Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Headshot

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Fergie has denied that Hargreaves is receiving treatment in Germany - Fergie says (according to SSN) that he is still in America and could be back in training in September.

mitch

any link to this, I havent seen it on ssn

Headshot

Welcome back to Old Trafford for what I think will be another hotly contested season. It’s certainly our intention to challenge for everything on offer and I feel we are well placed to take on all-comers. I say this despite a summer of unprecedented spending in the transfer market with Real Madrid and Manchester City in particular racking up the inflationary spiral, while we more or less stood aside and let them get on with it.

I know there will be some fans who are disappointed that we didn’t spend the princely £80million we got for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid on another superstar. I would have done had I felt we were getting value for our money, but this close-season some crazy things went on and the price of the game’s major players went through the roof.

The asking price for players we were looking at just wasn’t realistic and we held off. I think we have shown over the years that we are not afraid to spend big and we have in fact frequently created transfer fee records, but only when we felt the business made financial sense. The level of the fees being demanded in recent months just didn’t add up.

So we stood off, but what you must remember is that we are working from a position of strength. We don’t suddenly have to splash out to try to compete at the top. We are already there, thanks to a long-term strategy of buying mostly young players, who we feel have the potential to become top performers. Cristiano Ronaldo was a case in point. We spotted him and bought him for a modest £12m. You know the rest. In the six years we had him he became the world’s best player, and we certainly wish him well with the rest of his career. Of course we will miss him, especially his phenomenal scoring and the way he put the opposition under pressure with the brave way he attacked defenders.

We were never a one-man team, though, and we have other players who will rise to the occasion and fill the gap, of that I am sure. So pay no attention to the cynics who have suggested our owners stopped us spending. Believe me, it was purely a football decision. Maybe it’s the Scotsman in me, but I believe in value even when I am spending someone else’s money! I am more than happy with my squad and the players we have brought in who all, incidentally, represent value. We tracked Gabriel Obertan for a long time. He is a French Under-21 international winger who cost us £2m from Bordeaux, a player we know will develop. Antonio Valencia, our £15m signing from Wigan, is another wide man of great potential.

Perhaps our most controversial summer signing was Michael Owen, a player who I believe will continue to surprise people. He may have reached the stage of his career where he won’t figure in every game, but he’ll score a lot of goals for us in keeping with his tremendous record throughout his career for England, Liverpool and Newcastle.

There seems to be constant debate about the injuries he’s picked up over the years, but you look at Paul Scholes, who’s had two or three bad injuries, and he’s always come back. So we are not worried about Michael. If players have the resolve to get back then they always will, and there’s no doubt that Michael still loves the game of football and is hungry to play. But my belief in the strength of our squad goes a lot deeper than our recent additions, including now another for the future in Mame Biram Diouf.

We have some terrific young players who are breaking into the side at the moment – players like Federico Macheda, Danny Welbeck, Darron Gibson, Jonny Evans and the da Silva twins. So we’re in very good shape. And don’t forget Anderson and Nani – they’re also young players who are nowhere near their peak. They’re going to develop and mature. Their best years are still to come. To balance that, we have Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Edwin van der Sar, who give us experience and stability. We might not have spent the £80m, but there’s no need to panic.

Now we welcome Valencia to Manchester, as we step up the intensity of our pre-season preparations. The Asia Tour was good, but we definitely went up a notch when we played in the Audi Cup last week in Germany and met Boca Juniors and Bayern Munich. Valencia is a similar test. We’ve played against Valencia four times in Europe over the years, and they’ve always been very challenging games. The one thing you can be sure of with Valencia is that they know how to defend. No matter who’s been in charge, whether it was Rafa Benitez or Claudio Ranieri, they were always difficult to break down. I expect the same again this evening.

