The Daily Mail claims that United are ready to get Ezekiel Fryers signed up to a new deal.
The Telegraph has a webchat with Mark Ogden on Pogba and the Europa League.
Kissed The Badge looks at Alan Smith’s badge kissing career.
The Mirror reports on Fergie’s claims that we need to be wide awake for tonight’s game.
ManUtd24 looks at Ashley Young’s knack for doing well without playing well.





Man Utd News 24/7




















Daily Telegrapgh’s articles on the Pogba story is modern morality tale of how low the modern game has sunk. Money talks….
We certainly do need to wake up tonight. Will be in the East Stand tonight hope our block is vocal because the Bilbao fans will be well up for it (as well as their team).
Good article on Bilbao’s coach http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/mar/07/marcelo-bielsa-athletic-bilbao-manchester-united
“When he arrived, Bielsa had watched their 38 league games last season, writing all the details on colour-coded spreadsheets. And that really is all the details – he says: “There are 36 different forms of communicating through a pass.” He watches thousands of games, building a footballing taxonomy, l
like some kind of botanist.”
A proper character. Looking forward to these two legs, expect United to edge it again by the odd goal.
Come on you Red Army. Letz show Bilbao the stuff we are made of.
Right, game in a few hours, let’s talk about that. Predictions, anyone?
@theboogeyman
Really hard to predict. I’ve never seem this team play, but I’ve heard lots of interesting stuff about their manager and tactics. A whole load of things could happen.
Given our home form in Europe, if they come over here with their experimental style and it works, they could well beat us tonight.
On the other hand, if we play to our best and their idiosyncratic gameplan doesn’t come off, we could run out comfortable winners.
Really no point in predicting a score, just hoping for a good game and a good result.
Also hoping to see both Cleverley and Anderson get some minutes under their belts.
On young ,he is that player that never get involve for 70min,but his 20min of real play will give atleast 3 assists with 1 goal.In football it is not how many minute u play well,but how many goals u score when u are not playing well.
I’m having a problem with the Europa league,when a team like Stoke don’t give a fuck what exactly is this fucking thing
WRN
Hey Willie, whats your spidey sense telling you about tonight?
@wayne
Stoke “don’t give a fuck” because they don’t have the resources to give one. The worst mistake a mid-table team can make is to take their ‘mid-tableness’ for granted. That’s when they find themselves in a relegation scrap.
Stoke may look comfortable in the PL, but who’s to say that “giving a fuck” about the Europa league, and committing their strongest squad to it every week, wouldn’t have turned the 14-point gap between them and 18th into – say – a 4-point one, because of having to rotate substandard players in for league games. All of a sudden they wouldn’t look so safe.
Their squad lacks quality and quantity compared to ours, by some distance. They simply don’t have the luxury of pursuing the Europa League, for which they would need their strongest team every week.
kanchelskis-
Seen one game of theirs this season, against Barcelona. Not enough to pass any judgments, but like you say, keep hearing good things about Bielsa and their team right now.
I hope Cleverley and Ando get back to their early season form, they were unstoppable then.
wayne – Teams like Stoke don’t have pride, they’re happy with being shit. At United, we should try to win every trophy we enter, doesn’t make a difference if it’s the Club World Cup or the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.
Seems contradictory when a player is winning games through goals and supplying assists to say he’s not playing well.Young is doing his job, fucking stupid to say he was below par against Spurs but scored to great goals
kanchelskis- Beat me to it. Well said!
Stoke are small time, a nothing club with a nothing manager. Blinkered English bollocks. All that’s wrong with the game – placing two spots higher in the Premier League is more important that bringing home a trophy from abroad? That’s the game gone mad, with money replacing glory, romance and sense.
Martin O’Neill didn’t give a shit when at Villa and where did it get him? Where did it get Villa? Redknapp didn’t care but he’s won one FA Cup in 30 years and that’s all he’ll ever win. Sir Alex, Mourinho, Benitez have all been at the top of the game and taken it seriously recently and in the past winning the thing didn’t to much harm to Van Gaal, Bobby Robson, Franz Beckenbauer and Bill Shankly Heck, it got Andre Villas-Boas a big job and payout. I’m trying to imagine how Stoke and Tony Pulis are at all relevant in European football and I can’t think of one reason.
