Manchester United

[redrus]

It still doesn't answer, that Celtic and United have nine points, Benfica, seven. If Benfica win they have ten points.

If Celtic lose by a goal or two and United lose too..........?!

What you're trying to say is that this daft rule still counts even though it has no need to. These rules were put in place should the need for them arise. eg; Three teams on the same amount of points with no games left to play....

Now if the situation above arises, United will go out, even with a superior goal difference to Celtic. Stooooopid Stooooopid Stooooopid.....!

Me thinks the rule boys have too much time on they're hands....

redrus

[muckypups]

I couldn't agree more Red.. way too much time (and money no doubt) Think the EU of football.

It seems that if Benfica win.. they're through.. Celtic lose 10-O.. they're through, and all because they scored two goals in a 3-2 defeat at OT.. so, in effect, we have a league.. and then the head to heads are knockout, with the away goals rule counting..

Just for good measure I checked their site.. http://www.uefa.com/index.html

the regulations are in swahili I think...

[mrbojangles]

I think there is a Man City fan on the panel and he re-adjusted the rules for fairness

Come on Benfica

[muckypups]

I think there is a Man City fan on the panel and he re-adjusted the rules for fairness

Come on Benfica

Thanks for that Mr.B. Here's a picture to be going on with....

[muckypups]

So.. the big match looms..

David Sadler in his MEN column

'ONCE shell-shocked United's players emerge from their stunned state following that dramatic defeat at Celtic they need to ask themselves two questions: `Which team are currently playing the best football in the Premiership?' and `Who are the best team in Group F of the Champions League?'

They should come up with the same answer to both - Manchester United.

Armed with that belief they should come through the next fortnight with their league title challenge bolstered and will have erased the memory of last season's dismal European exit against Benfica.

They cannot afford to come to any other conclusion otherwise Chelsea will be back at the top of the Premiership and United will be out of the Champions League early again.

The way United are playing, neither scenario should happen.

I firmly believe once they have got the Celtic setback out of their system in training they will realise quickly that nobody in the country is playing better football than the Reds at the moment. They will also realise that we are by far the best team in the European group.

United should have qualified in Copenhagen and the fringe players could have got much-needed games under their belts in Glasgow and against the Portuguese.

Being able to hand players like Gabriel Heinze, Mikael Silvestre, Darren Fletcher, John O'Shea and Wes Brown much-needed match practice would have bolstered the squad no end.

Heinze played in Glasgow and looked like he needed the action and the others must be starting to show signs of rustiness. All that could have been avoided if only we'd won in Denmark.

But that's the position we are in now and nobody at Old Trafford must start feeling sorry for themselves.

It would be criminal to let the Celtic game have an even more damaging effect than it already has done.

I would rather see Chelsea suffer a backlash from United's experience in Scotland. I am sure Sir Alex Ferguson will have them ready and champing at the bit.'

[redrus]

I was in Glasgee the other night and, not that I managed to get in to the game anyway, that's another story.

We did not play badly the other night and, any 'neutral worth their salt will admit we should've come away with something....! That is the way the cookie crumbles though and, the reason why I've said in the past, that I love the game....!

Bring it on, the game don't need any more build up, its the big one now. They're not the best team in the world and we can beat them.

Before that we'll do Chelsea on Sunday though.........

redrus

[redrus]

Go on Ronny lad, The papers stir it up.

From the (Super Soaraway) Sun:

Ronaldo has branded Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack a waste of money. The Manchester United star reckons the Chelsea pair have flopped in the Premiership. Ahead of Sunday’s showdown between the sides, Ronaldo said:

“Chelsea are about the same as last year. Shevchenko and Ballack haven’t changed them in terms of their superiority to everybody else.

“They have to work harder to win games and they only just do enough to win.

“Mourinho is a great coach and Portuguese, so I can’t speak badly of him. But I’d like to see what would happen if he were to leave.

“Rivalry between us and Chelsea exists but there isn’t the same passion as the Manchester derby or games against Arsenal or Liverpool.

“This weekend’s game with Chelsea is vital. We’re neck-and-neck and that is a good sign because we can’t allow them to go too far ahead like last year.

