Manchester United

[Hatebreed]

Both Liverpool and Arsenal drew their first match, Tottenham lost, so it's not that bad after all..

Anyway, United are appearantly signing England midfielder Owen Hargreaves who you may remember from the WC as one of the only few England players to show real talent and hardwork.

Owen Is Fergie's For £17m
Owen Hargreaves is set to join Manchester United in a £17million deal within the next 48 hours. The England midfielder has agreed personal terms with United and is expected to be confirmed as Sir Alex Ferguson's final summer signing this weekend. United had hoped to land Hargreaves for £13m but Bayern Munich held out for the maximum price for their World Cup star. Hargreaves had made it clear to Bayern that he had no intention of playing for them again once he learned of United's interest. Hargreaves is seen as the ideal man to play the holding midfield role alongside £18.6m fellow summer signing Michael Carrick.
David McDonnell, Daily Mirror

http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pa...&newsid=355877


This is great news for United, since they now have a formidable midfield with also Carrick on the lineup. Despite Rooney's controverial 3 match ban, things are looking up since he's made peace with public enemy #1 Christiano Ronaldo.


Don't Boo Ronaldo Pleads Roo
Wayne Rooney has called on the boo boys to lay off Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portugal winger has been installed as public enemy number one after playing an active role in getting Rooney sent off during England's World Cup quarter-final defeat in Gelsenkirchen.

Alan Shearer and Frank Lampard have both publicly condemned Ronaldo for his behaviour and after being booed throughout his first appearance for Manchester United at Oxford on Tuesday, the 21-year-old appears to be in for a torrid time this season.

But after making his own peace with Ronaldo, Rooney does not feel his United team-mate should be subjected to any more abuse.
"I would rather he didn't get any stick," said Rooney. "You do not want to see any player get booed.

"Unfortunately, whenever England do not do well in a World Cup or a major tournament, people look for a scapegoat. This year, people turned on Cristiano and tried to make him that.

"I am not going to lie, I was disappointed with his involvement in the sending off. But that is in the past now. He was playing for his country, I was playing for mine.
"But I think he is big enough to deal with anything that come his way. You saw that the other night. Cristiano got booed but he still scored two fantastic goals."

Rooney spoke to Ronaldo on the evening of the quarter-final and was assured by the former Sporting Lisbon star there was nothing personal about his conduct, especially the infamous wink to the Portugal bench as the England forward was embarking on his distressing walk to the tunnel.
"A lot has been said about the wink," said Rooney.
"I have spoken to him about that but it had nothing to do with me being sent off."
Rooney was speaking at the launch of his recently-released autobiography 'Wayne Rooney: My Story So Far'.

He insisted his relationship with Ronaldo is good, which will be welcome news to United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, whose Treble-winning team famously contained two players, Andy Cole and Teddy Sheringham, who steadfastly refused to talk to each other.

Ferguson need have no such fears about Ronaldo and Rooney, although the former Everton star insists having a off-field relationship with his team-mates is not a neccessity.

"You do not have to like someone to play with them," said Rooney.
"In the end, even if you don't like them off the pitch you want to play with them and you will fight for them and work 110% because you are on the same pitch if you are in the same team.

"But I like Cristiano. We are good friends off the pitch.
"There is no problem with him. Now, we are both playing for Manchester United and trying to do our best for them."

http://www.sportinglife.com/football...y_Ronaldo.html

[Mr-Cricket]

United 4-1 up at Half-Time vs Fulham!

4 goals kicked within the first 20 minutes too!

Amazing stuff!

[Mr-Cricket]

United 5-1 Fulham (63rd)

Rooney scores brace!

[Hatebreed]

I couldn't think of a better start

Man Utd 5-1 Fulham
By Caroline Cheese



Ronaldo and Rooney were back in tandem for United

Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney teamed up for the first time since the World Cup to help Manchester United thrash hapless Fulham.

Louis Saha headed United in front on seven minutes before his cross forced Ian Pearce to divert into his own net.

Rooney tapped in before crossing for Ronaldo to make it four in 19 minutes.

Fulham pulled one back when Rio Ferdinand deflected Heidar Helguson's effort into his own net but Rooney wrapped up the victory after the break.

