Ahead of Robin van Persie’s decision to choose Manchester United over Manchester City, countryman and former red, Edwin Van der Sar, advised him to join United.
Having met up with Van Persie at Sir Alex Ferguson’s statue unveiling, Van der Sar has revealed how happy Van Persie is at United.
“Robin is really happy in Manchester – in fact, he is over the moon with the choice he made to go to United,” he said. “It is well known that Robin spoke to me before he made a decision about his future and I told him what a beautiful club Manchester United is. The fact that it is all working out so well now, with Robin scoring so many goals in his first three months at the club, is absolutely fantastic. I met Robin when I travelled to Manchester to see the new statue of Sir Alex Ferguson being unveiled at Old Trafford last week. And I can tell you that Robin absolutely loves his new team. Of course, it could have worked out very differently. After all, he had been a big rival of players like Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes for eight years as an Arsenal player. But the lads at United know that Robin adds real quality. In fact, he is in the superior category.”
Man Utd News 24/7
SecretAgentMan.
Cedars was right for wanted him badly…
He certainly did better than Evra who courted Nasri and Hazard lol, maybe we should get him to have a word with all our transfer targets. There is a rumour SAF may be looking at Ozil.
RVP is evidence that sometimes you need to splash out on established, mature players, rather than always signing young ‘promising’ players.
For every Bebe, Bellion, Obertan combined, there is a ready made Van Persie.
I dont object to youngsters signing and developing. Sfer all, we have Rafael, Hernandez etc, but United should show more determination to sign established stars. They pay off.
van the man we love him too
Heads up: applications for Liverpool now open.
Keegan you can say that again. The rooney saga opened my eyes. We were starting to rreally miss out on estabilished players. When the barcelonas were beefing up with the sanchez’s and cesc’s we were buying bebe’s obertanls and yet we wanted to match or better barca
what a brilliant start he has had – one wonders where we would be right now without RvP’s impact. The squad would obviously not have the same level of confidence in terms of coming from behind to win games – I know it’s supposedly “in the DNA of the club”, but Robin has given us the amount of talent and ability required to snag 3 points from a losing position so often, which inevitably gives the whole side a boost. Without Robin in our team we would not be able to get away with playing such all-out attacking football every week, and it would be foolish to assume that our defensive problems would disappear entirely if we played more conservative football. Also, Rooney would not be our creative spark like he currently is, we would be relying heavily on him for goals and, as everyone on here I’m sure realizes, we would be feeling the impact of a sub-par group of midfielders much, much more. Obviously the need for more quality in the midfield is still plain for all to see, but Rooney has made this problem far less glaring. I’m not saying we don’t need to sign a big time player to strengthen our midfield, but I am delighted that SAF chose / was able to sign RvP (while deciding Rooney would play a deeper role) instead of passing up on the chance in order to make a big money move for a central midfielder. All in all, it seems to have been great foresight by Fergie at this point.
@Mitch Kramer
Well said.
My other hope is that the depth of the squad which we’ve now achieved with RvP’s arrival pays some dividends. Without being vindictive, I just hope City get some injuries! They had an absolute whale of a time on the fitness front last season and, Micah Richards aside, they’ve had similar luck this season. I see Silva could be out for Sunday, which would be nice. But if they were to have anywhere near the injury crisis we had last season, for the remainder of this, we’d walk the league.
if the ozil rumors are true, that’s fantastic. he is an incredible player in my opinion and he would make united a truly terrifying opponent. all the la liga worshipers / tools who go on and on about how if any team in the world played in la liga they would not be able to finish in the top 2 – they would all have something new to think about. likely in the form of nightmares.
Nice.
