Man Utd Selection Crisis

Not even in the worst, most challenging moments whilst playing away on Football Manager and Champ. Manager over the years has the computer programming deemed it realistic or fair to deal out in a football simulation game the selection crisis currently facing Sir Alex Ferguson ahead of tonights Champions League clash against Wolfsburg.

Not Available
Edwin Van der Saar (Knee Injury)

Gary Neville (Groin Injury)
Rio Ferdinand (Back & Calf Injury)
Wes Brown (Hamstring Injury)
Nemanja Vidic (Illness, Flu)
Fabio da Silva (Groin Injury)
Rafael da Silva (Groin Injury)
John O’Shea (Thigh Injury)
Jonny Evans (Calf Injury)
Ritchie de Laet (Ineligible)

Owen Hargreaves (Not Yet Fit)
Ryan Giggs (Rested – Did not travel)

Wayne Rooney (Hamstring Injury)
Dimitar Berbatov (Knee Injury)
Frederico Macheda (Injured)


Available
Tomasz Kuszczak
Ben Foster

Patrice Evra

Park Ji-Sung
Michael Carrick
Paul Scholes
Darren Fletcher
Antonio Valencia
Darron Gibson
Anderson
Zoran Tosic
Nani
Gabriele Obertan

Michael Owen
Danny Welbeck


Promoted – Available for selection
Oliver Gill (Defender)
Magnus Eikrem (Midfield)
Cameron Stewart (Midfield)
Matty James (Midfield)
Oliver Norwood (Midfield)

So, I will do my fortune teller bit, here's my guess for the line up, 15 into 11 leaves few options....

GK Tomasz Kuszczak

DL Darren Fletcher
DR Park Ji-Sung
DC Patrice Evra
DC Michael Carrick

MC Anderson
MC Paul Scholes
MC Darron Gibson

AMR Antonio Valencia
AML Nani

ST Michael Owen

Why Is Nani So Crap At Football?

I made it up for the Blackburn game recently, and it was the first live game I have been to where Nani got a start.

He is a frustrating player to watch!

Thankfully, I am not alone in my assessment of Nani, and a section of the crowd nearby frequently sang "you'll never be Ronaldo" whenever he copped hold of the ball.  Obertan, (like Michael Owen) was granted standing ovations when they replaced struggling 1st teamers mid-way through the second half.

Anyway, I just spotted this over on The Bun, it seems Nani thinks he's crap because Sir Alex has mismanaged him....

Bwahahahahahah!  Not only can he not control a football, it seems he can not control his verbal diarohea.  Sir Alex has an exempluary record in bringing through youngsters and making them superstars, perhaps Nani, the problem lies a little closer to home.

Nani has not lived up to his potential, and looks no better today than he did when he first arrived.  Christiano grabbed his chance and eventually learned that just looking good and having a few tricks is not what makes a good footballer.  Man Utd do have some creativity and penetration problems at the moment, which will not resolve itself.  I was hoping that Nani would get a run this year and that he would come good, but it just is not happening for him.  Time to look elsewhere, and soon because United are not well stocked on [young] creative midfielders.

A Trip To Old Trafford

There has been a delay in me putting these up thanks to the modern challenges of technology, but I was lucky enough to make the Man Utd vs Blackburn game last week and thought I would share a couple of snaps.  In my life, I will never get as good seats again.  South stand, fourth row between the tunnel and the dug out.  My wife and I sat either side of the fading 22 yard line fading from a previous rugby league match.

Not For Liverpool Fans..

From: Republik of Mancunia

Old Trafford Time

We all know the accusations of playing until United score at Old Trafford, but when they play to 97 minutes you've got to admit it looks like a fair comment...

Owen scored at 95 mins 28 secs

I think Sparky is right to feel a bit miffed when the fourth official indicated four mins, even if they did count goal celebrations..

And do you think Fergie would've felt it was the best derby ever if he hadn't got the win?

Owen to United

It would *appear* that Michael Owen is set for a spell at Old Trafford

Who guessed that one? Show of hands please

Whatever happened to that animosity between United and Liverpool? Clearly it only works one way in Fergie's eyes

Summer Transfer Wish Lists

It feels a bit like a grenade has been thrown under any transfer speculation talk, with the two best players in the world moving, with minimal drama to Real Madrid already this Transfer Window.

However, I am not going to let that stop me, so tell us about who you want to see your club sign, and who you will be happy to see the back of.

Tell us also how that wish list varies from who you actually think your team will sign.

