For large chunks of the second half of yesterday’s 2-0 win over Arsenal in the FA Cup, Manchester United fans repeatedly sung about Edwin Van der Sar. First his name was chanted, then “Fergie, sign him up!” followed by “one more year”, urging the great goalie, who was named Man of the Match yesterday, to delay his retirement. Van der Sar applauded the Stretford End during the game as the songs became louder and louder.
After the game, Wayne Rooney spoke to Van der Sar about the fans’ chants but doesn’t think we’ll get our way.
“The players are trying to persuade Edwin to stay on too,” Rooney said. “I was speaking to him in the shower afterwards but it is his decision and we have to respect it. He is such a great goalkeeper. Despite his age he is still the best keeper in the world.”
Sir Alex Ferguson hinted at the possibility of Edwin staying on at the club as a coach but is sure that the keeper won’t carry on playing.
“There is no chance of Edwin changing his mind, definitely not,” he said. “He’s marvellous, absolutely brilliant and a fantastic man. But I haven’t spoken to him about changing his mind. He has got his plans for next year. He is taking a break and going back to Holland, where he has a new house and he is going to do a bit of work there. Then he is going to return here for September when his son starts school in Wilmslow. I think that is his plan. He is going to take a break from football, then come back in. There are possibilities there for us, but first he is taking a break. He hasn’t made his mind up about what to do after that. He has had a long period in the game and is coming up to 41. He wants to spend some time with his wife because she has had a tough couple of years.”
Man Utd News 24/7
You do that Roon! Personally I think he’s not gonna change his mind but who knows if Stretford End keeps going and going and it finally reaches his heart.
Btw, a pathetic team Ciddeh is, 2 of their main men Twatvez and Silva are non English speaking idiots.
Lol do wayneboy and vds take shower together.Wayne you are a bastard.:D
But jokes apart vds is a legendary keeper for us but i cant see him signing for one more year.He will be 41 and its quite a lot of age.
It’s time to let him go
He deserves it and his family deserves it and after everything that he has given to us – and he still isn’t finished – it’s time for him to walk away with fond memories.
Without him we were lost – when he came we came back too
That is the measure of the man – just wish we had got him after big Pete – but it wasn’t to be – but what was will never ever be forgotten.
Their are many people that would have a Schmeical in a United goal – you know what Van Der Sar would always be the first name on my sheet – I not only respect the man I have deep appreciation for what he did for Manchester United and hopefully what he is about to do.
I salute you Edwin Van Der Sar
Memo to Mrs Van De Sar…… do you really want to break your husbands heart ……
I would love to see this great man stay on for another season, but it seems his mind is made up and after his wife’s illness, he sounds like he wants to spend more time with his family.
shitty – reading 0-0 half time
TonyBee
The great man is rebuilding his wife’s heart after her illness
Respect to the man
We’ll miss him like anything but we’ll never forget him.
Quite cheap there Wayne. Talking to him in the shower. Buy him a dinner ffs. He won’t get convinvced just because he saw Wayne junior.
So to deduce the following;
Wayne Rooney isn’t leaving because he’s asking VDS to stay
Take that you fucking lying bastard journos
Rooney said. “I was speaking to him in the shower afterwards…” LOL the image of rooney and vds chatting in the shower is hilarious
one thing that should be popping in saf’s mind that why didn’t he sign him earlier at that time when we were struggling for a goalie
We tried to sign him, before he went to Juventus, but baulked at the 8 million(believe it or not) asking price. Times have changed. Craig Burley has said, City have no ambition to get to the semi final. Do they fear the red half? In the future, City will be more attractive to watch lol.
We mustn’t let our feelings get in the way when it comes to VDS. He must love his wife dearly, and going out on a high is always better. So I pray for the Treble, day and night, to send off a man deservedly called a legend.
Craig Burley is borderline ok as a pundit, some of the time.
Evening Willie
Evening to you Cedars. City one up.
City it is then.
Thats good news, pity we will not play them at Villa Park or Goodison Park
Atmosphere at Villa Park is always mint when we play there, especially the evening kick offs. Wembley is just a bigger morgue than OT
http://www.facebook.com/EdwinVanDerSarStay
Let him and Anne-Marie know that millions of us want him to continue
City fans are a fuckin joke
Come on who didnt want the bitters
United, City It is, then.
(Steam room scene1:)
Wayne: I want you to stay.
VDS: Dude of course I am staying.
Wayne: Thanks man.! (hugs)
VDS: What the fuck?!! I am up here, you moron!
Wayne: Well, this is awkward.
(long pause)
VDS, a legend. Probably played a decade less for us than I would have liked him to. Nevertheless you won’t be forgotten, especially the goosebump-inducing penalty save in the CL final.
It’s gonna be shitty shitty shitty
In the semi final..
We’re knocking out shitty shitty shitty
35 years and again fuck all!!