@kanchelskis
Thanks buddy, I’m sitting in the basement of the London Library procrastinating my ass off, and there is no better way to do so than with RoM. I do think RvP’s arrival has added squad depth up front and will hopefully lessen the amount of injuries the team faces. Some may say that adding another striker to an already impressive group of strikers won’t REALLY help us out too much on the injury front, but it certainly can in a few ways. Obviously Rooney was out for a bit at the start of the season, so it was crucial we had RvP to step in and step up at that stage. RvP’s arrival also means that we are not too troubled by Valencia and Nani currently on the injury list (Nani’s “injury”, as some speculators might say), while Young’s unimpressive form, Saturday aside, has not been a huge cause for concern. We can play without true wingers if we want to or need to, in a 4-3-3 or using the diamond midfield, and we look increasingly dangerous when doing so. The fact that we can put in some pretty legit talent out wide on the wing when they’re healthy will continue to keep teams guessing, and give Fergie more options if Plan A doesn’t seem to be working. If anything, RvP’s arrival has made the squad far more versatile, which in certain respects can be even more advantageous than having a deep squad that can only really play with one style or formation. In terms of city’s players picking up some knocks, i think and hope your wish will be granted. Their top players all had a grind of a season last year (Argie troll aside) and since they were all relatively healthy they played in a helluva lotta games. Not to mention a lot of them played in the Euros this summer. You could see Silva burning out and becoming less effective towards the end of last season, my guess is that you will start to see something similar from the likes of Toure and Kompany as well. Here’s hoping.
United loves RVP. Credit to all you fans who sing your lungs out for the lad at games, making him feel right at home. It makes me smile something goofy to hear it–wish I could be among ye.
@Mitch Kramer
Yeh, as the season’s gone on, you realise that the RvP signing didn’t quite represent the overlooking of the ‘midfield issue’ that many thought it did. Rooney will play wherever he’s told, and has put in some really good work both at the tip of the diamond, and sometimes even deeper, this season. RvP’s consistency plus Rooney’s flexibility has meant that one signing has increased our options threefold: in the forward line, in the number of formations we can play, and in the central midfield personnel.
It’s almost like Fergie knew what he was doing!
From presser: Rooney will play vs Cluj. Kagawa could make bench vs City. Vidic won’t play either game.
Great!
Can we buy neymar now
Where’s angelo the kid, anyone ever heard of him…
Can he get some minutes now
DECEMBER 4, 2012 AT 15:23
kanchelskis says:
“From presser: Rooney will play vs Cluj. Kagawa
could make bench vs City. Vidic won’t play
either game”
Playing rooney tomorrow with a must win ‘derby’ just a few days away would be totally unnecessary
@kanchelskis thanks for the news. That would be MADNESS if we play Rooney against Cluj. I agree with Proverb. We have a huge game coming on Sunday you want your players in the best possible shape and not tired AT ALL. Hopefully he comes out of the game unscathed. Happy to see Kagawa might make the bench against City though. Gives us a genuine threat from the bench just in case things aren’t going our way by the second half.
Fergie’s logic – and it’s hard to argue with it – is that Rooney is much better off the back of a run of games. We know his form goes in broad peaks and troughs. After scoring a couple last weekend, I think it’s actually a good idea to let him maintain his momentum in a low-pressure game. Can always get him off after 60.
He could hv joined other teams but he decided to choose united. That’s speaks a lot of his desire to be at this club.
Crucial signing for us this year. Robin loves the club and we are lovin having him. Such a poised and skillful player is just what we needed. Many of us were worried about his past fitness issues, but he seems to have hit a sweet spot and may that long continue.
As to how important. 10EPL goals and just look at the large number of our winners this year.
)
Like the weekend v Reading. Never gets down on himself or the team when we go down. That is character that fans love to see. Saw a stat recently that his 10 epl goals are off of 50 shots/23 on target.
That is real accuracy AND real efficiency. Poise in front of goal. As opposed to Young and Nini who seem to put the tea lady in more danger than the opposition keeper (thats just a joke lads
Great to have him on the team. There is a nice pic from training this morning of Robin chatting with our dutch skills master Rene. Hope they start a wonderful collaboration that filters down to all our youngsters as well!
A lot seem to be pointing at Nani leaving in January. Just heard that he’s been left out of the club’s 2013 calendar. No smoke without fire methinks. If he ends up leaving, i only pray we get a better replacement.
@Dromole
De Gea and Rafael have both been ‘left off’ the calendar too. Guess they’re on their way in January, right?
I heard many people fantasize on their preferred team for sunday with valencia in it
Is there a realistic chance of him taking part in sundays blockbuster match vs shitty?