We should be into our stride now in terms of fitness. Ideally you want every pre-season game to be more difficult than the one before it and we’ve done quite well in that respect this season. And for those players whose fitness levels might be a little bit behind the others, it’s a great opportunity to give them a few more minutes on the clock. It’s a very handy game for us to have.

In the last few years we’ve tried to have a pre-season friendly at home before the season kicks off. We lower ticket prices and encourage younger fans to come along and get behind the side. Last year it was Espanyol for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s testimonial and then Juventus. The year before we welcomed Inter Milan, and they’ve all been terrific games.

15m for valencia, thought it was more,so that's a nice surprise

Mitch Connor

Headshot wrote: »

mitch

any link to this, I havent seen it on ssn

Nope - no link. Just saw is on the rolling text on Sky Sports News.

Headshot

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Nope - no link. Just saw is on the rolling text on Sky Sports News.

jebus I dont know should I take the leap of faith and trust ya

it's a pickle

curry-muff

I seen it earlier somewhere too not quite sure where though

Smegball

Manchester United have dismissed speculation that Owen Hargreaves has suffered a setback in his recovery from operations on both knees.

It had been suggested that Hargreaves was due to undergo specialist treatment in Munich and that his career was once again in jeopardy. However, Sir Alex Ferguson has privately confirmed that the player is still in the United States, continuing his rehabilitation programme.

Ferguson said last month that the England international could be back by September. At the time at the start of United's pre-season tour in Malaysia, it was taken that by "back" the manager meant a return to action, and that feeling was strengthened by claims that Hargreaves would join his team-mates in Munich after they had returned from the Far East.

It now transpires Hargreaves will only return to United's Carrington training base in September, after which he will have to be assessed before he can begin a programme aimed at getting him back on the pitch.

The 28-year-old has not played since last September, when he began looking for a cure to the tendinitis problem from which he has suffered since before his £18m transfer from Bayern Munich.

Since then, Hargreaves has been working under the supervision of the renowned Colorado-based knee specialist Dr Richard Steadman.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/aug/09/manchester-united-owen-hargreaves-recovery

There ye go

curry-muff

Yup thats where i seen it

Smegball

Nani's star quality shines through as playground show-off grows up

The Manchester United winger's strike against Chelsea showed he could be about to emerge from Cristiano Ronaldo's shadow


It was the kind of goal that must have made Manchester United's supporters wish Nani could always be so beguiling. The shot was speared into the bottom left-hand corner of Petr Cech's goal but there was so much more to admire - the balance, the drive, the star quality as he took down Darren Fletcher's long ball and set off on that jinking, diagonal run inside Branislav Ivanovic and Michael Essien to manoeuvre himself into a shooting position. It was a goal that was classy in its creation and clinical in its execution.

When Nani is capable of producing moments of such distinction it can be tempting sometimes to forgive him for all those other times when distinctly less flattering adjectives – "bewildering", "erratic", "frustrating" to name but three – have been applied to a man who was accused of staying too young too long when football, at times, needs to be played with an adult intelligence.

His misfortune was that he should land so heavily after John Terry's challenge just over an hour into a match in which he had gone a long way to demonstrate why Sir Alex Ferguson had chosen against selling him during the summer. A dislocated shoulder meant Nani would leave the pitch with his left arm in a sling when, until that point, his had been a performance to make United supporters wonder whether this might be the season when this raw but talented player shows he can play a significant role in helping the club to get over the grieving process after Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer to Real Madrid.

Even ignoring, for one moment, the wonderfully taken 10th-minute goal, he had been a constant menace for Ivanovic, a centre-half playing at right-back and lacking the mobility to be comfortable against a player of such nimble feet and turn of pace. One challenge, in the 14th minute, was late and cynical enough to warrant a yellow card, but Ivanovic was not the only Chelsea player to find Nani a difficult opponent. Three more defenders were bypassed when the winger set off again in the 34th minute and, shortly afterwards, when he went over to take a corner it was noticeable how the United supporters at that end of the pitch stood to acclaim him – as if they, too, recognised his potential value to the club this season.

