Countdown to the start of the premiership!

So there is less than a week to go until the start of our new premiership campaign and we still haven't signed anyone. Should we be worried? Can we do it with the old boys? You bet we can. This weekend saw us take on Portsmouth in the charity shield, a rather drab affair, but one we won nonetheless. I didn't get to see the game, as I was away in Ireland on my stag do (I have a few bruises for memories sake), but I heard that Nani and Tevez were our men of the moment!!

Although there was a distinct lack of goals on Sunday, I think this has more to do with the fact that, we always start the season, a little slow, we get the wins however we can, battling away, grinding out those 1-0 victories, knowing that they will be the games that make our season. I do feel that our best asset this season will be our defence. We are difficult to break down, and pressurise in attack.

Over the weekend I heard that our man Fergie is after Henry. Personally I think that this is a ploy to try and hurry the transfer up of Berbatov. Spurs know that it is a battle that they will ultimately lose, trying to keep a player against his will, will never end up with the club coming out on top…. Where have we heard that before? Whether it's next season or this season that he moves, is the only subject for debate, again where have we heard that one before? I guess the difference between us and Spurs is that we have a lot more money and we win stuff. However ultimately that Portuguese cry baby will leave for Spain and he will kiss the badge of Madrid and that is why I can never take him to my heart like I could with players like Rooney, Tevez , Scholes and Giggs! No player is bigger than the club.. nobody.

So last post I said that I wouldn't take about Ronaldo and as I type I end up talking about him… man the guy has infuriated me! But enough of that, let's look at the season ahead. Next up we have Newcastle at home. Let me know in your comments, you first 11. remember you can have 5 subs as well.

International breaks... perhaps a blessing this time?

I seem to remember me cursing the international breaks a lot last season, why should we interrupt the flow of our all conquerring United team to watch a mediocre England team eek out a 1-0 victory against a country with little over 500 people? This time last year we were sitting pretty at the top of the league and every time internationals came around, the following couple of couple of games we seemed to spend trying to find our form again.

Why is it any different this year i hear you ask? Well our strength and depth is greater now. We have cover in almost all postitions, meaning we don't need to worry so much about one of ourt key men getting injured (although I can't help it). The other more important reason, is it gives Rooney and Hargreaves time to recover from their injuries.

I know we beat Blackburn quite convincingly last week with the absense of Rooney, but it seemed as though we lacked that killer edge. ROoney is the kind of player that brings others into the game. He makes the link between midfield and attack, he draws players into an attack, relaeasing them at just the right moment. Sure we have enough firepower to cope without him, but with him we have the confidence that we wll score 4 instead odf 2.

So as we endure another week of dull internationals, let's look forward. We have a run of fairly easy games, before the big one against Liverpool. We all know how important this game is. We are at Anfield and nothing other than a win will do. We win and we put distance between us and them... we lose and they are hot on our heels. Anyone for a John O'shea last minute special?

Manchester United V Middlesbrough match highlights and review

Morning people, so that’s 4 successive games that we have scored 4 goals, who said United were struggling to score? With our sluggish start now out of the way, we now boast the best form in the league, can we maintain it? Based on Saturday's performance the signs are looking good!

Middlesbrough for all their fight simply could not contain a rampant United who have set their sights on nothing other than domination in all competitions. Yes Middlesbrough could have taken the lead after their fight back but you really get the sense that United will always score more goals than the opposition. It's a very continental style of play, often demonstrated by none other than the Brazilian's. You started to see it towards the end of last season and now that the team has gelled, we seeing it again.

The link up play between Tevez and Rooney was one of the points worth highlighting. It's hard to believe that this pair has only started 5 games together. What is more astonishing is how their understanding of each others game and movement dramatically improves every minute they are on the pitch together. Rooney's back-heal for Tevez was simply sublime, Arsenal be afraid, be very afraid.

A great comment I heard on Sky Sports news this morning that I'll leave you with "Wayne Rooney loves playing for Manchester united." Isn't it just great having players that love the club?

p.s here's the goals

Internationals bring injuries!

Internationals say one thing to me. Injuries and boy we could do without any more of those at the moment. It's not been long since Rooney returned from yet another broken foot and I for one would hate to see him pick up another injury. Having said that I think that we are better placed to cope this season than this time last year.