Has he recovered
Robin Van Perfect … we love you too
Just seeing the quotes from SAF presser.
Rooney to start? Can’t really see a need for it, but might have to do with the lads Character. Just started hitting form and will gain loads of confidence if he gets a goal v Cluj. Hope it’s the right decision.
Hoping we see Petrucci and Henriquez, Tunni Cole and Lingard all need games as well. Not sure we will have that many other senior games for them going forward so it is very important to see them tomorrow.
Other injury updates:
Kagawa might make the City bench ( surprising but good)
Vidic back in training today buy says he won’t play tomorrow. Needs a bit more fitness.
With Young and Jones back this is very very good news for Dec/ Jan
With Sundays game, we play 7 games in December. Adding the FACup draw on Jan5, we play 6 in Jan.
We need the entire squad and getting Vidic and Jones back is going to be crucial looking forward.
Bring on Cluj and then its time to MAN UP for the Man Derby.
He’s lost that little razor sharpness he’s had in front of goal season but he’s a formidable player, has brought that dutch class i thought he’d bring. Some said this signing wasn’t necessary but you’d have to be stupid to turn down a world class player. VanPersie’s flexibility has also given the team a different dimension.
Apparently we’re in for Lewandowski. If true and you can pinch as much salt as you like, that would surely mean Rooney going back almost definitively to midfield with Lewandowski joining RvP, Chicarito and Danny up front.
Proverb
All I know for sure is that Valencia, Jonny Evans and Anderson were all missing at open practice today.
Steve Bartman just posted that Valencia could be available for City. Bit surprised but that might be the source of the speculation.
Some talk that Ando will be available for City, don’t know were that is coming from either.
Cheers.
@samuel
Yeh, there have been a couple of odd misses. Like the pen vs Southampton, the chance when he stole the ball from Federici on Sat, and the one (can’t remember who against) where he was clean through and tried to place it, ended up tamely giving to the keeper.
Other than that, he’s pretty much the same player that he was for Arsenal last season.
Thanks @FletchTHEMAN
If true then good, he’s a very important player and it would be a massive boost
As for ando well….
Kanchelskis – i guess we can forgive him for that, i don’t think missed chances bothers him, he dusts himself and hunts for another chance, hallmark of classy players. he really has improved united in an attacking sense. He’s also come in with hunger and right attitude which meant he has seamlessly adapted to united’s mentality.
@samuel
That was what was so impressive in the Southampton game. To have the strength of character, having missed the penalty and with United heading for 2 defeats in their opening 3 games, to sniff out the chances and complete his hat-trick to win the game. Absolutely immense.
RVP’s arrival has helped Chicho heaps, he’s admitted it himself. He said that there is nothing better than to study and learn from Rooney and RVP.
Glad to know former United players are still trying to help the club -even just by a bit- when they can
. Since we have so many Dutch players, convincing Kevin Strootman to come over to OT wouldn’t be a problem eh 
?
UNITED ABSOLUTELY LOVES ROBIN VAN PERSIE and you Edwin <3
Robin Va Gora – Ha Sanchez? Yeah he is pulling up trees the over rated fat head cunt.
Kanchelskis @ 15:13: “RvP’s consistency plus Rooney’s flexibility has meant that one signing has increased our options threefold: in the forward line, in the number of formations we can play, and in the central midfield personnel.”
Really perceptive comment. Keep them coming.
I’d also add that having TheWayneBoy and RVP makes sense of KagawaBunga’s signing AND leaves a way forward to play without wingers – very few teams nowadays play with wingers and UTD’s insistence on doing so is one of the reasons why the midfield is often out-numbered and over-run.
Bruno Gomes has confirmed to Terra Brasil that he will join United when he turns 18 in 2014. The Desportivo Brasil striker has broken a goalscoring record at Under-17 level and admitted: “Thanks for the queries from other clubs but I already have plans in Manchester and I want to make history at the club.”
