Manchester United Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 11/12

counterlock

A great result, Norwich was always going to be tricky. Never have we been playing as badly as this and still picking up so many points. The determination we've shown is so many games this year can't be bought. The noisy neighbours have a tricky run in too, that game on April 30th is going to be mega.

TheLynx

It will be Manchester's title this year

Hank Scorpio

DB21 wrote: »

I'd class Rooney and Vidic as far more vital than Valencia (no disrespect to Valencia, but Rooney and Vidic influence entire games).

In fairness that's true, but the past month or two Valencia's raised his game to a different level, it looks like hes full of belief now.

Personally happy to see that as he seemed like a shy/scared guy in the past.

TheFullDuck

Will I Amnt

I was still laughing at Adams pen even after the last one was missed.
It was comical,sent me into a crazy giggling mess

kmart6

So the whole Mickey Mouse Cup thing was started by Liverpool fans....kind of ironic when you look at their celebrations today!

Kylo Ren

Fernando Torres: Apps - 21 Goals - 2

Paul Scholes: Apps - 6 Goals - 2

Owen_S

DB21 wrote: »

I'd class Rooney and Vidic as far more vital than Valencia (no disrespect to Valencia, but Rooney and Vidic influence entire games).

Rooney is more prolific when Valencia plays, they tend to compliment each other. Valencia also has the ability to help out at the back(I would prefer to see Valencia on the right wing rather than Nani if either of the twins were playing), and given his standard since recovering from injury, has shown that he can consistently provide quality performances. I think teams need players who they can rely on to give good performances, and in that sense Valencia is vital and can be put into the same bracket as the other top players.

Since coming back from retirement, Scholes has influenced his fair share of games too.

Son Of A Vidic

Kylo Ren

^^^^

Pity it wasn't bigger, would of made a nice background.

Kerrydude1981

Just watched the highlights,thank god for Giggs and Scholes,great result and great celebration for the second goal,DDG has had his critics this season but he some vital saves today,he is going through a good patch atm and long may it continue

Mikeyt086

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

Keno 92 wrote: »

^^^^

Pity it wasn't bigger, would of made a nice background.

If someone finds me the original pic without the lens flares i'll make a background.

Kylo Ren

Mikeyt086 wrote: »

If someone finds me the original pic without the lens flares i'll make a background.

Will this do?

homerjay2005

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

Just watched the highlights,thank god for Giggs and Scholes,great result and great celebration for the second goal,DDG has had his critics this season but he some vital saves today,he is going through a good patch atm and long may it continue

de gea barely put a foot wrong from september to december and it went unnoticed....praise doesnt sell news papers.

delighted for him, he has been superb since his nightmare at anfield.

homerjay2005

speaking of de gea...


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homerjay2005

and to finish off the day...both goals..



...................................


and the celebration....bedlem in the away end.



i aint seen giggsy celebrate like that in years. jones got a smack across the back of the head off him for his troubles.

JerryHandbag

According to BBC site Rio got booked a minute after Giggs goal, so was it something to do with the celebrations?

MD1990

i'd say Giggsy will find himself a housewife to celebrate with tonight

homerjay2005

MD1990 wrote: »

i'd say Giggsy will find himself a housewife to celebrate with tonight

i doubt he'd have to look very hard, he shags who he wants afterall.....

Mr Alan

homerjay2005 wrote: »

speaking of de gea...


...........................

...........................

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Amazing saves them.

Mikeyt086

Will someone link me to that fantastic blog yis are all stealing those gifs from? Only been to it the one time it was posted in here.

Professey Chin

homerjay2005 wrote: »

speaking of de gea...

I genuinely have no idea how he managed to keep a hold of the 2nd one o_o

Blatter

Mr Alan wrote: »

Amazing saves them.

Nobody said that they were amazing saves, it was obviously just a very good goalkeeping performance. He had a great presence about him.

Son Of A Vidic

Mikeyt086 wrote: »

If someone finds me the original pic without the lens flares i'll make a background.

