TheDailySoccerNews.com

Nani handed the Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, a boost by returning to training. The Portugal winger was not expected to be back until after the international break.

He suffered a gashed leg following a challenge by Jamie Carragher in the defeat by Liverpool last week.

Michael Carrick and Michael Owen were also in attendance, following calf and knee injuries, with United looking to build on a 0-0 first-leg draw against Marseille in the Champions League on Tuesday.

There was also a surprise appearance by Owen Hargreaves, whose career has been blighted by injury, although the midfielder is not part of United’s Champions League squad. He trained away from the main group, as did Park Ji-sung, who has had a hamstring injury.

However, there was no sign of Rio Ferdinand, who has a calf problem, or Darren Fletcher, who has been suffering from a virus. Anderson, Jonny Evans, Anders Lindegaard and Nemanja Vidic were also absent from training.

Chris Smalling said United were confident of progressing to the quarter-finals but were wary of allowing Marseille an away goal.

“It’s a bit of a dangerous scoreline with the way the away goals rule works,” the defender said. “It makes things interesting for the neutrals, but a bit nerve-wracking for the players and the fans. (continue reading…)

Fourth place still looked achievable until last weeks dismal display against West Ham. It was such a shame to see so much of the recent good work come undone and that sense of shame was only exacerbated by the league position of the opposition. After such solid displays at the back we were leaking goals against the bottom placed side and going forward, well, they looked like they were all wearing binoculars
Seriously though, all credit must go to West Ham because they put in an exceptional performance in all aspects of the game. Liverpool on the other hand looked tired and complacent, symptoms of a long and difficult season.
With fourth place surely now out of reach, it would seem that there’s not alot for us to play for anymore. I assure you, that’s not the case. We now have no excuses not to go on and win the Europa league. It may not be the best trophy to win but any silverware would go along way to easing the pain of this season.
We also have to make sure we re-qualify for the Europa league. With Birmingham winning the Carling Cup only the 5th and 6th placed teams will qualify. Liverpool are currently seventh behind Bolton, although we do have a game in hand. Finishing as high as possible is as much about pride as it is about European qualification, though. (continue reading…)

As he raced to the corner flag, the cares of the world seemed to slide from his shoulders. He threw back his arms and closed his eyes while the demented din cascaded down the slope of Old Trafford.

When Wayne Rooney is an old man, he will remember this moment.

Already, the reel is running through millions of minds.

It is the 78th minute and the ball is being played back and forth across the face of the Manchester City goal.

Nani, on the right, floats a cross which is marginally deflected, and we become aware that Rooney is backing off his marker, giving himself the room to do something wonderful.

Later, he will tell us that he thought ‘Why not?’ when the ball was in flight.

It is the kind of thing that the great ones ask themselves: ‘Why not?’

At every stage he knew precisely what he was doing.

He took off, contorted in the air and watched the ball on to his right foot.

It was a preposterously athletic manoeuvre for such a thick, heavy body, but he knew what he needed to do.

The contact was explosive, the direction impeccable, the result devastating. It was a goal fit to win a derby, to secure a title, perhaps even to salvage a drifting career.

Many years ago, George Best performed one of his own miracles at Old Trafford.

A writer in the Press box asked: ‘Did anyone get the time of that goal?’

An older, wiser colleague set him straight. ‘Never mind the time, son,’ he said. ‘Just remember the date.’

That is how it was with Rooney’s masterpiece yesterday, a goal that gave Manchester United a 2-1 victory over their City rivals.

Rooney would later try to put his achievement into context. He thought he might have scored a better goal when he was at school, but he could not be certain.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson mentioned a Rooney goal against Newcastle a few years back, but he shook his head, declining the comparison.

Ferguson said it was probably the best he had seen, and if there is higher praise then football cannot imagine it.

To appreciate the sheer splendour of that score, we must recall the poverty of Rooney’s performance until the 78th minute.

He had done his share of chasing and scurrying; the least of players can do that. And he had never hidden from responsibility, since that is not his way.

But nothing would happen for him and with the frustrating minutes ticking past, his face was creased with anxiety.

At first he seemed angry with himself, then anger yielded to depression.

A few minutes earlier, we saw a revealing little cameo. John O’Shea ran perhaps 50 yards into an aggressive position on the right. Rooney was on the ball in a central position and he registered O’Shea’s demand.

But he rejected the obvious ball, choosing to slash a hapless drive into the legs of a defender.

O’Shea waved his arms in fury, Rooney scowled. It was quite out of character for such a selfless player and we sensed that only desperation could have driven him to such a lapse of judgment.

At that stage, United were in danger of yielding ground to City and the rest of the pack as they strove to preserve equality.

They had existed uneasily through a first half in which David Silva had frittered the simplest chance to give City the lead in four minutes and the influential Yaya Toure had wasted a header at the far post.

United were struggling to find even a semblance of form, with Ryan Giggs persistently inaccurate and Paul Scholes largely anonymous. (continue reading…)

Sir Alex Ferguson is expected to be given at least £50million to spend in the transfer market and is targeting Liverpool’s Pepe Reina as a replacement for goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

The Manchester United manager is prepared to hold fire until the summer, when the Glazer family will let him dip into the transfer fund they have accumulated.

