Manchester United - News and Rumors

[zudomiriku]

Manchester City's Loss to United Was a Soaring Victory for Robert Mancini

Sunday's dizzying FA Cup epic between Manchester City and United left football writers to draw pretty much any conclusion we wanted. There were storylines all over the pitch, and to pick a theme was to ignore at least a dozen others.

United answered their 6-1 humiliation at Old Trafford with a victory few expected. City played with 10 men as if they had 12, and almost denied them. Sir Alex Ferguson made Paul Scholes his Thierry Henry, Wayne Rooney scored and celebrated wildly against the team they say is out to buy him, then upset the manager who'd own him. And that's barely the half of it.

It was United who progressed to Round 4, but having spent a full 24 hours digesting events at The Etihad, my head emerged on Monday focused not on their defiant victory, but on Roberto Mancini's cool and considered response in the face of adversity.

At 3-0 down, and with United threatening a deluge against his 10 men, Mancini didn't panic. He calmed his team down, focused their minds and played the percentages with his tactics. The result was a moral victory City fans will be hoping sets the tone for the business end of their season. Seldom has a manager gained more in defeat against his team's most bitter rivals than Mancini did on Sunday.

At the death, United were hanging on. If the first half was an ode to all-conquering United teams past, the second was a wholly unconvincing resistance effort to betray their every weakness in the present. Despite their man advantage, Ferguson's team were defensively vulnerable, and once again lacked leadership when they needed it most.



"We made them better than they were," Ferguson said after the game. "It was ridiculous. We were so careless in the second half. We took our foot off the pedal from a position when we should have battered them. They waited for us to make mistakes. We made them and it turned it into a score it shouldn't have been. This does us no good [in terms of the title] as it was a careless performance. We should have been home and dry."

In 90 minutes was the story of United's 2011-12 season told. Ferguson's team were at times irresistible going forward—as they were in the 8-2 win against Arsenal, and the 5-0 hammerings of Fulham, Wigan and Bolton. But just when you thought they'd got their groove back, so followed the kind of fallibility that marked that 6-1 loss to City, recent defeats to Blackburn and Newcastle and their performances in the group stages of the Champions League.

The reintroduction of Scholes said it all. United are still a force, but there's something missing and Ferguson knows it. There's no doubt he thinks the 37-year-old can still play, but deep down you wonder if the grand old master sees his true worth as a figurehead to focus some positivity and belief—in both the fans and the players around him. Is Ferguson getting desperate? Only the performances of Scholes, will tell. But it's certainly the move of a manager clawing for answers.



United weren't short of them in a blistering first 45 on Sunday. City were blown away in the first half, but there was really no shame in that. Rooney's header was brilliant, Danny Welbeck's finish equally as equally pinpoint. Only the foul Welbeck drew from Aleksandar Kolarov smacked of poor judgement.

It doesn't matter how good you are, sometimes you're going to get overrun. The question is how long you let it go on for, and how well you respond. Barcelona allowed Real Madrid 20 minutes at The Bernabeu in December. City gave United 45.

Mancini's team emerged from the break in a 3-5-1 formation that worked like a dream. Not only were United frustrated and outnumbered in midfield, but they were flexible enough to get forward in numbers on the break. But their comeback was about much more than tactics. It was about a strength of character that proved once and for all they have what it takes to win the title.

Ferguson has gone back in time for the boost his squad needs in January. Mancini will likely go shopping. It's a brave man who bets against the fiercely determined Italian based on his team's showing on Sunday. They might have lost the battle, but unless United can capture City's fierce resolve, Mancini's men will win the war.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1016289-manchester-citys-lounited-was-a-soaring-victory-for-robert-mancini

[Red Stain]

Worried FA tell Ferguson and Dalglish to cool it ahead of Kop Cup battle

The Football Association will write to Liverpool and Manchester United ahead of their FA Cup tie and ask them not to inflame a potentially explosive situation.

The Luis Suarez racism row means there is even more bad feeling than usual between the two great rivals and the request from the FA will be directed, in particular, at Kenny Dalglish and Sir Alex Ferguson in the hope that the managers avoid making any provocative comments ahead of the clash at Anfield.

