Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours

[mr_missile]

'Strange game' astonishes AVB

Andre Villas-Boas bemoaned a "crazy scoreline" after his Chelsea side lost 3-1 at Premier League title rivals Manchester United on Sunday.

Chelsea had a couple of decent chances to open the scoring at Old Trafford and continued to offer something going forward but found themselves 3-0 down at half-time after strikes from Chris Smalling, Nani and Wayne Rooney.

Fernando Torres pulled one back immediately after the restart, but breaking his long drought did not restore all his old instincts as he unbelievably missed an open goal late in the game.

Rooney also missed a penalty after slipping in an unusually open match between the sides, with Villas-Boas left puzzled by the final score.

"It was a strange game, very,very open and a lot of opportunities for both teams." he told Sky Sports 1.

"If luck could play a better part for our side today, maybe. We had some very good chances to even the score or even to score first.

"The scoreline went crazy in the first half, but we had good opportunities to do something in this game.

"Coming back from 3-0 down is always difficult and we had to take risks without exposing ourselves too much. The second-half recovery was very good and we had a couple of chances to even the score. The scoreline is crazy."

He also brushed aside Torres' horror miss, insisting it was a freak occurrence rather than a symptom of his struggles at Stamford Bridge.

"You have an example of Rooney missing a penalty too, which is basically the same," he said.

"The worst things happen to the best strikers in the world and today it happened to both of them."

Sir Alex Ferguson, whose United side have now had their best ever Premier League start with five wins from five, found room for improvement in his side's display.

"It was a fantastic, open match but we created our own problems for ourselves," he said. "We gave the ball away in attacking areas and they kept counter-attacking us. In the first half they could have scored two or three.

"We created more opportunities, fantastic opportunities, particularly through Nani and Ashley Young, who kept getting in very good areas. That was our strength, they couldn't cope with that."

A notable blight on proceedings for United was the late injury to Javier Hernandez, who went off after a poor challenge from Ashley Cole.

Asked about the Mexican striker's condition, Ferguson added: "For me it's a shocking tackle. The referee has booked him (Cole) and if he's booked him I don't know why it wasn't a penalty.

"We're going to have to wait until the morning because at the moment his leg is very numb. He could be out for a couple of weeks anyway."

[mr_missile]

Originally Posted by jitlong69

What a game and what more can you ask for in terms of entertainment value.

I hope Hernandez's injury is not too serious from A. Cole's challenge.

Bros, you may not like it but I conclude that Chelsea actually played better in some stages especially the second half.

agree with u bro. it was an entertaining game and am very happy it is 3 important points against another title contender.

here's a report i read this morning and some of it touched on cole's terrible challenge on chicharito and the astonishing number of shots chelski rained on united's goal especially during the 2nd half, including the missed penalty by rooney and the by-now labelled "miss of the entire bpl" by torres :

Cole tackle shocks Ferguson

Sir Alex Ferguson accused Ashley Cole of a reckless tackle on Javier Hernandez during Manchester United's 3-1 win over Chelsea at Old Trafford.

Hernandez was forced off due to injury in the second half of United's fifth straight win of the season after being on the wrong end of what Ferguson felt was a "shocking tackle" from the England full-back.

It is not known how long the Mexican will be sidelined for.

However, Hernandez was in obvious pain as he hobbled down the tunnel and Ferguson was not impressed.

"It was a shocking tackle," he told MUTV after Sunday's Premier League clash.

"The referee booked him, so I don't understand why he hasn't given a penalty.

"Ashley Cole is very reckless at times. He is committed of course but being committed you can sometimes go over the edge a bit.

"That was an example of that."

Even Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas admitted it was not the greatest tackle. However, Villas-Boas felt the incident might not have happened if the officials had got two earlier offside decisions correct, which would have wiped out goals for Chris Smalling and man-of-the-match Nani.

"Maybe he wouldn't get sent off if the linesman does his work," said Villas-Boas. "He [Cole] would have been less emotionally drained.

"I work the other way round. You are trying to say the referee did something wrong. I cannot forget the previous two.

"If it was 0-0, maybe Ashley is a little bit more mentally in control of the situation and doesn't do the red card foul that you mention."

Phil Dowd's decision to book Cole means that the matter is now dealt with, although television replays indicated the Chelsea man had been lucky to escape with only that sanction.

However, Fernando Torres will not be wanting to watch the game again after he followed up his second goal for the Blues with an embarrassing miss after rounding David de Gea but firing wide of an empty net nine minutes from the end.

Ferguson diplomatically labelled it "a bad miss". Villas-Boas was even more sympathetic.

