Manchester United Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 11/12

SK1979

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Macheda will still be young enough to not register and Diouf has been sold.

Squad, as I see it, here:

http://tinyurl.ie/6l7

I have removed Kuszczak as he is out of contract in the summer, no chance he will be at United next season.

There's certainly not as much room as I thought. In addition to your list, there are a lot of players on loan / back at the club like De Laet, Norwood, Drinkwater etc who are falling into the older bracket too. We'd have to loan them again next year or make room for them in the squad or sell them of course.

You could probably be cute and create a space in the 25 man squad by loaning out Amos and having Johnstone as the 3rd keeper. He looks a decent prospect and being under 21 wouldn't need to be registered.

Outside of that, you would have to think Owen is gone. Whats the point in him being around if he doesn't even play. Berba is probably next on the chopping block. I guess he'll stay unless SAF has someone in mind to replace him. Fletch will be in the squad, but I hope to god he has a genuine chance of playing during the season. I cant see Park being sold as the cynic in me thinks that with a tour of Asia coming, they wont sell their most marketable player (unless Kagawa was being bought to "replace" him). The only other player I can see maybe leaving is Ando, personally I'd probably give him another year but I have a feeling he mightn't get it.

To come in, and trying to be semi realistic, I'd make a big offer to Althetic Bilbao for Martinez and Munain. Those two alone would, imo, fill the gaps in our team.

conno16

Mikeyt086 wrote: »

Ive seen him play 6 or 7 times this year for 90mins, and a further 10 or times from highlights. Serie A is easy to keep up with thanks to ESPN.

So I would like to ask you how many times you have seen him play? Napoli season ticket holder? I'm not alone in the opinion that he is infuriatingly inconsistent, Gabriel Marcotti wrote a great article about his ability to be the best player on the pitch one week, and look like someone totally out of his depth the next. Napoli fans themselves are not sold on him.

You didnt say anything about CM, granted, I just thought we were all up in arms about signing players who were not CM's.

Huge addition? Where would he play? As we have covered he isnt a CM, we dont play CAM's really unless Rooney drops deep, and he wouldnt play ahead of Wayne. Nani and Valencia have the wings nailed down. We have absolutely no need for him.

We are more likely to buy someone under 23 to be honest. Thats all we do.

i've seen him play probably as much, maybe a game or two less this season but have been an admirer for many years.
I first came across him on championship manager and was most satisfied to see him make it bigtime as a reality footballer also.

i think there is no reason why he could not play a little behind wazza and an out-and-out striker. he could feed both of the aforementioned and is excellent at linking CMs and wingers to an attack.
getting young and valencia into the game in dangerous positions - this is where its at.
could sign him for around 20m plus maybe machede or some of the younger lads struggling to make it (diouf et al)

my preference would be ozil but hamsik has the ability (when settled) to take the prem by storm.

shadowcomplex

conno16 wrote: »

i go for someone like hamsik or schweinsteiger to start
both are gettable

Hamsik is gettable if we spend 30 to 40m, theres not a hope in hell Bayern would sell us schweinstegger. What makes you think we could get him?, if they were prepared to sell there would be a fee of 40-50m and city, real and chelsea would want him too, no chance at all

Giggsy11

Sir Alex Ferguson hails change in youth development rules

• United manager hopes for new generation of British talent
• EPPP lifts distance limit on recruiting players as young as 12

Sir Alex Ferguson believes Manchester United will again have the opportunity to develop home-grown players as good as the crop headed by David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes due to the elite player performance Plan which allows footballers as young as 12 to be recruited nationally.

Beckham and company were honed in the early 1990s before geographical restrictions were placed on recruitment for boys under 16 to within a 90-minute trip away from clubs.

This caused Ferguson to change policy and start signing young players from abroad, with the young Frenchman Paul Pogba, the Da Silva twins from Brazil, and earlier the Spaniard Gerard Piqué among the more notable players to pass through United's academy.

Ferguson told fifa.com: "It has to do with a change in the legislation. A few years ago the requirement was brought in that you could only sign young players that lived within an hour and a half radius of the club's headquarters.

