The first signing I made was Vincent Enyeama for 450,000, he was initially brought in as a long term replacement for Van der Sar. Edwin suffered a Broken Hand days before the Charity Shield match against Chelsea, this was then followed by Strained Knee Ligaments and finally a Hip Injury, all of which happened before Christmas.
Enyeama staked his claim for the Manchester United No.1 Jersey after a nervous start but as he settled down in Manchester it turned out to be a wonderful piece of business. At the close of the 10/11 season he had only conceded 20 goals and kept 21 clean sheets, he also lead the Pass completion rate with 94% and was included in the English Players' Premier Division Select.
Other Pre-season signings were Fabio Coentrao (Benfica) for £8m, Tom Cairney (Hull) for £2m, Brendan Maloney (Nottm Forest) for 85k, Andreas Laudrup (FC Nordsjaelland) for 750k and Daniele De Rossi (Roma) for 32.5m.
Daniele was a real gamble having played in Italy all his life but with 70 caps to his name and vast experience in the Champions League it seemed like a gamble worth taking and who knows whether Owen Hargreaves would ever pull a United Shirt on again.
Robbie Brady, Magnus Eikrem, Ryan Tunnicliffe and Ravel Morrison were all sent to Southampton on Loan until the end of the season, Park Ji-Sung went to Palermo for a year to get more first team football and maintain his current value.
I was six points clear at the turn of the new year with Chelsea and Arsenal close behind. I was given a further £20 million to invest in new players after promising the board that I would deliver the title, something I would immediately regret, the pressure was on.
I sealed the most exciting deal in the January transfer window on deadline day, I even put Man City to shame. Andrea Poli was surely the perfect long term replacement for Paul Scholes and with De Rossi there to help him settle in and offer some much needed tutoring there was really no other choice but to bring him in. His technical, mental and creative ability completely eclipsed any other player in that age group and after some equally dramatic negotiations with his agent he finally pulled on the No.32 of Manchester United to delight of the United faithful.
With the Premier Division nearing a close I was slowly pulling ahead of Arsenal who were seven points behind with a game in hand. I drew them in the Champions League quarter final and it was obvious that whoever came out on top of that tie would probably go on and take the title.
The first leg was at The Emirates and finished 4-4, Wayne Rooney with an early brace and Chamakh scoring an incredible 3 goals in the last ten minutes to set up a mouth watering second leg tie at the theatre of dreams. ...
Fabregas scored in the 2nd minute at Old Trafford, I couldn't even get a shot on target, they had 62% posession at half time and Wayne Rooney had limped off injured. After some inspired substitutions and dramatic tactical changes United finally managed to get a grip on things and thumped in two late goals. Theres not a lot more satisfying than shattering Arsene Wenger's Champions league dreams. A classic night in Manchester and a draw with Tottenham Hotspur in the Semi Final to look forward to... wait ... Tottenham Hotspur???
I felt slightly guilty knocking Spurs out of the Champions League but I was left with a chance to get revenge on Barcelona at Wembley, it was also rumoured that Guardiola was not going to be offered a new contract at Barcelona and that I was the odds on favourite to go off flamenco dancing.
Manchester United were once again Barclays Premier League Champions with 3 points to spare, it sounds close but in truth I gave a few youngsters a chance in the final few games and they re-payed me with some pretty abysmal performances.
Enyeama, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Hargreaves, Fletcher, Giggs, Nani, Berbatov, Rooney (Kuszczak, O'Shea, Evans, Poli, Coentrao, Macheda, Chicharito)
Iniesta; 1-0 Barcelona after 27 minutes and they looked dangerous, awful display from the lads and it looks like we may as well have stayed at home...
Dimitar Berbatov struck in the 32nd minute though after an awful backpass from Alves, it would of been hard to miss even by his standards.
77th minute: Ryan Giggs Crocked and with Luis Nani covering on the right for the suspended Fans player of the season Antonio Valencia it was time for Fabio Coentrao to make his seventh apperance for United.
