The London club won two titles under Mourinho after spending big on players, but Sir Alex rebuilt his squad and wwnt on to win the Premier League in 4 of the next 5 years.

Manchester City‘s spending has eclipsed what Chelsea spent on their way to winning the league, but Ferguson believes his team can still win the title.

“The indications this[Manchester City's title challenge] would happen were there of course,” Ferguson told MUTV.

“They weren’t buying any kids. They brought a good deal of experience.

“But that shouldn’t frighten us. We have a job to do being Manchester United, as we have proved over the years.

“How we handled the Chelsea situation will hopefully apply itself again.”

The United boss also refuses to dismiss Tottenham Hotspur who are now level on points with United after beating Everton 2-0 on Wednesday.

“Tottenham are a threat.

“You can’t dismiss them. They are playing fantastic football.

“Somewhere along the line one of those three teams are going to win the league.”

United continue their title challenge at home to Bolton on Saturday.

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The Irish midfielder has struggled to make an impact at Old Trafford and was fined a week’s wages last month after turning up for training worse for wear after a night out with team mates Jonny Evans and Wayne Rooney.

Gibson has managed just one Premier League appearance for Manchester United this season, despite severe injury problems in midfield.

It is understood that Ireland manager Giovanni Trappatoni may have influenced Gibson’s decision to move, after stating that he would struggle to make Ireland’s Euro 2012 squad if he was not playing regular first team football.

Gibson’s £1M move would make him David Moyes’ second signing of the Janury transfer window, after securing the signing of USA’s Landon Donovan on loan.

Gibson could make his debut in Everton’s clash with Asdton Villa on Saturday.

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In recent years the popularity of online bingo in the UK has soared, especially with younger people who love to chat with their friends.  People who watch Manchester United games are oftentimes going straight to online bingo sites after the game to chat and talk about the game.  Young women have really taken to playing online bingo and chatting and if young women are on a site then you know that young men will be there as well as they look to talk to the women.

Since we are talking about youth we have to mention Manchester United going with a youth movement.  Players like Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley are now very much part of the future for Manchester United.  Manager Alex Ferguson is smart enough to know that young players are the key to future success for United. “I believe in young people,”Fergusonsaid. “You need a foundation at a football club and that is vital. You can build a first team, but you really do need the back-up and the foundation to make it a football club.”Fergusonhas done this in the past as he took an 18-year old Cristiano Ronaldo and helped him adapt. “Cristiano came to us at 18, just a young lad fromPortugalwho didn’t know the country.” Ferguson said, “But he learned the language, adapted very well and he has turned out fantastically as a human being, just as was the case with the Nevilles, Scholes, Beckhams, Giggs and all those lads.”

There are actually some similarities between watching Manchester United and playing online bingo.  Young people like to do both things and on many instances they will be watching United games and playing later in the day.  The online bingo chat rooms are definitely getting some people who love to talk about Manchester United football.  Both men and women love Manchester United and it is becoming obvious that many of them also love to online bingo games.

WhenFergusonfirst took over Manchester United in 1986 he had to change the culture from losing into winning and the playing style from one that was haphazard to one that was more disciplined.  It took a few years but in 1990 the team won the FA Cup overCrystalPalace. The following year it was Manchester United winning the European Cup overBarcelonaand since 1991 it has been unprecedented domination forFerguson’s team. Manchester United has won 12 Premier League titles, 4 League Cups, 4 FA Cups, 2 European Championships and 1 Intercontinental Cup since 1991.  They have also won the FIFA Club World Cup withFergusonat the helm.

World’s Most Valuable Team

Manchester United has plain and simply become a soccer betting power under the leadership ofFerguson.  A recent Forbes magazine article listed Manchester United, who is owned by the Glazer family with a value of $1.86 billion dollars.  And yes, that is more than even the Dallas Cowboys who are owned by Jerry Jones.  Manchester United may also decide to sell shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that would take the value of the team up to $2.7 billion dollars.

Winning in Different Ways

Fergusonhas shown through the years that he can win with a team of young players like the teams he had that featured David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes or with older teams like the one he has now led by Wayne Rooney. He has shown the ability to coach difficult players and get the best out of them.  He handled Eric Cantona and his temper, David Beckham and his ego and Wayne Rooney with his outbursts.

Greatness Continues

There is really no comparison in the sporting world to Alex Ferguson. The closest you could probably come to is Phil Jackson who led the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers to multiple titles in the NBA. The difference is that Ferguson has done it with one team over a longer period of time and he is still at it, with Manchester United still a force in soccer today.

“You want a fair referee, or a strong referee anyway – and we didn’t get that,” Ferguson told MUTV after the defeat to Chelsea. And he was right. He’s essentially been punished for telling the truth. The FA – ridiculed up and down the country for the pointless organisation that it is – think that punishing a big name lets everybody know that they’re still in control of the beautiful game.

Let’s explore a few other examples of United’s harsh punishment by the FA.

1. Drugs tests

Rio Ferdinand was banned for eight months and given a £50,000 fine for missing a drugs test.

Christian Negouai of Manchester City received a £2,000 fine and no ban for the same offence.

2. Celebrating a goal

Gary Neville kissed the badge on his shirt and celebrated in front of Liverpool fans after United secured a last minute win. He was fined £5,000 for his troubles.

Robbie Fowler scored against United for Manchester City and celebrated by holding up five fingers to the Old Trafford crowd, referencing Liverpool’s five European Cup wins. No punishment.

3. Red cards in friendlies

Steven Gerrard and Neil Mellor were given red cards during pre season in the Amsterdam tournament. No further punishment was given by the FA, with a spokesman at the time saying, “If a player gets a red card in a friendly he gets a ban for his next friendly, not for competitive matches.”

Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney were sent off in the same tournament three years later and were handed three game bans by the FA. The pair missed the opening three games of United’s Premier League campaign.

4. Elbows

Javier Mascherano swings his arm at Jermain Beckford while playing for Liverpool against Leeds. No punishent.

Rio Ferdinand swings his arm at Craig Fagan of Hull and was given a three game ban, increased to four games after an unsuccessful appeal.

So it’s clear that over the years the FA have singled out United for special punishment. It if of course not helped by the incessant media witch hunts that occur every time it’s perceived that United have gotten away with something. See the recent furore surrounding Wayne Rooney’s elbow on James McCarthy. That was still being talked about two weeks after the event, but Jamie Carragher’s potentially career ending tackle on Luis Nani barely made the papers. Which is worse? A cheeky elbow that could cause a bruise or a small cut, or a shin high lunge that could easily have snapped Nani’s leg in half? Steven Gerrard’s elbow to the back of Michael Brown’s head was much worse than the Rooney incident and received very little media coverage. No incensed pundits and journalists were launching witch hunts for the slopey headed Phil Collins fan to be banned retrospectively. And it’s not because of an agenda against Manchester United, it’s because the club sells more papers and attracts more clicks.

So back to Ferguson’s ban. Why so severe? Other manager’s make comments about referes every week and are very rarely chastised for speaking their minds.

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez escaped punishment for claiming that Rooney received special treatment by referee Mark Clattenburg. “If my player had done that, he would have been very, very lucky to stay on the pitch.” This is a clear swipe at the referees integrity, claiming that he favoured Manchester United.

Wigan chairman Dave Whelan echoed his manager’s sentiments. “If it was any other club or player, you can bet your life he would have been sent off. But officials seem intimidated by the words ‘Rooney’ and ‘United’.

“Manchester United are allowed to get away with things the rest of us get pulled up for. And you can’t have one set of rules for one club and another for the rest.”

So it appears – as usual – that it’s one rule for Manchester United, and one rule for everyone else.

I’ll leave you with this: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger served a one game ban for pushing the fourth official in 2000. One game for assaulting an official, while Ferguson is expected to serve five games for telling the truth about a terrible refereeing performance. There’s nothing like consistency eh?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZchW7MBe6OA

O’Shea – 6 Poor first touch at times but generally played well.

Smalling – 9 Exceptional performance from the youngster. Can only get better.

Vidic – 7 Caught out of position a few times, but made up for it with some good tackling.

Evra – 7 Still looking suspect defensively, but got forward well to support Giggs.

Nani – 8 Another fantastic goal for Nani and another assist. Theres no stopping him at the moment.

Fletcher – 7 Kept things ticking over in midfield without doing anything that stood out.

Scholes – 7 Dictated play for much of the game. Replaced by Carrick late on.

Anderson – 6 Tracked back well but didn’t have much influence on our attacking play.

Giggs – 8 At 37 years of age he’s still got it. Brilliant first time pass to set up the opening goal.

Rooney – 8 He was ni and out of the game and didn’t play particularly well, but the spectacular way in which he settled the match more than made up for it.

The former Manchester City player was clearly distressed with the fact that Manchester united won 2-1 with a spectacular goal from Wayne Rooney and was unable to hold back his emotions.

The unprofessional rant came moments after replays showed the winning goal, with Summerbee claiming that the moment of brilliance was the only thing that separated the two teams.

The bitter blue neglected to take into account the fortuitous way that City equalised, with Edin Dzeko’s shot deflecting off the back of David Silva past Van der Sar, and instead claimd that City had been the better team on the day.

Bizarrely he claimed that the away side had dominated for 60% of the game, then when shown the actal possession statistics of 54%-46% he laughably backtracked and said, “I’m not into stats”.

It was car crash television for Manchester City fans, but hilarious for any reds still tuned in and even Jamie Redknapp and Dwight Yorke struggled to contain their disbelief at what the mentalist was coming out with.

Clearly unhappy with the replays being shown, Summerbee added, “I wish you’d show some of our chances too”. He also claimed that someone will “come here and take United apart some day, like we did”.

The man sums up what it’s like to be a Manchester City fan. bitter, deluded and with no real grasp on reality.

This is how it feels to be City…

Video via ManUnitedYouth on Twitter

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Roj2eqffes

The two have history. Yolkie, the warrior in question, claimed back in October that Jordan Henderson would be signing for United and that Karim Benzema would join him if we could find a buyer for Michael Owen.

“Ok, Jordan Henderson is basically a done deal & Benzema is the forward who “will sign” if we can find a buyer for Owen,” he said via his Twitter account.

Yolkie’s claims were met with much scepticism. After all, how can a simple United blogger acquire inside information like that without having a source within the club to feed him information? He was laughed off as a nobody.

Fast forward a few months and we’re now heading to Liverpool fans forum RAWK, where a member started a new thread comparing Liveropol’s plight under the stewardship of Roy Hodgson to the Hillsborough disaster where 96 people tragically lost their lives.

The ridiculous and offensive text was soon copied and pasted to various forums, including RedCafe, to a thread dedicated to laughing at the deluded ramblings of RAWK members.

Sad though it is, this sort of deluded posting is not a rarity over on RAWK. In fact I’ve even written about them in the past.

Credit to the staff on RAWK, they quickly deleted the post and banned the user. However, in what would appear to be a way of distancing themselves from the post, the administrators are now claiming that it was the result of a hacked account.

Now let’s get back to Yolkie. Today he waded into the situation by claiming on his Twitter account that it “looks like someone from redcafe did it”. A bold claim I’m sure you’ll agree, but Yolkie was undeterred from attacking a United forum with nearly 40,000 members.

Many headed over to the Twitter battleground to ask Yolkie to explain his actions. Some thought he was trying to be controversial to gain recognition. Others thought his unsubstantiated claims were retaliation due to the ridicule his Henderson/Benzema claims received.

Yolkie though would not explain his comment. Instead he went on the defensive by claiming that he had been attacked by members of redcafe, then accused others of lying about his comment while simultaneously deleting his Tweets to hide the evidence.

The Tweet that Yolkie denies making

He also claimed to have “never even heard of the place until they targeted me”, but later added that his claim “wasn’t defamatory or a statement, and it was based on their disgusting track record.” This being in defence of the comment that he now claims he never said.

The whole situation has now descended into a ridiculous stand off, with RedCafe still awaiting an explanation from Yolkie, and Yolkie unable or unwilling to provide proof of his claim.

One thing is for certain, nobody has come out of this looking good, but the prize for village idiot of the day goes to Yolkie, for turning on one of the largest online communities of United fans because his feelings were hurt after his claim to be in the know regarding United’s transfers was rightly questioned.

As one RedCafe member put it, “I’d be surprised if he’s ITK about what’s in his pockets.”

The Brazilian has enjoyed mixed fortunes since moving to Old Trafford from FC Porto, but his recent form has prompted the club to extend his existing contract.

Last week we wrote how Anderson could reignite United’s title challenge, and his performance against Arsenal on Monday seemed to reinforce this.

His incisive passing and driving runs are what has galvanised the team in recent weeks and if he can add goals to his repetoire he can become a world class midfielder for United.

“This is the best Club to be at and I would like to thank everyone for the great support I have received over the years.  I am looking forward to winning many more trophies with this Club and I am so pleased to have signed a new contract,” Anderson told manutd.com.

Sir Alex Ferguson added: “We are delighted Anderson has signed a new contract.  Anderson has developed tremendously since joining the Club and he has fantastic potential at only 22 years of age, he is going to be a really top player.”

The Gunners have often attempted to claim moral victories, believing their “pretty football” sets them apart from United and Chelsea, but even that excuse is starting to escape them.

From the moment Howard Webb blew the whistle to start the game at Old Trafford last night, it was clear that Arsene Wenger had sent his team out with the clear intention of using systematic fouling to break up United’s passing game. It would be wrong to say there were any horribly reckless fouls from the Arsenal players, but the constant cynical fouling every time United were on the break meant that it was surprising Howard Webb took so long to brandish his yellow card.

In truth neither side played particularly well, but the difference between the two was that Sir Alex Ferguson set his tactics out like he so often does against Arsenal with the intention of stifling their play in midfield, hoping to break on the wings with Nani and Park feeding Wayne Rooney who was operating as a lone striker. Together with the defensive solidity of Rio Ferdinand, and Nemanja Vidic and it’s proven repeatedly to be a winning formula against Arsenal.

The team that carved out the better chances was the home side, with Arsenal creating very little beside one header straight at Edwin Van der Sar and a scuffed shot that was blocked easily by Vidic. That hasn’t stopped Arsenal players having a good old moan though, led as usual by their manager.

Instead of accepting that his team once again came up woefully short against a big team Wenger chose to criticise the pitch, which he claimed ruined the game as a spectacle.