“We are in a better position to win the league this year, but I think we’re capable of winning everything.”

redrus

[redrus]

red issue's Kenyon version...........

CHELSEA ARE THE GREATEST

By Editor

Friday 24th November 2006

So says a “lifelong Red”.

The odious Peter Kenyon attempts to score cheap points, even citing the Munich disaster, from the Sun:

“Chelsea as a football club and a brand is more dynamic, more relevant. We’re expected to do things a bit different and that’s part of the DNA of Chelsea, being based in one of the top three cities in the world, which is another difference from Manchester.

and the best bit

Chelsea didn’t have a tragedy, they didn’t have 10 years of unbelievable success in the 60s which culminated in winning the European Cup. It didn’t have the domination and success of the Fergie years. It hadn’t got any of those. It didn’t have an old boys’ network.

So they've got no history at all then.....! I'm sure the Chelsea boys n girls will love him even more......!

bbbbbbbbbbllllllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Jasus, go read it in the Chelsea thread, what a cock. If you really want. From what I see/read, they don't like him either.....!

redrus

*had to edit a few times there, what a wum.............

[redrus]

MORE PRE-MATCH HYPE

By Editor

Friday 24th November 2006

All the usual guff.

Ferguson:

“We can put Europe on the backburner now and concentrate on Sunday's match, which is massive for us. I'm sure it's a game the players will relish given the Celtic result.”

John Terry:

“The Bremen defeat is different. Last year we awful and I didn't think we were awful in Germany. We always react well to defeats. We showed that when we lost at Tottenham and it seems miles away now.”

Drogba:

“My best moment with Chelsea last season was the day we beat Man U at home. That was a fantastic game, with an incredible goal from Joe Cole. And after that the party started!

“This season United are doing well and haven’t conceded so many points. We have to win all our games because Manchester want to be champions this year more than last season and two years ago.”

Scholes on Carrick:

“It's made quite easy for me and Michael playing together by having the likes of Wayne and Louis up front, and Cristiano and Giggsy on the wings. It's a simple job for us to get the ball to them, and they will score goals for you.

“I would think any midfielder in the world would want to play with those four in front of them. It's so nice because you can give them the ball and they will beat men and have shots. It's great to play with players like that.

“I am enjoying playing with Michael and in the last few weeks he has really looked like the top, top player, which we knew he was anyway.”

From the MEN:

Rio Ferdinand is fighting to be fit for his Sunday set-to with Chelsea. The United and England defender was limping heavily as he left Celtic Park on Tuesday night.

Unless the foot injury sustained in Glasgow that appeared to be causing him pain eases quickly he could be placed on the doubtful list as the Premeirship leaders prepare to face Jose Mourinho's back-to-back champions Chelsea at Old Trafford.

redrus

[redrus]

Real love affair is over.

From the Guardian:

With David Beckham playing an ever more peripheral role and the stalemate over his contract extension at the Santiago Bernabéu still unbroken, a Real Madrid board member has said that the club would prefer the former England captain to leave, describing his continued presence as “a ticking timebomb”.

The Spanish football magazine Don Balon quoted an anonymous board member as asking:

“Why would we spend [£16m] over the next two years for a player that we know that coach does not like?

“Capello doesn't want him and he cannot continue like this, spending so much time on the bench, because he would lose part of those multi-million publicity contracts. Nor is it good for Real to have a timebomb ticking by having such a world famous player as Beckham on the bench.

“Capello prefers a different type of player and everyone at the club would be relieved if Beckham took the decision to leave for America - that way nobody could throw in Calderon's face that he was the one who got rid of an icon like Beckham.

“We cannot admit it publicly but the best thing now for both parties is for Beckham to leave,” he added.

redrus

[muckypups]

From the Times:

'It was not until he was behind closed doors at Turffontein racecourse in July, at a gala dinner during Manchester United’s pre-season tour to South Africa, that Sir Alex Ferguson disclosed his true feelings on the Roman Abramovich regime at Chelsea.

Witnesses reported that he accused the London club of being “hel_l-bent on ruining football”, a claim that he denied, but here at last he had betrayed some of the concerns he had harboured privately for three years.

