The Re-Anglicisation Of Manchester United

[viperk1]

Wow. So close to the end of the season here Spav.

Usually I'd be rooting for Spurs and Chelsea - but seeing an all-English Man Utd win the title would be fantastic (just to prove that having foreigners doesn't make your squad brilliant)

Good luck Spav!

[mark wilson27]

As Fergie would say "its squeaky bum time"

[Spav]

7th April 2010 – Champions League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg

The one-match suspension of Hargreaves controlled my team selection for the return leg of Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea. As per usual I would ask Carrick to drop back into the defensive midfielder’s role, but with Scholes still recovering from a slight knock and Osman being ineligible I was initially unsure as to whom to bring into the advanced midfielder’s role. In the end I decided to move Young into the middle to play behind the strikers whilst asking Davies to drop back to play on the right wing. Cole would be the beneficiary of these moves as he came in up front to partner Rooney. The other change involved Brown moving into the middle of the defence in place of Dawson with Neville coming in at right-back.

My changes reaped immediate dividends with the match just 4 minutes old. Young supplied a neat pass into the feet of Cole and he took a steadying touch before curling a great shot past Cech from twenty-five yards to put us 1-0 in front. It was a great start and already it forced Chelsea into needing to find two goals if they wished to advance. Chelsea came straight back at us as I would have expected, but I was happy to have the team sit back as we had at Stamford Bridge and look to hit them on the break. Within three minutes the Blues had a free-kick which Drogba hammered into our defensive wall. The ball spun across the goalmouth to where Carvalho found himself unmarked, but Foster saved the defender’s firm shot brilliantly with his body. It was almost 2-0 in the 13th minute when Rooney headed against the crossbar from Taylor’s cross as Cech looked on flatfooted. Lampard and Rooney both flashed shots just wide as the game slowed after its initial hectic start. In the 38th minute Shorey made a fine overlapping run down the left wing and crossed low to the near post where Cole stuck out a leg. The ball was headed for the bottom corner of the near post until Cech clawed it out with a wonderful diving save. The first half ended with Berbatov whipping a low shot just a couple of inches wide of the post after a loose ball fell his way, but we held on to the advantage with our 1-0 lead.

After Chelsea had all of the play for the first eight minutes of the second half we nearly caught them with the sort of counterattack I was looking for. Bosingwa’s poor pass fell to Cole and he immediately sent Rooney running clear on the left. Rooney’s shot from fifteen yards was turned around the post for a corner by Cech. As the second half progressed it was clear that our defensive stance was frustrating Chelsea’s players as they failed to find a way through our disciplined rearguard. Only long range shots from Lampard and Drogba came close to testing Foster, but neither effort threatened a goal. Chelsea pushed forward with even more determination, but that left them open at the back. Rooney and Cole both got clear enough to fire in shots on Cech’s goal, but the Chelsea number one saved both efforts with skill. After 80 minutes Essien rippled the side-netting with a fierce shot that fooled many of the visiting fans into thinking it had passed the other side of the post. As the clock wore down Chelsea kept pouring forward. Finally in the 88th minute our defence was breached as Drogba strode free of a tiring Brown. The Ivorian smashed in a shot which Foster battered away with both hands, but the rebound fell kindly for the striker and he rolled it across the six yard box for Joe Cole to sidefoot it home and pull the score back to 1-1. It was as much as Chelsea could muster though and four minutes later the Austrian referee blew for full-time with the game finishing in a 1-1 draw.

With the aggregate tied at 4-4 we moved through to the semi-finals on the away goals rule. It had been an epic tie and it took Manchester United’s Englishmen one step closer to claiming European football’s greatest prize.

Manchester United 1 Cole 5

Chelsea 1 J.Cole 88

Aggregate 4-4: Manchester United wins on the away goals rule

Foster; Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Shorey; Davies, Carrick, Young, Taylor; Rooney (Owen), Cole.

[Spav]

Our Premier League match against West Ham is moved to 5th May 2010 due to a clash of dates with our now upcoming Champions League semi-final against Liverpool. That means that we will now play our outstanding league match in midweek before the last weekend of the season. Currently it is the only midweek game scheduled for that period.

*** *** ***

11th April 2010 – Premier League

As the season winds down it is proving difficult to field the same team for consecutive matches due to injuries, suspensions and general player tiredness. For the home match against Aston Villa Brown returns to right-back in place of Neville as Shawcross gets a start in the centre of defence. Hargreaves is back after his European suspension, so Carrick pushes forward in the centre of the park, but Taylor is tired so Young goes over to the left wing. Osman comes in on the right wing as Davies returns to the forward line with Cole losing his starting spot from the last match.

The game is off to a cracking start as Rooney opens the scoring after just 3 minutes, picking up Carrick’s pass and turning Dunne before blasting home from twenty yards with a well-placed shot across Friedel. Aston Villa replies in the 7th minute with an equally well-taken goal as Milner lifts his free-kick over our defensive wall from twenty-two yards and gets it to dip into the top corner with Foster not even bothering to dive for it. Ferdinand then heads just over from Young’s corner after 18 minutes and Milner volleys just over the crossbar from a loose ball following Modric’s corner after 28 minutes. After a lull Rooney goes close with his header in the 39th minute as Friedel saves well to his right, leaving Petrov to hack clear the rebound. The first half ends at 1-1 with the earlier scorers Rooney and Milner both going close to finding their second goals of the match with shots that whizz inches over the crossbar.

