Manchester United And Real Madrid Go Head To Head For Brazilian Wonder Kid

The Sunday Mirror reports today that Manchester United and Real Madrid are chasing Sao Paulo youngster Wellington. The player is only 17, but has made his full Sao Paulo debut.

Wellington is not a big man, just 1.73m and is mostly used in a defensive midfield position.

His full name is Wellington Aparecido Martins or simply Wellington and he was born on January 28, 1991 in Sao Paulo. He currently plays for Sao Paulo having made his full debut this season and wears the number 28 shirt.

So far he has made just the one appearance with no goals for Sao Paulo. He has been with the club for 3 years.

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Manchester United's Fixture/Injury Pile Up Gets Worse

Manchester United's clash with Everton has been moved forward 48 hours to Saturday January 31 due to Everton's FA Cup replay with Liverpool. Steven Gerrard's FA Cup derby leveller for Liverpool may have unwittingly handed Manchester United a problem.

United are without 12 senior players for Tuesday's Premier League trip to West Brom, leaving Sir Alex Ferguson to pick through his squad for a team of fit players.

Ferguson was hoping the situation might have eased in time United's next league game against Everton - with both Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown tipped to be available after long-standing back and ankle problems respectively and Park Ji-sung on the brink of a comeback from a minor hamstring complaint.

But the Old Trafford encounter with David Moyes' men will now be played 48 hours ahead of schedule - moving forward to Saturday January 31 from Monday February 2 to clear the way for Everton's FA Cup replay with Liverpool on February 4.

It robs Ferdinand, Brown and Park, or anyone else among United's walking wounded who might have had a chance of returning against Everton, of two extra days' preparation.

The late change is part of a confusing February fixture list for United.

Their remaining outstanding game against Fulham - originally postponed in August because of United's presence in the European Super Cup - has been pencilled in for February 17. But that will be dependent on neither side requiring a fifth-round replay.

In addition, United's home match against Portsmouth on February 28 has been postponed because of their appearance in the Carling Cup final the following day

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Jose Mourinho Says Liverpool Can Still Win The Premier League Ahead Of Manchester United

Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho claims Liverpool have all they need to win the Premier League in front of Manchester United this season.

Rafael Benitez's team are currently second in the table, level on points with United but Fergie's side do have that all important game in hand over their Merseyside rivals plus a btter goal difference.

Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph Mourinho said: "It has been interesting watching Liverpool this season, I think they have everything they need to win the title."

Despite being right up there in the thick of things in the title race, Liverpool have been guilty of losing points in games they'd expect to win, but Mourinho, now the boss of Inter Milan, believes they can keep their championship challenge on track.

"I still can't understand why they didn't do it in the last four years. Why wouldn't they be able to do it this season? Of course they can, the manager is good, the players are good, the crowd is unique, the tradition of the club is big, so why can't they do it? I think they can."

Mourinho warned, however, that the resumption of the Champions League at the end of next month could again be a distraction for the Anfield club.

"Usually it is when the Champions League starts that they lose their focus on the Premier League," he continued. "It was like this in previous years when they did very well in the Champions League but they lost too many points in the championship. They have already lost 10 points at home by drawing the kind of matches they used to win. Against Stoke, Fulham, West Ham, Hull and Everton it has been two points lost. So if you can imagine that they had those 10 points now, they would be top of the league.".....Back To Home Page...

Ryan Giggs Set To Be Offered New Contract

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed his intention to offer Ryan Giggs a new contract.

Giggs, 35, is coming towards the end of his latest one-year rolling contract and recently suggested he could retire at the end of the season.

But Ferguson is hoping the offer of a new contract will persuade the former Wales international to extend his record-breaking Old Trafford career.

Giggs is the club's all-time leading appearance maker after 19 years in the first team.

"Ryan will be offered a new contract of course. He has been fantastic for us this season - he seems to be getting even better with age," Ferguson told the Sunday Mirror.

"He could win the footballer of the year award and it would be fitting if he did after the career he has had.

"He seems to be one of those rare people who find that age and injuries don't catch up with them.".....Back To Home Page...

Edwin Van Der Sar Closes In On The Record For Manchester United

Edwin van der Sar has the task of keeping West Brom's less-than-lethal attack at bay for a minimum of 84 minutes at the Hawthorns on Tuesday to set a new Premier League goalkeeping record.

