Gilberto link to The Red Devil

Man Utd deal on cards says Hertha's Gilberto
Hertha Berlin's Gilberto has emerged as a candidate to give United extra cover at left back. The 31-year-old's agent Alexandra Martins claimed agreement with United was close after talks on a new deal at his German club broke down over his demand for £1.75million a year. Gilberto's contract runs out at the end of the season and United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to snap up the tough-tackling left-sided defender or midfielder. Gilberto said: "I have received offers from England, Portugal and Brazil. I have become accustomed to winning trophies with Brazil and would like to do the same at club level." Hertha general manager Dieter Hoeness said: "Trying to extend his contract is a priority for us."

Transfer Rumours: Jan 08

Klaas Jan Huntelaar is being touted by various UK newspapers as the most likely United signing should Sir Alex Ferguson dip into the market during the January transfer window.

The Dutch striker has been linked with a move to United on numerous occasions but speculation is heating up that Huntelaar will sign for the Reds.

Rumours still abound that Berbatov may come to OT while Hertha Berlin’s Gilberto and Lyon’s Benzema have expressed an interest in joining United.

Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill have both insisted Ronaldo is going nowhere despite Real Madrid’s interest but debate still remains over Wes Brown’s future.

http://www.manutd.com

Man Utd 6 Newcastle 0

Awas! Dendam Roma

Owen Hargreaves memberi amaran kepada Manchester United bahawa AS Roma pasti tidak sabar untuk membalas dendam atas kekalahan besar mereka musim lalu apabila kedua-dua pasukan bertemu lagi dalam saingan bola sepak Liga Juara-Juara, hari ini.

Anak-anak buah Sir Alex Ferguson membelasah kelab Itali itu 7-1 ketika mereka bertemu di suku akhir kejohanan Eropah tahun lalu.

Hanya sebulan selepas kekalahan yang memalukan itu, Roma berubah wajah menjadi pasukan lebih mantap dalam usaha memadam keaiban.

Hari ini, mereka berkunjung ke Old Trafford dengan misi memburu mata dalam perlawanan Kumpulan F sekaligus menebus apa yang telah dilakukan oleh United.

Musim lalu, Hargreaves menonton perlawanan United-Roma itu bersama rakan-rakan di Bayern Munich, namun kali ini dia akan menjadi antara tonggak utama yang bakal menyambut kehadiran Roma di Manchester.

Pemain antarabangsa England itu akan membuat penampilan sulung di Eropah bersama juara Liga Perdana selepas pulih daripada kekejangan paha, dan berikrar membantu pasukan untuk mengutip mata.

‘‘Kemenangan besar 7-1 tidak mungkin akan diulangi. Keputusan seperti itu amat mustahil untuk dilakukan dan hanya boleh berlaku sekali dalam setiap tiga atau empat tahun pada kejohanan seperti ini.

‘‘Kami harus meletakkan diri dalam posisi terbaik jika mahu menang kali ini, seperti yang dilakukan di Lisbon. Sekarang, kami ada tiga perlawanan di tempat sendiri, kalau kami boleh menang semua perlawanan itu, ia akan mencerahkan peluang ke pusingan seterusnya.

‘‘Saya pasti Roma akan datang dengan misi menebus apa yang berlaku musim lalu tetapi saya menjangkakan kami akan memenangi perlawanan ini,’’ kata Hargreaves.

Perlawanan-perlawanan besar di Old Trafford sering menghadirkan suasana istimewa, namun keadaan menjadi panas pada musim lalu apabila penyokong United dan Roma bertempur.

Penyokong United diserang oleh samseng bola sepak Roma ketika perlawanan peringkat pertama di Itali dan peminat United yang berang menanti peminat Roma di luar Old Trafford pada peringkat kedua.

Pihak keselamatan terpaksa menggandakan kawalan dan pemain kedua-dua pasukan terpaksa mengawal diri sepanjang perlawanan untuk tidak menyemarakkan kemarahan penyokong.

Hargreaves mempunyai keupayaan untuk menghadapi situasi perlawanan besar, sebab utama Ferguson begitu berminat untuk membawa pemain kelahiran Kanada itu beraksi buat United musim ini.

‘‘Saya memiliki banyak pengalaman bersama Bayern Munich dan telah mengharungi banyak perlawanan Liga Juara-Juara Eropah, jadi saya amat teruja apabila beraksi dalam pertandingan bersama Manchester United.

‘‘Saya dengar malam perlawanan Eropah di Old Trafford amat istimewa, jadi saya mahu melihat sendiri suasana sebenar.

‘‘Suasana ketika menentang Chelsea minggu lalu juga sungguh hebat dan saya menjangkakan suasana yang sama apabila kami menerima kunjungan Roma,’’ katanya.

sumber: www.utusan.com.my

Man Utd 1 Birmingham 0....Win Againts....

