Join bwin and get a free £20 bet for Man Utd vs West Ham
It’s been a long time since we last won the FA Cup and every season the desire from the fans to win it seems stronger. We have played in two FA Cup finals since we last lifted the trophy in 2004 and were desperately unlucky in both.
In 2005 we were knocked out by Arsenal on penalties after battering them for two hours. This was when the rivalry was still fierce between the two clubs and it was absolutely gutting. I was sure that Tim Howard would be subbed on to save the day, with him surely the better option than Roy Carroll for penalties, but Arsenal scored all of their penalties and Paul Scholes missed one of ours. The journey home from Cardiff was long and silent, with my dad and I opting not to discuss the game for fear of winding the other up. I spat my dummy out, angrily sent a text to a few Arsenal fans I knew saying how bloody jammy they were, and they gleefully responded agreeing with me.
The next FA Cup final was at the new Wembley after upsurping Chelsea from the top of the table to win the league, following three years without. On the train down to London we were held up for an hour or two after somebody committed suicide further down the line. “Mourinho’s lost his bottle!” someone joked, probably not in the best taste. That awful start to the day should have been an indication of what was to follow. It was a dreadful game of football, again going in to extra time, with both teams dead on their feet after a long, hard season. Four minutes before full time and penalties, Didier Drogba scored. The sick feeling of two years before wasn’t quite as strong but it was still hard to stomach. At least that season we had the consolation of the Premier League, even if those gimpy Chelsea fans were jumping around singing “chin up if you’ve won the cup!”, mimicking Mourinho’s reaction to Chelsea losing to title at Arsenal a few weeks earlier. Looking back, it’s incredible to think how close we were to winning the Double that season, when at the time I was terrified on a weekly basis that we’d end up potless again. It was a cracking season though, one of my favourite, but we just fell short at Wembley.
We’re now approaching the ten year anniversary of our last success in the FA Cup which is too long for a club like ours. As Sir Alex Ferguson will remind us every year, Rio Ferdinand has never won the trophy, missing out on the 2004 victory over Millwall serving his unjust eight month ban. With the possibility of him hanging up his boots at the end of the season, at least for United, it would be nice if he could get his hands on the medal that is missing from his collection. He obviously isn’t the only one though. Looking at our current squad, Giggs, Scholes and Van Persie are the only ones to have won the FA Cup.
The FA Cup dream for 2013 was almost ended very early on, with United needing substitute Van Persie to keep us in the draw with a late equaliser against West Ham. After selling tickets for £20 at Upton Park, United have opted to charge full price for the replay, with tickets ranging from £30 to £52. West Ham were offered 9,000 tickets but have only taken 1,400, and it’s unknown how many of those have actually been sold. There are 100s of tickets still on sale in the home stands too.
A game against Fulham awaits us, with United handed the favourable home draw, meaning a return for Dimitar Berbatov, but we have to beat West Ham first. Thankfully, we should see the return of Nani and Rooney tonight, after both have been looking good in training. We should all be desperate for Nani to have a good game, following Valencia’s poor form and Young’s recent injury. Valencia will probably start though, after being dropped for Liverpool, as will Chicharito.
“We’ve got a big squad but it’s also an important tie for the club,” said Ferguson. “We want to try and have a go at this FA Cup. We haven’t had a run for a long time, two or three years, as we had some bad draws of course. We’re at home and we have got to take advantage of that. If we get through, we have got another home tie so there’s a big incentive for the club to make sure we get through.”
Come on United!
Join bwin and get a free £20 bet for Man Utd vs West Ham
Man Utd News 24/7
Let’s wrap this up and enjoy our game against Fulham!
Recent record between United and West Ham 4W 1D 1L in all comps.
But United have won 8 of 9 and kept 7 clean sheets at Old Trafford.
Hope Ando and Cleverley get to run this. Nani and Rooney back for the goals.
A must win game but we also have to pick the right team. Some players have to be rested for Sunday.
Hopefully that fucking welbeck not playing
Cant wait to see Nani.
Surely he has to turn it round.
It is his big chance to stake a claim with Tony playing so badly and Young out.