I didn't use any lense flare, those are actually stars that mysteriously appeared over our two legendary superstars.:D

Jax Teller

Mikeyt086 wrote: »

Will someone link me to that fantastic blog yis are all stealing those gifs from? Only been to it the one time it was posted in here.

http://beautifullyred.co.uk/

MagicMarker

A good sign from De Gea yesterday was that when he came for the ball, he got it! Even when he got clattered a couple of times he held on to it. I'd say yesterday was probably his best performance so far.

kryogen

Few news stories today

First up, hopefully King is going to see more game time.

JOSH King can step into the spotlight and assume a lead role for Hull City next month, according to manager Nick Barmby.

Six weeks on from joining on loan from Manchester United, King has been limited to just three substitute appearances in the Championship.
​
The forward's only start came in the FA Cup defeat to Crawley and, as yet, he is still to open his goalscoring account for the Tigers.

The last fortnight has seen King work on his fitness with reserve-team run-outs against Rotherham and Leeds, and the 20-year-old will hope to make his mark for City when a run of nine games in 30 days begins at Blackpool on Friday.

"With minutes under his belt he's looking sharper all the time," said boss Barmby.

"Josh will have a big part to play for us I'm sure, especially in March with all the games coming up.

"We've told all the lads that. Everyone needs to be ready to seize the chance when it comes along."

The absence of Cameron Stewart from the City fold, on international duty with England under-21s until Thursday, could see King considered for a first league start at Blackpool.

If Stewart is selected for the Euro 2013 qualifier against Belgium, it seems unlikely he would be considered for a second start in 48 hours at Bloomfield Road.

Aaron Mclean would be the most likely beneficiary in that scenario but King will be pressing for selection.

Along with Stewart, Corry Evans will also be in action on Wednesday night as Northern Ireland face Norway in Belfast.

With Tom Cairney also nursing a groin injury from last week's 0-0 draw with Brighton, a problem that could rule him out of Scotland under-21s duty this week, that could pave the way for Seyi Olofinjana to come in from the cold.

Barmby plans to monitor the situation as the week progresses but is pleased to see a fierce competition for places ahead of the season's busiest period next month.

"It's difficult to keep everyone happy because they all want to play," said Barmby, who has struggled to even find a place on the bench for the likes of Olofinjana, Richard Garcia and Jay Simpson.

"The good thing is that whoever is not playing is backing his mate and not sulking over being out of the team.

"You don't need that in a squad game. Ultimately it's beneficial to everyone if we're doing well. You see everyone pushing each other here. They're a very good group who want to do well for each other.

"Yes, they want to take each other's places but it's a healthy respect from everyone."

With City's trip to Cardiff postponed due to their League Cup final date with Liverpool yesterday, the Tigers fell further behind the Championship's top six. City are ninth, with at least one game in hand on the sides above them, but two points adrift of the play-offs.

Hopefully he does get some more playing time.

kryogen

A bit of transfer muppetry

Sir Alex Ferguson is monitoring Porto star James Rodriguez, the player known as the South American Cristiano Ronaldo, according to reports in Portugal.

The 20-year-old midfielder has impressed since joining Porto from Argentinian club Banfield in 2010 and is considered by many to be one of the hottest prospects in world football.

The former Banfield man was rewarded with an improved deal after scoring a hat-trick in last season’s Portuguese Cup final.

His excellent form has continued this term and the youngster has found the target nine times in 15 domestic league games.

Ferguson apparently sent a scout to the Etihad Stadium to watch Manchester City’s midweek Europa League clash with Porto.

Rodriguez’s performances have now attracted attention outside Portugal, but any club that wishes to sign him would have to bid £38 million to activate the release clause in his contract.

Though the youngster plays primarily in a wide role he is also on occasion used in a more orthodox striking role.

But there is little doubt the Porto talent has impressed Ferguson sufficiently.