"You have to be fair," he said.

"Today two of the best strikers in the world missed crazy chances.

"It happened to Fernando and Rooney. It is nothing dramatic. Sometimes the ball goes in. It didn't fall our side.

"Normally it is 3-2. At that point it might have given us a mental edge for the last 10 minutes.

"We would have been completely exposed at the back but we would have taken the risk to try and get a draw. It didn't happen."

Villas-Boas was referring to Rooney's 'Moscow moment' when, in an incident just like the one John Terry suffered to cost his side victory in the 2008 Champions League final, the United striker slipped as he went to take a second-half penalty.

In addition, Ramires and Dimitar Berbatov when it seemed like it was easier to score, although in both instances, Ferguson felt the players had been let down by the passes.

"Both passes were terrible; Torres to Ramires and Wayne's to Berbatov," said Ferguson.

"It was very difficult to get proper connection on them because the ball's going all over the place."

Chelsea had 24 shots, a staggering number at Old Trafford.

However, they were out of the game by the interval as Rooney's ninth of the season followed earlier efforts from Smalling, who later suffered a groin injury, and Nani, when Chelsea's defences looked alarmingly weak.

It completed United's best start to the season since 1985 and equalled a club record 18-match winning sequence at home.

"There were so many mistakes in the match from both teams," said Ferguson.

"We have won a game where we were so careless. We could have thrown it away."

It was Villas-Boas' first defeat as Chelsea boss, which leaves his side five points adrift of the hosts, who are now two points clear following Manchester City's failure to hold onto a two-goal lead at Fulham.

"As I said before, nothing that happened here would mean anything in the Premier League table," said Villas-Boas.

"It is an [unpredictable] league.

"Manchester City have the most amazing squad as well, but they didn't win. Arsenal and Liverpool lost.

"All of the five contenders are there. Anything can happen.

"The most regular is United at the moment but we showed we are up to the level of the champions.

"This game didn't go our way. But we will be up there competing for the title, I am glad Sir Alex corroborates."

[machoman]

PREMIER LEAGUE: Manchester United keep the momentum going with victory over Chelsea

Monday, September 19, 2011

Manchester United maintained their 100% start to the season with a 3-1 success over Chelsea at Old Trafford, with all the host’s goals arriving in the first half. Manchester United made it five wins out of five and Wayne Rooney continued his record of scoring in all the Reds league games so far against a hard working Chelsea outfit.

This victory also gave United a record of 18 consecutive home wins and they were set on their way in the eighth minute when Chris Smalling headed home Ashley Young’s cross from what seemed an offside position.

Chelsea looked dangerous leading up to the break but then conceded twice in the final eight minutes of the half.

Nani with an instant touch and turn hit a superb effort for number two and on the stroke of half-time Rooney was left with the simplest of chances for his ninth Premier League goal.

Fernando Torres with only his second goal for the Blues since his £50m transfer gave the visitor’s hope with a neat finish but it was the hosts who should have increased their lead when awarded a penalty, only for Rooney to put the spot kick wide.

United are now two points clear of Manchester City at the summit of the Premier League.

Referee: Phil Dowd

Venue: Old Trafford

Attendance: 75,455

Man Utd scorers: Smalling 8, Nani 37, Rooney 45 Chelsea scorers: Torres 46

ASKS: Surely the title, even at this early stage, is destined for Manchester United if they can dispose of contenders like Chelsea so easily?

Yellow cards: Terry (CHE), Ramires (CHE), Cole (CHE), Valencia (MANU), Fletcher, (MANU)

[machoman]

Costly Miss by Torres

[Sex Kid]

Originally Posted by machoman

Costly Miss by Torres

His leg no screw properly lah. Ha Ha Ha.

[KitKat]

Originally Posted by machoman

Costly Miss by Torres

Must be the miss of the season! Then again, at 83 mins, if he had scored to bring the score back to 3-2, United will be under an awful lot of pressure for the remaining 10 mins (plus injury time). Torres would have regained his confidence and Chelsea would have smelt blood and went for the equaliser.

Nani's 100th appearance for United. He was named Man of the Match. That screamer of a goal, would it win him the goal of the season?

Bro machoman, got gif of Nani's goal?

[lacoruna69]

Originally Posted by machoman

Costly Miss by Torres

Even my grandma won't miss that....
The Man U fans were clapping wildly in the stands.

But his goal early on was brilliant.....running n timing to perfection.
Topping it off with a delightful chip over de Gea and into goal.

