football united fanzine issue 7 - manchester united's premier online magazine

1 ISSUE 7, SEPTEMBER 2011

RELIVING JUVENTUS ‘99

PAUL SCHOLES, LEGEND OR

GENIUS?

DE GEA vs LINDEGAARD FIGHT FOR #1

INTERVIEW WITH

DAVID GRAY

TIME FOR ANDERSON TO

STEP UP?


REGULAR FEATURES

04 EDITORIALS 06 IN THE NEWS 08 HOT TOPIC 09 EDITOR’S VIEW 10 BLAST FROM THE PAST 12 BATTLE OF THE LEGENDS 18 MAD MANC’S RANT 20 MICKY OWEN: PI 32 BORN AND RED 44 IN VIEW 46 THE FINAL WORD

16 FROM THE ENEMY’S MOUTH Rival football fans offer their predictions for the 2011-12 season.

22 FAMOUS FACES Exclusive chat with musician David Gray.

28 BATTLE FOR NUMBER ONE As David de Gea comes under fire for his early United career, we address the battle for his number one jersey.

In this month’s issue of Football United Fanzine

SPECIAL FEATURES

SEPTEMBER 2011

28 Battle for number 1

22

Exclusive chat with United fan &

musician, David Gray


30 A MONTH IN FOOTBALL The alternative look at United’s matches in August.

34 ARE YOU IN THE KNOW? With silly season over everyone knows someone who is “in the know,” but what does this term actually mean?

36 PAUL SCHOLES, HE SCORES GOALS As a United legend hangs up his boots we discuss if he’s a legend or a genius.

42 TIME FOR ANDO TO STEP UP? Anderson enters into his fifth season with United so surely now is the time for the young Brazilian to start showing his worth.

36 Paul Scholes, he

scores goals...

10 SEPT: Bolton vs United

Premier League 5.30pm

14 SEPT: Benfica vs United

Champions League 7.45pm

18 SEPT: United vs Chelsea


20 SEPT: Leeds United vs United

Carling Cup 7.45pm

24 SEPT: Stoke City vs United


27 SEPT: United vs Basle

Champions League 7.45pm

COMING UP THIS MONTH...


Football United Fanzine

W: www.football-united-blogs.com E: [email protected] EDITORIAL Managing Editor: Steph Doehler Deputy Editor: Rachel Turney Contributors: Liam Scott, Brett Burgers, Sam Peoples, Alan Monger, Sufiyan Kala, Peter Dyke, Steve Brady, Will Tidey, En Lim, Jack Harvey and John Cosgrove. DESIGN Designer: Steph Doehler A SPECIAL THANKS TO David Gray, Leanne Hurley, The Chelsea Blog, Danny Pugsley, Zarif Rasul, Darren. IMAGES City graveyard: Matt Wing Battle of the Legends: Anneka Lowe FOR ENQUIRES Email: [email protected] Facebook: FootballUnited Blogs Twitter: @footballUB All material unless otherwise stated, is copyright to the Football United Fanzine. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the editors. The Football United Fanzine is completely independent of Manchester United Football Club. The Football United Fanzine accepts no responsibility for services offered by advertisers.

Warming the Bench

As the transfer window slams shut for another four months we can all breath a sigh of relief that Twitter, football websites, the newspa-pers and pretty much every other media outlet will now stop linking the most unheard of and ridiculous players to United and their rivals. We also slam shut the exces-sive rumours surrounding

Wesley Sneijder who, for some period at least, genuinely did seem to be on his way to Old Trafford (if you believe the press that is). Looking at our team now I don’t believe the Dutchman is required in order to see United achieve this season. Four wins in four and that’s without any real contri-butions from the likes of Berbatov, Hernandez, Giggs, Car-rick and co. No doubt a time will come when United go through a rough patch this season and supporters scream “Why didn’t Fergie sign Wes?” We’re a fickle bunch us foot-ball fans. But as things stand, I’m happy. Wesley would have been a nice signing, but a necessity? Not at all for me. Plus I’ve been saying for the last couple of years it’s a holding midfielder (think Roy Keane, or what Hargreaves could have been) we need, not an attacking one. But that’s a story and debate for another day. So as it is, the squad we currently have is the one we will have to make do with until January. Looking at our closest rivals only City can really compete with us on that level, and I believe they will give us a good run for our money this season. Whilst it may not be good for our hearts, Manches-ter football is thriving and that’s something the city should be proud of.

Steph - Managing Editor Follow Steph on Twitter @StephDoehler

Editorials

Transfer deadline day, either the most exciting or frustrat-

ing day in the calendar.

http://twitter.com/#!/stephdoehler


It’s back! It’s back! Thank god. My life has purpose once more. Football, I’ve missed you. What a start to the season it’s been. They call it the Theatre of Dreams and the name could not have been more poignant last Sunday. I was at Old Trafford and it really was like no other football match I have ever seen. I woke early on Sunday to a message from my sister, she had dreamt of a 4-0 United victory. I laughed, she really was dreaming. I entered the ground with a friend and discussed our predictions, both feel-ing United could win the game given Arsenal’s missing players and how well we had started the season. What followed how-ever was truly astonishing and unexpected. Who would have thought we would witness eight United goals, from five differ-ent scorers. It could have been even more, it was all too easy. No slow start for us this season and once again City are kept in United’s shadow on a day when it didn’t seem possible. The atmosphere was as brilliant as the performance which puts us back on top of the table where we belong. The fans were de-lighted and fair play to the Arsenal fans who kept cheering their team on throughout as well. If our start to the season is a sign of things to come, I think we could be smiling again come May. On the way out of the stadium a fellow fan turned to us and said, with a grin on his face “Would you believe I had Welbeck first scorer with United winning 8-2?” No I wouldn’t, but I bet you wish you had!

Rachel - Deputy Editor

Follow Rachel on Twitter @Rachel_jj2011

Editorials

http://twitter.com/#!/rachel_jj2011


AS NEWS OF THE GLAZER FAMILY’S WILLINGNESS TO RELINQUISH SOME CONTROL OF UNITED, QUESTIONS ARE RAISED AS TO WHERE THE MONEY GENERATED WILL GO.

With the club currently valued at around £1.6bn, the sale of around 25% could fetch £400m and would increase the club’s presence in Asia, which has been a focal point of growth for years. The Glazers are unlikely to sell a higher share as this would leave them vulnera-ble to a future takeover.

Last month it was offi-cially announced that United plan to sell a major stake in the club via the Singapore Stock Ex-change. Although the size of the stake is yet to be revealed, it could (and should) help to pay off some of our sizeable debts which currently stand at £515m.

The sale is not likely to be approved until Novem-ber, by which time it will hopefully be clearer what the Glazers intend to do with the money generated from the flotation. If they considerably reduce the debt at the club then the vehement opposition to them may lessen.


No more signings no

sneijder as the transfer

window closes

Just as Fergie told us last month, United made no fur-ther signings during this trans-fer window, as alleged target Wesley Sneijder remained in Milan. It appears as though Ferguson has faith in the ac-quisitions of de Gea, Young and Jones, as they look to de-fend their Premier League title and take on Europe.

Hargo gets career back on

track Owen Hargreaves switches

Manchester allegiances

Remember when Owen Hargreaves used to play for United? No, us neither. So it was hardly a surprise when the club let him go at the end of his contract in the sum-mer. Despite being linked with the likes of West Brom and Villa amongst others Hargreaves decided to make the short journey across the city to United’s rivals over at Eastlands. See Steph’s reaction to this move in Editor’s View.

AS OUR NOISY NEIGHBOURS SPLASH THE CASH IN YET ANOTHER TRANSFER WINDOW SPARE A THOUGHT FOR THEIR REJECTS…

www.mattwing.co.uk


Prized possessions? Do you fight to keep them, or let them go and cash in while the value is high? Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Cristiano Ronaldo. Luka Modric - all great players. An offer comes in from a team they have decided they would rather play for, but they’re still in con-tract, and you’re the one responsible for building them up to be the player they are today. The dilemma has raged this summer, what do you do with these key players? If you sell the player, what message does that send to your other team players and your fans? That you’re here to make money de-veloping and selling players? Clearly there is a good business in it, seeing the figures Arsene Wenger has made for Arsenal. But to sell a talisman, like Fabregas, what comes next? In truth it is likely a flurry of players will want to leave said club seeing that their chances of silverware fades further and further away. Players like Nasri heading for the door, rumour that Van Persie wants to leave also. How can my club keep afloat? Satisfying their bank balance, and their fans. It seems as if they’re more concerned with one than the other. But if you keep the player, what does that do to your squad?

Players who have worked to fill the place of the want-away player become disheartened that you don’t have enough confidence to trust them with a starting XI position. The player wanting to leave won’t men-tally have their head in your vision for the future, as they will see themselves elsewhere. Their effort level, will it be the same level of commitment as other play-ers? Or will they simply do enough to get by?

So what is the solution? Who is to blame for all this commotion during the off-season? You’ve got to say the players, clubs and agents are to blame. They have all complicated the simplicity of signing a player to a team by making the sport a busi-ness. Five year deals, why such a long time? Surely two-three year deal maximum would be better? Make the player prove their worth. This protects the club in case the player becomes an injured wreck or upsets the dressing room balance with an over exuberant mouth, just as United have seen before. But, if they don’t sign these players for five years, they’re in danger of more players letting their shorter contracts run down and leaving on a free transfer. After a quick evaluation of the options, I can con-firm… it’s best if we leave it to the clubs! There is no easy answer.


WITH AN INCREASING NUMBER OF PLAYERS BEING KEPT AT THEIR CLUBS AGAINST THEIR WILL, LIAM SCOTT ADDRESSES THE ISSUE OF HOW TO DEAL WITH UNHAPPY FOOTBALLERS.


