Injuries and fatigue factor may spoil the world cup.

Sir Alex Ferguson was fuming over England’ manager Fabio Capello for makingWayne Rooney play for 90 minutes in the friendly over Egypt as a result he was over exerted and could not play the subsequent league match. Recently Franck Ribery was caught in a similar situation when he was reported to aggravated an existing problem by playing with an ankle injury in France’s friendly against Spain. Bayern’s management was reportedly to be furious over the matter and has complained to FIFA over the same.

 

In this ever going was between club and country the players will suffer and in the
end the fatigue may be visible in the World Cup. Nobody wants that but the we
are heading into that direction.

Given an example, in cricket last year when most of the players were playing in the
Indian Premier League (a cricket venture by the Indian Cricket Board) in
different clubs on the lines of football leagues they gave their best and the
tournament went with the same hopes in the T20 World Cup which was to be followed
in june in England. The things went in the wrong direction where defending
champion India bowed out of the tournament in the quarter finals which nobody
expected. The post defeat analysis showed the fatigue factor in the team
and also the carry forward injuries which they suffered during the IPL.
Pakistan on the other hand won the tournament because they were not allowed
to play in the IPL and concentrated fully on the World Cup.

Coming back to football, if more casualties follow the World Cup in South Africa can be a problem which may result to a flop show. Many in Europe thinks the World Cup is now second to club football because all the money and fame is in Champions League and top domestic league were they reside.

In the end I hope that the above is proved wrong and the country’s spirit remains at
the top. A win by a new country, Asian or an African nation will definitely
impact and change the thinking for the future.

Ferdinand and Vidic return as United host Hammers.

After their shock defeat at Goodison Park, Manchester United will be back to Old Trafford and will be hosting West Ham United for a crucial match and a chance to narrow the lead to one point for the current leaders Chelsea. For the fact of the matter, this match was postponed due to snowfall and the league cup and finally a date was decided for the same on 23rd February.

 

Good news for the red devils is that Rio Ferdinand will be available after successfully completing his four match ban which happened due to violent conduct against Hull City. The other defender Namanja Vidic is also expected to start as he is fast recovering from the calf injury. The Serbian was on the bench for the match against Everton. It was visible that Unitedmissed Ryan Giggs on the wing. He is still out due to the arm injury. The Hammers remain just four points off the relegation zone, but their back to back wins over Birmingham City and Hull City have boosted confidence in Gianfranco Zola‘s squad. Nevertheless, they have struggled on their away fixtures this season, winning just one of 13 away games which is a huge cause of concern for the Hammers and the old Trafford tradition go against their wish to turn the tables.

 

With title for one and relegation scare for another at stake this will be an exciting contest to see who win. The odds favourManchester United, last time when they met at Opton Park the visitors thrashed them with four goals. Alan Wiley will be the referee for the night. He has handed 4 red cards 28 games overall and none for United.

The match will be starting at 2000 Hours GMT (i.e. 0130 Hours IST). Don’t miss the all important match.

Chelsea looses, United draws, Gunners wins. The table remains the same…

Unable to take advantage of their rivals loss, Manchester Unitedremained at second place with their 1-1 draw against Aston Villa.Chelsea’s fared worse when they
lost against mighty Everton by 1-2, it was former Man United playerLouis Saha
getting the double for Everton. Arsenal finally got into winning ways after
defeating Liverpool with 1-0.

 

 Villa took the lead in the 19^th minute when Stewart Downing’s right-wing
cross was not fully cleared by Rafael as a result the ball dropped to Spanish
defender Carlos Cuellar whose curling header made the ball go into the far
corner. But just 4 minutes later United levelled through an own goal
when Ryan Giggs’ volleyed cross was turned into his own net by Villa defender
James Collins.

Despite the draw what will be concerning Sir Alex will be that their veteran winger Ryan Giggs will be out for at least 4 weeks after fracturing his arm following his clash with Steve Sidwell in the 74^th minute. He is likely to
miss the the champions league match against AC Milan and the crucial Carling
cup final at Wembley on the 28^th of this month.

 At the same time at Goodison Park, the leaders got an early lead in the 17^th minute throughMalouda who scored through his left foot before making his way
upto the goal. But then Saha had come into action, he scored the equaliser in
the 36^th min through a corner and after the break he got the winner
in the 74^th minute when A super left-footed half volley from 18 yards flew beyond
Cech.

Arsenal final got their first win in 2 weeks by beating Liverpool by a narrow margin of 1-0 with Abou Diaby’s goal in the
71th minute. The gunners are comfortable at the last champions league automatic
place which is unlikely to go from them

With only one point difference, the league has become more exciting as ever with the last 12 matches to decide the ultimate winner.

