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Started by kariballa, October 05, 2003, 11:11:42 PM

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kariballa

Jorge Valdano has told skysports.com that Ruud van Nistelrooy would get into any team in the world, but refused to be drawn on speculation that Real Madrid were preparing a move for the Dutchman.
Reports in the Spanish media claim that the reigning Spanish champions have identified van Nistelrooy as their next superstar signing, and will move for him at the end of the season.

The speculation has led Sir Alex Ferguson to launch a strong denial that Manchester United would consider selling the former PSV Eindhoven star, but Valdano has refused to rule out a move for the hit-man.

However, playing down the story, Valdano told skysports.com: "In this case we can only talk and wouldn't be able to work on anything.

"It is still too soon to talk about reinforcements for next season when we are still in the first part of this one.

"However, a player like van Nistelrooy would have a place in any team in the world, including Real Madrid.

"I ask you: Who would not want to sign the Dutchman?"

Some sources in Spain have even suggested that Real have already contacted the player's agent to sound him out over a possible move to El Santiago Bernabeu.

Valdano's comments are only likely to heighten speculation that Real are preparing to try and lure another of Manchester United's stars to Spain, as they did with David Beckham in the summer.
l'mar'u ma'a man ahabba.

kariballa

, Derby games always come with plenty of baggage, but for me, the big issue at Old Trafford for is what happens to Kevin Keegan if City get stuffed.

Manchester United, as we know, are capable of rolling anyone over, but I just wonder what the reaction will be come Sunday morning if City lose heavily, and to put in bluntly, fold?

Keegan, who is prone to a knee-jerk reaction, said a couple of weeks ago that he would go there and then if the board wanted him to, so will he be handing his resignation in, if Saturday's game goes according to form.

Right now everything is going wrong for City. They've not one in six games, they are conceding goals left right and centre, Keegan has come out and made his remarks and Steve McManaman has had a little moan.


The only thing missing is Nicolas Anelka getting the hump and I'm sure I'm not alone in picking up the paper every day expecting him threatening to leave.

They did get a point and a clean sheet at Everton last week, but by all accounts, could well have lost and although many people will say a derby with United could be just what they need to lift them from their slump, I disagree.

If United play to their strengths they will win. In my opinion, when you play them - or Arsenal - you cannot let them settle on the ball, you can't allow them space, your marking has to be spot-on for the 90 minutes and you simply cannot afford to carry anybody.

I saw City a couple of weeks ago and there were at least three or four that just weren't at the races and if they do that again, it could make unpleasant viewing for the blue half of Manchester - and, dare I say it, the end of Keegan.

The only hope that they have is Sir Alex Ferguson resting one or two of his big players, but he was able to take off Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ryan Giggs against Villa last week and they were hardly given a going over by Stuttgart in midweek.




If Ferguson sends out his full side, we pretty much know United will win and given City's victory over them Maine Road last season, I can see him sending Roy Keane and the rest of his big guns to put that right.

City will be desperate not to concede in the first 20 minutes for two reasons: one; once United go ahead, any shackles that might be on them - and derby's can do that to anyone - will be thrown off and two; is that City simply don't have anything other than Plan A, which is to go forward and attack.

They need everyone to be on their game  in every department and it will be interesting to see who Keegan goes with in goal. I was staggered to read he is could well go with David Seaman, even though he is not fully fit, and that could well backfire big time.

Not only is that a huge risk, you'd have to wonder what Kevin Stuhr-Ellegaard would be thinking sat on the bench at Old Trafford on a day, when if they are to stand a chance of ending their recent rot, everything has to go perfectly for City.

PREDICTION: Home win. United haven't really hit top form yet, but if they do, they could well run away with it. The only chance City have is if they play to the absolute maximum and a weakened United side have a big wobble.
l'mar'u ma'a man ahabba.

kariballa

Manchester United piled the misery on neighbours Manchester City with an impressive 3-1 win in the 129th Manchester derby at Old Trafford.
A brace from Paul Scholes and a customary strike from Ruud van Nistelrooy were enough to give United the three points to send back to the top of the table for a few hours at least with Shaun Wright-Phillips netting for City.

United broke the deadlock on seven minutes with their first real noteworthy attack as Gary Neville swung over a fine cross from the right and Scholes ghosted into the box unmarked to steer his header past David Seaman.

The home side missed a glorious chance to double the lead on 18 minutes when the ball dropped invitingly to Ryan Giggs six yards out after City failed to clear their lines, but the Welshman fluffed his effort with his weaker right foot blasting it wide of the target.