Let's have a quick look at the injury list. Carrick is out with a broken elbow, John O'shea has a strained hamstring, Louis Saha has yet another knee injury, Wes Brown has a knee injury, Owen Hargreaves has tendonitis, Van Der Sar has a dodgy ankle/foot and Park, Fost and Silvestre are out for the long term. For many other squads this would represent a crisis but Fergie has built a squad with real depth and strength, our first team still looks strong.

But what if we lose Ronaldo and Rooney? We all know how the results went when these guys were out and we cannot afford for this to happen again. These two add a new dynamic to the attacking line, they provide the movement and pace that we remember so well from last year and most of all they bring a desire to win.

Rooney's desire to play as well as he possibly can was demonstrated aptly on Saturday against Estonia. It was evident that he was a player desperate for a goal and lacking a little confidence. Some players would shy away from fully committing themselves, but not Rooney. He stayed late in training and practiced in a solitary fashion, testament to his drive to reach the top of his game. Then during the match I remember him giving the ball away with a sloppy pass, he ran all of 60 yards to put in a tackle to win the ball back. I remember thinking to myself, "that is Rooney all over" and of course his efforts were rewarded with a goal.

So onto the fixtures tonight, I hope our boys perform well, but more importantly I hope that that don't get injured. For there are more important battles to be faced in the weeks to come! Roll on the Premiership.

The Man Utd blog is back, read it now!

After a long break I thought I would post again. Sorry that I have been ever so elusive over these past few months, I've been so busy with work that I've let the blog slip. I will try and update on a weekly basis from now on, more if I have the time. I have also noticed that the forum is offline.. I'll see if I can get that fixed and up and running as there was some pretty good discussions going on in there last season.

Well back onto our beloved united. After a stumbling start (our worst in 18 years or something ridiculous) we are sitting second in the table, second only to a bunch of kids from the Emirates stadium who are yet to play any of the top 4. Despite our stuttering start we find ourselves ready to pressure the gunners all the way to the end and boy am I excited about that. It seems like the clock has rolled back five years and we are about to witness yet another season of Fergie Wenger mind games as the season draws closer to its ever exciting climax.

What about the whole Mourinho affair. It seems the Russian sugar daddy had finally had enough with the "special Ones" demand for absolute power and decided to do away with one of the worlds greatest coaches. Never mind hey… at least he has Grant, the big man from Israel, who's achievements I can count on one limb, to take Chelsea to Champions league glory.

I think more of this post needs to be dedicated to United and not Chelsea. Let's look at the team. We had problems early on trying to find goals. Rooney was injured in the first game and Ronaldo decided to take out one of Portsmouth's players with a head butt, resulting in a 3 match ban. We were solid at the back, controlled much of the possession, but lacked that killer edge.

I think much of this was down to the lack of experience of playing together. We need to remember that Anderson, Tevez, Nani and Hargreaves had never played together before and it will take time for them to understand each others game. Against Wigan we saw glimpses of what this team is capable of, but I think the best is very much yet to come. What do you guys think?

One last thing that I am keen to find out is… who do you think our best player has been so far? For me it has to be Vidic, he has been solid and consistent and has even scored rescuing some vital points for us. Well that's it from me today. I look forward to reading your comments, if there is anyone left reading this blog!

Can Tevez fill Rooney's boots?

Can Tevez fill Rooney's boots? That is the question on most United fans lips today as we face the prospect of being without our star man for 2 months, possibly longer. There was a lot of talk before Tevez signed for us that he was too similar to Rooney and that there was no way that they could play together. Now that is not a statement that I agree with, but if there was ever to be a time for Tevez to endear himself to the United fans, now would most definitely be it.

Tevez has vowed to win over the United fans hearts and minds, he is the kind of player who is easily adored. At West Ham last season, he took the burden of a relegation threat upon his shoulders and made it his personal crusade the club from impending disaster. Now he must do the same, take over the mantle from Rooney and keep the front line alive and well & truly kicking. We have faith in you Carlos, we know that you can do it.

It seems that Tevez will make his debut against Portsmouth tomorrow night, earlier than Ferguson had anticipated. It promises to be a fiery encounter, where nothing less than victory will suffice. Can Carlos Tevez carry on where Rooney left off, let me know here?

What will United's 2nd eleven be?