They have been here before with Nani – the odd flash of excellence, a moment when he does something that is beyond the average player – and it is not the first time they have wanted to believe the Portugal international is finally going to flourish into a more accomplished package. The evidence of the past two seasons suggests they should refrain from snap judgments. But maybe this is, indeed, the season when he ditches that image of the playground show-off. Maybe, now he is no longer in the shadow of Ronaldo, he can fulfil the potential that persuaded United to spend £17m to sign him from Sporting Lisbon, at the age of 20, two years ago.

Nani's performance was certainly one of the more gratifying aspects for Ferguson on a day when his finger-jabbing at the referee Chris Foy summed up United's frustrations about the events leading up to Chelsea's second goal.

Last season you could sum up Nani's startling lack of development by the fact he started only seven games in the Premier League. He had become a Carling Cup player, appearing in all six of the club's ties – which, at Old Trafford, is not something to be proud of. He was dangerously close to becoming the player the fans liked the least. He was said to be disillusioned and stories started to appear in the Portuguese press that he would leave in the summer with Italy his destination of choice.

Instead, Ferguson has told Nani that he still has a big part to play at Old Trafford but that it is time he started to turn potential into something of greater currency. Ferguson believes we might see that twisting somersault goal celebration at least 10 times this season. Fletcher, too, wanted to express his confidence in his team-mate as he caught him up after the goal and, in front of the United end, started pointing at the back of Nani's shirt where his name was emblazoned. It was a kind of "he's the man" moment – and now it is up to Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha to show it was not just a one-off.

Interesting..

Shaneomac

Really sorry to see Nani injured just when things were looking up for the guy. Valencia is gonna be some player. Reckon give Tommy K a chance against Brum. Whos gonna take penalties lads? Could be worth 10 goals come the end of the season.

3hn2givr7mx1sc

Shaneomac wrote: »

Really sorry to see Nani injured just when things were looking up for the guy. Valencia is gonna be some player. Reckon give Tommy K a chance against Brum. Whos gonna take penalties lads? Could be worth 10 goals come the end of the season.

Anyone but Evra.

miralize

I'd say that peno was a once off. Evra can take em

curry-muff

Na thats 2 in a week, missed against Bayern too :rolleyes:

Shaneomac

Could let Michael Carrick take them. He does play in the majority of games if its consistency we need.

Mitch Connor

Roonet generally hits a good penalty, i'd give peno's to him.

ROCKMAN

I know his not featuring at the moment ,but Anderson is one of our best from the peno spot .

Nalz

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Roonet generally hits a good penalty, i'd give peno's to him.

hasnt he missed two for United. Defo missed one. I remember it, was a terrible pen. Had him as captain that week in FPL

Mitch Connor

Trilla wrote: »

hasnt he missed two for United. Defo missed one. I remember it, was a terrible pen. Had him as captain that week in FPL

and he has scored others - some of them cracking penalties. Every player will miss penalties. Cantona missed some, Ronaldo missed some (Le Tissier may not have...)

Hargreaves is by far, imo, the best penalty taker we have. Unfortunately rules do not allow us to bring him on just for those occasions, and I'd be worried about him going down injured in the 6 yard run up anyway.

Mitch Connor

ROCKMAN wrote: »

I know his not featuring at the moment ,but Anderson is one of our best from the peno spot .

i'm not so sure about that - i think he is a brave lad for the ones he has taken, but there is little technique in them imo, he just smashes them.

nicklauski

Mitch Connor wrote: »

i'm not so sure about that - i think he is a brave lad for the ones he has taken, but there is little technique in them imo, he just smashes them.