“The technical quality of the game was average on both sides because the pitch was very poor in my opinion and the game suffered a lot from it,” said the Arsenal boss.

While young midfielder Jack Wilshere echoed his manager’s comments, “To be honest, the pitch was shocking – I think they wanted to stop us playing!”

Now this may be a simplistic way of viewing things, but isn’t the pitch the same for both sides? And isn’t it also extremely hypocritical of a player whose team committed twice as many fouls as their opponents to claim that United tried to stop them from playing?

Andrei Arshavin added: “We didn’t deserve defeat. The match was a battle, but we lost.

“Manchester United had more luck than us during the game but we were not able to create anything special near their goal. If it wasn’t for a ­fortunate bounce at the end of the first half, we would have gone in at 0-0 and the second half would have been easier.”

Yes Andrei, and if we had scored the penalty it would have bee 2-0. And if my aunty had a penis she’d be my uncle. Ifs and buts don’t matter in football. Results are what matters and points in the bag. And not for the first time it is Arsenal who have walked away from a big name with nothing.

Instead of talking about who was lucky and blaming pitches and tactics, it’s about time Arsene Wenger had a long hard look at himself and his players and realised that things need to fundamentally change at Arsenal before they’re considered to be serious title contenders once again.

It was Manchester United who walked away with 3 points from Old Trafford after withstanding an onslaught of professional fouls from Arsenal.

For a team who often complains about their treatment at the hands of other teams, it was the Gunners who showed their hand early on. Referee Howard Webb was called into action several times in the first five minutes, as Arsenal put in late and dangerous challenges on United players, apparently to show that they can mix it with the big boys.

Webb was very lenient with the offending players, instead preferring to try and let the game flow. Arsenal had other ideas though, halting many of united’s flowing attacks with cynical fouls that often went unpunished.

When Ji Sung Park opened the scoring in the first half it was no more than United deserved for their efforts. One side had come to play football, the other to hack and kick.

The media darlings will no doubt escape any form of criticism is tomorrow’s papers though. The collective media blindness to Arsenal’s dark side is as frustrating as it is ridiculous.

Arsene Wenger’s men have deliberately set out with a game plan to rough up Manchester United players in two consecutive games now, and it’s time they were named and shamed as the dirtiest team in the league.

Fortunately for United, it’s not a tactic that wins games and as recent results against Arsenal show, it’s our class that usually wins out over their dirty tactics.

He was struggling for form, having trouble nailing down a starting spot in the team and looking like the £15 million paid to Porto to secure his signature was a risk that hadn’t paid off for Sir Alex Ferguson.

His troubles were not limited to the football pitch either.  The Brazilian was pulled unconscious and “lifeless” from his burning car after crashing it in Braga, Portugal in the summer, and spent several hours in hospital. We don’t want to see a repeat of that now he’s back in the UK, and I hope for his sake that his car insurance is in order, maybe he should pay a visit to moneysupermarket!

Fast forward four months and Anderson’s career has seemingly been reignited. His energetic performances have breathed new life into a United midfield that has been devoid of creativity and attacking intent due to the dips in form to both Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher.

His performance last night in particular was a sign of what Anderson is capable of when he puts his mind to it. Comfortably the best player on the pitch, he controlled the midfield and orchestrated much of United’s good forward play. He scored the vital equaliser that ensured United topped their Champions’ League group and avoided European giants like Barcelona and Real Madrid in the first knock out stage, and would have had a couple of assists to his name had Dimitar Berbatov been more clinical in front of goal.

His incisive passing through the Valencia defence to the United strikers as well as his long balls out wide to Nani and Park were exquisite, and while it’s far too early to talk of him replacing the genius of Scholes, the signs are definitely there that he has the potential to come very close.

What has sparked this drastic turnaround is anybody’s guess, but just like Nani over the last twelve months, Anderson is slowly beginning to win round his doubters and could prove to be a vital cog in the United machine as they chase a record 19th Premier League title.

To establish who is the better defender we have to assess their various strengths and weaknesses

The categories will be:

• Aerial abilty
• Positional sense and anticipation
• Recovery
• Speed
• On the floor
• Strength
• Errors
• Leadership

Aerial ability

Given that Vidic’s main strength is his ability to connect head with ball like a magnet, it’s no surprise that he comes on top in this battle. His aerial dominance helps us repel long ball tactics as well as crosses from the wings. Having said that, Rio is also excellent in the air, just not as good as Vidic.

Positional sense and anticipation

Both players have excellent positional sense, but for me this is a trait that Rio excels at. His ability to anticipate attacks and be in the right place at the right time to step in and relieve an opponent of possession is one of his strongest assets. Vidic isn’t half bad either. But he does find himself out of position from time to time and that’s why we sometimes see him diving in for those last ditch sliding challenges or his trademarked rugby tackle when the defender has got past him.

Recovery

This is one Rio’s, hands down. While the England skipper has the pace to recover from errors, Vidic is often left with only the option to bring down his opponent, leaving us facing a free kick in a dangerous area, or worse having 10 men, though the red cards usually only happen with Fernando Torres, who seems to have Vidic in his pocket.

Speed

No contest in this one. While Rio isn’t as quick as he was before his injury, he’s still faster than Vidic.

On the floor

This is another one that’s Rio’s. While Vidic dominates in the air, so does Rio on the ground. I have no fear when through balls are played to strikers when Rio’s on the pitch, because more often that not he’ll simply glide in and take possession.

Strength

This is a close one. While Vidic is known for his all acton style, Rio is a beast of a man and seldom gets knocked off the ball by a striker. If I had to choose who’s the strongest I’d say Rio, but I’ll call this one a draw.

Errors

While errors used to be Rio Ferdinand‘s only downside, he has now cut them out of his game and been excellent for the last three of four seasons(when fit). Vidic has shown a tendency to struggle against quick strikers who can turn him and then outpace him. This again leads to either a goal or having to deal with a dangerous free kick as Vidic as to resort to bringing down the attacker.

Leadership

Nemanja Vidic may be wearing the captain’s armband these days, but it’s clear that Rio Ferdinand is our leader on the pitch. Vidic tends to take a backseat while Rio dishes out orders and organises his back line. He’s often the one leading from the back too, with inch perfect long balls out to our wide men, playing it over the top to our strikers or brining the ball into midfield, such is his confidence and ability on the ball.

Current form

On current form, Vidic has not reached the heights of the previous two campaigns and has had some very dodgy moments to say the least. He’s still having a good season and is up there mong the best in the world, but by his own standards his performances have dropped a little this season.

Rio is having an excellent season. While he hasn’t played as many games s Vidic, he has not put a foot wrong when he has played. Looks to be back to the usual calm and composed defender he was before his long term injury lay off. No coincidence that the shaky looking defence that dropped silly points to late goals earlier in the season has looked almost inpenetrable since his return.

Recent history

2007/008 was undoubtedly Rio’s best season in a United shirt. In the absense of Gary Neville he captained the team to Premier League and Champions League glory, leading by example every step of the way. He barely put a foot wrong all season and was by far the best defender in world football at that time. To find a player who has matched or exceeded Rio’s level of that season you have to look at Nesta and Maldini.

Vidic’s standout season was 2008/2009. While Ferdinand spent much of it injured, Vidic was staking hsi claim to be the best defender in the world. He helped United to a clean sheet record and a third consecutive Premier League title. He was also excellent in the 2009/2010 season, but it has to be said that he never reached the performance levels of Rio in 2007/2008.

Some bonus tackling stats:

Rio Ferdinand has not given away a single free kick this season. His last foul was against Blackburn at the tail end of last season. That’s 810 minutes without committing a foul.

Some might argue that that’s because he doesn’t put in many tackles. Wrong! He has made 44 tackles this season, while Vidic is just ahead on 53.

While comparisons can be drawn between the two and people generally have a favourite, I think it’s important that they’re both United players and we’re very lucky to have both of them. Together they form the best central defensive partnership in world football and have formed the base of our recent success in the Premier League and Champions League.

So there you have it. I’ve made my case and Rio Ferdinand comes out on top. Now you make yours. Who is better?

Rafael – 7 Excellent supporting Nani on the right wing. Nothing much to do in defence.

Ferdinand – 8 Majestic. The little Blackburn threw at him was mopped up with class and ease.

Vidic – 7 One mistake almost allowed Blackburn in early on, but a good game overall.

Evra – 7 Got forward at every opportunity. Seems to have developed a taste for scoring goals after his header last week. Didn’t score today but not for lack of trying.

Nani – 8 Scored a fabulous goal and had a hand in several others. Great to see him back on form after a lull in his performances of late.

Carrick – 8 Dictated the tempo of the game, albeit without much opposition.

Anderson – 8 His energy and driving runs through midfield galvanised the team today.

Park – 7 Seems to have found some form of late. Chipped in with his fifth goal of the season.

Rooney – 8 Didn’t manage to get himself on the score sheet but was magnificent on his Old Trafford return. It’s no coincidence that his return has coincided with our best performance of the season.

Berbatov – 10 i don’t think I’ve ever given a player a rating of 10 before but if ever a player deserved it it’s Berbatov. Five goals today from the Bulgarian! Magical stuff.

But even I was surprised by his latest comments regarding the state of the game and how it’s driven by money and greed.

“Football is only about money, and I don’t like it,” he grunted.

“There are so many agents with really young footballers. It’s awful, as these young players are not interesting in winning titles, they only want money.

It seems the irony of his words were lost on him. Tevez left the biggest club in the world to go and play for a team that has not won a trophy for a three and a half decades. To hear him talk of values and greed is like being told you’re a bit of a druggy by Pete Doherty.

He has joined the mercenary ranks of Manchester City and taken the massive pay cheque that came with it. But he’s also taken on the burden of playing for a club that are perennial losers and the stress continues to show.

He has repeatedly spoken of his desire to retire from football early and go back home to Argentina.

“Today, the young players have no education at all, and I don’t want to listen to them. When I played in Boca, when [Martin] Palermo or [Juan Roman] Riquelme talked, I listened to them. So I don’t want a young player to tell me ‘why did you do that?’ in the dressing-room. I would punch him, as I have won 13 titles in my career.”

Not wanting to communicate with idiotic footballers who make career choices based on salary offers rather than trophy winning potential is an admirable quality to have, but not when you’re too dense to realise your own hypocrisy.

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The Cash Dash is a race in two giant zorb balls, across the Bloomfield turf, between one home and one away supporter. The winner will be the fan who crosses the finishing line first, and will earn themselves £250. There will also a £250 donation to Blackpool’s Trinity Hospice.

So if you fancy representing Man Utd, register your details at www.wonga.com/blackpool

And if you don’t know what a “zorb ball” is, here is Blackpool’s Ian Holloway demonstrating! http://www.blackpoolfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10432~2136928,00.html

O’ Shea – 6 Some scary moments up against Weiss.

Smalling – 7 Nothing much to deal with.

Evans – 6 A lapse in concentration almost let Rangers sneak in.

Fabio – 7 Kept his flank quiet nd was our only outlet on the left wing as Giggs driften inside.

Nani – 6 Struggled to get going and was subbed off midway through the second half.

Scholes – 8 Dictated the tempo of the game until he was forced off wthrough injury. Not that Rangers made any attempt to win the battle in the middle of the pitch.

Carrick – 7 Kept things ticking over. Not much in terms of creative passing.

Giggs – 5 Should have been subbed off instead of Nani.

Rooney – 7 Plenty of energy and determination. Got into some good positions. Just lacking match sharpness. Coolly taken penalty.

Berbatov – 6 Some good build up play but not enough in front of goal. Badly in need of a goal to get out of his slump in form.

Subs:

Anderson – 7 Always looking for a forward pass. Looks as though he needs to lay off the pies though.

Obertan – 6 No real impact.

Hernandes – 6 Had one effort on goal. Should have one better.

You would expect that Liverpool fans would be glad to see the back of the man that led them to their lowest league finish since 1999, but strangely that isn’t the case for many.

Quite the opposite is true in fact. Any criticism of Benitez on Liverpool fans forum Red and White Kop is met not only with derision but open hostility. Threads are locked, users are banned and the moderators preside over a place full of delusion that they have helped create.

Users pointing out that Benitez has now taken an Inter Milan team that won the treble – a feat only previously matched by Manchester United in 1999 – and turned them into a defensive minded laughing stock in 6th place are told that it’s not his fault. No, it’s because Mourinho played his players into exhaustion last season by winning so many trophies. It’s also the fault of club president Massimo Moratti for not investing in the squad(where have we heard that before).

In the eyes of RAWK users Benitez can do no wrong. He is held in such high regard that they compare him with true Liverpool greats like Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley. The infamous rant that cost him team its first title in two decades is seen as a majestic speech from a hero that dared to stand up to Sir Alex Ferguson, who apparently controls the referees and the FA.

Contrast that with Roy Hodgson. A man tasked with turning the p*ss poor squad left by Benitez and improving it. No defence is made of the start to his Liverpool career. No blame is attached to the owners of the club as it was for Benitez’s failings. No, Liverpool’s plight is down to Hodgson’s negative tactics. I’m not sure irony is a strong enough word to descibe how epically stupid this notion is.

Have we all got it wrong then? Fans of rival clubs, journalists and other Premier League managers saw Benitez as an object of ridicule towards the end of his Liverpool career when we should have been viewing him as the hero he really was.

One Liverpool fan had this to say:

In every great epic adventure, and supporting LFC is an epic, there is always someone who has to bravely sacrifice themselves selflessly before the bittersweet victory is won. For us it was Rafa.

Another added:

If Roman spends money this Jan and Rafa goes there [If Ancelotti leaves] they could dominate for a few years yet.

It doesn’t stop there though. Inter Milan fans on the Forza Inter forums have been calling for Benitez to be sacked because they see him as the clueless buffoon that he is, but Liverpool fans from RAWK have registered on their forums to defend Benitez!

You really couldn’t make any of this up and you don’t even have to. Liverpool fans are really that ridiculous without even trying. it’s almost as if they support Benitez instead of Liverpool. To support a man that led you to 7th place after making himself look like a numpty with his facts rant and spending over £300 million is idiotic to say the least. But to sign up to another team’s forum just to defend his honour is bordering on insane.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvmVaSdg_M8

Last night’s bore draw was about par for the course for City’s season. Mancini regularly opts to play not one, not two, but three defensive midfielders on the pitch, restricting City’s attacking options considerably.

