Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours

[dc7176]

Ferguson delighted with response of Man Utd youngsters to strategy

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is delighted with the way his youngsters have responded to the rigours of first team football this term.

In his programme notes for yesterday's victory over Blackburn, Ferguson said: "We agreed that the way forward with our youngsters was that as soon as we had identified they had the quality and temperament to become first-team players, then we would bring them into the squad and let them train with the seniors.

"This has made a huge difference to their readiness for the big time, and they are able to make the most of a first-team chance as and when it comes along. This policy has made our training sessions quite hectic and crowded at times, but we have the coaching staff to cope, and it has enabled our young players to step up with more confidence than if they were coming straight out of the Reserves and into the first team.

"It’s important that the lads feel they are progressing, and you have to challenge their ambition rather than let them linger so long at Reserve level that it becomes too much of a comfort zone for them. Training with the senior players is an invaluable stepping stone, and one of the reasons why I felt confident about giving the youngsters their chance in the two domestic cup competitions.

"Of course, when you pick lads and come a cropper, there will be some people who will point a finger and criticise you for fielding a weakened team, but you don’t win every match whatever the strength of your side. We lost at Derby in the first leg of our Carling Cup semi-final, and I am sure some of our critics felt that with a Wembley final just one step away, I should have played all the big guns.

"But I didn’t have any regrets, because I knew that, long term, the lads wouldn’t let me down, and that I was pursuing the right policy. They came good in the second leg, and to underline their worth they went back to Pride Park last week and gave a display of quality football which kept our fans cheering all night. I shall stay with these boys in the cups, and they can expect to be involved at Wembley against Spurs in the Carling Cup final."

He added: "There are more good youngsters coming through, too, like Federico Macheda and Davide Petrucci, both from Rome, plus local lads Matthew James and Richard Eckersley."

[machoman]

Fergie still cautious as Harry bets on United fab five

Monday, March 02, 2009, 11:16:31 HRS

Manchester United's manager Alex Ferguson celebrates with the trophy after his team beat Tottenham to win the 2009 Carling Cup final at Wembley stadium, north London, on March 1. United won by beating holders Tottenham 4-1 on penalties after the match ended 0-0 after extra-time.

Sir Alex Ferguson insists it will take a freakish run of good luck for it to happen. But Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is prepared to put his money on Manchester United ending the season with an unprecedented haul of five major trophies.

Sunday's penalty shoot-out win over Redknapp's Spurs in the League Cup final means it is two down, three to go for United following their World Club Championship triumph in Japan in December.

And the next ten days will go a long way towards deciding the fate of their bid for a clean sweep of every competition they have entered this season.

Liverpool's defeat at Middlesbrough on Saturday means Ferguson's men, who travel to Newcastle on Wednesday, are seven points clear in the Premier League with a game in hand.

An FA Cup quarter-final tie at Fulham on Saturday could see United move to within two matches of claiming that trophy and, four days later, Inter Milan visit Old Trafford with a place in the last eight of the Champions League at stake.

By mid-March, the odds on a 'quintuple' could be very much shorter, but Ferguson insists he is not getting "carried away" by the prospect of an achievement that would match that of one of his heroes, Jock Stein, with Celtic in 1967.

"Only you guys, the media, will get carried away with it," he said. "We'll keep our feet on the ground.

"My experience is we could go to Fulham this weekend in the FA Cup and the ball comes off somebody's backside and we are out of the cup. That is what cups can do to you."
Manchester United's Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo holds the trophy after his team beat Tottenham Hotspur during the 2009 Carling Cup final at Wembley in London. United won by beating holders Tottenham 4-1 on penalties after the match ended 0-0 after extra-time.

"The best thing we can do is gather ourselves, energise ourselves for Newcastle on Wednesday, which will be a very difficult game for us, and go from there, taking it one step at a time."

Redknapp has been around long enough to share Ferguson's scepticism about the chances of everything turning out just as you would like it.

But he also believes United's squad has sufficient depth of quality to make their own luck.

"They have got a big chance -- they are the team to beat for sure," Redknapp said.

"They have a fantastic squad. They have one cup already, it looks as if the league is going their way for sure and you wouldn't bet against them in the Champions League and the FA Cup."

Ferguson acknowledged that Tottenham might easily have won Sunday's match before the shoot-out but for the heroics of goalkeeper Ben Foster, who made crucial saves in open play from Aaron Lennon and Darren Bent before stopping Jamie O'Hara's opening spot-kick for Spurs.

