Van der Sar, Neville and Wes Brown miss Celtic trip
November 5, 2008
Manchester United trio Edwin van der Sar, Gary Neville and Wes Brown are all missing from the squad which travelled to Glasgow today ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League encounter with Celtic.
The club have confirmed that Van der Sar is being rested whilst Wes Brown has failed to shake off an ankle injury. It is less clear whether Neville has picked up an injury but with Brown out, you would have expected Neville to make the squad; even just for cover. Rafael da Silva travelled with the squad so he looks set for his 5th start of the season.
Ben Foster is set to make his first appearance of the season for the club ahead of Tomasz Kuszczak who will sit on the bench for the tenth time this season.
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.
Gary Neville ready to fight for his place
June 28, 2008
For those players not involved in the Euros this summer, pre-season training begins on Wednesday and Gary Neville is fired up and raring to go. After a string of injuries, the England right back is preparing for what he calls a ‘hugely important’ pre-season as he begins to prove his fitness to the boss in an attempt to oust the impressive Wes Brown.
“I’ve got a number of challenges ahead of me and the ultimate one is to try and get back into that team ahead of Wes” he told MUTV.
“That’s going to be hard for me given the way Wes performed last season. I would say he was in our top two or three most consistent players. He was fantastic throughout the season and deserved all the success he got.”
Finally! Wes Brown signs a new 4 year deal
April 18, 2008
Months of ‘will he sign or will he go?’ were put to bed today as Wes Brown committed his future to United by signing a new four year contract. The club announced the conclusion of talks today along with news of new contracts for Michael Carrick and Rio Ferdinand.
With the long term injury to Gary Neville keeping him out of action, Brown has been called on far more this season and the right back has stepped up to the plate and earned his place in the starting 11. In fact, should Neville return to action this year, it will be hard for Ferguson to drop Wes such is his contribution to the team this term.
There was much speculation over Brown’s future in the recent transfer window with Newcastle having a bid rejected by Manchester United. Brown was down to just a few months of his contract meaning he could have left the club for free at the end of the season.
Boyhood Red
Brown is delighted to finally sign a new deal with the champions and move away from the media speculation. With the future looking bright for United, Brown said: “Manchester United is a fantastic club and I am delighted to have signed a new deal, to be part of a team I have supported all my life is a great honour. I can see this team winning many trophies in the coming seasons and it will be great to share in that success.”