It’s the Italian “we must defend well and try to sneak a goal” attitude that will ultimatey hold City back from becoming real title challengers.

The derby last night was about the most boring I’ve watched in recent years. City were highly defensive, showed very little in attack and had no real desire to try and win the game. More than half an hour had passed before they had a meaningful effort on target, and even that was from a free kick.

It honestly felt like a home game, where one of the relegation battlers is visiting Old Trafford and their tactic is to put every man behind the ball and try to play for a draw.

It actually feels disappointing to come away from their often half empty stadium with just a solitary point after completely dominating possession of the ball.

City’s players will be in no doubt about what the fans thought of their performance as they were booed off the pitch at the final whistle by arguably the worst fans in the league. All that money spent on big name signings and even now they only fill the stadium when United come to town. And we were treated to glorious renditions of “Carlos Tevez is a blue, he hates Munichs” all night. A couple of our own fans didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory last night, but it’s a bit different when the entire stadium is mocking the dead of years gone by. utterly classless from the City fans, but that’s exactly what we’ve come to expect from them.

So here’s to 34 more years of turgid, defensive, unimaginitive football and being booed off the pitch by their own fans.

Rafael – 7 Looks to have nailed down the right back position. Another good performance before injury forced him off.

Vidic – 8 Dominant alongside Ferdinand.

Ferdinand – 8 City never stood a chance with him and Vidic at their best.

Evra – 7 Still not back to his best, but is slowly improving. Went off injured.

Nani – 6 Not much to aim for up front, but plenty of effort and tracked back well.

Fletcher – 8 You can buy all he £20M midfielders you want, but you can’t buy a Fletcher.

Carrick – 8 Regaining form with every game. Excellent performance tonight.

Scholes – 8 Another masterclass from the Ginger Prince tonight. City couldn’t get near him.

Park – 6 Similar to opposite winger nan. Plenty of effort, but it didn’t quite come off tonight.

Berbatov – 7 Somewhat isolated up front, but held the ball up well and brought others into play.

Subs:

O’Shea – 6 Kept Adam Johnson quiet.

Brown – 7 Got forward well while keeping his flank quiet.

Hernandez – 5 No real impact

Mary D’s, on Grey Mare Lane, was daubed with graffiti last night ahead of tonight’s Manchester Derby.

The insults included, “Manchester is Red”, “34 years” and “Foe c*nts”.

While the first two are certainly true, the reference to Marc Vivien Foe is utterly dispicable and the United ‘fans’ involved should be ashamed.

It is one thing to taunt your rivals over a lack of success, but another to taunt them over the tragic sudden death of one of their former players.

We’ve suffered enough with people mocking the dead of Munich, but we’ll no longer be able to claim the moral high ground while we have rebel elements of our own fanbase lowering us to their level.

The 15 year old made his debut for Norway’s under-15′s this Summer, playing in defeats to france, Spain and the Netherlands.

Despite being on the losing side in all three games, Mills was named player of the tournament.

Mills is expected to move to Manchester United in February 2011 where he will join the Manchester United academy, coached by Paul Mcguinness.

The Norwegian youngster joins a growing group of promising young stars that look set to light up Old Trafford in the future.

After having his powerful shot saved at the near post, the ball looped up in the air and was heading back towards the world’s most expensive player.

But instead of controlling it and whipping a ball into the box, he passed the ball with his back, to Xabi Alonso who was unmarked in a better position.

Ronaldinho eat your heart out.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQV3mj7aTN0

Buffon has not played with Juventus so far this season because his recovery from a Summer back operation is ongoing.

And his absence from a team photoshoot was the start of new speculation that the 32 year old goalkeeper is on his way out of Juve, with Manchester United the most likely target.

However, Buffon last month rejected the rumour that he was heading to Old Trafford and has again ridiculed speculation that he’s to leave Juventus.

“Manchester United? I am used to living with these rumours, people have been speaking about this for six years now, but nothing has happened,” he told Tuttosport.

The commonly accepted opinion is that Rooney was after more money. Simple eh? Makes perfect sense. However, one rumour doing the rounds is that the whole episode was a cleverly constructed ploy by Rooney and Sir Alex Ferguson to get the Glazer’s to put their hands in their pockets.

By questioning the ambition of the club and its ability to attract the biggest names in world football, Rooney gave Sir Alex the ammunition he needed to go to the Glazer’s and demand money for a big name signing in order to please Rooney and get him to sign on for five more years.

Could it be that Sir Alex has now been promised a larger transfer kitty in order to improve the squad next Summer? It’s a crazy theory in all honesty, but if true, who would you realistically like us to sign and why?

Of course derby days don’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. To us as fans it means everything, but in the end you can only win or lose 3 points and form generally goes out of the window. Win or lose at the council house on Wednesday and we’ll still finish comfortably above them at the end of the season.

Now rather than get into the match preview too early, I thought I’d remind you all of some of the reasons why we’ve been laughing at City for so long. Some of the verses are a little out of date, but they’re still good nonetheless.

They’ve got the tallest floodlights in the Football League…

Oh! city are a massive club!

Other verses:

They’ve got the widest pitch in the land

They’ve got 54 players and they’re no f*cking good

They’ve got Curly Watts as a celebrity fan

They play at Gresty Road and Edgerly Park

They go to Wrexham and Cardiff on Euro-aways

They had the future England Captain, but his cruciate went

They won the Shamrock Trophy in 92

They’ve got 3 stars on their new club badge

They’ve got exec boxes with a balcony

They’ve had seventeen managers in twenty years

They take 25,000 to every away

You can see Old Trafford from the Kippax Stand

They’ve got the best goalie the world has ever seen

They’re the second-best team in Division Two

They have a civic reception when they’ve won f*ck all

They had a continental Laser Blue Kappa Kit

They’re going to turn Manchester into Milan

They signed Spencer Prior on deadline day

They’ve got the Gallagher brothers in the Guvernors

They took a quarter of a million to Ewood Park

They’ve got 3007 in a temporary stand

They’ve got the tallest corner flags in the world

They invade their pitch when they win 3 points

They had Ryan Giggs on schoolboy forms

They’ve got a farmyard animal and they play him up front

They’ve got three million fans in Manchester

It’s been 27(28..29……35?) years and they’ve won f*ck all
They’ve got a dirty old slapper with a rusty bell

They’ll stay up for 3 seasons – autumn, winter and spring

They empty Stockport when they play at home

They’ve got four different stands from a Meccano kit

They’re the only team that come from Manchester

All their fans live 10 minutes from Maine Road

They’ve got the biggest bananas in the land

They’ve got a centre forward with grooves in his head

Their managers got a papier mache head

They’ll be relegated by bonfire night

They’ve got salt and pepper on their hot dog stands

They’ve got greenalls bitter in the kippax stand

They’ve got the greenest grass in the whole of the world

They hounded Swales’ mam into an early grave

They’ve got a gypsy curse on their massive pitch

Their best player ever played for Ajax reserves

They had a derby match with Macclesfield

They had Colin Bell who was better than Best(!)

They’ve been relegated ten times

They had a chairman and a manager that wore a wig

They bought Steve Daly for a million quid

They tried to sign Geoff Thomas and he turned ‘em down

They’ve got Bernard Manning as their fattest fan

They used to be little, but now they’re large

They sing racist chants, coz they’ve got no class

Brown – 5 Struggled against Matt Jarvis again.

Ferdinand 6 – Slightly off the pace.

Vidic – 5 Terrrible at times. Needs to pull his finger out.

Evra – 7 Still not back to his best form, but showing signs of improvement, especially in an attacking sense.

Hargreaves – Played for four minutes. Limped off.

O’Shea – 3 He’s become so bad that he’s now actively working for the opposition, as proven by the fact that he tackled team mate Darren Fletcher to set up the Wolves counter attack that led to the goal.

Fletcher – 6 Excellent pass to set up Park for the opening goal. Drifted in and out of the game and was over-run at times.

Obertan – 6 Plenty of effort but not much end product from the Frenchman. Looks promising though.

Park – 7 Didn’t actually play all that well but when you chip in with two goals who really cares?

Hernandez – 6 Isolated up front with little service from midfield or the wings. Terrible dive to try and win a penalty and was rightly booked. Let’s hope he knocks that on the head.

Subs

Scholes – 7 We looked so much better when he came on. His ability to retain possession is what enabled us to turn up the pressureand go on to win the match in the end.

Macheda – 5 No real impact.

Bebe – 4 Terrible crossing. Terrible performance. The raw potential is there, it just needs to be finely tuned.

The midfielder has spent two years recovering from double knee surgery and was finally given the green light to don the Manchester United shirt again today, but an apparent hamstring injury has forced him off the pitch after just 4 minutes.

There was always going to be an element of risk after such a long time out injured, but 4 minutes is ridiculous and must surely spell the end for Hargreaves’ career at Old Trafford.

He’s a fantastic player when fit, but unfortunately for him and for us he is never likely to be fit enough to play for us again and it’s probably best if he retires rather than risk crippling himself, which is a distinct possibility given his track record.

A hard decision has to be made by Sir Alex Ferguson and I sincerely think this is the end for his career with United.

The interview follows on from one he made in February where he remained complimentary about his life at Manchester United.

Could it be that Jose Mourinho takes over from Ferguson when he retires and brings Ronaldo with him? Only God knows.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN_QdtWWxkU

The one in queston is the amazingly simple, “You’re not singing anymore”. It’s one that can be fun to sing to opposition supporters after taking the lead. And it’s one that everybody can join in with, even those bloody daytrippers who don’t generally bother to learn the more complex chants.

However, you usually find that it’s sung by supporters who have been quiet for the majority of the game, so to sing it to a set of supporters who have been backing their team vocally for nigh on 70 minutes is ludicrous.

The most recent example of this was at Liverpool tonight. European nights at Anfield used to be special nights, as we’re so often reminded by the terrible commentary team on Channel Five (somebody please put Graham Taylor out of my misery). Over recent seasons though, the once great stadium has become as quiet as Old Trafford.

The Napoli fans, enjoying watching their team play Liverpool off the pitch in the first half, were in full voice throughout the first hour, while the Kop lay silent. And it stayed silent until Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard levelled the score in the second half. Only then did we hear a murmur from the crowd in the form of the wonderfully ironic “Steve Gerrard Gerrard, he’s big and he’s f*cking ‘ard”

Shortly afterards, Liverpool took the lead from the penalty spot and somewhat predictably, chants of “You’re not singing anymore” came from the Kop end after 60 minutes of deafening silence from the watching Dippers.

Now I may appear to be singling out Liverpool for special abuse in this article, but idiotic fans of most teams are guilty of this chant and it’s one that always leaves me scratching my head.

Perhaps the next time someone sings it to us at Old Trafford we can all respond with, “We weren’t singing anyway”?

The Serbian defender believes United’s tradition of bringing youngsters through the ranks is beginning to pay dividends once again.

“The match was a great example of what the young players in the team can do. They got their chance and really took it.

“It was an important game for Gabriel Obertan after suffering with injuries over the past year, but he showed his pace and scored a great goal.

“Bebe too showed what a good player he is. The match shows the quality we have in the young players and they need to just keep going and training like they have been over the last few months and they will have a chance.

“There is no question we have young players of quality who are coming through. Manchester United’s history is always based on young players and building from them.

“We believe we have a good squad with ability. We have shown that so far in this group and we are top. Time will show, but I believe we have a great squad capable of winning the Champions League.”

The Portuguese trickster has been one of the stars of 2010, contributing more than a goal a game for Manchester United in the form of goals and assists.

“I want to be one of the best players,” he said. “In the future, I want everyone to be saying Nani is one of the best players in the world. That is my ambition.

“Maybe some people are saying it now. If they are I am very happy.

“I have been working hard to be in this position. But I know I can also do much better and will keep going every day to get there.”

He is thriving under the pressure of being a key player for United and is enjoying his time at Old Trafford.

“I enjoy the pressure of being an important member of the side,” he said. “When you have the ambition to be a top player you have to like the pressure as well.

“I am happy to take on that responsibility and am enjoying my football at the moment.”

The Scottish midfielder has scored just twice in 50 Champions league appearances for United, but hopes Sir Alex Ferguson playing him further forward will allow him to increase his goal tally. However, he is also aware of his defensive responsibilities and the importance of playing tactically away in Europe.

“Sometimes you have to be a little bit selfish,” Fletcher said.

“When I am on the field I tend to think ‘can I attack’ and concentrate on being disciplined and organised.

“You are well drilled at Manchester United. You are made aware of quick counter-attacks and the need to get back into position.

“It is important you react when the team loses the ball. But it is a fine balance between that and being brave enough to get yourself into the box and creating scoring opportunities.

“When I was younger I scored a lot more goals so my first target is to get to five and take it from there.

Fletcher admits all of United’s midfielders are trying to improve the number of goals they contribute to the team.

“All the midfield players are trying to step up their goals ratio.

“Nani has really come to the fore this season but he is just part of it. All the midfielders should be capable of getting their fair share and that will help the team as a whole.”

The former Fulham defender has enjoyed a successful start to his career at Old Trafford and has seemingly moved ahead of Jonny Evans in the heirarchy. Growing in stature with every game he plays, Smalling says Vidic and Ferdinand have been instrumental in his development.

“The likes of Rio and Vida have been brilliant,” said Smalling.

“They help guide you through games and I am learning from them all the time.

“They deserve credit too. They have really helped me to settle in and my confidence is sky high at the moment.”

He also admitted that it’s great to receive praise from manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

“It has been great to hear those words from the manager,” Smalling said.

“For him to be saying things like that feels brilliant. Hopefully I can repay the faith.

“I just want to get more games under my belt and kick on from here.”

Rafael 7 – Caught out of position a couple of times, but is quickly making the right back position his own.

Smalling 7 – He’s like a younger Rio Ferdinand. Reads the game excellently and grows in stature with each appearance.

Vidic 6 – Sloppy mistakes could have cost united dearly. Luckily Michael Carrick bailed him out on one occasion and Bursaspor fluffed their other chances.

Evra 8 – Owned the left wing and created numerous chances after getting in behind the defence.

Fletcher 7 – Still to capture last season’s form, but slowly improving and scored a good goal.

Carrick 8 – Quickly finding his was back to full form. Excellent defensively and his brilliant first time pass to Darren Fletcher set up the first goal.