City had their first effort on goal on 25 minutes when Robbie Fowler latched onto a bad pass from Phil Neville and sent in a shot which looped off Rio Ferdinand towards goal, forcing Tim Howard to scramble back and tip the ball over the bar at full stretch.

United added a second on 34 minutes through van Nistelrooy when Richard Dunne failed to cut out a pass from midfield enabling Scholes to feed Giggs and the winger produced an inch-perfect cross for the Dutchman to easily head home for his 16th goal of the season.

Kevin Keegan's troops came out in determined fashion at the start of the half and Wright-Phillips gave them a lifeline on 52 minutes, dancing past Scholes and Phil Neville before firing a low shot across Howard and into the net for a fine individual effort.

Van Nistelrooy should have restored United's two-goal lead three minutes later when he capitalised on a misplaced header from Sylvain Distin to go clear on goal, but the normally deadly hit-man failed to get enough on his shot to trouble Seaman.

The Dutchman came close to grabbing United's third on 72 minutes after being put clear by Scholes, but Seaman produced a brilliant save to tip his shot onto the post.

The escape for City was momentary as Kleberson sent over a fine cross from the right for Scholes to head home his second of the game and give United some breathing space.

City were almost gifted a route back into the game when United substitute Cristiano Ronaldo tried to head the ball back to his goalkeeper only to give the ball to Nicolas Anelka, but the Frenchman scuffed his shot and Howard was able to push the ball away.

The visitors refused to give in and Steve McManaman forced Howard into a superb acrobatic save seven minutes from time with a dipping left-footed volley on the edge of the box.

Scholes came close to grabbing his hat-trick with a blistering shot from the edge of the area which Seaman was forced to keep out at full-stretch and the England international was even on hand to clear an Anelka header off the line in the final minute.
l'mar'u ma'a man ahabba.

kariballa

Manchester United general secretary Ken Merritt seemed fairly happy after his side were paired with Uefa Cup champions Porto in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League.
The Red Devils have some fond memories against the Portuguese side, with a 4-0 win at Old Trafford in the quarter final first leg seven years ago still fresh in the memory.

United travel to Estadio do Dragao for the first leg on Wednesday February 25, with the return leg at Old Trafford to commence on Tuesday 9 March.

Speaking to Sky Sports News after the draw in Nyon, Switzerland, Merritt said: "It is a good draw.

"Porto are having a good season. We have played there before a few years ago and of course with Euro 2004 coming up next summer it will be nice to play at one of the venues.

"We would settle for same result as the last time we played them, that was fantastic, but just getting through is all you want to do though.

"I know the Porto coach (Jose Mourinho) wanted to play an English team and he now has his wish – and I hope Sir Alex Ferguson will be just as pleased."

Ferguson has close links of course with Real Madrid boss Carlos Queiroz who assisted him last term and Merritt added that the Scot is likely to pick the brains of the ex-Portuguese boss to get the inside track on their opponents.

"We had a Portuguese coach last year in Carlos Queiroz so I'm sure the manager will be speaking to him about them."

When quizzed on Ferguson signing a new contract though, Merritt was not quite so keen to comment: "I can't tell you anything about it except that we are looking forward to this game.

"These are the most exciting times. It doesn't get any better than this."

Meanwhile, Ferguson has rubbished rumours that the club's board were uncertain about offering him a new deal.

Ferguson did reveal that he had spoken to chief executive David Gill to check if there was a problem and was satisfied with the outcome.

''I think it is mischief-making emanating out of Ireland. I don't know why," said Ferguson.

"David assured me it is nonsense. There is no split in the board and everything is going along fine."
l'mar'u ma'a man ahabba.

kariballa

Former Old Trafford favourite Lou Macari told Sky Sports News that Manchester United will reach the last eight of the Champions League, having avoided old foes Bayern Munich.

United were drawn against UEFA Cup holders Porto in Friday morning's draw in Nyon, Switzerland, and will go to Portugal for the first leg on Wednesday, February 25, before facing them at home on Tuesday, March 9.

Macari believes missing a trip to Munich was the key, and although he feels United may not have it all their own way away from home, he can't see Porto preventing them reaching the quarter-finals yet again.

"I think they will be delighted that they've avoided Bayern Munich," he said. "Porto are hard to beat on their own ground, and they only lost once in the group stage which suggests they will be difficult opponents. But United are so ahrd to beat at Old Trafford.

