Re: Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours
 

as mentioned in Football365, sir alex was very "ballsy" to start with wellbeck, rvp, rooney and kagawa. when i saw the team sheet, my first thought was : wah, sir alex expecting newcastle to score, so he better have players to score more than newcastle! :D

rooney played as an attacking midfielder. in fact, it seemed as if he, kagawa and rvp were all attacking midfielders leaving wellbeck as the target man. newcastle's make-shift defence must have been caught out as they would not have any idea who to mark as in an attack, all 4 of them were there! :D

kudos to united's defence for the clean sheet. de gea's save on the line was outstanding. sir alex should just stick with him.

Re: Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours
 

Good game overall... any game without nani is good...

Re: Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours
 

Great win by Utd to reversing the 3-0 loss we had last season here. Finally Ferguson started Cleverley, but my question which is still left unanswered is did the whole of the ball cross the line??? Anyways Newcastle had their luck against us at Old Trafford last season when the referee wrongfully awarded Newcastle a penalty which gave them a 1-1 draw.

I am already looking forward to the Oct 28 game against Chelsea at the Bridge :D

Re: Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours
 

seen the replays many times. the whole ball didn't cross the line. this is especially obvious from the camera at the top of the goal and when it is played in slow motion. great save by de gea. :)

Re: Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours
 

Why old fart not blood Powell and Butner more?? Given our defensive woes (even if both defenders scored). Evra is past his prime. and Evans is still wet behind his ears. Ferdinand's slooooow ...just as Bale out ran him;)

Re: Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours
 

powell and butner will play more in the capital cup bro.

i do agree with u that evra has been really off-form. but the game against newcastle was quite the opposite. he has had his best game for a long time! let's hope that he can keep up that standard of play at least for this season so that butner can really settle into united.

ferdinand's pace is gone. but with vidic, jones and smalling all also out, we really have to make do with him and evans. or u prefer carrick partnering evans? :p

i would say letting rooney sit on top of the midfield as the linkman to rvp is a good move. wellbeck's and nani's play are both not up to expectations. so playing rooney just behind rvp, with valencia at the right wing, supported by cleverley (playmaker), carrick (defensive midfield) and kagawa (right midfield), may be the best formation for united now. :)

Re: Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours
 

Capital cup is consolation. Imo, both Powell and Butner shd be up to EPL task and demands (not exactly 'new'). Nothing to lose, with us relying on 2 RoD players.

And Carrick/Evans partnership, no never. Evans still 'green' and with both defenders hitting the net last sun ..let's hope it's not a flash thing.

Seems the diamond formation is working;)

Re: Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours
 

latest news is that both jones and smalling should be back in full training real soon. jones is even targetting his comeback game on oct 29 vs chelski. :)

yes, it seems like a much trimmer (and fitter) rooney is revelling at the role on top of the diamond. :D

Re: Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours
 

Dun worry too much, Powell and Buttner will get their time in the Capitol One cup and FA Cup as well. They will also get their time in EPL matches at home against lower opposition. I felt however Cleverley deserved more playing time and not stick to the old pairing of Carrick and Scholes. Playing the diamond is good but not effective against some teams a.k.a Chelsea which we must stick to the usual 4-5-1

Re: Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours
 

Rooney named England captain

Wayne Rooney has been named England captain for Friday night's World Cup qualifier with San Marino at Wembley.

England boss Roy Hodgson has given the armband to Rooney with regular skipper Steven Gerrard missing the visit of San Marino through suspension.

Gerrard's obvious replacement Frank Lampard has also been forced to miss the game at Wembley after failing to shake off a knee injury.

Joe Hart, who had also been mentioned as a possible contender for the captaincy, backed Rooney for the role earlier this week saying the Manchester United man was the ideal candidate to take the armband.

It means it will be the first time Rooney, who has won 76 caps for his country, will lead out his team for a competitive game as captain.

Gerrard will take the armband for next week's qualifier with Poland after serving his ban against San Marino.

Rooney said at a press conference ahead of Friday's game: "It's a great honour, it's something I'm really proud of.

"It's a big challenge for myself, I'm really looking forward to it and excited, and hopefully we can cap the day off with a good victory."

England boss Roy Hodgson added: "I've enjoyed working with Wayne, we had a good Euros and I enjoyed working with him there.

"I was disappointed when he got that terrible gash and I was even worried it could rule him out of not only the September games, but also the October games.

"Luckily he's made a very quick recovery and now he's available for the games, and he'll certainly captain the team in the first one."

Hodgson was unwilling to offer any further insight into his team-sheet for tomorrow's meeting with the joint lowest-ranked team in the world, with speculation in some quarters that key men such as Ashley Cole could be rested ahead of Tuesday's clash with Poland.

"I haven't spoken to the players about the team," he said at the televised briefing.

"I guess Wayne Rooney realises he's starting the game because he's sitting alongside me as captain of the team."

Re: Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours
 

Neville hails 'hungry' Rooney

England coach Gary Neville believes Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has turned into a lean, mean fighting machine.

After receiving a huge amount of criticism for his sluggish display during United's defeat at Everton on the opening weekend of the Premier League, Rooney has benefited massively from the time off he was forced to take when he suffered a badly gashed thigh against Fulham.

Although he has still to get off the mark for his club, Rooney has been outstanding in a midfield role behind Robin van Persie and marked his first competitive game as England captain with two goals in Friday's win over San Marino.

And England coach Neville is delighted with what he has seen.

"Rooney is best when he plays like the street kid; fights for every ball, loves playing football, wants to take every free-kick, every throw-in, tackles, heads, fights like he has the passion to win," Neville told BBC Radio Five Live.

"The last couple of weeks, coming back from injury, I've seen a lean, fit, hungry Rooney. He looks like he is up for the next challenge in his career, to maintain his position at Manchester United."

Van Persie's arrival at Old Trafford and Danny Welbeck's impressive form means Rooney can no longer be guaranteed a forward berth.

Not that Neville necessarily believes that is a bad thing after seeing former team-mates Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes have managed to prolong their careers by adapting their approach.

"At the age of 26 you always have to think there's more to come," Neville added. "You can't get to the age of 26 and think 'My best years have gone'. He has to challenge himself.

"He has great examples of players who have continued to do that in Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.

"Giggs has gone from a flying, out-and-out left-winger to someone who now plays off the front, inside-left and central midfield.

"Scholes was a goalscoring midfielder, off-the-front number player when he started playing as a 16-year-old. Now he's a holding midfielder who controls the game.

"Rooney is still a centre-forward, but he'll adapt over this next 10 years to continue to become someone who's thought of in the same way as those two players."

Re: Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours
 

Dear fellow United fans. It's been a long time since I am here. It's great to see this thread alive and kicking!

Glory glory Man United! As the Reds go marching on on on!! :)

Re: Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours
 

wah! welcum back bro! missing in action where ah?? :D

Re: Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours
 

Glory Glory Bros :D . Back to EPL action against Stoke at Old Trafford this saturday and great to see all Man Utd players for England and other countries went through the internationals unscathed.

Re: Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours
 

Ya! Welcum back to the scene bro. Looking forward to your contributions to this thread and other sections. HeHeHe!