Scholes 9 – Completely dominant in the middle of the pitch. Dictated the pace of the game and created the third goal with a beautiful through pass to Bebe.

Nani 6 – Injured. Hopefully back for weekend.

Obertan 7 – Had a quiet game really, but sprang to life in the last 20 minutes as him and bebe caused problems. Scored a pile driver.

Berbatov 4 – His worst game of the season, but seemed to try and blame his team mates for his own failings. Could be a sign that he’s reverting to form after starting the season so well.

Subs:

Park 7 – Kept things ticking over in midfield with lots of energy. Good pass to set up Obertan’s goal.

Bebe 7 – Looks a very good prospect considering he was written off by the media before he’d kicked a ball.

Fabio 6 – No real time to make an impact.

Brown – 7 for the first half. 5 for the second half when he was run ragged by Matt Jarvis.

Smalling – 7 Composed on the ball and always looks for a forward pass.

Evans – 5 Poor run of form continues.

Fabio – 6 Got forward well and put in some good tackles at the back.

Gibson – 5 Promising start with some good passing to spread the play to the wingers, but disappeared as he so often does and was at fault for Wolves’ second goal.

Carrick – 6 Showed some of the incisive passing we’ve been missing recently, but was in and out of the game. Hopefully a sign that he’s on the road back to some good form.

Bebe – 7 Looked excellent on his first start for United. Up against a man mountain in Alekobi but brezzed past him on numerous occasions.

Park – 6 Absolute gash before his goal and then absolute gash after. Pushed off the ball with ease and has the first touch of a baby elephant. Tidy finish though.

Obertan – 6 Lots of positive runs from Obertan but sadly lacked an end product. Wasn’t helped by Macheda’s impression of Emile Heskey. So ugly and so fast it might be worth checking the odds on him running at http://www.betrescue.com

Macheda – 4 Looked out of sorts. Got into a couple of good positions but wasted it by either dithering or not passing to a team mate in a better position.

Subs

Neville – 6 I squirmed when he was brought on to deal with Matt Jarvis who was running Brown ragged, but he did surprisingly well. There’s life in the old dog yet.

Hernandez – 7 The boy looks like a class act. Very composed in front of goal. Scoring winning goals is becoming a habit.

Morrison – No time to make impact.

Rafael Benitez, the man who spunked hundreds of millions of pounds on average footballers, alienated key players like Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano, and led Liverpool to a 7th place league finish is lauded as a hero by many Liverpool fans, and I can’t figure out why.

He remained dignified in the face of pressure from the media I’m told, but his now famous fact rant seems to suggest he completely lost the plot after the slightest nudge from Sir Alex Ferguson, not to mention his continual moaning about referees instead of accepting responsibility for his own terrible tactics.

But he won the European Cup so he must be great. I imagine Fergie would have a few more Champions League medals in his cabinet if he completely gave up on United’s league campaign like Liverpool did that year. While Liverpool were happy to plod along and finish 5th in the Premiership, we were fighting on all fronts as we do every season and could not afford to rest star players before important European ties. So yes, it is an achievement to win the Champions league, even if you do it with Gerard Houllier’s team and are aided by a typical starfish dive by the slopey foreheaded one.

He stood up to Hicks and Gillett. Did he? All I remember is him constantly moaning about not having money to spend, despite actually spending much more than Manchester United over the same period. You never hear Fergie complaining about a lack of money, and that’s because he remains professional, gets on with the job and still manages to build championship winning teams without wasting money in the process.

It’s all part and parcel of the mentality of a fickle scouser though. Best fans in the world they’ll have you believe, but following their draw against West Ham that sent them top of the league in the only season they have actually challenged for the title, the team was booed off the pitch by the Kop (un)faithful.

Their on the pitch problems last season were all to do with the off the pitch problems and Rafael Benitez was not to be blamed for anything. Hell, any negative comments about the fat Spanish waiter on Liverpool forum Red and White Kop were met with an almighty banning stick. But far worse problems have taken place off the pitch this season, yet Roy Hodgson has been under fire from Liverpool fans from almost his first game. No excuses have been made on his behalf, despite inheriting a terrible squad lacking motivation and drive from the completely inept Benitez. Liverpool fans don’t quite seem to notice the hypocrisy they’re displaying by praising Benitez and pillorying Hodgson, but that’s scouse logic for you.

Hicks, Gillete, and their fellow board members Christian Purslow and Martin Ayre were all disciples of the devil last season, but now the latter two have sided against the American owners of the club they’re the new saviours of Anfield. You couldn’t make this stuff up.

A quick glance on Liverpool forums and you’ll now find poems about Rafael Benitez and how great he was, at least I think it was ‘great’, it’s hard to read through tears of laughter. Comparisons with true greats like Shankly and Paisley are common place on RAWK, and nobody seems to bat an eyelid. The only reason he didn’t win the title with Liverpool was because of a grand conspiracy involving the FA, Sky and Sir Alex Ferguson.

It is amazing how a once proud football club that stood alongside United as one of the greats has fallen so hard and so quickly. Rafael Benitez and his constant cock ups in the transfer market have had as much of an impact on Liverpool’s financial situation as cartoon villains Hicks and Gillett heaping debt on it did. And the fans in the Kop and on Liverpool message boards who only a few years ago were singing “our Yanks are better than your Yanks” deserve every ounce of misery they’re currently going through.

While United fans in their thousands turned out to protest at the sale of the club to the Glazer family, Liverpool fans were all too keen to take on American owners who they thought would buy them a Premier League title ala Roman Abramovich. Then it went pear shaped for them when Benitez misspent his transfer money, and those same fans are now lubed up, bent over and preparing for penetration by New England Sports Ventures. And when it inevitably goes horribly wrong, it’ll all be someone else’s fault as per usual.

The former striker is currently working as United’s reserve team manager, but admits he has ambitions to one day manage the first team.

“I want to manage in England of course. I want to be manager of Manchester United, but you won’t go from being reserve team coach to head coach there – that only happens in Barcelona,” Solskjaer said.

“I’m gonna have to leave United at some point, and I have ambitions, but I also have to balance it with my family life.

“In football you develop feelings for certain people. That Kjell Inge hired a private jet to help me get to England counts for a lot.

“I have loyalty to Manchester United and Fergie, but I also owe Kjell Inge and Molde.

Ole also states that his commitment to United is dependent on the reign of Sir Alex Ferguson, and admits that if Fergie were to retire, he may seek pastures new.

“My job there depends on him, to put it that way. If he hadn’t still been managing United, I wouldn’t be there either. We have a very good relationship, and I enjoy working under him. I’ll stay there as long as the Boss is still in charge, that’s the plan.”

The 29 year old England international had been linked with a move to the Midlands club, but insists he has no intention of leaving Old Trafford.

“I have seen some stories suggesting I would be leaving last summer but I take no notice. It’s part of the game,” he told Sky Sports.

“I have never thought I was on my way out of United, not for one minute. It has never entered my mind.

“And neither has the manager said anything to me.”

Carrick’s contract runs out in Summer 2012, but the midfielder admits he’d like to end his career at United and that Champions League football plays a huge part in that.

“This is a great place to be and results like the one against Valencia make it all worthwhile when you play a part in something like that.

“I have the rest of this season and next season left on my contract and I would like to stay here for the rest of my career.

“Why would I want to go anywhere else?

“It’s up to me this season to work hard to earn the right to do that and to make it a reality.

“So the aim is to be in the team as often as I can.”

The visitors started the game poorly and it was a theme that was set to continue throughout the 90 minutes. Sunderland pressed the ball high up the pitch, not allowing United to build any rhythm and probably should have won the game.

Bolo Zenden came closest in the first half after striking Edwin Van der Sar’s post. United barely got near the Sunderland goal, let alone test the goalkeeper.

United were on the back foot for the majority of the first half with Sunderland chasing down every loose ball, getting there first to every 50/50 and generally having more drive and determination than a United side that’s possibly still suffering from a tiring European away game in Spain.

Sir Alex Ferguson will have been delighted to take his side in at half time having not conceded.

Berbatov replaced Owen for the second half after the former England striker failed to make an impact on the game, though in his defence he got no service from midfield or out wide.

United were improved for small periods but Sunderland remained the better team and carved out clearer opportunities, which thankfully they spurned.

The introduction of Hernandez late on triggered a minor United fightback and some good interchanges with Berbatov, but United were soon retreating once again as the home side continued to dominate.

The closest United came to scoring was a late strike from Berbatov that went just past the left post, but in truth we were lucky to come away with a point, never mind three.

Credit to Steve Bruce and his Sunderland team who were the much better side on the day. Now it’s time for Sir Alex to address the issue of our away form and the problems in midfield.

Rafael – 6 Lots of energy. Defended quite well but could have contributed more going forward.

Ferdinand – 7 Our defence looks so much better with him alongside Vidic. Another good game as he continues his comeback.

Vidic – 8 We needed a rock at the back today and Vidic was that rock.

O’Shea – 5 Sunderland got a lot of joy down his flank. Must do better.

Fletcher – 5 Continued his run of poor form with another disappointing display. needs to start stamping his authority on games like he did so frequently last season.

Scholes – 6 Marginally better than Fletcher but still not enough influence.

Anderson – 6 Brings much needed strength to the midfield but needs to work on his passing.

Nani – 7 Not at the level we’ve come to expect from him, but still our most potent threat.

Owen – 4 No service from midfield = no impact on the game

Macheda – 4 See above.

Subs

Berbatov – 6 Had a couple of good efforts.

Hernandez – 6 Linked up well with Berbatov.

Bebe - No impact.

Sunderland haven’t beaten United since 1997, but Steve Bruce will be hoping star striker Darren bent can fire his team to a win today, particularly against United’s unusually leaky defence.

Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Valencia are all missing for the reds, while Rooney is not expected to be risked, despite telling Ferguson he’s ready to play.

Anton Ferdinand is doubtful for Sunderland with a hamstring strain, while Fraizer Campbell, David Meyler and John Mensah miss out through injury, and on loan striker Danny Welbeck is ineligible to play against the club that owns him.

Steve Bruce will hope to finally get one over on his former manager after after 15 failed attempts, and Sunderland’s recent form will give him hope. After beating Manchester City in the league, they can consider themselves unfortunate not to have taken six points from their games against Arsenal and Liverpool.

The return of Rio Ferdinand in Wednesday’s Champions League game appears to have sured up United’s defence, and Michael Carrick‘s presence in front of the back four will give United extra protection in midfield.

The continued absence of Wayne Rooney has been compensated by the splendid form of Dimitar Berbatov. His brilliant hat trick against Liverpool a sign that he’s finally found the form that first attracted Ferguson’s attention and prompted him to spend £30million to bring him to Old Trafford.

United are still to win away from home this season after disappointing draws at Everton and Fulham. Conceding late goals has been a pattern in United’s play so far this season, but a clean sheet on Wednesday against La Liga leaders Valencia could be a sign that the back four have finally got their act together.

What first looked like an exciting tie failed to deliver as both teams struggled to get their passing game going in the early stages.

United’s midfield was struggling to keep possession with the absence of key players Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Antonio Valencia, but the unusually leaky defence looked to have been sured up with the return of Rio Ferdinand in central defence and Rafael to replace O’Shea.

The commentator likened it to a chess game on the television and it was just about as dull as that in the first half, with neither team having a meaningful shot on target.

United’s only threat on Valencia’s goal was a speculative effort from 30 yards by Dimitar Berbatov, but it didn’t trouble Cesar.

Valencia upped the pace in the second half and started to get more joy from the wings. Miguel and Pablo Hernandez both caused problems and created opportunities for Roberto Soldado with excellent crosses that United’s defender struggled to deal with.

United were on the back foot when Sir Alex sent on first Hernandez and then Macheda, and it was the former who almost opened the scoring when he met Nani‘s exquisitely chipped cross at the back post. He was unfortunate to see his effort bounce off the post and out for a goal kick.

The substitutes combined moments later to win the game. A great run by Nani down the right wing saw him able to play Macheda through, who in turn pulled it back for Hernandez who controlled it well and fired a low shot past the helpless goalkeeper.

It was possession football from then on as United sought to run down the clock and get their first win in this seasons Champions league on the board.

Sir Alex Ferguson will be pleased with the result but concerned about the performances of some of his key players. With Rooney and Scholes out injured for 3 weeks and 10 days respectively, and Valencia possibly out for the season, he will be hoping for the rest of his squad to step up their performances and compensate for their loss. On today’s evidence, he’s got some work to do to motivate the players to get back to their best.

Still, an away win in the Champions League against the La Liga leaders who have an excellent home record is not to be sniffed at, and there are certainly some promising signs from Hernandez to signal that he has a bright future at the club.

Rafael – 7 Defended well and got forward when he could. Certainly an improvement on the recently disappointing O’Shea.

Ferdinand – 8 United’s rock at the back. Dominant in the air and on the ground. Read the game well and organised the defence.

Vidic – 7 Didn’t let much past him. Looked much better alongside Ferdinand than Evans. Bodes well for United’s defence.

Evra – 6 Outpaced on the wing at times and caught out of position on more than one occasion.

Fletcher – 4 Should have stayed at home. Sloppy in possession, passing was poor and didn’t contribute much to the defensive effort.

Carrick – 5 Promising signs soon fizzled out as he looked rusty on his return. Needs more games.

Anderson – 6 probably the better performing central midfielder out of the three, though he operated as a support striker for much of the first half. His incisive passing led to most of United’s few promising attacks in the game.

Nani – 6 Not his best game, but did cause problems for the left back at times. Great run down the wing to play Macheda through, who in turn set up Hernandez for the winning goal.

Park – 4 Terrible display from the Korean. Outmuscled, outpaced and generally outplayed. Consistently shoved off the ball, played poor passes and often ran straight into trouble.

Berbatov – 6 Struggled up front on his own but didn’t get much service from his team mates.

Subs

Chicarito – 7 hit the post with an early touch and scored the winning goal moments later. Played in by Macheda, took one touch and finished clinically into the bottom right corner. More of the same please.

Macheda – 7 Put himself about with lots of energy as usual, and made a good run and pass to set up the winner.

O’Shea - Not enough time to make an impact.

Now though, it appears the lack of competition in the current squad could be hindering United’s chances of reclaiming the Premier League crown from Chelsea.

