Manchester United Season 2009-10

[Ramseth]

Audi Cup Final

Bayern Munich 0 Manchester United 0

(Bayern Munich won penalty shoot-out)

 

[Gallego99]

Train and spot someone from youth academy, like Giggs, Scholes and Beckham from MU or Fowler, Gerrard and Owen from Liverpool, that's best long-term option I think.

Macheda is our best bet. Even then I'm doubtful he'll stay United. Between now and the next big thing at OT, we'll just have to look for the best fit and it it does not come any better than Huntelaar.

United may get Huntelaar and Diarra at a bargain.

 

[yinyang]

VDS is out 8 weeks, ominous (or fortuitous sign for next goalie in Q?):p

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/8184742.stm

Man Utd suffer Van der Sar blow

Van der Sar suffered the injury in the Audi Cup tournament in Germany
Manchester United keeper Edwin van der Sar will miss the start of the season after undergoing surgery on a broken finger and bone in his left hand.

The Dutchman, 38, is expected to be sidelined for up to eight weeks.

Van der Sar was hurt saving a penalty in the pre-season 7-6 penalty shoot-out defeat by Bayern Munich last week.

Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak will bid to start Sunday's Community Shield game with Chelsea and the Premier League opener against Birmingham on 16 August.

Van der Sar's misfortune could pave the way for Foster to stake his claim for a regular starting spot for United and England, who are on the verge of rubber-stamping qualification for the 2010 World Cup finals.

Foster, 26, signed a new contract in July and United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said at the time: "He is seen as one of the best young goalkeepers in England and we genuinely see him as a successor to Edwin."

Foster only played nine games for United last season, the majority of which were in cup competitions.

However, he was given the second of his England caps by coach Fabio Capello in the 4-0 friendly win over Slovakia in March, two years after making his debut in a 1-0 defeat by Spain.

 

[Ramseth]

Van der Sar, however good and reliable in the past, is already 38, an advanced age even for a goalkeeper. If Sir Alex didn't have succession plan for him long ago in place, I'd be surprised. What's more worrying and less obvious are the succession plans for Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, which I think should cause more concern then the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.

 

[Wayne Piew]

Here are the squad numbers for the upcoming 2009-2010 season.

Players with First Team squad numbers in numerical order:

1 EDWIN VAN DER SAR (The Netherlands)
2 GARY NEVILLE (England)
3 PATRICE EVRA (France)
4 OWEN HARGREAVES (England)
5 RIO FERDINAND (England)
6 WES BROWN (England)
7 MICHAEL OWEN (England)
8 OLIVEIRA ANDERSON (Brazil)
9 DIMITAR BERBATOV (Bulgaria)
10 WAYNE ROONEY (England)
11 RYAN GIGGS (Wales)
12 BEN FOSTER (England)
13 JI-SUNG PARK (South Korea)
14 ZORAN TOSIC (Serbia)
15 NEMANJA VIDIC (Serbia)
16 MICHAEL CARRICK (England)
17 NANI (Portugal)
18 PAUL SCHOLES (England)
19 DANNY WELBECK (England)
20 FABIO DA SILVA (Brazil)
21 RAFAEL DA SILVA (Brazil)
22 JOHN O’SHEA (Republic of Ireland)
23 JONNY EVANS (Northern Ireland)
24 DARREN FLETCHER (Scotland)
25 ANTONIO VALENCIA (Ecuador)
26 GABRIEL OBERTAN (France)
27
28 DARRON GIBSON (Republic of Ireland)
29 TOMASZ KUSZCZAK (Poland)
30
31
32
33 SAM HEWSON (England)
34 RODRIGO POSSEBON (ON LOAN to Braga in Portugal) (Italy)
35 TOM CLEVERLEY (England)
36 DAVID GRAY (Scotland)
37 CRAIG CATHCART (Northern Ireland)
38 RON-ROBERT ZIELER (Germany)
39 JAMES CHESTER (England)
40 BEN AMOS (England)
41 FEDERICO MACHEDA (Italy)
42
43 DAVIDE PETRUCCI (Italy)
44 RITCHIE DE LAET (Belgium)
45 CORRY EVANS (Northern Ireland)
46 DANNY DRINKWATER (England)
47 MATTHEW JAMES (England)

It’s good to see that there are a healthy dose of English players coming through the ranks,
unlike the French cuisine at the Arab stadium and stinky Spanish paella at merseyside.

 

[Wayne Piew]

Community Shield - Manchester United Vs. Chelsea
Wembley Stadium
National Day, August 9th
10.00pm



I will gladly swap a win in this for 3 points in the opening game against Birmingham,
as Man Utd have failed to win on opening day two years running after winning community shield.

Man United 2 Chelski 1.

 

[singveld]

manU lost, the best team of 2008-2009 is the one who won the league
but i guess losing 2 top players and putting one who break his feet by himself without anyone touching him is too much for them.