Kanchelskis hi mate have to disagree not a chance in hell Stoke will get relegated they see Prem position more important than winning the Europa league,must be a reason why most teams don’t give a shit about it
wayne says:
“not a chance in hell Stoke will get relegated”
You might’ve said that about Leeds in 2001 when they were in the Champions League semi-final. 4 years later they got relegated and haven’t been back in the PL since.
I know Leeds were financially mismanaged, but it goes to show that you can take nothing for granted. With the resources that they have, I believe Stoke are perfectly entitled – and probably sensible – to focus on their PL position rather than a European trophy which they probably wouldn’t win with their strongest squad, and which they qualified for through a cup competition and by default having lost the final.
Theboogeyman hi mate I agree we should try and win it but not at the risk of fucking up title chances,just like Stoke did Utd should play 2nd stringers if we win it fine
It’s in my blood – Beef chow mein? Lol. I think we’ll go a little something this: DDG, Rafael Rio Smalling Evra, Nani Carrick Giggs Young, Rooney Hernandez.
@WRN
I’d be surprised to see Evra in there … think Maybe Carrick should take a breather too. Rooney’s just come back so should be relatively fresh.
Methinks:
DDG
Rafael
Ferdinand
Smalling
Fabio
Young
Jones
Giggs
Nani
Rooney
Hernandez
I think we’ll need Carrick’s composure on the ball. We got outplayed against Ajax in the middle of the park last time. Fergie put out a young team, and that near cost us the tie. Need experience out there. Don’t think Jones will play in midfield. Love to see it though. And there’s Anderson back in contention. How fit is he atm? Maybe a risk to play him from the start. This team are nobodies mugs. Our lads have been complacent in Europe. Especially at home.
Bebe reputed to be in the squad for tonight?
@WillieRedNut
Yes, but we’ll need Carrick’s composure on the ball against WBA, which is a more important match. I believe he hasn’t missed a single minute of PL football since November and I think Fergie will want to keep it that way. If he sees a viable alternative to playing Carrick tonight, I reckon he’ll go for it.
@parryheid
Really? Europe waits with baited breath!
Will be interesting to see what happens with him at the end of the season. Guess 6 months out means Besiktas won’t have seen enough to know whether it’s worth taking him off our hands permanently.
kancheskis.
according to Red Cafe not confirmed yet but they are generally on the ball.
Kanchelskis – If that viable option is Anderson, he might just go with Carrick. This game tonight is the most important, because it’s our next game. I favour the league also, but we have to take care of Bilbao first. Then we can start to worry about West Brom.
@WRN
I get your point, but our players are only human. Carrick has played an awful lot of football this season. There’s no point having a deep squad (which we do) if we’re not going to rotate. Giggs sat out most of Sunday, so I should imagine he’ll start. I would be comfortable seeing Jones start alongside him tonight.
Wayne regarding Stoke not caring about the Europa League, They know They wont win it anyway. United always tend to want to win any competition They get involved in. Expectation levels at both clubs differ a lot. Personally Premier League is priority for Me, Europa League? Will be great to win it as well too.
id go with
DDG
Rafael
Evans
Smalling
Evra
Carrick
Giggs
Young
Nani
Rooney
Hernandez
Pogba/Fryers/Morrison Related topic (most are now anyway)..
I was reading some articles online.. and I came across a player I totally forgot about….
Tiago Manuel Dias Correia aka Bebe..
Now Manchester United, The Manager went and signed this guy on a recommendation.. without seeing who he was.. but knowing that his background came from an undeveloped type background..
Now I believe Fergie made the right choice with Morrison (his attitude stinks).. but if we went on to do that with Bebe.. an unproven player… surely Manchester United couldve done something with Pogba??
a player rising through our ranks.. a player whose ability they see day in day out.. a player whose signature almost resulted in a transfer embargo??
not forgetting he plays in the position where we are not exactly in our strongest right now..
what are your thoughts guys??
@Alom
I think by now, it’s been pretty much agreed that the whole Bebe deal was a sham, cooked up to pay Jorge Mendes some commission which he felt he was earned from something else (the Ronaldo sale?).