Evras 2 penos were woeful. Rio hits a better penalty than him!!
As someone said Carrick would be playing every week and wouldn't be a bad choice. Nani, if he wasn't injured, hits a cracker of a peno.
Sorry to see him get injured, again yesterday he was showing flashes of brilliance and seem to be a bit more mature on the ball.
Wasn't a bad performance yesterday. I didnt think Valencia did great when he came on, seemed nervous to me.
Hopefully it was just the jitters and he has a belter against Brum.

Peyton Manning

Long time no see folks!

For what its worth, Hargreaves takes a fantastic penalty from what Ive seen of him on England duty and for United.

grames_bond

i think at the moment our best option is carrick, scholes takes a good one but he isnt going to feature as much, ive said it before hargreaves is our best peno taker (god i hope he makes it back) and with nani injured we are in a bit of a conundrum! i'd be happy to let anderson take them when he is on!

nicklauski

I really do hope Hargo comes back as well. He is a cracking player and although we won the league and got to the CL final last year, his influence and defensive abilities were missed.
He is great on a dead ball. Wouldnt be a bad choice for the free kicks, peno's, corners, goal kicks, throw ins, everything

RasTa

Looks like Foster will be starting next week

"Knowing Ben and the ability which he has, he should have done better with the second goal," said the Manchester United boss.

"However, it was his first big challenge. He has waited a long time, has had his injuries and in pre-season I spread the load between the three keepers, and maybe we did not have enough minutes for him.

"But the important thing is, knowing his ability, it means I do not have any worries about him."

Anyone who has been to OT when the PIG has started will know what a liabilty he is when it comes to crosses, command the box etc etc.

Mr Moon

RasTa wrote: »

Looks like Foster will be starting next week



Anyone who has been to OT when the PIG has started will know what a liabilty he is when it comes to crosses, command the box etc etc.

But PIG has no problems with a simple back pass!!

Foster's inability to deal with them properly puts doubts in your defenders which can lead to mistakes and stupid goals given away!!

Hopefully it was the pitch or just the nerves getting to him as I'd prefer to see Foster in goals than PIG!

I'd never noticed before how big a kick out he has!

Peyton Manning

Kuszszczc......PIG is a fantastic shotstopper, but thats where his abilties end. He is extremely dodgy in nearly every other aspect that is important to a 'keeper.

Mikeyt086

Thats good for Ben Foster. The gaffer has faith in him and that will do wonders for his confidence. He is an exellent goal keeper. Playing Chelsea in Wembley can be daunting to a young keeper and Sir Alex is giving him another chance.

Mr Moon, please tell me you are taking the piss? Kuszczak is the worst kicker of a football the game has ever seen. He cant get it past the half way line!

I would have Carrick on pens untill Nani is back.

dubmick

Headshot wrote: »

15m for valencia, thought it was more,so that's a nice surprise

I also thought it was more than 2m for Obertan

nicklauski

I think a good run in the team will do Foster the world of good. If he starts on Wednesday for England it'll be more confidence for him and will only help him for Sunday against Birmingham.
As long as United start of with a win, I'll be happy

Necronomicon

Real pity Nani got injured, he's being playing well in preseason and I was hoping to see him and Valencia starting on the flanks. Crazy how such an inocuous looking fall actually turned out to be a dislocated shoulder.

Smegball

Mikeyt086 wrote: »

Mr Moon, please tell me you are taking the piss? Kuszczak is the worst kicker of a football the game has ever seen. He cant get it past the half way line!

I think the way Mr Moon phrased that there, he meant that although Foster had a dodgy game yesterday he would prefer him over the PIG, and that he noticed yesterday how immense Fosters kick can be when he wasn't under pressure.

I agree, some of Fosters kicks are ridiculous, they remind me of Barthez's long kicks up to the other penalty area.

Nalz

dubmick wrote: »

I also thought it was more than 2m for Obertan

I read it was 3.5 for Obertan, 1.5 for Mame of whatever his name is and 17m for Valencia.

Paper never refused ink

Headshot

Trilla wrote: »

I read it was 3.5 for Obertan, 1.5 for Mame of whatever his name is and 17m for Valencia.