In defence we’ve got the barely adequate John O’Shea at right back. Even he must be wondering how he’s managed to become United’s number one choice for the position, yet that’s what we’re seemingly lumbered with until Rafael can make the step up. Wes Brown is an option there too, but injuries have plagued him recently, meaning O’Shea is comfortable in his position and has no real threat to his place in the team.

Similarly with Jonny Evans in central defence, Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown have been constantly injured over the last year and during that time Evans has become more and more prone to errors. He at times looks like a rock alongside Nemanja Vidic and can make the absence of Ferdinand almost unnoticeable, but complacency may be a factor in his recent poor displays that have meant dropped points late on in away games.

Moving into midfield Paul Scholes has been the one pulling the strings for us this season, but with Darren Fletcher in a run of poor form the defence is left vulnerable. Scholes hasn’t got the les to chase back anymore and let’s face it, he was never much good at tackling anyway. Michael Carrick has been out injured and Owen Hargreaves …. he’s alive …. I think. Anderson has recently come back into the side but there’s still not the level of competition for places that there has been in previous seasons.

Now onto the position that should have strong competition for places: strikers.

Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen and Federico Macheda should all be competing for places in United’s front line, but it seems only three of those players actually have to compete.

While Dimitar Berbatov (along with Nani) have carried us so far this season, Owen has shown he’s still got his goalscoring touch in the Carling Cup and at Bolton. Macheda is full of energy and effort, albeit without much of an end product at the moment. The only one not actually competing is supposedly our star striker, Wayne Rooney.

It doesn’t matter how badly he plays, he keeps his place in the team. I’m usually all for him keeping his place because he often goes on these runs with no goals and then goes on a scoring spree. The problem this time though is that his problems aren’t just down to his form, they’re down to off the field issues that are affecting him mentally. This in turn translates to poor performance (and attitude) on the pitch.

News that Rooney will miss the Valencia tie through ‘injury’ makes me hope that Sir Alex Ferguson has decided to give more deserving players a crack at the whip and leave his misfiring striker on the sidelines until he sorts his head out.

The bottom line though is that all through the squad there’s simply not enough competition for places, meaning less motivation for the players to play well and keep their place in the starting line up.

Nani‘s brilliant solo goal and substitute Michael Owen‘s headed effort saw United come from behind twice in a game they dominated.

United dominated from the opening moments of the game but were behind after 6 minutes after poor defending from Jonny Evans allowed Zat Knight to nip in front of him and steer Martin Petrov’s corner past Edwin Van der Sar.

United replied with constant pressure on the Bolton goal and Nani equalised for the away side in the 23rd minute. The Portuguese winger dribbled form his own half and as the bolton defence backed off him he drove through them and fired a low shot past Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Rooney was cutting a frustrated figure up front, but his team mates have right to feel equally frustrated with his performance as the troubled striker continued his poor run of form.

The sides went in level at half time with Manchester United in the ascendancy but not really troubling Bolton’s defensive setup.

Federico Macheda came on for Rooney in the 60th minute and the England striker immediately applied an ice pack to his left ankle.

The young Italian made an immediate impact on proceedings, laying a clever one – two with Dimitar Berbatov whose shot was saved by the Bolton goalkeeper.

Despite United’s dominance, it was Bolton who took the lead again after Martin Petrov started and finished a brilliant counter attack. The Bulgarian played a cross field pass to Lee Chung-Yong and then made up the ground to get on the end of Johan Elmander’s pass and fire Bolton into the lead via a deflection off Darren Fletcher.

Sir Alex Ferguson responded by bringing on Michael Owen, who scored with his first touch to bring United level. Nani’s curling free kick was glanced in off the post by the former Liverpool player, which prompted chants of “michael Owen is a red, he hates scousers” from the travelling United fans.

United pressed for the winner but struggled to penetrate Bolton’s tight defence. And as they time wasted their way to a point they scarcely deserved, Sir Alex will be disappointed not to have capitalised on yesterday’s shock results in which both Chelsea and Arsenal were beaten.

The Chilean forward is regarded as one of football’s brightest talents and has been linked with a host of top clubs in the past.

“We have looked at Sanchez and he has impressed us, as have other players,”Ferguson said.

“He has had very good games and is an interesting project.

“We have gathered some background, as with other footballers at his level, but nothing more than this – for the moment.”

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard got away with yet another disgraceful assault today thanks to the ridiculous refereeing of Stuart Attwell.

Not content with beating up nightclub DJ’s, Gerrard again got his self defence in early today against Sunderland’s Danny Welbeck – on loan from Manchester United.

Gerrard leapt into a challenge with the young striker, leading with his elbow and was so focused on making contact with Welbeck that he missed the ball completely.

The referee hesitated before blowing his whistle after seeing Welbeck on the floor holding his face.

He then brandished a yellow card which suggests he saw the vicious elbow but only deemed it worthy of a booking.

It’s about time Stuart Attwell spent a considerable time in the Championship where he can learn the basic rules of the game again.

Manchester United have thrown away valuable points already at Everton and Fulham, and almost did the same against Liverpool at old Trafford until Dimitar Berbatov settled the game with a brilliant hat trick.

Defensive lapses and silly free kicks allowed Liverpool to claw themselves back into a game they’d never really been in, and Fletcher wants to cut out these errors and become defensively solid once again.

“There has to be a concern that we nearly threw another lead away,” said the Scot.

“We have conceded sloppy goals through lapses in concentration in a number of games and were fortunate Dimitar pulled out the third goal to win the game.

“But we have to remember we threw away a fantastic lead.

“It is something we have to try and put to rest if we want to progress in the Premier League.”

Collectively United have looked fairly solid, but Fletcher believes the mistakes of individuals are to blame for late goals conceded against Everton and Fulham.

“It has been individual lapses of concentration that have cost us,” Fletcher added.

“It is something we have been looking at and it is important we put it right as soon as possible.

“On the whole, our performances have been very good and really, we should be sitting here with maximum points. Unfortunately we are not.”

Looking ahead to Sunday’s trip to Bolton Wanderers, Fletcher says United must be at their best to beat a side that always raise their game when United come to town.

“A trip to Bolton is always difficult.

“When Manchester United are in town, the fans get up for it and the players get up for it.

“At Bolton, taking our scalp means a lot. We know what to expect from them.”

“Maybe they are more of a footballing side but they still have that physical threat,” he added.

“Owen Coyle is trying to stamp his mark on the team but the personnel is more or less the same.

“When you have two strikers like Kevin Davies and Johan Elmander, who are big and strong and powerful in the air, they are bound to try and get the ball into our penalty box from wide positions as quickly as possible.

“That is their strength and we will have to deal with it.”

“Patience is the key,. Sometimes you have to earn the right to play.

“It is important to keep possession because Bolton are not going to give us too much time on the ball.

“Owen Coyle will have them pressing and working hard all over the pitch so we will have to keep our shape and take our chances when they come.”

The Arsenal manager made an unbelievable boast to the press yesterday, claiming to be better at developing young players than Sir Alex Ferguson.

“If you reproach me for not buying players, well if I buy players, Jack Wilshere doesn’t come out, so you cannot have everything. I’m long enough in the job to have a development policy to educate the players and the most difficult is to stand up for it and play them.”

One wonders if he’s watched United play recently, with many players taking to the pitch that have played their entire careers at Old Trafford.

“There is nobody else in the world[better than me]. Take the list of the players who started here. Johan Djourou, where has he started? Here. Senderos, where has he started? Clichy, where has he started? Gibbs? Where has he started? Fábregas? Where has he started? Song? Where has he started? Diaby has basically never played before at the top level. Ashley Cole. If you go back, it is unbelievable the number of players who started at this club.”

Some might argue that Fabregas started his career at Barcelona and would always have developed into a world class player, but if Wenger is taking credit for his development then Sir Alex can claim credit for Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and a host of other top players around the world.

The difference between Wenger’s kids and Fergie’s kids is that Fergie’s have won many trophies at United. Whereas Arsenal haven’t won any silverware since 2005, United have collected three league title, the Champions League and a host of other trophies that Wenger’s players can only dream about. Instead of gambling on young players who rarely make the grade, he should head over to http://skypoker.com where he’d probably have more luck.

The real comedy was in Wenger’s list of players though. Djourou and Senderos? That’s the equivalent of Fergie bragging about developing Paul McShane and Liam Miller.

“When I arrived nearly all their team had started [at United]. Not recently,” Wenger babbled.

Darren Fletcher, John O’Shea, Darron Gibson and Jonny Evans would all disagree with this comment, as would many other youngsters who have promising careers at Old Trafford.

I’m not sure whether it’s just delusion or downright lies, but Wenger doesn’t come close to Ferguson in terms of man management and helping players reach their potential. For a recent success story see Nani, who provoked jeers everytime one of his tricks went wrong last season, but is now considered one of the first names on the team sheet after scoring 6 goals and assisting 18 in his last 24 games.

I’m sure Arsene Wenger feels the need to defend himself after going for so long without a trophy, but the myopic gimp should have a good think before making such ridiculous claims in the future. Instead, he has joined a growing list of managers, including Kevin Keegan and Rafael Benitez, who have lost their marbles whilst trying to compete with the greatest manager the world has ever seen.

It was thought that Ferguson was scouting Valencia ahead of the next Champions League game, and assistant manager Mike Phelan backed up that view.

“Valencia have started their season very well and it was important after the draw with Rangers that we got a good view of them.

“The manager chose to go and watch the Valencia game. We need to go there knowing what we’re up against. He’s the manager and he had to make a decision.”

However, a picture in the spanish press shows that Ferguson travelled with United’s goalkeeping coah Eric Steele, which may be a clue as to his real intentions.

Reports in January linked united to Atletico goalkeeper David De Gea, and if I was a betting man, like those at Sky Vegas, I’d say that Ferguson attended last night’s La Liga game to scout the young goalkeeper.

With Edwin van Der Sar close to retirement and Tomaz Kuszczak threatening to look elsewhere if he doesn’t get first team football, Sir Alex could be looking for a new man between the sticks for the next few years.

Brown – 7 Solid performance as he continues his comeback. Got forward well and showed good awareness to send Park through and set up Smalling for United’s second goal.

Smalling – 8 Growing in stature with every game. Dominant on the floor and reads the game very well. And contributed at the other end with a goal and an assist.

Ferdinand – 7 Still looks a little rusty after a lengthy spell on the sidelines, but his leadership qualities will be a big boost to United’s back line.

Rafael – 6 Plenty of effort from the Brazilian but struggled to make an impact from the left back slot.

Park – 7 The usual lung busting energy from the Korean and a goal and an assist to his name as well.

Gibson – 7 Brilliant goal to trigger United’s come back, showing that he’s got more in his locker than a good long shot.

Anderson – 7 Still looks a little off the pace and a bit round on the waist, but his penetrative passing were a reminder of what we can expect when he’s back to full fitness.

Hernandez – 6 Playing from the right for much of the game he struggled to leave his mark on the game. Needs to play centrally if we’re to properly utilise his pace.

Macheda – 5 Only one real chance but should have done better from a free header at the near post.

Owen – 7 He did what he does best: – scored goals. Two goals today leaves Sir Alex with choices to make on Sunday. Berbatov and Rooney are likely to start against Bolton, but Owen’s goals tonight should move him ahead of Macheda in the pecking order.

Scunthorpe took a deserved lead in the first half with a beautiful strike from Josh Wright. Darron Gibson levelled shortly after with a delicious lob after getting on the end of a long ball from Chris Smalling. Smalling went from provider to finisher minutes later to put United into the lead. And further strikes from Michael Owen and Park Ji Sung gave united breathing room before Martyn Woolford’s late consolation goal.

The hosts dominated the early exchanges and had United on the ropes for much of the first half. A combination of poor finishing and good goalkeeping from Tomasz Kuszczac kept Scunthorpe out, until Wright’s screamer into the top corner which the polish ‘keeper could no nothing about. The lead didn’t last long though as Gibson’s perfectly executed lob showed that he can be graceful as well as powerful.

The half time score was 2-1 to the visitors and Scunthorpe will consider themselves unlucky to be behind after a less than convincing first half performance from United, saved only by their clinical finishing.

It was Scunthorpe again who started the second half brightest, putting United on the back foot with some good pressure, but a rapid counter attack from United saw Michael Owen slot the ball past goalkeeper Murphy and sink Scunthorpe hearts.

The hosts never gave up though, pressing for a goal to get them back in the game, with United seemingly content to soak up the pressure and play on the counter. Park ji Sung was next to get on the score sheet after a scramble in the penalty area, leaving Scunthorpe with no chance of clawing themselves back into the game.

Owen rounded of the scoring for United after a penetrative run and shot from Park bounced back off the ‘keeper. The scoreline said United were strolling but in truth they’d ridden their luck and taken their chances very well.

New signing Bebe made an appearance with 15 minutes to go and the early signs were promising. Full of energy, direct running and well balanced, this Portuguese youngster could prove his critics wrong given the chance.

Elsewhere, Chelsea were knocked out by Newcastle at Stamford Bridge (4-3) and Manchester City lost 2-1 to West Brom at The Hawthornes. So all in all a good night for United whose youngsters gave Sir Alex some food for thought ahead of this weekend’s visit to the Reebok Stadium where United take on Bolton Wanderers.

The criticism centred around the fact that Sir Alex had signed Bébé without seeing him play, and came from journalists who ironically labelled the player a “flop”, also without seeing him play.

The youngster will have the chance to prove his critics wrong tomorrow evening though as Manchester United take on Scunthorpe at Glanford Park.

“A lot of my young players will play. Bébé is training very well, he’ll be involved tomorrow night,” Ferguson said.

Bébé himself appears very confident of his own ability ahead of tomorrow’s game, but warned fans that he’ll need time to adjust to the pace of the game in England before we see his full potential.

“I am going to be a brilliant player for Manchester United,” he said. “After a couple more games I will be better. I have to be fitter because it’s a different type of football in England.”

“I can play on both sides, on the left and the right,” Bébé said. “It doesn’t make any difference which side.”

The winger went down after a nothing challenge, but the way Rangers defender Kirk Broadfoot instantly called for help, it was clear something was seriously wrong.

Ferguson says it is similar to the injury Alan Smith suffered against Liverpool, a break and a dislocation, and that the player will most likely miss the rest of the season.