[jitlong69]

Among the "top six" Man U had passed the test with 3 of them, namely Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea - all at home, with flying colours. I think the first real test will come on the 15th Oct with Liverpool away. Liverpool when playing with Man U they will usually geared up and it was also after another week of International (I think). Look at the number of players Man U had in the England Squad.

Looking back, I find Young was a little off after the last England international. Look at his game with Bolton and Chelsea as compaired to his game with Spurs and Arsenal.

Judging from yesterday's game with Chelsea younsters like Jones and Smallings at times were in sixes and sevens. One of the non performer last night has to go to Anderson. He played a bad game.

Prior to Liverpool's away game on the 15th Oct, Man U will be away with Stoke City on the 24th Sep which should be a win but there again Stoke is not a push away team. Next will be with Nor City at home on the 1st Oct. Still the ball is round and anything can go wrong especially when you start to see injuries coming in.

Not an easy road..........It is a Long and Winding one

[waiwaiz]

Will be interesting to see man u take on barca this season.

[mr_missile]

Evra: United must do better

Patrice Evra is certain Manchester United must improve upon their performance in the victory over Chelsea if they are going to win the title.

It may seem like an extreme reaction after extending a 100 per cent start to their Premier League campaign to five games, in the process matching a century old record of 18 successive home wins.

However, stand-in skipper Evra was not amused by a game Sir Alex Ferguson likened to basketball, in which Chelsea had 21 shots on United's goal, yet somehow managed to find the net only once.

Although London's three major clubs have now been accounted for at Old Trafford, the France full-back is acutely aware there is so much tricky opposition still to face, starting next Saturday at Stoke, that United cannot afford to be so loose in their defending again.

"Maybe I am being hard on myself but it is the first time we didn't control the game," he said.

"We have five wins. Yes, it is a good start but I always want more. I hope we control the next game against Stoke.

"We shouldn't rush things. That is why we gave the ball away too easily. That is why I am not so happy.

"We won a big game. We have scored three times against Chelsea. There are a lot of positive things.

"But when they scored the early goal in the second half I thought 'we have to be strong to make sure Chelsea do not come back and maybe even win 4-3'.

"If we want to win the league we will have to perform better than this."

Including the Community Shield, United have now scored 25 times in seven matches, conceding on seven occasions,

It is a quite amazing statistic for a team that has built its last couple of championship successes on being solid at the back and nicking chances when they arrive.

From a United perspective, much of the focus was on Wayne Rooney's penalty miss, "I prefer Wayne did it then rather than in Moscow" was Evra's reaction, recalling John Terry's fateful slip in the 2008 Champions League final.

Rooney blew arguably an even better chance when he tapped against the post, triggering the "reckless" tackle by Ashley Cole that threatens to rule Javier Hernandez out for a fortnight.

At the end, Ferguson correctly pointed out the woeful pass Rooney played to Dimitar Berbatov, turning what should have been a tap-in for the Bulgarian into a shot on the stretch which Cole managed to scramble away.

Nani had his shooting boots with him, though, blasting a shot against the bar, then being felled by Jose Bosingwa as he closed in on the rebound, having already cracked home a blistering 20-yard effort before the break.

"I have scored a couple of beautiful goals and I would have to see the others to compare," said Nani. "But it was nice.

"It wasn't our best performance but it was an exciting game to play in and it has been a brilliant start."

Now, though, there are a few issues for Ferguson to contend with.

If Hernandez is ruled out for a fortnight, as was the manager's initial reaction, Danny Welbeck will have to be rushed back from a hamstring injury at Stoke this weekend or Berbatov will need to be trusted, something Ferguson has yet to show any sign of.

At the other end, Rio Ferdinand's complete absence yesterday went unexplained and skipper Nemanja Vidic is still thought to be a couple of weeks of making a full recovery from a calf injury sustained at West Brom on the opening day of the season.

The obvious counterweight to that twin injury woe has been the introduction of Phil Jones, whose performances have been of such a high standard that it would be hard to justify his exclusion even when Ferdinand and Vidic return.

At just 19, Jones is the epitome of United's youthful exuberance.

That is two league games on the trot now where he has created goals for Rooney after surging into the penalty area from halfway.

On Sunday he was compared to Duncan Edwards, whose status at Old Trafford is virtually unmatched given he was never to fulfil potential so vast Bobby Charlton is not alone in believing him to be the best player England has ever produced.

"These young lads are enjoying themselves," said Michael Carrick.

"They have got an opportunity they possibly didn't think would come so soon. Now they have the chance, they want to make the most of it.

"When you are so young, you have never really had any setbacks.

