Manchester United vs. FC Copenhagen (Champions League) Preview

We return to Champions League action mid-week with our trip to Copenhagen. We have been hit by three injuries namely to Giggs (pictured), Saha and Gary Neville. While the trio will miss tomorrow’s trip to the Danish capital, Sir Alex has come out and said that Neville and Giggs are most likely to miss Saturday’s game against Portsmouth as well. Not very good news considering both players have had a recurrence of earlier injuries, so this is a bit of a worry. Wes Brown is most likely to start in place of Neville whereas Saha would probably be replaced by Solskjaer.

Points wise, we need only one tomorrow to ensure qualification into the second round so a full-strength side is expected to be named. Fergie has expressed his desire of winning one more European Cup before he retires, read the article here. With us going from strength to strength as the season progresses, can’t say I blame him for being optimistic about our chances this year! We now have seven wins on the trot in all competitions and I expect another tomorrow!

My Preddy: FC Copenhagen 0 - 1 ManYoo

FC Copenhagen, Gary Neville, Louis Saha, Manchester United, Ryan GiggsRelated Posts:
Manchester United vs. Sheffield United Preview
Manchester United vs. FC Copenhagen (Champions League) Review
Manchester United Screensavers
Manchester United vs. Celtic (Champions League) Preview
2006/7 Champion’s League
Another United Desktop!

Manchester United Transfer Rumours

A lot of rumours have been flying around lately about players coming in and going out come the January transfer window. Starting with Owen Hargreaves who’s been linked to us on more than occassion. Apparently he’s on his way here in January and I, for one, would love to see him in a Red shirt! The only downer with him is that he’d be cup-tied for us having already for Bayern in the Champions League. Fergie has come out all praises for Owen Hargreaves today, read that article here.

Moving on, there’s also rumours of Gabriel Heinze making his way to PSG. Considering he was linked recently to Real Madrid and he personally quashed those rumours, I think this is another one of SUN’s worthless pieces of stories of absolutely no significance.

There is also talk of Alan Smith being the subject of a £6million bid from Aston Villa. But I think we can safely regard that as just a rumour since Smith has always figured in Fergie’s plan whenever he’s fit and is a valuable member of our squad especially for important mid-season and CL games coming up.

Alan Smith, Gabriel Heinze, Manchester United, Owen Hargreaves, Transfer RumoursRelated Posts:
Manchester United Transfer Rumours
Manchester United Transfer Rumours
Manchester United Transfer Talk
Ronaldo Causing More Trouble
Transfer Speculation
Manchester United Transfer Targets

Manchester United Screensavers

Onto our weekly round-up of Manchester United resources on the web. Looking for some screensavers to share, I found these websites featuring neat desktop themes and screensavers of Manchester United players and team alike:

WinSite
http://www.winsite.com/bin/Info?5000000036861

Soccer-Desktop.com
http://fabuloussavers.ezthemes.com/pcenhance/ss/preview.phtml?blank+15182
http://fabuloussavers.ezthemes.com/pcenhance/ss/preview.phtml?blank+9106
http://fabuloussavers.ezthemes.com/pcenhance/ss/preview.phtml?blank+10319

TuCows
http://www.tucows.com/preview/227814

Plus, there’s always the Manchester United Official Site (manutd.com) to visit and check out. Their FANZONE has three fantastic screensavers, a must-visit!

http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={07F02890-24CD-4AD7-B94C-0D61E2844330}

Manchester United Screensaver, Soccer Desktop Themes, Soccer ScreensaverRelated Posts:
Manchester United Downloads
More From The World Of Manchester United Mobile
Desktops For MUFC
The MUFC Fanzone
The Treble Winning Year!
Cristiano Ronaldo Desktop Wallpaper

Manchester United vs. Bolton Wanderers Review

Whoa! What a game! and What a show by Rooney! Was there ever a better way to announce his arrival back in form than a fantastic treble against Bolton at the Reebok! In short, Rooney was back to his lethal best with clinical finishing as he single-handedly disposed off Bolton, especially with an awesome solo effort for his hat-trick and United’s 4th to put the final nail in the coffin!

I predicted a tough encounter but the game got me wondering whether christmas had come early! Considering this was supposedly a “top-of-the-table” clash but in the end turned out to be quite different. We showed our class and Bolton were left distinctively second best.

The Rooney show began as early as the 10th minute with a beautiful pass from Carrick and a neat finish by Rooney with his left foot. The second came minutes later with a coolly taken goal by Rooney, a curler from outside the box into the bottom-right of the goal. The game wore on … Bolton pressed and came close but only on a couple of occassions but the central defensive pairing of Rio and Vidic held firm, not to mention a superb save from Van der Sar off a Campo strike with 15 minutes to go.

Later, a mistake from Bolton’s leftback allowed Saha in on goal and he unselfishly passed on the ball to Ronaldo to slot home our third before Rooney finished it off with a solo effort of his at the death.

Fergie said: “There is a growing confidence within the club, we are looking very strong.”

Very strong indeed! with exceptional individual performances all around, the team is indeed marching on and looking like championship material.