 Mid week results were:

Tuesday:

Manchester City 2-0 Bolton Wanderers

Portsmouth 1-1 Sunderland

Wigan Athletic 1-1 Stoke City

Fulham 3-0 Burnley

Wednesday

 Arsenal 1-0 Liverpool

Aston Villa 1-1 Manchester United

West Ham United 2-0Birmingham City

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Blackburn Rovers 1-0 Hull City

Everton 2-1Chelsea

Arsenal to face Chelsea, Manchester United to visit Fratton park.

In a crucial match for both the teams, one fighting for survival and the other for the top spot, Portsmouth will be hosting Manchester United at Fratton park on Sunday. It is an important match for the red devils but it will be even more important for the team which is badly in need for points and as the experts says it is unlikely that they will achieve this mission.
News from the locker room is that Manchester United will be out in full force for the match against the port club and will be forcing a big win to boost up their confidence.Owen Hargreaves is recovering fast but is unlikely to start even the bench remains unlikely for him. From Portsmouth, the team under Avram Grant will be hoping to show up a good performance against the red devils which may bring some temporary relief but a huge boost of confidence.

The big match this weekend will be Chelsea Vs Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium and the most keen watchers of that match will be Manchester United who would be hoping that Chelsea looses but that will be making things complex as the Gunners will then close in on United.
In yet another big match for the reds, Liverpool will be up against their neighbours Everton in a crucial match.Liverpool who have been knocked out of the champions league will be desperate for a win. Gerrard is expected to play a heavy role so to take his club where it belongs.
The other matches this weekend includes:
Saturday
Blackburn Rovers Vs Stoke City 15:00 Hours
Fulham Vs Bolton Wanderers 15:00 Hours
Manchester City Vs Hull City 15:00 Hours
West Ham United Vs Burnley 15:00 Hours
Wigan Athletic Vs Sunderland 15:00 Hours
Aston Villa Vs Tottenham Hotspur 17:30 Hours

Sunday
Wolverhampton Wanderers Vs Birmingham City 12:00 Hours
Everton Vs Liverpool 13:30 Hours
Arsenal Vs Chelsea 16:00 Hours

Know Manchester United’s upcoming players.

As the youth of any organisation, group, family or country are the future, they must be taken full care off and given the right type of training for everyone’s benifit. Manchester United Football Club Reserves are the reserve team of Manchester United F.C where young and in many times children of 10-12 years are selected from various schools, smaller clubs, are selected and groomed for years and then some of them are promoted to the main team which plays in the premierleague. They play in the North section of the Premier Reserve League. They have been champions three times since the league’s inauguration in 1999; in 2002, 2005 & 2006. They also participate in the Manchester Senior Cup, although in recent years the teams entered in this competition have featured an increasing number of youth players. This tournment consists of several youth side which works a a full fledged league as that of premier league. Sir Alex Fergusonkeeps a close eye on the youth academy as he is responsible in bringing up some of the best players to the club through this route. David Beckham, Gary Naville are some of the famous examples, or in other words the famous products of the academy. The present day United’s youth squad consists of 18 players which are given training by the best with interactive session with the current players,who tell their experiences to the juniors which is always handy in crunch situations… According to Sir Alex “When I first came to the club one of my main aims was to reinvigorate our youth system to the level that we’ve now reached and one that we’re very happy with. I re-jigged the whole system of youth development from the scouting to the trialling. Seeing that group of players – the two Nevilles, Butt, Scholes, Beckham and Giggs – come through was fantastic and people will remember these players forever”. So one can see it is a good investment for commercially as well as for the better of this beautiful game.

Manchester United’s chief Mentor: Sir Alex

Minds at work all the time… Sir Alexander Chapman “Alex” Ferguson, the current manager of Manchester united football club, is like a king mentor for the team.He has been here for a long time and we all hope will be here forever, appointed in November 1986 when the club was struggling to win consistently.With 22 years as manager of Manchester United, he is the second-longest serving manager in their history after Sir Matt Busby, while his tenure is the longest of all the current League managers. During this time, Ferguson has won many awards and holds many records including winning Manager of the Year most times in British football history. Manchester United have won more honours during Ferguson’s tenure than they did in all the years combined prior to his appointment. At Manchester United, Sir Alex has become the most successful domestic manager in the history of English football, having guided the team to eleven league championships and two Champions League titles. In 1999, he became the first manager to lead an English team to the historic treble of league championship, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League. As well as being the only manager to win the FA Cup five times, he is also the only manager ever to win three successive league championships in the top flight in England with the same club (1998–99, 1999–2000 and 2000–01), repeating the feat again in 2006–07, 2007–08 and 2008–09. Yet despite all those trophies at United helm he remains focused on increasing that tally, bringing yet more silverware to Old Trafford. The best thing about him is that players came as a rookie but he made them professionals with his great skills of teaching and most importantly build great team strategies. Even when some of the best players left United he still managed to build winning team again, leaving no space for the former players. With many awards he is one of the best coaches this football world has produced.