Sir Alex Ferguson and his players had stressed the need for United to begin the season firing on all cylinders - but they could not have dreamed of a start like this.

Ronaldo and Rooney competed in the same United side for the first time since their World Cup quarter-final disagreement, and the pair responded with some delightful interchanges.

However, they did have the luxury of playing against a shambolic Fulham defence.

United went ahead when a superb cross from Ryan Giggs fell between Pearce and Liam Rosenior, allowing Saha to head home his third goal against his former club.

Pearce then got in front of Rooney to try to cut out Saha's low cross from the left but could only steer the ball into his own net on 14 minutes.

With Fulham in complete disarray, Rooney sidefooted a third after Antti Niemi had parried Saha's volley before turning provider for Ronaldo to half-volley home a fourth with just 19 minutes gone.
It could even have been much worse for Chris Coleman's side by the time they headed for the changing rooms at half-time.

Rosenior cleared a dangerous Giggs corner off the line and Paul Scholes saw his venomous strike cannon back off the foot of the post.
Fulham's first-half display did not merit a goal, but they found the net when Helguson's shot hit Ferdinand and looped over the stranded Edwin van der Sar six minutes before the break.

Michael Brown was fortunate to escape with only a yellow card for a horrible two-footed lunge on Giggs after the interval.
The usually placid Giggs was clearly upset and was booked for a clumsy challenge on the Fulham midfielder before both players were substituted.

United extended their lead again with a devastating attack on 63 minutes.

Ronaldo picked up the ball from Scholes and fed the overlapping Wes Brown, who pulled it back for Rooney to shoot low into the corner. United took their foot off the pedal as the clock ran down, but Fulham were too shell-shocked to take advantage.

---

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Neville (Silvestre 45), Ferdinand, Brown, Evra, Ronaldo, O'Shea, Scholes, Giggs (Park 60), Rooney, Saha (Solskjaer 61).
Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Fletcher.
Booked: Giggs.
Goals: Saha 7, Pearce 15 og, Rooney 16, Ronaldo 19, Rooney 64.
Fulham: Niemi, Rosenior, Christanval, Pearce, Queudrue, Brown (Radzinski 61), Diop, Bullard, Boa Morte, John (McBride 64), Helguson.
Subs Not Used: Crossley, Volz, Bocanegra.
Booked: Brown.
Goals: Ferdinand 40 og.
Att: 75,115 Ref: A Marriner (W Midlands).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...em/4786577.stm

[abdulw11]

Man Utd have six points out of six! Charlton lost 3-0 to United. Chelsea lost to Boro and Arsenal and Liverpool also have ground to make up. And its only 2 games into the season!

This is our year.

[Mr-Cricket]

Yehh mate I'm lovin this. No Rooney, No Scholes, No Heinze, Carrick not fully fit. And yet we're still sitting pretty on top! Ronaldo on fire! Oh and I'd love Owen Hargreaves in the side! That'd be the icing on the cake. Can't see it happening but!

[Mr-Cricket]

Champions League Group F
Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Manchester United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Celtic	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Benfica	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
FC Copenhagen	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

[Hatebreed]

Originally Posted by abdulw11
Man Utd have six points out of six! Charlton lost 3-0 to United. Chelsea lost to Boro and Arsenal and Liverpool also have ground to make up. And its only 2 games into the season!

This is our year.

A dream start, let's hope we keep up the lead

[abdulw11]

Originally Posted by Hatebreed
A dream start, let's hope we keep up the lead

A dream start indeed. Eight goals from two matches even though, as Mr Cricket mentioned, we are without some key players. Also, it was great to see The Baby Faced Assassin get a goal after such hard times.

Hmmm. The Liverpool fans seem a bit quiet.

[Hatebreed]

Originally Posted by abdulw11
A dream start indeed. Eight goals from two matches even though, as Mr Cricket mentioned, we are without some key players. Also, it was great to see The Baby Faced Assassin get a goal after such hard times.

Hmmm. The Liverpool fans seem a bit quiet.