It was with much surprise and controversy that Owen Hargreaves switched to City earlier this week. Having made just 39 appearances in four seasons at United it was expected that the Canadian born mid-fielder would leave the club at the end of his contract. However with the transfer dealings at Eastlands these days, few would have predicted a move across the city. Many fans have voiced displeasure at Hargo’s destination however they should recall that he did offer to play for United this season for free, the club declined his offer. It is perhaps the time for us fans to stop assuming that all our players possess some deep rooted affinity to our club. Manchester United are an employee to these players, they aren’t their heart and souls like they are for us. Hargreaves, like many before, will make decisions on what’s best for him. I hope he gets his career back on track...although I hope this doesn’t include any trophies!

AGREE OR DISAGREE? We want to know what you think about anything you read in the magazine. You can email: [email protected] or tweet us @footballUB

HARGO LEAVES UNITED...FOR OUR NEAREST RIVALS.

other hand entered into a lim-ited discussion with me, stating that all fees are made clear before purchase. I agreed but further questioned the incon-sistent fees for clubs across the Premier League. Unsurprising-ly they did not respond. Over the summer, United ended their affiliation with Viagogo. “Excellent,” we all thought. However, it now appears that the club will not be offered any alternative, therefore the are no ‘legal’ ways of season ticket holders selling their tickets on for matches they cannot make. So after a small victory against Viagogo, paying fans have once again been shafted by ticketing procedures at the club.

In our very first issue I con-ducted a small investigation into United’s official ticket exchange website, Viagogo. Fans have long criticised the company who add ridiculous fees onto ticket prices, more often than not amounting to half the price of a normal tick-et. What I found most confus-ing was that whilst United fans would pay additional fees of over £20 per ticket, the same priced seat at Villa Park war-ranted fees of £6.48. I ques-tioned both United and Vi-agogo and the club claimed that any additional fees were decided by the company itself. Basically they denied any knowledge of piss-taking on Viagogo’s part. Viagogo on the

TICKET EXCHANGE FARCE AGAIN As United end their affiliation with legal touters Viagogo the club fail to

offer an alternative for season ticket holders.

http://twitter.com/#!/FootballUB


The famous 2nd Leg conquering of Juventus began for us around 11.15pm the night prior. Fails-worth gents, Steeles and Bratby were perched at the end of the bar waiting for me to finish my shift at Joshua Brookes, enjoying their 3rd or 4th pint and getting a taste for it. With the excitement building for our first Euro away we faced the trickiest of dilem-mas. Do we head back to my Burnage HQ, get a few hours kip under our belts and head to Italy super fresh? Or do we walk a mere 10 yards across the street to Student Night at the Paradise Factory and get shedded on £1 double vodka’s? Four hours later after telling anyone who would listen in Abdul’s Oxford Road that we were “heading straight from here to Italy,” we were finally en route to Ringway, albeit with a quick stop off on the way to grab a passport, United top and make myself presentable with a quick swill of mouthwash.

The Manchester side of pass-port control is a bit of a haze but our drunken bravado came to an abrupt halt on the Italian side. A

streets. Shutters went down quicker than Inzaghi in a penalty box. Those that had the courage to stay open traded in goods of little interest to the hundreds of bored newly arrived tourists pounding the streets. UEFA had treated us to a booze ban for the day so the majority of the day was highly uneventful. The ban-ter with locals was good natured, the occasional Torino fan wish-ing us well. There’s only so many espressos you can cane and only so many appalling drivers you can watch bump into each other though. The dodgy vodka fatigue from the previous night had taken over until we came across a local tavern blatantly flouting the UEFA drink regs. Unsurprisingly it was jam packed with Reds, the bar staff revered like Roman God’s. We managed to get enough Peroni into us to level us back to our previous nights prime just as the local constabu-lary staged a raid akin to some-thing out of Boardwalk Empire, the silence only broken by the noise of pints being downed as quickly as possible. Me and the lads inexperience at this level

line of what seemed like 500 rifle packing Carabinieri, accompa-nied with standard issue Alsa-tians greeted us outside the airport doors. It was more Es-cape to Victory than Champions League. The three of us never said a word for fear of being executed on the spot, eyes to the floor until reaching the sanctity of the transfer bus. The convoy of coaches made their way through the depress-ing industrial streets of Turin providing thought provoking conversations such as ‘why the fuck would Zidane and Davids want to live here?’ along with the obvious comparisons to Mersey-side. Being from a good Roman Catholic education I noted that it was home to the Shroud of Tu-rin. This brought a ponderous silence ended by an equally informative cultural titbit…“they filmed the Italian Job here, didn’t they?”

We were greeted on arrival at the Piazza Castello, Turin’s main square, with mass panic amongst the onlooking shopkeepers as 15 coaches worth of Manchester’s finest piled out onto the

Turin, 1999 By John Cosgrove

@JohnnyCozza

Juventus vs Manchester United 21st April 1999

Champions League semi-final 2nd Leg

http://twitter.com/#!/JohnnyCozza


showed and we were clearly bricking it. Thoughts of my Dad having to post the 1 million Lire bail went through my head. For-tunately, they let us off with this one, and we made a swift exit like naughty children jumping on the coaches for the Delle Alpi.

The sirens from the police escort we were given brought families onto the balconies of their high rises giving us a wave. Before we knew it we were mak-ing our way up the steps into the home of the Old Lady of Italian Football. Awaiting us were 50,000 Juve fans already baying for blood three hours before kick-off. It was nothing like we had ever seen before and the noise was incredible. The wall of armed police boxing us in were trying their best to intimidate us but it was not to be, our own troops were in good voice. De-spite the away goal Juve had taken from M16, this was a sea-son like no other and we were ready to witness miracles…and a miracle was required after two Juve goals inside 11 minutes

killed the mood. Like I said though, this team isn’t beaten, although the Jip Jaap’s headed clearance off the line tested that theory to the max. The general mood was get one back before half-time and we can do it. We duly did with a captain’s goal and then another from a great Yorke header level-ling us up. One foot in the Final…

The whole 2nd half was a nail biter. They had a couple of goals ruled out for offside, Denis should have bagged the rebound after hitting the post. As we know, our moment came late on when one of the Great Dane’s huge goal kicks lead to Yorkie going clean through only to be brought down by Peruzzi

bringing 5000 cries for a pen-alty. The ref played the ad-vantage though and the ball fell loose to Cole who had the simple task of rolling it into an empty net, sparking a melee of epic proportions. The final whistle was barely heard but the realisation we were finally ‘there’ again sparked huge celebrations. The singing continued throughout the 45 minute lock-in whilst we watched the Juve fans set fire to their seats! Just before we were let out Fergie came out punching the air. I don’t think we even knew who we had in the Final yet. Little did we know, the best was yet to come. Full speed ahead Barcelona …


Before players were intro-duced to pasta (How posh!) and vitamin shakes (Oh, you’re spoil-ing us) their diet consisted of lager, whiskey chasers and a half time fag. The games were slower as were the players, although no less entertaining. This was of course, at least in United’s case, for one man…Bryan Robson. When we talk of players with engines now, we are in the most part referring to what is in effect a trained athlete. Football in the 80’s didn’t have dieticians with computer generated and cali-brated fitness programmes. If you were to recreate the scene from Rocky IV with Robbo as Rocky and A.N.Other Premier League footballer playing the part of Dolph Lundgren the out-come would be the same. Robbo on the mountain top. Prem play-er legs akimbo at the foot of the treadmill. His heart and desire were there for all to see. His all action style was the envy of players and fans the world over. But this belies another truth about him. Behind those attrib-utes more readily observed of him was a very talented and technically gifted footballer. His combative style was almost like a highly evolved smokescreen for a deadly finisher and ex-tremely proficient user of the ball. He seemed to score every week, although statistically he was roughly one in four, still not bad for a midfielder. There can probably be no clearer an

example of his selflessness than when he turned down the oppor-tunity to score a hat-trick in the final of the FA Cup in ’83. He was and will remain Captain Marvel. If ever any player epitomised the footballing cliche of leading by example then Robbo was that player. He was simply an irre-sistible force. He didn’t need to intimidate players with big tack-les (not that he shirked them or was shy of the odd one or two), he intimidated them with his unwavering drive. I remember watching some games and feel-ing like we were a man up on the opposition, such was his want. If a professional footballer isn’t inspired by a player like Robbo in their dressing room, then they should probably consider a dif-ferent vocation. His influence carried through and was argua-bly the catalyst for the genera-tion that spawned the most suc-cessful period in the club’s histo-ry. When a player shows so much of the character that Rob-bo did and the tangible response from the fans is there for all to see it’s only natural for the play-ers coming up through the club to strive to emulate that. Becks worshipped Robbo. He claims it was in fact Robbo who inspired him more than any other player. All of the youth players who came through in the early 90’s earmark Robbo as a stand out influence on their career. It’s fitting that he was able to help lead the club to its first title in donkey’s years and in turn lay

lay down the foundation for things to come. Being installed as ambassa-dor for the club speaks vol-umes for his legacy. Rarely does a player embody the spirit and passion on the pitch of the archetypal captain like Robbo. It’s these things that will live long in the memory of the fans. He would now, had his initially promising manage-rial career not curtailed off in a downward trajectory, be con-sidered a natural successor to SAF (although it’s convenient to say this ignoring an infinite count of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’). I imag-ine that people would argue that it’s difficult to talk about Robbo’s legacy and reputation in light of the recent Dispatches documentary footage, without mentioning it. Well there you go I just did. Put it into a search engine if you missed it entirely. I rarely concern my-self with players off-field af-fairs, that’s not to say I ignore them, but to me they exist as heroes and villains within the confines of the football pitch


first and foremost and some-times within the tunnel and then sometimes within the press rooms. How they really are when the insipidness and cliche of media training peels away and they turn out to be just as human as the rest of us is no more inter-esting as it is unsurprising. Yes I’m aware of all stories of foot-ballers in the press and enjoy them and wince at them in equal measure to a point. Nothing can change how much of a hero Rob-bo was to me growing up, be-cause he was just that at that time. That’s how I will remember him. More telling of his legacy is that he was recently voted the club’s greatest ever player by United

legends themselves in the new book 19. He was THE United player of the 80’s. His name will be forev-er woven in the fabric of our club. I fell in love with football because of Bryan Robson.

