The Rise of the Red Dragon - A Welsh Story

[eddybw]

BEKCHAMM!! TAKE A BOW SON!!
brilliant! see he's fitting in perfectly to your squad good luck against the chelsea boys bud!

Cheers buddy, got another update coming now

---------- Post added at 03:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:32 PM ----------

Wheeling and Dealing!

Chief Executive David Gill has just announced that Manchester United have secured the deadline day signing of 25 year old Ex Leiciester and Wolves play maker Andy King on a 5 1/2 year contract worth £30,000 per week for a fee believed to be in the £10M region. Andy King stated that his desire to join Manchester United was because he wanted to play under Sir Ryan Giggs who he felt had been a massive influence on him since he arrived in management at Wales in July 2010.

Ex Leicester and Wolves favourite Andy King made 143 appearances for Leicester and scored 26 goals since breaking into their first team in the 2007/08 season. And has been drawing alot of attention since his move to the Premier League in July 2011, when he arrived from Leicester for a fee of £4.5M he has gone on has gone on to make 93 appearances scoring 5 goals and assisting another 19. Many pundits have described Andy King as one of the reasons why Wolves have been performing so well, as he gets involved with the build up play and has the ability to make killer passes of top quality.

The midfield play maker has made 37 caps for Wales and scored 8 goals and since the retirement of Sir Ryan he has taken up a more forward role than he is used to and has been flourishing scoring two goals and 3 assists in his last 2 games for Wales.

A statement has been released by Andy King regarding his move to United.

'I feel incredibly honoured to be given the opportunity to play for Manchester United they are the greatest club in the World and I hope that I can rise to the occasion and help them maintain their form and success. The boss was certainly a great factor for me to come here as well, I've played under him for 3 years and he is an great motivator and is incredibly adept tactically. I just can't wait to get out and play.'

Manchester United Transfer News:

Manchester United Official Statement: Manchester United would like to announce that an offer of £10.M for Xabi Prieto has been accepted from Olympique Lynonnais. Xabi has flown out to undergo a medical but it is expected that the sale will be completed tomorrow.

​

 

[dani3w]

another nice update! like the use of the badges and everything just done a kit launch on mine! third kits a bit different take a nosee bud

 

[eddybw]

another nice update! like the use of the badges and everything just done a kit launch on mine! third kits a bit different take a nosee bud

Cheers again for the comments Andy King had been epic for Wales and thought he'd just be ideal for United so had to dive in

---------- Post added at 04:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:06 PM ----------

February 2014

After a few transfers both in and out of Manchester United in January the focus now turns to the February schedule where they will face the likes of Lyon in the Champions League as well as bitter rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford in the League. With only 5 domestic matches and 1 European match Manchester United will be pleased that the work load on their players has dropped as they look to close in on all trophy fronts.

1.2.2014 -

Bournemouth (Home)

5.2.2014 -

Liverpool (Home)

8.2.2014 -

West Ham (Away)

15.2.2014 -

Bolton (Home)

19.2.2014 -

Aston Villa (Away)

22.2.2014 -

Nottingham Forest (Away)

26.2.2014 -

Olympique Lyonnais (Away)

Manchester United are expected to name an under strength side in today's match against Bournemouth in the F.A. Cup 4th Round. Bournemouth have been struggling somewhat in npower League 1, lying in 18th position. Manchester United also face a Liverpool side who are struggling so far this season after an impressive start to the campaign, they are currently lying in 7th position. The main issue for Benitez's team this season seems to be a lack of goals having only scored 30 goals from 23 league matches.