Good morning United fans and thanks for all your opinions on the formation I picked for United yesterday. It seems that 2 controversial points were picked out in the comments yesterday so I would like to talk through them at more length today. It seems that this season we have a very palatable problem, in that we too many good players in the squad, just who is going to play?

The first thing that I was picked up on was that people favoured Giggs over Anderson on the left. This is a fair point, Giggs was truly immense in a number of games last season, anyone remember Benfica home? But I think that this year is going to be all about pace and movement. I expect Giggs to be saved for the big games like Liverpool and Chelsea, as he has the experience to pull the others through. Anderson will be more exciting bringing pace and dynamism to the team. I expect to see the Brazilian pitted against lower ranked teams to begin with to ease him into English football.

Up front Amey Nevrekar prefers to go with Tevez over Rooney, based on his chance conversion ratio. I think this will be Rooney's season. He spent a lot of last season out of the limelight with Ronaldo stealing the show. I think this has given him time to mature and grow his game. He has also had chance to recuperate over the summer with no games being played. This will do Rooney the world of good in my opinion. Expect to see a fresher revitalised Rooney this season.

I would like to present our alternative selection today. This would be the team that we play when we are resting key men before the big ones:

Foster

Brown, Pique, Silvestre/O'shea, Heinze

Park, Fletcher, Anderson, Nani

Tevez, Saha


Subs: Kuszczak, O'shea, Eagles, Rossi, Hargreaves

I have tried to ommit as many first team players as possible to make way for the squad players. Of course we know that Fergie always packs his bench full of stars just in case we come unstuck.

Again it's over to you now. You can have a lot more fun with this one and please feel free to continue commenting on my first team suggestion.

Fergies first eleven. What is it going to be?

It seems that Tevez is now prepared to force a move through to United by writing to FIFA expressing his concerns. It seems that this has the potential to run and run, especially if the courts get involved. I wouldn't count on him being here when the season kicks off in less than 30 days time.

This has been one of the hardest summers I can remember. Yes it's great that we have signed all these fantastic players, but boy I can't wait for the games to start. It will be great to see Fergie showcase all his new talent, especially as we are by far the strongest team in the league.

Liverpool have spent big on Torres, but to be honest I never really rated him in the first place. He's a good player but in all honesty I would take Tevez Rooney or Anderson over him any day.

This year it will be vitally important that we come out of the blocks firing on all cylinders. We know that Chelsea will be strong, we know it will be tough. Liverpool I'm sure believe that they are also in with a chance, That is until they go through their usually dodgy spell before Christmas and spend the rest pf the season playing catchup.

Thanks to everyone who commented on their dream formation, it makes really interesting reading. I am going to stick my neck out and put forward my best 11. Please feel free to rip it to shreds!

VDS

Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra

Hargreaves, Carrick,

Ronaldo Scholes Anderson

Rooney

Subs: Foster, Heinze, Nani, Giggs, Tevez

Scholes to pus forward and drop back as required, he would be rested and Tevez to replace him. Rooney and Tevez to interchange being the hole player linking midfield to attack.

Anderson on the right in the mould of Ronaldinho. I see him breaking on the left and cutting inside creating space for Rooney. Scholes would also play those clever balls into space for Anderson and Rooney to terrorize the wingbacks. Nani and Giggs can replace Anderson as required. Note Anderson will not play the majority of games but I think he will shine when he plays.

The key to Ferguson's success this season is how the team interchanges positions. We saw it last season, where each player up front changes positions throughout the game. This makes it virtually impossible for the opposition to man mark any of our attackers. Adding the likes of Nani, Anderson and Tevez only strengthens this style of play.

Now it's over to you. Am I talking rubbish, or is this the team to lead us to the quadruple? You decide.

Manchester United lift the Premiership Trophy, again!

Good morning sports fans! I have a great statistic for you before we kick things off. John O’Shea had a shot to goals ratio of 80% this season. In other words his shots went in 80% of the time. To put that statistic into perspective Gilberto cam second, with 31%. Thanks Sky Sports News for that bit of useless yet interesting bit of information.

What a great weekend! We finally got to see our boys lift the most coveted trophy in England. Fergie we salute you for bringing it home. The Chelsea boys were good housekeepers for 2 seasons, but it’s now back with its friends, all nine of them!

