Ryan Giggs – Still got it

United pulled off a miracle at Old Trafford yesterday

Bryan Robson’s heroics in United’s 3-0 win over Barcelona in 1984 were replicated almost perfectly by a host of United players yesterday.

It was a night that began with wild stories of Manchester United supporters planning to tear down the “Chosen One” banner and finished with David Moyes punching the air and saluting the crowd.

Miracles do happen,it rightly proved as United went past Greek giants Olympiakos (3-2 on aggregate)

Nobody expected veteran Ryan Giggs to feature or start in a game as crucial as this and that also when he had been reportedly involved in a spat with David Moyes after United’s 3-0 loss to Liverpool.But ,the decision evidently paid off and paid off big time.

The Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney partnership clicked almost perfectly and the missing piece in the partnership turned out to be none other than the 40 year old Ryan Giggs. And the commitment with which the players stepped onto the pitch was too much to take for Michel’s men. Valencia,whose left eye had swollen like a golf ball after being involved in a tackle ,epitomized this perfectly.

The experience needed to take down a tough opponent in a game as decisive as this one.Even at the debilitating age of 40,he played a pivotal role in deciding the outcome of the game indirectly.He still possesses a unique amount of stamina and willingness to barge into opponents to get the ball and can be dubbed as a true leader for the in transition United team.

He was involved in almost every play United managed to  build up throughout the game. He competed in the full 90 minutes of the game and if not for him,United would have succumbed to the pressure Olympiakos applied in the later stages.

His balls from the left flank were still inch perfect and reached the likes of Rooney, van Persie and Welbeck quite quintessentially .

The Chronicles of Fredrico Macheda…

The Italian’s talent has abruptly faded into nothing

A highly competent Aston Villa side were holding on at Old Trafford on a rather anxious day for the Great Sir Alex Ferguson.A majority of the players on the pitch had become disappointing performers after two consecutive losses to Liverpool and Fulham and Fergie felt the need to introduce fresh legs.

The supposed fresh legs weren’t considered to be as inexperienced as 17 year old Frederico Macheda’s.The game progressed on till the stoppage time,with both teams striving hard to nail in a winner.The small nosed Italian,who donned the No.41 jersey, received the ball at the edge of the box and with his face towards the centre back on his left and  hammered a shot towards Brad Guzan’s goal.

Nobody could have imagined what happened next.The 17 year old from Rome was living a foreseen dream of his.The scoreline ,3-2 reflected Villa’s resiliency and also showcased what Kiko was capable of achieving in the coming years.

By then,his credentials had been approved of consisting something special in its own way.The Red Devil fans had finally again seen a 17 year old Italian Wayne Rooney giving them reasons to cheer.

His next 2 years at Old Trafford went almost according to plan,scoring his second goal against Sunderland and being named as a sub for United’s Champions League Quarter Finals against Porto did wonders to uplift the teen’s confidence.

He featured regularly in United’s League Cup campaign of the 2009-10 season and even made a Champions League debut against CSKA Moscow.

But,then he was struck by what footballers dread of the most.Injuries…

They kept him sidelined for 2 months and then the same injury reoccurred,keeping him out for 2 more weeks.

He featured only in dead rubber matches and pre-season friendlies from then on and his once believed to be -“Rooney like ” career was seemingly slumping into darkness.Loan spells at Sampdoria ,QPR and Doncaster Rovers have evidently knocked the stuffing out of the talent of the now 22 year old.A current Birmingham City No.9,Kiko is tipped to leave United at the end of this season,leaving behind memories of a goal that once guided them to glory.

The presences of other formidable youngsters like Nick Powell,Jesse Lingard,Wilfried Zaha,Danny Welbeck ,William Keane,James Wilson and Adnan Januzaj can be a bit demoralizing for him.And his spot in a team which is readying itself for a major overhaul is nothing short of firmly occupied.

If Kiko wants his career to flourish,he must move on in his career.His contract runs out this summer and moving seems to be a favorable option for the Italian.

For me,as of now I feel bad for him,very bad in fact.He was dubbed to become a Legend at the club but thanks to nasty spells of injuries,his career dissolved into nothingness.