“It is a dislocation or a fracture and he gets operated on tomorrow morning [Wednesday],” Ferguson said. “It was an innocuous challenge but when you saw the Rangers player waving, you knew it was a bad one.

“It is a bad blow for the boy. It is similar to the injury Alan Smith got and you are talking about the rest of the season.”

Valencia’s team mate Darren Fletcher is hopeful he can make a speedy recovery.

“Hopefully the scans show it is not as bad as we fear. After arriving from Wigan he had a great first season and was looking to push on this year. That is why the injury is a real blow.

“He has only just got back from the injury he suffered at the end of last season too. He is a strong character and a good lad. He has real determination and works hard. He will be back I am sure. He will have a long future at Manchester United.”

Rangers defender Broadfoot said: “I’m not too sure what happened. I just slid in and looked round and his bone was sticking out. We tried to get the physio on to help him because you don’t like to see that.

“These things happen and hopefully he makes a fast recovery. I’ve never seen anything like that so close before. You see things like that on television and it’s not good but, to see it there in front of you, it doesn’t look nice and I just hope he recovers quickly.”

The United and England striker has been hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons recently, and Sir Alex believes it was the right decision to save Rooney from the abuse he would undoubtedly have received from Everton fans.

United could only manage a draw on Saturday, despite being 3-1 up with only minutes left on the clock. Some observers have used this to criticise Sir Alex for leaving his star striker out, but scoring 3 goals away from home and conceding twice in the last few minutes would suggest United’s problems are in defence, not attack.

“I left him out for the reasons I told you on Saturday and I am not going beyond that,” Ferguson said.

Asked if he left Rooney out as punishment for his off the field antics, Sir Alex said: “I told you what the reasons were for why he was left out and I am not entertaining any of that nonsense.

“No regrets. I did the right thing.” he added. “And I have no concerns about playing him tomorrow at all[against Rangers in the Champions League]. I don’t know if tomorrow will inspire him. He has a lot of experience behind him. But I do know scoring for England last week will have given him a boost.”

The Liverpool captain has stood in for Rio as England captain while the Manchester United defender has been sidelined with injury and there have been calls from some quarters for the captaincy to stay with Gerrard.

Rio, however, believes Fabio Capello sees him as his captain and is confident of retaining the captaincy on his return.

“I think Capello said that a while ago. I think he answered it the last time the squad were together,” said Ferdinand.

England boss Capello believes the armband should not be a factor in the performance of a player, insisting he should play well with or without it.

He said: “For me the performance of the player is important, not the armband. It is not a priority for me. The armband is not important.”

The Manchester United striker has not featured for Fabio Capellos’s England for over two years, and has seemingly falled behind Jermain Defoe and Darren Bent in the pecking order.

The clinical striker has 89 caps for the national team and is hoping to add to that number, despite Capello’s current stance of bringing in new players.

“I’ve got 89 caps so far,” Owen said. “I played for England for many years, starting when I was 18.

“I played basically right the way through until about two years ago, which was my last game. So hopefully I will play for them again one day, you never know.”

Chris Smalling has arrived from Fulham, as well as Javier Hernandez, Marnick Vermijl and Bebe. Players that left old Trafford were Ben Foster, Zoran Tosic, Tom Heaton, Ron-Robert Zieler, David Gray and Craig Cathcart. This gives us a net spend this Summer of £10,350,000, contrasted with last season which was -£64,500,000, mainly down to the massive -£80,000,000 received from Real Madrid for Ronaldo.

The big question is: Has Sir Alex done enough?

The main area everybody seems to think we need to strengthen is our midfield. We’ve been linked with every man and his dog this Summer, and the preceding three Summers, but Sir Alex seems confident enough to stick with what he’s got. Anderson is coming back to fitness, Michael Carrick started well against Chelsea but has strangely remained on the sidelines since. Paul Scholes is showing us what we’ll miss when he retires and Darren Fletcher is keeping things ticking over, despite not being his usual self from last season. Owen Hargreaves is….Owen Hargreaves.

Would our squad have benefitted from a Sneidjer or an Ozil? Of course it would. That goes without saying. But it’s not in United’s nature to go out spending tens of millions of pounds on established players. of course there have been exceptions, like the £30M+ paid for Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov, but on the whole we’ve kept a nice balance of bringing in good players as well as developing youngsters like Darren Fletcher, Jonny Evans and of course the trio of Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.

It would be great if I woke one morning to see we’d signed a star player, but I’m usually fairly sure that we won’t and if that does happen, I’m confident that Sir Alex knows exactly what he’s doing. When Chelsea bought the league when Abramovich took over, he didn’t respond by bringing in lots of star players to fight fire with fire. He signed Michael Carrick to partner Scholes in the middle and we proceeded to win the league three seasons in a row. And now that Manchester City are trying to buy the league, I don’t expect Sir Alex to go on a spending spree to keep us challenging for the title. And unless he’s got a secret stash of business credit cards he won’t be able to afford it anyway if the Glazer’s keep siphoning money from the club, but that’s another topic I’ll leave for another time.

The point is, as United fans, who have been spoilt with success for the last two decades, we should put our faith in the man that has made all of that success possible. It’s hard not to glance over with green eyes at City and their billions from time to time, but if there’s one thing we’ve learnt over the years it’s that money can’t buy class. Class that running all the way through Manchester United. If we win a trophy this year it will be through hard work, determination and the winning attitude that’s drilled into every player who steps out onto the Old Trafford pitch and it’ll be Sir Alex Ferguson who leads them there, without the help of a blank chequebook.

United completed the signing of the centre half in January, but allowed him to stay at Fulham until the Summer.

Smalling will return to Fulham on Sunday as United travel to Craven Cottage in the league and is eager to catch up with some old friends.

United are 8/13 favourites on betrescue.com to follow up their impressive performance against Newcastle with another win.

“I owe Fulham a lot,” said Smalling. “They gave me my chance. When I finished school they gave me the chance to develop.

“I was in the reserves and then broke into the first-team squad last year. I made a lot of friends there, a lot of coaches who helped me are still there.

“Billy McKinlay gave me a lot of support over the last couple of years and he deserves a lot of credit.

“It will be a bit weird going back but I hope it will be an enjoyable day.”

The home fans were treated to a masterful performance from midfield maestro Paul Scholes as he rolled back the years to give the Magpies a footballing lesson.

Dimitar Berbatov opened the scoring for United, before Darren Fletcher doubled the lead just before half time. Second half substitute Ryan Giggs rounded off the scoring with a controlled volley after a brilliant chipped pass from Scholes.

Newcastle had their best chance of the game in the early exchanges after Andy Carroll’s clever run deceived Nemanja Vidic from a corner, but the giant striker headed wide of Edwin van der Sar’s post.

United quickly started to dominate possession and it was pretty much one way traffic from 20 minutes in.

Scholes picked up where he left off from last weekends man of the match performance against Chelsea and was again pulling the strings in United’s midfield.

The opening goal came after good tracking back from Antonio Valencia won the ball back inside Newcastle’s half. Darren Fletcher picked up the ball and threaded a pass through to Dimitar Berbatov who finished well from a tightening angle.

Nani was also in good form, with much of United’s attacking play coming from the left flank. It was his clever pass that sent Patrice Evra to the touchline to fire a cross into the six yard box where Wayne Rooney was able to touch the ball into Fletcher’s path. The Scot turned and shot low past the helpless Steve Harper to double United’s lead going into half time.

From then on it wasn’t a question of if United were going to win, it was just a matter of how many goals they were going to score in the process. As it happened, one more was all they could muster, but the scoreline flattered Newcastle and didn’t truly reflect United’s complete dominance of the match.

It was a combination of United’s old guard that sealed the win. Scholes the architect, Giggs the finisher, as has so often been the case over the years showed that there’s life in the old dogs yet.

Dimitar Berbatov could have scored a hat full of goals tonight, and while his finishing was poor at times, Sir Alex Ferguson will be pleased that the Bulgarian striker is at least finding himself in goalscoring positions. It really could be a make or break season for him.

It may not have been a scoreline that matched Chelsea’s 6-0 win over West Brom at the weekend, but the performance was just as commanding and will act as a sign of intent from the deposed champions that they’ll be right up there at the top once again, looking to lift the Premiership trophy for a record 19th time.

The Manchester United defender has been the subject of speculation that he would be moving to Real Madrid this Summer. David Gill revealed last week that Vidic had verbally agreed terms on a new long term contract, and now the player himself has insisted he never wanted to leave Old Trafford.

“I don’t know why people think it was a difficult decision. I always said I am happy here, I never spoke about my future,” said Vidic.

“I know there was all this speculation but I never said I wanted to go. There was nothing new. I am very happy to be here.”

It just goes to show that the majority of rumours you read in newspapers are made up by lazy journalists and approved by unscrupulous editors to grab the headlines.

The rumours seemed to stem from one report that Vidic’s wife Ana was unhappy in Manchester and wanted him to move to a team in a warmer climate.

Vidic put that rumour to bed himself back in August last year by saying: “It’s not true that my wife is not happy. I don’t know how that rumour came out, she’s not what you’d call a famous wife. She’s never spoken to a newspaper.”

Still, the ruours continued and incompetent dishonest journalists continued to use Vidic’s wife to sell papers.

Vidic further outlined his commitment to United in May, at the peak of the transfer speulation.

“Tell me the club where I can go that is better than Manchester United?” Vidic said.

“There aren’t many clubs in the world where you can go to that are better.

“I’m happy here. United has been a big part in my development. Everything I have done here I respect. I will try and give my best on the pitch for as long as I can.

It seemed Vidic was becoming just as bored with the rumours as us fans were.

“I’m tired of speaking about my future,” he continued. “I give my best at United and always try to do that. I think that commitment shows how I think.

“I can’t stop people speaking about my future but I have two years left on my contract and I’m happy.

“I need to think about next season, prepare myself, be focused and make sure I prevent injuries.”

It’s great to see the big man commit his future to United, but I’m left wondering how many of our fans doubted his commitment. I try to read a few of our fan forums when I can find the time and it was a generally accepted opinion that Vidic to Real Madrid was a done deal.

I for one have never doubted his commitment because the only “evidence” of his so called impending departure was unsourced, unadulterated, tabloid crap.

Rule of thumb for transfers: Don’t believe a word until you hear it from the player or the manager.

Manchester United fans have been quick to remind people that the likes of Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick weren’t a part of the action but Alex Ferdinand certainly didn’t pick a reserve team for the game. With the level of talent on the field, simply put, Manchester United should have won the game. Although the North American tour is essentially a warm-up, loosing to a mid-table MLS team isn’t ideal preparation for the upcoming season.

In the opening minutes, it became clear that the Wizards were full of confidence and weren’t going to allow United to dictate the pace of the game. The starting midfield of Giggs, Scholes, Gibson and Nani shared more experience between them than the entire Wizards squad but they were never allowed to fully control the flow of the game.

Sitting deep in midfield, Paul Scholes aimed to control Manchester United’s play but along with others he was careless in possession and the attack was broken up by the resilient Wizards. The controversial penalty and second Kansas City goal provided plenty of talking points for the record-breaking crowd. The majority cheered for both teams whenever they produced something out of the ordinary; providing a really positive atmosphere.

The second half saw the 10-man Wizards side sit back and soak up some of the Manchester United pressure. An equalizer seemed inevitable but despite the fresh legs of Obertan, Fabio and Wellbeck it never came. The crowd were well aware that Manchester United have a habit of leaving it late so few dared to try and beat the traffic by slipping out a few minutes early.

By the end of the game, the Kansas City Wizards had definitely captured the adulation of soccer fans that had yet to get behind their home town team; fans that the club owners will be hoping help fill their new stadium in 2011. Despite not getting the result, Alex Ferguson will be able to take a lot from the game. Question marks will be raised over some players. Ritchie De Laet did little to convince fans he’s worthy of the Manchester United jersey and Rafael struggled to keep the impressive Ryan Smith at bay.

Furthermore, Arrowhead Stadium proved that it’s a real contender for World Cup soccer; the exceptional playing surface and recent renovations combined to provide the perfect setting for the match. Overall the game will go down as a historic day for soccer in the Mid West and the Kansas City Wizards. Luckily for them, Manchester United will soon be able to forget about it.

Written by Olly: He watched the game wearing the new Manchester United Jersey from SoccerPro.com

Chris Smalling partnered Jonny Evans in the centre of defence during the 3-1 win over Celtic, with the Da Silva twins, Fabio and Rafael, playing in the full back positions.

Van der Sar acknowledges that his main role is to play in net, but admits that he’s also partly responsible for helping the players develop for the future.

“The main reason why I’m here is keeping the goals out, of course. And probably the second thing is helping out with educating and making them aware of how to play, how to defend,” said the Dutchman.

A solid back four is the foundation behind every great football team and that’s what Van der Sar is hoping to return to this season, after United suffered with the loss of eight first team defenders at times last year.

“It’s nice when you’ve got experience or a back-four with you that have played a long time and at the moment a couple of players are still missing.”

He added that all four of the young defenders that played against Celtic in Toronto have bright futures at the club if they can force their way into Sir Alex Ferguson‘s starting line up for next season.

“The good thing for Chris [Smalling], who is new at the club, is to get a run-in, and Jonny has really come on very, very well, so I don’t think he’s lacking experience. And even the Da Silva brothers, Rafa played more than Fabio, but they are good players anyway.”

The midfielder knows how important it is to get off to a good start in the Premier League title race and is hoping players like Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra – who went out early with England and France respectively – can use the pre season to refresh themselves for the opening game against Newcastle.

“It is always difficult after a World Cup because the players who have been involved in the tournament have time off,” said Giggs.

“You just hope there is no hangover from the World Cup and everyone can hit the ground running. Hopefully our players will come back refreshed and we can get off to a good start.”

If you register with Bwin you can get odds of 13/5 on Manchester United winning the league, putting them second favourites behing champions Chelsea.

Sir Alex Ferguson is confident that the players won’t suffer as a result of having a poor World Cup.

“I don’t expect a hangover. I think there’ll still be a bit of disappointment in the lad, the United boss said.

“I think all the players coming back from the World Cup who didn’t do well, who didn’t reach their expectations may I say, will feel that they’ve missed something.

“That’s because the World Cup’s only once every four years. That’s the horrible part of that tournament.

“We have several players who have come back very, very disappointed. We’ve Patrice Evra for instance, Wayne Rooney of course, and Nemanja Vidic.”

