The Manchester United Thread

[Andy]

Original photo

 

[hiphopahol101]

Original photo

Knew it was fake. Funny idea tho.

 

[CtPauley]

The squad left Manchester airport earlier to travel to the US.

 

[DMF]

Knew it was fake. Funny idea tho.

Out of curiosity.. who the heck is the guy next to Nasri? XD

Anyway, Inter Milan midfielder Wesley Sneijder has said he wants to stay at Inter Milan, but if they agree to sell him he will go where he is told, but it would be with a heavy heart.

Not ruling out the move to Old Trafford

 

[Joss]

Out of curiosity.. who the heck is the guy next to Nasri? XD

Anyway, Inter Milan midfielder Wesley Sneijder has said he wants to stay at Inter Milan, but if they agree to sell him he will go where he is told, but it would be with a heavy heart.

Not ruling out the move to Old Trafford

L to R: Chamakh, Song, Traore, Nasri.

Lol at the fake photo.

 

[craig curtis]

No source or anythin but i think sneijder deal will be done buy end of week imo

 

[DMF]

L to R: Chamakh, Song, Traore, Nasri.

Lol at the fake photo.

Knew Chamakh and Song, didn't know it was Traore. Thanks for clearing it up..

 

[Mike.]

Out of curiosity.. who the heck is the guy next to Nasri? XD

Anyway, Inter Milan midfielder Wesley Sneijder has said he wants to stay at Inter Milan, but if they agree to sell him he will go where he is told, but it would be with a heavy heart.

Not ruling out the move to Old Trafford

This has been the stance since we spoke to his agent in april. Happy with Inter, would not be against a move to manchester

 

[hiphopahol101]

Out of curiosity.. who the heck is the guy next to Nasri? XD

Anyway, Inter Milan midfielder Wesley Sneijder has said he wants to stay at Inter Milan, but if they agree to sell him he will go where he is told, but it would be with a heavy heart.

Not ruling out the move to Old Trafford

Dont have a clue tbh

 

[MisterStubbs]

I'd be very happy with Wesley Sneijder lining up in the middle of the park for us this season although I'd rather have Samir Nasri if I'm honest. He is proven in the Premier League and would cost us a lot less.

 

[sunilvk7]

JamesRobsonMEN James Robson

Lot of excitement surrounding #MUFC current breed of youngsters. Pogba & Morrison in particular. Morrison expected to make breakthru this yr

 

[DMF]

I'd be very happy with Wesley Sneijder lining up in the middle of the park for us this season although I'd rather have Samir Nasri if I'm honest. He is proven in the Premier League and would cost us a lot less.

Really? Would much rather have Sneijder over Nasri.

Nasri has had half a good season in 3 years at Arsenal, and that came from the right hand side of a front 3. Honestly don't think that Nasri is worth anywhere near the £20M fee being touted around.

 

[MisterStubbs]

Where can we watch or hear this press conference then?

 

[CtPauley]

Sir Alex Ferguson: "How do you replace somebody like Paul Scholes? It's very difficult."

"If you bracket four of the best midfield players in the world he'd (Scholes) be alongside Xavi and Iniesta and then you take your pick."

"Maybe somebody will emerge out of the youth team or one of the young players ermerge, and then we carry on."

 

[Mike.]

Sir Alex Ferguson: "How do you replace somebody like Paul Scholes? It's very difficult."

"If you bracket four of the best midfield players in the world he'd (Scholes) be alongside Xavi and Iniesta and then you take your pick."

"Maybe somebody will emerge out of the youth team or one of the young players ermerge, and then we carry on."

He wasnt asked about Sneijder, and wouldnt have talked about him, though Scholes, Neville, and Meulensteen have all gone on record n how much they want him at the club

 

[sunilvk7]

Nick Coppack

For those asking, Sir Alex was asked about Nasri and Sneijder in one question during the press conf and only really addressed Nasri.

[COLOR=#00e0]---------- Post added at 11:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:06 AM ----------[/COLOR]

Sir Alex Ferguson: "How do you replace somebody like Paul Scholes? It's very difficult."

"If you bracket four of the best midfield players in the world he'd (Scholes) be alongside Xavi and Iniesta and then you take your pick."

"Maybe somebody will emerge out of the youth team or one of the young players ermerge, and then we carry on."