As much as he respects José Mourinho and rates many of their players — having tried to sign Michael Essien, Michael Ballack and Arjen Robben, to name but three — there is something about Chelsea that is anathema to Ferguson.

Envy of their financial resources might be one part of it, but a source of far deeper disapproval is their recruitment policy, particularly at youth level, where he talked in Turffontein of his understanding that the London club were stockpiling the best youngsters in world football — he mentioned “30 African boys” — and placing them at other clubs with little regard to their long-term development.

By comparison, this week’s claims by Peter Kenyon, the Chelsea chief executive, about his plans for global dominance were a source of amusement for Ferguson. He joked yesterday about Kenyon’s timing — adding that “I know Peter”, with Kenyon having served as United chief executive until his departure in September 2003 — without feeling the need to resort to his previous claim, barely 12 months ago, that United are “the biggest club on the planet, in the universe”.

That has long been Ferguson’s belief, but while there are many ways in which Chelsea will surely never match United or Liverpool, their emergence over the past three years has cast an enormous shadow over English football.

There was a time, shortly after Kenyon left United, when Chelsea were the cause of a lot of paranoia at Old Trafford, but that has given way to a feeling that the only way for United to rise to the challenge, on and off the pitch, is by ensuring that their own house is in order and continuing to do what they do best.

For Ferguson, that means fielding a team equipped to entertain as well as win. After an unsuccessful flirtation with a 4-3-3 system along the lines of the one Mourinho employed at Chelsea, Ferguson has, for the most part, reverted to a cavalier 4-4-2 formation this term. He may be tempted to temper that tomorrow to avoid being overrun by Chelsea’s midfield, but there is a mentality at United that, if they are to lose, it will be by playing football their way, with a flair and aggression that has been personified this season by the maturing Cristiano Ronaldo.

“We are just playing the way we want to play,” Ferguson said. “The design of every coach is to have his players performing the way he wants them to perform and we’re seeing that. It’s not a matter of delight. It’s just job satisfaction. We work at it and we’ve got the players to work with. We’re very fortunate that way.

“You have to do what you think is right for your club. I don’t have any worries about Chelsea’s buying approach. Everyone has to do what they can for the best of their club. José will do that and that’s why they have won two championships. I have no concerns about that. All I have to make sure is that we are in a position to challenge and win. And I think we have a good chance this year, I really do.”

[muckypups]

..and Sam Wallace in The Independent..:

'What will the old devil do this time? Twenty years on and still Sir Alex Ferguson is obliged to come up with yet another solution to the threat facing Manchester United's great tradition. Another must-win game to go with all the others down the years he was told he could not lose. Another piece of ingenuity required to convince his players that their professional lives are dependent on this given Sunday afternoon.

When Chelsea's chief executive, Peter Kenyon, was modestly laying down his plans for global domination at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, talk strayed into keeping Jose Mourinho and then on to Kenyon's role in Ferguson's decision to postpone retirement in January 2002. It might have been the only thing Kenyon said that day with which Ferguson would have agreed. "Football is in Alex's veins," Kenyon said, "and I think he realised that without football there wasn't a lot else."

There is a certain bleakness to that assessment - a bleakness that Ferguson the grandfather, the wine connoisseur, the biography fanatic might dispute - but when Old Trafford's great dictator walks down the touchline tomorrow to take his place in the dugout, it will make a lot of sense. What else is there apart from this? The challenge is vast and thrilling, putting his great reputation - eight Premiership titles - on the line to win one, maybe two, more. Chelsea plan to take over the world by 2014, Ferguson wants to have done it by the end of May.

Beating Mourinho's Chelsea of 2006-07 - a problem like no other. How to beat a football team that does not look like a football team should? A midfield bereft of wingers and filled instead with international muscle, four awe-inspiring athletes in Michael Essien, Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard and Claude Makelele who see no reason to beat their opposition down the flanks. Not when they can rampage through the middle. Which is why so many teams find themselves inhibited when confronted with the heavy mob - and change accordingly.