The midfielder struggled to fit into Carlo Ancelotti’s formation at Chelsea after returning from a long term injury and has been forced to seek first team football elsewhere.

Manchester United were favourites to land Cole on https://www.bwin.com/football earlier in the Summer, but the Old Trafford outfit have apparently ruled out a swoop for the attacker.

With Champions League football high on his list of priorities, it looks like there are only two other clubs for him to choose from, Spurs or Arsenal.

It’s thought that Cole’s former manager at West Ham Harry Redknapp may be the key to securing his signature.

Owen moved to Old Trafford last season in a bid to get his international career back on track, but an injury in the Carling Cup final ended his World Cup dreams.

The former Liverpool forward admits it was frustrating watching England bow out of the World Cup so early in South Africa, and has left the door open should Fabio Capello wish to give him another chance at international level.

If he takes his chances at United next year there’s every chance he could once again partner team mate Wayne Rooney in an England shirt. It might be worth a punt on free sports betting.

“I went to the last three World Cups and a couple of European Championships so it’s been really different this time,” he said.

“It was frustrating for me and for everyone. There were a lot of questions that came out of the tournament.

“I obviously missed the tournament through injury. Whether I would’ve been picked is another matter. I missed it because I wasn’t available but I’ve definitely not retired from international football.”

The United legend is famously candid when speaking about football and his latest verbal assault was no different.

Among those in the firing line were David James, Robert Green, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Gareth Barry, Emile Heskey and Steven Gerrard.

Keane believes England fans should look at the players on the pitch, rather than blame manager Fabio Capello.

“To keep criticising the manager is crazy. Capello is a brilliant manager,” Keane said.

“The players have to look at themselves. They get away with murder.”

He added that England don’t have as many world class stars as most people think.

“You say that the players are good individuals in the Premier League, but tell me who they are?

“I think Wayne Rooney had a brilliant season. You look at the goalkeepers, I thought David James at Portsmouth, they didn’t have a good season and the other one, Green, at West Ham [United] they just about stayed up.

“Glen Johnson at Liverpool did okay, they had a poor season. John Terry had his issues, I don’t think he had a great season.

“Chelsea won the double but that was down to some world class attacking players. Upson, who played yesterday, West Ham didn’t have a great season.

“Ashley Cole’s just come back from injury to be fair to the boy. [Steven] Gerrard didn’t have a great season at Liverpool, James Milner had a good season.

“[Gareth] Barry I thought was very average for Manchester City this year. [Emile] Heskey started the season up-front for Aston Villa and he got three goals.

“You keep talking about these world class players, and they’re not. Wayne has the best chance but he still hasn’t done it on the world stage.”

It’s hard to disagree with Keane in some respects, particularly when the same group of players have consistently failed under numerous managers. But Capello must shoulder some of the blame too for making the exact same mistakes as his predecessors.  However, it’s always good to see Keano having a rant. Too many players and managers are too scared to say it how they see it and instead toe the party line and err on the side of caution.

Football needs more Keano’s.

Le Havre reported Manchester United to FIFA last year for allegedly “tapping up” Pogba, saying: “The player [Pogba] and his parents refused to keep the arrangement because Manchester United offered very high sums of money to the parents of the [player] with the aim of obtaining the transfer of their son”.

United disputed the allegation and threatened to sue the club if the remarks were not withdrawn.

Now though, it appears that the clubs have managed to settle the matter amicably and Paul can get on with his promising career at Old Trafford.

A statement on the official Manchester United website said: “Le Havre AC and Manchester United FC are pleased to announce that following discussions between the two clubs, an agreement has been reached in relation to the registration of Paul Pogba with Manchester United in July 2009.”

‘The terms of the agreement will remain confidential.

“Paul is an exciting young talent who Manchester United hope can prove to be a great success at Old Trafford. Le Havre would like to wish the player well in his future career.”

The impressive winger has been ruled out of the World Cup in South Africa after injuring himself in training, but rumours have been growing that the injury was just a cover up and that Nani had failed a random dope test.

The rumours – seemingly with no foundation – have been denied by the vice-president of the Portuguese Football Federation, Amandio de Carvalho, who said: “Nani was indeed injured. He fell badly in training and injured himself.

“There’s no intention to hide anything. There’s no need for an operation. He just needs time to recover. He can stay with us during the World Cup, if he wants.”

The head of anti doping in Portugal, Luis Horta, added: “The rumours going around are without foundation.

“At least, with the controls carried out at the anti-doping authority in Portugal there exists no problem.

“Urine and blood samples were collected randomly. As far as we know, it all went well.”

The England midfielder has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United or Arsenal this Summer, but has remained quiet on his future.

Chelsea assistant manager Ray Wilkins admitted that he would like Cole to stay at Chelsea, but it appears his decreasing role in Ancelotti’s side has made him seek first team football elsewhere.

“We’ve obviously been in dialogue with Joe for months now and it’s pretty evident that Carlo [Ancelotti] and myself would love Joe to stay, but it’s down now to the club to see what we can do,”

With the World Cup due to start this Friday, it’s thought that Cole will decide his future before the tournament starts.

Manchester United had been favourites to land the attacker, but Arsenal have seemingly moved into pole position.

For the members of RAWK, their season has been dire for a combination of reasons, the most ludicrous being that there’s a conspiracy within the FA and Premier League to stop them from winning anything.

Quite how this is possible is beyond me, but the ‘RAWKITES’ as they call themselves, or ‘SPASTICS’ as others refer to them, are convinced that Sir Alex Ferguson is involved in the plot and regularly bribes referees to make them lose and help Manchester United win.

Apparently they’re a much better team than us and if not for the corrupt officiating they would have finished higher than us in the table. Without Rooney we’re just a mid table team, although they said the same about Ronaldo. I dread to think where they would finish without Fernando Torres.

One of the amazing things about RAWK is its members blind faith in Rafael Benitez. The man has taken a Champions League winning team and turned them into 7th placed team with no Champions League football for next season. The squad they have now is actually worse than the squad that he inherited from Gerard Houllier, despite spending (wasting) over £200 million on new signings, considerably more than we’ve spent during the same period I might add.

While he was busy fucking up their squad he was also negotiating a very cushy contract for himself. He had them bent over a barrel at the end. They couldn’t afford to keep him and risk sliding further down the table next season, and they couldn’t afford to sack him because they’d have to pay him around £16 million. In the end they negotiated a deal with Benitez and it’s thought that he walked away with a cool £6 million in his back pocket. Not bad for a 7th placed finish I’m sure you’ll agree.

But while the rest of the country was busy laughing at Liverpool and their manager who was at times a fully fledged mentalist, RAWK was busy writing poems about him and making slushy youtube videos about how great he is. Readers of RAWK are led to believe that he was a brave martyr who stood up for the fans against the nasty American owners who haven’t backed him in the transfer market.

Ironically enough, facts are met with derision and cries of conspiracy when posted on there. If anyone dares post anything remotely logical regarding the amount of money Benitez has spent or how he’s used it to buy average players like Kuyt, Lucas and Babel, they’re quickly shot down by “diehard” members or indeed the moderators themselves. That’s right, the delusion isn’t confined to a few members, it’s actually promoted by the forum staff.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to back your manager, particularly in this day and age, but what RAWKITES don’t understand is that they’ve gone way beyond supporting him. They’ve turned him into a figure of worship beyond any form of criticism or objective debate.

Their blind support of a man who has played them like a violin is bordering on insanity. Every time he made mistakes all he had to do was say ‘You’ll never walk alone’ and the fans lapped it up and shifted all blame onto the owners, onto the referees, onto the corrupt FA, onto anybody but Benitez.

Now I wish I could say that RAWK was representative of Liverpool fans in general, but it really isn’t. Other Liverpool sites are embarrassed by RAWK, and the Manchester United forum Red Cafe has a 150 page, 6,000 post thread, just to laugh at their deluded ramblings. They’ve taken supporting their team to a new level of idiocy. Their staunch support of Benitez and their refusal to accept that he could be blame for anything has almost turned them into a cult. They’re living inside an internet bubble where the ‘best club in the world’ is being ruined by outside forces with agendas against them. They epitomize the modern day conspiracy theorist and give us plenty to laugh at on a daily basis.

They regularly assert that the media is against Liverpool, completely ignoring the massive amount of supporters and ex Liverpool players on the TV and in newspapers. Brian Reade, Derek McGovern, Alan Hansen, Mark Lawrenson, Phil Thompson to name just a few. There is probably a bigger Liverpool supporting contingent in the newspapers and on TV than any other club in the league, but logical reasoning like that is ignored on RAWK in favour of an ‘everybody is against us’ tin foil hat wearing band of idiots who make a mockery of their once great club.

Managerial legends like Paisley and Shankly would be rolling in their graves if they saw what Benitez has done to Liverpool. And the supporters on RAWK should hang their heads in shame for putting Benitez on the same pedestal as those two men who brought so much glory to Anfield in years gone by.

The Fat Spanish Waiter has done nothing for Liverpool. On the contrary, he’s wasted hundreds of millions of pounds, alienated some of their best players who were then sold, bought terrible players and ruined their entire squad. Without Torres and Mascherano they’d most likely be in the bottom half of the table, battling it out with the likes of Bolton and Sunderland. So instead of worshipping Benitez like some dignified Martyr, they should start facing facts and analyzing just how he has managed to spend £250 million and still manage to take them backwards.

Only then will they start to regain some form of reality on that cesspit of hatred and bitterness.

Their captain and nightclub DJ attacker Steven Gerrard endured one of the worst season’s of his career at Anfield, evidently realizing that their second placed finish in the previous season was the closest he was ever going to get to winning the title with such a bunch of average players.

Their star striker Fernando Torres did his usual routine of being world class when fit, but not being fit very often, while quite tellingly some of their better performers of last season included the very average Dirk Kuyt and Lucas.

In defence it was jamie carragher who dragged them backwards for most of the season. his obvious insecurity with his lack of pace saw him move further and further back, looking for the safety of the 18 yard box where nobody could beat him with pace. This in turn meant the entire defence had to keep in line with him or risk playing opposing strikers onside. It also meant they struggled to keep teams boxed in and thus the midfield often struggled to keep any meaningful pressure on the opposition box.

This combination of factors proved to be Liverpool’s downfall and the end result was a UEFA Cup place only gained because Portsmouth were denied their place after going into administration.

So how could it possible get any worse for the ambulance rockers?

Rumour has it that Real Madrid are expected to offer in the region of €30 Million for the services of Stevie ‘Starfish’ Gerrard. It is not known what Mourinho has been drinking or how much he has had, but with their captain gone, Liverpool will surely continue on their downward spiral towards the bottom half of the table.

The other rumour doing the rounds is that Liverpool manager and part time lunatic Rafael Benitez will be offered a severance package by the Liverpool board, to finally get rid of him and his depressing brand of football and his long list of fahcts!

With a squad desperately in need of transformation, but no money with which to do so, Liverpool will struggle to attract a top manager to Anfield in the near future. More likely they’ll end up with someone like Gareth Southgate.

So raise a glass with me fellow reds, to Liverpool Football Club and mid table mediocrity.

The United striker hopes the rest he has had will reinvigorate him for the World Cup in South Africa this Summer.

England odds are currently 11/1 on Partybets World Cup to end 44 years of hurt since lifting the trophy in 1966, and that is due in no small part to Rooney’s fantastic form for Manchester United.

“Of course I always want to score, but if it doesn’t happen I’m glad it’s in a friendly and not in the World Cup,” he said. “Hopefully I’m saving them up for South Africa.

“It has been a long season for everyone and, of course, players can feel jaded. But I’m quite fortunate because I haven’t trained a lot in the last six weeks.

“I will have another full week’s training in Austria and I felt good against Mexico.

“I had a bit of a stiff neck after the match, but that should pass. Fingers crossed, my break out injured this season will be of benefit during the World Cup.

“I have trained in every session with England and there is no problem with my ankle. You have to hold back sometimes in tackles in training. It can be difficult, but you must be careful not injure yourself or your teammates.”

Foster has struggled to nail down a first team spot at Manchester united after a series of high profile errors saw him relegated to the bench, even in the absence of injured Edwin Van der Sar. He is expected to complete a £6million move to St. Andrews today after undergoing a medical.

Ferguson has decided to allow the ‘keeper to move on to seek regular first team football. However, he insists FOster is still the best ‘keeper England has got.

“We accepted the bid from Birmingham City simply because we knew how concerned Ben was about his future and I can understand that,” said Ferguson.

“I think most of that comes from his disappointment of not having played enough games to get in the England squad this summer.

“I still feel very strongly about this, that Ben’s the best England goalkeeper and I can’t work out why he wasn’t even considered simply because he didn’t have enough football.

“Sometimes your conscience does come into it and you have to understand a player’s feelings about it. Ben’s been a terrific servant for us, he’s been very unlucky with a couple of injuries he’s had with us last season and I think he deserves the opportunity to do better for himself.”

The impressive Italian ‘keeper has been strongly linked with a move to Old Trafford, to replace Dutchman Edwin Van der Sar who is expected to retire next season. but Buffon’s agent Silvano Martina insists Buffon has no intention of leaving Juve.

“I don’t know what else to say with regards to Buffon as it seems that he is the only Juventus player who should leave.

“Considering the ongoing reports, I want to remind everyone that Buffon is under contract with Juve and that next season he will play at Juve.

“When he was asked hypothetically where he would want to play if he left Juve, he always said his first choice would be England, but there is nothing else.

“He never said he would leave.

The Brazilian international – who has scored 21 goals in 34 games for the Spanish club this season – recently expressed his honour at being linked with a move to Manchester United.

Fabiano’s contract at Sevilla expires next year and he believes the club will try to sell him this Summer rather than let him leave for free next year.

“My departure is very likely, my contract will expire next year and I’m not going to renew.”

“I think that Sevilla will try to sell me this summer,”

Villa has been strongly linked with Barcelona, while Silva has recently suggested he would consider a move to Manchester United.

Comments by Valencia coach Unai Emery suggest that he has already accepted that he will lose key players.

“We played a game to win and ended a season at home with win. Today we had to discard certain players and play with people who were better prepared mentally and physically to play,”

“Any coach wants to have his future team set as soon as possible, but it is certain that some issues take time.”