"Portuguese football is on the up, so it is quie a difficult little tie," he said. "It all depends on the first leg. If United go there and get a result, you would expect them to win at Old Trafford.

"Some people expected them to slip up against Stuttgart at Old Trafford, but in the end it was very comfortable.

"The draw could have been a lot worse. If they had got Munich, they would have known they were in for two difficult games, but if they get a decent result in Portugal, you'd expect them to go through."



 
Gavin Hamilton, editor of World Soccer, reinforced Macari's view, even though he pointed to the invaluable European experience that saw them beat Celtic to lift the UEFA Cup last May.

And Hamilton believes that United only have top stop one man to secure their passage, Brazilian-born playmaker Deco.

"They have got a good pedigree after winning the UEFA Cup and beating some very good sides, not just Celtic," he said.

"Deco is the outstanding player for them. He could be the key player for Portugal in the European Championships and he is the man that everything goes through. But if you stop Deco playing, you stop Porto playing."
l'mar'u ma'a man ahabba.

kariballa

Sir Alex Ferguson was pleased with the end result of Sturday's Manchester Derby. However, the Reds boss conceded that some sloppy second-half defending almost let City back in the match.

Speaking to Sky Sports, this is what the boss had to say about the game...

Paul Scholes’ performance
”It’s a Derby game so he picked the right day. We know he is always capable of that anyway.

Good first half, poor second half
”It was an interesting game. I thought we could have been three or four up in the first half. Credit to City, they came back just after half time. They made it a real contest but Paul put it beyond all doubt.

"It was an interesting game. I thought we could have been three or four up in the first half. But, we were a bit slack in our defending."
Sir Alex Ferguson

Slack defending
”I thought we were a bit slack in our defending. But, they [City] were always going to have a go. You always worry about the first 15 minutes after half time if you are in the lead. Their manager has been at them at half time, so there will always be that motivation there. You expect them to have a go, though.

Playing in Derbies
”In my experience, some Derby games have been poor. So, you would say that, at the end of the day you want a win. Derby’s are always engrossing and, at times today, we played some good football.”

Tight at the top
”It’s so tight at the top of the league. We just have to do what we can do ourselves. We’ll get stronger as the season goes on. Today was an important Derby win.

Report by Ben Hibbs.
l'mar'u ma'a man ahabba.

kariballa

Manchester United ace Ruud van Nistelrooy has revealed he is currently holding talks about a new deal at Old Trafford, but has refused to rule out a move to Real Madrid.
The Dutch hit-man has been strongly linked with a possible move to El Santiago Bernabeu as Real look to continue their trend of attracting all the world's top players to the Spanish capital.

Manchester United are keen to ward off the interest in the former PSV Eindhoven star and are preparing a lucrative new contract to secure his future at Old Trafford.

Van Nistelrooy revealed he has not yet agreed his new deal at United, but that if he puts pen-to-paper on an extended contract he expects to end his career with The Red Devils.

"We are in negotiations, but at the moment I have not signed anything," van Nistelrooy told Dutch television channel RTL5.

The 27-year-old admitted he was aware of the interest from Real and did not rule out the possibility of a move to Madrid, but he expects to end his career at Old Trafford.

"Of course I have heard it. What do you want me to say?" added van Nistelrooy.

"You know that in football everything is possible.

"What is certain is that if I sign a new contract with Manchester, this will mean I will finish my career there."
l'mar'u ma'a man ahabba.

kariballa

Manchester United have completed the signing of highly-rated Wimbledon youngster Lee Martin.
The Red Devils have paid ?200,000 up front for the midfield man but further installments, depending upon his progress, could see the fee rise to as much as ?1 million.

Chelsea and Arsenal were also believed to be hotly pursuing the 16-year-old, who has impressed for The Dons' Under-17 and Under-19 teams.

"We spoke to Stuart Murdoch and the management about Lee," administrator Nick Wood told skysports.com. "And we agreed to let him go.

"We would ideally have liked to keep him ourselves and brought him on, and possibly sold him on for a bigger fee than what we have received.

"But we needed the money and it is just too good to turn down."

Martin only signed an Academy contract with Wimbledon in the summer but had already featured for the Milton Keynes-based club's reserves.

United agreed a fee with the First Division club to avoid heading for a tribunal.

The teenager recently gave some indication that he would not head for Arsenal or Chelsea because of the number of foreign players based at the London aristocrats.