So the question facing Ferguson goes right to the very heart of the kind of team United are - or at least aspire to be: 4-5-1 or 4-4-2? Play a five-man midfield and the unsaid acknowledgment is that this United team cannot beat Chelsea's midfield quartet man-for-man. It may only be November, and the gap between United and the champions in second a slender three points, but it is surely no time to be playing for a draw at home to Chelsea.

Who makes this decision? The father of 4-5-1 in its various guises at United over the last two years has consistently been identified as Carlos Queiroz, Ferguson's Portuguese assistant, the inauspicious touchline prowler who looks more like an affable airline pilot than the man dictating tactics at the country's most famous club. You could see why Ferguson brought him in four years ago, and then welcomed him back after a season at Real Madrid. Queiroz delivered Cristiano Ronaldo, he looks the type to make United more literate in European football's subtleties and, goodness knows, Portuguese coaches are in vogue.

The relationship of Ferguson and Queiroz, however, is the real mystery of English football. We agonise over Rafael Benitez's inscrutability and the detachment of Arsène Wenger but little more than nothing is known about a man who is so central to the latest phase of the Ferguson dynasty, or how he earned the trust of such a complex football man. Does the old general feel that he needs, 20 years on, a younger, more modern approach to the business of winning football matches? It would be a shame if that came tomorrow at the cost of United's more expansive, attacking style. Even the most ardent zealot of cautious football would have admitted that, on Tuesday night, Celtic were ripe to be beaten in the first half while United had Louis Saha alone in attack struggling to make something meaningful from their endless possession. And when 4-5-1 comes at the cost of Wayne Rooney on the left wing, it seems too high a price to bear.

This new Mourinho team appears fortified, reinforced for a third summer against the possibility of losing football matches. There are still minor areas of weakness, most noticeably at right-back where Paulo Ferreira is out of favour, Geremi has improvised recently and Khalid Boulahrouz has said he does not wish to play.

It was Ronaldo who Boulahrouz mowed down on his way to a red card at the World Cup, a studding that looked more like a gunshot wound, and it is an obvious area of tension between the two sides. There are other reputations at stake, too, most obviously Andrei Shevchenko who has been so completely overshadowed by Didier Drogba that his failure to score consistently has been much less of an issue than it otherwise might have been. How long does Mourinho persist with him?

And there is Michael Carrick whose star has risen lately but who conspicuously failed to take the game in hand against Celtic on Tuesday. Is he a player for a moment of crisis, for the time his team are pushed up against a cold wall? And more importantly, can he ever be United's Lampard - a player with an all-conquering self-belief? If Carrick really is a big game footballer then this would be the ideal game to start embracing the idea.

On Thursday, Kenyon spoke in awed tones about "the owner" as if even naming Roman Abramovich is now an affront to the dignity of Chelsea's ruling junta. At United they talk reverentially about "the family" when it comes to the Glazers. Everyone, these days, answers to someone. What does not alter are matches like these, when one manager's decision can galvanise a team, sway a game, change a season.'

[redrus]

The Actim Index.........

Wayne Rooney and Didier Drogba are ranked dead high in something called the Actim Index - the Official Player Ratings of the Barclays Premiership.

Look what it says here:

"Chelsea front man Drogba is currently top of the Actim Index rankings with 287 points, having scored eight goals in 13 Premiership appearances, while United forward Rooney currently lies in third place on 239 points, with

seven goals in 10 league appearances.

After a slow start to the season, the England striker now seems to have found his form, moving up seven places in this week's Actim Index. So far this term, Rooney has had 29 shots, made 153 passes, 14 crosses, 17 tackles, and has gone on 20 dribbles.

Drogba has been a consistent performer for the Blues, contributed to his team's performances so far this season by having 30 shots, making 129

passes, nine crosses and nine dribbles. He has also proved to be a defensive asset, making 12 tackles, 11 clearances and three interceptions.

The stats seem to suggest that Sir Alex Ferguson's side may well have the edge over their Premiership rivals, with five of their players appearing in the Actim Index Top 20, compared with only three Chelsea players. Also,

United have a goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and two strikers in the Top 20, showing their strength in all areas of the pitch.

The Actim Index ranks players using Actim Stats according to their performance, both by position and overall.

