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Not the usual news story but an argued point of view.

Will Ronaldo Return To United?

Will Ronaldo Return To United?

In the weeks leading up to us buying Robin van Persie, I was reading the papers, speaking to journalists and following those claiming to be in the know to try and gauge what the likelihood was of us signing the best striker in the league. I had been repeatedly told that United was the club [...]

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Head Injuries and Wayne Rooney

Head Injuries and Wayne Rooney

The findings of a study into the long-term effects on the brain of heading footballs were published this week in the online journal Radiology. According to the report, footballers who head the ball with “high frequency” show piss-poor performance in memory tests, and have “brain abnormalities similar to those found in traumatic brain injury patients.” [...]

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How did Mourinho get on last time he was at Chelsea?

How did Mourinho get on last time he was at Chelsea?

Manchester United ran away with the league last season but probably didn’t receive the praise they deserved. Our dominance was explained away by the poor competition the other teams offered. There’s no denying that other teams should have pushed us more than they did, with City and Chelsea bowing out of the race months before [...]

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A Seventies favourite: Remembering Brian Greenhoff (1953-2013)

A Seventies favourite: Remembering Brian Greenhoff (1953-2013)

In our coarsened times there’s often a dismissive ‘show us yer medals’ mentality when assessing the contributions of former players to Manchester United, especially those that played in periods of struggle and failure. On that measure it has to be admitted that Brian Greenhoff can hardly compete with today’s stars, some of whom have honours [...]

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RoM Season Review

The weeks following the end of the 2011-2012 season were amongst some of the most frustrating in my life. Having given up on the title before the final day of the season, we were teased with the likelihood of achieving the impossible and clawing it back from our rivals. Our game finished and we were [...]

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Football. Bloody hell.

It is part of me now. Over a decade on and snippets of the commentary still float to the surface of my mind at least a dozen times a day. Standing in a queue for a cashpoint, ‘Can United score? They always score.’ Half asleep in the shower, ‘Giggs with the shot… Sheringham!’ Bored at [...]

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Keep Calm and Pass Him the Ball: Dimitar Berbatov, a retrospective

Keep Calm and Pass Him the Ball: Dimitar Berbatov, a retrospective

It was approaching 11:30pm on Monday 22nd April 2013 BFR. (Before Fergie Retired). The pubs – The Trafford, Sam Platts, The Tollgate – had been cleared and staff were starting the long, hard clean-up operation. The last, straggling cars in the many unofficial car parks surrounding Old Trafford were gunning their engines, preparing to leave. [...]

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TOP 5: Sir Alex Ferguson’s Greatest Challenges

TOP 5: Sir Alex Ferguson’s Greatest Challenges

1. Europe As mentioned in the last section, Ferguson’s long transition to a system that would work in Europe was one of the greatest challenges of his career, but he was wise that he had taken the time before to make himself untouchable. For it was a return to the bad old days of ta-ra [...]

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RoM Season Review: The midfield

RoM Season Review: The midfield

Michael Carrick It has only taken seven years for Carrick to get his own song and the praise he deserves. The players aren’t stupid though and voted him their Player of the Year. Think about this: United have never finished outside the top two with Carrick in central midfield. Paul Scholes In the summer of [...]

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RoM Season Review: The defence

RoM Season Review: The defence

David De Gea So Fergie has been proved right once again. The Spanish kid who had some dodgy moments (although that mistake at Tottenham was grossly exaggerated) has evolved in to the Premier League’s best goalkeeper. Only problem now is keeping hold of him when Real Madrid and Barcelona inevitably come calling. Rafael United’s most [...]

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Is David Beckham a Manchester United Legend?

Is David Beckham a Manchester United Legend?

At some football clubs it’s not that difficult to be remembered by the fans as a “legend”. For one club, it might be someone who has scored a lot of goals, for another it might be someone who is half decent and rejected offers from other clubs, at another it might be the person who [...]

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Confessions of a London Red

The text message arrived from Paddy at 5:44pm on Friday the 26th of April 2013. “You busy at 4pm on Sunday?” “Was planning to watch football down the pub, you?” I replied. “Was planning on watching football at the stadium. Fancy joining?” Did I fancy joining!…It was a good thing there was no-one else nearby [...]

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What to make of Wayne Rooney’s transfer request

What to make of Wayne Rooney’s transfer request

When Wayne Rooney released a statement last week denying the story that he had changed his Twitter bio to omit “Manchester United player”, you knew he wanted to leave. That week the press had also  reported that Rooney had met with Sir Alex a fortnight ago to tell him he wanted to leave, but Rooney [...]

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Do we care if Wayne Rooney leaves?

Do we care if Wayne Rooney leaves?

Wayne Rooney’s first goal of the season came on October 20th. In the months leading up to that point, with him missing games through injury and missing penalties through poor technique, I repeatedly argued that he was our most important player. He wasn’t playing well and he wasn’t scoring goals but with Rooney, more than [...]

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What do the fans make of Moyes’ appointment?

What do the fans make of Moyes’ appointment?

Daniel Harris – The Guardian and On the Road: A Journey Through a Season Seems odd to admit to it now, but I’d always kind of looked forward to the post-Fergie era. New stuff is exciting, United are exciting, and I was interested in whether a fresh perspective could retain what was best about the [...]

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