Paper never refused ink

go back a page or 2 and you see fergie said 15m for valencia and 2m for obertan

Mitch Connor

Headshot wrote: »

go back a page or 2 and you see fergie said 15m for valencia and 2m for obertan

Fergie could be saying it ex-success related payments, which would fit.

The Rooster

Headshot wrote: »

go back a page or 2 and you see fergie said 15m for valencia and 2m for obertan

Ferguson might be telling the truth, or might have left out performance related elements, or might be plain lying.

Headshot

The Rooster wrote: »

Ferguson might be telling the truth, or might have left out performance related elements, or might be plain lying.

how dare you, saf is a saint

Headshot

mitch forgot to to ask ya

when is the reserves league starting up again ?

anonymous_joe

Headshot wrote: »

mitch forgot to to ask ya

when is the reserves league starting up again ?

They beat a Dutch side the other day. Another win for Solksjaer.

Mitch Connor

Headshot wrote: »

mitch forgot to to ask ya

when is the reserves league starting up again ?

http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=6636220

Reserves Aug 24th.

http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=6635783

Academy Aug 22nd

Mitch Connor

anonymous_joe wrote: »

They beat a Dutch side the other day. Another win for Solksjaer.

And won a tournement over there too.

4-1 win over Katwijk

http://manunitedyouth.wordpress.com/2009/08/07/katwijk-1-united-4-stopper-turns-striker-as-reserves-go-dutch/

Won the WVO tournament too.

Info posted by the excellent Mr. Mujac on RedCafe.net:

http://www.redcafe.net/f40/wvo-tournament-261888/

Mr. MUJAC wrote: »

United arrived in Pijnacker this morning ready to add further silverware to the Old Trafford trophy room.

With a great pre-season record so far, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was looking to up the ante in a tournament against some crack Dutch opposition at the Oliveo FCS Training Complex.

Kitman Ian Buckingham was included and Richie De Laet joined up with the team that had beaten VV Katwijk 4-1 on Thursday night.

The official Squad List is:

1. Heaton
2. Simpson
3. Dudgeon
4. Chester
5. De Laet
6. Evans
7. Stewart
8. Hewson
9. Brandy
10. Eikrem
11. Brady
12. Gill
13. Zieler
14. Norwood
15. Wootton
16. James
17. Brown
18. Ajose
19. Buckingham

United started the first game on one of the minor pitches at 10:20 against Vitesse Arnhem, one of the stronger teams in the tournament. The games are only 35 minutes in duration with no half time, so Solskjaer started what is probably what is his most experienced side.

In a tough, scrappy game, United scored early and Corry Evans gave us the lead after only 6 minutes. From then on the contest was fairly even but we had more of the play and were deserved winners. We played 451 with Brandy up front watched by a small crowd of 114.

Vitesse Arnhem

1. Heaton
2. Simpson
3. Dudgeon
4. Chester (capt)
5. De Laet
6. Evans
7. Stewart
16. James
9. Brandy
10. Eikrem
11. Brady

8. Hewson (10) on '27
12. Gill
13. Zieler
14. Norwood (11) on '27
15. Wootton
17. Brown (7) on '29
18. Ajose (9) on '29
19. Buckingham

The second game started 15 minutes later and obviously the team and a completely different look, with most of the subs in the first game starting against BVCB, who were much lower quality than Vitesse.

The game was played on the main pitch which is synthetic, and although we do have artificial pitches at Carrington it was interesting to see how the Reds would cope with a slightly different game. I shouldn't have worried.......Cam Stewart gave us the lead on 7 minutes when he ran on to a through ball by Ajose and placed the ball calmly past the keeper into the bottom left hand corner. Scott Wootton made in 2-0 on 12 minutes when he scored with a glancing header from 12 yards into the top right hand corner from a Stewart corner. A much larger crowd of 327 were delighted when United made it 3-0 on 15 minutes. Stewart was having a good game and ran onto a through ball by Ollie Norwood. He raced towards goal before squaring it to Ajose who calmly slotted it into an empty net.

