Ferdinand and Evra back to face Blues
January 9, 2009
Rio Ferdinand will be back for United this weekend to face Chelsea after the defender returned to training following injury.
Ferdinand has been out the last four matches since suffering a recurrence of a back injury but returns in time for the Reds top of the table clash with Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference Alex Ferguson said “Rio is fit to play. He’s missed the last few games and that’s given us time to get things settled down. He’s very good; he’s trained for the last few days and is feeling much better.
He is one of the best centre backs in the world, and it does make a difference because he’s got the stature and presents to play in the big games.”
Ferdinand’s return to action will be a disappointment for young centre back Jonny Evans who has come on leaps and bounds this season. With Ferdinand back to partner Nemanja Vidic at the centre of United’s defence, Evans will have to make do with a spot on the bench.
Manchester United have an almost complete squad to choose from for the match at Old Trafford and the team is also boosted by the fact that Patrice Evra will be back following his four match suspension following the incident at Stamford Bridge last season.
“We had 24 players training this morning” said Ferguson. “Patrice will be the freshest man on the pitch on Sunday. He’s had a nice break, but he’s training well, he’s looking forward to it and it’s a great boost because he’s been fantastic this season. So we’ve everyone fit the Sunday except Wes [Brown] and Owen [Hargreaves], which is a really good position to be in.”
Dimitar Berbatov, Wes Brown and Rio Ferdinand all out, Rooney’s back
November 21, 2008
Dimitar Berbatov has been ruled out of tomorrow’s trip to Aston Villa as well as Tuesdays visit to Villarreal. The striker, who came off injured after just half an hour in Bulgaria’s 6 – 1 defeat against neighbours Serbia has been given just a “slight chance” of returning in time for United’s visit to the City of Manchester stadium the following week.
Berbatov has been ever present in Ferguson’s first team since his arrival from Tottenham which has seen the Bulgarian score 6 goals; 4 of them in the Champions League.
Wes Brown has not played since October 25th and the Defender is now set for a few weeks on the sidelines: “Wes will be missing for a few weeks,” Ferguson said. “There’s no timescale on it, but may be about 4-5 weeks. It’s disappointing, but we’ve got cover with Gary (Neville) and Rafael, and John O’Shea can also play there.”
After missing England’s away victory over Germany on Wednesday, Rio Ferdinand looks set to miss tomorrows trip to Villa but Ferguson did reveal Wayne Rooney is back in training and should make his return to first team action.
“Rio is very doubtful for tomorrow, I don’t think he’ll make it,” Sir Alex Ferguson told his pre-match press conference. “Rooney has a good chance, he trained on Wednesday and Thursday and if he comes through today he should be involved”.
England hit five as boo boys switch from Lampard to Ashley Cole
October 12, 2008
England made it three wins from three in their World Cup qualification campaign by beating Kazakhstan (ranked 131 in the world) 5 – 1 at Wembley last night.
When you see the score line 5 – 1, you may be wondering how the England boo boys were out at all but the score line doesn’t reflect what was fast becoming a typical England display. Passing was slow, energy levels were low and the final ball was poor. England stuttered their way to half time with the scores level and Wembley crowd made their feelings clear as the home side were booed down the tunnel.
Capello made changes at half time and England came out in the preferred 4-4-2 formation having played the first half with what was supposed to be an attacking 4-3-3. After all the hype surrounding Theo Walcott, it was a game the young Arsenal forward will want to forget. His passing started off bad and got progressively worse as the game went on. He did at times show glimpses of talent but not nearly often enough and usually it ended with a misplaced pass anyway.
The breakthrough came early in the second half as Rio Ferdinand scored his third England goal thanks to some sloppy defending from a corner. The United defender barely had to move to nod the ball in at the back post. Wayne Rooney sheepishly claimed the second 13 minutes later when Frank Lampard put the ball into the box from a deep free kick and the ball was headed into the net. Rooney may have well have looked sheepish as replays clearly show the goal was put in by Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Kuchma.
At two nil, the game looked done and dusted until a lethargic pass from Ashley Cole split the England defence allowing the lively Zhambyl Kukeyev to dart in a shoot past a rooted David James.