F.A Cup - 4th Round Match
Man Utd 4 - 0 Bournemouth
Rafael (7. 29, 90), Darren Fletcher (59)
Titouan Avenel injured (57)
Rafael missed penalty (68)

Rafael - D Berbatov

J Vargas - D Beckham - K Kern - A Valencia

J O'Shea - I Petric - C Smalling - T Avenel

J Campodonico

Manchester United named a somewhat understrength side against Bournemouth today, with a certain Rafael being the stand out player. Rafael is a Portuguese born Brazilian 16 year old who slipped under the radar after being signed in January. He certainly made an impact of the highest quality today on his debut. He opened the scoring in just the 9th minute after Kilian Kern played a delightful weighted pass through to the young Portugal striker to fire in his debut goal for the Red Devils.His second goal came after a calamitous error from the Bournemouth keeper who threw the ball straight to Rafael who fired a powerful shot past the keeper.

The game then took a turn for the worst as young French full back Titouan Avenel had to be stretchered off with a leg injury that will be assessed tomorrow. Darren Fletcher came on for the injured Avenel to play at right back and he was the man who added United's 3rd as he finished neatly from inside the area. The final goal of the day came from that man again Rafael who after Michael Nelson was tackled the ball fell to him on the edge of the box and fired a shot past the keeper to make it 4.

Rafael Attributes

Rafael arrives from a Swedish side Halmstad last season where he made 24 appearances and scored an incredible 19 goals as well as assisting 13 more. Manchester United managed to snap up the young Portuguese striker for a cup price fee of £500K. Other clubs will no doubt be ruing their decision not to jump in the and sign the player. It was Manchester United Swedish scout Patrik Andersson who brought the boss' attention to the availability of the player and they are no doubt incredibly pleased to have signed this young talent.​

 

[dani3w]

sensational!!

 

[eddybw]

Cheers buddy got some great updates coming again, including an 8 goal thriller!

 

[*Jamess*]

good update

 

[eddybw]

Thanks mate keep following

 

[CiaranSafc]

This keeps on getting better and better

 

[eddybw]

This keeps on getting better and better

Cheers buddy will get some more updates now in a bit!

---------- Post added at 07:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:57 PM ----------

United face Liverpool!

After a comfortable victory for Manchester United against Bournemouth they have been drawn against Nottingham Forest in the coming FA Cup fourth round. But first they have to turn their focus to facing fierce rivals Liverpool in a match that despite the Reds lowly position at 7th place the form book sometimes goes out the window in these games. Manchester United are expected return to a full strength team in an attempt to show Liverpool what they can do, if they beat them today then they will have done the triple over them this season.

Sir Ryan Giggs on Liverpool: 'Liverpool are always a tough team to play against regardless of the form they are in. It is going to be incredibly important that we stayed focused and disciplined, if we do this then I feel that we will certainly give them a game.'

EPL - Match Day 25
Man Utd

3 - 0

Liverpool
Wayne Rooney (14), Nani (32), Marc Jones (46)

W Rooney - Chicharito

G Bale - D Fletcher - M Jones - Nani

P Evra - J Evans - N Vidic - Rafael

J Steele

Manchester United for the third time tore Liverpool to shreds, this time it was down to a fabulous performance from Portuguese winger Luis Nani who scored an incredible left footed effort struck with incredible power. The opening goal came in the 14th minute when Wayne Rooney got a great diving header after some great work from new signing Gareth Bale. The second goal came when Nani scored that incredible strike with his left foot, people still wonder what foot is this players favourite as he has scored incredible goals with both feet so far this season.

Marc Jones capped a majestic midfield, where he dominated some top class midfield players in Steven Gerrard, Raul Meireles and Marek Hamsik. It was an incredible effort from the 18 year old Welshman, other than the magnificent Nani he was the second best player on the pitch. There was however a negative point for the Red Devils as Nemanja Vidic picked up his 10th yellow card and will be suspended for their league games against West Ham, Bolton and Villa.

