Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours

[mr_missile]

UNITED TRACK STROOTMAN

Manchester United could be set to solve their midfield problems with a move for Dutch international Kevin Strootman.

The PSV midfielder was first linked with a move to Old Trafford in the summer, and his agent has talked up United's interest ahead of the January transfer window.

Chiel Dekker, who has quite a magnificent name, told SHOUTsport: "All the top clubs in Europe know about Kevin, but a move to England next summer is his first priority and, yes, Manchester United and other big clubs in Europe have been in touch with me."

[mr_missile]

Fergie predicts tight title fight

Sir Alex Ferguson has predicted another long and tight title race following Manchester United's narrow win over West Ham on Wednesday night.

Robin van Persie scored the only goal after just 33 seconds, his 14th of the season, which proved enough to keep the Red Devils ahead of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.

It was not pretty, though, and Carlton Cole could easily have snatched a point in the latter stages.

"We got a great start," said Ferguson.

"You hope to go on from a start like that and some of our football was very good but we never quite finished them off.

"We have played with the diamond quite a few times this season and done very well so I don't think that is an excuse.

"But we have got the three points and are still ahead in the league.

"With Chelsea drawing it draws us away from them a little bit further.

"But of course, (Manchester) City are on our tails so it is going to be a long season."

While not exactly unfortunate, with a little bit more composure West Ham could easily have gained a share of the spoils.

But, as Sam Allardyce pointed out, in players like Van Persie, United have extra class.

"Manchester United have lots of players who will have good spells and can come up trumps when they need them to," said Allardyce.

"Robin van Persie is a quality player and we have largely kept him quiet.

"But he will score 20 goals for Manchester United, maybe 30. In the end that is normally the difference.

"What chances did Manchester United create? None really. We went right to the very end but couldn't quite make it.

"Whether they played to their potential or not doesn't matter does it? They still won. They have a nasty habit of doing that."

[VoltaRedonda]

Ferguson tinkering with the formation again. Playing with no wingers against West Ham, I could see that we attacked alot but definitely our defence is still frail . Do we need vidic?? Or do we just need Phil Jones and Chris Smalling getting their form back???

[VoltaRedonda]

Reading vs Manchester United 1.30am tonight

Hopefully no replay of the norwich game in this fixture. Lets get Carrick, Cleverley and Anderson in the midfield and we should win this a little comfortably . Although there is a strong feeling that Nani will leave this January, hopefully he can play and prove to us that his heart is still in Manchester, no more being consistently inconsistent!!!

GGMU

[machoman]

1 December 2012

By Phil Dawkes
BBC Sport

Manchester United remain top of the Premier League after beating Reading in a remarkable seven-goal thriller.

United fell behind when Hal Robson-Kanu lashed in but hit back via Anderson's finish and a Wayne Rooney penalty.

The Royals reclaimed the lead when Adam Le Fondre and Sean Morrison both headed in from corners.

The visitors swung the game their way through neat finishes from Rooney and Robin van Persie, who also had a shot that crossed the line not given.

United came into the game knowing a point would be enough to return them to the top of the Premier League table.

Ferguson's men had been boosted by the results of Saturday's earlier games. Manchester City only drew 1-1 at home against Everton, while Chelsea were beaten 3-1 at West Ham.

That the Red Devils extended their lead over their title rivals tells only half the story of a phenomenal game of football.

The Madejski Stadium has already hosted its share of see-saw goalfests this season and provides more questions than answers about the overall quality of this United side.

The first half alone was an epic, showcasing seven legitimate goals, another wrongly adjudged not to have crossed the line, appalling defending that warranted a pre-half time tactical substitution and the kind of end-to-end football used to justify the Premier League's unofficial reputation as the best league in the world.

Reading may not be taking any points but they deserve their share of the plaudits for a committed contribution to a game from which any reward would have been a bonus in their quest to extend their top-flight stay to a second season.

The most notable examples of defensive frailty came from the title challengers, who fell behind to the first goal for the 14th time this season - when Jonny Evans's poor clearing header allowed Robson-Kanu time and space to lash in from close range - and then conspired to fall behind again midway through the half when identical Nicky Shorey corners were headed home in the box by Le Fondre and Morrison respectively.

Full-back Rafael was taken out of the action to be replaced by Chris Smalling, but in truth any one of the back five could have suffered the Brazilian's fate.

That United were not facing an uphill battle of the sort that endured Arsenal in the Capital One Cup owes purely to their potency at the other end of the field, where they retain the ability to carve teams open seemingly at will.

A slick one-two between Anderson and Ashley Young and a superb near-post finish from the Brazilian, followed by a calmly-converted penalty from Rooney after Jonny Evans was bundled over by Jay Tabb, overturned the Royals' first goal.

And Rooney's neat side-footed goal from a Patrice Evra cross, just before Van Persie's own tidy finish following a flick from his strike-partner, ensured they led at the break.