Actually there is one more quote missing. He said overcoming this (Replacing scholes) is very difficult. In few weeks we may overcome this by signing somone or promoting somone from youth team. He said something like this.

Sir Alex on replacing Paul Scholes: "How do you replace somebody like Paul Scholes? It's very difficult. If you bracket four of the best midfield players in the world he'd be alongside Xavi and Iniesta and then you take your pick. In my mind he's one of the top four players in the world. How will we overcome it? Maybe the next few weeks will help us overcome it. Maybe somebody will emerge out of the youth team or one of the young players ermerge, and then we carry on."

[COLOR=#00e0]---------- Post added at 12:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:13 AM ----------[/COLOR]

Paul Scholes has backed Manchester United’s next generation of young players to maintain the club’s extraordinary success under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Spoiler

Scholes, who retired this summer after an illustrious 20-year career with United, believes the youngsters coming through the ranks at Old Trafford have what it takes to be first-team stars.

Former midfielder Scholes reckons the likes of Ravel Morrison, Paul Pogba and Ryan Tunnicliffe, who all helped United win the FA Youth Cup last season, could step straight into Sir Alex Ferguson’s first-team today if required.

Scholes, a member of the infamous Class of ‘92, which won the FA Youth Cup and also included David Beckham, Nicky **** and Gary and Phil Neville, said the future looked bright at United with the youngsters pushing the established first-team names.

“We’d struggled a bit in the Youth Cup since then 1992,” said Scholes. “But this group look like they’re ready to go into the first-team now because they’re big, strong, powerful lads and have the skill to go with it.

“They like to work hard as well, which they’re going to need. The difficulty for them these days is that squads are so big. You’re talking 22, 23 or 24 in a squad, which makes it difficult.

“When we were coming through you had only 16, 17 or 18 players in a squad and so it’s more difficult now. But if they’re good enough, there’s no doubt the manager will use them.”

Scholes acknowledged it was harder for young players to break through the ranks at United these days, precisely because of the club’s sustained success at home and abroad over the past two decades.

“It’s harder because the club is now established as being successful,” said Scholes.

“When we were coming through they were only starting to win the Premier League and starting to get competitive in the European Cup.

“It was something we just tried to carry on. We learned loads from Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister, Bryan Robson and Roy Keane. We had great men to look up to in terms of how to look after yourself, how to work hard and how to win games.”

Of United’s current crop of youngsters, Scholes - who has agreed to take on a coaching role at the club - identified attacking midfielder Ravel Morrison, who has edured problems off the field, as his pick of the bunch.

Morrsion has been the subject of three assault charges in as many years - two of which were subsequently dropped - and the talented 18-year-old is undergoing anger-management counselling as part of his rehabilitation.

“I’ve watched quite a few of their games and I thought they were brilliant,” said Scholes. “They looked like men already, they didn’t really look like kids because they’re built so well.

“They’re strong physically and have got the talent to go with it. You are probably looking at Ravel to come through, Ryan Tunnicliffe and Paul Pogba, but there are a lot of talented players.

“We’vetrained with Ravel and we know what talent he’s got - hopefully [he will fulfil it]. “These lads might get their chance on the pre-season tour.

“I know the manger does like to take young lads away and there’s four or five of them who could go on [to great things].”

United play the first match of their three-week US pre-season tour, against New England Revolution, in Boston tomorrow. Kick-off is at 8pm local time (1am Thursday UK time).

Sir Alex's midfielder hunt

Spoiler

Sir Alex Ferguson is confident United will cope with the loss of Paul Scholes, either by spending in the transfer market or promoting a young talent from within.

Although Scholes is essentially irreplaceable, the boss is convinced he'll come up with the answers as he prepares to get the pre-season campaign underway in the United States.

Having ruled out the prospect of Arsenal's Samir Nasri coming to Old Trafford, much of the speculation in recent days has focused on Wesley Sneijder of Inter Milan with Chelsea bidding for Spurs playmaker Luka Modric.

While keeping his cards close to his chest, Sir Alex outlined his thoughts in detail at a press conference in Boston.

"We try to look ahead, we try to make sure we have an influx of young players coming through to replace the older players," he explained. "It's obvious that for the last few years we've been well aware of the need to replace Ryan Giggs. We're fortunate he's managed to carry on and still perform the way he does. And with Gary Neville , Paul Scholes and Edwin van der Sar leaving, we were well aware that we were going to have to replace them at some point.