Straight from the kick-off to the second half we attack down the right wing through Osman and Davies wastes a glorious chance as he heads the ensuing cross straight into the body of Friedel from close range. Unfortunately for the fans that is the one notable piece of goalmouth action in the first thirty-five minutes of the second half as the game descends in a midfield slog between the two teams. In that time Brown is forced off with a thigh strain after 63 minutes as Neville takes his place whilst Dawson and Driver both get a run in place of Shawcross and Osman respectively as I look to freshen things up. It isn’t until the 80th minute that another chance is created and it falls to United as Ferdinand thumps a header against the Villa crossbar from Young’s left wing corner. Rooney forces a block from Friedel in the 87th minute and Young drives the rebound through the six-yard box with both Davies and Driver just failing to get a touch to turn the ball in. In injury-time Agbonlahor brings a fine save from Foster as our keeper shows that he has kept himself alert after what has generally been a quiet day for him. With almost the last kick of the game Hargreaves sends a shot into the side-netting and moments later the match is bought to an end with the score tied at 1-1.

The point from the 1-1 draw takes us to the top of the table on 76 points, leaving Chelsea in second place on 75 points as they didn’t play due to their FA Cup commitments. Both of us have now played 33 games. Tottenham beats Arsenal 1-0 in the North London derby to move to 74 points from 34 matches to keep the pressure up on both ourselves and Chelsea.

In midweek Chelsea beats West Ham 1-0 to regain the top spot by two points, but they have now played one more game than us.

Manchester United 1 Rooney 3

Aston Villa 1 Milner 7

Foster; Brown (Neville), Shawcross (Dawson), Ferdinand, Shorey; Osman (Driver), Hargreaves, Carrick, Young; Rooney, Davies.

[Spav]

14th April 2010 – Premier League Table:

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|Pos   | Team        | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|1st   | Chelsea     | 34    | 23    | 9     | 2     | 66    | 21    | +45   | 78    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|2nd   | Man Utd     | 33    | 23    | 7     | 3     | 54    | 14    | +40   | 76    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|3rd   | Tottenham   | 34    | 22    | 8     | 4     | 66    | 33    | +33   | 74    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|4th   | Liverpool   | 34    | 21    | 8     | 5     | 50    | 23    | +27   | 71    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|5th   | Man City    | 34    | 18    | 7     | 9     | 58    | 30    | +28   | 61    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|6th   | Everton     | 33    | 17    | 10    | 6     | 53    | 34    | +19   | 61    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|7th   | Arsenal     | 34    | 16    | 5     | 13    | 54    | 37    | +17   | 53    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|8th   | Aston Villa | 34    | 14    | 9     | 11    | 38    | 38    | 0     | 51    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|9th   | West Ham    | 32    | 15    | 4     | 13    | 46    | 36    | +10   | 49    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|10th  | Stoke       | 34    | 12    | 5     | 17    | 39    | 51    | -12   | 41    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|11th  | Fulham      | 34    | 9     | 10    | 15    | 45    | 61    | -16   | 37    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|12th  | Blackburn   | 34    | 9     | 9     | 16    | 30    | 43    | -13   | 36    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|13th  | Wolves      | 34    | 9     | 9     | 16    | 30    | 45    | -15   | 36    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|14th  | Sunderland  | 34    | 6     | 15    | 13    | 32    | 49    | -17   | 33    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|15th  | Hull        | 34    | 6     | 14    | 14    | 37    | 58    | -21   | 32    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|16th  | Portsmouth  | 34    | 7     | 10    | 17    | 31    | 49    | -18   | 31    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|17th  | Wigan       | 34    | 7     | 10    | 17    | 30    | 48    | -18   | 31    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|18th  | Bolton      | 34    | 7     | 9     | 18    | 24    | 42    | -18   | 30    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|19th  | Birmingham  | 34    | 8     | 5     | 21    | 37    | 67    | -30   | 29    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|20th  | Burnley     | 34    | 5     | 5     | 24    | 32    | 73    | -41   | 20    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[mark wilson27]

fooking hell thats close Spav

[Spav]

In the lead-up to Saturday’s big match at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal their manager Arsene Wenger came out and bluntly stated that he didn’t want to see Manchester United winning the Premier League title. Arsenal would go on to put a dent in my team’s chance by defeating them, said Wenger. It was a typical ploy by the Frenchman as he tried to fire his team up for the clash and at the same time deflect criticism of Arsenal’s season as his team currently sat in 7th place, having never been higher than 5th spot throughout the entire campaign to date. I chose not to bite at Wenger’s comments, stating that I was more looking forward to the match being played than just needlessly discussing it. I did notice that Rooney especially looked fired up after he had heard of Wenger’s remarks.

*** *** ***

17th April 2010 – Premier League

This time it was the turn of Brown to sit out the match as he had not recovered from the thigh strain he suffered against Aston Villa, so Neville started at right-back. Taylor was also back after his rest, allowing Young to return to the right wing and forcing Osman back onto the bench.

Young was really up for this game and he dominated the opening ten minutes with some excellent dribbling and fine crossing and seeing Davies force a fine save from Almunia with a header from one of his crosses after 8 minutes. Young was then involved in the build-up to the first goal after 12 minutes, beating Clichy and finding Carrick who then slid a delightful ball through a tight gap for Rooney to fire home from ten yards to put us 1-0 up. The outlook changed dramatically in the 18th minute when Hargreaves slid into Arshavin with his studs raised and amazingly referee Phil Dowd produced a straight red card for my midfield enforcer. Down to ten men I pulled Davies back into the midfield and prepared for the fight to protect the lead we had. It still wasn’t until the 27th minute before Arsenal could test Foster with a shot as van Persie rifled a shot straight at our keeper from twenty-five yards. Arshavin and Fabregas quickly followed that up with further shots, but Foster dealt with them easily. In the 41st minute we launched a quick counterattack as Davies robbed the careless Fabregas of the ball and released Young down the right wing. Young sped to the bye-line and pulled back a delightful low cross which Rooney sidefooted home at the near post to make it 2-0. It looked like we would have a two-goal lead to defend in the second half, but deep into injury time Arsenal took a quick throw-in through Clichy. van Persie then fired the ball over to the far post and the former United man Anderson rose above Shorey to pull a goal back with his head to make it 2-1 at the break.

