Transfers completed for the winter window FA Cup pics. #mufc

The window closes and United have signed just a couple of players having allowed a few to leave at the same time.  Ravel Morrison is the most surprising and has caught the headlines all week.  It seems that United failed to get through to the troubled young man.  I'm not sure if he wanted to get away from Manchester or whether United have just had enough of his crap antics.

Over the last few years Morrison seemingly survived Fergies wrath even though he brought bad press on a regular basis.  From court appearances to public shows of dissrespect the lad seemed determined to destroy his United career.  And it now appears that the predicted premature end has arrived.  I only hope this isn't the beginning of the end for Ravel because his potential is incredible.  Here's a youtube video that'll make you sad.

Transfer ins and outs

All talk, no action? Not quite.
Although this year's January transfer window failed to yield the sort of spectacular deadline-day signings the Premier League witnessed in 2011, there were still plenty of moves made and money exchanged.
Manchester United, too, was involved in its fair share of business. When the window slammed shut – it never merely closes – at 23:00 GMT on Tuesday night, the Reds could tot up nine departures (four permanent), one arrival and a surprise retirement U-turn.
Of course, set against the 57 different players that were tipped to be either coming or going during the window, that figure seems small. But, as The Gossip – ManUtd.com's rolling round-up of all the speculation and rumour-mongering – continues to prove, you shouldn't believe everything you read.
This much is certainly true, though: Darron Gibson (Everton), Mame Biram Diouf (Hannover 96), Ravel Morrison (West Ham United) and Danny Drinkwater (Leicester City)
have been sold, while Federico Macheda (Queens Park Rangers), John Cofie (Royal Antwerp), Joshua King (Hull City), Oliver Norwood (Coventry City) and Scott Wootton (Nottingham Forest) have landed loan deals until the end of the season.
The arrival? That's Frederic Veseli, a promising young Swiss defender the Reds have landed from crosstown rivals Manchester City. And who can forget Paul Scholes' reinstatement to the first-team squad? The 37-year-old midfielder, missing football more than he could ever anticipate, came out of retirement in early January and has pledged to remain part of Sir Alex's plans until at least the end of the season.
It's also worth noting that young goalkeeper Sam Johnstone (Scunthorpe) and defender Ritchie De Laet (Norwich City) returned from loans during January and will now continue their footballing education at Old Trafford. manutd.com

We have also signed a Swiss defender who captained the national side during the U-17 World Cup last year.. The 19-year-old centre-back, who plays for Switzerland Under 20s, will link up with Warren Joyce's Reserves after making his name in City's Academy side.

I'm travelling to Chelsea this weekend for what should be a top game, we're in good form,  John Terry just lost the armband from England and Ashley Cole is suspended.  I am quietl;y confident that we will improve on our not so great record there. i can't wait.  Meanwhile here are a few pics from the Anfield FA Cup tie.  Thanks to HQworld.net

It looks like Ashley Young, Wayne Rooney, Luis Nani and Tom Cleverley will all be back in the squad at weekend but unfortunately Anders Lindegaard is out for a month with ankle ligament damage.

Loading

Anfield boos Evra in support of racist Suarez. #mufc

When Anfield, and I say Anfield because it was obviously the majority of Liverpool fans in the ground, started booing Evra each time he was in possesion I realised that they were saying it's in their view wrong to stand up to racism.

That is the only crime Evra has committed, to stand up and be counted in support for modern day civilised values.  For them to imply that he is a villain in the scandal that erupted after Luis Suarez racially abused him is to my mind incredibly saddening.  We have virtually taken backward steps in time, the progress made in the fight for an end to racism in football has been halted in Liverpool.  That is a fact. 

'Kin King Kenny and his Klan have excercised such ignorance and recklessness that they have undoubtedly set the stage for a whole new wave of victims to be made.  We have already seen the effect:  A Liverpool fan has been caught on camera doing something I haven't seen in a while and hopefully won't see again: the monkey impression.

My mind boggled as I heard the scousers sing we're not racist, we only hate mancs.  Only seconds before they started to boo a man who their own player admitted to racially abusing. I feared that KKKs comments during the debacle sent all the wrong signals to fans around the world, but most importantly to the Liverpoo fans.