YouTube - Man Utd vs Liverpool - Nani Goal 32nd minute

EPL - Match Day 26
West Ham

4 - 4

Man Utd
Ludovic Obraniak (25), Gary O'Neil (28), Jack Collison (37), Junior Stanislas (53) - Nani (3, pen 19), Wayne Rooney (39, 42)
Patrice Evra injured (90)

W Rooney - Chicharito

G Bale - A King - M Jones - Nani

P Evra - J Evans - R Ferdinand - Rafael

J Steele

Manchester United showed defensive frailties today against West Ham as the surrendered a 2 - 0 lead after Nani scored a 20 minute double to put them into an early lead. The game then turned it on its head as Manchester United seemed to become complacent and West Ham broke past on several occasions and managed to score 3 goals. Rio Ferdinand who came in for Nemanja Vidic looked out of his depth being outpaced on several occasions and didn't looked entirely fit. Manchester United did manage to bring it back to 4 - 3 before half time but then a dramatic counter attack in the 53rd minute after scoring a well placed finish. Manchester United suffered a potentially serious injury to Patrice Evra which will be assessed tomorrow and will hope for the best but initial reports say it doesn't look good.

YouTube - West Ham vs Man Utd - Nani Goal 3rd minute

Manchester United Injury News

Manchester United and France left back Patrice Evra will be out for a reported 3 months after suffering a serious hip injury in the match against West Ham, after a collision with midfield Jonathan Spector. This will no doubt be a massive blow for the Frenchman as he has been in fine form so far this season for Manchester United making 30 appearances so far and assisted 5 efforts.

Patrice Evra joined Manchester United's injured Fabio Coentrao on the sideline who is also out for another 3 - 4 weeks after suffering a broken arm earlier in the season.

​

---------- Post added at 09:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:48 PM ----------

Can United manage without Vidic?

After conceding four goals in a match against West Ham earlier this week the focus now turns to a home match against Owen Coyle's Bolton. Manchester United will also now be without Patrice Evra as their left sided player injury list continues to grow. It has been suggested that Andy King maybe making his home debut for the Red Devils.

EPL - Match Day 27
Man Utd

3 - 2

Bolton
Andy King (22), Chicharito (32), Jonny Evans (50) - David Vaughan (20), Simon Church (68)
Rio Ferdinand injured (36)
Gareth Bale injured (86)

W Rooney - Chicharito

J Vargas - A King - M Jones - Nani

G Bale - J Evans - R Ferdinand - Rafael

J Steele

A tough victory for Manchester United today as they overcame a Bolton side 3 - 2 despite suffering 2 injuries one to new signing Gareth Bale. It was Bolton who got off to the better start as they scored a 20th minute strike from Welsh Midfielder David Vaughan fired in from close range to make it 1 - 0. Manchester United woke up after this and immediately from the following kick off Juan Manuel Vargas slid a fabulous ball across for debutant Andy King slotted a neat finish in to make it 1 - 1.

Chicharito then got on the scoresheet in the 32nd minute after Wayne Rooney played a delightfully weighted pass to the 25 year old Mexican which he slotted into the back of the net with consummate ease. With Marc Jones once again being provider fired a beautiful set piece effort across for Jonny Evans to get up the highest and power a header in to make it 3 - 1.

Manchester United did however suffer two injuries one to Rio Ferdinand who tweaked his hamstring in the 36th minute and is expected to be out for 2 - 3 weeks. Then new signing Gareth Bale suffered a groin strain and is expected to return in 2 weeks. Manchester United now no players who are natural left backs with only John O'Shea who can potentially step in and fill the gap.

Sir Ryan Giggs spoke after the game seeing his team suffering some injuries to important team players. 'We now have no fit left back's I will bring John O'Shea into action as I feel that he can do a job there but if we suffer any more injuries we will certainly be struggling. I can confirm that Fabio Coentrao should be back for the game against Lyon in the Champions League if things go to plan.'

EPL - Match Day 28
Aston Villa

2 - 4

Man Utd
Jason Steele own goal (12), Barry Bannan (16) - Chicharito (18), Wayne Rooney (26, 71, 86)

W Rooney - Chicharito

J Vargas - A King - M Jones - Nani

G Bale - J Evans - C Smalling - Rafael

J Steele

Wayne Rooney pulled a magnificent man of the match performance out of the bag today as United romped to victory against Aston Villa. Despite shipping yet another 2 goals as they continue struggling without Captain Nemanja Vidic who will return for the next domestic match which would be against Nottingham Forest (if selected). After some sporadic performances from Wayne Rooney he certainly showed people that he is still capable of top class performances as he scored yet another hatrick for Manchester United. Wayne Rooney has now scored 245 goals in 438 appearances for the Red Devils and has really began to reach his potential after really coming into goal scoring form in the 2009/10 season.​

 

[Maaaatty]

Best. Story. Ever.

