MAN UTD OFFICIAL NEWS>

[kariballa]

Real Madrid boss Carlos Queiroz has admitted that Thierry Henry and Ruud van Nistelrooy will be his main transfer targets next summer.
Real's 'Zidanes and Pavones' transfer policy involves the Spanish titans bringing one superstar name to the club every summer, while trying to bring though youth talent.

After luring Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham over the last three years, rumours have begun over the identity of the club's next 'galactico' signing.

Recent reports in both the Spanish and Italian media had suggested that Roma idol Francesco Totti was the leading candidate, but Queiroz has now come forward to state that either Arsenal's Henry or van Nistelrooy of former club Manchester United would be his choice.

"They are all great players. Van Nistelrooy and Henry have different characteristics," the Portuguese tactician told Radio Marca.

"My preference would be for van Nistelrooy and Henry. In the current Real Madrid side I don't believe Totti would be a priority.

"Ruud and Henry have both reached maturity (as players).

"Henry is now at the peak of his powers, both in terms of finishing and how he uses the ball."

Queiroz also hinted that Henry's repeated denials that he would consider leaving Arsenal might not prove an impediment to a transfer.

"Sometimes people don't speak the whole truth," he added about the Frenchman intriguingly.

The Real coach went on to concede that he was worried about the persistent rumours circulating in Spain that Luis Figo could leave the Santiago Bernabeu at the end of the season.

Queiroz insisted that his compatriot was a key figure in his plans, but remained confident he would ultimately stay.

"It worries me that he could leave, but I don't think it will happen.

"Real Madrid is for Figo and Figo is for Real Madrid."

[kariballa]

Sir Alex Ferguson concedes Manchester United are suffering in the absence of the suspended Rio Ferdinand and admits his team's defending is currently unacceptable.

Ferdinand recently started his eight-month ban for failing to attend a drugs test and he is still waiting for his appeal against the punishment to be heard.

The England international had established a rapport with defensive cohort Mikael Silvestre prior to his ban and was starting to repay the club's ?29.1 million investment.

But the England international's influence at the back has been sorely missed in the last three Premiership games, in which The Red Devils have conceded eight goals.

Wes Brown is still finding his feet since his return from a lengthy injury lay-off and his comeback has coincided with United's defensive frailties, particularly at set-pieces, being exposed.

Red Devils boss Ferguson is aware of the impact of Ferdinand's absence and is urgently seeking to address the defensive vulnerability which is threatening to wreck the team's title defence.

"You are bound to miss a player of Rio's quality," said Ferguson.

"It's frustrating because he was well on the way to developing as effective a partnership with Mikael Silvestre as we had before with Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister. Unfortunately that has been broken by the suspension.

"There has been some bad defending in recent matches and we have to do something about it.

"We are putting pressure on ourselves and a bit of slackness seems to have crept into our defending at times.

"Our first priority is to defend. We are not doing that enough and that is not acceptable."

[kariballa]

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand is crossing his fingers that he does not have to sit out the entire eight-month ban imposed on him by The FA.
The former Leeds United stopper was handed a lengthy ban for missing a random drugs test last year, however The Red Devils ace has appealed against the punishment.

Ferdinand is aware of the rules regarding drugs tests, but is hoping he does not have to sit out the better part of the year kicking his heels in the sidelines.

"Eight months will be a long time and I will be thoroughly disappointed if the ban is imposed for such a long time," explained Ferdinand.

"Rules are rules and they have to be followed. The matter is in court right now and I can't comment on it.

"Once this is sorted out only then we can say something on the subject. Till then I can only stay hopeful and keep my fingers crossed."

[kariballa]

Roy Keane was clearly left seething on the sidelines as he watched Manchester United slump to a shock home defeat to Middlesbrough in midweek.
The combative Irishman has issued a stinging warning to the youthful Red Devils who have forced their way into the side and is clearly fuming at the current lack of professionalism in United's play.

