Rooney surprised Man Utd leading table

18.12.10 | tribalfootball.com

Wayne Rooney admits he's surprised Manchester Unitedare leading the table.

Rooney cannot quite believe the position United are in right now in relation to Chelsea given their respective starts to the season.

He told The Sun: "Chelsea started really strongly so it was important not to get too far behind because they are a hard team to catch up.

"So we stayed in behind and then four weeks ago we said that if we could be just three points behind going into this game we would be happy. Now we are three points ahead of them with a game in hand. We are in a great position. But the way the tables have turned in the last month we know how quickly things can happen so we don't want to be complacent.

"We have to keep going and getting those results."

Rooney is even more determined to do so having missed out on key games at the end of last season with his ankle injury.

He added: "When you are injured or suspended it is the worst time, especially coming to the end of a season.

"You have worked hard from the beginning of the season and you want to play in the later games to help the team be successful. I just picked up an injury at the wrong time."

Man Utd boss satisfied with Marseille as CL opposition

Sir Alex Ferguson was pleased to see hisManchester United side be drawn against Marseille in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.

The French champions qualified through their group in second place despite a slow start to their campaign, but now face a difficult task against the Red Devils.

The last time the two sides met in the same competition was in the 1999/00 season, Ferguson's team won and lost one, something the Scot was wary of.

"I remember the games well. We won 2-1 at Old Trafford, but lost 1-0 over there," he told MUTV.

"Everyone thought we might get one of the Milan sides because we've faced them quite a few times in the last few years, but we got Marseille in the draw rehearsal and it proved right.

"Marseille are a handful at their own ground, their fantastic atmosphere and incredible support guarantees that. They've had a good change in fortunes in the last two or three years, after a dry spell, and think it'll be a difficult tie."

"(Former Chelsea midfielder) Didier Deschamps is the coach there, and they've got one of our old players in Gabriel Heinze so it'll be nice to see him."

Wayne Rooney's Kick-Out At Marouane Chamakh (Manchester United - Arsenal)

Wayne Rooney appears to have got away with a cheeky kick during Man United's win over Arsenal.

Plenty was spoken about after Manchester United beat Arsenal 1-0 on Monday night in the Premier League.

Arsenal's inability to beat their top four rivals was again highlighted. Park Ji-Sung's endeavour was lauded. Anderson was picked out for a solid game in the middle of the park for United. While Wayne Rooney's missed penalty was thumbed over too.

Yet one incident that was missed by all came in the final seconds of the match.

Unprovoked, off-the-ball and completely unnecessary, Wayne Rooney kicked out at Arsenal forward Marouane Chamakh as the final seconds of injury time ran down as the Gunners looked to launch a last-gasp counter-attack. It was petulance personified as Rooney, suffering a bad run of form, eyed up the Moroccan forward before knocking the striker's trailing leg and forcing the Gunners' number 29 to eat grass.

Rooney was a lucky boy that no one, particularly ref Howard Webb, seemed to notice his infringement.

Manchester United Dealt A Blow As Paul Scholes Is Ruled Out Until The New Year

Midfielder struggling to shake off groin injury

By Ian Murphy

Dec 17, 2010 10:21:00 AM

Manchester United have been dealt a blow after it was confirmed on the club's official website that Paul Scholes will remain out of action until the New Year.

The midfielder had hoped to make his comeback in Sunday's Premier League clash with Chelsea, but is struggling to shake off the niggling groin injury that has sidelined him for the past three weeks.

Red Devils' boss Sir Alex Ferguson will have to make do without the midfield maestro for the busy festive period, but the Scot will take his side to Stamford Bridge in confident mood.

United have been in good form despite Scholes' absence and sit on top of the Premier League, three points above Carlo Ancelotti's men with a game in hand.

Ferguson confirms Scholes injury blow

December 17, 2010
Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes will be out for the rest of the year as he battles a groin injury.

Scholes will join John O'Shea on the sidelines for Sunday's trip to Chelsea andSir Alex Ferguson has said he will be out for at least a fortnight.

"Paul is out on Sunday," he told Key 103. "We are working towards getting him fit for the New Year matches."

Ferguson has stressed the importance of securing a good result against the defending champions but recognises that United have not fared well at Stamford Bridge in recent times.

"It's a big one for us," he said. "Our record down there has been poor over the last eight years. We've managed a few draws, but we've lost a few, too.

"Our record up until then was fantastic - Stamford Bridge was the place we probably had our best record.

"They're a tough team to beat on their own ground - their home record tells you that - but I'm going into the game with a strong, confident squad. You want to go there in good form and we are in good form."

Meanwhile, Ferguson said he wanted to see Anderson improve in front of goal.

Anderson was handed a new four-and-a-half-year contract this week after a recent spell of good form. However, his goal against Valencia in the Champions League this month was only his second for the club since joining from Porto in 2007, and Ferguson wants more from the £17 million signing.

"Anderson could be a top player," he told the club's official website. "He is strong, he can beat a man and has great acceleration from a standing position. He is electric in that sense.

"The area he has to improve is goalscoring. He recognises that and all the players tell him.

"That is his weakness - he doesn't score enough goals - but he is still only 22. He is an emerging player and hopefully in three or four years' time we will be looking back and saying he has given us goals because he has the ability to do it."