Oh Andy :wub:

 

[eddybw]

Best. Story. Ever.

Oh Andy :wub:

Home debut goal for the lad, he's an epic player!!! Top quality going to replace fletcher alongside Marc Jones, so I'll have a 3 man Welsh midfield

---------- Post added at 10:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:53 PM ----------

Focus turns to F.A Cup Clash

Manchester United's focus turns to their FA Cup Clash with Championship outfit Nottingham Forest, who have performed well so far in this years FA Cup, they have already defeated Stoke City and Doncaster Rovers in their efforts to reach the 5th Round. Forest have also performed extremely well in in the League Cup after reaching the Semi Final where they put up a strong first leg performance losing narrowly 4 : 3 at home and despite a good start at Stamford Bridge they eventually succumbed to a 3 - 0 scoreline. Manchester United have reached round 5 are defeating Crystal Palace and Bournemouth comfortable in their last 2 FA Cup matches. Manchester United haven't won the FA Cup for 10 years, and Sir Ryan Giggs has targeted the trophy.

'Manchester United haven't won the F.A Cup since 2004, which is a travesty. I feel that it is important for the fans to see us lift the trophy once again and that is something that I aim to achieve. I feel that we need an strong away performance today against Forest to put us in good stead for the coming matches.'

FA Cup - 5th Round Match
Notts Forest

0 - 2

Man Utd
Dimitar Berbatov (37), Bebe (57)
Dexter Blackstock missed penalty (23)
Sean Dillon injured (45+1)

Rafael - D Berbatov

Anderson - M Fellaini - D Beckham - A Valencia

J O'Shea - I Petric - C Smalling - T Avenel

J Campodonico

Chris Smalling was the stand out player today as Manchester United produced a backs to the wall display against the Championship outfit. It was a hard fought game where Nottingham Forest looked the better team until the first goal went in on 31 minutes after some great work from Antonio Valencia who played the ball square when clean through and Berbatov only had to place the ball into an empty net. Manchester United then secured the win in the 57th minute after a great set piece from Legendary midfielder David Beckham, as Bebe scored from the corner kick.

FA Cup Quarter Round Draw

Bristol City

vs

Leeds United
Newcastle United

vs

Manchester United
Huddersfield

or Tottenham

vs

Man City
Liverpool

vs

Chelsea

There are certainly some tasty looking ties in the Quarter Final draw as there is guaranteed to be a Championship side in the Semi Final as Bristol City and Leeds were drawn together. Manchester United will fancy their chances against Newcastle in the other tie. Elsewhere there are going to be some high class drop outs as Spurs or Huddersfield face City and Pool face Chelsea. ​

---------- Post added at 10:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:04 PM ----------

Champions League Dawns

Olympique Lynonnais

vs

Manchester United

Manchester United are waking up in France today as they prepare for the game against Olympique Lyonnais in a match many are predicting to be a tough challenge for the reigning Premier League Champions. Olympique Lyonnais are currently lying in 4th place 11 points off the leaders Olympique Marseille after dominating the Ligue 1 for the last 12 years. Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic is likely to return today after serving a 3 match domestic ban after picking up 10 yellow cards. Manchester United certainly struggled without the influential defender as they conceded 8 goals in the 3 games. Despite OL under performing so far this season they still have several key players.

Key Player:

Name: Lisandro Lopez
Age: 30
Appearances: 29
Goals: 20

Lisandro Lopez has been scouted as one of Lyon's main threats. He has been in top form so far this season scoring 20 goals in 29 matches both domestically and in continental competition. Manchester United will be delighted that Nemanja Vidic has returned as Sir Ryan Giggs feel's that the experienced Serbian will be able to handle the Argentine.