Check this out Utd fans getting fucked by all clubs
http://fourfourtwo.com/news/england/117529/default.aspx
@wazza!!!!
Basically, fuck off.
Wazza is a fucking idiot all he does is come on here and take shots at Danny,just a retarded cunt looking for attention
Read a couple of interesting rumors Real Madrid to release Kaka on a free and WS doesn’t want to play in Turkey still wants Utd,transfer fee of 8 mill and 120k a week wages another thing some lads were saying WS and RVP hated each other,WS voted for RVP for player of the year
De Gea
Rafael Smalling Ferdinand Buttner
Nani Anderson Kagawa Welbeck
Rooney Chicharito
Subs: Van Persie, Vidic, Evra, Cleverely, Amos, Giggs, Scholes
@wayne
If it were down to me I’d bring in Sneijder no questions asked.. the man might have hit a slump, but I see him as a perfect successor for Scholesy… 28 years old is the primes of a footballers career… hell, we brought Sheringham when he was 31 years old…
Wayne, Can’t see us in for Kaka. We’ve never really needed that type of player, other than to sell a few shirts. Has he even been playing regularly.
Speaking of rumors…. Zaha price droppin like a stone according to the Daily Fail. These idiots don’t have a single clue.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2262676/Manchester-United-bid-6m-Wilfried-Zaha-48-hours.html
Dont think this comp is rated too highly on the clubs wish list at least not till around the last eight as will be shown with the team selection tonight.
Parryheid,
No reserves if that’s your thinking. Amos might be on the bench if Linde still has his illness. We will blood some of our returning team, Nani, Rooney, Smalling, Evans. But I am betting De Gea in goal and a pretty strong defense. Interesting if it’s Büttner over Evra.
We didn’t win anything last year and Sir Alex is well aware that the likes of Rio, Vidic, Carrick, Nani have never won the FA Cup. We havn’t won it since 2004 which is a bit long. Sir Alex has actually said as much for the last 2 years, and repeated several times that he wants to win it this year. We do need to rest some players, but I think it will be a strong team.
Fletch hi mate maybe not Kaka but for 8mill think WS would be a good signing he’s only 28 and one of the best passers in the world
Yeah don’t think Zaha is going for 6 mill with Sir Alex watching last nights game have to think Utd’s interest is real
Wayne Gods save us, not Wee Wes again?!
Ha, problem won’t be his transfer fee. He is on 180k/week. That’s not going to happen here. That’s another one I don’t think we will happen. Nothing wrong with the player, but these lads are on silly money. That’s why both clubs want to get them off their books.
Parryheid, United need an FA Cup run. We earn about £3m in matchday income per home game. As Scott quotes indicate, Sir Alex is well aware that winning tonight guarantees us at least 1 more home tie since the 4th round draw is already known. The winner of the competition also gets £1.8M this year and there is additional money for televised games, which all of ours have been.
I don’t think I’m sold on either Kaka or WS. To be quite honest they have both hit very barren patches over the last couple of seasons and I think there are better players for us in the market.
If we have a fully fit midfield we have Carrick, Ando, Cleverly, Kagawa and increasingly Rooney so I’d be looking for a Busquest type player that breaks up baly and can play a bit as opposed to a creative type. In fact if I was bing perfectly honest I’d prefer Lampard to either of those two.
Bobby Charlton’s combover says:
I’d be looking for a Busquest type player that breaks up baly and can play a bit
You mean Michael Carrick?
By now we could have cloned Keano.
My guess for team:- de gea – roony pea – nani scholes ando giggs – jones rio smalling buttner
Subs: amos valencia macaeda RVP carrick
Gill says we’re interested in Zaha and if we were to make a move it would be in the summer.
Why have Fergie and Gill started commenting so much more openly on transfer targets? Fergie did it with Moura in the summer and it didn’t even come off.
Anyway, wouldn’t be happy with those comments if I was a Palace fan.
@NBI
Hope Scholes and Giggs don’t both play. We do want to win this match, right?