It’s also not comparable with the Pogba situation inasmuch as Bebe’s not throwing his weight around trying to get more money. Giving in to Pogba’s demands would open the floodgates to a dangerous, unstructured and uncontrollable wage structure which would undermine the values of the club. Nothing is more important than that – we must never lose sight of long-term vision and sustainability.
One more must read in a week were TalkSport actually had a positive piece on United (unusual).
Now there is a pro united piece from Alan Hansen in the Telegraph.
He points in the fixture list now favors United. From Alan’s analysis, the epl trophy will still have red ribbons on
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/9122412/Manchester-Uniteds-winning-mentality-means-they-can-edge-out-City-and-remain-Premier-League-top-dogs.html
Some facts from UEFA (via manunited.com)
Athletic have never won in England (D1, L6);
United have beaten Spanish opposition only 11 times in 41matches;
David De Gea has played three times against Athletic (for Atletico Madrid), winning 2 and losing 1;
If Unite win the competition, Sir Alex will become only the third manager to have won all three of UEFA’s major club competitions (Currently: Giovanni Trapattoni and Udo Lattek)
This is a huge game for Atletico: have scored in every game away from home in the Europa League.
They have passionate and very vocal fans. Hope the lads have their singing voices tonight.
I agree with Sir Alex. We’ve got to be WIDE awake this time. This is a Marcelo Bielsa managed team. Capable of keeping the ball for long periods of the game. We have to get up in their faces anytime they touch the ball and please Sir Alex NO RESTING PLAYERS. this is a big one we have to win. COME ONN UNITED!!!! Hopefully no away goals conceded today.
@kanchelskis
Thanks dude.. put very nicely.. and yeah those are some points I did not see when writing my previous points..
puts those thoughts to rest
City kicked off, here’s to some season ending injuries to Silva, Kompany et al…
United to finally find some European form at home. 3-0 victory!!
Mikekelly12 – you might get you wish, Kompany limping.
Hehehe my hex is working! Kompany limping off with what looks like a calf strain!! Silva next!!!
@Mikekelly12
This some voodoo shit right here!
BBC live text: “This is bad news for Manchester City. Bad news indeed. Captain Vincent Kompany has pulled up and is coming off. Possibly a calf injury. He had his hand up instantly.”
Quick! Wish for more stuff!
Mikey12 put the hex on Vincent!
Mikekelly12
Don’t stop with Silva, haha you jinxy so n so!
Btw, Cedars anyone?
Come back Cedars, i promise not to take the piss mate.
Well, no i don’t actually, but come back anyway!
Smartalex? C’mon son, show yourself, miss your big booming voice!
James?
Kanchelskis. Agree about Bebe, that deal always seemed a bit off. Still thought it could become a bit of a fairy tale. Kid from the streets. I still hope he gets one united moment that we can all be proud of, but maybe not to be. My information is he is recovering from a bad injury picked up on loan in Turkey.
As for Pogba, it is like buying a house then. If someone is willing to pay 1 million, then the house is “worth” on million. Makes no difference if the locals think it is junk. But this story does have its dark side.
We heard that Pogba was asking for 40/week and that United were offering 20K/week. Now it seems that he is off for 15/week. Seems something else is going off. I think Fergie has been offended by the entire affair and the kid himself may be wondering about it. Still, a million/year plus fees paid up front is probably good business from their perspective.
Anyone know what Morrison got in the end? Heard it was in the same neighborhood (15K/wk +/-)
Hubble bubble toil and trubble, Silva ligaments burst the bitters bubble!!!
Kompany is hurt and taken off? I wonder what happened?
Some chants for tonight as The Noise won’t be there.
We are just one of those teams
That you see now and then,
We often score six
But we seldom score ten,
We beat em at home
And we beat em away,
We kill any bastards
That get in our way;
We are the pride of all Europe
The cock of the North,
We hate the Scousers
The Cockneys of course (and Leeds!),
We are United
Without any doubt,
We are the Manchester boys.
I see the Stretford End arising,
I see trouble on the way,
Don’t go out tonight,
Unless you’re red and white,
I see there’s trouble on the way.
In the US GolTV is showing Man Utd tape delayed 2 hours after kick off!!
Poldolski to the Gunners.
Evening reds,
match day
My possible line up..