Arsenal had barely stepped onto the park for the second half when Young split them open with a pass that Rooney raced on to, but he couldn’t beat Almunia as the Gunners’ keeper dived brilliantly to his right to palm the ball away. Foster then matched his opposing keeper in the 56th minute as he flung himself to his left to tip over van Persie’s header after good lead-up work from Bendtner. We continued to defend fiercely though and Arsenal were restricted to long range shots from Fabregas and Arshavin. The constant pressure finally produced a real chance after 77 minutes as Fabregas released Arshavin in behind Neville. The Russian advanced to just inside the box and ripped a shot across Foster, only to see it rebound of the inside of the post and fly across the goalmouth to safety. Another great save by Foster from van Persie after 85 minutes maintained our lead and we battled through to injury-time with the fourth official signalling that there was two extra minutes to be played. With just a minute remaining Arshavin found Fabregas who had stayed forward after the previous attack and the Spaniard unleashed a twenty-five yarder that flew into the top corner of our net for a gut-wrenching equaliser that made the final scoreline 2-2.

In the other matches Chelsea won 2-0 at Bolton to stretch their lead to four points, although we still have a game in hand over them, whilst Tottenham drew 1-1 at Manchester City to remain two points behind us.

Arsenal 2 Anderson 45+2, Fabregas 90+1

Manchester United 2 Rooney 12, 41

Foster; Neville, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Young, Hargreaves (s/o 18), Carrick, Taylor; Rooney, Davies (Scholes).

[Spav]

20th April 2010 – Champions League Semi-Final 1st Leg

It’s the first of three consecutive clashes against Liverpool over a period of eight days and Carrick is suspended for tonight’s match, but Hargreaves is back from his European ban. Otherwise it’s the same formation I have been using in Europe recently with Davies on the right wing and Young in the centre of midfield. Up front instead of Cole it is Owen who gets a start against his former club.

The opening fifteen minutes are like a chess match as both sides test each other out without really charging into battle. So it is a bit of a surprise after 18 minutes when Hargreaves chips the ball out to Taylor on the left just outside the penalty area and the winger suddenly fires in a superb dipping volley that beats Reina all ends up and nestles in the top corner of the net to give us a 1-0 lead. That tremendous goal ignites the crowd and Liverpool finally responds with some forceful play. A weaving run from Babel sees him to the bye-line and he pulls the ball back to the edge of the box where Huddlestone lets flies with a vicious half-volley that sees Foster sprawling across his goal to push it away for a corner. Torres then flicks a Gerrard cross just wide after 33 minutes and Young responds a few minutes later with a low shot that Reina holds after diving quickly to his right. At half-time Manchester United is 1-0 up and the platform is set for a strong second period.

The beginning of the second half offers little in the way of goalmouth excitement as both sets of defences dominate their opposing forwards whilst the ball is more often than not pushed around a crowded midfield with little headway being made. Hargreaves has the best chance after 63 minutes as he sends a long range effort flying inches over Riena’s crossbar. In the 71st minute Davies beats Carragher on the right wing and crosses into the centre where Kyrgiakos clearly body-checks Owen as he attempts to reach the ball. The referee awards us a penalty and Mascherano – who has already been booked – takes his protests too far, leaving the Spanish official with no choice but to send off the Argentinean midfielder. Mascherano takes his time leaving the pitch, but eventually the ball is on the penalty-spot with Taylor ready to take the kick. Taylor steps up and places the ball into the left side-netting, giving Reina no chance of saving it and pushing us out to a 2-0 lead along with our one-man advantage. The game should be safe, but within five minutes Liverpool have a goal back as Kuyt forges his way down the right wing and crosses firmly into the box. Hargreaves – who is marking Gerrard – and Brown both collide as they attempt to reach the ball and it breaks kindly for Gerrard to smash it past Foster from close range to pull the scoreline back to 2-1. In the 89th minute Rooney latches onto a Hargreaves pass that somehow makes it through the packed Liverpool defence and proceeds to stroke the ball home with aplomb, only for a late linesman’s flag to rule it out for offside. The game ends 2-1 in our favour, but the Liverpool away goal against ten men has annoyed me and may prove costly in the return leg at Anfield in eight days time.

Manchester United 2 Taylor 18, (pen) 72

Liverpool 1 Gerrard 77

Foster; Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Shorey; Davies, Hargreaves, Young, Taylor; Rooney, Owen.

[mark wilson27]

Its all getting exciting Mr.Spav, dont get letting the side down now

[Spav]

I'm doing my best, Mr Wilson - I really want to win that title as well.

[Spav]

The night after our 2-1 win over Liverpool in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final the other semi-final tie is played in London as Arsenal hosts Real Madrid. In an amazing match Real Madrid triumphs 7-3 in a master class of attacking football with Higuain, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso and Raul all being virtually unstoppable.

*** *** ***

Having received a two-match ban for his second red card of the Premier League season against Arsenal last week, Hargreaves now fronts the disciplinary committee and is given an additional two-match suspension. That means that Hargreaves will now miss the final four matches of the league campaign. Desperately Manchester United fires in an appeal, but it is quickly dismissed and we must face up to the fact that we must do without the services of our defensive midfielder for the remainder of the Premier League season.