The FA took the same steps ahead of Sunday’s derby clash at the Etihad Stadium and while there were arrests the and while there were arrests, the focus remained on the pitch. Liverpool want to hold further discussions with the FA over the Suarez case.

That is also expected to happen before the fourth-round clash later this month — even though the club have already accepted Suarez’s eight-match ban for racially abusing United defender Patrice Evra.

Dalglish moved to defend Liverpool’s record on race relations and said: ‘We don’t want racism anywhere near football and certainly not anywhere near this football club.’

As well as the Suarez case, the club have had to deal with the incident involving Oldham’s Tom Adeyemi after he was apparently the subject of racist abuse from a supporter at Anfield during an FA Cup tie last Friday.

Liverpool subsequently apologised for this.

On their website, Dalglish stood by the decision to support Suarez and insisted he would never have returned to Liverpool if he thought the club was in any way discriminatory.

He said: ‘Over the past few weeks there has been a perception that the football club isn’t doing what it should be doing, but I don’t think the football club would ever go down that road.

‘We will always support the official campaigns related to racism.

‘Obviously there was a big issue with Luis.

‘The players showed support for Luis which was fantastic, but then some people interpreted that wrongly as the players saying they’re not interested in the fight against racism.

‘That is totally and utterly rubbish.

‘If we can help to eradicate racism or discrimination from any part of the society, with the help of anybody at Liverpool Football Club, then that help will be forthcoming.

A 20-year-old man arrested on suspicion of racially abusing Adeyemi was released on bail on Sunday.
The man, from Aintree, was arrested on Saturday by Merseyside Police, who are investigating the incident.

Dalglish added: 'All we can say - it's a police matter - is if Tom, the police want any help in any way, shape or form then we'll give it to them. For me, the most important thing is that as a football club we all stick together. We all have a responsibility to act responsibly.'

The Scot does not believe Liverpool would have the worldwide following they enjoy if they were perceived as being racists.

He said: 'Our football club is based on being a football club serving the community, and whoever is in the community we will treat as an equal.
'It never has been a club that's discriminated and never will be one that discriminates against anyone else.

'For us, the football club is more important than any one individual, whether that person be a supporter, a player or the owner. It's not about the individual, it's about the football club and we should be very proud of this football club.'

Meanwhile, Liverpool have shown interest in Dijon midfielder Benjamin Corgnet and teenage Nantes striker Jawad Boukabous, 17.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...#ixzz1j1yDxyWx

[finza_13]

DATA POINT: DECEMBER PLAYER PERFORMANCE



In partnership with the EA Sports Player Performance Index, Rant looks the data behind Manchester United’s 2011/12 campaign. The Index covers Premier League performance based on a mathematical model developed Dr Ian McHale (a Liverpool fan) and Professor Phil Scarf (a United fan). It provides objective ratings for players’ performances in a match, and over a season, enabling comparisons across positions, and over time, by identifying how much a player genuinely contributes to a team’s success.
Players are allocated points based on set criteria, including matches won by the team, specific actions during a match, time on the pitch, goals, assists and clean sheets. McHale and Scart have analysed hundreds of matches since the Premier League’s inception in order to quantify the relationships between player actions and the match result.
The top players and the full data set of United’s player performances available here. Sir Alex Ferguson’s and, indeed, the Index’ top performer is Wayne Rooney, who has led for most of the campaign. Robin van Persie is second overall, followed by Tottenham Hotspur striker Emmanuel Adebayor. Nani, at sixth in the Index, and Patrice Evra at 14 are the only other United players in the top 50.
December 2011 will be remembered among United fans for the strong run of results, including wins over Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers, QPR, Wigan Athletic and Fulham. Until, of course, Blackburn Rover’s win at Old Trafford on New Year’s Eve.
Selected highlights from United’s December performances:

Goalkeeper
Anders Lindegaard and David de Gea continued to share goalkeeping duties in December, with each playing three games;

Lindegaard made sixteen saves in his three games and kept three clean sheets; De Gea made eleven saves in his three matched and conceded once;
Twenty seven saves across six games (an average of four and a half saves per game) shows a busier month for the goalkeepers than November when they had just nine saves across three games.