“We are resigned to the departure of important players, but while they’re here we will count on them. The summer will be long.”

Joe hart will return to Manchester City in the Summer after an impressive season on loan at St. Andrews, so the blues are in need of a new stopper.

Sky Sports reports that Birmingham have agreed a fee in the region of £5m and is now in talks with Birmingham.

“We are close to agreeing a deal,” his agent Lee Payne told skysports.com.

“The two clubs have agreed a fee and given us permission to talk to Birmingham.

“We fully expect the deal to be completed either this weekend or the start of next week.”

United took the title race down to the final day of the season, but Chelsea‘s emphatic win over Wigan Athletic sealed the title for the blues by a solitary point.

Sir Alex  is no stranger to new challenges, having previously overcome adversaries Arsene Wenger, Rafael Benitez and Jose Mourinho, and he will assess his squad again this Summer and prepare it for next season’s assault on all fronts.

“It was a disappointment but you can agonise over these things and I’m experienced to know you can’t win them all,” Ferguson said.

“What you try to do is recover from every defeat and try to regain the upper hand next season.

“It’s a challenge. A few years ago it was Arsenal, then it was Chelsea, and each time we’ve managed to raise the bar at our football club – and that is exactly what we are going to do next year.”

Ferguson says he is as motivated as ever to regain the title. And at 68 years old is showing no signs of slowing down.

“I’m at the right club,” he said.

“It’s easy to be motivated at Manchester United simply because of the great players we’ve had over the years.

“Also what drives me on is expectation. In the modern world, once you achieve some success, the next step is to deal with the expectation and it’s very difficult.

“But it’s a challenge and if you don’t want that challenge you won’t survive. And I’ve always accepted the challenge.”

The portuguese winger has suffered with inconsistent performances during his Manchester United career, but after returning from injury in the second half of this season he has become one of the first names on Sir Alex Ferguson‘s team sheets.

“Nani’s really come on since Christmas,” Rio told manutd.com.

“He’s a young player learning the game and he’s got his head down and worked, really knuckled down.

“He’s seen the benefits of that by becoming an effective part of the team.

“The important thing is he’s producing an end product – scoring goals and setting up chances. Because of that he’s getting a consistent run in the team and any player benefits from that.”

Rio believes Nani’s potential means he can go to the very top and become an influential player at Old Trafford.

“Nani’s got the potential to do what he wants,” Rio added.

“He’s one of the sharpest players around, has a great strike with both feet – he’s got the potential to be a top, top player.

“If he continues the way he’s going he’ll be a great weapon for next season.”

Reports in Spain claim the winger will leave the Spanish club this Summer, with several of Europe’s giants waiting in the wings.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will face competition from the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Chelsea to secure his signature, but recent comments from Silva have made them favourites to seal a deal.

“When you hear a club like Manchester United is interested in you it is an honour,” Silva said.

“I am very aware of the Premier League, and in recent years it has been the stand-out league in the world.

“If it came calling, especially if it was a club like Manchester United, it would be very hard to resist.

“I am happy at Valencia but every player has his price and if they get an offer they think is good business anything is possible.”

The reds striker collected the 2010 Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year award on Thursday to add to his growing number of personal accolades, but he believes his best is yet to come.

“I am only 24. Hopefully I can progress and the best years are still ahead of me,” he said.

“I am always learning every day, and take things in from all my team-mates, both at United and with England.

“As a player you are never the finished article. I want to keep learning and getting better.”

The Manchester United forward, aged 29, has an impressive record of 48 goals in 77 games for his national side, but has decided to call time on his international career for many “small and big reasons”, including his recent injury problems for United.

“I’ve thought a lot about this decision,” he said.

“I’ve been playing for the national team for 11 years. There are a lot of small and big reasons for my decision.

“I feel tired and have had some injury problems recently. Deep inside of me I think I had to say stop.”

The game, which will be part of United’s pre season training, will be the first to be played in the new Aviva stadium.

United Chief Executive David Gill said: “It is a great honour to have been invited to play the opening football match in the magnificent Aviva Stadium.

“Anyone who has visited Old Trafford on a match day knows the strength of Manchester United’s support in Ireland and we are delighted to be able to play a match on their home soil.

“Their loyalty and willingness to undertake long trips to support their team is remarkable. The players always enjoy their visits to Ireland and I’m sure this occasion will be a memorable one.”

John Delaney, CEO of the FAI, said: “We are delighted that the first football match to take place in Aviva stadium will see a representative Airtricity League side in action against one of the top club sides in the world.”

His retirement was bizarre in itself. After all, how can you retire from a job you don’t have? He wasn’t close to being first choice with superior defenders John Terry and Rio Ferdinand ahead of him, and he wasn’t even certain to be 3rd choice.

It seemed he had accepted that he wasn’t good enough, so he spat his dummy out and announced his retirement.

Then when approached in April about a possible return to the England setup, he insisted he’d turn down the opportunity because it would be unfair to those who had helped England qualify.

“I’d love to work with Capello, but I’d say no. I read an interview with Alessandro Nesta who’s been asked to come back for Italy and he said he couldnt because he’d be taking someones spot who’d helped get them there. I feel the same. You can’t just walk in when others have put the graft in”

However, the Liverpool defender has changed his tune less than  a month later. England are heading for the World Cup and Liverpool are heading for mid table mediocrity, and Carragher will now take his place in the 30 man provisional squad, despite playing no part in qualifying.

“The World Cup and the Champions League are the highest levels of football,” said Carragher.

“I am not getting any younger, we have no Champions League next season and I am keen to work under Fabio Capello.”

So what has prompted this change of heart? The realization that liverpool are only going downhill? Or has Carragher become a glory hunter?

The Manchester United midfielder rolled back the years this season and produced many dominating displays from his new new position in front of United’s defence.

Scholes had previously retired from international football, insisting that he wanted to spend more time with his family and prolong his club career, but the fact that he was often played on the left side of midfield to accommodate the troublesome central midfield pairing of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard is thought to have been a factor in his decision.

England manager Fabio Capello has been impressed with Scholes’ form this season and was hoping to coax the veteran out of retirement, but was quickly snubbed.

“We tried to convince him to come back for England, but he said no. He preferred to stay with his family. We tried,” the England manager said.

The French left back played in every single league game for the reds this term and was one of their most consistently good performers.

The impressive defender revealed that the players and manager all congratulated him on his amazing season. And he also commented on his pride at lifting the Carling Cup as Manchester united captain in February.

“I was in good form and my team-mates, the gaffer and everyone have congratulated me for my season.

“It was not only about playing the games but performing for the 51 games. This is why I’m very proud of myself. I’m also proud to have lifted the only trophy we won this season, the Carling Cup, when I was captain,” United defender said.

The Old Trafford club lost their Premier League crown this weekend,following a season dogged by injuries and an over reliance on Wayne Rooney to provide the goals.

United winger Giggs believes they need to share the goals around the team if they’re going to succeed next season.

We need to be scoring more goals from different areas and from different players, even though as a team we scored more than we did last season.

‘We were also better defensively this season than last, but we can’t rely on Wayne as much as we have done this season in terms of goals.

‘It was unfortunate for us that Wayne got injured at a really important part of the season, because we’d relied on his goals more or less throughout it. So to get to the business part of the season and not have him, then to have him for one game without him having really trained, wasn’t ideal.

‘But whether the manager does or doesn’t bring in any other strikers this summer, the other players know we need to score more. Whether that’s defenders coming up for corners or midfielders chipping in, we all need to contribute a lot more.’

For that reason I find it difficult to admit that Chelsea are deserving of their newly bestowed tag of ‘Champions’, simply because it isn’t true.

It has to be said that they’ve played some vrey good football this year, and today they eclipsed our record for most goals in a Premier League season by scoring eight against Wigan Athletic. That’s the fourth time this season they’ve scored seven or more and is an incredible statistic.

That said, for all the media w*nking over Chelsea and how they’ve blown the rest of the league away; it remains true that if the linesman had raised his flag as he should have done, we would be celebrating our 19th title today, no doubt about it.

There’s also the issue of the terrible refreeing decisions in the game at Stamford Bridge. First Rooney runs clean through and is 1 on 1 with Petr Cech, only for the linesman to incorrectly raise his flag. Next was the penalty incident when Antonio Valencia was hauled to the ground. then last but not least was the free kickand goal incident, which is hard to take for several reasons. Firstly it was never a free kick. Secondly there was a foul on Wes Brown. And finally there was a Chelsea player standing in an offside position.

People talk about decisions like that evening themselves out over the course of the season, but that’s just a myth that the likes of Andy Gray like to peddle because it saves them having to admit that Chelsea have benefitted massively from key decisions this season. When such huge mistakes go against your team when playing against your direct title rivals, it’s impossible for those mistakes to even themselves out, particularly when they happen in both the home and away games.

So despite all the goals they scored this season, the reason they won the league can be put down to that single decision at Old Trafford. Without that we would have each gained a point and Manchester United would have finished the season on 86 points with Chelsea back on 84.

Yes I’m bitter, yes I’m disappointed, but I’m also extremely proud of the way my team have battled on through adversity this season. We lost the best player in the world and still challenged. There isn’t another team in the world that could have suffered the number of injuries we have this season – especially in defence – and still came within a whisker (or more accurately a flag) of winning the title. To come through it with the best defensive record in the league truly is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire squad and backroom staff.

With a couple of tweaks during the Summer, we’ll be there next season to take our trophy back.

The behaviour of their fans today was nothing short of shocking. They seem to be living in some sort of alternate reality where they’re one of our main rivals, when in actual fact they’re barely even on our radar. I almost expect it when the likes of Liverpool and City sing about the Munich disaster, but coming from Stoke fans it was just weird.

The sheer hatred they have for our club and its supporters borders on the bizarre. Sadly for the Stoke players, their fans hatred for us seems to be more important than cheering their own team on. In fact they were more interested in cheering for Chelsea today than cheering their team on to earning some pride with a dignified display against the deposed Champions of England.

Perhaps the most bizarre song they came up with was “You’re gonna win f*ck all”. If the irony of 11th placed Stoke singing that song wasn’t enough, the fact that we won the Carling Cup this year just made it even stranger. I know the Carling Cup can hardly be described as a major honour, but a trophy is a trophy at the end of the day.

The most unclassy thing of the night though was not the Munich songs, it was the way their fans sang about Chelsea during Sir Alex Ferguson‘s speech. I can only imagine what it must feel like to be a Stoke player, when your fans pay more attention to what the opposition are doing. I guess the players and manager must take a share of the blame for that though.

Their tactic (note this is singular) of ‘win a throw in and get Delap on it’ is incredibly boring so I can understand to a certain extent that they have to come up with novel ways of entertaining themselves each week. However, what I can’t understand is the strange hate filled obsession they have with our football club.

Neville 7 - Got forward well and contributed to the attack, but his crossing was poor by his standards.

Ferdinand 8 - Nothing really to trouble him. Solid.

Vidic 7 - Needed to commit fouls on a couple of occasions due to poor positioning, but played well overall.

Evra 7 - Defended well and was his usual energetic self in attack. Some neat tricks got the crowd going.

Nani 8 - United’s main threat throughout the match. All of our good work went through him.

Fletcher 6 - Unusually quiet game from the Scot. Passing was off and didn’t really stamp his authority on the game.

Scholes 7 - Controlled the midfield with relative ease. Customary booking saw Sir Alex replace him with Gibson with 20 minutes left.

Giggs 6 - Took his goal well, but was poor overall.

Berbatov 6 - Did well to get in good opsitions, but his finishing has become abysmal, particularly with his head. Great assist for Giggs’ goal.

Rooney 7 - Creatively he was very good and his passing was superb. Never really got the opportunity to score and is unfortunate to lose out on the golden boot to Drogba.

Subs:

Gibson 6 - Made a couple of good tackles.

Macheda 5 - No real impact.

Park 7 - Scored United’s 4th with a well taken header.

The PFA Player of the Year wants a return to the treble winning side of 1999 which featured four top strikers. Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer combined to make history by winning the treble that year, and Rooney believes United need similar firepower if they’re going to challenge next year.

The champions look set to lose their crown today, where a win for Chelsea against Wigan at Stamford Bridge would see them win the title by 1 point, if United beat Stoke at Old Trafford.

“If we can bring in two big-name players in it would give us a good chance of getting the league back if Chelsea do win it,” he told The People.

“If you look at the team in 1999 that won the treble we had four forwards, all capable of scoring goals.

“Now there is me, Berbatov and Michael Owen. There is Federico Macheda too, but if we can get one more top forward in it would give us the right balance.”

Rooney’s thoughts will be echoed by the Old Trafford faithful, who feel Dimitar Berbatov has not proven to be worthy of his price tag. While the Bulgarian forward hasn’t been as a big a flop as many claim, he certainly hasn’t quite lived up to expectations, particularly when asked to lead the line in the absence of Wayne Rooney.

Federico Macheda will undoubtedly get more game time next season as Sir Alex Ferguson continues to oversee his development. And Mame Biram Diouf should get plenty of games under his belt too. There’s also new signing Javier Hernandez to come into the fold, while Danny Welbeck may also be in contention after returning from his loan spell. And Michael Owen rounds off the list, however it’s unclear how big a role he can play next season after undergoing surgery.

United are not short of strikers by any means, but Sir Alex may feel he needs a clinical proven goalscorer who can ease the burden on Rooney to win games.

Tonight I expected much of the same from them when they took on Manchester City away at Eastlands. How wrong I was!

The game has just ended and Spurs won 1-0 thanks to a Peter Crouch header late on. I won’t bore you with a match report that I don’t want to write and you don’t want to read. This isn’t about the match itself.

This is about what Spurs have done for us this season. With City spending a quarter of a billion pounds on new players, some were talking them up for not just a Champions League place, but as potential title winners!

Now, after a season of comedy, they’ve given us one final laugh, with much of the credit going to Spurs. They have denied City a chance of competing amongst the world’s best clubs. They have denied City the precious Champions League place that many believe could open the floodgates of world class players heading to City. But Spurs have given us much more than that!

At White Hart Lane they’ve taken three points from Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal. They gave us six precious points. And they’ve done the double over our noisy bitter neighbours, just like we did.

So I don’t think I’m alone tonight in saying thank you very much Tottenham Hotspur for giving us just one more reason to laugh out loud at the comedy club that is Manchester City. A truly massive club!