By Brett Burgers

the training ground because of the presence that he had and the fact that he was their leader. He was the beating heart from which the rest of the team func-tioned. When Keane went for-ward, so did the team and when Keane came back, so did the rest. When Keane was playing, the team were invincible and when he didn't, they were vulnerable. The Braveheart-esque charac-teristics combined with his tech-nical prowess, are what made Keane the great United General that he will forever be known as. He set the standards for the rest of the team and expected them to be followed. If he caught any-body shirking their responsibili-ties and not pulling their weight, they were given a snarling re-minder as to where their duties lay and the cause that they were fighting for. His influence on the pitch was demonstrated in every game of his career but one match that will always epitomise Keane is that magical night in Turin in '99 where he led the team back from a two-goal deficit and into the European Cup final - despite knowing that he wouldn’t be playing a part in it due to a book-ing he picked up earlier. That's what was most admirable about Keane - his willingness to put the collective cause first before his own.

"It was the most emphatic dis-

play of selflessness I have seen on a football field. Pounding over

every blade of grass, competing as if he would rather die of exhaus-

tion than lose, he inspired all around him. I felt it was an hon-our to be associated with such a

player." - Sir Alex on Keane's performance against Juventus.

The day Roy Keane left the club the curtains were drawn on an illustrious career of the finest captain United has seen. It most definitely was the end of an era and the poignancy and passion with which he lived his United career were, in some respects, to come to a premature end. A modern day Braveheart figure, his displays were fearless, pas-sionate, intelligent, determined and he also possessed a unique

level of commitment and desire, with which he carried his troops into battle and more often than not, came out on top.

Part of the best ever United midfield set up during his peak, he possessed a great level of skill, power and technique and even though there were others in the squad who were ahead of him based on natural ability - the likes of Beckham, Scholes and Giggs - Keane was never inferior to any of them on the pitch or on

@HoldAndGive

http://twitter.com/#!/HoldAndGive


The treble-winning season of '99 is regarded as the greatest mo-ment in the history of the club. The class of '92 that had made history are regarded as the greatest United team and the person who led them to it all was of course their fearless captain, Roy Keane.

Keano was never shy of con-frontation. In fact, he thrived on it. Whoever was to cross his path, was to do so at their peril, as Alf-Inge Haaland found out. Most United fans will never for-get the tunnel bust-up at High-bury which not so surprisingly involved Keane after he over-heard a heated exchange be-tween Patrick Vieira and Gary Neville with the Frenchman criticising Neville's tackling style and in effect, trying to gain a psychological advantage before a ball was kicked.

Being the leader of the pack Keane took it upon himself to defend his team-mate and not let Vieira disrupt the team mentali-ty before such a crucial game. He confronted Vieira who was being pulled away by his team-mates and challenged him to pick on somebody his "own size." Inci-dentally, Keane is five inches shorter than Vieira. The televi-sion cameras that had recorded the altercation that day showed Keane almost murderous, spew-ing venom towards Vieira as he was made to look a coward and a bully. United won that game 4-2 and any United fan will tell you the game was won in the tunnel, before a ball had even been kicked.

“You never felt you were beaten when Keaney was in your team. He never threw in the towel.” -

Ryan Giggs

His influences off the pitch were just as stern and strict. He was never shy to voice his opin-ion and one opinion in particu-lar, the infamous rant on MUTV slating the players after a 4-1 defeat away to Middlesbrough, abruptly ended his United career if injuries wouldn't have done so first. The result of that rant how-ever had a profound effect on the players as they beat Chelsea the following week with near enough the same team that got embarrassed a week earlier. Not only is he the greatest Unit-ed captain, which is merely a matter of opinion, he also hap-pens to be the most successful United captain, which is a matter of fact, as he led the club to nine major honours during his tenure as captain. In moments like this where we reminisce about and honour the

legacy Keane left at the club, we also feel blessed to have seen such a gifted player grace the Old Trafford turf but are also left sad with the fact that we may never see a player of Roy Keane's calibre play for the club again. “He [Keane] was our captain, he

was our leader and he left a mark: where we are now is

down to him, our dedication comes from the standards he

set. The rules about time-keeping, about getting in a half-

hour early, they were his in-structions back in the day and

those traditions continue.” -

Darren Fletcher.

By Sufiyan Kala

@Sufiyan_Kala

www.football-united-blogs.com/battle-of-the-legends

Results from last issue’s Battle saw

Peter Schmeichel snatch victory from Van der Sar, securing 54% of your votes.

http://twitter.com/#!/Sufiyan_Kala

http://football-united-blogs.com/battle-of-the-legends-2/


Steph has spoken to some of the more pleasant rival fans over their predictions and hopes for the 2011-12 season.

LEANNE HURLEY Leanne runs the well established Arsenal website www.ladyarse.com which was nominated for best fansite on Goal.com last season. League Champions? Torn between City and United...let’s say United. Runners-up? That makes it City. Realistic Arsenal finish? 4th. Relegated teams? Norwich, QPR and Swansea. Pred-icable I know. Surprise package? Sunderland. Match most looking forward to? As an Arsenal fan I can’t say there is a single match at the minute I’m looking forward to! Breakthrough star for Arsenal? Aaron Ramsey. Arsenal’s most important player? Robin Van Per-sie. First manager to be fired? Neil Warnock. Best signing of the transfer window so far? Gael Clichy to City. Top goalscorer? Suarez. Champions League winner? Barcelona Single wish for the season? That it won’t be as painful as last season.

Follow Leanne on Twitter @ladyarse

THE CHELSEA BLOG www.TheChelseaBlog.org

League Champions? It pains me to say it but United. Runners-up? Either Chelsea or City. Relegated teams? Wigan, Swansea and Norwich. Surprise package? I can’t really see anyone being a surprise, if anything, I think this season looks a fairly easy one to predict. A side who I can see causing a few upsets along the way is Stoke City. Match most looking forward to? QPR if Bolton can put four past them to be honest. Breakthrough star for Chelsea? I sound like a bro-ken record on this one but, if he’s given the opportu-nities he should do by AVB then Josh McEachran. Like De Gea, he could do with filling his kit out a bit but physique aside, he’s a clever little player with bags of energy and creativity – and under 30 too! Chelsea’s most important player? I’m hoping for Torres. Pre-season, he looked as if his confidence was creeping back in and definitely showed more than shades of the old Torres against Stoke, so if he keeps that up there should be plenty of goals on their way. First manager to be fired? Oh please let it be Rob-erto Mancini. Best signing of the transfer window so far? A bit hard to say but judging by the first day (which proba-bly isn’t fair as it was against Swansea) I’d say Aguero. Top goalscorer? I think Hernandez will score a few this season but hoping for Torres. Champions League winner? Barcelona Single wish for the season? To have a manager at the end for a change.

Follow The Chelsea Blog on Twitter @TheChelseaBlog

http://twitter.com/#!/ladyarse

http://twitter.com/#!/TheChelseaBlog


DANNY PUGSLEY Danny is the editor of SB Nation’s City blog www.bitterandblue.com. League Champions? It is difficult to look beyond United. I'm not sure Chelsea have done quite enough to make up the points gap. Arse-nal look set for a struggle as off-field distractions inevitably take their toll. City will challenge but until they prove themselves in terms of having the mental-ity to compete for it, it is hard to really tip them. Runners-up? It’s easy to forget that City and Chelsea finished level on points last season and again it will be close . A lot will depend on how quickly Chelsea and Villas-Boas assimilate, as if they take a while to settle down they could lose early ground. Relegated teams? It is tough to look beyond the promoted sides, but of the three who came up I fancy Norwich to have the greatest chance. Invariably, there is always a big side who gets embroiled in the it and could this year see Everton. Surprise package? Stoke. Match most looking forward to? Any of the Cham-pions League games. City have been in the EL in re-cent seasons, but until the very latter stages it has been hard to get too excited about games but now there should be some great games ahead. Breakthrough star for City? City have a lot of prom-ising talent. I'm looking to seeing more of Stefan Savic, the young defender. City’s most important player? City had a real core to the side in Hart, Kompany, de Jong, Yaya Toure, Silva and Tevez last season, it is hard to say there is one that is particularly key but City did struggle when de Jong was missing. For all the attacking threat we possess, his ability to bridge the defensive and attacking elements is often overlooked. First manager to be fired? Steve Kean. Best signing of the transfer window so far? It feels ludicrous to state based on little more than half an hours play but Aguero could add a different element to City that can bring the 10-15 extra goals a season Mancini feels it will take to land the title. Top goalscorer? He struggled at the start last sea-son but Wayne Rooney may well be set to rebound. Champions League winner? There isn't a host of sides you see winning it but I'll plump for Real Ma-drid to get one over on their rivals. Single wish for the season? Another trophy would be nice but a genuine tilt at the title is what fans are now hoping for.

Follow Danny on Twitter @Danny_Pugsley

ZARIF RASUL Zarif is a Liverpool fan who writes for www.footballfancast.com League Champions? Pains me to say, but can't see past Manchester United. They have improved upon a squad which was already of title-winning quality. Chelsea are potentially in a period of transition, and I still have doubts over Manchester City. Also, we are yet to see how City will copy with the pressures of Champions League football and its knock-on effect onto their league form. Runners-up? Manchester City. They have a really strong spine and in David Silva they have the most creative player in the Premier League and Sergio Aguero is a truly world-class player. Realistic Liverpool finish? 4th is obtainable. Relegated teams? QPR, Blackburn and Swansea. Surprise package? Sunderland. Steve Bruce has reinvested the Bent/Henderson money very wisely, and Sunderland looked very organised when they played against us on the first day of the season. Match most looking forward to? Games between Liverpool and United at Anfield are always exciting, but I'm quite looking forward to Torres' return to L4 this season. Breakthrough star for Liverpool? Raheem Sterling and Suso seem to be the two young lads attracting the most attention at the moment, but it remains to be seen how close to first-team action they are. Liverpool’s most important player? For the last ten seasons, the answer would always have been Steven Gerrard. However, given his injury problems and diminution of influence, and Liverpool's swelling midfield ranks, I would now say that Luis Suarez is the most important player at the club. He is one of the most exciting players in the Premier League, and you always feel that something might happen when he gets the ball. First manager to be fired? Steve Kean. Best signing of the transfer window so far? Aguero Top goalscorer? Tough one, as there are so many good forwards in the Premier League this season. If he can stay fit, I'd say Robin van Persie. Realistically this never seems to happen, so I'm going to go for Sergio Aguero. Champions League winner? Barcelona. Single wish for the season? A top-four finish is essential. Really miss Champions League football.