 

[Wayne Piew]

manU lost, the best team of 2008-2009 is the one who won the league
but i guess losing 2 top players and putting one who break his feet by himself without anyone touching him is too much for them.

Big deal,
It is only an old mickey mouse trophy,
Sir Alex and Man Utd have bigger fish to fry.
Chelshit can celebrates this narrow victory ,
but they can't erase the Moscow nightmare back in CL Final 2008.

 

[Ramseth]

Big deal,
It is only an old mickey mouse trophy,
Sir Alex and Man Utd have bigger fish to fry.
Chelshit can celebrates this narrow victory ,
but they can't erase the Moscow nightmare back in CL Final 2008.

Yes, meaningless Mickey Mouse plate, with no food on it. Like you've said earlier, should willingly and happily trade it for 3 points in the league.

 

[Wayne Piew]

My three wishes for the forth coming season;

NO 1: Winning the title to go 19-18 ahead of Loserpool.

NO 2: Michael Owen to score the winner at Anfield to clinch the title and relegate Loserpool.

NO 3: Loserpool/AresWipe or Man Shitty to get relegated.

 

[Ramseth]

My three wishes for the forth coming season;

NO 1: Winning the title to go 19-18 ahead of Loserpool.

NO 2: Michael Owen to score the winner at Anfield to clinch the title and relegate Loserpool.

NO 3: Loserpool/AresWipe or Man Shitty to get relegated.

Manchester United have 4 European Footballer of the Year winners, Denis Law, Bobby Charlton, George Best and Cristiano Ronaldo. Kevin Keegan won the award as a Hamburg player, not Liverpool. Only 1 Liverpool player has won the award, i.e. Michael Owen, and he's playing for Manchester United now. Yes, it'd be interesting if he scores for MU against Liverpool.

As for Arsenal, they have Celtic and their place in the ECL to worry about first.

 

[red amoeba]

penalties are really heng suay one...I believe Chelsea's 2nd goal is unfair, with 9-men, the referee shld have at least stopped play for the ballack foul instead of letting play proceed.

anyways the equaliser is well deserve, even though it looked Rooney is offside. Evra's penalty kick is KNS...in the first place, why is he taking the penalty so early in the sequence? I know back then, Dennis Irwin is the designated penalty kicker for Man U - that does not mean he shld be there taking the kick before players like Owen, Rooney and Berbatov. What are they thinking of? The kick is so feeble, even if Cech pounce the wrong side, there is still time for him to get up and save it.

In my opinion, Evra lost the game for Man U although during the game, he attacked well exploiting the flanks. But he needs a cool head, don't ask a defender to take a penalty unless its past the first five lah.

 

[Wayne Piew]

Current Man United First Team, Reserves and Academy players by country.



BELGIUM
44 RITCHIE DE LAET

BRAZIL
8 OLIVEIRA ANDERSON
21 RAFAEL DA SILVA
20 FABIO DA SILVA

BULGARIA
9 DIMITAR BERBATOV

ECUADOR
25 ANTONIO VALENCIA

ENGLAND
10 WAYNE ROONEY
5 RIO FERDINAND
16 MICHAEL CARRICK
12 BEN FOSTER
7 MICHAEL OWEN
6 WES BROWN
2 GARY NEVILLE
4 OWEN HARGREAVES
19 DANNY WELBECK
18 PAUL SCHOLES
DANNY SIMPSON
39 JAMES CHESTER
40 BEN AMOS
TOM HEATON
33 SAM HEWSON
35 TOM CLEVERLEY
46 DANNY DRINKWATER
47 MATTHEW JAMES
FEBIAN BRANDY
SCOTT MOFFATT
OLIVER GILL
JOE DUDGEON
REECE BROWN
SCOTT WOOTTON
RYAN TUNNICLIFFE
RAVEL MORRISON
WILL KEANE
TOM THORPE
SAM JOHNSTONE
MICHAEL KEANE
EZEKIEL FRYERS
LARNELL COLE
CAMERON STEWART
NICKY AJOSE
JOHN COFIE
MICHAEL NGOO (ON TRIAL from Southend)
LUKE GIVERIN
JESSE LINGARD
JAMES WREN (ON TRIAL from Walsall)

FRANCE
3 PATRICE EVRA
26 GABRIEL OBERTAN
PAUL POGBA

GERMANY
38 RON-ROBERT ZIELER

ITALY
41 FEDERICO MACHEDA
34 RODRIGO POSSEBON (ON LOAN to Braga in Portugal) -
43 DAVIDE PETRUCCI
ALBERTO MASSACCI

THE NETHERLANDS
1 EDWIN VAN DER SAR

NORTHERN IRELAND
23 JONNY EVANS
37 CRAIG CATHCART
45 CORRY EVANS
OLIVER NORWOOD
CONOR DEVLIN
JOHNNY GORMAN

NORWAY
MAGNUS EIKREM
ETZAZ HUSSAIN
JOSHUA KING

POLAND
29 TOMASZ KUSZCZAK

PORTUGAL
17 NANI
RICO GOMES

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
22 JOHN O’SHEA
28 DARRON GIBSON
ROB BRADY
SEAN McGINTY