I must say I’m really pleased with the sqaud at the moment. As for Anderson, we should not give up. If RVP could overcome his injuries, Ando too will. He will be scary if he plays for a full season without getting injured. He has the makings of a world class midfielder. I will post a link later comparing Scholes and Ando. He didn’t do too badly. IMO since SAF seems bent on selling Nani, his replacement should be Mario Goetze. The lad is pure gold. He is the best attacker in the world in his age bracket. Neymar is basically over-hyped and will struggle in the Premier league, Goetze on the other hand is the real deal. The day he puts on a ManUtd shirt is the day paradise comes down to earth for me. A fantastic talent.
So I brought up the topic of signing Sneijder and most of you seemed opposed to the idea. Imagine the combo play between RVP, Rooney, Kagawa and Sneijder. We have decent players in the midfield but no superstars that can win a game single handedly (besides Nani who looks on the way out). Paul Scholes can’t play forever, Anderson is consistently getting hurt, Carrick is not creative, Fletcher may not be the player that he used to be, Nick Powell is one for the future. So why all of the negativity about the possible swap?
OK, Bruno Gomes (pronounced “GOMESH”) could grow on one.
via footballfancast.com
Sir Alex Ferguson has invited 16-year-old Brazilian striker Bruno Gomes to train with United for further trials. The teenager, who has trained at Carrington before, is on the radar of many top European clubs; however it seems he has his heart set on signing for United.
“My goal is to become top scorer in the league, being the first Brazilian to do so, while also to be English champion and to win the Champions League,” said the ambitious youngster.
“[Ferguson] is a legend in Manchester, where everybody respects him and to be close to him was great. In fact, he only asked about my position and if I spoke English. Then he talked with the club representative who took me to Manchester,” he added.
The cure for premiership forwards constipation is imminent
THE RETURN OF VIDIC IS NEARING.
@redharry – no vidic tomorrow or at the weekend according to fergie. Said that vidic is still just short of full fitness about a week more. Disappointing but I’m not sure vidic would have been ready to slot right in for the city game anyway.
What do Man City and pound coins have in common? They’re both brilliant in England but useless in Europe
So from tonight’s groups, United could get Porto, AC Milan and Real Madrid in the knockout stages. Ouch
Scary thought
I would be scared if i had to face dortmund, their game is really leaps and bounds over any english team
Massive performance = Masive club = Massive result = Massive strides in Europe = Massive record in Europe
Ouch! Record = Only English club to ever go out of CL at group stages WITHOUT winning a game
For a laugh there is always shitty for everything else there is Barclaycard
Want to hear a joke?
Man $ity and Ch£ls£a
Rvp is awsome.but please when the time come to replace fergie make sure its mourinh!
City finally reveal how they will enter the record books for the Champions League:
Only British team to ever finish the group stages on 3 points and without winning a single game.
Roberto Mancini: “Is difficult when you don’t score goals”
Well City had the hardest group. Im pretty sure they would’ve advanced if they had easier group. Still, splashing so much money and not advancing 2nd year in a row its fucking hillarious.
I think Wes Sneijder should join now also,
Inter want him out badly and I’d slot him straight in beside Carrick. Imagine him providing the ammo for Wazza, RvP and Tony V.
Amazing the difference a great player can make, having gone so long without signing one…
I think we did the work to sign Van Persie when we stuffed the Gunners 8-2. You could see his frustration on the one hand, and his admiration on the other. He saw the light, eight years at Arsenal and they get turned over like that. Time for a change.
Further to Proverb’s comment. In addition to porto, madrid and milan from today’s groups, potential opponents out of tomorrow’s groups are (1) benfica or celtic, (2) bayern or valencia and (3) shaktar or juve (or no one from that group in somewhat unlikely event chelsea goes through, which requires them to win and juve to lose away). Biggest worries would be madrid, juve and bayern. Assuming that uefa is corrupt, hopefully that cuts in our favor as I think the benefit of a glamour madrid or bayern v united matchup in first knock-out round is outweighed by detriment of losing one of those glamour teams.
Hello Kevin Strootman, Edwin here…
Gotta admire Dortmund
Plays proper good football & brings through unknown players for fun
keegan4england
I completely agree with your comment @14:03. However, it is a sad reality that had we not been burdened with Glazer-imposed debt, we could’ve afforded RVP at least three years earlier. Then we would’ve been the beneficiary of RVP’s best years.