"It wasn't like that before, which was how we were able to sign such fantastic young lads. But since it became physically impossible to find six or seven players a year so close by, we decided to change the priorities of our scouting system. As a result, we started to bring in very talented players from abroad and we've had success that way.

"But it's true, in terms of developing players from within the club, it's been a long time since we produced a player of David Beckham's calibre. But the legislation changed again a short while back and it'll be like it was 15 years ago once more, so I'm very optimistic we'll be able to get the production line we had in the past going again."

United have also looked further afield for slightly older but still raw talents, with Javier Hernández one recent illustration of this approach. The Mexican was signed by Ferguson as a 22-year-old from Guadalajara and the manager offered an insight into how he was recruited: "Our chief scout had a contact in Mexico who mentioned the lad's name, which was the first step.

"He got hold of some videos of Chivas's matches and showed me them. When we watched them we thought: 'This lad's got promise'. But you can't decide to sign someone just by watching them on a screen. So I sent my chief scout over to Mexico for a month, with a view to seeing what the player was like on and off the pitch. And that's how we discovered that his father and his grandfather had both played at World Cups and that the lad was on the verge of national-team selection.

"After all that, it was a pretty easy decision. We carried out all the necessary steps and managed to sign him before South Africa 2010, which was important as his value would have increased afterwards."

Ferguson, who is 70, again reiterated his stance on how long he may continue: "My philosophy is that, for as long as I'm enjoying my job and I'm in good health, I'm going to carry on here. I don't think you can set yourself limits, but nor can you plan too far ahead because you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. The time will come [for me to retire], obviously, but right now it's not something I'm thinking about."

Bold part, which is not surprising, but good to see SAF confirming once again. Very very important attribute to consider before signing any player.

markc1184

Was there not rules brought out about the jerseys changing every year or have I imagined that? If there is another home jersey brought out next year that is 3 in 3 years, as well as a minimum 2 away strips!

Will I Amnt

Giggsy11 wrote: »

"He got hold of some videos of Chivas's matches and showed me them. When we watched them we thought: 'This lad's got promise'. But you can't decide to sign someone just by watching them on a screen. So I sent my chief scout over to Mexico for a month, with a view to seeing what the player was like on and off the pitch. And that's how we discovered that his father and his grandfather had both played at World Cups and that the lad was on the verge of national-team selection.


Bold part, which is not surprising, but good to see SAF confirming once again. Very very important attribute to consider before signing any player.

That's all well and good but did he consider if he could kick a ball into a wheelie bin????

Kylo Ren

This one is in my closet somewhere. Love this jersey.

nicklauski

The home version of that is one of my favourites of the last few years.
I liked the 08 home jersey too.
Can't think why

IvySlayer

nicklauski wrote: »

The home version of that is one of my favourites of the last few years.
I liked the 08 home jersey too.
Can't think why

I have one of those with Giggs on the back. My favourite jersey ever.

Giggsy11

My favorite, 2007-08 away kit.

s_carnage

Giggsy11 wrote: »

My favorite, 2007-08 away kit.

Ya that's one my favourites too of all the jerseys I have. Had Ronaldo on the back and still wear it with pride.

Mars Bar

The alleged new home jersey is rotten. Just means I'll buy this seasons one when it comes down in price.

Giggsy11

s_carnage wrote: »

Ya that's one my favourites too of all the jerseys I have. Had Ronaldo on the back and still wear it with pride.

I presented 2007-08 away kit with "Tevez" name on it to my friend as a birthday gift.

Son Of A Vidic

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Owen, Berbatov, Anderson, Park candidates to leave?

Well I certainly hope numbers 2&3 from your selection go anyway.

spiralism

nicklauski wrote: »

The home version of that is one of my favourites of the last few years.
I liked the 08 home jersey too.
Can't think why

I've worn mine to the point where the lettering is coming off, front and back. Got the club world cup badge and all Probably my favourite utd home kit that doesnt have SHARP on the front, must get my hands on another if at all possible

Maximus Alexander

Great jerseys in 07-08. They're bound to run out of ideas though if they change it every year. I understand why they do it from a commercial perspective, but in aesthetic terms I really wish they'd find a nice one and stick with it for a few years.

s_carnage

Giggsy11 wrote: »

I presented 2007-08 away kit with "Tevez" name on it to my friend as a birthday gift.