"It was not an easy day for us," Ferguson said. "Tottenham were good opponents and they probably had the better chances in the match but Ben has made a few good saves for us."

Ferguson said Foster's performance was another sign that, as well as being the natural successor to Edwin van der Sar at United, he could go on to be England's number one for "a large number of years."

"The future is his," Ferguson added. "The present belongs to Van der Sar, that is obvious but that performance can only strengthen my opinion of his ability and his own self-confidence.

"He is a strong character -- he has had to be. He has had to come through two cruciate ligament injuries and you have to have something inside you to do that."

Despite his admiration for United, Redknapp felt his side had edged the contest on points.

"The lads were terrific, we just could not get that break," he said. "I thought we were going to win it in the last minute (when Darren Bent drew a good save from Foster)."

Spurs' fate was sealed after O'Hara had their first penalty saved by Foster and David Bentley steered the third spot-kick wide, handing Brazilian midfielder Anderson to follow Ryan Giggs, Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo in converting his spot-kick to give United an unassailable 4-1 lead.

Despite Ferguson's praise for Tottenham's display, it was United who came closest to winning the match in regulation time with Ronaldo having struck the inside of the post in the third minute of injury time.

Manchester United's Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo holds the trophy after his team beat Tottenham Hotspur during the 2009 Carling Cup final at Wembley in London. United won by beating holders Tottenham 4-1 on penalties after the match ended 0-0 after extra-time.

Television replays also suggested that Ronaldo should have earned a penalty earlier in the second half after beating Ledley King to the ball inside the box.

Instead the Portuguese winger earned a yellow card for what the referee judged to have been a dive.

Tottenham's best chance fell to Lennon soon afterwards but the winger was unable to beat Foster from ten yards.

[SP2010]

GLORY GLORY MAN UTD .. !

[SP2010]

[SP2010]

[asiancigar]

HIP HIP HURRRRRAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYY

2 in the bag and 3 more to goooooooooooooooo

Cheerz
AC

[alex18122003]

Kuyt Ready For United Test

Dirk Kuyt believes Liverpool can draw on their performances against Real Madrid to re-ignite their Premier League title challenge against leaders Manchester United on Saturday.

The foundation for a 5-0 aggregate Champions League last-16 victory over the nine-time European champions was set up by Yossi Benayoun's solitary goal in the Bernabeu a fortnight ago.

Kuyt said that experience in the Spanish capital, in particular, would be invaluable as they make the short trip to Old Trafford for the lunchtime kick-off.

"This was a great result and performance in the Champions League, but it's also great going into our next game on Saturday," said the Dutchman after the club's 4-0 demolition of Real at Anfield last night.

"It gives us confidence and we're really looking forward to the weekend now. "Man Utd are playing very well - they've had some great results - but we'll see what we can do on Saturday.

"Of course Liverpool have to win every game but it will be very difficult against a side like Manchester United.

"It was the same for us when we played Madrid two weeks ago. We will give it a try."

Liverpool's tactics surprised many against Juande Ramos' side as they began the match at lightning pace and could have been 3-0 up even before Fernando Torres' 16th-minute opener.

Two goals from captain Steven Gerrard - his first a controversial penalty for handball when the ball clearly struck ex-Manchester United defender Gabriel Heinze's shoulder - and a late effort from Andrea Dossena wrapped up victory.

Winger Ryan Babel and central midfielder Javier Mascherano also excelled and Kuyt said it was important, with 10 matches left in the Premier League and a Champions League quarter-final to look forward to, that everyone stepped up their game.

"Everyone knows how important Gerrard and Torres are to the team but Babel had a great performance and put in a great assist for Stevie," added the Dutchman.

"He was also involved in Dossena's goal. He's worked really hard over the past couple of weeks, so deserves all the credit he's going to get.

"I don't know whether or not it's the best we've played since I've been here, but if you beat Real Madrid 5-0 overall it's great and hopefully it will prove to be one of our biggest results."

Wirral-born former youth team captain Jay Spearing replaced Gerrard for the last 16 minutes to make his home debut and was left stunned by the experience.

"I could hear the crowd singing my name and I couldn't think straight," said the 20-year-old, who made his first appearance for the club in December's group game against PSV Eindhoven in Holland.

"Quite a few of the lads said congratulations at the end of the game and if I keep working hard I might get another chance."

[alex18122003]

Champions League - United topple Inter to reach quarters

Goals by Nemanja Vidic and Cristiano Ronaldo gave Manchester United a 2-0 win over Internazionale at Old Trafford to secure the European champions' passage into the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

The goals, both headers coming at the beginning of each half, saw Alex Ferguson register just his second career win over his old foe Jose Mourinho, whose Porto side eliminated United on their way to winning the tournament in back in 2004.