Saad,
Three years earlier rvp was on the treatment table. He didnt really get over his fitness issues until the second half of 2 seasons ago. He has been on a run of good fitness and form for approx 2 years.
And putting sneijder next to carrick makes no sense. Sneijder is your classic #10. We now have rooney and kagawa who can play those positions. To be frank, getting sneijder would be a waste of money. Besides his huge wages, he is 28 and will start to decline in a couple years, and is probably still injury prone. If we are to lose nani, there are plenty cam/wingers out there. Someone like gotze is out of our price range but there are a few decent wingers/cams in la liga like isco and muniain, etc, thst we should look into…but i dont think nani is going anywhere.
We need to sign a proper box to box like strootman. He is scoring goals for fun this season, averages 7-8 tackles per game in europa so far, and makes driving runs just like anderson. So basically he is a tall and fit version of anderson but is more adept at tackling and has a better goal return. I love ando, and his talent is undeniable, but if he cant sort out his fitness issues he will be replaced soon enough.
I know the hamstring issue isnt related to his knee, and it could have happened to anyone, but he will have to continue to make progress with controlling his weight or this could be his last season with us.
IF sneijder is available at 10-12 mil why not go for him?
imagine the creative from midfield when we play sneijder rooney rvp kagawa in the same team..
it would be ”better than sex”
And concerning the derby i think we shouldnt expect any surprises (kagawa, valencia) if they don’t get any minutes tomorrow vs cluj. Makes no sense rushing them into such an important and difficult game without match-fitness. I believe we could see kagawa on the bench tomorrow, but valencia is probably out. No idea whats up with him, but im dreading going into the congested holiday fixture list with only 1 winger, who happens to be having an indifferent season.
Im expecting the same lineup that we played vs reading, minus ando and plus cleverley.
…………….lindegaard
Rafael…..rio……..evans…….evra
………..carrick…..fletcher
…………………cleverley
Rooney………………………..young
…………………rvp
Basically a 4-3-3 type system
Also i have to say it is a shame how we are handling de gea. I think he is being punished for the little trick he pulled vs an opposing teams defender (i forget which game that was, but it is the last game he played for us recently so im guessing vs villa). Last time he pulled a cryuff turn he got reprimanded and dropped for a few games. Looks like it has happened agin. Theres no way anders should be starting over de gea unless de gea is being punished again.
@rohan
I don’t suppose creativity is what we need, we are scoring the goals as it is already, its our defence and the midfield pairing in front of it that is killing us. Sneijder won’t help us any bit. Besides, you would want to check on his injury record for the past 2 years before thinking he will be playing alot
“In fact, he is in the superior category.”
This is why we signed him. For all who doubted whether we shoud have signed him or not. And if another player who is also in the superior category becomes available at a reasonable price, we should also sign him no matter the options we already have for that position.
Worst possible scenario is us losing to the bitters on sunday.
Fucking hell, a british pound coin is always useful in england
But we can do by shortening mankini’s stay in the sense of battering them on sunday. I’m for the view that if we beat them by a very convincing score line, mankini walk…
I can’t take a loss on Sunday and dear god we should start with DE GEA!!!
I think City going out well harm them ,they will have all those players sitting on the bench or not even getting a game .massive egos festering and back bitting even if they beat us which i dont think they will i can see trouble on the way.
soccerisfootbal
really? was under the impression it had to do with his wisdom teeth being pulled..
Completely agree with SoccerisFootball , Sniejder would be a total waste of money. Does he even play in a midfield 2? He is a number ten. He is perennially injured and HE TURNED US DOWN the fucking greedy cunt. No that fatman’s ship has long sailed.
dazbomber – Spot on pal. We thought last season us being out of Europa would help us. It didn’t , it hindered us. You ask any of our lads if they would rather play once a week or have games coming thick and fast and they will all say they favour the latter.
Ruomers are flying at present that L’pool are interested in Keisuke HONDA of Cska Moscow.
You see the difference between us and the Scoucers ? They are intersted in a HONDA and we already bought a beautiful FERRARI coming by the name of ROBIN VAN PERSIE !!!!!