He scored in the 89th minute and Manchester United were Champions of Europe.
Enyeama staked his claim for the Manchester United No.1 Jersey after a nervous start but as he settled down in Manchester it turned out to be a wonderful piece of business. At the close of the 10/11 season he had only conceded 20 goals and kept 21 clean sheets, he also lead the Pass completion rate with 94% and was included in the English Players' Premier Division Select.
Other Pre-season signings were Fabio Coentrao (Benfica) for £8m, Tom Cairney (Hull) for £2m, Brendan Maloney (Nottm Forest) for 85k, Andreas Laudrup (FC Nordsjaelland) for 750k and Daniele De Rossi (Roma) for 32.5m.
Daniele was a real gamble having played in Italy all his life but with 70 caps to his name and vast experience in the Champions League it seemed like a gamble worth taking and who knows whether Owen Hargreaves would ever pull a United Shirt on again.
Robbie Brady, Magnus Eikrem, Ryan Tunnicliffe and Ravel Morrison were all sent to Southampton on Loan until the end of the season, Park Ji-Sung went to Palermo for a year to get more first team football and maintain his current value.
I was six points clear at the turn of the new year with Chelsea and Arsenal close behind. I was given a further £20 million to invest in new players after promising the board that I would deliver the title, something I would immediately regret, the pressure was on.
I sealed the most exciting deal in the January transfer window on deadline day, I even put Man City to shame. Andrea Poli was surely the perfect long term replacement for Paul Scholes and with De Rossi there to help him settle in and offer some much needed tutoring there was really no other choice but to bring him in. His technical, mental and creative ability completely eclipsed any other player in that age group and after some equally dramatic negotiations with his agent he finally pulled on the No.32 of Manchester United to delight of the United faithful.
With the Premier Division nearing a close I was slowly pulling ahead of Arsenal who were seven points behind with a game in hand. I drew them in the Champions League quarter final and it was obvious that whoever came out on top of that tie would probably go on and take the title.
The first leg was at The Emirates and finished 4-4, Wayne Rooney with an early brace and Chamakh scoring an incredible 3 goals in the last ten minutes to set up a mouth watering second leg tie at the theatre of dreams. ...
Fabregas scored in the 2nd minute at Old Trafford, I couldn't even get a shot on target, they had 62% posession at half time and Wayne Rooney had limped off injured. After some inspired substitutions and dramatic tactical changes United finally managed to get a grip on things and thumped in two late goals. Theres not a lot more satisfying than shattering Arsene Wenger's Champions league dreams. A classic night in Manchester and a draw with Tottenham Hotspur in the Semi Final to look forward to... wait ... Tottenham Hotspur???
I felt slightly guilty knocking Spurs out of the Champions League but I was left with a chance to get revenge on Barcelona at Wembley, it was also rumoured that Guardiola was not going to be offered a new contract at Barcelona and that I was the odds on favourite to go off flamenco dancing.
Manchester United were once again Barclays Premier League Champions with 3 points to spare, it sounds close but in truth I gave a few youngsters a chance in the final few games and they re-payed me with some pretty abysmal performances.
Enyeama, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Hargreaves, Fletcher, Giggs, Nani, Berbatov, Rooney (Kuszczak, O'Shea, Evans, Poli, Coentrao, Macheda, Chicharito)
Iniesta; 1-0 Barcelona after 27 minutes and they looked dangerous, awful display from the lads and it looks like we may as well have stayed at home...
Dimitar Berbatov struck in the 32nd minute though after an awful backpass from Alves, it would of been hard to miss even by his standards.
77th minute: Ryan Giggs Crocked and with Luis Nani covering on the right for the suspended Fans player of the season Antonio Valencia it was time for Fabio Coentrao to make his seventh apperance for United.
He scored in the 89th minute and Manchester United were Champions of Europe.