SCOTLAND
24 DARREN FLETCHER
36 DAVID GRAY

SENEGAL
MAME BIRAM DIOUF (ON LOAN to Molde in Norway)

SERBIA
15 NEMANJA VIDIC
14 ZORAN TOSIC
ADEM LJAJIC (ON LOAN to Partizan in Serbia)

SOUTH KOREA
13 JI-SUNG PARK

WALES
11 RYAN GIGGS

 

[Ramseth]

That's the system that produced players from Duncan Edwards, Bobby Charlton to David Beckham and Paul Scholes. Win trophies and make make money as well. Not spend money buy players in the hope of buying trophies as well.

The old Liverpool under Shankly and Paisley knew that. The old Nottingham Forest under Brian Clough knew that too. Sir Alex learned that very early. You can't bankrupt a club financially by keep on buying top priced players (e.g. Arsenal, Chelsea and more recently Manchester City). You also can't bankrupt a club physically and spiritually by selling off top players at the wrong time and worse, at the wrong price, without replacements (e.g. Leeds United and Nottingham Forest).

Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard etc. was the last batch to come out of Liverpool youths. Hope Manchester United don't follow those steps.

 

[Gallego99]

That's the system that produced players from Duncan Edwards, Bobby Charlton to David Beckham and Paul Scholes. Win trophies and make make money as well. Not spend money buy players in the hope of buying trophies as well.

The old Liverpool under Shankly and Paisley knew that. The old Nottingham Forest under Brian Clough knew that too. Sir Alex learned that very early. You can't bankrupt a club financially by keep on buying top priced players (e.g. Arsenal, Chelsea and more recently Manchester City). You also can't bankrupt a club physically and spiritually by selling off top players at the wrong time and worse, at the wrong price, without replacements (e.g. Leeds United and Nottingham Forest).

Not many in the youth setup will make it to Premier League level. Dalgish said the same thing recently. Anyway, United buy these talents from abroad and they dun come cheap.Ron is a perfect example.

Let's be fair to the other clubs. There's really no harm if clubs want to cast their net wider provided they have the means to do so and United is not going to stop searching for talent across the world primarily because 1. the really good ones are hard to come by and it is further exacerbated by the declining birth rates across Europe. 2 United is a global brand and everything from marketing,retailing and recruitment has to be consistent. Just look at their balance sheet.

 

[Wayne Piew]

Man Utd VS Birmingham
Old Trafford
Sunday, August 16th
8.30pm

Finally,
Time to wipe the dust away from my pom poms.:p
Should be a good game to start off with,
against a weak promoted team at home.
Prediction 3-1 to United.

 

[Wayne Piew]

Stats and facts as Manchester United host Birmingham on the opening day of the Premier League season.

Birmingham City are yet to score a goal in five Premier League trips to Old Trafford, losing all five matches.

Overall, City have failed to score in eight of their 10 Premier League matches against the champions, gaining just two points.

The last two top-flight games between these sides have ended 1-0 to United.

This will be Birmingham's sixth season in the Premier League and the fifth time they have started the campaign away from home.

Manchester United have won only two of their last five opening weekend Premier League games.

In the 2007-08 Premier League season, Birmingham lost their last five away games in succession, conceding 15 goals in the process.

United have kept only three clean sheets in their last seven league games at Old Trafford.

United picked up 50 points at home last season, more than any other team.

Michael Owen has scored three goals in his last five Premier League games against Birmingham.

Dimitar Berbatov led the Premier League in open play assists last season, with nine.

 

[singveld]

open goal. but that owen cannot score.

why hire him in the first place.

 

[yinyang]

3 pts, but truth be told we couldn't translate the overwhelming shots on target and corners into what counts ...goals. :o Plenty of game in birmingham's half, and midfield was really there.

Cannot afford to play like this against gooners in end aug

 

[Wayne Piew]

3 pts, but truth be told we couldn't translate the overwhelming shots on target and corners into what counts ...goals. :o Plenty of game in birmingham's half, and midfield was really there.

Cannot afford to play like this against gooners in end aug

To be fair Man Utd are still getting used to life without Ronnie.
So there is hope.
Not the result I would have liked but we got 3 points
in a difficult 1st game which we have not done in recent years.
That's 2 points more than at the same stage the previous 2 seasons.
It is results like this that count the most at the end of the season,
see what happened to Loserpool last season
when they drew loads of games against weak opposition at home
and it cost them any chance of winning the title.