The Scot has adopted a youthful transfer policy over the past couple of years, with the likes of Javier Hernandez, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones make an instant impact in the Man United first team set-up.

Rodriguez is a speedy intelligent attacking weapon who has served FC Porto well over the past 18 months.

Whether Ferguson is ready to break the bank to secure a player who has grown in stature to be compared to former United star Ronaldo remains to be seen.

kryogen

Reaction to yesterday from the gaffer

Ferguson was full of praise for Manchester United's two old timers, especially Giggs who scored the last-minute winner to seal a 2-1 victory on his 900th appearance. Scholes, had given them an early lead but that was cancelled out in the 83rd minute by a fine strike by City captain Grant Holt.

Ferguson was delighted his side had not fallen four points behind City, who had beaten Blackburn Rovers 3-0. Now they are two points adrift with both teams having 12 games still to play.

"Given the career Ryan has had, to score the winning goal with the last kick of the game, I think he deserved that," Ferguson said.

"It was a marvellous cross from Ashley Young.

"But I have to say we were lucky today, in the sense Norwich had more promise about them. I thought we were lethargic, too casual on the ball.

"Then when we lost the goal, we played brilliantly. That tells you something about the temperament, they do not get nervous and started to up their game, so that augurs well for us.

"The players know they should have done better during the game, and that is irrespective of Norwich being the better team, they just kept crossing that ball into the box."

Ferguson also praised goalkeeper David de Gea and central defensive pairing Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans for withstanding a fierce Norwich barrage.

"Without Ferdinand, Evans and De Gea, we would have been down," he said. "They were brilliant the three of them, in the second half."

Ferguson also found words for veteran Scholes, who had come out of retirement earlier in the season to answer his manager's call.

"I forgot about Scholesy scoring the first one," Ferguson admitted. "He and Giggs are the best players this club has ever had."

The result was hard on Paul Lambert, the Norwich manager, but he had been delighted by the way his players had responded to going behind so early in the game.

"We were excellent," he said. "But Manchester United have been doing that for 25 years. Norwich have also been scoring late goals so I suppose I need to take my own medicine. Now I know what it feels like

"But we gave it everything and I couldn't have asked for more. We were excellent but by the end we were running on empty and Manchester United come at you from all angles."

Scholes' seventh-minute goal was a simple header after Nani had picked him out at the back post with a cross from the right.

Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy was needed to make saves from Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck on a day when Wayne Rooney was absent with a throat infection that will also keep him out of England's friendly with the Netherlands next week.

But de Gea was also busy and made impressive stops to deny Anthony Pilkington and Holt in the first half.

Holt made it 1-1 seven minutes from time with an impressive shot on the turn but Giggs then had the last word.

Lambert also paid homage to United's evergreens.

"The two of them are a huge part of Manchester United's history. They know how to win and they have won major tournaments. They are two fabulous footballers."

Giggsy11

kryogen wrote: »

A bit of transfer muppetry

Rodriguez’s performances have now attracted attention outside Portugal, but any club that wishes to sign him would have to bid £38 million to activate the release clause in his contract.

Giggsy11

Kind of offtopic,

Our supposedly midfield savior Sneijder's team haven't scored a single goal in 5 games. (This run includes 2 home games against relegation battlers Bologna and Novara).

Also yesterday in the North London derby Arsenal completely dominated Spurs midfield (Parker and Modric) whereas our midfield (Carrick and Giggs) did alright against Arsenal. Not a bad midfield we have then.

p.s Not saying Carrick is better than Modric or anyone, but our midfield problems are over played and exaggerated many times imo.

TheTownie

In other news;

Manchester United has become the first major stadium in the UK to achieve the international Environmental Management System standard, ISO14001.

For the last 10 years, Manchester United has worked closely with Mike Goodfellow-Smith from Quest for Future Solutions to improve the club’s sustainability. Over the years, this has paid off for them handsomely with savings mounting to over £500,000 so far, and closer working relationships with some of their key suppliers, which have resulted in additional cost and process efficiency savings.