"Take a look at Chelsea," he opined. "They've got more foreign players than I've had hot dinners.
"Even their 18-year-olds are imports."
Of course, Martin is the namesake of a famous name in United's history - the full back who was the surprise matchwinner in the 1990 FA Cup final replay against Crystal Palace
l'mar'u ma'a man ahabba.

kariballa

Rio Ferdinand's day of reckoning is finally here.

The England and Manchester United defender appears before the FA at Bolton's Reebok Stadium at 11am, to defend a charge of missing a drugs test.

PFA chief Gordon Taylor fears Ferdinand is walking into a disciplinary nightmare when he fights his corner over his missed drugs test at the Reebok Stadium from 11am, but former FA chief executive Graham Kelly has vouched for the FA's integrity.
In what is the most high-profile disciplinary case in years, Manchester United, the FA, the PFA and FIFA have been at loggerheads since the England centre-half missed a drugs test at United's Carrington training ground on September 23.

The controversy has been far reaching and Sepp Blatter has called for drugs cheats to be banned for life.

Even Sven Goran Eriksson has been involved. The England coach, like United and the PFA, is firmly behind Rio but the reputation of the FA - and Mark Palios in particular - stands on a stiff Ferdinand rebuke.

Taylor suspects it is a situation that will inevitably lead to Ferdinand being treated harshly, but Kelly, a man who understands the FA machine, believes the three-man panel sitting on the commission in Bolton will ensure it is fair and just.

Kelly told Sky Sports News: "To a certain degree everybody has had their say already, but now it's time for the three who count.

"The PFA's chief executive Gordon Taylor fears it won't be an independent hearing. The three men are members of the FA council and are FA people, but they are at pains to get it right.



 
"Nobody at the FA is allowed to complain about the decision reached. The decision is sacrosanct and nobody is allowed to chip away at it. It is, of course, subject to appeal if Rio or Manchester United don't like the decision."

The three-man panel is made up of FA disciplinary committee members Barry Bright, Roger Burden and Frank Pattison, an experienced trio who have been specially chosen for the high-profile Ferdinand case.

"I know two of them reasonably well," said Kelly, "and I'm sure they are honest people. They've been in football a long time, albeit not within the professional game.

"They will be unknown to the vast majority of football fans. I'm sure their hearts and minds are in the right place. They will bring honesty and integrity to the judgment of the case."

FIFA are also watching events closely and have threatened to top up any punishment perceived as insufficient, but Kelly expects the world governing body knows it will have to keep its nose out.

"It's really not an issue for FIFA. They should understand it is clearly under the rules of the FA. They say: a player who does not attend or turn up for a dope test is prima facie in breach of FA rules. So it is clearly for them to deal with.

"The difficulty the face is that they have had a similar case in the Premiership where a Manchester City player, Christian Negouai, didn't attend and he was given a fairly light penalty.

"If they want to deal more harshly with Rio they would have to prove why they want to do that. That's the difficulty they find with case."
l'mar'u ma'a man ahabba.

kariballa

The hearing into Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand's missed drugs test has been adjourned after the first day of evidence.
Ferdinand is facing an independent disciplinary commission, set up by the Football Association, to face a charge of misconduct for "failing or refusing" to take the test at his the club's Carrington training ground on September 23.

FA representatives refused to offer any comment on proceedings and said there would be no guidance issued until the entire case was concluded.

The hearing, scheduled to last two days, is taking place at Bolton Wanderers' Reebok Stadium, where a decision is expected on Friday afternoon.
l'mar'u ma'a man ahabba.

kariballa

Ruud van Nistelrooy has affirmed he will never quit Manchester United to join Chelsea's Russian revolution.
Chelsea hinted earlier in the week that they would be prepared to splash out a world record ?60 million for the Dutch hot shot, if they deemed it value for money.

But van Nistelrooy has warned the big-spending Blues that they would be wasting their time piecing together a mind-boggling bid to lure him to Stamford Bridge.

Instead, the prolific hit-man is determined to pen a lucrative new contract at Old Trafford before concluding his professional career at former club PSV Eindhoven.

"My current contract comes to an end on my 30th birthday, July 1 2006," said van Nistelrooy. "I am happy to sign a new contract though.

"I will never, ever play for another English club. Once you have played for United, the rest don't count anymore.

"All I want to do is spend as much time of my career at United as possible before I eventually return home and bring the curtain down on my career at PSV."

Van Nistelrooy's exploits since arriving at Old Trafford are rapidly propelling him towards legendary status and the 27-year-old concedes he is doing everything he can to ensure he will be forever etched in United folklore.