It was a bit of a dampener that we didn’t beat West Ham, if I’m honest I think they deserved to have points docked for the irregularities of the Tevez and Mascherano affair. At the end of the day they cheated and cheated badly. Fining a club £5.5 million when they stand to make £50 million next season from staying in the premiership doesn’t seem like a punishment to me. I’m also gutted for Sheffield United, I think Neil Warnock is a great manager, he has integrity and honesty and works like a Trojan. I hope they come up next season.

The game itself was a bit of a non starter. You could see that our boys were playing with one eye on Saturday’s game. Players weren’t jumping into tackles, they weren’t challenging for the ball and many of our key men were rested. Having said that we were really unlucky, 25 shots in a game is more than enough to grab a goal. Perhaps that day at the races last week hadn’t been completely shaken off? We’ll forgive you boys.

Onto transfer news. According to the Mirror, Huntelaar is our top target for the summer. I know he has been setting the Dutch league on fire in recent years and that they often make the transition to the premiership quite well, but does he have the pace that Ferguson is looking for?

It seems that Berbatov is determined to stay at Spurs. It is another case where we should not pay way over the odds for someone just because Tottenham don’t need to sell. Having said that, he scored another great goal at the weekend, it seems that everything that he touches turns to gold.

Manchester United Chaampions of 2007!

We are the champions, we are the champions, no time for losers coz we are the champions… of the world, well of the premiership anyway! What a weekend, yet again I was reminded how great it is to be a Man Utd fan. There was misery on Wednesday as we crashed out of the Champions league, deservedly I might add. Then at the weekend we pulled out a victory when it looked as though we might draw. Then on Sunday Chelsea drew when it looked like they might win!

But we premiership champions we are and there is no taking that away from us. The premiership is our championship and those Chelsea fans that think we have borrowed it from them are sorely mistaken, we have brought the trophy home.

Ferguson has also indicated that he is here for a number of years yet… great news. That will give Keane enough time to get Sunderland established in the Premiership, then he can move over and take control at the helm of the greatest club in the world. Fergie also stated that he has identified 3 players that he is looking at during the summer. Of course that started the press off with transfer rumours.

Apparently we are no longer in for Hargreaves. Munich are trying to hold us to ransom over the England man. Quite right too, we shouldn’t pay over the odds for any player, anyhow I’m sure Ferguson has his eye on a number of key players.

Elsewhere it seems that the rumours surrounding Berbatov to United are gathering pace. I don’t know why, but I just can’t see this one happening. I would love to be proved wrong because he really is a class player, we should have signed him last season!

Well Champions that’s it from me. Let me know the highlights of the season for you, as I am always keen to hear your thoughts. Keep the red flag flying high!

Manchester United the rollercoaster!

Good morning fellow United fans and what a great morning it is too. Is the premiership the best league in the world or what? At one point we were 2-0 down, with Chelsea leading 2-1 and we were going to have to play Chelsea at the bridge for the title. Then Our boys pulled yet another performance out of the bag, Chelsea conceded a goal and it’s 4-2 to us, Chelsea draw and we are 5 points clear with 3 games to go.

It’s at this point of the season that more emotion is spilled than any other. I think it’s partly because we all know that the season is drawing near, it’s been a long hard road and suddenly it’s make or break for everything. Of course winning the silverware is important, we’ve smelt it for so long but it’s so close now that you can almost taste it.

At the back of my mind I know that this summer will be long with no football to watch. My hope is that we are celebrating a host of trophies under our illustrious manager. When the dust settles and we are kicking our heals, this blog will resort back to the Man Utd transfer rumour blog reporting every little bit of gossip I can get my hands on, remember the Carrick and Van Nistelrooy saga?

But let’s not think about that now, we still have a few games left of this season, one of the most important being Wednesday’s visit to Milan. Vidic will have a scan today that will determine whether or not he can play in the game, oh how we need him. Ferguson said that he was trying his best to get Rio back, perhaps the gap in the Premiership will give him a little breathing space to make that decision.

We hold a 3-2 lead. That second away goal is the crucial one for them. A 1-0 result would send Milan through and us going home wondering what might have been! However this season seems different. Could you imagine this team coming back from 2-0 down away from home last season? Could you picture us driving on from 2-1 down against a team like Milan and then scoring a winner in injury time?

Wednesday will be tough, but we have shown time and time again this season that no matter how up against it we are, we can mix it with the best. This season promises many more ups and downs before Man Utd rollercoaster pulls into the station!