Follow Zarif on Twitter @ZarifRasul

http://twitter.com/#!/danny_pugsley

http://twitter.com/#!/zarifrasul


I promised myself I wouldn't write about it. After hearing his name every day for the last three months, and reading a million and one articles about this very subject, I didn't want to 'flog the dead donkey.' I tried to think of other topics to write about, but nothing in the magical world of football has even come close to pissing me off as much as the whole hoopla surrounding Wes-ley Sneijder's projected move to Old Trafford.

As a football fan, we crave in-formation on our team. After the defeat to Barcelona in the Cham-pions League final, United fans

worldwide joined together and ceremoniously decided that the most important missing piece in the puzzle would be that we needed an attacking midfielder. One who could create chances, unlock defences and terrorise teams at will. Within weeks we were linked with three players: Luca Modric, Samir Nasri and Wesley Sneijder. Eventually, news came out that Modric wanted a move to Chelsea and a stay in London. Nasri was soon linked continuously with the blue shite around the corner, thus continuing the trend that Arsenal are in-fact City's feeder club. This left us with the

magnificent Dutchman, which was fine with United fans as we had been linked with him for a few seasons. As soon as media sources sniffed on to the fact that the majority of United fans were practically salivating over the thought of Sneijder in red, the 'summer of Sneijder' began. You would open a paper and see how the deal was only days away from being completed. You would browse football websites and see claims of a fee being agreed but wages being the stumbling block. You would turn on Sky Sports News and they would be reporting the personal terms had been agreed but the clubs couldn't agree on a fee. If you went on a social networking site, you would see the numer-ous supposedly 'In The Know' accounts claiming Sneijder had been seen at Manchester Airport or that he was on a tram to

You would open a paper and see how the deal was only days away from

being completed.


Eccles with a United top on or other totally ludicrous claims. Practically everywhere you turned, there was news about the protracted transfer and how it was 'days away'. In fact the only places you wouldn't see this would be at United or Inter press conferences, as both clubs have strenuously denied that a deal was being done. So why is it that we didn't listen to the clubs during these whole shenani-gans?

Well probably because we have seen it before, clubs denying that a transfer will happen and then BOOM, the player is stood in front of camera's with his new shirt, a fat pay-check and a grin the size of the North Stand. So to fulfil our thirst for knowledge on our club, we begin to trust sources who we wouldn't usually think were trustworthy. Let's face it, hearing what you want to hear is ultimately more pleasura-ble than receiving bad news. But the worst part of this whole saga is how it’s made some fans act like a desperate teenager, agonis-ingly watching his school crush kissing his best mate, pining for the moment when she will finally be his. Over the summer I've seen numerous campaigns to get Wesley to join us at Old Trafford. People have bombarded his Twitter account with tales of Old Trafford and how he would be-come a legend in red if he joined. Like a professional footballer would base his decision to join a new club because some fan says their clubs great! I've seen peo-ple who dared to say that he wouldn't be signed hounded to the point of being called a 'Scouser' or a 'City fan', just be-cause they have used reasoning to say it’s not likely he'll come. The perfect example of this of

which I witnessed was from a young United fan who decided to set up two new Twitter accounts. In one of them, he claimed to be 'In The Know' and that Sneijder will join United. That account got nearly 3,000 followers. In the other he again claimed to be 'In The Know' and that the Sneijder deal was a no go and 'dead in the water'. That account got 26 fol-lowers. Now I'm not claiming to be innocent of this trend, far from it. At one point, during a chat with a fellow red, we discussed the possibility of Xavi becoming available when Fabregas signed for Barcelona. As ludicrous as it is, I spent the next three days convinced that it was going to happen. Why? Because it’s what I wanted to hear. Every fan has the ability to get carried away when it comes to their club because we all only want the best for our team. So regardless of whether Wesley Sneijder signs for United or if he stays at Inter, one thing is abundantly clear, we all need to get a fucking grip.

You can read Peter’s further ramblings at The Faithful MUFC or follow

him on Twitter @MadManc78

Are you a transfer window lover or

hater?

@ToneIversen: I hate it! Players I like

always leave and loads of players I can’t stand linked or coming in.

What’s to like?!

@TScorpio: I love the silly season. I

really look forward to it, but hate it when we don’t

get the players or positions we need.

@Silyes23: I remember growing up

thinking The Sun was gospel! So excited to be linked with Kluivert and Salas, yet had my hopes

destroyed.

@The_RedDevil77: To be honest it drives me

to despair, but it's also god damn additive,

personally never believe it, until I see it.

One of the many back pages we’ve seen this summer.

Tweets From The

Terrace

http://thefaithfulmufc.wordpress.com/

http://thefaithfulmufc.wordpress.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/MadManc78


Micky’s crime fighting has taken him from the desolation on the streets of Liverpool, to the destitution on the streets of Newcastle, via the underworld of Spanish

gambling cartels. Now Micky with the help of his trusty sidekick Hargo and spirit guide Eric (a quantum leap of faith created that character) sharpens his investigative

tools on behalf of Manchester United without having football as a distraction.

It wasn’t your typical week. Me and Hargo had been on a team bonding session. I met with him on Monday. Took him for a drink on Tuesday. We were making spider diagrams by Wednesday and on Thursday and Friday and Saturday, it was now Sunday and we were just chilling. Hargo had still not managed to free himself from the suitcase I’d left him in last month, but he had managed to burrow holes for his legs and head and was still insisting on proving he could remove himself from it. Suit case, NUT case, I thought, forgetting Hargo could read my inner monologue in the FUB magazine. “So, Like, thanks, Buddy”, he answered sarcastically with that annoying American inflec-tion, the high rising terminal. “I’m LIKE SO CANA-DIAN, A-HOLE” he shouted. We had been ordered by SAF to go round Phe-lan’s shed and pick up some important infor-mation regarding our next mission. SAF had been so disturbed by the news regarding this case that he himself had fallen ill. Being an expert on little sore throats and an ambassador for the interna-tional man-flu institute, I had sent him some of the remedies and treatments I myself use when feeling a little under the weather. Unfortunately, the side effects of which had brought on in SAF a slight back problem, a niggly groin strain and a sprain to his ankle. Fancy that. Phelan’s shed was deep in the grounds of SAF’s Cheshire mansion and after we dragged ourselves through the undergrowth were greeted by the sight of Phelan gorging on some waste he’d scav-enged from SAF’s bin area. As he saw us ap-proaching he turned and wide eyed ran towards us with his tongue out…”Aaaaah!” he yelped as his chain snapped back and yanked him to the ground. “What’s the news Phelan?” I asked as he

shook himself off and got back to his feet and beckoned us to come inside his shed. Once inside he kicked his straw bed to one side and in amongst all the paper cuttings of SAF that ‘decorated’ the walls he pointed to one that we could barely make out. He grabbed at it and pushed it towards us. It was drenched in vomit. “PHELAN! I’m like so not going there, girlfriend” said Hargo, holding his nose and shielding his face. “Why is it covered in sick Phelan?” I asked, maintaining my professional detective air. “SAF!” replied Phelan. This is his standard answer to most questions however with my nose for these things I instinctively knew he was suggesting SAF had been so incensed by the article that he’d covered it. Phelan wiped some of the sick away and I read the article which was proposing Joey Barton may be a considered target for some Premier League clubs. I agreed with the senti-ment of the article when it mentioned such teams as Arsenal and Spurs, but STOP THE PRESS! The article then went on to suggest a link with Barton to Manchester United!! My gag reflex could not hold out any longer and the bile that filled my mouth was soon rolling down Phelan’s chin. Something would have to be done and fast… This was a lot more simple than previous inves-tigations down to the simple fact that Joey Barton is, in fact, simple. On the way back to the all-terrain wheelchair I had a little look to the sky as I’d noticed Eric had been anxiously pacing around the stratosphere above “Micky…” he whispered… “If only the oiseau, or birds to you English pigs, who tweeted the best were allowed to be heard the woodland would soon become very quiet” and with that he jumped in his Renault Laguna shaped cloud and sped off. I had it! With my expert knowledge of Twitter I could manipulate the



By Brett Burgers As a young 'un Brett fell in love with football,

Robbo and United all at the same time. He grew up in awe of Eric and Scholesy. Brett is also one

half of www.bifurcated.co.uk


public in to thinking that even a pillock of epic proportions could appear to have a bit of nounce about him. It took as around three weeks to make it up to the cave in Newcastle we’d been tipped off about. This was due in part to the fact that Hargo insist-ed on pushing the wheelchair all the way there without any help. Like a true Premier League footballer we found Joey Barton clubbing and spit roasting. He was sat beside a fire spit roasting a seal he’d clubbed to death for his dinner. “UGG” he said. “UGG, UGG” he added. I took a shiny piece of tin foil from my pocket and showed it to him. “OOOH”, he was enamoured by it. I threw it into a dark corner of the cave and he bounded after it. While he was distracted I quickly booted up his computer changed the password on his Twitter account and removed the link from his favourites and cache. When he returned he grabbed the computer from me. I asked him if he’d logged on to Twitter recently and he attempted find it. He couldn’t understand why he couldn’t find the links and he soon became very angry and began to bash the computer over his head. Hargo threw him a cardboard box in to the corner which he bounded after and we made our escape.