My thoughts are on whether Man Utd will sign Carlos Tevez on a permanent deal or if the price will be too high and where he may end up elsewhere in that case. With Ronaldo gone, and if Tevez does not return the prospect of a big name forward, such as David Villa or potential wing replacement Franck Ribery will bring fresh excitement to the club, and might bring sufficient new energy to re-capture the Champions League.

For sale: large north east club with loyal army of fans, Cost: equivalent one Portuguese brat

I know it's been covered but I'd thought I'd add my two cents

80 fecking Million!!!

That's obscene, Madrid break the transfer record twice in a week...and in a recession

Personally I view this as a brilliant bit of business from Fergie - he's got the best out of the boy and he's got way over the odds for him (is Ronaldo 70% better than Kaka?), and he loses a pain in the arse to boot - this continues a long line of big sales that have been lucrative - Beckham, Nistelrooy etc

My concern is two-fold - how will this affect Madrid? Is this level of spending tenable? I appreciate they're financially strong after they got a massive pay-out from the city under Perez but this must put them back into debt, and I doubt this will stop at a mere 136 million, even for one of the world's biggest clubs these are unprecedented new levels of spending and we don't know how it will affect such a club long-term, although I'm sure they'd get bailed out anyway

Secondly how will this impact on the wider footballing world? Will we see the giants race ahead in spending levels? - If that happens I can envisage somebody collapsing, especially considering the debts of Liverpool/United, maybe Man City will play along and 15 clubs will get left even further behind and football will become even more ridiculous

I know we say it all the time, but now clubs really are starting to feel the pressure and these new records may push them to the wall

But hey, maybe we'll see every premier league club become the plaything of an actually wealthy Arab oil tycoon

As for United - they'll live, as long as they keep Rooney they won't need a new superstar, but next season should be closer

United Accept £80m Bid For Christiano Ronaldo

Madrid are set to break the World Transfer Record, set by them in the last week by getting Christiano Ronaldo for £80million.

Should United sell Ronaldo for £80million? In my opinion, absolutely.

I think the real debate is exactly who will fill his golden boots at Old Trafford?

Man Utd Crowned Champions Again

Congratulations to Man Utd for winning a third successive Premier League title and for equalling Liverpool's record of 18 top-flight titles.

Over the full course of a season the League Table cannot lie on the form of teams during a whole season. Liverpool & Chelsea have done well in challenging this season which kept things entertaining, and also with Arsenal looked to be set for a fourth place battle with Villa that petered out a little early, but Villa did for a long time keep things interesting on that score.

United's focus will now be on the Champions League Final in Rome, when they take on Barcelona and look to be the first team to retain the Champions League in its present format.

Next season United will be looking for a completely unprecedented Fourth successive title. Recalling the last time United completed a 3-in-a-row title charge I recall their league form dipped massively the following year as transition took hold. Predictions may need to wait until the new season has begun as I have a feeling that there are going to be big changes as some of the top four clubs in the coming weeks and months.

Darren Fletcher Will Miss UEFA Champions League Final

Congratulations to Man Utd who in fairness were worthy winners over the two legs.

The purpose of this post is to highlight the apparent injustice that still exists in our football appeals process.

In real life, away from football and at law in the UK and in many countries in the world, the absence of an appeals process against judicial and executive rulings is sometimes held up as an example of how backwards or oppressive a regime is.

There may be an argument that the referee's opinion should be final, but put yourself in Darren Fletcher's boots tonight and ask yourself if you think it is fair that he is now banned from a potentially career and life defining cup final for a tackle that was fairly executed and legal under the rule of football.

It sounded from the post match interview that Man Utd are resigned to accepting that in line with the existing UEFA appeals process that Fletcher will miss the final. I think that is a shame and it is not unreasonable in the circumstances that UEFA review. If it was a World Cup Semi-Final and a more high profile player, I suspect FIFA would intervene.

Monday Questions

Wow, what a big weekend of football!

After an action packed weekend I am now asking myself the following questions.

1. Have Man Utd re-asserted themselves as favourites in the Premier League race? United were second best for a lot of the game, and with a number of key players absent it looked like United were going to lose a third game on the trot. Yet in the last 10 minutes they came alive sparked by a Ronaldo goal; who his first-half goal aside had not really gotten into the game. A story book ending followed with a fantastic goal from youngster Macheda followed. This comeback seems to have nullified the momentum Liverpool achieved by winning last minute at Fulham.