"So the work we've done in the last few years has been centred around that and trying to make sure we still have the quality in the squad to carry on the success. The big problem, of course, is how do you replace somebody like Paul Scholes? It's very, very difficult. If you bracket four of the best midfield players in the world, Scholes would be there along with Xavi and {Andres] Iniesta and then you take your pick from a few others. In my mind, he's certainly one of the top four players in the world. It's a loss.

"How will we overcome it? Maybe the next few weeks will help us in that respect. As they often do at Manchester United, maybe somebody will emerge out of the youth team or one of the young players ermerges, and then we carry on.

"[Is the spending over?] It would be impossible to get another Paul Scholes, but if we can get a player along similiar lines in terms of the quality of his passing and vision, then yes we'd have to do something."

United have Tom Cleverley, Matty James and Danny Drinkwater back in the fold after loan stints last season while the FA Youth Cup-winning midfield trio of Ravel Morrison, Paul Pogba and Ryan Tunnicliffe, who has been farmed out to Peterborough, are all highly regarded at the club.

Curzon Ashton 1 Manchester United reserves 4: Ravel Morrison shines

Spoiler

Ravel Morrison didn’t make the flight to Boston – but the highly-rated midfielder is expected to make his first-team breakthrough this season.

The 18-year-old scored a brilliant solo goal in injury time as United picked up their first piece of silverware of the new campaign – the Jack Crompton Trophy.

Morrison’s twisting run and clinical finish rounded off a 4-1 win for United’s reserves against Curzon Ashton.

And having made his first-team debut in the Carling Cup last season, he is set to be given even more opportunities by Sir Alex Ferguson.

Morrison has been earmarked for success ever since starring in the FA Youth Cup aged 15.

Last season he played a key role in United’s success in the same competition.

He was expected to feature in the FA Cup clash with Crawley – but of late has made more headlines for his off the field issues than his ability on it.

Still Ferguson believes he is one of the crown jewels of his latest generation of starlets.

Quick and skilful, his best performances have so far come playing as an attacking midfielder in the role Paul Scholes made his own.

The ginger magician’s retirement at the end of last season is unlikely to impact too much on Morrison – particularly with Ferguson still hunting play-makers, such as Wesley Sneijder, while Tom Cleverley has returned from his season-long loan at Wigan.

Morrison was considered for the tour of the US – but with 11 pre-season friendlies for the reserves, he will see plenty of action before the start of the campaign.

He played just 45 minutes on Monday night, but again gave a tantalising glimpse of his talent.

Weaving his way into a tight angle in injury time, he drilled his shot past Josh Ollerenshaw just before the final whistle.

Rafael Leao had put United ahead after only seven minutes – finishing off the post after Robert Brady’s cross.

Danny Drinkwater doubled the lead when capitalising on slack defending in the 31st minute.

United repaid the favour seven minutes later when goalkeeper Liam Jacob spilled the ball, allowing Sam Walker to finish.

Manager Warren Joyce changed his entire team at half time, bringing on many of last season’s Youth Cup heroes including Morrison, Will Keane and Paul Pogba.

Pogba is earning a reputation for his explosive finishing from distance and his 20-yard effort shortly after the break forced a flying save from Ollerenshaw.

United made it 3-1 on 69 minutes after Keane went down under the challenge of Graham Kay in the area.

He dusted himself off to finish the resulting penalty, before Morrison’s star-studded finish.

 

[fuelledbypassion]

Do we get a percentage of any Rossi transfer?

 

[MisterStubbs]

I think this season will be the one Ravel Morrison makes his break through. Watched him on many occasions last season in the reserves etc and at times he looked a class above everyone else. Hopefully this season he'll knuckle down outside of football and get given a chance certainly in the "lesser" cup games and some premier league games. Am also looking foward to see how young Ryan Tunnicliffe gets on in the Championship with Peterbrough, another player I think who could make the first team break through within a few seasons.

 

[sunilvk7]

Rumor was we had first refusal and deadline is over for that. So I guess we dont have any %.. Hopefully I'm wrong..


And also Good to see Morrison getting so much praise and also keeping his attitude in check.

 

[Vanjagl]

Do we get a percentage of any Rossi transfer?

I don't think so.