged ‘manchester united’

Next United manager??

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Manchester United are apparently starting to look at the options for the next United manager. There have been many names mentioned. One paper said that Fergie wants David Moyes. Another says that it will be Jose after next season.

Not sure about if he has another year on contract but I think he will stay until at least the end of next season.

I personally would like either Pep Guardiola, David Moyes or Jose. They all have there pros and cons. Pep Guardiola has done really well at Barcelona but still not that much experience. Also, he is very much part of the Barce family and probably would not want to leave.

David Moyes is a top manager and done good things on a low budget but maybe not a “big” manager and able to attract the “big” players.

Jose of course has won loads, is certainly a “big” manager and proved last night when Inter beat Barce that he knows his stuff. However, he never stays at a club for that long and would he change United’s style of play?? From what he has said in the past, he really seems to like United.

(I think Martin O’Neil would be a fairly good option too).

Whoever succeeds Fergie it will be an almost impossible job replacing the best manager ever.

United v Liverpool

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

It was one of the big games of the season yesterday, with Manchester United playing Liverpool at Old Trafford. It was about 53 weeks since the same fixture last time when Liverpool easily beat United 4-1. That was a bad day!! However, the result yesterday was much better and was a nice belated birthday present. United won 2-1.

United went into the game as the team most in form but Liverpool had a couple good games with a win against Pompy and also in the Europa Cup. Also there top striker Torres had scored 4 games in those 2 games.

The game started of fast for about the first 15 minutes. Torres scored with a good header after some poor defending by United. Still cant take anything away from a good Liverpool goal. However, United equalised after about 11 minutes with a Rooney penalty.

There was all sorts of debate whether it was a penalty or not. There is no denying that Macherano had hold of Valencia out of the box and a bit of pulling. Valencia fell in the penalty box but there is lots of debate saying he let go just before getting into penalty box. With the tugging and pulling, just because he let go doesnt mean he isnt a penalty. Thats what I thought anyway and I later found out that by the letter of the law – it WAS a penalty.

The law states:

If a defender starts holding an attacker outside the penalty area and continues holding him inside the penalty area, the referee must award a penalty kick.

Anyway, after the first 15 minutes it was a bit of an odd game. Liverpool played very defensively and Torres had very little service. Gerrard once again was annonymous. Not too bothered as a United fan but its not a good sign as an England fan – hes not played well this whole season.

United pretty much controlled the midfield with 5 midfielders. Fletcher had another excellent game and was MOTM. Personally, I though Park was MOTM. He was playing in the middle of the midfield and was pretty much playing just behind Rooney. He made some great runs, had some chances he maybe should have done better but he scored with a diving header from a great cross by Fletcher (and excellent run outside by Neville). I loved his celebration!!

One thing I have to mention is the behaviour of Torres. It seems to have gone down recently. Hes clearly frustrated. When United were awarded the penalty, he kicked the penalty spot trying to take a chunk out of it. Arguably could have got a yellow card for that. He had a few all moments as were having a go at Park thinking he dived and then waving an imaginary card. I do like Torres and think hes a clearly world class player and admire the loyalty he has shown and what hes said but his recent petulance is not a good side to him. He seems really fired up and on another day and maybe with a different ref he could have been sent off?? Well maybe??

Ronaldo may come back to United??

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

In a recent interview, Sir Alex Ferguson, commented on Ronaldo. He has said hes really proud when he see Ronaldo, he believes that when Ronaldo came to United as a young player it was at the right time of his career. He even says “he may come back, you never know“.

It certainly does seem that Ronaldo left on good terms with Fergie and United. I have said it before, ever since Ronaldo has left United he has said some very nice things about United.

Back to the subject of Ronaldo maybe one day returning to United, he said “I don’t see it happening if things go wrong at Real Madrid necessarily, but he loved Manchester United so it may happen. He loved the club. If you look at the six years he had with us, he never missed training and he was never injured. He always played. He was fantastic.” “It wasn’t easy to see him leave. I had a good chat with the boy about it but he had made up his mind. Last year he was begging me to let him go but this year it was a sensible discussion.”