2. Middlesbrough lost heavily, again. Will Steve Gibson keep faith with Gareth Southgate in the Championship? Not many chairmen would have kept faith with the declining progress of recent years, yet Steve Gibson has done what so many openly cry out for, he gave a young English manager a chance, and then stuck by him. Southgate slashed the wage bill and got rid of the big names that were there for the massive salaries. Others then got better offers, or just got old. Southgate is left with a young team lacking any players with Premier League veteran status. Having gone with a youth policy would it be better to stick with Southgate in hope for a quick return to the Premier League, or go with a new manager who might be less keen on sticking with the young guns?

3. What the hell has happened to Aston Villa? It has happened again, a team looked like they were going to break into that top four yet in the run in. In December Terry Venebles said Villa should not count themselves out of the title race, but by April I can't remember the last time they won a game of Football.... Was it before Emile Heskey joined? There is hope, in periods yesterday they looked good value for an Old Trafford victory. However, the gap between them and Arsenal now looks a little daunting, and if fourth spot evades them they best player will be moving to Liverpool, or possibly Chelsea in the summer. Where 3rd looked likely not so long ago, it looks like Villa will likely now finish 6th.

4. What the hell has happened to Hull City? In a worse free-fall than Villa they have only won two games since Christmas. I tipped Stoke to go down, but Stoke now look the strongest of the teams promoted last year. Will Hull join West Brom and Boro in the drop zone?

Man Utd Meltdown?

Have Man Utd gone into meltdown?

United lost their second game in a row in the Premier League today losing 2-0 away to Fulham. United finished with 9 men as Scholes was sent off early on and Wayne Rooney got a second yellow card late on. Not only did that cost United today, but they now join Vidic on the suspended list.

United will need to act fast to reverse their luck, with Liverpool breathing down their necks, Liverpool can go within a point of Man United with a win against Aston Villa. Chelsea will be stewing over their failure to capitalise losing 1-0 to Tottenham.

It is starting to look like it might be written in the stars for Liverpool to come back and win this seasons title.

Sir Alex Interview

I was reading a write-up of an interview Alistair Campbell had with Sir Alex Ferguson this week, from the Times and there were some interesting points.

First. Sir Alex says Man United will not do the quintuple this season, because of the unpredictable nature of of cup ties, and the number needed for Man Utd to negotiate to achieve this feat.

Second. He says his biggest mistake was letting Jaap Stam go, and his biggest regret was not signing Paul Gascoigne. We have all heard the Gazza story before, but I think this is the first time I have read that Sir Alex acknowledged the hole left by Stams departure was a big one.

Third. Sir Alex names his Man Utd dream team, and names Ryan Giggs as the "Player he would never leave out".... hmmmm, funny comment considering that of the two Champions League Finals that Sir Alex has guided Man Utd to, Giggs did not start in either.

The snippet interview from The Times is here. It is a good read whether you like Sir Alex or not.

Too Late For Chelsea?

Guus Hiddink today pledged to push Man Utd "to the bitter end" in the Premier League this season, and has said he is looking for Champions League glory too.

Hiddink has undoubtedly had a good start to his Chelsea career, they have won four out of four in the league and are just four points off of leader Man Utd, and seem to have staved off Aston Villa and Arsenal. When Hiddink arrived Chelsea were fourth, and slipping.

Chelsea may have left it too late to mount a challenge now, but in fairness they are as capable of Man Utd and Liverpool of seeing out their remaining games unbeaten.

I think that Hiddink is a fantastically talented coach, but I think a case can be made that Chelsea made a mistake in appointing him. I admit, that might sound a bit weird; and that case is only, if he is not staying past the summer. Chelsea are a huge club, but ask Chelsea fans what is needed for success and most will give you two lists. The first one of players that need to move on and second one of transfer targets. A long term managerial successor is what Chelsea require, and one that knows how he wants to see the club play, and the players that can deliver that. By appointing Hiddink as a stop-gap the Chelsea Board and Roman Abramovich may harbour hopes that he will stay on and then miss out on a high quality coach, and his subsequent transfer targets as a result.

The worst thing that could happen is for the Chelsea Board to decide which players are staying and which are coming in. That has never worked for English clubs, and Chelsea tried it already with Mourinho and are still paying the price for the club moving backwards as a result.

As always, don't be shy have your say in the comments.

Tevez Deal Reached

It looks like West Ham and Sheffield United have reached a deal over compensation for Sheffield United relegation viz Carlos Tevez's time at West Ham. The price is £25m with £15m of that up front.