Hehe.. give them time

[Hatebreed]

Saturday, 26 August 2006
Barclays Premiership

Watford	1 - 2 (1 - 1)	Man Utd
D Francis 33		M Silvestre 11 R Giggs 51
Bookings: G Mahon 39		Bookings: K Richardson 78

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...em/5266280.stm


On the other hand Arseanal lost 1-0 to Manchester City, although Liverpool managed to clinch victory by 2-1 against West Ham. Liverpool's next game is against Everton who are currently 2nd in the league table, I don't mind them keep at it for the time being. I'll be delighted if Blackburn can pull an upset against Chelsea tomorrow.

If we beat Tottenham next this will be undoubtedly the best premiership start for United in recent years.
I'm very glad to see consistency from our regular players. After that Rooney and Scholes will be back in action so we can a strong side once more.

[cricman]

I hear rumblings for a Treble this year, Lots of people are picking Madrid or United to take the champions league and with the fast start in the premiership you never know what might happen and Man U usally finds a way to make it to the FA cup semis and beyond.

So it's gonna be really intresting to see how things turn out in the next 8 months, to see if Sir Alex got his mojo back.

[abdulw11]

Originally Posted by Hatebreed
If we beat Tottenham next this will be undoubtedly the best premiership start for United in recent years.
I'm very glad to see consistency from our regular players. After that Rooney and Scholes will be back in action so we can a strong side once more.

This is already the best start for United in recent years. I think the last time United were on top of the table was two and a half years ago.

I'm glad to see Giggs recapturing his blistering form of a few years back. He is playing exceptionally well. Its also good to see goals coming from all positions of the field. And Saha has gotten off to a great start, two goals from three games and two assists in the last two matches.

Meanwhile Rio is injured and the legend that is Keano is gonna become manager of struggling Sunderland.

[Hatebreed]

Originally Posted by abdulw11
This is already the best start for United in recent years. I think the last time United were on top of the table was two and a half years ago.

I'm glad to see Giggs recapturing his blistering form of a few years back. He is playing exceptionally well. Its also good to see goals coming from all positions of the field. And Saha has gotten off to a great start, two goals from three games and two assists in the last two matches.

Meanwhile Rio is injured and the legend that is Keano is gonna become manager of struggling Sunderland.

If I'm correct we had won our first 3 games last season against rather better sides, and there's a long way to go so we need an exceptionally good start to help us in the later stage.

Giggs is doing very well which is nice to see. Bad for Rio, at least there is no fracture so it's a matter of time he recovers.. and of course, best of luck to Keane! May his team beat anyone except us

It seems United are struggling to close a deal on Hargreaves because Bayern are reluctant to let him go, despite Hargreaves pleaded to let him transfer as he really wants to play for United. This boy played from his heart for England in the WC, it would be a delight to see what he would do for United. So sad if he can't come...

Although Bayern recently got £8m Van Bommel from Barcelona who could possibly replace Hargreaves, I really hope it happens.. c'mon we are offering £17m!

Other news: Arseanal's Reyes seem desperate to leave England.

"The Arsenal forward Jose Antonio Reyes has insisted that he will not play in England again. "I've heard lots of rumours, but the one thing that is clear is that I want to leave London," he said yesterday. "I want to come back to Spain. I will not play again in England."

http://sport.independent.co.uk/footb...cle1222232.ece

[abdulw11]

Originally Posted by Hatebreed
It seems United are struggling to close a deal on Hargreaves because Bayern are reluctant to let him go, despite Hargreaves pleaded to let him transfer as he really wants to play for United. This boy played from his heart for England in the WC, it would be a delight to see what he would do for United. So sad if he can't come...

Although Bayern recently got £8m Van Bommel from Barcelona who could possibly replace Hargreaves, I really hope it happens.. c'mon we are offering £17m!

New Bayern Munich signing Mark van Bommel claims that Owen Hargreaves "is close to leaving" the club. Bayern manager Uli Hoeness had insisted that the imminent arrival of Van Bommel from Barcelona did not pave the way for Hargreaves to join Manchester United.
But Van Bommel hinted Hargreaves will be leaving the German club.
"The chances of playing are so much bigger, they told me, with Michael Ballack gone and Owen Hargreaves close to leaving the club," said Van Bommel.


Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...td/5289836.stm


I think what van Bommel said indicates that Man U and Bayern are close to a deal but they were trying to keep it quiet. Well, van Bommel has prolly ruined their plans.

[Hatebreed]

You never know, they lost their star player Ballack so it depends on whether they need the money or Hargreaves. I doubt after all this he'll be giving his 100% to Bayern, so let's hope they close a deal soon.

[Hatebreed]

Hargreaves deal is off..

Bayern's Manager ******* *** will not let him leave!


Hargreaves' agent concedes defeat in United move

'We have to accept there is no way Bayern will allow this transfer to happen'

Owen Hargreaves looks set to miss out on his dream Premiership move after his agent today admitted defeat in his bid to engineer a transfer to Manchester United.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_...860383,00.html

[Mr-Cricket]

There was/is talk that David Trezeguet may be heading to Old Trafford for a fee of between 12-17 million pounds. I for one don't want to see him anywhere near OT. Although he does score 20+ goals in the Serie A regularly, he goes missing for large parts of games, needs plenty of opportunities to score & more to the point, wouldn't suit our style of play. He was a joke at the World Cup. Regardless, it appears that Juve are not prepared to release him anyway. Thank god for that!

[Hatebreed]

No way, a mediocre player like him deserves no place in United - not for £12-17m! May be 1-2m, that's all he's worth.

[Mr-Cricket]

No more signings = Not happy!

Ribery, Diarra, Torres, Hargraeves, Viera, Senna, Tevez, Mascherano...

What on earth happened?

To make matters worse, West Ham landed both Tevez & Mascherano last night!

All is rosy at the moment, but when the goals start drying up, I think we know who to blame!

[Hatebreed]

Good for West Ham, they're my local club and they seem to have good competition with Liverpool so I don't mind them becoming a little stronger.

Rossi is very young and far from "drying up". He will return to United as an experienced player and willing to prove himself.

Rossi, who joined Newcastle United on-loan this week, told Corriere dello Sport: "I thought it was a joke and instead it turned out to be true.

He added: "There are exceptional players at Old Trafford. Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs are phenomenal."
Rossi hopes for a regular action at Newcastle and said: "I want to play as a much as I can and to score just as many goals."

http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=10086

[thebest]

Sour Grape.
You were willing to pay, 17 milllion Pound for Owen and paid 18 million pound for Carrick who are Half as good Mascherano .

[Hatebreed]

If Fergie is determined he'll get Hargreaves in the next transfer window. Players like Carrick and Hargreaves would allow quick passes, pace and flamboyance that the midfield needs.

I'm not sure about Maschereno, we don't know what happened with the deal and how "significant" exactly was the asking price, it could well be £18m+. There had to be very good reasons to reject him TWICE, most likely due to "MSI" owning the player and next year he would go to whoever is the highest bidder.

When United wants a player they want to bond him with the club for a long term and this is not the case for Maschareno. Besides he's not expeirenced in EPL, if it was a short-term loan transfer it would do United no good and West Ham a lot.

[reverse_swing]

Originally Posted by thebest
Sour Grape.
You were willing to pay, 17 milllion Pound for Owen and paid 18 million pound for Carrick who are Half as good Mascherano .

Argentina will be happy to have someone like Owen Hargreaves in their squad.

[Hatebreed]

Former Spur Michael Carrick and goalscorer Ryan Giggs celebrate

Man Utd 1-0 Tottenham
By Sam Lyon

Former Spur Michael Carrick and goalscorer Ryan Giggs celebrate
Ryan Giggs' eighth-minute header proved enough for Manchester United as the hosts extended their 100% start to four games against a profligate Spurs side.

The Welshman swooped to head in off the bar after Paul Robinson tamely parried Cristiano Ronaldo's swerving free-kick.

Ronaldo was at his magical best at times and was twice denied by Robinson.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...em/5308192.stm


So United got their 4th win and 12 points, leading Chelsea by 3pts, Loserpool by a maximum 6pts, Arseanal by a maximum 7pts.

Things are looking even better now that Rooney and Scholes can play, Giggs is in top form (he's already been awarded player of the month for the first time ever), Ronaldo is playing from his heart. Spurs were a tough opposition but we've done well. It's nice to see Portsmouth and Everton ahead of Chelsea