*** *** ***

24th April 2010 – Premier League

The first of our two consecutive visits to Anfield to face Liverpool is a Premier League match and it is one that we really must win if we hope to chase down Chelsea’s four-point lead. Hargreaves begins his four-match league suspension today, so Carrick drops back into the anchorman/playmaker role whilst Young continues in the centre of midfield as he has been doing in European games recently. Osman comes in on the right wing as Davies is rested on the bench and Cole starts in place of Owen whose fitness means that he currently struggles to play consecutive matches from the start.

Again the tactic is to sit back and absorb Liverpool’s pressure whilst looking to hit them on the break. However, the early chances come United’s way as Brown gets on the end of flick by Rooney from a Taylor free-kick after 5 minutes and forces a good save out of Reina, winning a corner. From that corner Ferdinand’s header brings a diving catch from Reina. Benayoun seems to be providing Liverpool’s spark on the right wing and he goes past Shorey after 15 minutes to cross dangerously into the box where Foster fumbles the ball and Carrick is required to clear it off the line. It is Taylor who initiates a breakaway after 27 minutes, spreading a beautiful fifty-yard pass from left to right to find Osman. The winger races to the bye-line and pulls the ball back low for Rooney to smash it home at the near post for a 1-0 lead. Surprisingly Liverpool has little to offer as Torres is having a shocker and Brown has not let the Spanish ace have a sniff of goal so far. It is Benayoun who continues to provide the danger and he again beats Shorey in the 43rd minute, this time setting up Huddlestone whose powerful shot is turned away for a corner by Foster. Gerrard’s fiercely in-swinging corner eludes Foster and Neville heads the ball off the line on the far post to protect our 1-0 lead which we carry into the half-time break.

The opening half-hour of the second half fails to reach any significant heights as a subdued Liverpool cannot make any inroads into our resolute defence, although United also fails to create any decent chances. A curling shot from Babel after 63 minutes and a scuffed shot from Cole after 69 minutes are all that either side can show for their efforts. A second goal should surely seal the match for us and Osman is the provider again in the 78th minute, turning Carragher inside out before crossing low to put the ball on a plate for Cole who sidefoots it home from eight yards to make it 2-0. Taylor’s free-kick nearly makes it three as it whizzes inches over the crossbar after 87 minutes, but it is a Benayoun free-kick that scores in the 90th minute as the Israeli midfielder curls his shot past Foster from twenty yards to pull it back to 2-1. That’s as much as Liverpool can manage so late in the game and before any further damage can be done the game is over and we have secured a vital three points in our quest for the Premier League title.

In the late kick-off at the Emirates Stadium Arsenal and Chelsea draw 1-1, meaning that we have pulled back a further two points on the Blues’ lead. Chelsea now has 82 points from 36 games whilst we have 80 points from 35 games. Tottenham wins 5-3 at Fulham to stay in third place with 78 points from 36 games.

Liverpool 1 Benayoun 90

Manchester United 2 Rooney 27, Cole 78

Foster; Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Shorey; Osman, Carrick, Young (Scholes), Taylor; Rooney, Cole.

[Spav]

Real Madrid and Arsenal meet in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final in Madrid after the Spaniards had amazingly won the first leg 7-3 in London last week. The ensuing 1-0 win for Real Madrid is a formality and sends the home side through to the final 8-3 on aggregate.

*** *** ***

28th April 2010 – Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg

Finally the injuries and suspensions have cleared for the moment and I am able to name a full strength side for the return match at Anfield. A draw will be enough to take us through to the Champions League Final to be held at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid in just over three weeks time.

Liverpool charges into the fray and Foster has to make his first save after just 3 minutes as he parries a flick from Skrtel following Huddlestone’s corner. In the 7th minute Huddlestone’s free-kick finds Carragher on the far post and the Reds skipper outjumps his United counterpart Neville to head Liverpool into a 1-0 lead. Our first chance falls to Rooney as he races on Davies’ through-ball in the 13th minute, but he can’t beat Reina one-on-one as the keeper saves with his legs. Johnson clears the ball wildly, but Shorey picks it up on the left touchline and advances before sending a low cross into the near post. Davies gets in front of Carragher, but finds his legs taken out from under him by a desperate lunge. The Spanish referee hesitates and then awards us a penalty. Taylor has scored three spot-kicks in the past seven matches and he looks confident as usual, but this time his kick goes to the right and Reina dives magnificently to palm it away. Having missed our chance to draw level we then receive another hammer blow as Liverpool goes 2-0 up in the 22nd minute. Insua crosses firmly from the left wing, Hargreaves lunges in to cut it out and the ball drops invitingly for Babel to crash it past Foster from fourteen yards. Davies does his best to get us back into the game as he fires in a shot that Reina tips around the post after 32 minutes. Agger then smashes a free-kick into the side-netting in the 40th minute and the half ends with a hamstring injury to Hargreaves which means that Scholes must come on as a substitute as Liverpool takes the advantage into the break.

Our start to the second half is strong as Rooney storms to the bye-line in the first minute and crosses for Davies to head downwards at the far post, but Reina gets down well to palm it away. Scholes, Shorey and Taylor engineer a fine move on the left wing in the 52nd minute with Taylor’s cross being perfectly directed for Rooney to volley home from ten yards and pull the score back to 2-1. The aggregate scoreline is now 3-3, so the next team to score may well win this tie. The next chance falls to Gerrard as he connects well with his 57th minute free-kick, but Foster is able to push it around the post for a corner. Reina then saves well again as Davies runs on to Taylor’s pass before Young limps from the field to be replaced by Cole after 64 minutes. Now out on the right wing Davies beats Insua and crosses for Cole, but the substitute is left holding his head in despair as his header thumps against the post and bounces to safety. The chances continue for both sides as Gerrard whistles a shot past the post and Scholes places a delicate chip on to the roof of the home side’s net. In the 79th minute we win a free-kick twenty-five yards out and directly in front. Carrick and Taylor both line up behind the ball with Carrick then running over it and Taylor following up to strike it. The ball flies through a small gap at shoulder height in the Liverpool wall and into the roof of the net via Reina’s outstretched hand to make it 2-2. The players rejoice in a huge huddle that only excludes keeper Foster as it now means that Liverpool must score twice in just over ten minutes to take the tie. Benitez pushes his team into a 4-2-4 formation as they search for a goal and Torres, Liedson and Benayoun all test Foster with shots that our keeper saves confidently. Cole twists his knee late on and is replaced by Owen in the 89th minute, but we manage to hold on to the 2-2 draw to advance 4-3 on aggregate to reach the Champions League Final.

