The official Manchester United thread 2009/2010

Originally Posted by stepgen

But Valencia will add a bit of raw pace. Ronaldo is replaceable and Tevez would have been a $25million bench warmer. I can see Berbitov coming good this year, ROoney to get player of the year and Owen will score 20 plus.

And then..... We wake up

[WassTaffy]

Michael Owen keeps on scoring



Manchester United rounded off their pre-season tour to Asia with a convincing 8-2 victory over Hangzhou Greentown in China.

The Premier League champions were in free-scoring mood against their opponents, who contributed their own share of entertainment to an end-to-end friendly.

New signing Michael Owen opened the scoring after 24 minutes and scored the fourth goal just before half-time after Dimitar Berbatov and Zoran Tosic had netted.

Berbatov was displaying his full repertoire of tricks and created the fifth goal for Nani before substitute Ryan Giggs got in on the act just past the hour mark.

Giggs added another goal to United's tally with Patrice Evra and Anderson both hitting the post after Wang Hongyou headed home for Hangzhou.

Red Devils veteran Giggs completed his hat-trick in the 89th minute, but it was Hangzhou who had the final word with a second consolation.

Berbatov came close to heading an early opener only to see his effort bounce off the underside of the bar and Paul Scholes then volleyed wastefully wide.

Owen, who scored in both games in Malaysia earlier on the tour, broke the deadlock with a typically predatory finish after Nani's cross had deflected into his path.

On 34 minutes it was 2-0 as Berbatov volleyed home from an acute angle at the far post after Nani had chipped the ball across the face of goal.

Within 60 seconds, Berbatov laid the ball off to Tosic and the Serbian winger steadied himself before arrowing a fierce drive into the far corner.

Berbatov was the provider for the fourth goal on 40 minutes as his clever flick was chested under control by Owen before the striker volleyed acrobatically into the net.

Owen was replaced by Wayne Rooney at half-time, but it was Berbatov who was in the thick of things on 50 minutes as his clever back-heel played in Nani for the fifth goal.

Giggs came on to score twice in the space of 10 minutes, also missing a golden chance in between, before Hongyou headed home a corner at the near post on 78 minutes.

Park Ji-sung set up Evra to fire against the post and Anderson was also denied by the upright before a sharp turn in the box from Giggs provided the Welshman with his hat-trick.

There was still time for Valdo to smash home a late second for the hosts, but United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will be pleased with how his front men are combining after losing Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo over the summer.

[WassTaffy]

Ferguson to use defeat as motivation



Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson believes the agony of losing last season's Champions League final can be used as a major motivational tool ahead of Sunday's Community Shield showdown with Chelski at Wembley.

United claimed their third consecutive Premier League crown, but were dashed in their bid to win back-to-back European Cups by Barcelona in Rome and Ferguson is determined to ensure his men use the experience in a positive manner.

"Adversity is always an important factor in developing and improving,'' he said. "I have always reacted well to adversity over the years and whenever we lose a match I tell my players that the next game is the important one - the match we have to focus on.

"That has always been the case here at the club. When you lose the last game of the season you have two or three months to reflect on the disappointment.''

"We have not enjoyed that. But we will cope - and we will bounce back.''

Ferguson has a defensive headache to deal with this weekend.

Nemanja Vidic, Wes Brown, Gary Neville and Rafael Da Silva all missed Wednesday's defeat of Valencia and have already been ruled out of the Chelsea encounter.

Ferguson also faces a selection dilemma between the goalposts after the club's regular goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar broke a finger in pre-season and was sidelined for two months.

The United manager is convinced his back-up keepers Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak are both capable of filling the Dutchman's gloves. But he would not be drawn on who will start and if that player selected would become his regular first choice for the start of the season.

"It depends on performances really,'' Ferguson said. "If you have watched the games Ben and Tomasz have played, Tomasz has had more activity and therefore more saves to make. But I will speak to both of them about the situation.

"We have a selection dilemma as to who plays in goal on Sunday. It is not an easy one for me.''

Meanwhile, Chelski boss Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed there are no plans to add to the squad before the transfer window closes as he prepares his side for the Wembley clash.

"Now we stay with the players I've got. I don't want to take other players because the squad is very competitive,'' said Ancelotti.

"We don't need other players and I don't expect to make any more signings before the window shuts.''

Ancelotti also cleared the air over the futures of both midfielder Deco and defender Ricardo Carvalho.

Both players have been linked with a move to Inter Milan, now coached by former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, who also worked with the pair at Porto.

Mourinho moaned that Chelsea had made it difficult for Inter to sign the pair by increasing the size of the fee.

But Ancelotti claimed Chelsea had never considered selling the duo and confirmed they would be key assets in his squad this season.

"We never talked about selling Carvalho or Deco,'' added Ancelotti.

"They are important players for Chelsea. Carvalho is a very intelligent defender and Deco has a great quality. This team needs the quality of Deco. They will stay at Chelsea for this season.''

Chelsea have just two injury doubts for tomorrow's game with Yuri Zhirkov struggling with a knee problem and Joe Cole still recovering from his ligament injury.

[guojing]

manchester united is best football team in the world