Ferguson hails Busby efforts December 17, 2010

Sir Alex Ferguson will pass Sir Matt Busby's record as longest-serving Manchester United manager on Sunday but says he feels his fellow Scot should retain the accolade.

When Ferguson sends his team into battle against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, it will be 8,811 days since he succeeded Ron Atkinson, one more than Busby managed during his two stints in charge.

Yet it appears to Ferguson that Busby had been around for far longer, mainly due to the rebuilding work that had to be done, both immediately after World War II and the Munich tragedy.

"It has been frozen into the memory bank," Ferguson told Key 103. "I think of Sir Matt Busby as being here forever. He started at the end of the war and went right through to winning the European Cup in 1968. The timespan seems to be much longer than mine.

"Of course, there are emotional issues. He had to rebuild the team after Munich. There was so much emotion. I did not have that. That is the reason he seemed to have been here forever."

However, Ferguson found his predecessor an invaluable source of advice, the basis of which he has tried to keep going.

"The most important piece of advice he gave me was not to read the press," he said. "It was great advice and I have not read it since.

"The issue of ex-players at the club was something I have been addressing for quite a long time. I wanted to keep all our great players around the club in some capacity.

"I had Sir Bobby Charlton on the board and Sir Matt was here as well. People like that are able to understand the dimensions of Manchester United. That is necessary to understand the role of manager. It was very helpful to me."

Charlton, meanwhile, said Busby helped ensure Ferguson never came under serious threat of the sack as United boss.

"Sometimes you would have a little chat about things but Matt was in no doubt either," Charlton said. "He didn't have a worry at all. He knew we had the right man."

Man Utd reserves send off Solskjaer in best possible fashion

17.12.10 | tribalfootball.com

Manchester United reserves sent off Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the best possible way with a 5-1 victory overNewcastle United.

The match marked Solskjaer's final game in charge before leaving for his new job as manager of Molde.

Newcastle, the league leaders, were roundly thrashed as Ravel Morrison and Will Keane hit a pair apiece and Ryan Tunnicliffe also tucked away a neat finish, while scores of other opportunities went begging.

Morrison opened the scoring and Keane doubled the Reds' lead just before the interval. The striker then missed a penalty early in the second period, shortly before Michael Richardson pulled a goal back for the Magpies.

United continued to create the greater openings, however, and Morrison powered in his second before Tunnicliffe slotted home a finish and Keane headed home from close range in injury-time.

Warren Joyce takes over from Solskjaer as United reserves boss.

Man Utd legend Keane slams Arsenal clash: Where was the passion, intensity?!!

17.12.10 | tribalfootball.com

Ipswich boss Roy Keane has slated Manchester United's victory on Monday againstArsenal.

The United legend slammed the intensity of the encounter.

Keane said: "I saw it on television and I don’t think I’ve ever been so annoyed watching a game.

"There was no intensity, players weren’t getting stuck in and everyone seemed to be pals with each other.

"I thought it was rubbish for a game between two top teams, although to be fair to United they showed a great will to win."

Keane believes English football is on the decline and added: "It is changing and not for the good. Far from it – if you ask me it is going downhill.

"It’s not the game we knew 15 or 20 years ago, the one I first got involved in. I don’t think we love it the way we did years ago because of what we see every day of the week.

"If I lost my job there would be nobody complaining too much but top managers getting good results are being sacked.

"Owners are coming in from other countries and I don’t know if they understand the game of football.

"It’s an ego thing, like a toy they can play with. They buy clubs, sack managers – it’s crazy.

"We see players wanting to leave a club after only being there two minutes because they are not happy with what’s going on."

Keane was asked if he was referring to the shock dismissal of Sam Allardyce atBlackburn Rovers and Carlos Tevez’s equally unexpected transfer request atManchester City.

"You work it out," he smiled. "We have praised a lot of foreigners for what they have done over the years.

"But a lot of them have to look at what they have done in recent months and weeks, whether it be players or owners."

Man Utd can win the lot, insists Berbatov

17.12.10 | tribalfootball.com

Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov knows victory at Chelsea would go a long way to winning the title this season.

Victory at Stamford Bridge would move them six points clear of champions Chelsea with a game in hand, and would only strengthen the belief that the Treble could be on again.

Berbatov said: “Our priority is to win the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. Our priority is to win everything and we have the chance to do it.

“We have the players to do it. It is too early to say, but I hope we will be on top at the end of the season.”

Man Utd striker Berbatov rates Liverpool bigger threat than Tottenham

17.12.10 | tribalfootball.com

Manchester United ace Dimitar Berbatov believesLiverpool are still in the title race - though failed to mention former club Tottenham.

Victory for United on Sunday would be their first at Chelsea since 2002 and leave Carlo Ancelotti with a mountain to climb to claw back the difference in the New Year.

But Berbatov refuses to count them out of the title race.

“The football we play today, everybody can beat anybody,” said the Bulgarian.

“Even the last team can easily beat the big four and this is going to keep happening in the future.

“That is why it’s so interesting. You never know who will be top the next week.

“Our main rivals are the same every year – Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool – even if they are little bit behind. But everybody can be involved.

“Let’s just hope at the end of the season we can be at the top of the table.”