Sir Ryan Giggs Thoughts

'Lyon are an incredibly good side and have dominated France for along time, I feel that if it is going to be important to get an away goal as it always is in European football. So I want the team to get at them and try to play with high tempo and show them that they are in a game if we can get an early goal then we can control the game and quieten the crowd. I have every confidence in the team that I've chosen I feel that despite our injuries that we can perform well today.'

UEFA Champions League - Knock Out Stage First Leg
Olympique Lyonnais

1 - 4

Manchester United
Alan (51) - Marc Jones (18), Michel Bastos own goal (43), Nemanja Vidic (59), Wayne Rooney (71)

W Rooney - Chicharito

J Vargas - D Fletcher - M Jones - Nani

F Coentrao - J Evans - N Vidic - Rafael

J Campodonico

In a match where Lyon controlled the possession for long periods it was in fact Manchester United who came out and put in a fabulous display away in France. It was their midfield maestro Marc Jones that made all the headlines after putting in yet another incredible performance. It was the young Welshman who fired in the opener in the first 18th minute after Juan Manuel Vargas put in another great shift down the left flank after coming in for the injured Gareth Bale.

The dubious goals panel will certainly have to answer the decision of giving United's second goal to Michel Bastos own goal as it was a great cross by Marc Jones with Darren Fletcher firing a shot at goal, took a deflection off Bastos and it was given as an own goal. Nemanja Vidic scored a powerful header after that man Marc Jones put in yet another great cross into the box. The final goal was a wonderful right foot volley from that man Wayne Rooney after a cheeky knock down from Chicharito.​

 

[JackMason]

Another sublime update mate. This is really good stuff!

 

[eddybw]

Cheers mate thanks for following once again look forward to seeing you updates too!

---------- Post added at 11:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:06 PM ----------

Can United do the Unthinkable?

The question on everyone's lips is can Manchester United remain unbeaten for the rest of the season? Most match reports on Manchester United so far this season have emphasised their unbelievable attacking threat that they possess. They are currently unbeaten in 28 matches in the league so far without losing a game.

One of the main things that can be boasted about Manchester United is that they have the best defence by a margin. So far this season they have only conceded 3 goals at home in 14 home games. This is down the emergence of Jonny Evans as a strong partner for the already World Class defender Nemanja Vidic who has been in fabulous form so far this season. This mean's that regardless of whether their strikers are performing they know that they will be able to keep a clean sheet which means there should be at least a draw. However it has been shown that without Vidic in the lineup Manchester United are shaky as was seen when he suffered a 3 match ban when they conceded an incredible 8 goals in 3 matches.

Another key factor in Manchester United is that they currently have the two top scorers in the Premier Division being Chicharito and Wayne Rooney who have scored 57 goals between them in their 28 matches. This figure works out that just these two players have scored more than 19 of the other teams in the Premiership with only Chelsea scoring 71 goals this season. As well as their goal scoring form they have both brought a combined 25 assists between the two of them, which is an incredible feat. Manchester United have scored 92 goals so far with 10 more games to be played, if they can maintain this run of goal scoring it will surely be a record breaking year.

Something else they have is experience in abundance, Sir Ryan Giggs doesn't have a problem with players being over the age of thirty as he showed when he signed David Beckham on a free transfer, David has since put in some great performances for the Red Devils and so far in 11 appearances he has scored 1 goal and assisted 6 more. They also have Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra all experienced Manchester United players that know how to grind out results and have a great understanding.

With the Champions League on the agenda this will draw more of their first team players to have to play in that after in the Group Stage resting the likes of Wayne Rooney and Chicharito on many occasions. This could prove the only problem, but other than that there is certainly a chance that they could achieve this incredible feat. Manchester United face Chelsea in the League Cup Final on the 2nd of March with them able to secure their second piece of silverware of the season, after winning the Community Shield in August.