Other Reports: BBC, Soccernet.

Bolton Wanderers, Manchester United, Wayne RooneyRelated Posts:
Manchester United vs. Bolton Wanderers Preview
Manchester United vs. Chelsea Preview
Manchester United vs. FC Copenhagen (Champions League) Review
Manchester United PC Games
The Title Race So Far…
Another Weekend, Another Injury

Manchester United Players : Edwin Van Der Sar

Starting off with our Player Profiles section of the blog (yet another addition) and further reason to make this your one-stop resource for all things ManYoo. Sure I don’t have no league tables and dirty statistics for you, but I’ll get right to them soon enough.

So our man at the back, the reliable dutchman Edwin Van der Sar. He is celebrating hsi 36th birthday today …so Happy Birthday to him! Here’s a little info on him:

He was born in a place called Voorhout in the Netherlands on October 29, 1970.

United’s desperate bid to find a worthy successor to Peter Schmeichel has been well documented. And in the summer of 2005 they turned to giant Edwin van der Sar.

United had tried to sign the Dutchman in the past without success, and considering their goalkeeping problems in the interim it was certainly a mistake to miss out.

Van der Sar showed in his first few months at Old Trafford that he is an immense goalkeeper, commanding in his area and athletic and agile for such a giant of a player.

A couple of uncharacteristic errors towards the end of the year, when he was beaten at his near post against Everton and Birmingham City, were certainly masked by the match-winning performances he had already produced for the Red Devils.

Granted, Van der Sar’s age - he was 34 when joining the Red Devils - means he is more of a stop-gap measure than the long-term answer. But it is a situation most United fans would settle for after the wayward years with Mark Bosnich, Fabien Barthez, Tim Howard and Roy Carroll.

The Holland international moved to Old Trafford for an undisclosed fee on a two-year deal after spending four years with Fulham.

A goalkeeper with great agility for one so tall, he is a reliable and commanding figure between the sticks - one of Schmeichel’s main attributes.

He began his career with Ajax Amsterdam. There he won the UEFA Cup in 1992, the Champions League in 1995 and the Dutch domestic treble in 1996. Van der Sar was the first foreign keeper to play for Juventus when he made the move to Serie A. And the unfashionable Cottagers pulled off a major coup when they signed Van der Sar from Juventus in a £7million deal in August 2001. The deal smashed the club’s transfer record.

Van der Sar had been linked with a move to United, Liverpool and Arsenal before signing for Fulham, with the player stating that he had rejected the chance to move to Old Trafford. He made his debut, coincidentally, in a 3-2 defeat at Manchester United on the opening day of the 2001/02 season. Although he was at times at fault, Van der Sar generally won many plaudits for his first season in England - making 41 appearances.

With his contract due to expire in the summer of 2005, Fulham managed to tie him to a new two-year contact in January. That was despite much talk of a transfer window move to Manchester United.

But at the end of the campaign he finally agreed to move to Old Trafford after the two clubs agreed a fee. He made his United debut in a 3-0 Champions League qualifying victory at home to Debrecen and soon settled into life at Old Trafford, a colossus between the sticks.

Judging by the impact he’s had at United, one must wonder what took us so long to get him? But the sad truth is that he’s not getting any younger and at 36, probably has only an year or two left in him. Our keeper searches have been well-documented in the past and the bandwagon is set is roll again when Van der Sar retires.

No TagsRelated Posts:
Van der Sar lands new deal!
FA Cup Replay Time Again!
Transfers… Well On The Way!
In the News…
Man Utd Players Lead The Way Over Agents
Manchester United Player Profiles : Tim Howard

Manchester United vs. Bolton Wanderers Preview

This week, we take on the high-flying Bolton in their own backyard. Bolton has been a bit of a Bogey team for us of late, especially at Old Trafford. Sir Alex has been full of praises for Big Sam and his tactics, read his article here. The truth is Big Sam’s long-ball strategy is notoriously difficult to defend against and to their credit, they implement it rather well.

As far as team news goes, we welcome Ronaldo back into the side after a week out with a flu. Other than that, we should see the regular first team back in action after a run-out for the youngsters in midweek, a rather lengthy one at that.

All in all, a tough encounter awaits us at the Reebok but in the end we should be too good for them (I repeat should) =).

My Preddy: Bolton 1 - 2 ManYoo

Bolton Wanderers, Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United, Sam Allardyce, Sir Alex FergusonRelated Posts:
Manchester United vs. Bolton Wanderers Review
Manchester United Screensavers
Another United Desktop!
The Title Race So Far…
Another Weekend, Another Injury
Man Utd vs. Portsmouth Preview

Manchester United Legends - George Best

Born: 22 May 1946 in Belfast.

Nickname: El Beatle.

Position: Left wing, right wing.

It is unlikely that any player in the history of the game has ever garnered as much attention, opprobrium and adulation as George Best. For the past 40 years he has enthralled the British public as much through his hell-raising off the pitch as his genius on it. However, despite the controversy that has often followed Best there are few that could deny he is among the most talented figures to ever kick a ball.