He added: "I am not just here to pull a shirt on, I am here because I want to be part of this great club even when I have eventually walked away.

"I have never just wanted to be here, score goals and look at my bank account. I wanted to have a warm feeling for the club. If you want to become part of the history then you have to embrace history from the past.

"To be a legend, to be part of history, you must know about the past and to achieve success you must learn
l'mar'u ma'a man ahabba.

kariballa

Sir Alex Ferguson is shocked that Paul Scholes and Roy Keane were not in the top 20 footballers in the world listed by Fifa at their Player of the Year ceremony this week.
Fifa awarded Zinedine Zidane the prestigious prize, but Ferguson has again been extolling the virtues of midfield dynamo Scholes who confirmed he is back to full fitness with a brace of headers in the derby day defeat of Manchester City last Saturday.

Ferguson feels the fact that the England international rarely courts publicity can count against him on such occasions.

"I wanted to play a different way against City and try to protect him from his tiredness, but he was fantastic and phenomenal," Ferguson told Sky Sports News.

"He's a gifted player and I was reading players from abroad saying they think he's the best in Europe.

"Zidane's said it, (Patrick) Vieira said it, (Edgar) Davids said it, yet he's not in the first 20 at the awards.

"He nor Roy Keane were not in the first 20, it's quite amazing.

"It's probably right that he doesn't have the profile of other players, he doesn't get the same media attention as say Zidane or Ronaldo, but that's football and we don't worry about that.

"But I find it interesting."

Ferguson has also backed Rio Ferdinand to play against Tottenham in the live Super Sunday fixture on Sky.

"Rio's been at the hearing," he explained. "It's always difficult but he'll train tomorrow and we'll see how he is and how he's feeling - that will be an issue.

"He's had to read about it for three months and it's not easy.

"We depend on his temperament, his laid-back nature, but he's just like any other human being. He's not unbreakable.

"We hope he's going to get through.

"When he's in here, we can look after him. We have a good protection system here, we can monitor and control things around the training ground. The biggest thing is when he's outside."

Wes Brown is edging closer to fitness as the Red Devils manager will be hoping he has both talented England centre backs available soon.

"He had a game with Bristol City," added Ferguson. "We'd pencilled him in to go with Bobby Charlton to China to open one of our stores this week but he's back today.

"We'll pencil a game in for him next week.

"Every player attached to the club is praying the boy gets a break. He needs that because he's a fantastic player.

"He's had two cruciates and a broken ankle. It's not easy that."
l'mar'u ma'a man ahabba.

kariballa

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has been banned for eight months and fined ?50,000 after he failed to attend a random drugs test in September.
The Football Association had spent the past two days hearing testimony at Bolton's Reebok Stadium before finding Ferdinand guilty of a 'failure or refusal' to submit a sample.

Ferdinand failed to attend the test at United's Carrington training ground on September 23 but, two days later, successfully passed a test.

The ?29.1 million centre half's suspension will start on Monday January 12 but he has 16 days to appeal against the decision.

The punishment not only rules Ferdinand out of the second half of the Premiership season but he will also be missing from England's Euro 2004 campaign.

United have confirmed they will appeal against the sanctions and revealed their discontent at The FA's decision.

"We're extremely disappointed by the result in this case, in particular by the savage and unprecedented sentence which makes an appeal inevitable," said United director Maurice Watkins in a club statement.

"Rio has the full support of Manchester United and The PFA and there will be no further comment at this stage."

An FA statement outlined the Disciplinary Commission's findings and confirmed the panel were unanimous in their verdict.

"The Disciplinary Commission sat on the 18 and 19 of December 2003 to hear the charge of misconduct brought against Rio Ferdinand in respect of an allegation that, on the 23 September 2003, he failed or refused to submit to a drugs test procedure required to be undertaken by the officials of UK Sport as agents for The Football Association and under the supervision of The Football Association Supervising Officer," read the statement.

"The Disciplinary Commission heard submissions made on behalf of Rio Ferdinand and The Football Association, considered the documentary evidence and the testimony of witnesses to the events surrounding the charge.

"The Disciplinary Commission unanimously found that the charge was proved against Rio Ferdinand.

"It was further decided he would be suspended for a period of eight months with effect from Monday 12 January 2004 and be fined the sum of ?50,000.

"Having requested a personal hearing he was ordered to pay the full costs of the hearing."