De Gea
Rafael Smalling Evans Evra
Nani Jonesy Carrick Young
Rooney Danny
Fuck, that lemon eaters game is boring.
Mikekelly, whats up, you’ve left Silva on?
Balotelli could only make the bench tonight, because he caught a dose of crabs? Well, he was in Liverpool last weekend…
1878 hello, COME ON LADS!!!
FletchTHEMAN- I think he will get 6 months soon.
Zibbie
Mikekelly has been at the voodoo stuff, got rid of Kompany, now moving on to a brew from Macbeth to take care of Silva!
Hail thee Mikekelly!
My friend was 6’3′ and had back hair at 19, he got the crabs so bad he had to shave his whole body to get RID of them.
I saw that !!!!!!!!!!!!!! VOODOO WHO DO!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA
IIMB a Silva hammy or groin would be fine. Say a 3-6 week affair.
TOM C. IS BACK!!!!
Balotelli was asked, what his favorite drink was? He replied, “Bushmills, of course”
Any rumours about 2night’s line up?
Heard ando will start!
Norwegian youngster Mats Daehli has signed professional terms with the United as he turns 17.
Congrats to Mats and good luck stepping up to the Reserves son!
Surely some team news?!
Willie that or a Micky? To be 20 a millionaire man whore footballer. He has an assortment of STD’S!!
I per-dick, 11 will play for both teams.
Per-dicked
Starting line up
De Gea, Rafael, Smalling, Evans, Evra, Park, Jones, Giggs, Young, Rooney, Hernandez
Bench: Amos, Ferdinand, Fabio, Anderson, Carrick, Nani.
Great to see Smalling back. Get in United
$hity down 1-0!!!
Be nice for Lisbon to get a result so the bitters have to play a strong line up in the return leg!
DDG, Rafael Smalling Evans Evra, Park Jones Giggs Young, Rooney Hernandez
Fletch you are the Man!
Nice, I wounder if Smalling will have a helmet? If he does I hope it is Red with the Red Devil on the sides.
Come on Rafa!!
Jones in MF!!?!!!
FletchtheMan.
That the official lineup> If so that’l do for me.
Where is berba?
Welbeck, Fabio also on bench:
Complete subs: Amos, Ferdinand, Fabio, Anderson, Carrick, Nani +Welbeck, Fabio
Rooney can drop back in MF and Park will drift in the middle to help Jones shine.
Here is the source of the line up
http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2012/Mar/Live-Manchester-United-match-coverage.aspx
FACT: Ryan Giggs is one game away from equalling Maldini’s record (902) for the longest-serving one-club man in history
Kind of a weak midfield there imo. Since Ando is fit, why not start witha traditional CM?
Tom not even on the bench? I guess he isn’t ready yet.
Zibbie.
If hes not got a helmet it means circumcised.
Shitty are losing the plot.
Playing shite against mediocre opposistion.
I was worried for almost half a year. Now I know they wont win the title.
No EL no PL but hey!!! NEW manager and new mercenaries.
Come to think of it Pogba should join them. He fits the bill perfect.
My preference for Nani over Park, but a strong team none the less.
Ruudboy; well I read it somewhere
Fact: with todays game, Ryan breaks Maldini’s record of club appearances in Europe
Costas
Ya I heard he will be available against west brom on sun. But not today!
Great line up though but where is scholsey??
Not a natural midfield pairing. Could be a frustrating evening for us.
Berba getting rested for West Brom I take it…
FlecthTHEMAN
What a Legend he is… Tipping him to get 2 assists tonite plus a goal to cap it
3 – 0 to The Red Army
Athletic Club Starting:
Iraizoz; Andoni Iraola, Javi Martinez, San Jose, Aurtenetze; Iturraspe, de Marcos, Ander Herrera; Susaeta, Llorente, Muniain
Subs: Raul, Toquero, David Lopez, Koikili, Inigo Perez, Ekiza, Ibai Gomez.
Llorente, Muniain, Martinez and Susaeta, all very good players
@lebomanc
Quite possible that Tom is getting prepared for West Brom. Although Carrick will also return for that one. I think Scholes was rested.