A £20m move for Reina is expected then, although the club are also monitoring Atletico Madrid’s David de Gea, who would cost £17m.

Reina is known to be unsettled at Liverpool, who are well off the pace for a Champions League spot, and Van der Sar, at 40, is coming to the end of his top-flight career.
United’s debts reached £750m before a recent repayment of £249m and they recorded losses of £83.6m in their last accounts.

But the club have cash reserves estimated to be £120m thanks largely to the £80m sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid last year.

That money will diminish as the season goes on but £50m is thought to be set aside for new signings. (continue reading…)

Manchester United stamped their authority on the Barclays Premier League on Monday night as they moved two points clear at the top with a 1-0 victory over rivals Arsenal at Old Trafford.

A first-half goal from South Korean Park Ji-sung secured the win and United could even afford a missed penalty from Wayne Rooney as they stretched their unbeaten league run this season to 16 games.

Afterwards Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger blamed what he claimed was a bad playing surface for the defeat and insisted the Gunners can still win the league even though their failure to perform in the big games has seen them fail to beat United or Chelsea in their last 11 attempts.

He became aggressive with reporters who questioned his team. He snapped at one: ‘You are a football analyst, I will leave this analysis to you, why do you ask me when you know everything? (continue reading…)

Arsenal’s Samir Nasri claims Old Trafford has lost its fear factor ahead of his side’s Premier League visit to Manchester United on Monday night.

The Gunners are top of the table on goal difference from Manchester City, with United a further point behind.

But Nasri believes the current United team lacks the same aura of past teams.

“Manchester United is not the same team as before, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Tevez it was a little bit scary to play at Old Trafford,” he said.

“Now I don’t think offensively they are the same as before, but still they are a good team and when they are 1-0 up it is very hard to beat them.

“We will see, but we are really confident to get a result out of this game.”

Although both managers Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson have attempted to defuse the tension ahead of Monday’s showdown, Nasri’s remarks come after United defender Patrice Evra claimed earlier this week that that Gunners were in crisis. (continue reading…)

Arsenal must show that ‘they are ready’ to win the Barclays Premier League by beating Manchester United at Old Trafford tonight.

Gunners manager Arsene Wenger used that phrase twice to tee up this evening’s clash.

The message was clear: this is Arsenal’s chance to show they have the maturity to win the title for the first time since 2004.
Game face: Arsene Wenger has ordered his side to show they are capable of winning the league at Old Trafford

Game face: Arsene Wenger has ordered his side to show they are capable of winning the league at Old Trafford

Manchester City drew level on points with the Gunners at the top of the table after their 3-1 win at West Ham on Saturday but have been rocked by Carlos Tevez’s transfer request.

Arsenal could compound their turmoil with victory at Old Trafford, which would take them three points clear, having played a game more than United.

Wenger said: ‘We have built a team and now we have an opportunity to show we are ready for the championship title. (continue reading…)

by. Cruiser

MANCHESTER UNITED

Manchester United will host Arsenal on Monday night, knowing a win would take them to the top of the table. As it stands, they lie 3rd, behind Manchester City and their opponents, who are top, but with games in hand, that could all change very quickly. Chelsea failed to do much on Sunday, drawing 1-1 with Tottenham.

Patrice Evra has been mouthing off a fair bit in the build-up to this one, writing off Arsenal as a training ground blah blah, which would be amusing to United supporters and infuriating to Gooners, because Arsenal have indeed won nothing in the last 5 years, although coming infuriatingly close in the League and the Champions League since.

I’d say the comments were stupid and classless, coming at a time when United manager Alex Ferguson himself is being quiet and actually trying to get supporters to stop behaving like scum in singing disgusting songs. But then again, Evra is a man who led his national side to embarrassment during the World Cup and still had no shame, so I guess it is to be expected. At least the journalists are happy.

Man United have not played in the league since spanking Blackburn 7-1, but I really will not read too much into that as it is the Blackburn Family after all, and they are not very good, especially away from home. The match with Blackpool was postponed, and Valencia almost beat United since, with the match ultimately ending 1-1.

The head to head record shows that Arsenal have not won here in the last 3 visits, but they did get a draw, and they have in that time beaten United 2-1 at the Emirates, with some chap named Nasri grabbing the headlines… (continue reading…)

by.Auls

Manchester United

Manchester United have not played a game for 7 days, with some of the senior players not playing for 10 days, thanks to the weather this weekend but they come into this game with a chance to wrap up the top of their Champions League Group and avoid the likelihood of playing Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the next stage.

United need just a point from this game to top the group after securing 13 points from their opening 5 games. This game also represents a chance for a bit of history for the Red Devils as the first side to keep 6 clean sheets in the group stage of the competition. United beat Bursaspor twice, Rangers in Glasgow and have also won at Valencia.

This game also represents a chance for the side to get back to winning ways as the fringe players lost last time out at West Ham United in the Carling Cup. That is the only defeat United have suffered this season in all competitions and the first since a home loss to Chelsea back in April. The side have won 6 consecutive games at Old Trafford. (continue reading…)