Ferguson is a masterclass, but then we already knew that!

Alex Ferguson has again proven his qualities as a first class manager. Whilst Mourinho seems to be attacking all contemporaries within the game, Ferguson in contrast is remaining noticeably under the radar. We have seen this scenario before, does anybody remember 1996?

Why Mourinho calls himself the special one I have no idea. Somebody on the forum has created a great poll, visit and vote here. For me the guy has no class, no style and ultimately will end up isolating himself from most people in football. In a way what he is doing is clever, he is diverting attention onto himself and away from the team, but there is only so much that one guy can take, are we witnessing the self destruction of a man that is so close yet so far?.. probably not, but it would be funny!

I found this Sun article quite amusing.

In transfer news, apparently we are in for Defoe, who is currently unhappy at Tottenham. For me I think Defoe would represent and excellent coup, should Tottenham be interested in a part exchange with someone like Kieren Richardson. My only issue with this would be his size, the same issues were considered on this blog months ago when we were debating the arrival of Carlos Tevez.

One other issue that has seemingly been under reported is the rise in ticket prices for next year. The Glazers have decided to raise gate prices by around 12% for next season. This angers me somewhat, especially in light of a huge new pay deal that is worth approximately an extra £30 per seat. We are in serious danger of alienating the true fans of Manchester United and instead turning Old Trafford into a corporate arena, full of people who don’t sing and don’t care. The building of the quadrants was the first step in this process; raising prices will only further this course of events.

Okay rant over, let’s look at today’s fixtures. We face an away trip to Everton. This is never an easy game, but the boys know what they have to do. Rooney is scoring goals now and Ronaldo is in sparkling form as ever, it’s down to our defence. If we can beat AC Milan then surely we can do it against Everton in what is arguably an equally important fixture! Let’s hope we win by a penalty!

Chelsea host a Bolton side that could have as many as 6 first team players out. I think Chelsea will win this one at the bridge, but it would be great if they lost in the dying minutes with a penalty gifted to Bolton for a Gary Speed dive!

The pressure is relentless now. Every game is a step closer to the title. Our boys know what is at stake and we have the best man guiding the ship. One love One United!

Agent's Score predictions for the run-in!

Chelsea thumped West Ham last night 4-1 to reduce our lead to 3 points again. To be honest I always said they would win that one with few problems, just as I expected us to beat Sheffield United. The key to the premiership are the remaining fixtures as I’m sure you can imagine.

Let’s look at the remaining games. Next we are home to Middlesbrough. I think this should be a victory for us, especially as we are playing them at home. Expect lots more moaning from Southgate about Ronaldo. 3-1 to us. Chelsea travel to Newcastle this weekend and I can’t see them dropping points there, 2-0 to Chelsea.

The following week (forget about the champions league for a second, yes I know that’s very difficult!) we face Everton away. I would say this is our second most difficult fixture. I see it being quite a high scorer and we will probably concede first. I say 2-1 to us., but it could be a draw. Chelsea will face Bolton that weekend, they will be at home and it has 1-0 Chelsea written all over it!

We then travel to Man City. We will win this one 3-0 no problems! Here is the killer, Chelsea must travel to the Emirates to face and Arsenal side who have rediscovered their scoring form in the past couple of games. I honestly think that this one is Arsenals. If not it will be a draw.

The penultimate game comes next with us facing Chelsea. This is a crucial game for both sides, but I can see a draw for this one. We might get lucky and nick one, but it will be a cagey one with both teams conscious not to concede. Of course a lot depends on the points difference by this point. If Chelsea are 6 behind by then, they will have already lost the title and so it may be a non starter. I’ll go 1-1 again

Then we face West Ham. I think that this one is ours, 3-0. Chelsea will face Everton at home and I’ll go for a 2-0 Chelsea. There is a lot still to play for, but I honestly think that we have the easier run-in. If we keep focussed then we can do this. Let’s bring home some silverware.

Do you agree with my predictions? Please feel free to let me know if you don’t (or if you do) and leave a comment.

The Premiership is back, thank God!

So the premiership reconvenes tomorrow, thank god for that. England are drab, can’t play decent football and have more chance of scoring in a brothel. They won 3-0 against Andorra, a team of builders, bankers and milkmen. To be honest they looked more interested in playing fisticuffs than football, perhaps it was the out and out quality of the England play the lowered them to such unsportsmanlike behaviour. Then again maybe they just didn’t like the look of Ashley Cole and his bling!