Defence

Patrice Evra was the only member of United’s defence to start all six games in December – the Frenchman made 63 per cent of tackles he attempted in December;
Meanwhile, Chris Smalling won an impressive 88 per cent of the tackles he went in for, along with making three clearances, three interceptions and two blocks;

Jonny Evans may have only won three tackles in November, but he made an thirteen clearances, nine interceptions and three blocks;
Evans’ 6.32 miles against Wolverhampton Wanderers was also the highest total distance posted by a United player in December;

Rio Ferdinand made just three appearances in December, but contributed eight clearances and eight interceptions.

Midfield
After struggling for opportunities early in the season, Antonio Valencia played all six of United’s game in December, along with Luis Nani and Michael Carrick;

Nani scored three times from seventeen attempts at goal in December, with 59 per cent of shots on target;
Nani also completed 180 passes in his opponent’s half, and put in 34 crosses and completed 16 dribbles;
Nani’s 6.85 miles against Villa was also the highest distance covered by a United player in a single game in December;

Carrick was at the heart of United’s defensive midfield duties during December – he won 93 per cent of tackles while making 12 interceptions and completing 125 passes in his opponent’s half;

Antonio Valencia completed 183 passes in his opponent’s half in December, the highest number of any United player this month (three more than Nani) and the joint highest number of crosses with 34.

Strikers

Dimitar Berbatov is another player who was given the opportunity to shine in December, and the Bulgarian striker seized it with both hands after six goals from just eight attempts at goal in just 206 minutes of football – a goal every 34 minutes 20 seconds;

Rooney also enjoyed a prolific month in front of goal, scoring four times from 23 attempts with 74 per cent on target;
Rooney completed 155 passes in his opponent’s half in December;
Rooney’s 6.38 miles against Fulham was the highest for a United striker in December.

unitedrant

[wira_ozora]

Dear guys...mw tanya nih...ada yg tw ga kelanjutan kasus FC Basel di UCL..?Jd gini...di Liga Swiss ada club yg dilarang sm UEFA utk beli pemain,,tp club itu akhirnya ttp beli pemain.Akhirnya UEFA mengancam akan mencoret smw tim Swiss dari kompetisi UCL n Europa League musim ini. Kalo Basel jd dicoret,,UNITED balik lg ke UCL bwd lwn Muenchen di 16 besar. Katanya UEFA mw baca'in vonis bwd FC Basel tggl 14 Januari 2012,,tp smp jam sgni di web UEFA ga da info ttg vonis ini. Mungkin kawan2 ada yg tw infonya...?Thx b4

[fredrian.seven]

Originally Posted by wira_ozora

Dear guys...mw tanya nih...ada yg tw ga kelanjutan kasus FC Basel di UCL..?Jd gini...di Liga Swiss ada club yg dilarang sm UEFA utk beli pemain,,tp club itu akhirnya ttp beli pemain.Akhirnya UEFA mengancam akan mencoret smw tim Swiss dari kompetisi UCL n Europa League musim ini. Kalo Basel jd dicoret,,UNITED balik lg ke UCL bwd lwn Muenchen di 16 besar. Katanya UEFA mw baca'in vonis bwd FC Basel tggl 14 Januari 2012,,tp smp jam sgni di web UEFA ga da info ttg vonis ini. Mungkin kawan2 ada yg tw infonya...?Thx b4

kasus dah di tutup. United resmi maen di europa league. Lengkapnya di www.unitedindonesia.org/forum/showthread.php?t=3980&page=10

[Andi Istiabudi]

Mampir Indonesia donk !!!

Juni, Barcelona Atau Manchester United Bakal Sambangi Malaysia

Bola.net - Berdasarkan laporan dari negeri jiran, Malaysia. Dua klub papan atas Barcelona dan Manchester United kemungkinan besar akan datang di negara mereka pada musim panas nanti sebagai bagian dari Tur Asia yang mereka jalankan.

Seperti yang dilansir oleh media Malaysia, The Malay Mail bahwa mereka memang sedang dalam persiapan untuk membuat dua finalis Liga Champions musim lalu tersebut mampir ke Ibukota Malaysia di bulan Juni.

Jika memang El Barca setuju maka hal itu akan menjadi kali pertama bagi mereka ke Malaysia, dari laporan yang belum terkonfirmasi Barcelona mungkin juga bisa mampir ke India dan juga Indonesia.