With the game virtually won, Ian Buckingham came on after the goal for Cam Stewart. Eikrem then missed an open goal from four yards and got into a bit of a slanging match with one of their defenders. He must of said something as he was immediately substituted. Then on 32 minutes the bench went crazy! Hewson was upended in the area and we were awarded a penalty. Up stepped Buckingham who drove the ball hard into the bottom right hand corner giving the keeper no chance. The management and subs were in stitches as Ian turned to celebrate.

The game finished 4-0 to the Reds who lined up again in a 451 formation with Ajose the lone striker, and we must now be one of the favourites for the competition.

BVCB

13. Zieler
17. Brown
3. Dudgeon
12. Gill
15. Wootton
7. Stewart
8. Hewson (capt)
14. Norwood
10. Eikrem
11. Brady
18. Ajose

1. Heaton
2. Simpson
4. Chester (11) on '20
5. De Laet
6. Evans
9. Brandy
16. James (10) on '22
19. Buckingham (7) on '16

We now play NEC in about twenty minutes so another update later this afternoon.

Mr. MUJAC wrote: »

The hosts Oliveo were in Group 2, and they showed that although they may be a small provincial junior team, their facilities are top division in all respects and their set-up puts many English clubs to shame.

As the tournament is progressing, what is becoming clear is that the Dutch teams are using the games to give match time to many of their first team regulars as well as their reserves.

As a consequence, the result against an experienced Vitesse team was even more encouraging.

The Reds then faced a very strong NEC side with first team players listed on their team sheet. United lined up in last season's kit of white shirts and blue shorts. However, Febian Brandy wore the Number 20 shirt as the Number 9 jersey had been ripped to shreds in the match versus Katwijk on Thursday. United had a back four of Simpson, Chester, De Laet and Gill, with Stewart and Dudgeon playing out wide. Hewson, James and Evans were the middle three with Brandy again the lone striker.

Starting on the outside grass pitch, the opening ten minutes saw NEC over-power United in most areas. They were a strong physical side and went ahead early in the game when one of their forwards lobbed Zieler from the edge of the area. After 17 minutes, Eikrem came on to replace Gill and De Laet moved from centre-half to left back. Corry Evans moved from midfield to central defence and Magnus took the central midfield role.

It was a sign of good tactical awareness by Solskjaer and Joyce, as Eikrem started to get a grip on midfield and Evans strengthened the defence. Eikrem nearly scored with his first touch, forcing a great save from the keeper with a free kick. Cam Stewart was again doing well on the right, while Brandy was continually busy up front and pressurising the NEC defence.

Then on 24 minutes, United drew level when Ritchie De Laet scored with a header at the far post from another Eikrem fee-kick. For the remainder of the game it was pretty even with a 1-1 draw being a fair result.


NEC Nijmegen

13. Zieler
2. Simpson
12. Gill
4. Chester (capt)
5. De Laet
6. Evans
7. Stewart
8. Hewson
16. James
3. Dudgeon
9. Brandy

1. Heaton
10. Eikrem (12) on '17
11. Brady
14. Norwood
15. Wootton
17. Brown
18. Ajose
19. Buckingham

We are now guaranteed to finish in the play-off places but a win over Sparta Rotterdam will see us through to the final. Interestingly, Sparta are on the same points and goal difference as United so if the next game finishes in a draw, a penalty shoot-out will decide who will go through.

At first I thought that these games might be a bit of a breeze for the Reds and not much competition. However, this is a very competitive tournament which our next opponents have won for the last two years!

Mr. MUJAC wrote: »

United's reserves reached the final of the Wout van Overdam Youth Tournament with an impressive 2-0 victory over Sparta Rotterdam, who featured players with first team experience.