Rooney-Let me be United captain

The Englishman has expressed his desire to don the armband 

If reports from the Sun are to be believed,Wayne Rooney has proclaimed that he desires to be Manchester United’s captain.

Our current “Captain Marvel” Nemanja Vidic has already agreed to join Italian giants Inter Milan and will be sorely missed.But David Moyes is looking at some players who are suitable enough to attire the captain’s armband. Jonny Evans,Phil Jones,Darren Fletcher ,Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney are some of the names which are believed to be in the favored list.

Jonny Evans and Phil Jones are somewhat unlikely choices  ,handing opportunities to Carrick,Fletcher and Rooney.The 28 year old Englishman was recently tied down to a new contract worth 300,000 a week and is supposedly considered to be the perfect replacement for outgoing Vida.

Wazza has already captained United not just this season but also in 2010 and 2011.But,there are doubts surrounding his credentials as a captain mainly because of his mentality of stating that he wants to leave the club every five minutes.It remains to be seen whether the fans will be happy to see him don the vacant armband or not.

In my opinion,Jonny Evans should be the one who must be named as United’s next captain.He showcases abilities of being a calm character on the pitch and is also a rather vocal and an organizing defender,who is often seen organizing players on the pitch.

 

Manchester United shares bought by a US Investment firm

It has been revealed that American Investment firm Baron Capital now has bought a quarter of the shares of the Old Trafford based club present in the NYSE

Although,the Glazers still own 90% of the struggling club but 10% is now owned by Baron Capital.

The company now owns 24% of all shares in the Old Trafford club that were listed by the Glazer family in 2012.

United are playing out a cloudy season so far and sit sixth in the Premier League and are targetting the 4th spot to make it to the next season’s Champions League.The 4th position will ensure an increase in revenues but as of now,their credentials are not good enough.

A securities and exchange commission filing on the Manchester United investor relations website tells that Baron Capital now owns 9,581,636 shares.

They were worth around $151m (£90m) at the close of the market on Monday(yesterday)

The Firm is still to announce the deal,which is expected to be announced along with the announcement of the signing of a big money deal with Nike.

“Shares of Manchester United dropped… due to a delay in the signing of a new globalmerchandise deal with Nike and the team’s poor performance on the field,” said a Baron Capital statement on its official website.

“The Nike deal is still expected to be signed, but has been pushed out from this fiscal year. We remain positive on the company’s prospects going forward.”

Juan talks about “One fine away day”

Juan Mata wrote about United’s victory at the Hawthorns

on his blog

United newest marquee signing Juan Mata keeps United fans all around the world up to date with his personal blog.

This week the 25 year old Spaniard talked about United’s 3-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns.He contemplated upon what the current crop of United players is capable of and laid emphasis on the 3 consecutive clean sheets United have accumulated.Here’s an extract from it-

I’m talking about the three points, of course, but also about the performance. We saw samples of what the team is capable of, and we got very positive feelings.

I enjoyed myself on the pitch and at the end of the day that’s what you want when you play football. At all levels.

I would like to highlight our three consecutive clean sheets in the league. It’s important for our work not to concede, as that eventually will take us closer to our goals. In order to reinforce that we have a great challenge ahead this coming weekend: Liverpool at Old Trafford.

The so-called North West Derby is always a big game in England, even more this season if you look at the league table.

At this stage, every match is important. There are less and less games to play and we want to get all the points. I hope we continue to play the way we did on Saturday and delight the fans.

I want to thank you, the fans, for the Manchester United Player of the Month award I was honoured to receive last week. It means a lot to me because it’s voted for by you. This award gives me so much confidence and I hope it will be the first of many.

United open talks with Sporting for Portuguese’s signature

United have reportedly  opened talks with Sporting Lisbon for William Carvalho

Via Mirror.co.uk-

Manchester United have reportedly made contact with Sporting Lisbon about possibly signing midfielder William Carvalho.

The Premier League champions have been linked with the 21-year-old for some time, but it is believed that a potential deal to take the midfielder to Old Trafford is now in motion.

According to the Daily Mail, United are in talks with the Portuguese club, who have slapped a £29m price tag on Carvalho,but as of now, the Red Devils believe that the player is worth £4m less.