De Gea
Jones
Smalling
Rio
Buttner
Nani
Ando
Scholes
Welbeck
Rooney
Chich
@kanchelskis
granted, they have a lot in common but busquets puts himself about a bit more and we could do with that. I’m not saying him specifically as he wouldn’t leave anyway but someone who puts the boot in a bit.
6mill for Zaha I say go for it, 12-15mill?? are we liverpool to offer crazy money for unproven players?
Best option would be buy him for 6-7mill and in the summer get Iker Muniain, no matter does Nani stay or leave.
People rave about Isco, but gotta say that watching both play Muniain and Isco, Muniain is far better player than Isco and is younger and a futre spanish international and DeGeas best friend.
PS. can’t wait to see Nani and Rooney back in action!
Wesley played hard to get and look at him now…he should have come when he had the chance and look at where he is today benched and being shoved out of the door by Inter. Basically, you are not worth it to Inter Wes.
Will he be worth it for United. Depends, if he drops his wages, low transfer fee and can still compete at top level….Inter must be kicking themselves for not forcing him out to us earlier. But we bought Kagwa instead.
@BC’sC
Yeh, that extra dimension to Busquets’s game makes him the superior player.
If we are to sign a top-class midfielder, I’d prefer someone in the box-to-box mould, eg Sandro / Fellaini (who I know is more advance now but can still play up and down the middle of the park)
@ kanchelskis
You may have the formation spot on but in the absence of wingers I think SAF may stick Ryan on the LW. I think Ryan could do a job there for 45-60 mins. Then I would chuck on Valencia and move Nani left or maybe Welbeck if we need a goal.
West Ham supporters Club Chairman Felix Fellatio has been arrested as lewd claims of a bestial nature were verified on youtube. Videos of Felix taken at work, at home,and around town; show his cat Bubbles in seventh heaven while Fellatio lives up to his name.
Grapevine has it that the Hammers fans will be singing a tribute to Felix tonight at OT.
Chances are, Gill’s comments are to distract rather than to inform.
I have always seen Carrick strength as an attacking MF, that is why he did well alomgside Fletch. His passing range and vision are underused when he plays a defensive role, he can do it but it wastes some of his ability. He is more playmaker than play breaker and I agree we need a dedicated playbreaker.
@NBI
Giggs is a weird one. He went through that phase of partnering Carrick in CM a couple of seasons ago when it looked like he’d adapted his game perfectly to play there and it was our strongest central pairing.
How he seems to have lost the ability to play there, and looks better as a winger again. Agree that if he lines up on the left tonight it would make him less of a liability than playing centrally.
Fletch The Man.
Understand the financial aspect,but this is a distant third in the clubs eyes and most supporters.Nice to win this but doubt any gambles will be taken with the players who matter for us tonight
Guardiola to Bayern Munich. Contract til 2016 confirmed.
Very, very interesting…
Pep’s headed to BAYERN MUNICH. Knew this for a while. WOW. This should be REAL good. Chelsea are stuck with Fat man. AHAHA.
Until 2016? Suppose he’ll need another break from football after that, so that makes him eligible to succeed Fergie from 2017 and beyond. Dodged a bullet right there…
Carrick is still a playmaker but deeper, he’s never a number 10, he lacks the dynamism to play further forward but his ability to read the game, intercepts, ping more often than not accurate passes around is best used from a deeper position, that’s his most effective role.
Ronnie making interesting noises according to Soccernet. If its true he wants to return, and this is the first time i’ve considered it seriously, then really our finances are the only thing holding it back and thats a sad state of affairs. Still though even an eventual return is promising, just hope age doesn’t catch up with him. Not to mention hope we destroy Madrid…
Why does nani get brought up everytime an attacker gets linked to united?. If people aren’t looking to involve him in a mythical swap deal, they’re looking to hound out of the club. Fergie recognises his quality and is looking to get him to sign a deal.
Pep to Bayern for a couple years, then we will see. Could be perfect.
Still wants to manage in the EPL. Conspiracy theories will start! HA
Carrick is magnificent and has been growing better as time has passed. Still the thing is unlike other positions we have no cover for him, maybe fletcher is the only one. And carrick does contribute as a playmaker as well so thats a double whammy considering his defensive responsibilities. A box to boxer would be good cover.