The team’s joy at reaching the final is tempered by yellow cards to Ferdinand and Young which give them automatic suspensions and the hamstring injury to Hargreaves which means that all three players will miss the big match in Madrid.

Liverpool 2 Carragher 7, Babel 22

Manchester United 2 Rooney 52, Taylor 79

Manchester United wins 4-3 on aggregate

Foster; Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Shorey; Young (Cole) (Owen), Hargreaves (Scholes), Carrick, Taylor; Rooney, Davies.

[mark wilson27]

Come on United !!!!!!

[gavrenwick]

What are Matty Taylor's stats? The guy has been instrumental for you this season. KUTGW Spavinho.

[Spav]

What are Matty Taylor's stats? The guy has been instrumental for you this season. KUTGW Spavinho.

Thanks, Gav. Taylor has been great so far, but perhaps his ratings don't quite show that.

Matty Taylor (all competitions) - 44(1) appearances, 16 goals, 6 assists, 7.09 average.

[Spav]

The news on Hargreaves’ hamstring is not good and the midfielder will be out for 2-3 months, meaning that he will miss the Champions League Final and what would have been almost certain selection for England’s World Cup squad to travel to South Africa.

In better news Cole’s twisted knee will keep him out for 2 weeks, but he should be fit to be considered for selection for the Champions League Final against Real Madrid on 22nd May.

*** *** ***

1st May 2010 – Premier League

Our third-last game of the Premier League season is at Old Trafford against 11th placed Fulham and Scholes starts in place of the injured Hargreaves in the only change from our midweek European match.

Our opening to this match is woeful as a determined Fulham side quickly gets into its stride and starts playing the ball around purposefully whilst we spend our time chasing them up and down the pitch. Only 42 seconds have elapsed when a powerful Dempsey shot forces Foster to parry the ball with his hands, allowing Ferdinand to hack it clear. Hangeland then heads straight into Foster’s arms from Murphy’s free-kick a couple of minutes later. The chances continue for the Cottagers as Dempsey’s 8th minute curler is plucked out of the air by Foster. Gera shoots inches wide in the 13th minute and Dempsey follows that up in the 18th minute with another stinging shot that Foster can only block, but this time it falls to Gera who wastefully blasts his shot over the crossbar from fourteen yards out. It isn’t until the 27th minute that we can register our first shot on goal as Rooney fires a shot straight at Schwarzer who makes a comfortable save. That effort releases the tension of my players and Davies goes close with a header in the 29th minute. Two minutes later Schwarzer reacts superbly to turn Rooney’s fierce shot onto the crossbar and then over for a corner. We’re now matching Fulham’s endeavour and the first half ends on an even note tied at 0-0.

Straight from the restart Davies runs forcefully onto Scholes’ pass and batters a shot straight at Schwarzer with Rooney firing the rebound over the crossbar. The Australian keeper is now turning out to be Fulham’s saviour and he makes a wonderful double save from Young’s close range efforts following a tantalising Taylor cross in the 50th minute. Right on the hour mark the breakthrough is made as Rooney’s determined run takes him to the bye-line on the left side of the penalty area and he drills a low cross though the box. Young arrives perfectly on cue to sidefoot the ball home under the challenge of Stoor and we lead 1-0. Fulham try their best to get back into the game, but we continue to hold the upper hand. The visitors’ chances of getting anything from the match evaporate in the 75th minute when an over-the-ball tackle from Hughes catches Davies just under his knee and referee Andre Marriner issues the defender a straight red card. Down to ten men Fulham can do little to match us, although a half-chance falls Zamora’s way in the 88th minute, but Foster quickly smothers the shot at close range. In injury-time Shorey is denied his first-ever United goal as Schwarzer produces a world class save to keep out the left-back’s dipping volley from twenty-five yards. The final result is 1-0, but in reality it could have been more, although we’ve done what we needed to get those vital three points.

Manchester City does us a huge favour as they hold Chelsea to a 0-0 at Stamford Bridge, meaning that we have now joined the London club on 83 points but with a game in hand. Tottenham keeps their mathematical hopes of winning the title alive by beating Wolves 3-0 at home to move to 81 points.

Manchester United 1 Young 60

Fulham 0

Foster; Neville (Gardner), Brown, Ferdinand, Shorey; Young, Carrick (Shawcross), Scholes (Osman), Taylor; Rooney, Davies.

[salkster2102]

That match against Liverpool was awful work Mr Spav

[Spav]

Sorry salkster, I can't please everyone. Maybe you and Mark Wilson can have an arm-wrestle and I'll play the game for the desired results that will make the winner happy.

[Spav]

5th May 2010 – Premier League

We need four points from our final two matches to clinch the Premier League title, so a win over West Ham at Old Trafford in our game in hand will go a long way to setting up that target. Veteran midfielder Scholes drops to the bench and Osman takes his place in the only change from the team that triumphed 1-0 over Fulham four days ago.