The FA will also be hoping their hefty punishment of English football's most expensive player will appease Fifa after the chief executive of the game's ruling body, Sepp Blatter, previously revealed he would be prepared to step in if the censure was not severe enough.
l'mar'u ma'a man ahabba.

kariballa

Manchester United have won their last four Premiership matches with Tottenham, and travel to London after a rare week's rest following last Saturday lunchtime's win over Manchester City.

Spurs' injury woes have not been helped by the news that Christian Ziege has broken down in training and cannot put a timescale on his comeback from a thigh problem.

Dean Richards is doubtful with a knee injury, sustained in the Carling Cup exit at the hands of Middlesbrough in midweek, so David Pleat may introduce Gary Doherty to his backline.

Darren Anderton is also a slight concern while Simon Davies definitely misses out despite returning to training.

United will look to Ruud van Nistelrooy to spearhead their attack as the Dutchman has found the net in all four of his matches against Spurs in The Premiership.

Nicky Butt is pushing for a recall, no doubt helped by his decision to clarify his situation at Old Trafford earlier this week, while Rio Ferdinand has Sir Alex Ferguson's backing to start, despite being embroiled in the Football Association hearing into his failure to undertake a drugs test.

Eric Djemba-Djemba could be on the bench for United and Ferguson, as always, has plenty of options with regards to his squad selection.
l'mar'u ma'a man ahabba.

kariballa

We all know that if we were without Ruud van Nistelrooy for any lengthy period of time then it would be a massive blow to our Champions League and Premiership aspirations. When the transfer window opens on 1 January, I believe we need to strengthen our attack.

I don’t think we will find a player as good as van Nistelrooy, but I feel we need somebody who plays with a similar style, a player who can hold the ball up and give us a chance of resting Ruud in preparation for the really big games.

We need an out-and-out striker as a deputy for van Nistelrooy. With the system we play, if we had another player like Ruud he could come in and the system need not change. We already have the likes of Scholes and Giggs who support the main striker. Signing another forward isn’t about replacing anybody in the side, it’s about offering adequate cover for Ruud and an extra striking option to come off the bench.

I don’t think somebody like Mateja Kezman at PSV - a player we have been strongly linked with recently - would come to United just to be Ruud’s deputy. It’s a tricky situation because Kezman is of the calibre Ferguson would be interested in. The other issue with signing Kezman would be his availability in the Champions League. Having already played for PSV in the European Cup, he would be ineligible. But there may be a scenario where he could either play alongside Ruud domestically, or they could share the games in the league.




Mateja Kezman, PSV
 



The other factor in signing a player this January is making sure we get them at the right price. Another Leeds buy would be handy! Alan Smith and Mark Viduka have both been touted as possible signings. I think Smith under Sir Alex would learn a lot, he would improve tremendously at Old Trafford. He’s got that same tenacity as Keano. He would fit into the United system. Sir Alex wouldn’t need to change his formation to accommodate Smith. And the same goes for Viduka. Some people would perhaps say that Viduka has had problems. But Cantona had his share of problems when he was at Elland Road. He came to Old Trafford made for Manchester United. That isn’t to say that they are similar players, but players have often crossed the Pennines and been a great success. Viduka could blossom like Cantona did making the move to United.

Those two could be very interesting. Compared to Kezman – where PSV would demand a huge fee – somebody like Smith or Viduka could be worth the gamble. They know what the Premiership is all about and both players would be available in Europe.




Likely target: Viduka
 



I think Ruud, plus another striker, could share the Premiership duties and that would save van Nistelrooy for the big European games. I don’t think you would have to worry about disrupting the momentum of the team, or putting Ruud off his stride by leaving him out. That is the key, I think, to bringing somebody in who is capable of playing a similar role to van Nistelrooy. If you rested Ruud, you wouldn’t have to alter the system if say, Viduka, was in the side because he has proved he can play the lone striker role. We can’t wait for something to happen to Ruud, we need that extra player to be able to come in.  

One player I can’t see coming here in January is Nicolas Anelka. He is another name that has been mentioned as a possible target. But, he hasn’t inspired me as much as the other three players I’ve just mentioned. His form is a bit hot and cold. I don’t think he would come too cheaply either simply because it would mean selling to their rival. Put it this way, I was glad he was playing for City and not United in the Derby last Saturday!

If indeed Ferguson is looking to buy somebody, I’m sure that person would be a player who could come in as cover for Ruud
l'mar'u ma'a man ahabba.