"You just play the game freely and with enthusiasm and enjoy it. They are certainly doing that at the moment."

[machoman]

CARLING CUP WRAP: Man Utd, Arsenal and Wolves all ease through
Wednesday, September 21, 2011p

Manchester United maintained their good early season form with a 3-0 away win over Leeds United in the Carling Cup tonight.

The Red Devils cruised to the three-goal lead by half-time courtesy of goals from veterans Michael Owen and Ryan Giggs to move past the third round of the league cup competition.

Sir Alex Ferguson used a good mix of youth and experience for the trip to Elland Road, starting with the likes of Ben Amos, Ezekiel Fryers, Fabio and Federico Macheda alongside Owen, Giggs, Michael Carrick and Park Ji-sung and his selection choice paid off handsomely.

Owen made it 11 goals in 12 starts for United with his 15th and 32nd minute finishes whilst Giggs put the icing on the cake on the stroke of half-time as the reigning Premier League champions continued their free-flowing beginning to the campaign.

In London, Arsenal overcame a tardy start to eventually haul in League Two Shrewsbury Town 3-1 thanks to goals from Kieran Gibbs, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Yossi Benayoun.

James Collins had headed the Shrews in front in the 16th minute before Gibbs leveled just after the half-hour mark but the most impressive display of the night came from Gunners new boy Oxlade-Chamberlain who opened his account for his new club with a 25-yard effort on the hour. Chelsea loanee Benayoun added a third with just over 10 minutes remaining for his first Gunners goal as Arsene Wenger’s men saved the blushes of the North Londoners with a stronger second half display.

Wolves hammered Championship Millwall 5-0 at the Molineux with Dave Edwards, back from about six months on the sidelines, opening the scoring early before Adam Hammill, George Elokobi, James Spray and Adlene Guedioura added to the tally for Mick McCarthy.

In the remainder of the first night of third round Carling Cup matches, Aldershot Town came from behind to defeat Rochdale 2-1, Bolton won 2-0 at Aston Villa thanks to goals from Chris Eagles and Gael Kakuta, Burnley got the better of MK Dons with a 2-1 result at Turf Moor after trailing early, Blackburn Rovers managed to get past League One Leyton Orient 3-2 and Crystal Palace edged Middlesbrough 2-1.

And two matches went to extra-time with Nottingham Forest coming from behind on three occasions against Newcastle United only to fall 4-3 when Magpies skipper Fabricio Coloccini headed home in the 122nd minute whilst Peter Crouch converted his spot-kick to help Stoke City beat his former club Tottenham 7-6 on penalties after it finished 0-0 after 120 minutes.


2011/12 Carling Cup third round scores

Wolves (PREM): 5 (Dave Edwards 3’, Adam Hammill 7’, George Elokobi 38’, James Spray 77’, Adlene Guedioura 88’) Millwall (CHA): 0 Molineux, Wolverhampton

Aldershot Town (L2): 2 (Michael Rankine 47’, Daniel Hylton 78’) Rochdale (L1): 1 (Ashley Grimes 45’) Recreation Ground, Aldershot

Burnley (CHA): 2 (Kieran Trippier 59’, Andre Bikey 89’) MK Dons (L1): 1 (Daniel Powell 6’) Turf Moor, Burnley

Nottingham Forest (CHA): 3 (Robbie Findley 46’, Matt Derbyshire 66’, Marcus Tudgay 114’) Newcastle United (PREM): 4 (Peter Lovenkrands 39’/(p) 60’, Danny Simpson 93, Fabricio Coloccini 120+2’) City Ground, Nottingham

Arsenal (PREM): 3 (Kieran Gibbs 33’, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 58’, Yossi Benayoun 78’) Shrewsbury Town (L2): 1 (James Collins 16’) Emirates Stadium, London

Aston Villa (PREM): 0 Bolton (PREM): 2 (Chris Eagles 54’, Gael Kakuta 77’) Villa Park, Birmingham

Leeds United (CHA): 0 Manchester United (PREM): 3 (Michael Owen 15’/32’, Ryan Giggs 45+1’) Elland Road, Leeds

Stoke City (PREM): 0 (Stoke won 7-6 on penalties) Tottenham (PREM): 0 Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent

Blackburn Rovers (PREM): 3 (Jason Roberts (p) 44’, Ruben Rochina 71’ Simon Vukcevic 75’) Leyton Orient (L1): 2 (David Mooney 64’. Dean Cox 86’) Ewood Park, Blackburn

Crystal Palace (CHA): 2 (Wilfred Zaha 18’, Calvin Andrew 52’) Middlesbrough (CHA): 1 (Merouane Zemmama 55’) Selhurst Park, London

[lacoruna69]

Originally Posted by waiwaiz

Will be interesting to see man u take on barca this season.

