The tall Dutchman seems to be ready to start the game with Bolton before the Premier League begins again after the international break.
Its barely 5 weeks since the transfer window closed for this year and Manchester United seem to be preparing for their new signings during the January window.
After the clearance from FIFA, Paul Pogba joins Manchester United and would be seen in action soon. But there are rumors that the Red Devils are targeting two top players from Italy. So who are they?
Name: Stevan Jovetic
Age: 19 years
Current Club: Fiorentina.
Position: Winger, Forward
Name: Maicon Douglas Sisenando aka Maicon
Age: 28 years
Current Club: Inter Milan
Position: Right Back
It will be interesting to see if Manchester United are able to sign these players. We seriously need a good Right Back and Maicon can surely fit in the shoes of Gary Neville. What do you think?
After a disappointing draw against Sunderland that saw United lose their top position, Manchester United find themselves into more trouble. Not exactly trouble, but it will surely cause a bit of distraction, I believe.
After his side's 2-2 draw with Sunderland, Fergie had blasted referee Alan Wiley for his lethargic proceedings. Fergie also said that the 49 year old ref was unfit for officiating matches in the Premier League. And this has surely not gone well with the body that represents the referees. And hence FA had to pitch in and take matters in their control. And now they have written to Sir Alex Ferguson, asking him to explain his comments about referee Alan Wiley.
So what did Fergie say that irked the FA?
The pace of the game demanded a referee who was fit. He was not fit. It is an indictment of our game. He was also walking up the pitch for the second goal needing a rest. He was not fit enough for a game of that standard. You see referees abroad who are as fit as butchers' dogs. We have some who are fit. He wasn't fit. He was taking 30 seconds to book a player. He was needing a rest. It was ridiculous.
I think the only thing that irked the FA was that Fergie referred the refs abroad better than their English counterparts. What do you think?
A chance to strengthen their top position in the League table was given away by Manchester United as they only managed to earn 1 point against Sunderland.
Manchester United have not been defeated by the Black Cats at Old Trafford in the last 40 years and that gave a great opportunity for the home team to earn all three points. And given the big clash between Chelsea and Liverpool the next day, a victory would have seen Sir Alex Ferguson's team maintain their top position. But that did not happen and United slipped down the table.
I could not believe how United were playing that day. No passing, no composure, no seriousness and that allowed Darren Bent to score an early goal. As if that was not surprising, United never looked as if they wanted to get anything out of it. They played ridiculously bad and had to rely on their much-used box of late comebacks to rescue a 2-2 draw against Sunderland. This draw left United at the top, but only temporarily.
Come Sunday and the big battle at Stamford Bridge awaited huge attraction. After a goalless first half, I thought United do have a chance to stay on top. And I was constantly wishing that Liverpool win this game as that would prevent Chelsea on catching up United. But the final result was a completely different affair. Carlo Anceloti managed to win in front of his club owner and that put Chelsea on top again.
United have themselves to blame for a poor and disastrous performance in front of their home fans. I guess, Fergie is going to blast a few lads in the dressing room. But currently, he himself seems to be in some trouble following his comments on ref Alan Wiley.
I remember there was a large degree of scepticism surrounding Park when he first came to United in 2005 from PSV Eindhoven. People had said that United had secured a markatable player in Asia and not a football player, especially after the sale of David Beckham to Real Madrid.
Yet, while the commercial spin-offs of having Asia's highest-profile player in their squad have been obvious in two highly profitable visits to the continent, both of which took United to Seoul, Park has also proved his worth on the field. Even the manager, Sir Alex Ferguson added his own tribute and said, "We are always pleased to secure the future of our star players and Ji-Sung has proved himself to be a fantastic professional as well as an important versatile player in our squad."
Park who has made 127 United appearances so far has scored 12 goals. On his new deal he said, "I am so pleased to have a new contract. We have achieved great success over the last four years and won many trophies. It is a great experience for me to play at this magnificent football club along with other world famous players."
It will be great if Park makes an appearance in today's derby game against Manchester City. It will be tough though, especially with Darren Fletcher in supreme form. But with Paul Scholes out with suspension, Fergie will definitely try to utilize the passion and energy of a player who's got a new deal. I hope it turns out to be a classic Manchester derby.