Birmingham City became the latest victims of another one-nil-defeat to the champions on Saturday night as United leap-frogged neighbours Man City who'd gone second in the table behind Arsenal earlier on in the day. Ronaldo sealed the victory after pouncing on a defensive mistake midway through the second period. In truth, a draw would have been a fair result.

After the game former United hero and now Birmingham boss Steve Bruce said that his team would never have a better chance of beating the Reds, and he was right too because his team were the better side when it came to creating chances.

The home team pressed United into making mistakes of which there was quite a few. The normally reliable Scholes, Evra and Ferdinand were giving the ball away in dangerous areas of the pitch and that put the Reds onto the back foot. Ferdinand made up for his errors by making one first-half goal-line clearance. United lost Edwin van der Sar through what looked like a foot injury, his replacement Kuszczak had to make one fine save at his near post from Ferdinand's deflected header.

Meanwhile at the other end, the travelling Red Army had little to shout about as Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo weren't in the game. Much will be made of United's one-nil victories this season, because it is very unlike the Reds.

Normally the Reds can be relied upon to entertain and attack teams both home and away, but it isn't happening right now and if United have ambitions of winning anything this season they are going to need to improve massively on what we've seen so far because as a team and on an individual level it isn't happening.

So why haven't United started the season well? For starters key players were missing early doors due to injuries and suspensions. The absence of Rooney and Ronaldo haven't helped and now Hargreaves is missing and in my opinion we need him in the side every week as it gives Fergie more attacking options.

As we have already seen this season Fergie has started some league games with Carrick on the bench when Hargreaves has been available. The reason for this is quite simple. The former Bayern star has a fantastic engine, he must cover the combined ground of Carrick and Scholes, not only that but he tackles better than them both too. Hargreaves is the real thing when it comes to central midfielder players.

Against Birmingham Scholes was playing too deep for much of the game and he needs to be receiving the ball higher up the pitch. Scholes hasn't been helped much of late by the hapless Ryan Giggs who for the second game in a row gave the ball away virtually every time he touched the ball. For some reason the Welshman isn't looking where he's passing the ball at present. Granted Giggs did supply the cross for Tevez to open the scoring against Chelsea last week, but he did precious little else that was positive against the former champions. Against Birmingham Giggs was nothing short of embarrassing and by giving the ball away constantly this broke up United's flow going forward.

There is other issues which need to be addressed. The Reds are too narrow at present, we have no width especially on the left. If Giggs is going to be played at all, he needs to be used wide left and if it isn't going to be the Welshman, then it needs to be Nani. On the opposite flank Ronaldo is coming inside too much, he also needs to keep the opposition stretched.

It is still very early days for the Tevez, Rooney partnership, but at present they aren't making enough intelligent runs off the ball. Here again United are too narrow for much of the time and this is why they are playing too many tippy-tappy short passes in confined spaces.

It isn't that Tevez and Rooney are static, it's more complicated than that, they are trying their collective socks off, but so far we've seen little evidence of that the near telepathic understanding that makes for really good strike partnerships.

Currently Rooney and Tevez are playing as two individuals and they are not working as a pair. If the Reds do not improve up front, Fergie might well soon decide to bring in Saha who gives the Reds more options with his height and speed. Tevez or Rooney could then drift out wide left and cut-in from the flank, so far the manager has not tried this option, largely due to the problems already mentioned.

Fergie has the players, what he needs to do now is get Hargreaves fit and then start fine-tuning.

Roma are next and they are currently by all accounts the best team in Italy, another 7-1 win would do nicely, but this Red will settle for another 1-0.

Man Utd vs Birmingham

Maurinho Tidak ke Stadium

BEKAS pengurus Chelsea, Jose Mourinho menegaskan tidak akan tampil dalam mana-mana stadium bola sepak hinggalah dibenarkan kembali mengurus pasukan.

Mourinho kini menghabiskan masa berehat bersama kelurganya di Setubal, Portugal selepas meninggalkan Chelsea, minggu lalu.

Katanya: “Saya ingin tinggalkan dulu kehidupan penuh tekanan seperti enam bulan lalu, tapi saya tidak mahu berterusan tanpa kerja. Saya bersedia untuk kembali dengan lebih baik.

“Cuma, saya tak pasti sama ada ia dalam tempoh seminggu, sebulan atau setahun. Tapi, saya tak percaya akan menganggur lama kerana bukan itu yang saya mahukan.

“Saya akan ikuti kelas bahasa asing dan kejuaraan Portugal, tapi di luar padang. Dalam keadaan lebih tenang.

“Semestinya saya akan tonton banyak perlawanan bola sepak semua liga yang disiarkan di televisyen.

“Saya tak akan ke stadium kerana saya sedar situasi yang bakal tercetus dengan kehadiran saya di situ.”