During 2011, Manchester United’s dedication to reducing their carbon emissions was recognised when the club achieved the Carbon Trust Standard, and was at the top of the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme league tables.

They’ve now been awarded ISO14001, but they’re not stopping there. Their next challenge is to be the first major stadium in the UK to also achieve the International Standard for Sustainable Events Management when the standard is launched later this year.

"It’s a privilege to be working with Manchester United," says Goodfellow-Smith. "Sporting facilities and large stadia have some unique challenges that make the implementation of environmental management systems much harder than for many companies. But Manchester United has never been known to shy away from a challenge, and they have risen to this one admirably. They have some exciting future plans to improve their sustainability further, which I’m looking forward to working on with them."

To help other clubs and large venues, Quest has published a guide to achieving ISO14001 and ISO20121 certification, written specifically for stadium managers. This guide is available free of charge and can be ordered through www.stadiumtips.co.uk.

Vertigo100

homerjay2005 wrote: »

and to finish off the day...both goals..



...................................


and the celebration....bedlem in the away end.



i aint seen giggsy celebrate like that in years. jones got a smack across the back of the head off him for his troubles.

I would have loved to have been in the away end for that yesterday.

nicklauski

Memories of Ronaldo's goal away to Fulham with those celebrations. Could prove to be a massive goal for United.

homerjay2005

United fans being charged 92euros for Bilbao away.

what a f*cking disgrace, another case of United fans being ripped off, just cost of their numbers and name.

homerjay2005

homerjay2005 wrote: »

United fans being charged 92euros for Bilbao away.

what a f*cking disgrace, another case of United fans being ripped off, just cost of their numbers and name.

They charge only what people will pay. Same as everything in life.

Mitch Connor

homerjay2005 wrote: »

United fans being charged 92euros for Bilbao away.

what a f*cking disgrace, another case of United fans being ripped off, just cost of their numbers and name.

Fucing hell!

I reckon Uefa (and the FA in terms of domestic games) should have a ruling in place where away fans are treated the same.

Either have a set 'away fan' price (more applicable in the PL) or have it that the two clubs must agree on a price for away fans and that price is paid by both sets of fans for both games. Domestically you could have, for example, a price of £35, maybe less, and that is the price of an away tickets for every match. In Europe you could have it that if Bilbao want to charge €92 per ticket, than that is what their own fans will be charged at Old Trafford. I reckon you would see clubs acting fairer if their own fans were getting punished by their money gouging too.

It isn't fair, imo, that a United fan (for example) has to pay more to see Fulham at Craven Cottage than a Stoke fan would. Whatever about there own team gouging them on prices, the opposition should not be allowed to do so imo.

Mitch Connor

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Fucing hell!

I reckon Uefa (and the FA in terms of domestic games) should have a ruling in place where away fans are treated the same.

Either have a set 'away fan' price (more applicable in the PL) or have it that the two clubs must agree on a price for away fans and that price is paid by both sets of fans for both games. Domestically you could have, for example, a price of £35, maybe less, and that is the price of an away tickets for every match. In Europe you could have it that if Bilbao want to charge €92 per ticket, than that is what their own fans will be charged at Old Trafford. I reckon you would see clubs acting fairer if their own fans were getting punished by their money gouging too.

It isn't fair, imo, that a United fan (for example) has to pay more to see Fulham at Craven Cottage than a Stoke fan would. Whatever about there own team gouging them on prices, the opposition should not be allowed to do so imo.

Do utd fans have to pay more than every club Mitch? For prem games?

Red Crow

Mitch Connor wrote: »

homerjay2005 wrote: »

United fans being charged 92euros for Bilbao away.

what a f*cking disgrace, another case of United fans being ripped off, just cost of their numbers and name.

Fucing hell!

I reckon Uefa (and the FA in terms of domestic games) should have a ruling in place where away fans are treated the same.