The Manchester United keeper has not been beaten in the 942 minutes since Arsenal's Samir Nasri scored the second of his two goals on 8 November.

Chelsea's Petr Cech holds the current record at 1,025 minutes, which he took from United's Peter Schmeichel in 2005, but that is still short of Steve De'Ath's Football League best of 1,103 minutes for Reading and the British record for all competitive games, held by Chris Woods of Rangers, who once went unbeaten for 1,196 minutes (19 hours and 56 minutes).

I can see the record tumbling despite United having a depleted defence. This in itself would be an amazing record as United are not famous for feats such as this. As with all Manchester United teams they rely on free-flowing attacking football with the old Busby philosophy ALWAYS in force.........if we concede one goal, we will score two !!!

Good luck to Van Der Sar and United on Tuesday, go get that record guys !! ..... Back To Home Page...

Spurs Are Sunk By An Old Pal: Manchester United In The Fifth Round Of The Cup

Manchester United knocked Spurs out of the FA Cup albeit by only two goals to one. But to be honest United outplayed them for long periods of time during the whole match.

Goal number one would have been a spectacular effort by Paul Scholes but as it took a deflection from Huddlestone it was marked down as an own goal. Then Carrick played a superb through ball to Berbatov who took it superbly with one touch and fired it home for United's second goal in 90 seconds after Pavlyuchenko had given Spurs a one goal lead after just four minutes.

So, a victory for United and they march onto the fifth round.

For me though, I was particularly impressed with two guys today and they share man of the match in my opinion. First was 17 year old Danny Welbeck. He was amazing. Every pass that was launched at him, he casually brought it under control and played the ball simply and acurately all afternoon. His raw talent is amazing. Even if Scholes fired on of his masterful 60 yard cross field passes to him, Welbeck just seems to stick his foot out and the ball sticks to it. He is also capable of making strong runs into the box and getting the defenders in a right frenzy.

Second man of the match is Carlos Tevez. What can I say about this guy. Along with Ji Sung Park he must be one of the most hard working guys you will ever lay your eyes on in the Premier League. Today he covered a monstrous 15.2 km or ten miles !!! Yes that's right, TEN MILES !!! Considering most of it is in fast bursts of acceleration followed by a slow jog then springting he must be immensely fit to do this. Strong - he is as strong as on ox and today he showed us what hard work is all about.

Manchester United reach the fifth roud but I was more impressed with Welbeck and tevez. Absolutely fantastic performances.....Back To Home Page...

City Fans Asked To Come Forward

THE Football Supporters’ Federation has urged Stoke fans to get in touch if they believe they were wrongly issued with Section 27 orders before City’s game at Manchester United on November 15.

Greater Manchester Police forced around 80 fans to leave the city before the game and put them on coaches back to Stoke-on-Trent.

Greater Manchester Police has since apologised to a small number of those supporters and reimbursed the cost of their match tickets.

The force is also reviewing the way it uses section 27 orders.

However, publicity about the episode has led to more Stoke fans contacting the federation to claim they were also unfairly treated.

Section 27 orders allow police to remove individuals from an area for up to 48 hours if they believe there is a threat of alcohol-related crime or disorder.

However, the Football Supporters’ Federation is campaigning against the use of the orders on football supporters.

Federation chairman Malcolm Clarke has urged individual supporters to get in touch sooner rather than later, to allow the organisation to focus on its campaign.

He said: “It’s a case really that if there’s any one else there, step forward now or forever hold your peace.

“In terms of the campaign, I would say it is so far so good. But we are still some way from the finishing line.”

The Football Supporters Federation can be contacted on 08702 777777.

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Sir Alex Ferguson Is The Most Powerful Person In British Sport

MANCHESTER United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is the most powerful person in British sport ahead of London Olympic Games chairman Sebastian Coe and Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour and that is official.

The Times newspaper make a Top 100 of Britains most powerful every year and they placed Sir Alex at the head of it saying: "He has been shaping our sporting lives for decades, to the extent that he is atop our summit, and the hard part is not establishing where his power starts but where it ends."

Roman Abramovich, Chelsea's billionaire owner, was listed at No.6 with footballer David Beckham seventh, England manager Fabio Capello eighth and Richard Scudamore, the chief executive of the Premier League, in 10th.

67-year-old Ferguson, who has been in charge of Manchester United since 1986, has won more trophies than any other manager in British football after early successes at Aberdeen. Currently United are world, European and English champions and lead the Premier League table.