Still early...but I hope they can change their tactics when they faced Barca.
Barca isn't that good.....can ask Sociedad n Milan.

The main thing is must clamp them down n harass them.
They cannot play flowing passing style....half the battle won.

[mr_missile]

Originally Posted by lacoruna69

Still early...but I hope they can change their tactics when they faced Barca.
Barca isn't that good.....can ask Sociedad n Milan.

The main thing is must clamp them down n harass them.
They cannot play flowing passing style....half the battle won.

don't even want to think barca, madrid or bayern yet. just hope the current rich vein of form in the domestic league will carry them through to the whole season.

sir alex bought owen hargreaves what u've mentioned in mind. a tireless runner who's main missions are to break up the oppositions' attacks, win back the ball and pass to our playmaker to launch our own attacks. sadly he succumbed to injuries to his knees and was never able to make his mark at united.

tom cleverley is still raw. carrick is too static to do the job. fletcher may be the guy and he was really unlucky to be down with that virus that caused him to miss last year's champions league final.

will sir alex buy a defensive midfielder in the january transfer window? am not sure who's available in the market and won't be cup-tied though.

[mr_missile]

SAF feels for 'fantastic' Owen

Sir Alex Ferguson admits he has not been able to give Michael Owen the games he deserves after the striker's two-goal salvo against Leeds.

Owen scored twice, with Ryan Giggs adding another in first-half stoppage time as Manchester United romped to a 3-0 Carling Cup third-round win at Elland Road.

It means Owen has now scored an incredible 11 goals from his last 12 starts.

That the run dates back to October 2009 just shows how difficult the 31-year-old has found it to break through at United, a task that is only made harder following the return of Danny Welbeck from a hamstring injury.

"Michael Owen's finishing was fantastic," said Ferguson.

"His goal ratio is unbelievable. We are very pleased with him. "Unfortunately for us he has had one or two injuries. But with me having Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Javier Hernandez he is not getting the games he deserves and that is unfortunate."

Ferguson found a novel way of using Berbatov at the end of Tuesday's game.

The Bulgarian ended up filling it at centre-back alongside Michael Carrick after 19-year-old debutant Ezekiel Fryers limped off near the end, to leave the visitors to coast home with 10-men.

Ferguson also confirmed that whilst Hernandez will return to training tomorrow after emerging from the tackle by Ashley Cole on Sunday with only minor bruising, the Mexican will not be considered for the weekend trip to Stoke, when United should be fielding a more recognisable line-up.

"It was great for the young players to understand the club and for us to see their temperament," said Ferguson, who introduced Paul Pogba and Larnell Cole, in addition to Welbeck, once victory was assured.

"The young lads did really well. It was a great experience for them.

"Young Fryers coped very well. The atmosphere at Elland Road is hostile and was not fazed by it."

After defeating United in the FA Cup at Old Trafford in January 2010, when they were still a League One team, at the very least manager Simon Grayson hoped his team could turn in a competitive performance.

Unfortunately, the hosts were never in it once they had failed to capitalise on some early pressure.

"You have to give credit to Manchester United," he said. "They caused us a lot of problems.

"We gave the ball away too cheaply. Too many individuals over indulged themselves rather than keeping it simple.

"When you do that against top players, they will punish you and we didn't do ourselves justice."

Grayson, whose team travel to Brighton on Friday evening, may come to rue his decision to field a virtually full strength side, although he accepts some lessons may have been learned.

"Manchester United have the strongest squad they have had for years," he said. "The whole group played with immense confidence.

"The team they put out tonight could have beaten a host of Premier League sides. It shows the gulf that is between us.

"I made a decision not to make too many changes because I wanted to give Manchester United a game. We didn't do that."



berba in central defence? cannot imagine!

[mr_missile]

Ferdinand set to return v Stoke

Rio Ferdinand is reportedly set to return for Manchester United against Stoke this weekend.

The Daily Telegraph claim that Sir Alex Ferguson had told staff he is "hopeful" that Ferdinand will make only his third first-team appearance of the season.

United have lost Chris Smalling for two weeks to a groin strain so will relish the chance to bring Ferdinand into central defence alongside Jonny Evans and move Phil Jones out to right-back.

Nemanja Vidic is still a week away from recovery from a calf strain and Rafael is ruled out until November with his shoulder injury.