Fergie also said that he believes Ronaldo is the best player in the world by miles. Streets ahead of Kaka and Messi. “There is no doubt it is a huge loss. It is a challenge for us because it won’t be the same without Ronaldo. He is the best player in this world of ours – by absolutely miles. He is streets ahead of Lionel Messi, streets ahead of Kaka. Look at his figures. They are unbelievable. The attempts he has had on goal, the attacks in the penalty box, his positions, his headers, his shots.”

Anyway, good luck to Ronaldo but if United play Real in the Champions League I hope he ends up on the losing side!! So far his Real Madrid career hasnt gone to well playing 45 minutes against Shamrock Rovers (who finished last season in 7th place in the LOI premier division) and didnt play that well – and Real Madrid only won 1-0 with a late goal by Benzema. On the other side, new United no.7 Michael Owen has played in 2 games and scored 2 goals.

Owen > Ronaldo > Tevez

Old Trafford Museum and Stadium Tour

Monday, July 20th, 2009

I finally got round to doing the Old Trafford Museum and Stadium Tour the other week – after supporting United for pretty much all my life. Finally got around to organising it and finding a day when my mate could also make it.

The museum had all the usual things you expected with the various trophies and exhibitions. Surprisingly there was also a whole section on Ronaldo, who had only recently been sold to Real Madrid. United spent all the money with the exhibition and then he leaves!! They have apparently said its some a “farewell appreciation“.

As well as the museum there was also a “speed goal” thing to see how hard you could kick a football. £1 for 3 kicks. The fastests I kicked it was 53mph, my mate just beat me with 55mph with his last kick!! Compared to professionals and the fastest was I think Rooney and Ronaldo with speeds of about 74mph.

The main thing I was looking forward to was the stadium tour. Watched round the stadium, sat in the dug out, saw the changing room etc. The dug out had some really comfy Recaro seats! :) The players lounge was not as “posh” as expected. The changing room was as expected – seen pics and videos of it before after United have won league etc. There had the shirts up to show where each player sat. Ronaldo’s space was empty (of course). He used to sit next to Rooney. Tevez’s spot was also empty.

Took a few photos which you can see on Facebook. I have also uploaded some to Flickr.

United sign Michael Owen *shock*

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

So its now official. Yesterday, the odds on United signing Michael Owen dropped from 20/1 to 5/2. I dont know where the rumour started but there was talk that Owen was in Manchester and would be having a medical soon. Anyway, as I just said its now official and Michael Owen is a United player.

I wasnt sure what to think at first especially with him being a former Liverpool player. However,thinking about it more it could work out to be a good deal for everyone.The exact details of the deal have not been announced but its a 2 year pay-as-you-play deal with a signficant salary cut from the £110k a week he was getting at Newcastle. It will be based on bonuses for playing and scoring. One thing this shows is that it seems he has the desire to succeed – to perform for United, help us win trophies and it may also help him get his England place back.

No matter what you say his goal / game ratio is still very impressive. At Newcastle he only started 58 league games but scored 26 goals. Total appearences were 71. For Real Madrid, the 13 goals he scored were mostly from the subs bench so he could come on as a sub to “change the game”. A different option. He may be the goal poacher United need??

The most obvious worry when signing Owen is his injury record. He has had lots of injuries including his ankle, groin, knees and the dreaded metatarsal. However, he was given a rigorous medical examination so hope the United medical staff properly checked him out.

One thing though, with the signing of Owen it looks unlikely we will sign another striker (even though we have arguably lost 2 with Tevez (more or less gone) and Ronaldo (who was pretty much a striker). Will having Rooney, Berbatov, Owen and the 2 youngsters Macheda and Wellbeck be enough?? Personally I would have preferred David Villa or Benzema. Benzema is at Real and Villa will properly go to Barce. Are United going to make another signing?? Do we need a central midfielder?? How come getting Lampard???

Anyway, good luck to Owen and hope he gets his form back and plays like the days when he was at Liverpool. Since we have signed him quite early in the summer, he will get a proper pre-season with us. His debut is likely to be United’s first game in the tour of south-east Asia against malaysia XI on 18th July. His home debut will be on 5th August against Valencia on a pre-season friendly.

NB – By the “Law of Returning Players” he is almost certain to score against Liverpool next season!! :)