So we take on the immovable force that is Blackburn tomorrow. Sparky loves to throw a spanner in the works, last season we lost to them twice, but this time around we are a whole new proposition. I’m sure Hughes is already complaining about the referee, how things never go his way. I think that if Ronaldo tripped over coming out of the tunnel he would label him as a habitual diver. Alas United must galvanize their players and get the hunger back, something they have surely missed whilst away with their fellow international team-mates.

In transfer news it seems we are poised to move for Huntelaar, nothing new there then. I think he would compliment the new line-up quite nicely. Question is who would you prefer the Chorizo chomping Spaniard that is Torres, or the Clog wearing tulip boy that is Huntelaar? Why do people still wear clogs? They’re bloody uncomfortable if ever you’ve tried them!

Right enough of my nonsense for today, Ronaldo has said he wants to stay with us for many a year and is set to sign an all new wage topping deal, were six points clear and still challenging on 3 fronts, oh to be a United fan!

Man Utd V Chelsea match Rearranged, surely a good thing?

United’s crucial game against Chelsea has been moved to 9th May. This represents good news for the Reds as Chelsea face fixture congestion worse than our own. Of course there is the added bonus that the league could be well and truly wrapped up by then, allowing us to rest key players for any finals we may still be in.

Chelsea’s resolve is still strong. They still believe they can catch us to seize a third premiership title in a row, a feat that has only ever been achieved by Manchester United. Winning is the only option now, dropping points at this late stage would be disastrous. But something tells me that this group of players are treating every game like a cup final, you can see their hunger, that desire to win silverware.

I think we are back to our best. Although we only won 1-0 on Monday I think it was more down to our poor finishing than anything else. Wayne Rooney had two one-on-one’s which, on his day, he would have tucked away confidently. The defence splitting passes came with every attack, the ball was moved with an air of confidence and you just knew that every pass would find a man.

Today I reflect on the journey of this blog. As an online marketer I started this blog as an experiment. I set myself the target of getting top place in Google for the phrase “Man Utd blog”. The problem was I enjoyed writing about my club too much and instead of being an experiment, it became more of an obsession. When people started commenting I realised we had a great group of like minded fans who posted intelligent well thought out comments and so it has flourished.

So to the likes of Radio Deadon, Jesus Rodrigo, Time killing Kid, Marlowe Diego (great posts recently Margowe), Andrew M, Gerard, eddiie, Clonefunkasaurus and all you anonymous posters thanks for your contributions, it wouldn’t be the same without you! P.S if I’ve missed any others off I’m sorry, but thanks to you guys as well.

I look back at where United were when I started the blog. It was time when we still had Van Nistelrooy, Carrick was still at Tottenham and (as far as the press were concerned) we were a team in decline. However we thought differently, we knew that this was our season, we had every faith that our illustrious manager would do the business and yet again he hasn’t let us down. As we approach the run-in life is once a gain great for us. This team can rule for years to come and this blog will be documenting it every step of the way!

Manchester United V Bolton highlights and review. Berbatov transfer to Man Utd?

Well guys, yet another cracking weekend of football as the red machine goes marching mercilessly on. It was a game that many predicted would be a stumbling block. Even I thought the fixture could have caused problems, but it was another performance that was vintage United at their very best.

People murmur that Ronaldo and Rooney are two of the best young players in world football right now, but how quickly that talk is quashed when one of them has a bad day. Saturday was a demonstration of how two of the best players can combine with lethal effect. It was their day; a day to really turn it on and turn what could have been a sticky tie, nothing more than a training session.

The game was all but over within 30 minutes. Ronaldo, showed his intention to bring the title back to Old Trafford, with some dazzling movement down both flanks, his reward was 3 assists as United put the fixture to bed. Park was on hand to put a brace away, whilst Rooney looked back to his best.

There had been criticism that Rooney had been off form recently. It is true that our star talisman has blown a little hot and cold this season, but how often we forget that he is only 21. Saturday was a Stirling performance, a demonstration of what he is capable of. If ever there was a time for him to blow hot, now would almost certainly be it.

So we are another game closer to the crown, with every three points we earn, that little bit closer we get. Chelsea still need to close the six point gap and it might as well be 7, such is our superior goal difference. That is no easy task considering they still need to face Tottenham and Arsenal during the run-in.