​

 

[dani3w]

thats one cracking update there mate! its an awesome read! and nice wins on previous updates unlucky about west ham! kiu

 

[Andrewpage14]

Some really good results there XD Good luck for the Carling Cup, hopefully stay unbeaten

 

[eddybw]

thats one cracking update there mate! its an awesome read! and nice wins on previous updates unlucky about west ham! kiu

Cheers mate yeh what a ridiculous effort

---------- Post added at 12:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:04 AM ----------

Some really good results there XD Good luck for the Carling Cup, hopefully stay unbeaten

Cheers mate keep following will have more updates tonight.

 

[JackMason]

Still the best read on here mate.

 

[eddybw]

March 2014

Manchester United look to an important month where they will be facing the second leg of the Champions League against Lyon as well as Chelsea in the League Cup Final on the 2nd March. The Red Devils will also be facing an over achieving Newcastle side in the FA Cup Quarter Final.

Sir Ryan Giggs has exclaimed his delight with the impact of Gareth Bale since his arrival from Tottenham for £19M. 'Gareth is an unbelievable talent, and has had a fantastic impact since he has arrived, I felt that we were a bit short on left sided players and there is no better in the world than Gareth at the moment he has already assisted 4 goals and scored 1 in his first 8 matches for us. If that isn't an impact I don't know what is.'

It is rumoured that Gareth Bale is going be a surprise inclusion in the squad to face Chelsea after recovering from a groin strain quicker than expected. United will no doubt be hoping that he will be fit to play as Chelsea will fear the directness of him and they will feel less inclined to push their full backs forward.

Here are the March fixtures,

2.3.2014 -

Chelsea (Neutral)

5.3.2014 -

Estonia (Away)

8.3.2014 -

Blackburn (Away)

12.3.2014 -

Sunderland (Home)

15.3.2014 -

Newcastle (Away)

19.3.2014 -

Olympique Lyonnais (Home)

22.3.2014 -

Blackpool (Home)

29.3.2014 -

Arsenal (Away)

With the season coming to it's climax there are certainly some stand out fixtures there that will test United's unbeaten record so far this season. The stand out game is perhaps the away tie against Arsenal who are currently lying in 3rd an incredible 14 points behind Manchester United having playing a game more. Another match that could potentially throw up and upset is the Champions League tie against Olympique Lyonnais, with the French outfit having nothing to lose it is likely that they will throw everything they have at the Red Devils.​

---------- Post added at 12:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:31 AM ----------

Still the best read on here mate.

Cheers buddy, I am enjoying the story and it just keeps pushing me to go on and on!!

 

[dani3w]

He's right its a quality read! the best one on here with the palermo story before it got crash dumps just updated mine bud KIU

 

[eddybw]

United Striker issues Rallying Cry!

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has issued a rallying cry ahead of the crunch match against Chelsea tomorrow. Manchester United last won the League Cup in 2010 when they defeated Aston Villa in the final, they now face a tougher encounter against a Chelsea side who will no doubt be aiming to bounce back from their two defeats to the Red Devils already this season.

'This is our time, I fully believe that we are the best team in English football, and the World and we plan to prove that to everyone this year. We are leading the Premiership, and looking to push on in the Champions League and FA Cup, I believe we can win everything that we are playing in. Yes Chelsea are a good team, but I feel that they won't be able to cope with us, we have proven that twice already this season and tomorrow we will show it again.'

Wayne Rooney has been nothing short of sensational so far this season having scored 7 goals in his last 5 games and 32 goals in 40 matches. Wayne believes that he is currently in the form of his life and feels that United are playing the best football they have played for years.

'I feel that we have been in incredible form so far this season, we have completely torn teams apart at times, Chicharito has been brilliant alongside me, I feel we have a great partnership. If we can continue in this vein of form then I feel that we can really achieve something great.'

Chelsea have only lost 5 matches so far this season out of 38. Despite this they currently lay in second place in the Premier League 12 points behind Manchester United who look to claim yet another Premier League title which would make it 4 consecutive Premiership wins for the Red Devils.​