Interesting. It’s shitty’s first semi final appearance in the FA cup since 1981!!
Yesterday’s match showed EXACTLY why we need to sign a proven international to take up the reins when VDS retires. As much as I would love to see some young talent come in and establish himself, we just can’t afford it.
I’m upset Mr. Mankini said we shall meet again in the final
Ah well s/f will do
Kings @ 17:35: “it seems his mind is made up and after his wife’s illness, he sounds like he wants to spend more time with his family.”
It seems to me that this “spend more time with his family” is a red herring. If he was so deeply concerned about his wife’s welfare then why did he not just drop his gloves sixteen months ago and call it a day ? When his wife had a stroke it was clearly a desperate time for the family but, according to everything I’ve seen on this subject, she made a complete recovery. And his kids are now nearly teenagers so even if he goes home, they won’t be around much nor want too much input from daddy(this is speaking from my own experience !) So, it seems to be that the real reason why he’s decided to hang ‘em up is that he wants to go out on top – that’s OK; indeed, it’s admirable since too many elite athletes drag on their careers for one extra day (or paycheque) and end up feeling like they’ve cheated themselves (The case of RedNev is instructive in this regard – he apparently felt DURING the match at West Brom that he really was past it and if he had had the choice he might very well have called it a day at half-time.)
But, whatever, Edwin’s motivation there’s no doubt whatsoever that finding a replacement is job-1 for SAF this off-season. He’s just go to get it right, first time – this time !
@MG
Citeh still have a replay. If they are anywhere as dire as they were tonight, we’ll be up against the likes of Ivar Ingimarsson and Shane Long.
Denton – if he says he wants to spend more time with his family, then maybe we should just accept it and not question him?
Have City even ever lay foot in the new Wembley? I might be wrong, but isn’t Old Trafford the largest stadium they have been to in a while?
Some thoughts on Michael Carrick: http://tinyurl.com/4ocwtcr
Thought some ROM readers might enjoy it or have thoughts?
RCM
denton davey – I thought schmeicheal could have easily played another 2 years at united, you look at seasons 99/2000 and 2000/2001 it was the 2 easiest premier league title victorys for united, heck with him in the premiership for shitty and villa he could have retired at united in the summer of 2003, has it would have been better than playing for 2 mediocre outfits.
@Rob
Good article. I liked the comparison to Xabi Alonso, as that is the sort of player I think SAF believes Carrick will be eventually. The trouble with him is that he has severe confidence issues and he might be a tad too old to sort them out. He still can be brilliant, but it is a big, big if.
Not an English player? Why not? He may not be as physical as most CDMs, but didn’t Xabi Alonso do well in the Premier League?
goal.com/en/news/1716/champions-league/2011/03/13/2393140/manchester-united-winger-nani-set-for-return-against
Nani to return??
Just heard there now, Heinze will be playing at center half on Tuesday. Fergie will be pleased to hear that, with his lack of pace.
@FITB
Interesting issue there. I think Schmeichel could have stayed in 99-00. He would have done better than Taibi or Bosnich. But his time at the top level was running out. Schmikes had a disadvantage that Edwin doesn’t. He carried more weight. At 40 years old, he could never pull off the save Edwin did last night.
http://www.goal.com/en/news/1716/champions-league/2011/03/13/2393140/manchester-united-winger-nani-set-for-return-against
willierednut
Could Hernandez start so with his pace? I’d love to see Berba and Hernandez with Rooney just behind the pair.
@RobMars
The one thing that annoys me about Michael Carrick now is that he can so much more. To reduce that to a purely defensive role is a shame.
Ryan – It’s possible mate. The boss might go with his experience for this one, though. I could see Hernandez coming off the bench, to good affect, in the second half.
willierednut – Personally I hope its Berba. If I was the manager I’d always have Berbatov for home matches and Hernandez away and interchange the strike partnership.
Then again I’m not the manager! ha
@dela
Thanks – I think I mean by a much broader point. He’s not the sort of player that English football gets. He’s not the sort we produce. He’s not the sort that England (as in the national team) understand or build their team around. We prefer players like Gerrard or Lampard. It’s one of the many reasons Scholes hasn’t been truly appreciated outside Old Trafford.
Yes, Alonso did excel in the EPL for 3 of his seasons here (In 2 seasons he was sub-standard). He’s an exception, sadly, for us all.
RCM
@ryandunny..Amen to that..Would love to see Roo behind Berba and Chico but don’t think it’s going to happen but then again we never thought we would see the twins playing on the wings so there’s hope..
All the talk about injuries has me thinking; what if Edwin VDS got injured? The man is so determined to go out on a high it would be a disaster if we were to lose him in the run – in!
Where has everyone gone?