Hargo now controls Joey Barton’s twitter ac-count, he insisted on being the one to do it of course, quoting philosophy and that to make the public believe he’s not that bad, so if he’s ever mentioned in the same breath of this great club at least we’ve softened the blow. Case closed! To protect this very sensitive information espe-cially in light of the previous failed attempts I have been studying a DVD of Derren Brown and have placed key words within this text that after a trigger will cause a synapse in your brain to flood. This in turn will cause you to forget everything you’ve just read. All I have to do is print these trigger words thusly…BROWN PANTHER! Thank you. I will not rest until the integrity of Manchester United is upheld. Keep ‘em peeled!

@HoldAndGive

http://bifurcated.co.uk/

http://twitter.com/#!/HoldAndGive


Reason for supporting United There wasn’t really a reason apart from the fact it was in my family. My granddad had season tickets running back to the 1930s and 40s. Growing up in Manchester my dad was taken to games and he watched the Busby Babes so when I was born he took me to see United. It wasn’t a great time for them at that point, I remember seeing them get beat by quite a few teams at Old Traf-ford to Leeds and Liverpool, then later on Nottingham Forest. When I was at school they were all City fans, it was the pomp of the City era, so I came in around

1972-73 and got a lot of ribbing ‘cos that was the bad era for United and they got relegated. I guess I’ve taken on a lot of how I support United and what I be-lieve in from my rather opinion-ated grandfather. My dad wasn’t so bad. If the other team did something great he would be very appreciative of it, no matter who they played for whether it be Liverpool, Forest and so on. It was more about the football, the entertainment and the skill. There was a fine context to it for him, there wasn’t a rabid rant . My dad had these lovely stories about when they had advertising hoardings at Old Trafford

around the pitch and my grand-dad was always writing letters to the Director saying “this is Man-chester United, we don’t need this.” God knows what he’d make of it now, the horrible spectacle, the pornography of wealth and the idiotic youthful whims that seem to drive the game. He would be appalled and there’s a part of me that’s rather disgust-ed by the culture of the game these days, although I think the speed and the skill is better. I don’t think I’ve seen better foot-ball than in the past 10-15 years, it’s a remarkable thing.



First United match I don’t know when it was be-cause it was quite a regular thing when I was little. The first one I really remember in any detail was an FA Cup semi-final. Steve Coppell and Gordon Hill were playing and my grandfather took me. It wasn’t at United, it was probably as Hillsborough or somewhere like that. I loved Gordon Hill and at this time there wasn’t really any football on the tele at that time, so any flicker of football coverage I watch avidly but it was really from going to the games you learnt an appreciation for the game.

First United hero Gordon Hill with Steve Coppell not far behind, those were the ones I used to write on my exer-cise books. I never had a shirt or anything as the whole merchan-dising thing hadn’t really sophis-ticated yet.

Favourite current player Giggsy, probably a rather obvi-ous choice. I’ve been a huge admirer of his and the spirit in which he plays the game. He’s not a dirty player or a whinging, moaning player. In the current culture he stands out for so many reasons. There’s a poetry about how he passes the ball, scores a goal or beats a man. He touches the ball in the way Federer would a tennis ball. It’s hard to crystallise that into words, you just have to see it. It’s all done so smoothly. The amount of joy he’s given me makes him stand out as the top player.

Most memorable match attended I’ve seen some really crackers. The 6-1 win over Arsenal was a good one but a bit one sided so those games aren’t as exciting. I was at the Tottenham game where we beat them 5-3 when we were 3-0 down at half time. I went to a few cup finals and saw the Norman Whiteside goal (vs Everton). But in a weird way the one that sticks out for me is the Arsenal match that we actually lost. It was the first cup final I ever went to and that struck me more deeply than any of the others because we were com-pletely outclassed for 80 minutes and I remember Sammy McIlroy bumping through half the Arse-nal team it seemed and slotting the ball in for the equaliser. I was thrown up in the air by my dad and the person next to me. It was

the first shot of unbridled ecsta-sy I ever saw. Everyone lost their control and to really experience that for the first time was fantas-tic. And of course 90 seconds later we were shattered by the brilliant Liam Brady and Alan Sunderland on the back post. One regret I have is that I had the match programme and on the way home, we lived in Wales back then, I was clutching it tight at a service station. My dad was in the bathroom and this man came up to me and said “eh son, how much for the programme?” I sold it to him for £5 and now I really regret it now. But that match really sticks out because of how crazy it can be, a bit like when we won in ’99.

Best goal witnessed I think again because things strike you more as a child, there are two goals. I saw Martin Buchan do a 30 yard goal against Everton from around the 1980s. But the one main one would be the Whiteside goal against Everton. I was right behind Whiteside as he took the shot and saw it curl around the keep-er and that was a thrilling mo-ment. Another one was Ray Wil-kins score against Brighton I think, curling one into the top corner. I remember we set our video recorder to tape the game so when we got back to Wales we could watch it and we’d forgotten to rewind the tape so as the ball was leaving his foot, it tape ran out so I never saw the replay at the time.

Biggest rival It’s got to be Liverpool, no ques-tion about it. Yes there’s City and that might change with this cur-rent investment. But it could all go and they could be sitting in mid-table mediocrity. Who knows what’s around the cor-ner? But for me it’s Liverpool. Even during the Arsenal era



there was a good rivalry but it just doesn’t come close for some reason.

Best United moment Giggy’s goal in the semi-final. It was the impossible made fresh, like something you’d see Messi do. After so much football and after such an intense, hard fought season it was just the moment when you knew any-thing was possible. I was watch-ing that in an Arsenal support-er’s club just a mile or so from their ground, so was surrounded by their fans. I’d been keeping quiet but at that point I just lost it and was running around. Thankfully they were alright.

Best concert That’s tough because there’s no league table to rate concerts and over time they kind of fade in memory. I’d have to say my shows in Ireland because of the history I have there (David’s White Ladder album is the best-selling record in the history of Ireland). There were shows over there when White Ladder hit a crescendo before it kicked off anywhere else in the world. One thing they can do is sing. I re-member one charity show I did at the Olympia in Dublin, we did loads of covers and played for about three hours and the fans were singing back in complete harmony. We did Streets of Phi-lidelphia by Bruce Springsteen and they did the “na na nas.” It was all a bit mind blowing at the time.

Biggest musical influence Bob Dylan without a doubt. Of course I’m still influenced all the time when I hear someone do something differently but the simplicity of Dylan is what in-spired me. He framed something so perfectly and so dynamically


that it almost become visual for me, it went straight into my heart and I was seeing through his eyes. The skill of his story telling was so tactile and deli-cious to me. It’s stayed with me and still inspires me now.

Progressions since White Ladder It had such momentum that it was overwhelming and took over my life to the point that in the period immediately after it was difficult because I became dislocated from my previous impulses. It was something that swept my life into the strato-sphere. It took a couple of years but I just returned to the music and my passion for doing what I wanted to do. Becoming a chart topper just happened by acci-dent. It got so big that the ubiq-uity turns it all against you. I was sort of the Paul Scholes in my embracing of it all, I didn’t enjoy my relationship with that aspect of it. I got back to enjoying music and it started to draw me along again and here I am today. Now I think I’m doing some of the best stuff I’ve done in the last few years but that doesn’t meet with the same record sales now. But I’ve seen both sides of the coin and I take everything with a pinch of salt. I don’t any longer

romanticise obscurity or success, I feel like I’m now in the middle. This next decade for me is going to be a profound one in terms of my singing and my writing, whether I ever have anything like the success of White Ladder or Babylon I don’t know. But I’m now just moving from one song and album to the next, my next one will be my tenth studio al-bum and it’ll be 20 years in the industry next year. I’m lucky to still be in the game. One thing I have also believed in is touring and taking your music out there and in so doing learning more about playing music and getting to know your crowds. I think that builds a more lasting rela-tionship. For example in Ameri-ca, turning up is very important and I’ve built a following over there that isn’t going to just go away overnight. So whilst suc-cess lapses in some places I’ve still got a bedrock of profound fans in a different way, it keeps me ticking over.

The future I’m just getting to grips with the new stuff now. I’ve got a record-ing session booked in at the end of October. It’s hard to put an exact date on it but the record should be out next year if all goes well.


Prizes have kindly been donated by Live Football Tickets, A1 Memorabilia and Icons. Both pictures come with proof of authenticity. The first randomly selected winner will be offered the choice of one of our three prizes. The

second randomly selected winner will have a pick of the remaining two prizes and the third randomly selected winner will receive the final prize. The winners will be selected on the 21st September and be contacted via email within 24 hours. If we receive no response within a further 24 hours, another randomly selected winner will be

drawn and contacted. Specific terms and conditions available upon request by emailing: [email protected]

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With Edwin Van der Sar retiring from football over the summer replacing him was never going to be easy. Jack Harvey takes a look at what is needed to be a successful Number One for United and will this man be de Gea?