With Robbie Brady injured, United played Joe Dudgeon on the left and teh back four were Brown, Chester, De Laet and Simpson. Stewart was again wide right, Evans, James and Eikrem in the middle with Febian up front.

It was a tight opening ten minutes with United not giving anything away and the only shot of note was a 30 yard effort from Corry Evans which was easy for the keeper to collect. It remained fairly even for the first twenty minutes and then United upped the tempo. Sam Hewson replaced Reece Brown so Simpson went to right back, Dudgeon to left back, and Magnus went wide left.

In the 24th minute the 461 crowd saw a clear penalty decision turned down as Brandy went down in the box. Whatever frustration he felt was soon forgotten as Febian scored a cracking solo goal two minutes later. Receiving the ball from Dudgeon on the edge of the area, he spun past one defender, burst in between another two and slotted the ball under the keeper to give United a deserved lead. On the half hour mark, Gill came on to replace Stewart and went to outside left with Eikrem switching wings.

Then on 33 minutes, Danny Simpson released Magnus on the right and he raced down the wing before knocking a great ball to the far post. Oliver Gill met the ball and headed it back for the on-rushing Matty James to hit it with his left foot. The Sparta keeper made a great save but James scored from the rebound to give United a 2-0 lead.

Brandy and Eikrem were immediately replaced by Ajose and Norwood for the last two minutes. As Brandy was coming off the pitch he was berated in no uncertain terms by Warren Joyce for lashing out at a Sparta defender a few minutes earlier. Brandy received strong words from the referee but no card was shown. If Brandy picked up a booking he would have missed the final, and as our only forward, the coaching staff were not too happy with his impetuosity.

Regardless of his 'mad moment', Brandy was easily the Man of the Match, working his socks off and causing the Sparta defence loads of problems.

The game finished 2-0 to the Reds and the final table looked like this:

1. Manchester United - Played 4 Won 3 Drew 1 Lost 0 GF 8 GA 1 Points 10
2. Sparta Rotterdam - Played 4 Won 2 Drew 1 Lost 1 GF 6 GA 3 Points 7
3. Vitesse Arnhem - Played 4 Won 2 Drew 0 Lost 2 GF 3 GA 3 Points 6
4. NEC Nijmegen - Played 4 Won 1 Drew 3 Lost 0 GF 7 GA 2 Points 5
5. BVCB - Played 4 Won 0 Drew 0 Lost 4 GF 1 GA 16 Points 0

It was hard on NEC who were one of the better teams in the tournament, but they, like United were in the toughest groups, and their three draws cost them.

United now face Groningen in the final.

Sparta Rotterdam

1. Heaton
17. Brown
2. Simpson
4. Chester (capt)
5. De Laet
6. Evans
7. Stewart
16. James
10. Eikrem
3. Dudgeon
9. Brandy (wore 20 shirt)

8. Hewson (17) on '23
11. Brady
12. Gill (7) on '30
13. Zieler
14. Norwood (10) on '33
15. Wootton
18. Ajose (20) on '33
19. Buckingham

Mr. MUJAC wrote: »

And so to the final against Dutch Eredivisie side FC Groningen. Groningen have a a proud history of hosting a youth tournament of their own and Manchester United have competed in the Groningen Youth Tournament on many occasions down the years.

Continuing in our blue and white strip, the game took place on the main grass pitch and Solskjaer probably named his strongest line-up. The back four were 2-5 and Hewson was preferred in the middle with Eikrem outside left in the five man midfield. Brandy was the buttress up front.

The game kicked off at 15.40 and 795 spectators gathered to see the action.

In the first ten minutes we were on top but showed little penetration. The pattern continued until the 24th minute when Groningen had their best chance of the game. One of their forwards broke through the United defence and struck the ball with venom in the box bringing out an outstanding save from Tom Heaton. The Reds then raced down the other end of the pitch with Eikrem feeding Brandy on the edge of the box. Brandy took one touch, shimmied past a defender who brought him down in the area for a definite penalty. Eikrem stepped up and calmly placed the ball in the bottom left hand corner to give United the lead on 25 minutes.