United should have had a fifth as well prior to the 45th minute when Van Persie's shot from close range crossed the line before being cleared by Shaun Cummings, but the officials ruled otherwise.

After a first half like that, the second was always likely to be a relative disappointment and so it proved with far fewer chances.

Van Persie spurned the best of them when he nipped in to capitalise on a poor piece of control by home keeper Adam Federici but after buying himself a yard to shoot the Dutchman unbelievably put his effort over the bar.The miss ensured anxious closing stages for United but they demonstrated a resolve they had so sorely lacked earlier in the game to repel Reading's increasingly desperate attacks.

With Chelsea and West Brom both losing on Saturday it means the gap between second and third is now seven points, doing little to quash suggestions that this season is already shaping into a two-horse race between United and City.

Ferguson's side have their noses in front but the flaws inherent in their display at the Madejski means they have a lot of work to do before they can consider themselves favourites.

Reading manager Brian McDermott: "It was a fantastic effort and quality as well. I'm so proud of our players today.

"We know what our agenda is for this season. There is no problem with confidence from our players.

"I think we are becoming people's second team in the Premier League. We want our results to match our performance and hopefully that will come. Hopefully it is good to watch for our fans."

Reading
3
Robson-Kanu 8′Le Fondre 19′Morrison 23′

Man Utd
4
Anderson 13′Rooney 16′ (pen), 30′Van Persie 34′

First-half flurry

This match equalled the record for most first-half goals scored in a Premier League match. The only other games to feature seven goals before the break were Blackburn v Leeds (Sep 1997) and Derby v Bradford (Apr 2000).

[Rickey]

1) Rooney warns against leaky defence...

2) Ferguson hits out at MU defending....

Those 2 statements by the MU manager n senior player speaks for themselves abt the troubles facing this team trying to win back the league championship frm their 'noisy' blue neighbours...imagine letting in so many goals against lowly relegation teams like QPR n last nite Reading...This is their achiles heel, their perennial problem, the same problem tat plagued them last season n cause them to lose the league title..

Imho, not much use talking abt their problem week after week...action (doing something positive abt it ) is beta than a thousand words !..to fix their problem once n for all...

[mr_missile]

Originally Posted by Rickey

1) Rooney warns against leaky defence...

2) Ferguson hits out at MU defending....

Those 2 statements by the MU manager n senior player speaks for themselves abt the troubles facing this team trying to win back the league championship frm their 'noisy' blue neighbours...imagine letting in so many goals against lowly relegation teams like QPR n last nite Reading...This is their achiles heel, their perennial problem, the same problem tat plagued them last season n cause them to lose the league title..

Imho, not much use talking abt their problem week after week...action (doing something positive abt it ) is beta than a thousand words !..to fix their problem once n for all...

agreed bro. our defence this season is not up to the usual high standards of the past where we had vidic and ferdinand in their prime playing together game after game.

last season and again this season, the injuries to vidic, jones and smalling have depleted the defence such that even carrick had to play a central defensive role at times.

thank goodness we have a superb strike force of rvp, rooney, chicharito, (and to a much lesser extent) wellback where we have scored impressive away wins at chelski, pool and of cos the "6 pointer" over city at their own backyard. we also beat arsenal at home too.

these wins over chelski, city and arsenal will surely put us in good stead come the 2nd half of the season. last season we didn't manage to win most of our games against the other top 4 teams and i believe that ultimately cost us the title.

[mr_missile]

United to face Mourinho's men

Manchester United will face Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid in a mouth-watering Champions League last-16 showdown - Celtic are playing Italian champions Juventus and Arsenal will take on last season's runners-up Bayern Munich.

United's clash with Real - which will see Cristiano Ronaldo face his former team - was the pick of the ties, and Sir Alex Ferguson's men have the advantage of playing away first.

Ronaldo scored 118 goals in 292 appearances for United, but it was another Ronaldo - the Brazilian striker - who took the honours when the clubs last faced each other in 2003.

He scored a hat-trick at Old Trafford as Real went through 6-5 on aggregate.

Cristiano Ronaldo's last match for United was in the Champions League final defeat by Barcelona, after which he moved to Madrid for a world record £80m transfer.

United will play the first leg at the Bernabeu on February 13 with the return

at Old Trafford on March 5.

Arsenal and Celtic, who were group runners-up, will both play their second legs away.

Arsenal will play the first leg at the Emirates Stadium on February 19 and the second at the Allianz Arena in Munich on March 13.

Celtic will take on Juventus at Celtic Park on February 12, with the return leg in Turin on March 6.

Barcelona, the bookies' favourites, will take on seven-time winners AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund, who many pundits are tipping to win the competition this season, will face the improving Ukrainians Shakhtar Donetsk.