Only a brave save from Green denies us a dream start after just 20 seconds as Young half-volleys Taylor’s cross low to the keeper’s right, but he manages to paw the ball away. Six minutes later Young has a chance for a more measured shot, but he curls it just wide on his left foot. West Ham’s first chance is from a Noble corner after 18 minutes, but Upson can’t get over the ball properly and his header flies over the crossbar. Our clearest chance goes begging after 33 minutes when Davies gets free on the far post, but can’t direct his header goalwards after good lead-up work by Young. In the 39th minute a loose Diamanti pass sells Parker short and Davies nips in to collect the ball, but Parker goes through our forward with a two-footed challenge and brings Davies crashing down. Davies is left writhing in agony with a bad ankle injury as referee Matt Constantine pulls out his red card and sends off the West Ham midfield enforcer. Two minutes after Parker departs Davies follows him off the pitch on a stretcher. Owen comes on in his place and within a minute he is presented with a chance as Neville’s long cross finds its way through the box to the striker on the far post, but his first touch sees him hit his shot straight at Green. In injury-time we finally breach West Ham’s rearguard as Young crosses for Rooney to glance a header past Green to put us 1-0 up at half-time.

West Ham have reorganised at the break and we find them harder to break down than they were just before the interval. There is little to bother either keeper until the 60th minute when Ashton sends Foster scampering across his goalmouth to cover a shot that whistles inches wide of the post. A splendid run from Young sees him cut inside after 68 minutes and he slides a pass in behind Tomkins for Owen to dart in and place a shot across Green and into the bottom corner to double our lead. Another goal will seal the points and Shorey is the architect in the 79th minute, overlapping down the left wing to pick up Carrick’s pass before crossing to the far post where Rooney volleys in his second goal of the evening. At 3-0 the points are definitely ours and West Ham’s remaining ten players wearily trudge back to the middle to restart yet again. Taylor nearly makes it four with a free-kick that clips the post after 88 minutes and a few minutes later the game is ended.

The 3-0 win takes us to 86 points, three points clear of Chelsea in second place on 83 points with Tottenham a further two points back in third place on 81 points. A draw in our final match at Molineux against Wolves on Sunday will clinch the title for Manchester United.

Manchester United 3 Rooney 45+1, 79, Owen 68

West Ham 0

Foster; Neville (Gardner), Brown, Ferdinand (Shawcross), Shorey; Young, Carrick, Osman, Taylor; Rooney, Davies (Owen).

[Spav]

It’s not good news for Kevin Davies as his injury is diagnosed as ankle ligament damage and he will be out for 4-6 weeks, meaning that he will miss our final Premier League match and the Champions League Final as well.

*** *** ***

9th May 2010 – Premier League

The Premier League title can be ours today with a win or a draw at Molineux against Wolves. The home side are sitting safely in 13th place, out of the relegation battle and assured of another season in the top flight, so they have little to play for other than the glory of possibly being the team to deny us the title. Chelsea must win and hope that we lose if they are to take the championship away from us. I make only one change from the team that took us to the brink of success against West Ham on Wednesday evening as Owen starts in place of the injured Davies.

Any nerves are quickly calmed as we take the lead after just 87 seconds with Taylor sending a firm cross through the six-yard box and Young smashing it home from an acute angle via the legs of keeper Hennessey. The fans are already in party mode, but Maierhofer’s header goes inches wide of the post after 12 minutes to remind us that the job is still not done. Milijas then fires in a couple of long range efforts to keep Foster on his toes whilst Carrick blasts a shot over the Wolves crossbar from twenty yards. In the 31st minute Taylor dives in on Castillo, appearing to play the ball just before the man, but referee Mike Jones disagrees and awards Wolves a penalty. Maierhofer takes the spot-kick, sending it high to Foster’s right, but the United keeper stretches out a hand to palm it away for a corner with a tremendous save. Hennessey then saves just as spectacularly from Rooney’s piledriver after 38 minutes as we search for a second goal. It arrives in the 42nd minute as Taylor’s chipped pass finds Owen and the striker rounds Hennessey before unselfishly squaring the ball across the goalmouth for Osman to tap it in for a 2-0 lead. We leave the pitch for the half-time break with the fans already celebrating as though we had secured the title.

The game is made as good as safe in the 49th minute when vice-captain Ferdinand notches his first goal of the season with a thumping header from Young’s right-wing corner to take us out to a 3-0 lead. We now have Wolves in our pocket as the team plays some pretty possession football whilst trying to pick holes in the home side’s defence. It should be 4-0 after 61 minutes as Young picks out Taylor unmarked on the far post just eight yards out, but the winger’s shot is too straight and Hennessey bravely blocks it with his body before the ball rebounds off Taylor for a goal-kick. After 76 minutes I make a triple substitution as Scholes, Gardner and Driver all get the chance to have a run before the ebullient United fans. Rooney and Owen both go close in the final ten minutes, but it matters little when the final whistle blows. The all-English Manchester United team have won 3-0 and taken the 2010 Premier League title!!

In the end our winning margin is six points as we amass 89 points in total whilst Chelsea crashes 2-1 at Liverpool to remain on 83 points. Tottenham misses their chance to take second spot as they also lose 2-1 at Sunderland to finish on 81 points. The final Champions League spot goes to Liverpool who finishes the season on 74 points.

Wolves 0

Manchester United 3 Young 2, Osman 42, Ferdinand 49

Foster; Neville (Gardner), Brown, Ferdinand, Shorey; Young, Carrick, Osman (Scholes), Taylor (Driver); Rooney, Owen.