"You can make all the excuses you want but the players representing Manchester United on Wednesday night were good enough to win," he stormed.

"There were some positives to take out of the performance and, in the end, we were unlucky not to win, but you can't be going 2-0 down like we did the other night.

"It boils down to a lot of things. We need to be focused and fully concentrated from the start and that comes from training. You can't slacken off in training and expect to switch it back on a Saturday.

"You have to prepare properly and stay focused on what your job is. When you are playing for Manchester United nothing should get in the way."

Keane's blistering attack on a couple of un-named team-mates leaves no doubt his return to the starting line-up for the FA Cup derby with Manchester City will, at the very least, instil fresh fire into the team.

"We have worked extremely hard to get to the top but it is a lot harder to stay there," opined the United skipper.

"We have one or two young players who have done very little in the game.

"They need to remember that and not slacken off.

"They need to remember just how lucky we all are to play for Manchester United and show that out on the pitch."

[kharuldeen]

today 14 february 2004 man u defeated man city 4-2 in FA cup 5th round.

[kariballa]

Arsenal tightened their stranglehold on The Premiership with a 2-1 win over Chelsea, as Manchester United were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw with Leeds United at Old Trafford.
The Gunners were forced to come from behind to see off Chelsea, after Eidur Gudjohnsen, who was later sent off, had put The Blues in front inside 30 seconds.

Arsenal hit back through Patrick Vieira and Edu to secure a vital three points.

The game started at a rate of knots, with Gudjohnsen netting from a tight angle after Geremi pounced on an error from Vieira.

Vieira rarely makes errors but his response was superb as he latched onto an exquisite Dennis Bergkamp pass to slam home.

A terrible piece of misjudgement by Neil Sullivan, the keeper missed a corner, allowed Edu to ram home from close range for what proved to be the winner for Arsenal.

Manchester United lost ground on Arsenal after missing a string of chances against Leeds in a 1-1 draw.

Mikael Silvestre and Ryan Giggs were guilty of squandering first half chances before Paul Scholes put them in front from close range.

However, Leeds were rewarded for their battling display when Alan Smith showed greater desire than the home defenders to power a header past Tim Howard.


Leeds may have taken a point but they were dumped back to the foot of the table as Wolves cruised past a disappointing Fulham.

Paul Ince drove home from an Alex Rae knockdown on 20 minutes and former Newcastle man Carl Cort netted his first goal in 23 months to double the advantage.

Steed Malbranque netted six minutes from time to ensure a tense finish, but Dave Jones' men held on.

Newcastle regained fourth place in The Premiership but had to come from behind to beat Middlesbrough in the Tyne-Tees derby.

Boudewijn Zenden finished a fluent Boro move on 33 minutes, but Ugo Ehiogu's error allowed Craig Bellamy to level on 63.

The game appeared to be heading for a draw when Gareth Southgate inexplicably brought down Darren Ambrose in the box and Alan Shearer kept his cool to ram home from the spot.

Boro had a late Michael Ricketts goal disallowed as Newcastle made their fans sweat before securing victory.

Wayne Rooney netted twice but it was not enough to help secure victory for Everton at Southampton.

The Toffees appeared to be cruising when Rooney's deflected drive and Duncan Ferguson's header had them two up.

Kevin Phillips reduced the arrears but Saints' hopes looked to end when Rooney bagged his second on 78.

However, James Beattie revived hope with a penalty and the comeback was complete when Fabrice Fernandes drew Southampton level in the final minute with a superb curling shot from the edge of the box.

Manchester City secured their first league win in 15 games with a spirited 3-1 victory at Bolton.

A trip to The Reebok would have been a daunting task for many, and it did not look good when Kevin Nolan put Bolton in front on 22.

However, Kevin Keegan's men attacked their task with relish and Robbie Fowler's two goals in four minutes turned the match on its head.

The killer third came on 50 minutes when Simon Charlton turned a Steve McManaman cross-shot into his own net.