In transfer news it appears we are now keeping tabs on Berbatov of Tottenham. I have been paying close attention to him in recent weeks and I have to admit the player is out and out class. What is frustrating is that I remember that we were interested in him this summer and he elected to move to Tottenham instead of waiting for an offer to come through.

The price would probably be in the region of £25 million, is this too much to pay? More importantly to we want to continue lining the pockets of Spurs for the foreseeable future? For £25 million surely Eto could be tempted away from Barcelona, I think I know which most fans would prefer.

Hargreaves has declared that the only club he would want to move to is United…. I can see why…. they’re the best.

I realised yesterday that it will soon be that time for transfer speculation again. This summer is a baron one as far is football is concerned and we will need to ramp up the discussion on who is going where as we kick our heels waiting for the new season to start. Robinho, Ronaldinho, Kaka and Torres, well we can all dream can’t we?

Man Utd running on empty. Exclusive transcript between Ferguson and Ronaldo revealed

As we approach a week of hectic fixtures, Ferguson must be cursing his luck as the injury list continues to grow. Add to that the antics in Spain about Ronaldo’s apparent agreement to join Madrid at the end of the season, Ferguson must be scratching his head saying “why now”?

The next three games appear to be a defining moment of the season. I can see myself writing those words a number of times over the next few months, as every game should be treated as a cup final. Ferguson faces the next 3 games at least with little more than 14 1st team players available for selection.

First up are Bolton, a strong physical team who are by no means pushovers. We face them with Van Der Sar, Evra, Silvestre, Ferdinand, Scholes, Fletcher, Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer all missing. Add to this the permanent absence of Larrson and the squad looks thin, worryingly thin.

We are lucky that we have an international break after playing Middlesbrough on Monday. This should give Ferguson enough time to nurse some of his stars back to fitness ready to push on for glory, particularly in the premiership. If ever we needed to dig in and get a result Saturday would be it.

More news has surfaced that Madrid are going to chase Ronaldo over the summer. Apparently they have a verbal agreement with the Portuguese superstar. The article in the Guardian points to instances where Real have poached their man before and even refer to Beckham. I think there is one important difference between the Beckham transfer and the potential Ronaldo sale and that is Ferguson’s desire to keep Ronaldo.

When Ferguson sold Beckham it was because he wanted him to go. Ronaldo on the other hand is a player Ferguson evidently wants to hang on to. The irony of this story is that the Madrid president reports that "All he needs to do is speak to Sir Alex Ferguson and publicly demand to leave.” Right then it must be a done deal then. Of all the managers I would want to go and see and express my desire to leave, Ferguson would be so far down the list the ink would have run out in my pen.

You could picture that conversation couldn’t you:
Ronaldo: Hi Mr Ferguson
Ferguson: Hi son
Ronaldo: You know Real Madrid are interested in me?
Ferguson: Yes, but you don’t want to move to them, you have everything you could possibly want here, isn’t that right?
Ronaldo: Yes but..
Ferguson: No buts son you love it here and are happy.
Ronaldo: But my agent said…
Ferguson: Agents smagents, don’t listen to them son, they’ll tell you anything. Now about that new contract we’ve been talking about..
Ronaldo: But Real Madrid…
Ferguson: I know, it’s heartbreaking to see what was such a great club going down the shitter, I have a lot of respect for them too son, but hey that’s football, theirs nothing you can do about it. Now that contract. Just pop your autograph down on here, there’s a good chap.
Ronaldo signs and leave the office.
Alex: Son… I’m glad we had this chat!
Ronaldo: Me too.

Liverpool V Manchester United review and Highlights

Well people what a weekend. We have successfully done the double over our arch rivals. It was one of those games where you always thought there was no chance we would walk away with the points, then once they had thrown everything at us, you felt sure that we could nick it at the end. What a game!!

I thought that we were largely outplayed for a lot of the game, but that is to be expected when you go to Anfield, the crowd can act like a twelfth man at times and I think this was certainly the case on Saturday. But in the end it was superb defending by our boys and that was the difference between the sides.

Rio Ferdinand was excellent, as was Van Der Sar. His save from Crouch in the dying minutes was the difference between 3 points and 0 points. In the end we had one chance in the dying seconds and we grabbed it with both hands. It was a sterling performance that reminded me of a team we had 8 years ago.