Edwin Van Der Sar made it clear throughout last season that it would be his last in football, bringing an end to an illustrious career and giving Manchester United the task of replac-ing him. Anders Lindegaard was bought in January for around £3.5m, but it is the most recent signing, David De Gea, who seems to have been chosen by Sir Alex Ferguson and his coaches to be Van Der Sar’s replacement. So what does it take to be United’s number one? All goalkeepers are good shot-stoppers. Some are better than others of course, but you will find keepers in League Two that can tip over a 30 yard strike that looks destined for the top corner. At the top level of the game, a goalkeeper needs much more in his make-up. At a club like Manchester Unit-ed, where your team at-tacks more than it has to defend, you will have large periods with nothing to do – this is where high con-centration is needed. One example that springs to

mind is late last season, when United hosted Everton at Old Trafford. Edwin Van Der Sar had a largely uneventful after-noon, as United controlled the game mainly in Everton’s half. Suddenly, midway through the se-cond half, Jack Rodwell’s long range effort was de-flected off Jonny Evans and looked certain to nestle in the bottom corner, had it not been for the out-stretched arm of the Dutch stopper. United then went on to win the game, and although Chicharito nod-ded the winner, Van Der Sar was as much to thank as the little Mexican. English football is

different to any other league in the world. Often there are players who join the Premier League and take a fair amount of time to settle in to the style of our game, and goalkeepers are no different in that sense. David De Gea, for example, has probably seen more crosses whipped into his box dur-ing his short time at United than he did in his entire time at Atletico Madrid. He also won’t be accustomed to 6ft+ defenders banging in to him at every set piece. The keeper has to be strong in this situation, something which De Gea might struggle with given his slender figure. United don’t have many


weaknesses, but if the opposition pick up on a goalkeeper being uncom-fortable with crosses, they will exploit it. Eric Steele will be working hard on this aspect of De Gea’s game. Manchester United pos-sess two of the best de-fenders in world football in Rio Ferdinand and Neman-ja Vidic and it is vital that the United goalkeeper has great communication with his defenders, in particular the two centre halves. Peter Schmeichel and Ed-win Van Der Sar always had an understanding with their defenders. This rap-port will take time to build however, so players and supporters will have to be patient. Anders Lindegaard speaks very good English, which would enable him to communicate better with Vidic and Ferdinand than De Gea could – but Sir Alex has said the Spanish keep-er is progressing well with his language teacher. It goes without saying that a goalkeeper’s main job is to keep goals out, but good distribution can help kick-start attacks at the other end. It was one of Edwin’s greatest strengths during his time at Old Trafford – as soon as he had control of the ball he was immediately looking for an outlet, looking for someone in space, and he could either throw it wide or knock it long with his feet. During last season’s home fixture against Aston Villa, Van Der Sar grabbed an assist in the very first

minute, picking out Wayne Rooney with a quick free-kick and taking advantage of Villa’s high defensive line. This quality in a goal-keeper is vital for the cur-rent team, with the pace of Nani, Ashley Young, Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernan-dez. Despite his errors so far, the vast majority of United supporters have been very impressed with De Gea’s distribution.

After already making a few howlers, some are of the opinion that De Gea should be replaced by Anders Lindegaard in the short term, while acknowl-edging De Gea will be the future. But how is the Spaniard supposed to get to grips with the English game from the bench? Sir Alex and his coaches are not stupid – they knew they were buying a 20 year old, with no grip on the English language and no experience in English foot-ball. They also know Span-ish football well enough to know that their new sign-ing will take time to adapt to a different style. He needs to put on some weight to become a more

imposing figure, and to be strong enough to handle himself when defending set pieces. He needs to settle in Manchester and learn the language as quickly as possible. Many things need to be done, but his ability as a goalkeeper cannot be in doubt. Mistakes come with the territory of playing young players – goalkeeper or anywhere else on the pitch. Unfortunately for De Gea, his mistakes will more often than not lead to goals. United supporters need to recognise that De Gea will make errors in his first season, but it’s a very small price to pay for po-tentially having a world class goalkeeper for anoth-er 10-15 years. Peter Schmeichel took time to adapt before becoming one of the greatest goalkeepers in United’s history, who’s to say De Gea can’t do the same?

By Jack Harvey

Jack is a 20 year old student whose favourite United

players are Nemanja Vidic and Roy Keane.

Is de Gea feeling the pressure already?


A trip to Wembley to quieten the noisy neighbours once again and the start to a new Premier League title defence, Declan & Steph

relive the matches and gives you the inside information not seen in the newspapers.

@Declan_Walsh

“It's about addressing our noisy neighbours again,” Fergie.

Manchester United 3 Manchester City 2

7th August, Community Shield

Seat within the ground: Block 109, Row 20. Atmosphere: Better than expected for a Com-munity Shield which was most likely down to the fact that it was a derby, not quite as good as the semi-final earlier in the year though. Song of the day: The City Is Yours. Funny incidents: When Balotelli turned around and squared up to Vidic. Also, after the last goal, Rooney walking back to his own half and waving at the City fans Moment of the day: Has to be the injury time winner from Nani. Matchday experience out of 10: 7

“At 20 years of age he can only learn and get better,” Alex Stepney on

David de Gea. West Brom 1

Manchester United 2 14th August, Premier League

Seat within the ground: Smethwick End, Row L. Atmosphere: Started good, got a bit tense in the second half but finished off well. Song of the day: From The Banks Of The Irwell. Funny incidents: Nothing really to recall. Moment of the day: Yet another late winner. Matchday experience out of 10: 7

http://twitter.com/#!/declan_walsh


“This group have such fantastic ability, it forces me to play them

really,” Fergie on his youthful XI. Manchester United 3

Spurs 0 22nd August, Premier League

Seat within the ground: Block WU202, Row 22. Atmosphere: Start of the match was good but it died down throughout. Was good for about 1 minute after the first goal but that was it. Disap-pointing to sum up in one word. Song of the day: The White Pele. Funny incidents: Rooney missing from 3 yards out and the crowd singing "What the ******* hell was that?" Moment of the day: After De Gea had been fouled in the first half by van der Vaart, the whole crowd got behind him and started applauding. Great to see that support for him. Matchday experience out of 10: 6 “It is a surprise because when you

play Arsenal you expect a difficult game,” Fergie.

Manchester United 8 Arsenal 2

28th August, Premier League

Seat within the ground: South Stand, Block 121 Atmosphere: Peaks and troughs really, but probably the best I’ve ever heard it sat in the South Stand. Song of the day: David de Gea went around the stadium on more than one occasion, which was great to witness. Funny incidents: Arsenal’s capitulation and on the pitch arguing between their players. Moment of the day: The United player’s reac-tions when de Gea saved RvP’s penalty. Each and every one of them went and congratulated him. Matchday experience out of 10: Due to the scoreline it has to be a 10.


This month we have put our very own editor, Steph, into the Born and Red hotseat as she reveals her least liked United player, her hopes for Fergie’s successor and how the news of Andy Cole’s transfer was broken to her.

Name: Steph Doehler

Age: 25 Occupation: Personal Tutor at a college

Where do you reside? Worcestershire

How did you become a United fan? Really crappy reason but my best friend at school did. It was the summer when Leeds had just won the old First Division and he would tell me all about United. We were only about six then. I soon fell in love with the club, so much so that I asked my parents for football boots for my birth-day, hardly what they wanted their young daughter to be wear-ing! First match you attended? First ever match was West Brom vs Southend, my dad is a Baggie. First United match was at High-field Road against Coventry City in 1995. We won 4-0.

Preferential seating area at Old Trafford? I think Stretford Lower probably. I like being close to the action and don’t like sitting down. Alt-hough I was in South Stand for the home matches against both Liverpool and City last season, whilst the atmosphere is pretty rubbish there, it was nice sitting feet away from the benches and seeing Fergie’s and the players reactions to the United winners. Favourite ever United player? Roy Keane, very closely followed by Eric Cantona. For me they epitomised what I love about the club. Sheer passion, coupled with exciting flair and skill. Favourite current player? Giggsy is always an obvious one, but I’d have to say Nemanja. I feel so much happier when he’s in the back four. Though I am developing a love for the twins! Signing you were most excited by? There have been a few, but at the time probably Veron and Rooney. Andy Cole as well was a

great one. I remember my foot-ball-hating mum breaking that one to me when I was younger and I didn’t believe her until I saw it on teletext. I think secretly she’s still quite proud that she knew before I did. Least liked United player? I try not to dislike players whilst they are still with us. But I guess if pushed for an answer I was never a big fan of Barthez. He just wasn’t the sort of goalkeep-er I liked overly. More recently, I get very worried when I see Tomasz Kuszczak in the net. I didn’t like Kieran Richardson that much either. Are you an away match goer? I have been a few times but not that often. I do tend to go when United come to the Midlands but normally sit with friends who support the home side so in the home end, which isn’t as much fun! Best away ground? For aesthetics, I really like Wem-bley. I never went to the old one but I’m impressed now.


Who do you want as next United manager and why? The romanticist in me wants another British manager but I’m not sure that will happen. Ask me a year ago and I’d have prob-ably said Mourinho but I don’t think I could cope with his an-tics. Guardiola would be a good shout but truth be told, I’m not ready to think about United minus Fergie just yet. Any experiences with players to share? Not from the current squad. Nani retweeted the link of the fanzine on his Twitter last month which was nice. I’ve met a few former players at United Nights events but that’s all. They are just nor-mal guys. Even out of the current squad, it’s Fergie who I’d like to meet the most, although I’d be incredibly star-struck. Best match you've ever attended? United vs City last season purely to say I saw the Rooney over-head kick in person. I’ll be talk-ing about that for years. Favourite piece of United memorabilia? I’m not really a memorabilia person to be honest. Biggest rivals and why? At present City without a doubt. Despite the hatred for Liverpool, they won’t challenge us this season, City will. Best moment as a United fan? Way too many to mention all.

The comeback vs Juve in ‘99, the Bayern final. Giggs goal vs Arse-nal in the FA Cup semi. Terry’s miss in Moscow. Number 19. I could go on. Worst moment as fan? Silly things like when Beckham left, or Cantona retired. I think next year will surpass that though if Giggs retires. His 20 year testimonial will be tough to be at, it’ll be very emotional. Biggest prick in football? At the moment, Mario Balotelli. But at the same time I find him highly amusing. He’s so petulant it’s hilarious. Can you imagine a United player speaking to Fergie the way he has to Mancini? Sum up United's last season in ten words or less. Did what needed to be done. Your best United XI? Some time in the future I’ll do my own United XI for our run-ning feature so I don't want to give it away just yet. In fact, I don’t even know what it would be. It’ll be very hard to pick, even worse than the process I go through every August picking my dream team for the forth-coming season!

Are you a shouter or a thinker at matches? A mixture of both depending on the situation. If I’m in the Stretford End then I’ll sing along. When I’ve been in the South I don’t as much mainly due to the looks you get! I do try to take it all in too though which is hard when singing. Best and worst things about the club? The best is the feeling of being one big United family. Especially with the fans. Since I’ve been doing the website and fanzine I’ve been in contact with so many great people and it’s been fantastic to meet up before matches. The worst at the moment has to be the ownership issue. What has happened over recent years should never have happened to a club like United. That said, in an odd way all we’ve won in recent years has been done in adversity with owners not spending heaps of money. I’d pre-fer that sense of achievement rather than spending £1bn on players and winning a single FA Cup in 35 years.