Either have a set 'away fan' price (more applicable in the PL) or have it that the two clubs must agree on a price for away fans and that price is paid by both sets of fans for both games. Domestically you could have, for example, a price of £35, maybe less, and that is the price of an away tickets for every match. In Europe you could have it that if Bilbao want to charge €92 per ticket, than that is what their own fans will be charged at Old Trafford. I reckon you would see clubs acting fairer if their own fans were getting punished by their money gouging too.

It isn't fair, imo, that a United fan (for example) has to pay more to see Fulham at Craven Cottage than a Stoke fan would. Whatever about there own team gouging them on prices, the opposition should not be allowed to do so imo.

I'd imagine that United fill out their away allocation 99% of the time. Prices have been like that for years. The tickets are worth whatever the fans are willing to pay for them.

Man United at home is a nice little cash cow for some teams.

Mitch Connor

rarnes1 wrote: »

Do utd fans have to pay more than every club Mitch? For prem games?

I think they do, and that is part of the point. I don't think away fans should have to pay mroe simply because they support a more popular team, or less cause their team is crap.

It should be a fair system in which fans are treated equally. I can understand there being big differences in terms of the prices fans pay for home games, but away games doesn't make nearly as much sense to me.

Yes, there are obviously the laws of supply and demand and the arguments of they are only charging what they know they can get away with, but I think it is simply unfair and crass to treat fans in such a way. Uefa should do something about it from a EL/CL perspective and the various national bodies should do something from a domestic perspective. There should be a maximum allowable ticket price - and that maximum should be fairly decided (ie. the average ticket price for an away ticket at all PL games this season)

homerjay2005

rarnes1 wrote: »

Do utd fans have to pay more than every club Mitch? For prem games?

not every club, but more so than every club. i would think liverpool fans get treated the same, as they have followers all over england also.

some smaller clubs categorise their games into category a, b and c in terms of ticket prices and unfortunately united always seem to be in category a and thus the most expensive.

ill put it to you this way, if a united fan goes to the same amount of away games, as lets say a bolton or fulham fan, at the exact same grounds, the united fan would end up paying a few hundred quid more, over the course of a season assuming 19 games.

QPR was about 90euro a few weeks ago also. some clubs offer their home fans tickets for 20euro for home games in fa cup, while charging full price then in the away end, as they know it would be full anyway.

Your Airbag

Madrid's Diarra is to join Fulham until the end of the season.

Missed opportunity?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17177742

Jax Teller

Your Airbag wrote: »

Madrid's Diarra is to join Fulham until the end of the season.

Missed opportunity?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17177742

That's the wrong Diarra . It says Former Madrid player .

homerjay2005

Your Airbag wrote: »

Madrid's Diarra is to join Fulham until the end of the season.

Missed opportunity?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17177742

wrong Diara.

Your Airbag

Coletrickle88 wrote: »

That's the wrong Diarra . It says Former Madrid player .

homerjay2005 wrote: »

wrong Diara.

My bad. I saw Madrid and Diarra and jumped the gun. I did think it was a little strange him wanting to join Fulham alright :rolleyes:

kryogen

M. Diarra

not

L.Diarra

Wasn't he with someone else now anyway? thought he was gone from Madrid?

...................Just saw posts previous to mine

Vic Vinegar

Spurs will be without Parker for our clash with them next weekend, good news for us. He'll be a huge loss for them!

kryogen

Yeah hopefully, should take a bit of steel out of the middle anyway, and leadership.

Now, if only we turn up and defend well, we are flying!

J. Marston

They have Sandro though. Not a bad replacement.

Son Of A Vidic

Looking at some quotes from SAF after the game yesterday.

"I thought we were lethargic, too casual on the ball."

He sums up a lot of United's season right there.

"I forgot about Scholesy scoring the first one," Ferguson admitted. "He and Giggs are the best players this club has ever had."

And I would even add – probably the best we will ever have.