Something feels different this year. No matter how up against it we are, we have the drive and determination to get results when it matters. Last season I am sure we would have crumbled under the pressure from Liverpool. Heads would have dropped and we simply wouldn’t believe that we could do it.

This season it is different. Against Fulham and Liverpool, we didn’t care whether there was 10 minutes or 30 seconds left to play. We would always go for it knowing that we could score that vital goal that would take us one step further to glory.

Mourinho said a while back that the season wasn’t over. We had to go to Anfield, Emirates and the Bridge, all difficult places. Mourinho fully expected these fixtures to be an opportunity for his team to close the gap on United and really make a title race. Well we have two of those results out of the way and are still 9 points clear. We are now fully in the driving seat and the title is ours to lose. Judging by the celebrations this weekend I think the players no this more than any of us.

We now have 3 fairly tough domestic games against Bolton, Blackburn and Middlesbrough and will have to face them without our midfield man Scholes. It’s not often you see him react like that and we will miss him badly for them. But I am confident the team can cope and bring the title closer to home.

Lille saga continues, Can United go 9 clear?

Lille are accusing Manchester United of issuing tickets to fans too early and as a result a number of forgeries were produced that resulted in the crowd problems in the United end. The tie that was held on Tuesday of this week is descending into a shambles of the highest order. Whatever next? Will Lille hold Man Utd responsible for the missiles that were thrown by their fans?

There is so much bad blood revolving the midweek fixture the return to Old Traffard promises to be a frosty affair. Let’s hope the Old Trafford crowd produce aan electric atmosphere and inspire the players to put on a magnificent performance. We need to win and win convincingly. Ferguson will be telling his players that they must let the football do the talking, whilst officials deal with the commotion off field!

We have a huge game against Fulham on Saturday and it’s even more significant because we have the opportunity to go 9 points clear at the top. Chelsea have lost their skipper again and have it all to do. United aren’t home and dry, but the more pressure that United can put on the Blues the greater chance we have.

From the beginning of the season and this blog in fact I have said we are a team that can win this title. I love United and always knew that we had every chance of bringing the title home and most people on this blog agreed with me, read my ramblings here
So 9 points clear with 10 games to go is a great place to be. If we pull it off we will be one step closer to putting United back on the map. We are still in 3 competitions and have every chance of winning them all. I feel the United anthem coming on!

Ronaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldo

Morning people, Ronaldo’s future is shrouded in yet more mystery as more Barcelona’s players seek to unsettle the Portuguese superstar. Deco, the latest in a number of high profile players has stated that Ronaldo would be perfect for Barcelona, but if were honest I don’t think there is a team that Ronaldo wouldn’t be perfect for.

The only person who can stop these rumours is Ronaldo himself! Manchester United have stood by him through thick and thin. The fans have been nothing short of magnificent in their support of him after the Rooney spat after the world cup. Most importantly is the part that Ferguson has played in the development of a player who was more of a show pony than the finished article when he arrived at Old Trafford.

All Ronaldo would have to do is either sign a new contract or come out to the press outlining hi intention to commit his future to Manchester United. The longer this saga continues, the more unsettling it is for the other members of the squad. It is high time Ronaldo repaid the manager and the fans for the faith they have shown in him.

Enough of Ronaldo, let’s look forward at the weekend’s action. Saturday see’s us take on Reading. It’s another home fixture with Steve Coppell saying he will field a second string side. On paper this would suggest that this fixture is a walk in the park for United, but I for one think that it is far from the case. United always seem to make life difficult for themselves and we must ensure that we proceed to the next round on Saturday.

The Champions league reconvenes next week with us facing Lille. Again we have been landed a favourable draw against a side we really should be looking to beat. I have a feeling that the return game at Old Trafford is going to offer some real fireworks. Is anybody going?

Then it’s the big one against Liverpool. Lose and the title race is straight back on. Win and it gets one of those difficult games out of the way and maintains the pressure on Chelsea! It is getting to that stage of the season where Chelsea will be really puching to get results in games and could quite easily see them trying too hard in games and coming unstuck!

As the run in hots up I for one would not want to be supporting any other team right now. United always provide drama and entertainment of the highest calibre!

P.S the forum is up and running now, it took me all day to clear it up after the spammers left their mark!