Giggs - “His 20 year testimonial will be tough to be at, it’ll be very

emotional.”

Keane and Cantona - Steph’s favourite ever United players.


The transfer window often brings out the worst in people, es-pecially on Twitter. A mere suggestion that United could sign a player often generates hysteria and, more often than not, abuse aimed at the person claiming to be “in the know.” Steve Brady

explores what this term actually means and asks, is anyone really ITK?

I've a friend, well an acquaint-ance, a drinking buddy even (in so far as he's always in the pub so I see him whenever I enter my local for what I like to call a 'well-deserved') named Joe. I don't know Joe, per-se, but I know of him if you know what I mean. I've been wasting my evenings in his company for several years at this point, back to long before Rio got his twitterverse in order and Facebook had risen to pow-er, crushing all in its wake. Joe was a man of simple pleasures; a pint of stout, a packet of Bacon Fries and watching Leeds in their pomp.

Now, on a yearly basis, Joe, when our beloved football sea-son comes to a close, and silly season entered full flow, started to draw attention in spades from every red-blooded football fan sober enough to listen. Because Joe, he was ‘In The Know.’ “Hey Joe, where’s Teddy going?” “Spurs, done deal, knew about it six months ago.” While Joe got that one right he also predicted Rio Ferdinand to Real Madrid (instead of United), Benni McCarthy to City (betting West Ham wish he’d gotten that right) and Dimi Berbatov to


Chelsea (I sprayed my pint…).

Before the rise of the machines (erm…internet), we all knew a Joe, he was one of four or five people you’d talk football with on a regu-lar basis. Now, however, with the advent of twitter, a community that knows no communal limits, everybody’s Joe is given a voice. So what was a one in five has now become 200 in a thousand. The repetition lending credence to the rumour. I’m not cynical enough to think that everybody who’s tweeting, blogging or blabbing about foot-ball transfers is a Joe, but with the lengths to which football clubs go in order to hide their transfer targets it would be folly to think that 20% of the known world could have their fingers on that particular pulse. Would Man-chester United officials try (and fail) to hide David De Gea behind a bed-sheet, would managers (the more respectable managers anyway) refuse to comment on other clubs players or on deals in the making if it was a well-known fact that they were going ahead? The latter; maybe, but only maybe, just in case all falls apart last minute. Some do get it right however, and it’s not always a case of throw enough you-know-what and some-thing will eventually stick - as an aside; it’s an opinion of mine that a lot of tabloid journalists exercise this particular model of sports journalism.

Some lads (or lassies…to be PC) actually do know what they’re talking about, but how do you tell that lot apart from the mass-es of twits when even the estab-lished journalists can’t seem to

stick to their own narrations for long-er than a wet week-end? I’m on twitter myself and I follow all manner of foot-ball folk; print journalists, the various sky sports reporters (including the ever lovely Georgie, what Dec and/or

Ant were thinking when they let her glide out of their lives…maybe they just liked watching her walk away…I di-gress) and also a good deal of ‘ITKs’. I have no idea who these peo-ple really are but some of them obviously are very assured in what they’re saying. It’s very possible that they’re employees of football clubs, agents or may-be even journos who have par-ticularly good access to club sources. I mean the accounts manager of Manchester United obviously has a life outside of the hallowed halls of Old Trafford,

could he be hiding himself be-hind a twitter page, getting a sort of titillation out of leading peo-ple on for months on end.

Some seem to be no better clued in than you or I, but throw their opinions around more than Joey Barton does his fists on a Saturday evening. Is it just a case of the more we read these peo-ple’s opinions, the more we’re convinced by their assertions? Or is it just that we do really want to believe what they have to say? I personally would love to be into the hard-line stance taken by two particular ITKs that a certain Mini-Dutchman will find his way to Old Trafford before August 31st but I’m wary enough not to get my hopes up (well, too much anyway). So if one exercises a degree of sensibility these ITKs can pro-vide a level of entertainment, some provide level-headed opin-ions and some even will provide a source of real information… but don’t get your hopes up eh?! Steve is a United fan from Dublin.

His all time favourite player is Roy Keane, although now has a

self-confessed man crush on Tom Cleverley.

@SteveBrady666

“Some seem to be no better clued in than you or I, but throw

their opinions around more than

Joey Barton does his fists on a Saturday

evening.”

Many ITK’s suggested United would sign both Sneijder and Nasri during this summer transfer window, even giving specific dates they would sign!

http://twitter.com/#!/SteveBrady666


In anyone’s language, the re-cently retired Paul Scholes can be regarded as a footballing legend. But does that term actu-ally sell him short? After all, in footballing terms nowadays the word legend is a term used far too readily when describing any player of any ability who has served his club long, loyally and with any degree of distinction. It's meaning, it's significance, has been diluted to such an extent that when a true colossus of the game crosses the white line for the very last time so the use of the term 'legend' when looking back at his achievements, his overall impact on the global game, hardly seems to do him justice. Paul Scholes is, was, always will be, such a colossus. Not that he'd like to be termed as such obviously, what with his quiet, unassuming, retiring, any excuse to shy away from attention per-sona. But his place in United's history is assured. His name already is guaranteed to be men-tioned in the same breath as the likes of Busby, Edwards, Charl-ton, Best, Law, Robson, Fergu-son, Cantona, and Giggs, each a name that to so many will con-jure up so many glorious images of the magical phenomenon that is Manchester United.

Sitting in a corner of the old Dog and Partridge pub (now the site of the Bishop Blaize) pre match sometime in early 1994 I had a discussion with a couple of old boys whose knowledge of United was such that they had probably forgotten more about United than some of today’s fans will ever know. The discussion was about the quality of players coming through at United. These guys went to all youth, reserve and first team matches and so were as qualified as anyone to talk about players that were on the fringes of the first team, or in the case of some, those who had already made the initial break-through. We were obviously talking about the likes of Beck-ham, the Nevilles and Butt and a couple of others. But one name kept cropping up in an altogeth-er different way. That of Paul Scholes.

It's not overstating the fact to say that there was almost an aura around the name of Scholes. Yes Beckham was always going to be a star player and attraction for United, yes Gary Neville had already shown the dedication, drive and desire to chisel out a great career with the team he loved, and yes both Butt and Phil Neville were going to be great servants of the club until such a time as the promise of regular football elsewhere proved too difficult to turn down. But Scholesy? Scholesy was different. For the Ginger Prince was ear-marked to me at a very early stage as being a special talent. Indeed, I lost count of the num-ber of times I was told that he was going to be the best of all the youth products. Inspired by what I had been told, and curious to see for

Alan Monger reflects on the career of United’s newly retired legend, Paul Scholes.


myself, I went to several United reserve games specifically to watch him play and he didn't disappoint. In fact he shone out like the proverbial beacon. His first touch, his eye for a pass, his retention of possession, his per-fectly timed arrivals in the box, his clinical finishing, his under-stated celebrations, his…well, his class. All a joy to behold. And all of which led me to Vale Park one September evening in 1994. The informed word was that the team to play Port Vale in a League Cup 2nd round first leg away tie was going to see several youngsters, including Scholesy, given an opportunity. A night off for the likes of Cantona, Kanchel-skis, Giggs and Ince then, which subsequently brought criticism to Sir Alex for fielding an under strength team. Ok yes, Neville, Beckham, Butt and Scholes had indeed mustered hardly a game between them at kick off time that night, but history will show that this game was the start of something special. In short, Unit-ed won 2-1, Scholesy scored both and another at Portman Road the following weekend on his league debut. So he had scored three goals in his first two games. A great start to his career. And hey, if only someone had realised that 'Scholes' and 'goals' rhymed, there was a song there somewhere… I seem to recall in the early stages of his career that two questions always arose; one concerned his stamina, with certain people wondering whether his asthma might stop him truly translating his talent on to the big stage. Almost 17 years on I think we can categori-cally say a resounding no to that one. The other centred around what his best position in the team was. As the song goes,

Scholes did indeed 'score goals galore', at a rate at which any striker would have been proud in the early days, yet obviously history tells us that he ultimately developed into one of the finest exponents of the midfielders art that this country, not to mention Europe or even the World has ever seen. By way of justifying this remark, Xavi, not a bad little player himself, described him as 'one of the most complete foot-ballers I've ever seen'. High praise indeed. And praise which begs the question I guess as to why he was never really given licence to do for England what he did so well for United. Ok, 66 caps is not to be sneezed at, but how many more could and should it have been had he not been continually played out of position purely to accommodate perpetual underachievers

playing in the centre of England's midfield? Typical Scholes he never once complained about this managerial faux pas. And hey, looking on the bright side, England's ultimate loss was Unit-ed's gain... I started this tribute by suggest-ing that the term legend, in mod-ern day usage at any rate, possi-bly doesn't do Paul Scholes jus-tice. Genius is a more becoming term, even more so when you now read all of his contemporar-ies wax lyrical about his ability. I count it as a pleasure and a privi-lege to have seen this wonderful player's career from start to finish. Thanks for the memories Paul.

@Almanuman

I'm old enough to have had reason to cry at a lot of things in my life, but Paul Scholes' testimonial was something else. Yes it was always going to be emotional, yes we were saying goodbye to a truly great United player for the last time, but tears? And loads of them?? Jeez, it was worse than in the Nou Camp in 1999. Really. Sitting in the South Stand Upper, Block 121, Row 6, Seat 234, I was pretty near to the tunnel, and obviously dead opposite the North Stand. I'd seen a preview of the Scholesy Mosaic a couple of weeks be-forehand, so I guess I should have been prepared for what greeted the great man’s arrival on to the pitch. But no, I welled up when his image and the word G E N I U S appeared, and when 70,000 odd fans arose as one to show their appreciation of him, heartfelt tears ran down my cheeks. No surprise that he scored on this night of all nights, but how apt that it was a 20 yard screamer he produced. Total quality, and the sub-sequent rendition of “He scores goals…” was unbelievable. A cacophony of noise! And yes, tears! And at 21.06 pm the curtain came down on his career as he left the Old Trafford pitch for the last time, substituted to the backdrop of the whole of the Theatre of Dreams standing as one to him. The end of an era. A great era. Goodbye and thanks for everything Scholesy, our quiet genius.

http://twitter.com/#!/almanuman


In the coming months the team will be selecting their Manchester United XI each issue. The only stipulation - they can only

choose players they have actually seen.