The crowd at Wembley could not believe it and Cole became the focus of their attention from then on.
There was to be no comeback for Kazakhstan and in the 77th minute, Wes Brown picked the ball up from Walcott and hit a perfect ball into the unmarked Rooney. Rooney, who was named of the match, headed home for his 16th England goal which was shortly followed by his 17th as the United striker made it 5 goals in his last 4 appearances for club and country.
Substitute Jermaine Defoe completed the scoring in the last minute when Heskey put him through and the Portsmouth striker coolly slotted the ball home. Game over, England win 5 – 1. Happy days right? Wrong.
Before the game, Fabio Capello had urged fans not to boo the team but I think the ITV commentary team got it spot on when they said “it’s up to the team to excite the fans”. Instead of telling us not to boo the team, perhaps he should spend more time telling his team to play football.
Inevitably, England proved too strong for Kazakhstan but the result was never the issue in this game; it was the performance. Sadly for English football this performance was not good enough by a long way. Capello, Ferdinand, Lampard and Defoe (amongst others) have leapt to the defence of Cole and even gone so far as to criticise the fans for lambasting him for his “mistake”.
What Mr Capello and co need to remember is that fans are passionate and for too long have been asked to pay money to cheer and support a team which consistently under performs and regularly looks lacklustre. Cole’s mistake came shortly after England had been gifted a 2 goal lead despite putting in such a half arsed effort and the almost lazy way he went about it speaks volumes as to his commitment to the game. At 2 nil was he ready to go to sleep?
Does Ashley Cole deserve to be booed for one mistake? Of course not. Was Ashley Cole booed because of his one mistake? Again, of course not. Cole has demonstrated over the years pretty much everything people despise about modern day footballers; arrogance (his booking with Mike Riley), greed (when he realised he wasn’t a top earner at Arsenal) and disloyalty (courting Chelsea whilst at Arsenal, plus he cheated on his lovely and popular wife Cheryl Cole). With the state of the modern game and the continued disappointments of the national team, unfortunately for him, he will always be a target.
UEFA Club Football of the Year nominees 2007/08 sees 6 reds up for award
August 23, 2008
The nominees for UEFA’s club footballer of the year were announced yesterday and the Red’s lead the way with a total of 6 players nominated. The strength of the premier league is demonstrated with 17 of the 20 nominees playing their football in England. United have nominees in each category (goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forwards) and our prediction is that United players will take 3 out of the 4 awards on offer.
Edwin van der Sar is nominated for the best goalkeeper award alongside Manuel Almunia of Arsenal, Petr Cech of Chelsea, Manuel Neuer of FC Shalke and Pepe Reina of Liverpool. There is no way Van der Sar is not going to win this one; he was instrumental in our domestic success and it was his penalty save in the Champions League final which won us the trophy. One down.
Wrong: Petr Cech won it again.
Both Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand have been shortlisted for the club defender of the year award alongside Jamie Carragher of Liverpool, Carles Puyol of Barcelona and John Terry of Chelsea. Vidic has had an outstanding season but Rio is sure to take this one. His displays last season were nothing short of immense and he has silenced any critics who thought he was overrated with dominant displays at the back. It used to be said that Rio was a great player on his day. After last season’s performances, I think it’s safe to say every day is his day. 2 out of 2.
Wrong: 0 for 2. John Terry won. Did they miss that penalty? Robbed.
The only United player to be nominated in midfield is Paul Scholes and I just don’t see him winning this one. His goal against Barcelona was a truly memorable moment but will it be enough to secure him the title of UEFA’s best midfielder of the year? Scholes is up against Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal, Michael Essien and Frank Lampard of Chelsea and Steven Gerrard of Liverpool. I think Fabregas’ performance against AC Milan in the competition may be enough to win him this one.
Wrong: Frank Lampard won this and that’s 0 for 3 in my predictions.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney will do battle for the best forward of the year along with Lionel Messi of Barcelona, Didier Drogba of Chelsea and Fernando Torres of Liverpool. It is surely not even worth considering anyone for this award other than the Portuguese trickster Ronaldo. He finished the competition’s top scorer with 8 goals, more than both Torres and Drogba who came in a close second with 6 each and double the 4 goals Rooney managed. Drogba finished the season’s top fouler with 37 offences and his red card against United in the final will surely rule him out of the award. Torres also clocked up a fair number of fouls committing an average of one foul every 35 minutes. Torres did have a good debut season but Ronaldo was out of this world. Another award for the forwards cabinet.