His present team-mate Ryan Giggs eclipsed Sir Charlton's appearance record in the 2008 Champions League final against Barcelona. Rooney currently sits 18th on the all-time goal scorers list behind Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Even Dimitar Berbatov has showered lots of praise on Rooney for his skills and commitment to football. He said that Wayne is the first one to arrive on the training ground and the last one to leave. That shows how much he enjoys his football and his commitment towards learning. Also he is never in the newspapers for whatever reasons, simply because he does not want to become a celebrity. He is a footballer and likes to remain a football player all his life.
Great going Rooney. I hope to see you score more goals this season, especially since Tevez and Ronaldo have left. And I don't trust in the goal scoring abilities of Owen and Berbatov.
Manchester United produced a brilliant second half performance to come back from behind and win against a youthful Arsenal team. This game at the Theater of Dreams, which I suppose was the first test for Sir Alex's team this season. The games so far have been against OKish teams you know, Arsenal is always special.Right from the start, Arsenal looked threatening and controlled the ball very well. United did have 2 very good chances in the first half but as they just blew it away; just like they have been doing it this season so far. And Arsenal punished them for not converting their chances. Andrey Arshavin put the visitors ahead at the end of the first half with a blistering shot that kissed Ben Foster's fingers.
Just seconds before Arshavin scored, he was brought down by Darren Fletcher in the box and the Arsenal players were demanding a penalty. But the referee was spot on - Fletcher had got the ball. Had he been a fraction out, it would have been a penalty.
But a penalty was awarded at the other end of the pitch when Wayne Rooney went down under Manuel Almunia's challenge just before the hour mark. I was surprised to see Rooney take the spot kick, specially with Giggs, Carrick and Nani all available. But the wonder kid duly sent Almunia the wrong way and brought United back into the game.
Arsenal did go into a shell after that and United started to take control of the game. Diaby just lost his concentration due to the pressure when he headed the ball into his own net on a Giggs free-kick. Diaby did get a chance to redeem himself when he smashed a shot past Ben Foster, only to see it go wide.
Finally, the game ended at 2 - 1 and Diaby's own goal wrecked Arsenal's 100% start to the season. As if it was not enough, their manager Arsene Wenger was shown the Red card when he kicked a water bottle on the sidelines. He was frustrated with his boy's performance and just when it looked that Arsenal could grab a point out of the game, Van Persie's goal in the stoppage time was disallowed, courtesy Gallas was offside. Wenger vented out his anger on the poor water bottle and the referee asked him to clear the area.
Wenger did create some scenes before the referee restarted the game and blew his whistle soon after to indicate United's victory. This game saw a great performance from Rooney, Nani and Giggs. With their confidence sky high, Manchester United now need to keep the consistency going since Chelsea and Spurs are looking in great form, winning all their matches so far.
Having not conceded a goal since losing to Arsenal in November last year, Edwin Van Der Sar has registered an impressive eleventh straight clean sheet. He achieved this feat in United's demolition of West Brom. The Dutch goalie needed to survive 84 minutes against West Brom to break Petr Cech's record of 1025 minutes without conceding a goal.
While he didn't concede, his team mates scored five at the other end to go three points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League table.
The Dutchman is now unbeaten for 1032 minutes and can extend this to 1122 minutes if he can keep Everton at bay on Saturday. I feel that even the defenders made a big contribution in helping van der Sar acheive this feat. It needs to be noted that for most of the 11 games, United did not have a settled back four. The fact that everyone has come in and done a job shows the strength of the squad. And this has been possible only because Sir Alex and the back staff have put in a lot of hard work.
It took Manchester United injuries to demolish West Bromwich Albion. With many of the first team players injured, United had to depend on their youngsters and the starting 11 has been a makeshift since the last few games. But that provided the much needed spirit as their ruthless streak is back after their 5-0 win at The Hawthorns.
With Rooney injured, Tevez got a chance in the starting eleven and he made good use of this opportunity. He and Dimitar Berbatov set United on their way to victory with a goal apiece in the first half. Nemanja Vidic powered home a third and Cristiano Ronaldo netted twice for the Reds to make the scoreline look impressive. I always knew that one team had to suffer once United's merciless form returns, but never thought it would come at such a stage. The ruthless streak that they displayed has been lacking all season. With March & April being crucial months, I hope United continue this form all along to win the quadruple.
With 11 consecutive wins, United find themselves 3 points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League table. Also the goal difference is looking aggressive now. Pressure is back on Liverpool as they try to catch United for the top spot.