Putting Sheikh Mansour at No.3 on the list, the newspaper said the impact of his riches 'has been seismic'. His investment in Manchester City, who reportedly made an unsuccessful bid of more than 100 million pounds (S$207 million) for AC Milan's Kaka last week, has turned the long under-achieving club into the richest in the world.

'There is every chance he will top this list next year if he achieves his goal of transforming City,' the newspaper said.....Back To Home Page...

FA Cup: Manchester United 'v' Tottenham Preview

A couple of years ago, an FA Cup tie with Manchester United would have been the highlight of the season for Spurs as they had usually cemented their place in mid-table and could afford to concentrate on the cup competitions. The Carling Cup being Spurs preferred cup right now as they won it last year and made the final this year again.

Harry Redknapp has been promising wholesale changes from the side that almost shamed the club by blowing a three-goal lead at Burnley in midweek. Guessing what the side will be for this match is almost impossible but it is possible that Spurs fans will spend the first half of the game simply trying to work out who half the players are and the other half of the game wondering how United scored so easily against them.

Spurs will likely play Gareth Bale, Ricardo Rocha, Giovani Dos Santos and Adel Taarabt. Roman Pavlyuchenko may only have come off the bench but even he would be a risk given Spurs lack
of strikers. Similarly with no other goalkeepers to call on, the hapless Ben Alnwick will get a chance to redeem himself after the horror show at Turf Moor.

United picked up three more injuries in their victory over Derby County in midweek but their squad has a huge amount more in terms of depths than Tottenham’s. Whereas Spurs will have to look to academy starlets to fill the void, United can cover the loss of Evans, Anderson and Rafael with players such as Tosic, Fletcher and young players who are almost guaranteed to slot
easily into the side given their Old Trafford upbringing.

The lack of expectation may help Spurs after the trauma of midweek but a similar scoreline after 90 minutes is still likely to be reached as Spurs gear up for Stoke on Tuesday rather than FA Cup glory.

My Prediction: Manchester United 3 - 0 Tottenham

Expected Line Ups:

Manchester United: Foster, Chester, Neville, Fletcher, O'Shea, Nani, Gibson, Tosic, Giggs, Welbeck, Tevez.

Tottenham: Alnwick, Bale, Gunter, Rocha, Dervite, Zokora, Huddlestone, Bentley, Dos Santos, Taarabt, Pavlyuchenko.

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Harry Is After Another Upset

Injury-riddled and out of form, Spurs should have no chance at Old Trafford tonight. Except that Harry Redknapp has a long history of knocking Manchester United out of the FA Cup.

Currently his team Spurs are riddled with injuries and struggling at the foot of the table....

Not that Redknapp will be fazed by that. He has already beaten Manchester United with three different clubs in the FA Cup – Bournemouth, West Ham United and Portsmouth – each time against the odds.

The last victory is understood still to rankle with Sir Alex Ferguson as it denied United another treble.

"Does it?" said Redknapp with mock regret, "I'm sorry he's got upset about it but you can't win everything. I was quite pleased really, to tell you the truth."

Do Spurs have a chance of making it four for Harry or will they get a right good whooping ?

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Sammy McIlroy Pays Tribute To Sir Matt As Busby's 100th Birthday Approaches

May 26th 2009 is the 100th birthday of Sir Matt Busby, Mr Manchester United, the man who got us to where we are today. Nobody did it better than Sir Matt back in his day and to be honest there are not many who have done it better since. With the exception of possibly our very own Sir Alex right now. But even he uses the ethics instilled into Manchester United by Sir Matt.

United's status as world champions and arguably the best supported club on the planet owes much to the pioneering work of Sir Matt Busby in the 1950's and that's the view of former Reds midfielder Sammy McIlroy, who acknowledged this week's anniversary of Sir Matt's death in 1994 with a warm tribute on MUTV.

"I was lucky enough to play under him for a short period of time," said McIlroy, who was Busby's last signing as United boss in 1969. He was fantastic, the way he handled everyone at the football club. That really hit me when I came here from Belfast as a young boy. He knew everybody's name. He made it what it is. He's the man who made it a worldwide club."

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Soccerfanbase.com

I joined a forum called soccerfanbase.com where the chat about Manchester United with rival fans is pretty good.

They actually asked me to write a few things to go on their blog which is HERE

I did this and then noticed they had a forum too which is quite new and needs good members who post a lot. I signed up to and to be honest I find it pretty good. The guy who runs these two sites has so much energy and vision for his sites it's a pleasure to help him out.