Meski begitu salah satu orang dalam The Malay Mail menyebut masih terlalu prematur untuk membicarakan hal ini, karena pembicaraan masih dalam tahap permulaan.

"Diskusi ini masih berlangsung, dan itu juga dalam saat ini. Saya melihat Manchester United lebih bagus prospeknya meski belum terkonfirmasi juga," ucap si narasumber.

United sendiri pernah singgah ke Malaysia di tahun 2009 lalu, sementara pada tahun lalu Kuala Lumpur sempat kedatangan Liverpool, Chelsea dan juga Arsenal. (espn/lex)

[zudomiriku]

Originally Posted by wira_ozora

Dear guys...mw tanya nih...ada yg tw ga kelanjutan kasus FC Basel di UCL..?Jd gini...di Liga Swiss ada club yg dilarang sm UEFA utk beli pemain,,tp club itu akhirnya ttp beli pemain.Akhirnya UEFA mengancam akan mencoret smw tim Swiss dari kompetisi UCL n Europa League musim ini. Kalo Basel jd dicoret,,UNITED balik lg ke UCL bwd lwn Muenchen di 16 besar. Katanya UEFA mw baca'in vonis bwd FC Basel tggl 14 Januari 2012,,tp smp jam sgni di web UEFA ga da info ttg vonis ini. Mungkin kawan2 ada yg tw infonya...?Thx b4

kabar terakhir yg saya tau seh klub Swiss (lupa namanya) yg bermasalah tsb sudah dikenakan pengurangan poin, sehingga jadi minus & sudah hampir pasti degradasi. berarti Basel tetap bisa melanjutkan kiprahnya di UCL
ada yg bisa kasih pencerahan?

[Andi Istiabudi]

Bingung mau posting dimana maka saya putuskan posting disini. Kalau tidak pas mohon bantuan Admin dan moderator untuk menempatkan di thread yang sesuai yach

Lensa Kontak Jatuh, Bintang MU Panik
Hery Prasetyo

MANCHESTER, KOMPAS.com — Asisten Pelatih Manchester United (MU), Brian McClair, mengungkapkan kejadian lucu di klubnya. Sebelum pertandingan, seorang bintang MU tampil kesulitan mengenakan lensa kontak. Bahkan, alat bantu penglihatan itu akhirnya malah terjatuh dan dia terpaksa tampil tanpanya.

McClair tak menyebutkan siapa pemain tersebut. Namun, di MU memang ada beberapa pemain yang menggunakan lensa kontak, salah satunya kiper asal Spanyol, David De Gea.

Kepada The Sun, McClair mengatakan, sang bintang itu selalu membutuhkan waktu sekitar 45 menit untuk memasang lensa kontak. Pada sebuah pertandingan, dia tampak kesulitan. Kemudian, rekannya membantu memakaikannya. Sialnya, lensa kontak itu malah terjatuh ke dalam air.

Karena pertandingan segera dilakukan, pemain itu tampak panik dan kemudian terpaksa tampil tanpa lensa kontak.

"Sang teman itu membantu dengan memegang matanya agar tetap terbuka. Entah kenapa, lensa kontak itu terjatuh. Saya tak bisa berkomentar bagaimana penampilannya di lapangan (tanpa lensa kontak)," kata McClair.

Tak hanya pemain, Manajer Alex Ferguson juga menggunakan lensa kontak. Oleh karena itu, mata sang manajer sering berubah-ubah, tergantung dari warna lensa kontaknya.

[zudomiriku]

Originally Posted by Andi Istiabudi

Lensa Kontak Jatuh, Bintang MU Panik

ini pas lawan Chelsea semalam? jadi penasaran sapa pemainnya. coba dilist sapa aja pemain United yg pake lensa kontak. pantesan kebobolan 3 gol, gak konsen seh krn penglihatan sedikit kabur .................

[Andi Istiabudi]

Originally Posted by zudomiriku

ini pas lawan Chelsea semalam? jadi penasaran sapa pemainnya. coba dilist sapa aja pemain United yg pake lensa kontak. pantesan kebobolan 3 gol, gak konsen seh krn penglihatan sedikit kabur .................

Menurut saya sih pemain yang dimaksud adalah De Gea, sebelumnya kan pemberitaan masalah matanya sempat ramai.