Reports have claimed that manager David Moyes is keen to complete his summer transfer activity before the start of the World Cup on June 12.

 

“Scapegoat” on the verge of signing new deal

United edge close to agreeing new Cleverley deal

Tom Cleverley,who’s quite often blamed for United’s cloudy season,is set to put the disappointments away and sign a new contract at Old Trafford.United are set to offer the Englishman  a new £15 million deal,according to several genuine sources.

Many fans have begun to loath the very look of Clevz,but I reckon this decision to tie him down to a deal may just pay off.He’s often been labelled as a “scapegoat” for United’s poor showings this season but David Moyes is keen to consider him as a part of the rebuilding project.

People have been so harsh against the young man that they have launched a petition demanding he should not be included in England’s World Cup squad.The online petition was signed by 17,000 online detractors and his name was booed on being announced during England’s Friendly against Denmark.

Cleverley’s new deal, which will replace his current contract which expires next year, includes a pay hike to £60,000 each week. He would earn £15million if he sees it out to the end.

United transfer talk

Some prominent news concerning United has erupted

The papers these day are brimming with transfer news concerning Man United but not all of them are considered to be completely genuine.But ,on the contrary some of them are.

And a newly turned genuine one links Bayern Munich ace Toni Kroos with United.Kroos,though has been heavily linked with a big money move to Old Trafford,was earlier never considered to leave Bayern to join United.But the 24 year old German has broken his silence and has revealed that he may even prefer a move to a club which doesn’t feature in the Champions League.He has also admitted that he may even prefer a move to the Premier League and the midfielder,who’s involved in a contractual dispute has alerted a host of Premier League clubs including United.I’d personally advise Moyes to cash in and attempt to lure him somehow.

Another succulent rumor involves our very own Robin van Persie,states that the Dutchman may have made a decision to finally leave Old Trafford.Reports suggest that the 30 year old may snub a €10 million bonus (due to be offered to him at the end of the season)to conclusively exit Old Trafford.His performance on the pitch against West Bromwich Albion was heart breaking for United fans and Rvp almost got himself sent off after escaping a second yellow.His moody gestures on the pitch reflect exactly what he and his club are going through this season but David Moyes has so far,continued to deny these allegations mainly brought to the fore by the social media.

Just yesterday I had written about Chicha’s materialization of a proposed move to Inter Milan,but he’s seemingly drifted towards Spanish club Valencia. His agent is reportedly attempting to broker a deal which will take him to Spain after the Mexican has grown increasingly disillusioned with his life at United.

After Vida, it’s Chicha

Inter have commenced talks with United over Chicha’s signature

Our very own super sub Javier Hernandez is reportedly nearing an Old Trafford exit and is nearly set to trail the same path as Nemanja Vidic’s

According to  Daily Star,Inter Milan have begun talks with the Red Devils over the signing of outcast Chicharito ,who’s been a rather peripheral and a popular figure here at Old Trafford.

He has seemingly fallen down the pecking order after Robin van Persie,Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck and is even desperate to leave ,if not given enough time on the pitch.

With good old captain Nemanja Vidic already having sealed a Bosman move to the Italian giants,he could be followed by our superb “Little Pea”

Hernandez joined the Red Devils in 2010 from Chivas Guadalajara in his homeland and immediately developed a reputation for his ability to find the back of the net.

 

Update on Rvp’s situation

Reports suggest Manchester United ace Robin van Persie is unsettled at Old Trafford

Our under fire gaffer David Moyes has rubbished Frank de Boer’s claims which stated that Robin van Persie is unsettled at Old Trafford.

Rvp had vented his frustration out following United’s 2-0 defeat in Greece by a controversial interview in Dutch,saying that his fellow teammates were occupying the spaces he’s ought to occupy in the field.

The words clearly indicated what we are going through right now and David Moyes has rightly denied that Rvp is unsettled at Old Trafford.

Rvp’s coaches and mentors back in the Netherlands had claimed that he is unhappy at United and by the looks of things,a slight tinge of unhappiness somewhat lurks on his face when he’s in action.