Peter Schmeichel

Gary Neville

Cristiano Ronaldo

Nemanja Vidic Denis Irwin Jaap Stam

Roy Keane

Eric Cantona Wayne Rooney

Ryan Giggs Paul Scholes

Edwin VDS Bruce Pallister Beckham Kanchelskis Ruud VN Solskjaer


@footballUB

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IN ONE PLACE.

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As Anderson enters his fifth season as a Manchester United player, Sam Peoples says now is the moment for him to show his worth.

Anderson is a figure at United that is circled by debate. Some impatient supporters find themselves wanting more from him going forward and want him to turn into the goalscoring sensation his promise had led them to desire. When Manchester United broke the bank in the summer of 2007 and splashed £50 million bringing in new talent to the team, Anderson was the most interesting sign-ing of the bunch. The un-known Brazilian playmak-er was touted by the media as the possible successor to the indomitable Ronaldinho and judging from his highlights reel from his time as a youth player, it was not hard to see why. Since joining United how-ever, Anderson has not exactly hit the dizzy heights that everyone had hoped he would achieve, having scored only 5 goals in 129 appearances but I am here to stand by his side and support his cause, for I am tired of seeing fans simply venting their

frustration against a player who is still growing. Con-sidering Anderson is only 23 years of age and a mid-fielder is considered at his peak when he hits 26, he still has 3 years to grow into the superstar we all imagined he could be. Unfortunately for Ander-son, injuries have blighted the quick progression of our Samba star: a cruciate ligament injury in his left knee in February 2009 kept him out for the re-mainder of that year and it wasn’t until the latter part of the next campaign that we were beginning to see the best from Anderson. A brace against Schalke in the semi-final of the Cham-pions League was quickly

followed by a goal against Blackpool in the last game of the season as he looked to be taking great steps forward in his growth as a player. A good off season for Anderson could set him up well for what is his make or break season in a United shirt. Now that Owen Hargreaves and Paul Scholes have left gaping holes in the midfield, An-derson has the chance to make himself the missing link that we have been craving for some time now. The reason Anderson has changed as a player since coming to United is down only to Sir Alex Ferguson. He chose to try and quell the flamboyant side of his game and mould him into what could emerge as a stalwart defensive mid-fielder with the extrovert ability to bring the ball forward in possession, precisely the player United crave right now. Take what some consider his best performance in a United shirt for an example of how he has changed, the 1-0 victory against Liverpool at Anfield in 2007. He was


ferocious that day and kept Gerrard on a tight leash as he ran around and con-trolled the tempo of the game for United and looked all the part a player with the potential to be a world beater. SAF always recognised his strengths and stood firmly by his side in December 2010 by giving Anderson a new four-and-a-half year con-tract deal during a purple patch of form. For me, if United are going to replace Paul Scholes from within imme-diately then Anderson represents one of our greatest hopes. He just lacks the consistency of a seasoned professional but a good pre-season tour in America can do the world of good for him. If he can bring his shooting game back to his pre-United capabilities and bring the

composure in possession he has chosen to show only at points during his United career, then he could well emerge as one of the most well rounded central mid-fielders in the Premier League. Patience comes to those who wait and I am a firm believer that United fans will have to wait no longer than this season to see the best of Anderson. I think he will get into the double figures for goals this season and play an integral role in United claiming number 20. If SAF had enough faith in Ander-son’s potential to give him a 4 year contract in Decem-ber then he must have real belief that he will eventual-ly fulfil on the promises he was signed for. That is good enough for me.

By Sam Peoples @PeoplesPerson_

www.thepeoplesperson.com

Anderson’s passing (left) and tackling (right) chalkboards vs Liverpool. 16th December 2007.

Do you think Anderson could be

the answer to United’s midfield

problem?

@ShiRoyal: He’s not the answer, but he’s definitely one

of the solutions.

@mufc_young: Yes I do. Given a bit of freedom to attack and a long run in the side he could be the long term

answer.

@farlieonfootie: No unfortunately. Ando looks good one game and anonymous the

next. Also needs to lose about 15lbs…

@AngusBrodie: Not from what I've seen

so far, he is too inconsistent during a game but he does have talent so I hope to be

proved wrong!

@RedDevil_Review: He has potential, yeah, but needs games so we can find out for certain.

@Twisted_Blood: Depends if he can find an answer to his Haribo

problem.

Tweets From The Terrace

http://twitter.com/#!/PeoplesPerson_

http://thepeoplesperson.com/


Over the next few issues freelance sports writer and United fan, Will Tidey, will be writing a series on the defining games of the Fergie era, offering the back-story, tale of the game and what it meant for United’s season.

Norwich City 1 Manchester United 3 5th May 1993 In the spring of 1993 Alex Ferguson’s Manchester Unit-ed were on the verge. To the team who’d fallen away so spectacularly the season before Ferguson had added Eric Cantona, and the new King of Old Trafford instilled a belief and strutting, collar-up swagger that was threat-ening to end United's 26-year wait for a title.

But March invited predicta-ble doubts. When Ferguson’s team lost at Oldham, then drew three straight games against Aston Villa, Manches-ter City and Arsenal, we be-gan to fear the worst. Perhaps the weight of history was against us; perhaps United just didn’t have the legs to win a title; perhaps Ferguson wasn’t the man to deliver it. Then came Norwich away. On a Monday night on the dawn of the Sky Sports era of razzmatazz football, with shimmering cheerleaders as a warm-up act and Simple Minds’ ‘Alive and Kicking’ the new soundtrack to a game

that was being sold as enter-tainment like never before. United weren’t about to dis-appoint. On paper it was a tough test. Norwich were flying under Mike Walker and on their way to a third-placed finish. This was the free-flowing team of Jeremy Goss, Ruel Fox and Chris Sutton, who would knock Bayern Munich out of the UEFA Cup the following season and arrived at Carrow Road that evening with seri-ous ambitions of winning the title. United put them to bed inside 20 minutes. In a

Will Tidey @willtidey

http://twitter.com/#!/willtidey


display of quite breathtaking attacking verve, Ferguson’s team cut through those hideous yel-low-and-green flecked shirts with a sense of purpose that answered their critics in the most emphatic way possible. It was, as it turned out, a truly invigorating sign of things to come, and it proved a defining moment for both Ferguson and the football club he’d take to 12 titles in the next 18 years. United started with a goal of stunning simplicity. Peter Schmeichel threw to Lee Sharpe on the left, who flicked a pass with the outside of his boot to Cantona and continued his run forward. Cantona, stood tall and with the freedom of the centre circle, cushioned the ball with mind already made up on its next destination. His weighted pass sent Ryan Giggs away and saw three United shirts break the offside trap simultaneously.

Sharpe and Paul Ince were alongside him, but Giggs didn’t need them. United’s second was even bet-ter. This time it was Gary Pallis-ter who got things going, picking out Andrei Kanchelskis from inside his own six-yard box. The flying winger volleyed to Ince, who volleyed to Giggs, who laid the ball back to Brian McClair in the right-back position. McClair instinctively found Kanchelskis’ run ahead of him and the Rus-sian went alone to round Gunn and slot home from a tight angle. It was a blistering start, but United still weren’t finished. Moments later the marauding Ince took possession in his own half, slalomed past two defend-ers and found himself clean on goal with Giggs to his left and Cantona to his right. He chose the Frenchman and Cantona was left to sidefoot into an empty net

to put United 3-0 ahead inside 20 minutes. Norwich got a consolation, but fittingly on a night that was all about Ferguson’s team it was Mark Robins who got it. The pint-sized striker, whose FA Cup goals had helped Ferguson win his first major trophy in 1990, could only watch on as the manager he saved set about launching a dyn-asty without him. The headlines the following day said it all. ‘United burst back in champion style’; ‘All guns firing for United’s dazzlers’; ‘Nerves of steel’; ‘Eric Idol’. Just when we’d started to doubt them, Fergu-son’s team had delivered a state-ment of intent that made it abso-lutely clear they were not about to bottle it this time. They didn’t just beat Norwich that night; they ripped them to ribbons. This being United there was still drama to come of course. The following game saw United trail-ing 1-0 to Sheffield Wednesday at Old Trafford, before Steve Bruce headed two late goals to prompt wild celebrations from Ferguson and Brian Kidd on the touchline. But when I look back on the 1992-93 season the Norwich game still looms largest. In 20 scintil-lating minutes at Carrow Road United threw off the shackles of expectancy and found a belief they’d carry forward to this day. The spirit of Cantona had infect-ed everyone around him, and United were all the better for it.

Will is a football writer for ESPN Soccernet, Bleacher

Report and Eurosport-Yahoo!, amongst others. His first book. 'Life with Sir Alex: A Fan's Story

of Ferguson's 25 Years at United', is set for release on

October 3rd. You can pre-order it now at Amazon.co.uk.


@HoldAndGive


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It’s been a great start to the new campaign with four wins in four, not bad for a club who

is notorious for their slow start to the season! Instead, this year we appear to have hit the ground running and the international break can only be seen as an inconvenience

at the moment. Our next match away at Bolton will be a tough test however Fergie will no doubt have instilled a great level of confidence in our young lads. This month

also sees the start of the Champions League and Carling Cup competitions. Here’s to

another excellent month.

Issue 8 is out on Saturday 1st October 2011

football united fanzine issue 7 - manchester united's premier online magazine

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