Turkish champions Galatasaray will face Schalke, Valencia face Zlatan Ibrahimovic's PSG and Porto take on unfancied Malaga.

Galatasaray v Schalke 04

Celtic v Juventus

Arsenal v Bayern Munich

Shakhtar Donetsk v Borussia Dortmund

AC Milan v Barcelona

Real Madrid v Man Utd

Valencia v PSG

FC Porto v Malaga

First legs to be played 12/13/19/20th February, 2013

Second legs to be played 5/6/12/13th March, 2013

[VoltaRedonda]

Bro, It just had to be written in the stars right that we have to meet Real Madrid. Real Madrid is currently having their worst form right now but when they meet us they will bring their A game

[mr_missile]

Originally Posted by VoltaRedonda

Bro, It just had to be written in the stars right that we have to meet Real Madrid. Real Madrid is currently having their worst form right now but when they meet us they will bring their A game

it is the knock-out phase of the CL. every team will be hard to beat. the form teams right now has got to be juve, dortmund, malaga and of cos barca. but come feb when the games are played, who knows?

the real game will be a hard-fought one and i pray that our united will emerge victorious over the 2 legs. just have to restrict our old boy ronaldo and half the battle will be won.

mourinho, if he wants the old trafford hot seat when saf retires, will have to proof his mettle then.

but i believe united will put up more than a good fight. looking forward to this game!

[mr_missile]

United held by brave Swansea

Manchester United were held to their first draw of the season as Swansea held on in a 1-1 stalemate in the Premier League at the Liberty Stadium.

Patrice Evra gave United an early lead, but Michu drew Swansea level before the half hour mark with his 13th goal of the campaign.

United dominated the second half and twice hit the crossbar, but Swansea defended brilliantly to pick up a share of the spoils.

After a bright start from Swansea it was United who created the first noteworthy effort of the game on 13 minutes when Wayne Rooney saw his swerving shot kept out by a smart save from Michel Vorm.

Vorm came to Swansea's rescue again a minute later when he produced a smart reaction save to keep out Ashley Young's shot inside the box after Carrick played the winger in on goal with a fine pass.

United made the breakthrough on 16 minutes with Evra heading home his third Premier League goal of the season after rising highest to meet Robin van Persie's whipped in corner with the ball going in off the far post past Leon Britton on the line.

Swansea came roaring back into the game and they drew level just before the hour mark with Michu netting his 13th goal of the season.

Wayne Routledge slipped in Jonathan de Guzman inside the box and his shot across goal could only be palmed out by David de Gea to the grateful Michu who tapped home the rebound from close-range.

United had a great chance to restore their lead just before the break when Evra got in down the left and pulled the back for the unmarked Rooney 12 yards from goal, but the England man could only fire his shot straight at Vorm.

Swansea started the brighter of the two sides at the start of the second half and De Gea was twice called into the action to keep out efforts from Kemy Agustien and Wayne Routledge.

Ashley Williams produced a superb block to deny Young inside the box after van Persie teed up the winger for a shot on goal.

The visitors were beginning to turn the screw and United were inches away from restoring their lead on 67 minutes when out of nothing van Persie saw his instinctive volley from Rooney's cross loop onto the crossbar.

Things threatened to boil over 16 minutes from time when Williams and van Persie were both booked after a melee involving the pair when after being fouled Williams drilled the ball into the Dutchman's head while he was on the ground.

United struck the cross bar for a second time on 78 minutes when Carrick got on the end of van Persie's corner and was unlucky to see his effort come back off the woodwork.

Swansea were defending in numbers and Williams and Davies produced vital blocks inside the box to deny van Persie and Young respectively as United piled on the pressure.

United threw everything at Swansea in the closing stages, but they could not find a way past as they had to settle for a point to move four points clear at the top of the table.

[mr_missile]

Ferguson likens RvP to Cantona

Robin van Persie's influence at Manchester United can be compared to the striking transformation brought by the signing of Eric Cantona, according to manager Alex Ferguson.

The former Arsenal talisman has scored 15 goals since signing for United, drawing similarities with Frenchman Cantona, whose arrival at Old Trafford was the catalyst in which they claimed the league title for the first time in 26 years.

In the programme for Wednesday's home game against Newcastle United, Ferguson said: "I reckon here at Manchester United we got our Christmas present early - right at the start of the season in fact when Robin van Persie arrived at Old Trafford.

"I am reluctant to subscribe to the cult of an individual because I firmly believe the essence of a successful football team depends on teamwork, and neither are we a one-man team, but sometimes there really is a situation where you are lucky enough to find the last piece of the jigsaw."

Cantona was signed from Leeds United for £1.2million in 1992, with Ferguson's side lagging in eighth place, but he galvanised the team who went on to win the 1993 title by ten points- the first of Ferguson's 12 Premier League crowns.