So Chelsea don't have strength in depth then.............

redrus

[redrus]

Some snips from rednews.

Wenger on title

Saturday, November 25, 2006

"We can still win the championship. Look at the numbers, we have the potential to do it. Either Manchester United or Chelsea could have dropped a few points at the start and that is what happened to us. We have lost twice, Chelsea twice and Manchester United once - but the difference is the points we dropped at home."

Louis Saha's Dad

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Vincent Saha

“Louis has proved ever since he was a kid that he can bounce straight back from any setback. One thing you can be sure of is that Louis is not scared of any challenge in football. I have spoken to him since the game and know how much he is looking forward to putting things right. He adores big games, so this Chelsea match falls right for him. This is what he needs after the disappointment in Scotland. But let’s not get things out of proportion. United are still favourites to qualify against Benfica — it’s not as if the miss put them out of the Champions League. Louis is having an outstanding season and against Chelsea I know he will be up for it.”

Rooney ref from World Cup

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Horacio Elizondo

“That day Rooney seriously contravened the rules and deserved a red card. He didn’t control his emotions and I did my job. If I’ve helped him to think more about things next time, then that’s better for him. I did what I had to do. He got annoyed at the time. Perhaps he thought about it later and was then sorry. We act without considering whether the player is a star or not. I made a good decision with the red card. One of my major satisfactions was that the England coach Sven Goran Eriksson congratulated me after the game.”

Mirror story from Red Issue

Saturday, November 25, 2006

'MALCOLM GLAZER is ready to expand his Manchester United empire into America and wants David Beckham to spearhead the ambitious move - according to influential fanzine Red Issue.

The Glazers are preparing to buy into MLS side LA Galaxy with the intention of renaming the club, effectively making it the first American franchise of United since their £790million takeover 18 months ago.

And, according to the popular fanzine, Beckham is the man the Glazers want to make the bold venture work, the former England captain being offered an escape route from his Real Madrid nightmare with a lucrative playing deal at LA Galaxy. Beckham's soccer schools project - which has a base in Los Angeles - is run by the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) in the US and they are understood to be keen to link up with the Glazers over the scheme.

Red Issue claims the Glazers believe Beckham's huge profile and global appeal would ensure the move is a success and are confident the former United midfielder would relish the chance to take his suffering career in a new direction.

Beckham is currently out of favour at Real Madrid and with his contract up at the end of the season, it is becoming increasingly likely that the 31-year-old will leave.

MLS commissioner Don Garber said: "Our fans have stated they would like to see more world-class stars in MLS, and the designated player rule allows us to sign more elite talent from throughout the world.'' In 2001, United forged an ill-fated partnership with baseball side New York Yankees.'

redrus

[redrus]

Fergie happy with Webb

By James Pearson; Sky- Created on 25 Nov 2006

Sir Alex Ferguson is happy for Howard Webb to officiate Sunday's high-octane clash between Premiership front-runners Manchester United and Chelsea.

Webb will be the man in the middle on Sunday, live on Sky Sports 1, as the league leaders tackle the champions in what should be a classic encounter.

Fergie has no complaints about Webb's appointment and believes he should be given the chance to demonstrate his skills of handling the big occasion.

"He is a young referee and we should let him get on with the game and give him a chance," said Ferguson. "As long as he is fair, no-one can complain.

"I certainly hope it is not a game where we see players start to crowd round the referee as has happened so often recently."

redrus

[Seapok]

You weren't lucky enough tonight son!, 55 mins we were all over you lot, I'm sure you will lose your 3 point lead in no time, just like the yids you have pushed yourself to the max to face the mighty blues, now you will lose to Everton!! haha

We'll never be mastered, by those northern bastards......Hahahah

[lampard10]

Go on Ronny lad, The papers stir it up.

From the (Super Soaraway) Sun:

Ronaldo has branded Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack a waste of money. The Manchester United star reckons the Chelsea pair have flopped in the Premiership. Ahead of Sunday’s showdown between the sides, Ronaldo said:

“Chelsea are about the same as last year. Shevchenko and Ballack haven’t changed them in terms of their superiority to everybody else.