You sure are a keeper!!

Giggsy11

s_carnage wrote: »

You sure are a keeper!!

Yeah probably I didn't word it properly. I gifted him in 2008 Feb. Shame he was born on Feb 6th.

Son Of A Vidic

Yearly jersey changes are irrelevant to me. I have my No. 7 Cantona jersey, it still fits and that's all that matters.

DM_7

United only named a 22 man squad in feb.

DeLaet, Kuszczak and Owen won't be in next season squad.

so who will be coming in from the under 21 list?

welbeck I assume,

NeVeR

This was my 1st ever Utd jersey, My Uncle bought it for me when we went to see man u play chelsea. I was 10 years old lol. My 1st Utd game




I think they wore it twice lol

Cantona's Collars

IvySlayer wrote: »

Mitch do you think Fletcher will be around next season?

Why do you think they made a tartan jersey?:pac:

Cantona's Collars

Zenit vs Benfica on now,we'll get a look at Gaitan and how he copes with temp,it's to drop to -20c over there.

Giggsy11

Prematch press conference updates:

18:07 Sir Alex: "I feel good about being in the Europa League. It's a tournament we're going to try and win. I think we have a responsibility to do better [in Europe] than we've done earlier in the season. That wasn't expected but it happens. We have an opportunity now to do better in the second half of the season."

18:09 Sir Alex: "When you look at the teams that are in this competition it's a challenge. There are some very good teams in it but hopefully we'll do well.

"I think our form is very good at the moment. We're getting players back, which helps. I will certainly try and play my strongest team in each round now.

"We threw it away against Basel in the home game and were unlucky against Benfica in the other home game. That caught us short and we suffered for it. Now players are coming back and I'm sure, with the number of players I have, we can combine the league and the Europa League."

18:10 Sir Alex: "Bayern and Juventus have won all three European tournaments. Irrespective of that, it's important for our own history to win this trophy."

18:11 Team news - Sir Alex: "Ryan Giggs and Dimitar Berbatov are injured. We rested Patrice Evra. It was an emotional weekend for him so I think this is the right thing to do. It's a strong squad we've got here."

18:13 Sir Alex on the Dutchman in his backroom staff: "Rene Meulensteen's done a fantastic job. He's a great coach. He initially joined us to form our Academy system some years back. He did that job very well. When we lost a Reserve coach to Bolton [Ricky Sbragia] I stepped him up. Then Rene got an offer to go to Brondby as manager. I told him not to do it but he went. That proves the Dutch aren't that intelligent after all! But he only stayed three months there and he didn't enjoy it. Then he became our Development Coach and he did a good job at that and then when Carlos Queiroz left [and promoted Mike Phelan to assistant manager] I made him my first-team coach."


18:14 Sir Alex: "We respect all our opponents. We've taken that lesson from Basel. No matter which team you play in Europe they're always capable of producing good players and teams that can worry you. I worry more about Ajax's history than any individual at this moment in time. I respect that history - it's fantastic they've retained that philosophy. They play the same style, the same tactics, the same way... it's fantastic."

18:15 Sir Alex: "I don't have a great history playing against Dutch sides but the standard is always good. The Dutch football people will all tell you the problem is that all the best players want to leave. Unfortunately that's the way with Dutch teams. But they still keep producing players and it's great credit to them."

18:18 Sir Alex on Scholes: "I don't think there's any chance of that. (Scholes returning for England). It's hard to describe Scholes. Honestly... on Saturday he was unbelievable.

"When I told Paul last season he could play 25 to 30 games this season, he said that wasn't enough. He decided to retire after that - he didn't want to go from being a top player who's in the team all the time to a player playing only 25 games a season. He was approaching 37 years of age and it's difficult for players to do that at the top level. I was honest with Paul, though, and I told him that if I got 25 games of quality from him I'd be delighted.