United moved into the last eight 2-0 on aggregate after the first leg in Milan ended goalless a fortnight ago, although Inter were far from pushovers and hit the woodwork in each half during an entertaining game.

But following their early breakthrough, United doggedly refused to allow Mourinho's side a route back into the game and the result ensured the holders retain an interest in the competition ahead of Friday's quarter-final draw.

As far as starts go, on the night United could not have asked for much better. Right from the kick-off they attacked Inter and they were rewarded with the opener from their second corner of the game.

Ryan Giggs's first dead ball had been easily cleared by the Italian defence, but his second found Vidic careering in unmarked to power a header past Julio Cesar.

The culprit for leaving the Serb all alone? A certain Patrick Vieira - a surprise inclusion in Mourinho's starting XI - the former Arsenal midfielder having turned his back and then slipped to leave Vidic free.

United then had two handball appeals in the space of seconds, the evergreen Giggs seeing a cross blocked by a prone Walter Samuel before Dejan Stankovic's arm got in the way of his second attempt to get the ball into the middle. While the first was the more plausible appeal, both were dismissed by referee Wolfgang Stark.

It was rousing stuff from the hosts but their initial fervour soon eased as Inter began to settle and gain a foothold in the game.

And sure enough, the Italian side began to create chances of their own, the mercurial Zlatan Ibrahimovic proving his goal threat on several occasions.

The Swede lost Rio Ferdinand to meet a free-kick with a downward header that bounced up on to the crossbar on 29 minutes before he fired wide having been put in by a sublime first-time pass by Mario Balotelli on 40 minutes.

In between those efforts, Stankovic brought a tremendous fingertip save from Edwin van der Sar before the Serb fired over with a difficult chance from Ibrahimovic's awkwardly bouncing cross.

At the other end, United had a glorious chance to double their lead before the first half was out, only it fell to the one man United fans would rather not have seen in such a position - John O'Shea.

The Irishman burst on to Wayne Rooney's delightful through pass but with Dimitar Berbatov free to his left he opted to go for goal, allowing Julio Cesar to narrow the angle and make the save.

Inter emerged from the tunnel for the second half rejuvenated and looking far more hungry than they had done 45 minutes previously.

But their gusto came to nothing as Ronaldo swooped four minutes after the restart, the Portuguese powering forward to meet Rooney's delightful cross and register his first goal of this season's competition.

Credit to Inter, they continued to search for a goal that would have got them right back into the game, Esteban Cambiasso bringing Van der Sar into action almost immediately after United's second went in.

Substitute Adriano, who had been demoted to the bench in favour of the disappointing Balotelli, then struck the inside of an upright with an outrageous flying volley that Van der Sar was struggling to reach.

But with that chance gone, Inter's game deteriorated - Ibrahimovic typifying the visitors' mood with a ballooned long-range effort before a half-hearted back-post attempt at a header - and with it went any hope of getting something from the tie.

Berbatov should have made it three for United following a Cesar spill and the Inter keeper had to be on his toes again to deny Rooney and then Ronaldo as time ran out.

The elimination of the Italian champions keeps alive the possibility of a quintuple for United, whose next task will be to beat Premier League pretenders Liverpool in Saturday's lunchtime clash.

[Max80]

thanks bro sp2010 for the great pics!!

Im backing MU for the CL and EPL title !!

[SP2010]

Originally Posted by Max80

thanks bro sp2010 for the great pics!!
Im backing MU for the CL and EPL title !!

Welcome bro .. and not forgetting the FA CUP as well

MAN UTD Squad v INTER MILAN 12th Mar 09.

[SP2010]

[SP2010]

[SP2010]

[asiancigar]

i really love this article...... hehehe

Ferguson admits he's still baffled by Rafa's rant

Sir Alex Ferguson intends to consult the works of great psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud to try and work out what lies behind the legend of 'Rafa's rant'.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez let forth a string of invective against his Manchester United counterpart in January, accusing Ferguson of exerting undue influence on the English game and claiming the Scot was a hypocrite and a whinger.

As, virtually from the moment Benitez had finished his tirade, Liverpool's fortunes have slumped as United charged clear in the title race, Ferguson felt no need to respond.

The Scot still feels the same now, in fact he is totally non-plussed at the reason for Benitez's outburst.