I disagree,.With those two we are much worse than last season. Your right though Ronaldo,they're up there with you, although this year you do seem to be playing a little good football.

[redrus]

We were far better than Chelsea yesterday. Fact.

Bollack, the cheatin <deleted>, should've walked.

Dogboy, cheatin <deleted>, should've walked.

3 blatant malicious elbows on Vidic over the game and, the scything down of Ronny in the first 15 minutes.

You moan about heavy handed teams that kick into you, eg; us last season and Blackburn. Now, you play football like you did yesterday.

You're a fookin disgrace.

Best would've turned in his grave yesterday.

redrus

[mrbojangles]

We were far better than Chelsea yesterday. Fact.

Sorry Red, but you must have been watching a different game to the one i watched

To me, United won the first half and Chelsea won the second half. A draw was a fair result

[redrus]

We were far better than Chelsea yesterday. Fact.

Sorry Red, but you must have been watching a different game to the one i watched

To me, United won the first half and Chelsea won the second half. A draw was a fair result

Are you feeling ok mate....? Surely nothing but a resounding rent boy victory would satiate those bitter bones....

redrus

[mrbojangles]

We were far better than Chelsea yesterday. Fact.

Sorry Red, but you must have been watching a different game to the one i watched

To me, United won the first half and Chelsea won the second half. A draw was a fair result

Are you feeling ok mate....? Surely nothing but a resounding rent boy victory would satiate those bitter bones....

Oh, don't get me wrong buddy. I was cheering Chelsea on, all the way

[muckypups]

Gutted, as I'm away working and couldn't get to see the game.. so I'll make no comment on the result other than we obviously deserved to win..

I like this article from the Guardian..:

Kenyon's talk is cheap but Chelsea's big ideas need more than money

The sight of Old Trafford packed to the rafters proved that money can't buy history.

Daniel Taylor

November 27, 2006 12:45 AM

It was an afternoon that reminded us why, 30 years ago, a middle-aged man by the name of Bobby Charlton spoke of "a theatre of dreams". Old Trafford under floodlights is a truly seductive place. The noise, the colours, the thousands of faces. Four vertiginous stands, all packed. For five minutes before kick-off, Roman Abramovich just stood there, gawking, taking it all in. And it was here that, deep down, Peter Kenyon must have realised the folly of predicting Chelsea were on course to overtake Manchester United as the biggest club there is.

If it was Kenyon's intention to wind up his former employers, he managed it exquisitely judging by the frequency with which the Stretford End informed Chelsea's chief executive he was, to put it one way, an anagram of Newark. Abramovich's bags of gold make Chelsea the world's most richly endowed club, but their more thoughtful supporters will have looked around this stadium, listened to the tributes for George Best, passed the statue of Sir Matt Busby, and accepted there are some things money cannot buy. Biggest club in the world? There are some people who are not even certain Chelsea are the biggest club in London.

What they are is robust, athletic and methodical, all of which are qualities, but hardly the type to bring in millions of new supporters when there is United or Arsenal to watch (for much lower prices). Chelsea's improvement in the second half was something to behold but it was largely because of their lack of refinement that the game was so stodgy. The match crackled with tension, there were individual moments of great skill and the referee Howard Webb may just have established himself as the Premiership's top official. Yet here, too, was a contest that explained why Johan Cruyff once said he loved to play English teams - because they will always give you the ball.

In some countries, losing possession is considered a sin. Yet this was football played at the speed of ice hockey and the ball was in play for only 53 minutes of the 90. The Premiership at its highest level is enthralling, edge-of-the-seat stuff, but sometimes it is too fast and frenetic for its own good.

Rarely can a player as accomplished as Michael Ballack have waved an apologetic hand as frequently. Seldom can Michael Essien have made so many unforced errors as he did in the first 45 minutes. Geremi was so dangerous to his own team that he did not make it past half-time. Andriy Shevchenko was a substitution waiting to happen.

Only three of the Chelsea players passed the ball to the standards that Jose Mourinho demands and they were all defenders: Ashley Cole, John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho. Others struggled to find any sort of rhythm and, in the case of Ballack and Shevchenko, there were times when even the simple tasks, such as the execution of a short pass, proved beyond them.