Groningen had lots of possession in the final ten minutes as we started to tire, but our defence held firm. Gill and Wootton were introduced to help keep our goal intact and we ran the clock down to win the tournament at our first attempt.

Both Eikrem and Stewart had good games and, along with Febian Brandy, were our players of the tournament.

So, after nearly three hours of action, James Chester lifted the tournament trophy at the presentation ceremony.

FC Groningen

1. Heaton
2. Simpson
3. Dudgeon
4. Chester (capt)
5. De Laet
6. Evans
7. Stewart
8. Hewson
16 James
10 Eikrem
20. Brandy

11. Brady
12. Gill (8) on '34
13. Zieler
14. Norwood (7) on '26
15. Wootton (20) on '30
17. Brown
18. Ajose
19. Buckingham

So we leave Holland on a high note and travel to Belgium where the players can enjoy a day of rest before facing RSC Antwerp on Monday night. The tournament has been a great success with everyone delighted that such a prestigious club as United participated. Jan Reuwijk of the organising committee is hopeful that we will make this a regular occurrence in the years to come.

Apparently photos will be posted on the official website in the next few days.

nicklauski

Good man Mitch!

PHB

Personally I thought Nani was at fault for the 2nd goal, not Foster. Foster coulda done more, but if Nani had tracked his run, it woulda be fine. Park made the same mistake in the match too.

I think it'll take a little time for them to adjust to the fact that the central midfielders won't be covering for them like they have for the last 2 seasons.

Nonetheless, I hope Foster can build on this performance slowly but surely.

As for Nani, good goal, but went quiet. We ended up getting overrun in midfield I thought and it remains a problem area for us.

I still await actual news on Hargreaves, I just ignore the various random news reports that for some reason people believe yet they ignore all other news reports because they are bull****.

The Rooster

PHB wrote: »

Personally I thought Nani was at fault for the 2nd goal, not Foster. Foster coulda done more, but if Nani had tracked his run, it woulda be fine. Park made the same mistake in the match too.

Of course if Evra had got up instead of lying on his back picking his nose trying to make a point, he could easily have been back to pick up Lampard.

Necronomicon

The Rooster wrote: »

Of course if Evra had got up instead of lying on his back picking his nose trying to make a point, he could easily have been back to pick up Lampard.

Think he meant the second goal of the game, Chelsea's equaliser. Nani lost the run of Carvhalho.

Headshot

see the Royal Antwerp v United is on today

will there be highlights

also how did brady get on in the WVO tournament ?

Mitch Connor

Headshot wrote: »

see the Royal Antwerp v United is on today

will there be highlights

also how did brady get on in the WVO tournament ?

no idea if there will be highlights of the Antwerp game. They show highlights of some reserve games during HT against Valencia, so maybe they'll be sending a camera along to this one too. who knows.

As for Brady, know no more than what I posted above.

Smegball

As long as it doesn't turn into a " back in two weeks " Neville situation

Headshot

I see Nani reckons he could be fit for wednesday international match

hopefully saf will have a word with him

source ssn

nicklauski

If he dislocated it there wouldn't be much chance of him being back!!
Although I remember a fella playing in the world cup a few years he did his shoulder the wednesday and was playing the Saturday, Supposedly he had done it that many times it used to pop out even when he was running!
I did mine 3 times and it's not a nice injury to rush back from, thats how I did it the 2nd time! Came back to early and it popped out again!

Smegball

I'm sure Nani meant fit for next Sunday against Birmingham

RasTa

Where has Welbeck being this pre-season? I'm persuming with Nani out he will be drafted onto the bench but can't remember him playing in any of the Asia tour games.