"When he decided to come back I saw no negatives. I was delighted. There couldn't be a negative attached to it because he was training really hard in the couple of months before that. He'd realised he'd made a mistake. He's come back refreshed and enthusiastic and he's his normal self in terms of his training performances. It's been an amazing turnabout for us in the sense of the order and class he brings to the team. Barcelona talk about Xavi in the same way we talk about Scholes."

Giggsy11

18:20 Wayne Rooney is alongside Sir Alex at the Amsterdam ArenA press conference. Wayne tells us: "I'm really enjoying my football and the team are playing well at the minute. We've had a lot of difficult games over the last few weeks and some of the performances have been first class. I'm enjoying my football, scoring goals and the team are playing well. Hopefully that can continue."

18:21 Wayne: "We've always been confident, throughout the season. We've always stated we can win the league. I think we're in a good position at the minute. We're in good form and hopefully that will continue so we're there or thereabouts at the end of the season. Then we can give it a push to get over the finishing line.

"As a player, I feel I've matured on the pitch as a player. I've cut out some silly bookings which I did get in the past. I hope that continues as well as my form and I can help the team be successful.

"It was a controversial red card. I don't think it was deserved. That was a long time ago though..."

18:23 Sir Alex is asked about recent matters between United and Liverpool. "I think we're all delighted we've put the matter to bed, to be honest with you. The two clubs have too much great history and a great rivalry. That's what we want to concentrate on.

18:24 Sir Alex: "It was over two months ago that we went out of the Champions League. We have so many young players who don't have much experience of Europe, so being in the tournament should be great. There's a final in Romania - they want to be there, I want to be there and our fans want us to be there."

18:25 Wayne: "Ajax and Manchester United are two massive clubs. Who wouldn't want to play in this game? There's motivation and desire in every training session."

18:26 Sir Alex on his former club Rangers going into administration: "I'm not surprised by what's happened at Rangers. I think that's been on the cards for a while. It's a tragedy because it's one of the best football clubs you can think of. As far as the rest of Europe is concerned, I think the top clubs have the ability to manage their affairs in the right way. You get the odd club that doesn't, but you're talking about a small percentage. We shouldn't panic, we can just be disappointed at the ones who do fall to the side."

18:27 Sir Alex says Rio Ferdinand will captain United against Ajax, in the absence of Evra, Giggs and of course, Vidic.

18:28 Sir Alex gives more details on the team news: "Ryan got a knock in the first half against Liverpool on the ankle and Dimitar got an injury in training on Sunday. I've got plenty of options up front with Wayne, Chicha and Danny Welbeck. I could also play Ashley Young off the front or Nani through the middle. It was better to leave Dimitar behind. It's not a serious injury - he'd be available if I asked him to play - but I thought it better not to risk it, so I left him behind."

18:31 More from the manager on Scholes, England and Euro 2012: "His reason for refusing last time (to play for England in the 2010 World Cup) was that it was late in the day. He felt the players who got them there should be involved. Two years on, to go back to play for England after seven years... it's a big step. I haven't spoken to him yet about playing on for us next year. With the form he's showing at the moment there's no reason to think he couldn't play on."

18:32 You'd never expect a score prediction from Sir Alex but he did say, "We don't get many goalless draws. I don't think it will be goalless tomorrow."

user2011

At last Rooney names his Horse

SwitchaRooney

Giggsy11

I miss him too

MagicMarker

Seeing as Rio is starting tomorrow I'd say Rafael will be on the bench.

Mars Bar

Gary Neville on Twitter

"the player with the worst english you've played with” Anderson. In fact the Portuguese lads can't understand his Portugese

:pac:

Will I Amnt

Jesus,depressing stuff watching the standard of Benfica and Zenith,how were we not good enough when the likes of them are???

Mars Bar

cambo2008 wrote: »

Jesus,depressing stuff watching the standard of Benfica and Zenith,how were we not good enough when the likes of them are???

Because we took it for granted I think.

Giggsy11

cambo2008 wrote: »

Jesus,depressing stuff watching the standard of Benfica and Zenith,how were we not good enough when the likes of them are???