The most contrite might be Frank Lampard, for it was his under-hit pass that indirectly led to Saha's goal, but it is Ballack who should feel the more anguished. Anguished and maybe even a little embarrassed. Lampard at least partially redeemed himself, swinging in the corner from which Carvalho equalised. The best that can be said about Ballack, however, is that he never hid. He was always looking for the ball, always wanting to be involved. That takes a special man because Ballack had an abysmal game, conceding free-kicks, losing 50-50s, passing the ball to opponents.

The most impressive central midfielder on show was also the most maligned. Michael Carrick is a footballer whose name can cause arguments in any Manchester pub. He is still struggling to win over some United supporters and his critics extend to MUTV, whose pundit Paul Parker previewed this match by arguing that the summer acquisition was simply not up to it.

"Fergie has tried to tell us a few times that he's been doing well or that we are still to see his best but, for me, he's too quiet," said Parker. "He reminds me of Neil Webb. Given time on the ball, he can ping balls about, but he sits off the ball too much for my liking. What United need is someone who can get about the park, someone who's going to work hard and get up and down the pitch, someone like a Bryan Robson. They need someone who's got the balls to grab hold of a game and I don't think Carrick is capable of doing that."

And yet here was Carrick harassing Ballack and Essien into mistakes, working tirelessly through midfield, doing the unseen stuff. At £18m from Tottenham he may be horribly over-priced but, as Kenyon has proved, the money men do not always understand this game of ours anyway.

[redrus]

For five minutes before kick-off, Roman Abramovich just stood there, gawking, taking it all in. And it was here that, deep down, Peter Kenyon must have realised the folly of predicting Chelsea were on course to overtake Manchester United as the biggest club there is.

If it was Kenyon's intention to wind up his former employers, he managed it exquisitely judging by the frequency with which the Stretford End informed Chelsea's chief executive he was, to put it one way, an anagram of Newark.

Priceless.

redrus

[redrus]

Just found this photo on red issue, the wicked thing is, the lad in the mustard yellow denim jacket in the middle of the photo, is me, aged 15.

The photo is at the Feyenoord Arena in Rotterdam 1991, the Cup Winners Cup Final against Barca. The person on the right is me mam, yes wearing a United/Celtic flat cap............

Ah the memories.

redrus

[muckypups]

Bah, still away working and little time to follow United.. but I did see this in the "Fiver"..

An inspired move by Fergie? I hope so...

HENRIK FOR FREE? GRAND LARSSONY

Generally speaking, footballers choose to spend their holidays in one or all of the following ways: (i) quaffing alcopops in tacky resorts; (ii) spouting banalities for TV channels covering tournaments they weren't good enough to qualify for; or (iii) coaxing impressionable young ladies into co-starring with the whole team in special interest movies that could be described as art house if only they'd thought of overdubbing a foreign language dialogue. So it's always sensational when a maverick soul eschews these customs and does something truly unexpected. We've had Linvoy Primus trekking around the Great Wall of China for charidee, David James setting up a scheme to help under-privileged kids in Malawi and today, most surprisingly of all, we've had Swedish striker and philanthropist Henrik Larsson announce he's going to spend his vacation helping the MU Rowdies win the Premiership.

With the Swedish season having just ended, the Helsingborg hitman decided to accept Lord Ferg's plea to come and bolster the Rowdies' Victoria Beckham-thin squad; he'll arrive at the DevilBowl in January and stay for three months before returning to Sweden for the new season. "Lord Ferg called me last night," revealed the man whose record at the Queen's Celtic proves he was the most devastating force to hit Scotland since, well, England. "It feels nice to come and play for such a big club. I know the players - they are really good," continued the Swede, possibly while looking at a squad photo out of which Kieran Richardson and John O'Bese had been carefully airbrushed.