Correct: Well done Cristiano Ronaldo. This was a no brainer….
You can see more information on last season’s Champions League in our top performers list comiled at the end of the 07/08 campaign.
Patrice Evra charged but Rio is in the clear
July 19, 2008
Patrice Evra has been charged with improper conduct over the incident at Stamford Bridge last season when Manchester United lost 2 – 1 to Chelsea as the season drew to a close.
After the game, the United players were warming down when what was reported as “a brawl” (a better description might be handbags) broke out with Evra at the centre.
A statement on the FA’s website read:
“The FA has today issued charges against Manchester United defender Patrice Evra and Chelsea groundsman Sam Bethell in connection with an incident that occured on the pitch after the match at Stamford Bridge on 26 April.
“Both Evra and Bethell have been charged with improper conduct in respect of their altercation. Bethell has also been charged with using abusive language aggravated by reference to nationality/race.”
Rio Ferdinand was involved in a altercation involving a female steward after the match but the FA have issued no charges on the basis that the incident was an accident and an apology had been issued.
You can read the full statement here
I now pronounce you Chief Ferdinand
June 9, 2008
Rio Ferdinand has been awarded a special chieftaincy title in the city of Lagos after the United defender spent time over there promoting Education through Football.
Ferdinand kicked off a local street tournament which is being launched to locate and nurture young talent but is also seen as a way to give children focus, dreams and keep them away from a life of crime.
Governor Babatunde Fashola said “This government aims to inspire the young by mentoring and bringing them close to role models like Rio Ferdinand.
He went on to say “Engagement of young people in productive ventures such as sport would take children away from vices like drugs and violence.”
Ferdinand was deeply moved by his visit to the area having seen some of the most deprived people in the world and is adamant that he can help make a difference. He said:
“With what I have seen, I can help build an academy here that will see the best of Nigerian talent realise their dreams of being a professional footballer. The power of football here is unbelievable, everyone I see here are either Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea supporters. Everyone’s got football shirts on.”
Ferdinand was fortunate enough to meet the ruler of Lagos, King Rilwan Akiolu whilst on his trip and it was he who bestowed on him the title “Chief Fiwagboye” which literally means character maketh wealth.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who said what today?
June 6, 2008
The circus around Ronaldo continues today with the worlds press running with the story published by Terra yesterday. We have doubts over the authenticity of these latest quotes but it hasnt stopped the world voicing their opinions.
Heres todays who said what about Ronaldo
Ramon Calderon
For Madrid it is an honour to know that a player like him thinks that playing at Real Madrid would be good. We are proud to know that he would like to be with us.
Dolores Aveiro (Cristiano Roanldos mum)
He is fine where he is. Only God knows the future, but it’s certain that he will continue in Manchester.
Ruud van Nistlerooy
“He’d be an important signing for Madrid because this is a club which signs the best players in the world, and that’s what Cristiano is.
“Cristiano could bring a lot of things to this club. He’s young, he has everything and a long sporting career ahead of him.
“For Madrid he would be a great signing.”
Rio Ferdinand
This team can get better but we need it to stay together. We have worked hard to get to the position we are in and want to build on the success we have had. That means keeping all the players at the club.”
Manchester United
Our position remains unchanged. We made our position clear last week that Cristiano Ronaldo has a contract with this club and is not going to be sold.
A Muntari penalty with Rio Ferdinand in goal
March 8, 2008
Rio Ferdinand took over as goalkeeper after Edwin vad der Sar was taken off at half time and Tomasz Kuszczak used his head to make a tackle in the box and was sent off. A place in the FA Cup semi-final beckons, it’s the 78th minute and it’s nil nil. Can Rio save the day?
Rio Ferdinand own goal against Porstmouth
May 24, 2007
Rio Ferdinand’s goal scoring career was slow in coming for United, but once he gets going, he just can’t stop…..