He was encouraging the fans to support a man who I am certain would have been sacked from Manchester United and I hope from any other huge club like Liverpool. Because we must acknowledge Liverpools' global recognition, even if they haven't won a league title in donkeys years they have international exposure and a massive fan base accross the world.  What 'Kin King Kenny has done is to in my opinion, is to ignore the obvious consequences and advice from his PR team and forge ahead in blind support of guilty racist for one simple selfish and stupid reason.  To keep his best player.  The sheer naivity of such a decision points to a level of ignorance and selfishness that is inexcusable for a professional football manager.

i really  cannot see any other reason for him to support Suarez, because if a player is going to behave like that he will only be detrimental to the club it's public image and it's global appeal.  This is the point at which I believe KKK put his own career and success as a football manager ahead of the clubs interests.
It's certainly not the love-in that Klanfield boasts about but more like that they are being shafted by 'kin King Kenny.  And looking at the league position they hold, without so much as a reach-around to take the pain away.

I say good effin' luck to them, I can only see this ending badly.  It's a bit like the blind leading the blind but they can still distinguish colours.

Loading

Patrice Evra to play at Anfield. #mufc

First of all I'd just like to say that I haven't given up blogging but I have been very poorly the last week.
I've probably sweated a stone of liquids out of my body, every morning when I wake up I have had a pool of sweat under my body.  It's as disgusting as it sounds and I have actually been freezing cold all the while.
Well I will be travelling to Anfield on Saturday no matter what I feel like!

I wouldn't miss this match for anything,  thousands of United fans in the Liverpool slums!  It's gonna be a top day out win or lose.  I can't really predict the outcome of this match because it's one of the only games in the season that Liverpool really shine in.  They seem to care more about beating United than they do winning the league.  Week in week out they put in shambolic performances, 'kin King Kenny (KKK) has all the hallmarks of an 80's manager and signed 80's players to suit. (Caveman Carrol)  However they have managed some excellent results this season, the desire they showed against City in the two Carling Cup matches was palpable but then they continue the spiral into mediocrity against the leagues lesser teams.

I suppose Uniteds' Premier League era dominance and their hilarious fall from grace only helps to reinforce the fact that it's the biggest game of the season for Liverpool year after year!  I mean ffs they haven't been to Wembley for 16 years.

Mike Phelan has told the press the Patrice Evra will play for United in the Saturday FA Cup tie at Anfield.
well it's gonna be interesting to see how the racist Liverpool fans behave this weekend.  After the unbelievable series of events and PR own goals that KKK and his clan have made over the Suarez debacle one can only guess as to what's gonna happen this weekend.  This surely has to be the most eagerly anticipated tie of the season.

Here's what Andy Cole, United legend had to say when interviewed by manutd.com

Cole: Anfield win is overdue

Manchester United legend Andy Cole believes the Reds’ league win over Arsenal points the way to FA Cup glory at Anfield this weekend.
The former striker feels the current players should be confident after beating the Gunners 2-1 in their own backyard and is willing Sir Alex Ferguson’s men to extend the winning streak at Liverpool’s expense.
“Look at the way we performed against Arsenal – if we go to Anfield and play like that, then we’ve got to be confident,” Cole told ManUtd.com. “Liverpool have been struggling for form recently, and if we play like we did at Arsenal then I can’t see why we can’t get a very positive result.”

Cole was speaking before Liverpool completed a two-legged win over Man City in the Carling Cup semi-final. All square on the night means the Manchester clubs’ three trips to Anfield so far this term have all ended evenly – City, like United, drew 1-1 there in the league. In fact, the Reds haven't beaten Liverpool away in four years. Cole feels it’s time for his old club to buck that trend and book a place in the next round of the Cup.

“We’re long overdue a good result at Anfield,” Cole told us. “I thought we played well there earlier this season and Liverpool aren’t scoring too many goals at the moment. I think we can go there with a real sense of belief.”
Even though United will have more supporters inside the ground than usual - due to a greater away-ticket allocation for FA Cup ties - Cole still feels the partisan home fans present a challenge.