Best was born on May 22nd 1946 in Belfast and it was not long before his prodigious footballing abilities began to surface. In 1961 he arrived in Manchester, a skinny teenager, seeking footballing fame with a Manchester United side still struggling to cope with the aftermath of the Munich air disaster which had ripped the heart out of the club and killed so many of its leading players. Despite his early homesickness Best stuck it out at United, and made his debut in a league match against West Bromwich Albion in 1963. The following year Best really started to make his mark and was called up to the Northern Ireland squad for whom he made his debut in a game against Wales at Swansea.

In 1965 Manchester United were crowned English champions and the following season entered the European Cup with much expected of the young Best. He was not to disappoint. In the quarter final Manchester United faced Benfica, the side that had so far dominated the decade and still including such talents as Eusebio and Coluna. United annihilated Benfica 8-3 on aggregate, with Best in astonishing form at the Luz. Best had already been given the title of the “5th Beatle” as reference to his film star looks and crowd pleasing abilities. When he stepped off the plane returning from Lisbon that nickname changed to “El Beatle”, as he was christened by the Iberian media. Despite United being eliminated by Partizan Belgrade in the semis Best was truly starting to be noticed throughout Europe for his mesmeric dribbling skills and his superb touch with both feet.

In 1967 United repeated their league success, and went into the 1968 European Cup hoping to match Celtic’s performances of the year before that had seen them become the first British European Champions. United’s trip to the final provided some superb matches, but none could equal a thrilling Wembley final. Who better for Best to face than Benfica, the team that he had destroyed almost single-handedly two years earlier? In a tight game Bobby Charlton put United ahead before Graca levelled with just 9 minutes remaining. With just seconds left the great Eusebio spurned a golden opportunity to win the game for Benfica and the game went to extra-time. It was to be a costly miss, as early in extra-time Best ghosted past two defenders to put United ahead before Kidd and Charlton added further goals against a demoralised Benfica side. It was a fitting end to a great season for Best, he had been top scorer in the league and was later crowned European Player of the Year following his team-mates Denis Law and Bobby Charlton.

Later in the year though Best was to witness the other side of the “Beautiful Game” as United faced Estudiantes of Argentina in the World Club Cup. Although these games were supposed to be a showcase occasion for the sport, little was done to enrich the reputation of either team. The tone was set for the fist match in Buenos Aires by Nobby Stiles the combative United midfielder being described in the programme notes as “brutal, badly intentioned and a bad sportsman”. Given the ignominious exit of Argentina at the WC in England 2 years earlier it was no surprise that the game would be more than little heated. While many United players were kicked from pillar to post, most notably Stiles, Best was showered with missiles thrown by the home fans. United lost the game 1-0 but the score line was largely immaterial. In the return leg Best was dismissed for fighting in another bruising brutal encounter that eventually ended 1-1.

The winning of the European Cup marked a major change at United in Best’s eyes. “For Matt (Busby) and Bobby Charlton, for Bill Foulkes, for Denis Law … they’d done it. And they sat back and you could almost hear the energy and ambition sighing out of the club. It was like being in at the winding up of a company”, Best later said.

In 1969 Busby retired and returned but his presence haunted the club and only served to undermine future managers as the club desperately sought to maintain the hegemony of the English and European game. Best though while troubled by the off field antics could still turn on the style when needed. In 1970 United played Northampton Town in the FA Cup fifth round, and Best scored 6 as United won 8-2.

In the 1971-2 season United started the well and at one point led the league by a massive 8 points, but their form fell away as they finished a disappointing 8th.

The following years saw Best increasingly lose his passion for both United and football, and in 1973-4 he left the club aged just 27. He was subsequently banned by FIFA until he joined Stockport County and the ban was lifted in 1975. He later joined a succession of clubs including Fulham, for whom he scored after 71 seconds of his debut.

The years after the European Cup victory saw Best increasingly live his life more like a rock star than a footballer and his game was the victim. Best’s career after football was no less eventful than his playing days, but it was somewhat less admirable. In 1984 Best was jailed for 12 weeks for drink driving, assaulting a policeman and failing to answer bail.

Best’s cavalier attitude to the game and reputation as one of the 20th century’s greatest playboys has been cemented by a number of now infamous quotes. Choice among them were “They said I had 5 Miss Worlds but it was only 3” and “I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars, the rest I just squandered”. However, while these have endeared him to so many fans over the years, few would deny that they also represent the incredible talent Best, to some extent, squandered. When he won his European Cup Best was just 22 and had the whole world at his feet, he had the opportunity to prove that he was the game’s finest ever exponent as so many in Britain believe. Instead Best’s career had already fallen apart before he had even reached the age at which most players peak. While there is no denying the incredible performances that Best produced in his pomp, there will always be a sense of what might have been.

The great man finally gave up on October 25th, 2005; as his treatment was stopped and he eventually died.

George Best, Manchester United, Manchester United LegendsRelated Posts:
Old School Man Utd Shirts
Manchester United Downloads
Man U Monopoly!
Manchester United Everything!
You Could Play For Manchester United… Well, Almost!
All The United Kits…