Pep to Bayern lol real big challenge,fucking joke,have to love him snubbing Rent Boys and the Whores though
Also Pep is immaterial as long as Sir Alex is around. Barca is far greater than a sum of its individual parts. This is the real test for Pep. This is where he shows if he deserves a seat at Old Trafford.
medumtum – my grandmother who loved her football and sport, she passed away in early 2011 she made 3 predictions
1 – she said Andy Murrey would win a grand-slam, and get to a Wimbledon final
2 she said bale would become a world class player back in 2006
3 – and she also said ronaldo would return to united
Despite I find bale a tad overrated, he is a world class player, she has got 2 predictions spot on, could she make the hatrick of predictions, only god knows
You know Bayern are pretty much equal to Manchester United, right? They’ve won more domestic and European titles than United, the idea that that Bayern is “lol real big challenge fucking joke” is kind of embarrassing. Moving from Barca to Bayern is a sidewards step because there’s no upward step he could take. If he moves to us, then it will also be a sidewards step.
that’s a safe enough move by Gaurdiola. Never thought for a second he’d go to Chelsea.
Looks like he’ll be ready for United in 3 seasons when Fergie is 75.
Pep signs a 3 year deal at bayern. This makes me happy. It means we have sir alex for 3 more years
and thankyou bayern for keeping pep on form in the mean time. Doubt he would have been at the same level as he was at barca if he was out the game for 4 years!
Guardiola is an intelligent manager, he’s taking over a club with the stability and heritage to build great things, was never going to city or chelsea.
@Fergie is the Boss
Wise women your gran, God bless her. Hope she is right. Agree about Bale.
@wayne
That’s what I thought too. A safer environment compared to what he will encounter in the Premiership. Won’t lose many domestic titles with that lot. What will be really interesting will be how he does in Europe.
Munian are much fast and direct attacking and isco are skillful and very good to make a killer pass so this two lads are little bit diffence if we can get one of these two I will very happy
On the same day he says he wants to manage in the PL he goes to manage in Germany.
If he does want to manage here, what does that say about the possible clubs? We know both Chelsea and probably City will probably be on the lookout for managers in the summer. Does this mean Guardiola is categorically not interested in either of those clubs? Could be…
Dan .. But nobody watches the german league other then people who live in germany. Look at the cost for tv rights to the premier league. The best coaches and players that arent money motivated want to show their talents on the biggest stage of all, and there isnt a bigger stage then manchester united. On the other hand you could turn down a move to united and have the greatest manager in the world help you fulfill your potential in exchange for money at psg coff*moura .. Who watches the french league anyway!
P.s. ‘dan’ what kind of a gay ass name is that!
Dan – the top jobs are hard to come by, and pep cannot wait around hoping fergie retires so he can get the job, working as a top manager is like playing a guitar, stop playing and you can get rusty. Plus pep took over a great group of players, this will be a different type of challenge, it also tests pep himself if he is actually good enough to manage a top club.
COLD in Manchester tonight. Let’s hope any Mediterraneans / S Americans in our side are prepared for that.
ex ESPN:
United are part of a ‘Gang of Four’ top clubs with Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham pushing for the Premiership to implement UEFA’s financial rules in full which would oblige clubs to break even.
Another group of clubs – Chelsea, Manchester City, Fulham and West Brom – are opposed to any form of regulation but it looks likely that a compromise will be agreed at the next meeting on February 7 which would allow owners to cover a fixed amount of losses.
Gill said: “It’s a debate – we’re having a discussion on financial fair play. The impact of the new TV money has clearly focused the minds. Seven or eight clubs are going to have to abide by UEFA’s regulations in any case. The league are working on this and will put a paper together to be discussed at the February meeting. Whatever’s decided is dictated by 14 clubs.”
@Dan-Young
Seriously lame name, man. Sort it out, son.