We are better than this, but lets forget the horrible playing conditions. -15 degrees temperature and horrible pitch.

Will I Amnt

Mars Bar wrote: »

Because we took it for granted I think.

True,but the teams we did have out should have got through that group anyway.
We really messed up our home games

Will I Amnt

Giggsy11 wrote: »

We are better than this, but lets forget the horrible playing conditions. -15 degrees temperature and horrible pitch.

-15 :eek:
Only caught the last half hour didn't realise it was that cold.

Giggsy11

cambo2008 wrote: »

-15 :eek:
Only caught the last half hour didn't realise it was that cold.

Yeah. Benfica players took ages to come out of tunnel for second half. They spent as much time as possible inside it.

RasTa

Do people still buy jersey's? I'm sure it's being at least 15 years since I've bought one. Although in saying that I still get one every Christmas from the mammy.

United jersey= my pair of socks!

3hn2givr7mx1sc

I buy any jersey that I like and is a decent price or on sale. Got the Inter one with the dragon on the side for £20 in JJB in the Trafford Centre last year.

Mitch Connor

RasTa wrote: »

Do people still buy jersey's? I'm sure it's being at least 15 years since I've bought one. Although in saying that I still get one every Christmas from the mammy.

United jersey= my pair of socks!

i've got a few, only got this seasons one the other day. haven't bought one from a shop in years, get them cheap or I don't get them at all.

Mitch Connor

DM-ICE wrote: »

United only named a 22 man squad in feb.

DeLaet, Kuszczak and Owen won't be in next season squad.

so who will be coming in from the under 21 list?

welbeck I assume,

De Gea, Amos, Rafael, Fabio and Welbeck all move up from the under 21 list for next season. Jones and Macheda are the only notable players remaining on the under 21 list (you'd obviously still have lads like Pogba, Keane, Petrucci etc)

Vertigo100

Champions league music at the start of the arsenal match makes me sad cos we won't be involved in it this year.

It's like when you hear a song that reminds you of a bird you used to be with

Nalz

Vertigo100 wrote: »

It's like when you hear a song that reminds you of a bird you used to be with

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAvEVrMiEzs

Orando Broom

T

Vertigo100 wrote: »

Champions league music at the start of the arsenal match makes me sad cos we won't be involved in it this year.

It's like when you hear a song that reminds you of a bird you used to be with

The best kick up the arse United could have got. Very arrogant in the group and that was wrong for starters. Getting to a quarter or a semi would only further entrench the myth that currently United are good enough to win it outright. They are not. The club needed a reality check and got it.

tvercetti

For the Boateng goal in the Arsenal-Milan game, Houghton says keeper had no chance, would the same have been said had it been De Gea

shadowcomplex

Vertigo100 wrote: »

Champions league music at the start of the arsenal match makes me sad cos we won't be involved in it this year.

It's like when you hear a song that reminds you of a bird you used to be with

Dont worry you'll get the ride off her again in september

MagicMarker

tvercetti wrote: »

For the Boateng goal in the Arsenal-Milan game, Houghton says keeper had no chance, would the same have been said had it been De Gea

Yes.

Vertigo100

shadowcomplex wrote: »

Dont worry you'll get the ride off her again in september

And this time I'm gonna bang her with all my heart. Unlike this years limp like I've had 15 pints and a kebab performance.

Will I Amnt

MagicMarker wrote: »

tvercetti wrote: »

For the Boateng goal in the Arsenal-Milan game, Houghton says keeper had no chance, would the same have been said had it been De Gea

Yes.

Arsenal fans in the match thread seem to think he should have kept it out.
It was a cracking strike,can't blame the keeper for not getting his hands to it.

Son Of A Vidic

tvercetti wrote: »

For the Boateng goal in the Arsenal-Milan game, Houghton says keeper had no chance, would the same have been said had it been De Gea

No.

Mr.Crinklewood

We scored from a ****in corner!!!!

conno16

RVP is likely to request a transfer request soon
we need to be ready for this
SAF should have a man sniffing around the arsenal camp