The most amazing game of the day came at The Valley as Charlton saw victory snatched from them a minute from time but took it back off Blackburn in injury time.

There was no sign of the drama that followed when Carlton Cole turned his marker and fired high past Brad Friedel to give Charlton the lead on 10 minutes.

The advantage was doubled when Jason Euell latched onto a Paolo Di Canio flick-on to fire home.

Andy Cole came on as sub and he ignited Blackburn when pouncing on a defensive lapse to round Dean Kiely and tap home.

Time appeared to be running out for Rovers when keeper Brad Friedel went up for a corner and the American thought he had become the hero of the hour when turning home to spark wild scenes.

However, Claus Jensen turned out to be the hero as Charlton went forward and his deflected volley beat Friedel to give the home side all three points

[kariballa]

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has called on his side's defence to prove their worth and stop using the absence of Rio Ferdinand as an excuse for their slip in form.
The Premiership champions have suffered a loss of form since Ferdinand began his ban in January for failing to take a drugs test.

United's defence has looked vulnerable in the absence of the former Leeds United stopper with the side leaking a number of crucial goals in recent games, but Ferguson insists the under-fire defence must get on with things.

"Our performances in the first half of the season were terrific - then we lose Rio and all of a sudden we are back-pedalling," said Ferguson.

"We have to adjust to the fact that Rio is not there. Maybe the sense of loss is bigger than the actual loss of the player.

"We have to handle it. We have lost Rio and there is nothing we can do about it. So let's get on with it."

Arsenal have opened up a seven-point gap on United at the top of the table, but Ferguson believes they can still catch The Gunners and he has promised to go all out on the attack to reel in Arsene Wenger's men.

"Arsenal are in good form at the moment - but they will have a blip, we all have them," added Ferguson.

"But we cannot just sit around waiting for them to make a mistake - we have to do something about it.

"There is probably a little lack of confidence which comes from losing games and goals.

"But there is no way back for us now. We have to attack in every game because I believe there is enough goals in this side to win every game."

[kariballa]

Real Madrid star David Beckham has admitted for the first time he misses life at Manchester United.
The England captain quit United last summer to join Real Madrid after spending over ten years at Old Trafford.

United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy admitted earlier this week that Beckham was missed on and off the pitch at United since his summer departure and now Beckham admits the feeling is mutual.

"I heard about what Ruud had said," Beckham told the Daily Mail. "It's nice that he has said such nice things.

"I miss people from Manchester and I miss Ruud and a lot of the players."

When asked if he felt United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was right to let him leave Old Trafford, Beckham said: "You would have to ask him that, but as I said I miss Manchester United, I miss the players, my friends there and the fans.

"But Manchester United move on and so do I."

Beckham has settled into well in life in Madrid and is helping spearhead the side's charge for honours on three fronts (UEFA Champions League, La Liga and Copa Del Rey).

[kariballa]

Sir Alex Ferguson did not seem too despondent after Manchester United slipped nine points behind Arsenal in the title race and conceded second place to Chelsea, but he did have strong words of criticism for referees and Premiership observers.
The Scot feels the refereeing bodies are not doing their jobs properly after seeing Louis Saha collide with Edwin van der Sar inside the area only for referee Alan Wiley to wave away strong appeals for a penalty.

"I've seen it and I won't even dignify whether it was a penalty or not," protested Ferguson. "It's time the match observers earned their money. I don't see any result from what they are doing.

"With professional referees and match observers, we shouldn't need to say a word. They should be doing their job.

"There's this new dawning of football with professional referees but it's very questionable, they don't know what they are doing. Sometimes it happens, when you're not having a good run, you don't get the breaks either."

The Red Devils boss was pretty honest in admitting Fulham maybe deserved a draw after a spirited second half display, and admits it is an uphill task to overhaul Arsenal at the Premiership summit.

"It could've been a fair result," stated Ferguson. "It was a bit of a battle. We played really well in the first half and looked really solid but they mixed their game up, played a lot of high balls on top of us and made it an 'up and at them' game.