Watchin the bitters game it appears city have employed someone for the sole aim of patting players on the back as they come off. Some trampy looking fella did it for Barry and Dzeko!! He’s probably on £90k a week!!
would have prefered carrick in midfield to be honest to act as a screen in front of the defence bilbao have good ball playing midfielders
Wait a minute….didn’t Ferguson admit he made a mistake sending an inexperienced defense against AJAX? Is Rio injured?
Jones and Giggs in CM? Rather like some hero predicted…
Ruudboy: Bilbao tonight will be the 112th different club Ryan Giggs has played against for United in competitive fixtures (via Michael Crick twitter) Legend!
Zibster,
hello pal,
what a team!!
what a gaffer!!
Big head!
Kanchelskis,
Only other time they have played Jones and Giggs in CM we lost to Basel 1-2
First time bitten……
Get is there U Reds
Anyone have a link for the game?
902 wow, how fucking cool is that!
Jones in Smalling at CB together is to young, you pair Evans who has played CB for 4 years now is no kid. Evans is a strong 3rd CB for any team.
CMON UTD !
great Line UP !
De Gea has hideous facial hair LOL shave bro !
Bilbao are a very good team for us to verse, a challenge that will attract many to this game.
Anybody seeing the Man Titty game? How good is Ricky Van Wolfswinkel? Linked with Utd, how do the ROM Scouts rate him?
Pogba is moving on because of Jones. He is the future MF box to box ruler of the PL in years to come. I never saw Robbo play, but I’m watching the next great English player. I see more offensive skill in him then I saw in Keneo. Carrick is almost the perfect player and age to let Jones develop into a world class MF force. He will help him as a mentor of sorts. With Giggs and Scholes schooling him as well.
All over in Lisbon. Cittay lose 1-0.
link?
watched last 5 mins of council game..
how the fuck did Kolarov escaped the red card?
Sporting could have easily scored the 2nd with that brisk counter…
fuck it anyway..
the best club in the world will play in less than 10 mins..
cheers
Shity lost 1-0, haha spot on Mikekelly they have to field a stronger squad now on the return leg!
My grampa would kill me if he saw the way I was cheering on Sporting. Hahahhaahahha Viva Sporting
Hopefully it will be a draw on the return leg or maybe even a Sporting win!!
@RedNation
Im a fan of wolfswinkel he’s a lot like Huntelaar but works a little harder to get possesion
Zibbie, Tunnicliffe even more so. Next Keano like player that will scare a few. Home grown english players being developed to their full potential will be 220% United for years to come. Love our commitment to youth players. Get in United.
Lets not get ahead of ourselves.We’ve gloated about City’s European results before this season, only to turn in worse performances ourselves. Fuck them and Sporting. Bilbao is all that matters now.
Berbatov’s love life,
try this,
http://atdhenet.tv/
or try this,
first
row
sports
.(dot)
eu
I m going with 3-0,
Rooney
Young
Jonesy
Come on United!! We will win 3-0, Giggs and Rooney to score
Come on United!!!!!!
3-0 United….. Thursday nights, channel 5!!!!
Oh channel 5, is wonderful, oh channel 5 is wonderful…. It’s full of tits (colleymore) fannies (city) and United, oh channel 5 is wondeful!!
Thanks Justin10RvN
I like Klass- Huntlaar, so this Ricky Wolfwinkel would probably impress me.
Looks like Rooney is not interested playing on Thursday nyt
COME ON UNITED!
Exceptional ball by rooney there
@sandeep : yeah that shot was mental
ROOOOOOO
Sooner or later Bilbao are going to get one of their runs spot-on coz our boys are just not reading them at all.
Phil Jones needs to be more commanding in midfield and shield the defense.
Shit….knew it. We’re loosing the midfield. and this is doesnt looking like getting better
no surprise there..it was coming..
its again from our left flank..
Oh dear. I dread the second half. Giggs the best player this half!
Also haven’t seen evra defend. Common patrice! Defend for fucks sake! Some of the interplay between rooney young giggs chicho has beem great
Wow. Its getting worse now
Horrible horrible horrible
Absolute shambles. Pathetic. Its like we’re playing barca
And that was offside
We are better away from home this year….
we’ll snatch a win in spain. I Shall BELIEVE.
Rooney’s pass rate and Hernandez’s lack of shooting in the box shows we’ve been 4-5 seconds behind Bilbao all game.
Munain has been untouchable.