[Spav]

10th May 2010 – Premier League Table (Final):

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|Pos   | Team        | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|1st C | Man Utd     | 38    | 27    | 8     | 3     | 65    | 17    | +48   | 89    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|2nd   | Chelsea     | 38    | 24    | 11    | 3     | 70    | 24    | +46   | 83    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|3rd   | Tottenham   | 38    | 24    | 9     | 5     | 76    | 39    | +37   | 81    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|4th   | Liverpool   | 38    | 22    | 8     | 8     | 54    | 29    | +25   | 74    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|5th   | Man City    | 38    | 19    | 10    | 9     | 61    | 31    | +30   | 67    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|6th   | Everton     | 38    | 18    | 13    | 7     | 56    | 38    | +18   | 67    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|7th   | Arsenal     | 38    | 18    | 7     | 13    | 62    | 40    | +22   | 61    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|8th   | West Ham    | 38    | 18    | 6     | 14    | 55    | 42    | +13   | 60    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|9th   | Aston Villa | 38    | 16    | 10    | 12    | 44    | 42    | +2    | 58    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|10th  | Stoke       | 38    | 13    | 7     | 18    | 46    | 55    | -9    | 46    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|11th  | Fulham      | 38    | 10    | 11    | 17    | 51    | 68    | -17   | 41    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|12th  | Blackburn   | 38    | 10    | 10    | 18    | 35    | 52    | -17   | 40    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|13th  | Wolves      | 38    | 10    | 10    | 18    | 32    | 52    | -20   | 40    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|14th  | Sunderland  | 38    | 7     | 16    | 15    | 38    | 56    | -18   | 37    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|15th  | Wigan       | 38    | 8     | 12    | 18    | 40    | 55    | -15   | 36    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|16th  | Birmingham  | 38    | 10    | 6     | 22    | 43    | 72    | -29   | 36    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|17th  | Bolton      | 38    | 8     | 10    | 20    | 27    | 46    | -19   | 34    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|18th R| Portsmouth  | 38    | 8     | 10    | 20    | 33    | 56    | -23   | 34    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|19th R| Hull        | 38    | 6     | 14    | 18    | 40    | 73    | -33   | 32    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|20th R| Burnley     | 38    | 7     | 6     | 25    | 40    | 81    | -41   | 27    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[chesterfan2]

Congrats on the title, Spav. It's a rollicking good read too.

[Marmoset Junior]

Well done, Spav. A great title win considering the twist that you introduced into the game.

[mark wilson27]

Mr.Spav I congratulate you... Now for the Champions League

[Spav]

Liverpool redeems themselves after their earlier 1-0 loss to Arsenal in the League Cup Final by beating league runners-up Chelsea 2-0 in the FA Cup Final. A poor Ashley Cole pass allowed Torres to nip in for the opening goal after 64 minutes and as Chelsea poured forward looking for a late equaliser Mascherano scored on the counterattack with a low shot in the 91st minute to seal the win.

*** *** ***

My all-English squad is badly stretched by injuries and suspensions for the biggest game of the season as we prepare to face Real Madrid in the Champions League Final. Vice-captain Ferdinand and winger Young are both suspended after picking up their second yellow cards in the second leg of the semi-final. Meanwhile Hargreaves and Davies are both injured and Osman is cup-tied after appearing for Everton in Europe earlier in the season. After much thought I decide to promote Cleverley and Hewson from the reserves to fill the two empty places on my bench.

The right wing is my main source of concern as Young, Osman and Davies – the three players who would normally play in that position – are all unavailable. In the end Gardner is my choice to take over the role on the right side of the midfield. Shawcross gets the nod over Dawson for Ferdinand’s centre-half spot whilst Scholes starts in central midfield with Carrick playing the holding role. Cole gets the final starting position up front whilst Owen is held in reserve on the bench as an impact substitute.

*** *** ***

22nd May 2010 – Champions League Final

A slow start ensues as both teams feel each other out. Our first real attack occurs in the 6th minute as Neville finds Gardner and he chips a ball in behind Marcelo for Rooney to sprint clear down the right wing. Albiol struggles to stay with Rooney and the forward makes enough space to have time to pick out a precise cross to the near post where Cole gets in front of Pepe to head powerfully past Casillas. Only six minutes have passed and we are 1-0 up in the final. In the 13th minute Taylor passes inside to Scholes and the veteran midfielder cleverly flicks the ball first time into the path of Rooney. From twenty yards Rooney strikes it on the volley and the ball crashes against the crossbar before bouncing down about a foot inside the field of play. Sergio Ramos makes a wild clearance of the loose ball as Cole looks to get on to the rebound. Real Madrid’s first chance arrives in the 16th minute as Ronaldo beats Shorey and crosses low from the right. Raul flicks the ball on at the near post and Higuain volleys it at the far post, but Foster spreads himself well to block the shot. 19 minutes have passed when Gardner and Rooney combine as they did for the first goal. This time Scholes ghosts into the box, losing his marker Diarra in the process and heads perfectly past Casillas to take our lead out to 2-0. Minutes later Brown heads straight at Casillas from Gardner’s floated free-kick. Long range shots from Scholes and Kaka then fail to test either keeper before Sergio Ramos goes close with a free-kick that finds the side netting after 34 minutes. As the half comes to an end Higuain misses an absolute sitter as his runs completely unmarked into the box to pick up Xabi Alonso’s chipped pass, but the Argentinean striker shoots weakly straight at Foster from just eight yards out. At half-time we are 2-0 up, playing purposefully and looking strong against a strangely subdued Real Madrid team.