Goodnight then Reds
yh i think it’s time to let the Legend go. he has sacrificed personal family time just to give his all for this club. i think the best way we could repay him is by standing by his decision. just let the great man be with his family. he has done us well. i salute you Great Evergreen Edwin. One of the great goalkeepers of his generation.
Nani gets attacked by
that scouse thug Carragher, he is
stretchered off n gets BOOED by the anfield crowd, A ‘domestic
violence’ between Sagna n Djourou
leads to a dislocated
shoulder, Djorou is stretched
off to a STANDING OVATION at OT.
UNITED= CLASS.
@Rob Marrs
Quite a valid point. That’s perhaps the only reason why I like the hype that Capello is creating about Wilshere- players of the Scholesy-mould seldom get their due in England. On the other hand, look at the adulation Xavi receives at Barca or Pirlo at Milan- it might just be a case of red-tinted glasses, but I believe Scholes at his prime was better than them both. We English bizarrely seem to have a thing for goal-scoring midfielders.
Just out of curiosity, which team do you support? I read a few of your articles and they were almost all unbiased, but there is no such thing as ‘unbiased’ in the English game, is there?
Morning, lads! Absolutely buzzing from the weekend results. Came on to RoM this morning and saw the Morrison goal and started wondering why all Mondays cant be this good!
Read through all posts, and nothing new to add except that I still differ on Gibson. I won’t slate O’Shea cos I know what he does, and I’m ok with that. But honestly, unless I watched a different match I didnt see Gibson have a huge impact. To me, the brightest spot about SAF’s team selection and tactics was the fact that he seems to be fully aware of the current limitations in midfield. He knows that Arsenal doesnt like fast wingpaly, so he tells the twisn to fucking go for it. get them tired. And then what does he do – he fucking brings on Tony V.! Absolutely brilliant.
At the same time, he knows that Arsenal attack through the middle and he aint got much by way of attacking threat in that department. So what’s the best he can do? He can snuff out their challenge – cue JOS and Gibbo. I didnt see too many attacks through the middle, it was Rooney and the defence diustributing play to the wings. And boy, were we helped by Diaby and Denilson! I’ll get slaughtered for this, but that midfield pairing would have had a much harder time against ‘pool or chelsea. But then, you can only beat what you play, so no complaints, me happy, credit where its due, and all that.
Bye lads, me off to fraternize with the arse fans in office!!
What the hell happened at the united, pool youth game>?????
Just heard hargo is back in trainin 2day..good news,imagine if he could get back to full fitness and start playin..the midfield wouldn’t look so bad after all..it’s a long shot I no but don’t rite him off yet..good luck hargo we r all behind u..
did anyone else hear those inbred stoke fans singing “stoke will tear you apart again”
MKCC: great news re: Hargo…btw, did anyone else feel Evra left in a bit of a huff? I got the impression he wasnt too happy about being substituted…or did he have a knock?
Hargo! we like his curly hair! the twins have them too! I’m keeping my fingers & all my straight hair crossed…..
I gear hargreaves AND Nani AND owen are ALL back in training. Hargreaves was actually running around from the pictures i’ve seen. TRIPLE THREAT!!! HALLELUJAH!!!! now hopefully hargreaves has broken his injury curse forever. WHOO i’m extra happy with the news.
Rai @ 19:46: “if he says he wants to spend more time with his family, then maybe we should just accept it and not question him?”
YEAH, BUT. In today’s Guardian Online there’s an article that says two things which are relevant to your comment: first, his wife is now completely recovered; and, second, he wants to go out on top. The crisis with his wife took place over Xmas and New Year 2009/2010 and he came back once she was OK so I suppose that IF TheLads had won the EPL last year then he might have decided then to get out while he was on top.
The “spend time with his family” line is just a smokescreen – the guy has another motivation. Good on him; RedNev stayed too long and I’m of the opinion that the GingerNinja will probably have been watching his team-mate and realize that he, too, can no longer play at his own exalted level and that he migth be best advised to leave one year too soon than hang on for one year too long. All of these guys have been making tons of money for a very long time – there won’t be any tag-days for them. The decision to retire is hard for a professional athlete but the wisdom/courage to go out on top is relatively unusual.
Obviously, playing footie has been a consuming passion for them for the whole of their adult lives so it’s a step into the unknown to walk away – it takes a kind of self-knowledge which is not always something that they have in abundance. These guys are the very best of the very best and, as such, they’ve been told for all of their adult lives that they’re “special” so it must come as a slap-in-the-face to realize that they’re no longer “special” but just another warm body – or, as Keane-o said, “a piece of meat”.
We want the best for Manchester United and the best for Edwin Van der Sar and his family.
For the time that these paths are coincidental, we are resolutely defended.
Be well, and well pleased, Edwin.
Have you convinced yourself first ?????
Don’t matter no more…edwins throwing the towle in. And keeper number 2 wants a defo move.
So come on fergie….