In a joint statement, West Ham chief executive Scott Duxbury and Sheffield United chairman Kevin McCabe said:

"Both clubs are pleased to announce that a satisfactory settlement for compensation has been reached which brings the dispute between Sheffield United and West Ham United to an end. The tribunal will not be resuming."

Hopefully this protracted drama can now come to an end. I personally feel that West Ham have already paid well over the odds for Carlos Tevez, if his registration was not valid, the FA and Premier League should have acted much sooner. Their failure to enforce their own transfer rules seems to have passed without scrutiny or compensation.

Tevez could prove to be the most expensive player in world football history. West Ham have already paid one compensation to Sheffield United (my memory fails to how much) and will need to pay another, add on the reputed £20m loan fee Man Utd have paid for a two-year loan and they will need in excess of another £20m to make his stay at Man Utd permanent.

Premier League Title Race Opens Up

It was a big weekend in the Premier League with a solid victory for Liverpool at Old Trafford stunning the Man Utd faithful and with Chelsea winning against Man City.

Man Utd retain a 4 point buffer and a game in hand. United have lost big games in Championship run-ins before and held on to win, last season they lost to Chelsea but held on to clinch the title on the final day. Their performance in the next few games will be telling, with any signs of a let up will be seized upon.

Liverpool were good value for their win. Torres made Player of the Season candidate Nemanja Vidic look slow, and Goalkeeping giant Edwin Van der Saar looked ordinary.

The Battle for fourth has gotten more interesting with Arsenal moving back up into the Champions League spots for the first time since December, and Aston Villa losing at home to Tottenham. Everton's Victory moved them to within 4 points of Champions League football as well.

Walcott Warns Rivals

Theo Walcott has sounded a warning to rivals that Arsenal are going to end the season strongly.

Walcott says that defeat for Arsenal last night against Roma would have been disastrous, but that "The dressing room after we won was like we had won the World Cup".

He added, ""We have got a lot of players coming back towards the end of the season."

"We seem to have had our bad spell. Now hopefully we can have a good spell and push for those Champions League spots."

Walcott will have has Aston Villa in mind when issuing his rallying call who are now just three points ahead of Arsenal in fourth.

Arsenal play Blackburn at home on Saturday and Villa play Tottenham at home on Sunday. The race for the Champions League may intensify as it is Second and Third placed teams Chelsea and Liverpool who have the toughest tests this weekend.

Liverpool face a lunchtime kick off at Old Trafford, and Chelsea host unpredictable Man City on Sunday.

Man Utd Win Carling Cup

Man Utd have won the Carling Cup after the tie ended 0-0 after extra time and went to penalties.

United then saw off Tottenham 4-1 in the shoot out, with Jamie O'Hara and David Bentley missing for Tottenham, and Anderson slotting home the decisive penalty.

The man of the match was undoubtedly Ben Foster in the United goal who not only pulled of a string of fantastic saves for the Red Devils but also stopped O'Hara's penalty.

The Carling Cup triumph is the second major honour for Man Utd this season already, having picked up the FIFA Club World Cup in December. They are 7 points and a game in hand ahead of both Chelsea and Liverpool in the Premier League. Newspaper talk tomorrow will focus on Man Utd's bid for an unprecedented quintuple.

Carling Cup Final

Tottenaham are going to field the strongest possible team in tomorrows cup final after manager Harry Redknapp rested his big guns against Shaktar Donetsk. However, Carlo Cudicini, Wilson Palacios, Pascal Chimbonda and Robbie Keane are illegible, Jermaine Defoe is injured and Jamie O'Hara will have a late fitness test.

For Man Utd Sir Alex Ferguson has already stated that he will stick with his youth policy that has guided United to this final. Jonny Evans needed a pain killing injection to play Inter in the week so will likely not be risked. Gary Neville returned to training this week which means he may feature as Wes Brown and Rafael are both out with injury.

Brazillian Anderson played 45 minutes for the reserves in mid-week. Fabio also played in that match and was withdrawn early. Van der Saar has not played in the competition this season so Sir Alex will pick between Kuszczak and Ben Foster.

So likely line ups will be:

Tottenham: Gomes, Corluka, Dawson, Woodgate, Assou-Ekotto, Bentley, Zakora, Jenas, Lennon, Modric, Pavlyuchenko.

Man Utd: Foster, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Fabio, Nani, Gibson, Scholes, Ronaldo, Tevez, Wellbeck.

Anyone care to offer any predictions?