Luring Larsson seems like a masterstroke by Lord Ferg. He may be 35 but as he demonstrated just seven months ago when turning the Big Cup final in Barcelona's favour, he still oozes class. Louis Saha and Wayne Rooney will remain first-choice spearheads, but Larsson will allow them time to rest and serve as a crucial barrier between Alan Smith, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and a starting place. So, since it is a surprising and cheap mid-season switch that could turn the title race in the Rowdies' favour, the signing of Larsson could justifiably be compared to Fergie's famous capture of a certain celebrated Frenchman: Laurent Bl ... sorry, Eric Cantona.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

Bah, still away working and little time to follow United.. but I did see this in the "Fiver"..

An inspired move by Fergie? I hope so...

HENRIK FOR FREE? GRAND LARSSONY

Generally speaking, footballers choose to spend their holidays in one or all of the following ways: (i) quaffing alcopops in tacky resorts; (ii) spouting banalities for TV channels covering tournaments they weren't good enough to qualify for; or (iii) coaxing impressionable young ladies into co-starring with the whole team in special interest movies that could be described as art house if only they'd thought of overdubbing a foreign language dialogue. So it's always sensational when a maverick soul eschews these customs and does something truly unexpected. We've had Linvoy Primus trekking around the Great Wall of China for charidee, David James setting up a scheme to help under-privileged kids in Malawi and today, most surprisingly of all, we've had Swedish striker and philanthropist Henrik Larsson announce he's going to spend his vacation helping the MU Rowdies win the Premiership.

With the Swedish season having just ended, the Helsingborg hitman decided to accept Lord Ferg's plea to come and bolster the Rowdies' Victoria Beckham-thin squad; he'll arrive at the DevilBowl in January and stay for three months before returning to Sweden for the new season. "Lord Ferg called me last night," revealed the man whose record at the Queen's Celtic proves he was the most devastating force to hit Scotland since, well, England. "It feels nice to come and play for such a big club. I know the players - they are really good," continued the Swede, possibly while looking at a squad photo out of which Kieran Richardson and John O'Bese had been carefully airbrushed.

Luring Larsson seems like a masterstroke by Lord Ferg. He may be 35 but as he demonstrated just seven months ago when turning the Big Cup final in Barcelona's favour, he still oozes class. Louis Saha and Wayne Rooney will remain first-choice spearheads, but Larsson will allow them time to rest and serve as a crucial barrier between Alan Smith, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and a starting place. So, since it is a surprising and cheap mid-season switch that could turn the title race in the Rowdies' favour, the signing of Larsson could justifiably be compared to Fergie's famous capture of a certain celebrated Frenchman: Laurent Bl ... sorry, Eric Cantona.

Does anyone think that this might just last a little longer than 3 month?

[redrus]

It can't, he's got to go back to his club after that.

redrus

[chonabot]

You weren't lucky enough tonight son!, 55 mins we were all over you lot, I'm sure you will lose your 3 point lead in no time, just like the yids you have pushed yourself to the max to face the mighty blues, now you will lose to Everton!! haha

We'll never be mastered, by those northern bastards......Hahahah

6 points innit ?

[jjp]

Just found this photo on red issue, the wicked thing is, the lad in the mustard yellow denim jacket in the middle of the photo, is me, aged 15.

The photo is at the Feyenoord Arena in Rotterdam 1991, the Cup Winners Cup Final against Barca. The person on the right is me mam, yes wearing a United/Celtic flat cap............

Ah the memories.

Was there as well Redrus. In Amstetrdam for a few days before and after. Took over the place mate. THREE QUATERS of the ground and Barca had about 10, to 15,000 there.

Was inteviewed with a few mates on Sky tv the day before the match.

Probally my best euro away that, although Montpellier in the earlier rounds was good though.

Having a run in the the Rotterdam hollies on the train station.

Hugsheys double

Blackmore off the line

Sealey RIP in goal

Always look on the bright side of life.

James Oh Sit sit down next to me.

Top top trip.

God i miss the match

redrus

[redrus]

Nice one jjp, we lost about 5-6 boys in Brussels on the way home. Got turned away from two ports on the way before I think F/stow let us on.

Was amazing, we were the first into the car park and, 6 of us started to play footy. After that coach after coach after coach turned up. No word of a lie, there was about 1000 people playing with one football. I touched it twice....

Memories indeed.

redrus