"We did it when we brought Eric Cantona to Old Trafford where he proved to be the right player at the right club at the right time," Ferguson said.

"He became the catalyst and springboard for our surge to success.

"It doesn't have to be signing someone for a record fee. Cristiano Ronaldo was not a record buy either but he certainly made a difference as he prospered with us to the extent that he came to be regarded by a lot of people as the world's best player."

[mr_missile]

Hernandez settles thriller

Javier Hernandez snatched victory for Manchester United in a pulsating and controversial 4-3 Premier League victory over Newcastle at Old Trafford in which Alan Pardew's side led on three occasions.

The Red Devils looked as though they would have to settle for a point at best but struck at the start of added time as the Mexico striker applied the finishing touch to Jonny Evans' cross to spark jubilation from a previously furious Sir Alex Ferguson as his side moved seven points clear of Manchester City following their shock 1-0 defeat at Sunderland.

Newcastle made a dream start as they were gifted the lead with only four minutes on the clock. Michael Carrick failed to control the ball in midfield with Demba Ba advancing towards the United box before unleashing a low shot which David De Gea could only push into the path of the grateful James Perch to tap home.

United were back on terms in the 25th minute when Evans applied the finishing touch at the right end from close range after Tim Krul could only half block Javier Hernandez's low shot following a Van Persie free-kick which caused confusion in the visiting defence.

But the moment of controversy arrived soon after with Danny Simpson's low shot from the right corner of box turned home by sliding Evans. Assistant referee Jake Collin's flag went up for offside against Cisse, but Dean eventually gave the goal as he correctly ruled the Newcastle striker had not touched the ball.

It was the right decision from the official, but sparked fury among the home players and supporters, while Ferguson sat with a face like thunder in the Old Trafford dug-out, chewing furiously in the pouring rain, with his stewing anger unleashed as the teams emerged at the start of the second half, an incident the Football Association are sure to take an interest in.

Newcastle were inches away from taking a 3-1 lead before the interval as Sylvain Marveaux picked himself up after having his heels clipped by Hernandez outside the box to curl a glorious free-kick against the face of the crossbar with De Gea rooted to his line.

The growing anger of the home support turned to delight in the 58th minute when Patrice Evra collected Perch's attempted clearance, held off Marveaux and unleashed a low shot from the edge of the box which evaded the diving Krul before finding the corner of the net.

However, Newcastle took the lead for the third time when Cisse produced an emphatic first-time finish, sweeping home substitute Gabriel Obertan's low cross to leave De Gea grasping at thin air, but again United responded immediately with Van Persie firing home at the second attempt following Krul's excellent save from his initial effort.

Old Trafford was baying for a penalty once again with just over 10 minutes remaining when Hernandez's shot struck the arms of Coloccini from close range, with Collin subjected to more of Ferguson's opinions, with Van Persie then volleying narrowly wide at full stretch moments later

Hernandez missed a glorious opportunity to steal the points for the league leaders, but somehow headed wide from a glorious Antonio Valencia cross from six yards out and there was still time for Sammy Ameobi to strike the base of the post, with De Gea grateful to see the ball bounce back into his arms.

Hernandez headed straight at Krul from another good position soon after and it looked as though it would not be his day, only for the diminutive forward to steal the headlines in added time with a typical poacher's finish as the visiting defence switched off at a crucial moment, while Vurnon Anita was carried off after a late challenge from Valencia which could have brought a second booking.

[mr_missile]

Rooney faces three weeks out

Wayne Rooney will miss the rest of Manchester United's festive programme after injuring knee ligaments in training.

The striker has been ruled out for between two and three weeks with the problem, which kept him out of a thrilling Boxing Day victory over Newcastle.

Rooney's replacement Javier Hernandez scored an injury-time winner in a 4-3 success which put United seven points clear at the top of the Premier League.

And after the game Sir Alex Ferguson told MUTV the reason for Rooney's omission from the 18-man squad.

He said: "It was a volley towards the end of training. He did a ligament at the back of his knee and could be out for two to three weeks."

Ferguson's worst-case scenario would see the England international miss Premier League games against West Brom, Wigan and Liverpool and the FA Cup third round tie at West Ham.

[machoman]

Originally Posted by mr_missile

Hernandez settles thriller

Javier Hernandez snatched victory for Manchester United in a pulsating and controversial 4-3 Premier League victory over Newcastle at Old Trafford in which Alan Pardew's side led on three occasions.

The Red Devils looked as though they would have to settle for a point at best but struck at the start of added time as the Mexico striker applied the finishing touch to Jonny Evans' cross to spark jubilation from a previously furious Sir Alex Ferguson as his side moved seven points clear of Manchester City following their shock 1-0 defeat at Sunderland.

Crazy roller-coaster game! Defence was terrible!

But kudos to the Red Devils for their famous never-say-die attitude, fighting all the way until the final whistle!