“Even if you’ve got five or six thousand away fans there, you’ve still got to silence the thirty-odd
thousand Liverpool fans by keeping the ball and playing the way that United play,” he advised. “Liverpool will be very worried about us because they can see we're in good form. But we need to silence their crowd.”
Cole is a past master at quietening The Kop, having bagged a few goals there for United.
“When I was in the team I used to love playing at Anfield,” he reminisced. “I was very fortunate that the manager always used to play me against Liverpool because I always seemed to get myself a goal there. I don’t know what it was. It’s a special arena that always used to bring the best out of me.”

The former number nine did his personal damage in league visits to Liverpool, but he also has experience of helping to beat United’s arch-rivals in the FA Cup – in the 1996 final at Wembley and later at Old Trafford, during a daunting run to the 1999 final.

“That year we were in the ascendancy, we feared no-one,” said Cole, reflecting on '99. “We always believed that whoever we played against, we could always knock them over. Even if we were a goal behind going into the last few minutes, we’d still beat teams. That’s how it was when we beat Liverpool in the Cup that year. We were knocking on the door for 85 minutes and then finally the goals came and we won the game.
“If you’re going to win the Cup then you’re going to have to knock over the tough teams. If you do that in the earlier rounds, hopefully it won’t be as tough if you reach the final.”

Here are some images from the Arsenal away match thanks to HQworld.net, it was a very physical game and what I mean by that is Rooney and Nani were kicked all over the pitch and the referee was a complete utter c@#t.  Song led with the elbow to tag Rooney on the jaw, Nani went off injured after a tackle from behind as did Welbeck.  I hope we get some guys back for Saturday.

Loading

HQ Images from Manchester City Vs Manchester United. F.A. Cup #mufc

Manchester United beat Bolton without too much of a struggle today, I was really happy to see Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick put in decent performances too.  I was ecstatic to see these two get on the scoresheet though,  I would never have bet on them both scoring in any game they start this year!

United seem to have regained some of their confidence and passing was crisp and accurate for the majority of the game.  Bolton didn't really offer much apart from the odd ball up to Ngog.  They really rely heavily on Kevin Davies and I'm glad he didn't play.

Rafael Da Silva returned from injury and played very well, his crossing was excellent when he got down the wing.  There really was some great crossing from Antonio Valencia too, keeping Bolton busy at the back.  If it wasn't for their keeper playing so well it would have a more embarrassing scoreline.  He saved a penaly from Wayne Rooney and made a multitude of excellent saves and takes.

Unfortunately Danny Welbeck was injured in the process of scoring a goal and played no further part from that point.  Ihope it's not long term as United's injury list is nothing short of ridiculous.

There is only Arsenal who have as many injuries as us and looking at our upcoming fixtures we really are facing a big challenge.  We now have away trips to Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs in the Premier League and Liverpool in the FA Cup.  I am looking forward to these away trrips nonetheless.  Here are some fantastic images from the FA Cup match at wastelands.

Images from HQworld.net

Loading

Animated gifs from Man City Vs Man United in the FA Cup. #mufc

I made a few animated gifs from Manchester United Vs Manchester City in the FA Cup.  Well I only made ones of Uniteds best bits, namely the goals and A Lindergaard save that I felt was worthy.  That's not indication of any judgement on City or their performance.  It's merely that this is a Manchester United site written by a Manchester United fan.  I hope you enjoy them.

Needless to say, I am looking forward to the next round in which we will meet Liverpool FC at Anfield.  I will be there making as much noise as possible for United along with thousands of other reds.  Our ticket allocation will be over 5 thousand for this epic tie.  Hopefully we will have a couple more players fit as we still top the premier league injury list with 10 players injured  Here's the match report:

Manunited.com official match report by Steve Bartram

Man City 2 United 3

United edged into the fourth round of the FA Cup after an enthralling, draining victory over holders Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
The Reds bossed a thrilling first half in which City skipper Vincent Kompany was contentiously dismissed, and had a three-goal lead at the interval through Wayne Rooney's brace and Danny Welbeck's acrobatic volley.
To their credit, City rallied after the break and pulled goals back through Aleksander Kolarov and Sergio Aguero, and almost snatched an injury-time leveller when Anders Lindegaard had to fist away a Kolarov free-kick.
The pre-match build-up was overshadowed by the shock announcement that Paul Scholes had reversed his retirement, signing a deal to return until the end of the season and immediately taking a place on the United bench.
Amid the furore, the news that Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans had returned from injury was almost lost. The former was fit enough to start at centre-back, with Phil Jones moving over to right-back, while Evans took a place on the bench.
Just as United could savour some rare good news on the injury front, the hosts found themselves deprived of several important players. Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko missed out through knocks, while Gareth Barry
served a one-match ban and both Yaya and Kolo Toure reported for international duty.
Nevertheless, City began the game on the front foot, herding United back and coursing with confidence on their fruitful home turf. The Reds were given no time on the ball, evidenced in heart-stopping fashion when Aguero charged down Lindegaard's clearance. Fortunately for the Dane, the ball ricocheted wide of the target.
Having survived that brush with a deficit, United were soon ahead. Rooney dropped between City's lines to collect the ball before spreading it wide to Valencia. The Ecuadorian swung the ball towards the far post, where Rooney bulldozed between Nani and Micah Richards to power a header against the underside of the crossbar and into the net.
The away end was presently a heaving, writhing mass of delirium - and the mood was further heightened two minutes later when City skipper Kompany was dismissed in controversial fashion. The Belgian launched into a two-footed challenge to rob Nani of possession, but cleanly won the ball. Referee Chris Foy paused before brandishing his red card, whipping the Etihad Stadium into a storm of fury.
City's initial response was one of defiance. Aguero forced a magnificent full-strength save from Lindegaard with a curling effort from the edge of the area, then smashed another effort into the side-netting after seizing on a defensive misunderstanding between Ferdinand and Jones.

Soon, though, United made the extra man tell.
Nani fed Patrice Evra down the left flank and, though the Frenchman's cross was half-cleared, Welbeck pounced on the loose, looping ball and hooked an unstoppable volley into Constel Pantilimon's bottom corner from 12 yards. The game's only Mancunian starter revelled in the moment, kissing his United badge as he wheeled away in delight.

Welbeck was involved again 10 minutes later as United established a three-goal lead. The 21-year-old was needlessly scythed down by Aleksander Kolarov inside the City area, prompting the award of a clear penalty by referee Foy. Pantilimon superbly parried out Rooney's penalty, only for the United striker to calmly nod the rebound into the unguarded goal.
The overriding lesson learned by United after October's 1-6 debacle at Old Trafford was when to shut up shop, and Roberto Mancini showed that he had also heeded those events, withdrawing David Silva and Adam Johnson and replacing them with Stevan Savic and Pablo Zabaleta in a 3-5-1 formation.
The Italian's approach bore fruit when Kolarov arrowed home a spectacular free-kick from almost 30 yards within two minutes of the restart. United immediately hit back, as Nani drifted a header wide and Rooney shot off-target from 25 yards.
Sir Alex sought to shore up his side's midfield with the introduction of his new signing. Sporting number 22 for the first time since the 1996
FA Cup final, Scholes trotted onto the field in place of Nani, who was carrying a booking.
Shortly after United had been denied what appeared another clear penalty, as Kolarov felled Valencia without censure, City took another chunk out of the visitors' lead. Milner crossed for Aguero and, when his initial shot was spilled by Lindegaard, the little striker pounced to send the home fans wild.
The Reds needed to remain calm. The lion's share of possession was assured, but City's counter-attacking menace was ever-present. The home support were suddenly resurgent, and were baying for a penalty when Kolarov's cross struck Jones on the arm, via his thigh, only for referee Foy to decline.
Hearts were in mouths for all of a Red persuasion when Kolarov lined up a free-kick just outside the area in injury-time, but Lindegaard just about palmed the ball to safety and United held on for a draining victory.
Despite the feelings of relief which greeted the full-time whistle, the bottom line remains United's progress into the fourth round of the FA Cup, having eliminated the holders on their own patch.

Loading