Ha, anyway. The Bundesliga has the highest average attendance of any league in Europe (I’m 99% sure I read that somewhere), they also have the same Champions League co-coefficients as the English leagues. There are also plenty of world class players in the Bayern squad (Neuer, Lahm, Ribery, Robben, Lahm, Muller, Gomez, Schweinsteiger etc). Remember, Bayern paid 40 million for Martinez in the Summer, so they’re probably in a healthier financial position than us. I would say Manchester United are at a similar level to them as far as football prowess goes, remember they reached the Champions League final last year, whereas United were out at the group stage (and believe me, I’ve been trying to forget about that ha). If we were to play them in the Champions League, I’d say there would be no favourite in that game.
Their historical pedigree is top-notch as well, plenty of marvelous players over the years and as I said, they’ve won more domestic and European trophies than United in what has always been a competitive and strong league. You’re right, there isn’t a stage bigger than Manchester United, but there are several clubs at the exact same stage. Bayern are one of those clubs.
Ooops, mentioned Lahm twice in my last comment. He’s just too damn good ha…
Off topic.
Apparently the club are selling half season tickets and around 2,000 have already been snapped up. If you ‘ve got a couple of hundred quid lying about after Christmas it may be worth a punt. I’ve heard many have been sold since the Madrid draw. Can’t remember the club as ever selling half season tickets before. Despite the costs of attending games these days, as a United fan it’s probably the best time to get tickets on a pretty regular basis.
Watch out, he’s Second Dan.
@dreaded dan……boom boom
@dreaded RED….dan on the fucking brain ..that’s depserate.
Bobby’s locks – boom boom yourself!
Admittedly Kaka would shift some shirts but i for 1 think he would improve our 1st 11. The guy has it, he just ain’t a Mourinho man.
Costas exactly mate if a manager wants to continue to pad his resume with no risk or pressure go to the dominant team in another 2 or 3 team league
Conspiracy theorists saying Pep has it already worked out with Sir Alex,I. See it as a kop out
With liverpool’s hopes of European participation fading fast for the foreseeable future, perhaps they should start their own League Of One (LOO)
Going to the LOO would enable them to add another crown to their busted flush.
Hey wayne! What’s up? All good here, sunny days, balmy nights; and matchday is here.
@Rd5454
maybe that’s why I prefer Muniain, cause he’s direct, but that lad has more closecontroll though than Isco, watched some games and it proved me right.
Muniain has teared Barca at the age of 18 when they played against each others two times last year the lad was on fire. and Isco couldn’t do much this season and he’s 22, but he played very well against Real Madrid.
Anyway, Muniain is a better ballcontroller and a faster option. I hope he comes to us and DeGea advises SAF and him to join us.
Dreaded hi mate cold weather,7hrs of daylight and visit most little shitholes in Alberta,just pulled into Sangudo as I speak will be listening on the radio
Just living the dream mate.lol
Suarez latest vomit:
‘I am accused of cheating here. People say I throw myself all the time inside the box. Let’s see: they said that when we played against Stoke, for instance, and in that case they were right. I invented a foul because we were drawing 1-1 against Stoke and I wanted to win.’
‘Sometimes on the pitch I say to myself, “what have I done?” But the name of Suarez sells papers. The other day, for instance, I touched the ball with my hand accidentally, and I was criticised because I kissed my hand.’
‘The media make up a lot of things about me. I say to the media: you should talk more about football, not about other stuff.’
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -
So, he admits to cheating against Stoke.
wayne – walking in a Fergie Wonderland!
A cup of cheer will see you right, as we cheer United on to the cup. It’s dismal to only have radio coverage, although much better than nothing, no doubt. How are the action replays?
I’m taping the game watch it later,when I’m on the road radio is better than nothing action replays could be better mate
TV here started in ’76, with live `United coming on air in the ’79 final. My first game.
When do expect TV around your parts? Just kidding. Around here, if you watch any sport, you know a lot about the Premiership. At the very least you can go to almost any pub and ask for it.
What did Pep Guardiola’s move to Bayern do for English football?