Basically the forum covers every team in the world virtually with sections for Europe, South America, North America and everywhere else too.

Due to the effort the owner was putting in I thought I would sign up and help out too and see if we can build a really good place where fans from all around the world can discuss their teams and everyone can learn from each other about the game as it happens world wide.

He also needs writers for the blog too, so if you are a blogger or feel writing might be something you want to try then come along and have a go. If you're English is not too good or you struggle with grammar then don't worry about this, we will help you, we're all football fans together.

Click Here To Be Taken To The Forum

Sign up and get posting, you know it makes sense......Back To Home Page...

Manchester United Missed The Chance To Ease Fixture Pile Up

It is very rare indeed that Fergie will miss a trick but he has missed a big one with regard to this weekends FA Cup tie with Tottenham. If there is a draw between the teams there will be a replay and with United crippling injury list that is just what the doctor DIDN'T order. But if they looked at the rule book a little closer they could have saved themselves a big headache.

A little-known FA law states that clubs can agree between themselves to play 30 minutes of extra time at the end of the original tie in a bid to avoid having to play the match again.

With United manager Alex Ferguson facing a crippling injury crisis as his side chase trophies on FOUR fronts at home and in Europe the last thing he needs is a replay in London squeezed into an already packed schedule, especially with the Champions League about to resume.

Likewise, Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, whose side will face United in the League Cup final, has vowed to field a "mish-mash" side for a match he described as secondary to their relegation six-pointer against Stoke City next week.

A quick glance at FA Cup Rule 12b may have spared both men the inconvenience of an unwanted extra fixture but Ferguson appeared unaware on Friday when he read out a long list of players unavailable for Saturday's tie.

The rule states that extra time can be played at the end of match if both clubs agree in writing within seven days of the draw being made and the referee is notified before kickoff.

In normal circumstances there is only extra time at the end of a replay with penalties to follow if it is still level.

"Someone has informed me that I could apply to The FA to have extra time tomorrow," Ferguson told reporters. This has come out this morning, I've never heard of this in my life.

"It's in the articles of The Association that both teams can apply to have the game decided tomorrow and notify the referee before the game.

"I'm going to speak to David Gill and ask him first of all if this is actually correct. I've never heard of it. The criticism would be that we're not adhering to the principles of the FA Cup or the spirit of it -- but why have The FA got it in there?"

An FA spokesman said on Friday that the rule has not been invoked from the first round proper onwards for at least 50 years but is sometimes used in preliminary rounds to spare amateur clubs huge travel costs.....Back To Home Page...

Anelka Says Manchester United Are Brilliant

Nicolas Anelka obviously still claims Chelsea can win the Premier League despite Manchester United's brilliance. The Frenchman reckons that league leaders United are ‘brilliant’, but he believes that Chelsea’ last-ditch victory over Stoke will boost his troops’ morale.

Anything is possible in this league as we have seen in the past and the league's top scorer assumes that The Blues feel good enough to add another trophy to their collection. Anelka has said that finishing at the top of the goalscorer’s table is ‘secondary’ to him, as he is focused on collective targets.

Anelka, speaking to 'Les Dessous du Sport' said: “Against Stoke, we scored two goals in a short space of time to claim the victory. Winning after adversity is always positive. It proves that what goes around comes back around. This game can boost our confidence regarding our title chances. Manchester United are top. The Reds are hard to beat, they are really brilliant. But it’s still possible. Okay, I haven’t scored in The Premier League lately. But I scored in the FA Cup. Besides, I was played on the right wing in some games. I scored goals in the past. What I want to do is win titles. Happy days if I can finish top scorer, but it’s secondary.” .....Back To Home Page...

It's A Mystery

Despite several reports linking Manchester United to Yven Moyo of Sochaux, it is now a mystery as to where these reports came from. It had been reported that the European Champions had made an offer for the 16-year-old starlet, who is being tipped for a huge future in the game.

However, Sochaux have Moyo under a trainee contract which keeps the youngster at the club for two more years, and academy director Jean-Luc Ruty was shocked to hear of United’s interest.

"That is a shock, I am not saying he does not have many qualities, but Yven has only just become a trainee. Manchester United have not made any contact with the club."

No great surprises there really. As soon as any player with half an ounce of promise becomes available, the rumours start flying around about £60 million pound bids etc etc.

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