"I would need to read more Freud before I could really understand it and where it came from,'' reflected Ferguson.

"I am not really interested. It never bothered me at the time and it doesn't bother me now.''

Ferguson does accept their respective positions mean he will never be bosom buddies with the former Valencia coach. It is the same with another long-standing rival, Arsene Wenger, although it does not prevent the Red Devils chief accepting what a brilliant coach the Frenchman is.

"Anybody that manages Liverpool is a rival to me,'' he said.

"Over the years we have had Kenny [Dalglish], Graeme [Souness], Roy [Evans], Gerard [Houllier] and now Rafa. It doesn't matter who manages Liverpool, they will always be a rival, it is part of the history.

"It's the same with Arsenal. Arsene and I have had our fall outs but you must respect the quality of football he produces. The Arsenal team has got Wenger written right across it.''

For United and their fans however, Liverpool represent something else entirely.

Ferguson recognised the mutual loathing as soon as he came down from Aberdeen and vowed to knock the Merseyside outfit off their perch as kings of England.

That aim has long since been achieved but there are a few other factors likely to give tomorrow's showdown more spice than usual.

United are chasing an 18th league title to match Liverpool's long-standing record for a start. Benitez's men are desperate to stop them and realise that, seven points adrift having played a game more, nothing but a win will do.

Then there are the controversial comments Wayne Rooney made to MUTV in midweek, outlining his personal hatred of the Anfield outfit, which have only served to stoke the fires even more.

"Liverpool have always been our main rival,'' said Ferguson.

"It does not matter what the position in the league, as far as I am concerned, it has always been the derby game.

[asiancigar]

This article by Rafa is also very comical..... loaded with " Ifs' and Maybe's " wahaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAA

We can shatter United empire

RAFA BENITEZ will shake Alex Ferguson by the hand and offer a warm smile today — convinced he is on course to shatter the Manchester United empire.
Liverpool’s manager takes his side to Old Trafford on the back of Tuesday’s Euro drubbing of Real Madrid.

Benitez knows even his first- ever league victory at United would leave the title as no more than a faint hope.

The defending champions would still be four points ahead, with a game in hand.

Yet the Spaniard has seen enough this term to back up his belief that he will eventually mastermind the toppling of United — even if it is not this season.

Benitez insisted: “I think we can. This year has been better than before and, with one or two more goals, we could have been about four points closer. So, of course, we can do it.

“This year we’ve been up there for a long time. But we have also made some mistakes. If we cut those out in the future, we’ll be even closer. Then maybe the motivation would be different for everyone.

“If we can do everything well, if everybody is together and we can improve on the pitch — team selection, commercial, everything — we can be closer. We must be more consistent.”

Benitez put himself in the firing-line with his infamous rant against Ferguson, claiming he had too much influence over referees and got preferential treatment from the FA.

After his outburst before the draw at Stoke in early January, Liverpool went four games without a win and crashed out of the FA Cup at Everton. Meanwhile United cruised past them at the top.

Ferguson admitted he was baffled by what the Kop boss said, joking he would have to read more Freud before he could work the statements out.

Yet Benitez is adamant his comments — or facts, as he insists — have had no bearing on how things have turned out.

He added: “The facts are the facts, I can’t change that. I will have to improve my English! But, really, I don’t think that made any difference.

“I haven’t spoken to him about it. But I will shake his hand, because I have a lot of respect for him.

“He’s a great manager of a big team. But I have to defend my club.

“And if Steven Gerrard had scored at Stoke, instead of hitting a post, the facts would still be the same.”

Against Real Madrid, Liverpool tore at them from the off — something they have not done against the lesser lights when they have dropped points this season.

But Benitez thinks the major reason behind their slips facing the likes of Stoke, Fulham and Hull has been a failure to score that crucial first goal.

He claimed: “It’s not just a question of determination and high tempo.

“If you don’t have the space, you have to make sure you don’t give the ball away.

The first goal always makes a massive difference.”

He is convinced United’s desire to please their own fans will ensure the defending champions do not simply sit on a draw and open the door for Liverpool’s counter-attacks.

Benitez insisted: “Clearly they will try and win, because they’re at Old Trafford.

“They won’t be thinking of a draw in front of their own fans, so they will not think of anything except winning.”

At least he will be able to unleash a fully fit Gerrard and a rejuvenated Fernando Torres, even though neither player has ever really managed to shine against United.

Their manager, though, thinks the time has come.

He declared: “Maybe they can start this time.

“They’re really important to us and, if we keep them fit, it will be very difficult for United to stop them.”