"We had control in the first half, our attacking play was very good and I was comfortable with that. I couldn't see us losing a goal but young Darren Fletcher got caught in possession and they caught us out. (Luis) Boa Morte's done well to beat Wes Brown in the last third and it maybe went through Roy (Carroll)'s legs, but he hit it well.

"It's retrievable, you don't expect me to say anything else, but it's an uphill struggle."

With Fulham next up for United in the FA Cup, Ferguson admitted Roy Keane could again be deployed in the centre of defence.

"We need the organisational part Roy can bring," he added. "It's worked well in the main. Roy and Gary (Neville) have great experience and they can talk, it's important with young players around.

"If we don't have (Mikael) Silvestre back, and it's looking doubtful, it's a good option."

[kariballa]

Louis Saha feels he was denied a clear penalty in the Premiership clash against Fulham.
The Manchester United forward was playing against his former team-mates for the first time and managed to find the net in the first half.

However the reigning champions were unable to hang onto their early lead and had to settle for a point.

The outcome could have been different had United been awarded a penalty after Fulham keeper Edwin van der Sar appeared to bring down Saha as the striker attempted to go round him.

"It was a definite penalty," stated the Frenchman. "I couldn't chip him because he's too tall so I tried to turn him and he never touched the ball.

"I don't understand why the referee didn't take two or three seconds longer to think about it because it was such a big decision.

"It is a shame because that decision cost us two points and I think I would have taken the spot-kick which would have been a good opportunity for me to get a brace today."

Despite The Red Devils experiencing an indifferent week, the former Metz man is happy with life at Old Trafford since his move in January.

"It is a great feeling to be a Manchester United player," he enthused. "I've only been here for a short time but things are going well.

"When we play the ball on the floor we are one of the best teams in the world and it is terrific to be on the end of some of our moves."

He added: "It was great to have a good game against Fulham as well, it was a special feeling to score against them."

[lionger]

e bi like say our friend kariballa don suffer cardiac arrest, what with manu's continued slump in form, thus he has failed to keep up with his ajayi work for quite a while  :D  :D

[gogannaka]

Thanx for reminding us lionger..i've even 4gotten our friend kariballah............RIP man utd

[Negus]

The 2003/2004 season has been a nightmare to the cream of european football. The likes of mighty man utd, galacticos and the bavarian bayern munich have all suffered huge setbacks, the question is, will they bounce back?

[kariballa]

Aminnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

[kariballa]

Paul Scholes has thanked Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson for saving him from missing out on the FA Cup final.
The England midfielder was walking a fine line against Chelsea recently when Ferguson opted to remove his star from the action before the interval.

Scholes had already picked up a booking when he left fellow England international Frank Lampard in a heap with a reckless lunge.

A caution would have ruled Scholes out of the FA Cup final with Millwall, but referee Steve Bennett inexplicably left his card in his pocket.

Ferguson took the wise option and substituted Scholes after 36 minutes, a decision the midfielder did not agree with at the time.

A period of reflection has prompted Scholes to come out and thank the wily Scot for his foresight.

"I'm grateful to the manager for substituting me," said Scholes. "It was probably the right thing for him to do. I didn't think so at the time but he was right.

"I was a bit surprised. I hadn't played for a few weeks and to play for only half an hour was surprising.

"But I knew what another booking would have meant.

"The manager told me afterwards that the referee went to take a card out of his pocket after the tackle on Frank Lampard so I guess I was lucky."

Scholes is pleased history did not repeat itself.

"I'm relieved," he added. "I missed the European Cup final in 1999 through suspension and I'm glad it hasn't happened again.

"I am just grateful I got through it thanks to the manager."

Scholes admits the Old Trafford giants have underachieved and is looking to salvage something from the season by taking the FA Cup.

"After our season, the FA Cup is a major consolation for the club," he added. "It is a major competition.

"It is very important for the fans. They have followed us everywhere this season and have stuck by us."