1. Proved once and for all that English football ITKs have absolutely nothing to offer.
2. Returned england to the way it was since Pep retired. Still waiting for the return of the special one!
3. Made Owen Hargreaves slightly more relevant then he was 5min
before the announcement (Waste Of Space)
Dreaded get all Utd games on TV I’m just working for the CL games I rearange my whole week and take the day off FA Cup radio and watching it later is fine
I’d take Kaka over Sneijder. Then again, both of them have had their injury problems, so perhaps maybe no thanks. Fellaini would give us something different, so if anything he’d be a good addition. Still, the need for someone more defensive minded would be prefered, to eventually take over Carrick, or simply to rotate with him. Who would have thought replacing Carrick could be so hard
Isco munain.. Fucking hell, granted they’re all talented but united have enough young players coming through and wanting an opportunity, it’s not going to happen. Quit the buy everyone football manager game mentality. Deary me!
When did fellaini become a defensive midfielder? He gets brought up constantly without the acknowledge that he actually plays further up the pitch as a second striker. Fergie will never buy a water carrying basic defensive midfielder, he prefers an all round top midfielder. The game these days is all about readingof the game and intercepting than crunching tackles. Rule out the Tiotes and De jongs.
Reports that DeGea is not on the coach. Lindegaard and Amos!
I want to see a midfield 3 of anderson – scholes – fletch tonight. I dont remember seeing that combination before
ManUtd Starting XI:
Lindegaard; Rafael Smalling Jones Buttner; Valencia Ando Giggs Nani; Rooney Hernandez
Marq .. Thats what tunnicliffes for. Cannot wait till hes 22/23 and commanding our midfield
Bench: Amos Carrick Rio Scholes Kagawa Welbeck van Persie
@samuel
cmon dude, it’s an effin opinion, AND IKER MUNIAIN would be a great answer.
which players coming???? if they come through, it’s not guaranteed that they make it.
Cmon dude, it’s not like it’s football manager, it’s one effin player. I would buy Iker Muniain at the age of 19 than waiting some players to pop up and shine our world, which rarely happens at the wings for us.
beckham comes in mind lately.. and it’s what 20 years since?
It’s not football manager. It’s being sane and reasonable. That’s a ridiculous statement from you who understands football. Was Kagawa a crazy buy? or do we wait someone to pop up?
So when people said buy Ronaldo at the age of 17, you would say:
No lets not buy him and wait for academy players.
Where are those academy players that would have made it without Ronaldo? Richardson? Eagles?? Not any did pop up, and is not popping up at the wings. IF Zaha comes, he would be one, but he’s not ours.
@samuel, does any winger pop in mind for you from our academy to be a star winger?? Maybe Januzaj, but he’s 15 or 16 or 17?
And don’t say it’s different with Ronaldo,
We know NOW that Ronaldo is a different class, but you wouldn’t know that he would become like he did. We knew he’d be great, but not that great.
And so many spanish talent coming through, so why not catch Iker Muniain at the age of 19, HE TORE US APART! TWICE!
cmon dude, be reasonable and don’t bring us down, soon as we mention one name. Nobody dismissing you.
Rafael Smalling Jones Buttner;
Our future back four??? or fabio in it?
Love the line-up.
CMON !
Wayne, that works well. Enjoy both versions mate. See you later.
Come on United!
West Ham XI Starting XI
Jaaskelainen, Spence, Tomkins, Reid, Potts, Diarra, O’Neill, Diame, Taylor, Vaz Te, C Cole
via Mark Froggatt
West Ham Bench: Spiegel, Nolan, Jarvis, Collison, Demel, Lletget, Lee
SAF makes 10 changes from the team that faced Liverpool
Big Sam makes 6 changes from the team that faced Sunderland.
@samuel
Nani came here at the age of 19-20, where you against it?? or waiting for academy players to show up?
I think you got the picture.
I would be the first one to want a new David Beckham to play for us again, he was the reason I started rooting for ManUtd while watching him at the 1998 world-cup. So yes, of course I want academy players to show. But it’s not going to happen for wingers.
I know that Iker Muniain can play also as a AM, but he can play in the left and the right, imagine him and Kagawa switching positions also with Rooney there, and Nani at the right. Now tell does that sound good.
end of story.