Kaka has got little change out of Neville on Real Madrid’s left side in the first half, so he switches to the right side up against Shorey. Within a minute Kaka has beaten our left-back and crosses dangerously into the middle. Raul lunges in with Shawcross and deflects the ball goalwards from close range, but Foster reacts superbly to thrust out a hand and block it. After 53 minutes Marcelo overlaps down the left and whips in a curling cross that eludes both Brown and Shawcross and finds Raul on the far post where the veteran striker prods it home to pull the score back to 2-1. Real are now in full flight and we are on the back foot. In the 58th minute a long clearance finds Raul and his flicked header sends Higuain clear, but Foster stands up until the last moment, forcing the striker to choose which side to place the ball and then saving it when the shot comes in. A free-kick in the 66th minute to Real sees Xabi Alonso curl his shot around our defensive wall and then watch as it raps against the post with Foster well-beaten. We are now restricted to defending desperately and looking for counterattacks. Shorey springs such an attack in the 76th minute, releasing Cole down the left wing. Cole surges forward before passing to Taylor who has cut inside from the wing. Taylor takes the ball around Sergio Ramos and drills it low across the box for Rooney to dart in and sidefoot it past Casillas from eight yards to make it 3-1. Scholes has run himself into the ground and is exhausted, so reluctantly I replace him with young Cleverley, moving Gardner into the middle and sending the substitute out onto the right wing. Foster then saves well from Xabi Alonso’s firm low shot after 84 minutes as our opponents try to get back into the game. A couple of minutes later Foster makes an even better save from van Nistelrooy’s header to maintain our two-goal lead. There are only two minutes of injury-time played and then the Swiss referee Cyril Zimmermann brings the match to a close, signalling wild scenes both on the pitch and in the stands as the all-English Manchester United team wins the 2010 Champions League Final!!

Real Madrid 1 Raul 53

Manchester United 3 Cole 6, Scholes 19, Rooney 76

Foster; Neville, Brown, Shawcross, Shorey; Gardner, Carrick, Scholes (Cleverley), Taylor; Rooney, Cole.

Unused Substitutes: Amos, Dawson, Driver, Hewson, Owen, Welbeck.

[Spav]

2009/10 First Team Statistics – All Competitions

|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Name              | Apps    | Gls  | Ast  | MoM  | Yel  | Red  | Av Rat | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Ben Amos          | 5       | -    | -    | -    | -    | -    | 7.26   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Ben Foster        | 50      | -    | -    | 1    | -    | -    | 7.02   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Wes Brown         | 44 (1)  | -    | 1    | 1    | 11   | -    | 7.14   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Gary Neville      | 29 (7)  | -    | 2    | -    | -    | -    | 6.99   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Craig Gardner     | 5 (16)  | 2    | -    | -    | -    | -    | 6.92   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Michael Dawson    | 6 (3)   | -    | 1    | -    | 1    | -    | 6.79   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Rio Ferdinand     | 46      | 1    | 3    | 1    | 8    | -    | 7.27   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Ryan Shawcross    | 37 (4)  | 1    | -    | 2    | 5    | -    | 6.86   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Nicky Shorey      | 54      | -    | 6    | -    | 2    | -    | 7.09   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Matty Taylor      | 47 (1)  | 16   | 8    | 5    | 1    | -    | 7.10   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Michael Carrick   | 51 (1)  | 10   | 12   | 4    | 6    | -    | 7.18   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Owen Hargreaves   | 35 (2)  | 2    | 1    | -    | 11   | 2    | 7.00   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Paul Scholes      | 14 (11) | 2    | 2    | -    | -    | -    | 6.91   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Tom Cleverley     | 0 (1)   | -    | -    | -    | -    | -    | 6.70   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Ravel Morrison    | 0 (1)   | -    | -    | -    | -    | -    | 6.30   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Leon Osman        | 14 (10) | 2    | 3    | -    | 1    | -    | 6.94   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Ashley Young      | 49 (1)  | 6    | 14   | 5    | 5    | -    | 7.04   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Kevin Davies      | 31 (6)  | 12   | 6    | 4    | 2    | -    | 7.09   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Andrew Driver     | 4 (6)   | -    | 1    | -    | -    | -    | 6.75   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Sam Hewson        | 0 (1)   | -    | -    | -    | -    | -    | 6.70   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Michael Owen      | 10 (17) | 7    | 2    | 2    | -    | -    | 6.90   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Wayne Rooney      | 46 (1)  | 24   | 17   | 7    | 2    | -    | 7.13   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Carlton Cole      | 28 (6)  | 11   | 11   | 3    | 1    | -    | 7.04   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Danny Welbeck     | 0 (6)   | -    | 1    | -    | -    | -    | 6.70   | 
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[mark wilson27]

Get in there my son Well done Mr.Spav looking forward to next season

[Manxie_Ash]

U-Ni-Ted, U-Ni-Ted

[Spav]

I decided to take a look at how the players that have moved on this season got on at their new clubs:

Dimitar Berbatov made 39(8) appearances for Chelsea, scoring 14 goals and providing 10 assists at an average rating of 7.02

Anderson made 45 appearances for Arsenal, scoring 8 goals and providing 5 assists at an average rating of 7.06

Park Ji-Sung made 29(3) appearances (on loan) for Wolfsburg, scoring 1 goal and providing 9 assists at an average rating of 7.21

John O’Shea made 36 appearances (on loan) for Wolves, without scoring or providing an assist at an average rating of 7.11

Johnny Evans made 40 appearances for Sporting, scoring 1 goal and providing 3 assists at an average rating of 6.91

Patrice Evra made 39 appearances for AC Milan, without scoring and providing 8 assists at an average rating of 7.43

Darren Fletcher made 12 appearances for Zenit St. Petersburg, without scoring and providing 4 assists at an average rating of 7.13

Nani made 24(2) appearances for Arsenal, scoring 5 goals and providing 5 assists at an average rating of 7.11

Fabio made 30(1) appearances for Sunderland, without scoring or providing an assist at an average rating of 6.86

Nemanja Vidic made 27 appearances for Bayern Munich, without scoring or providing an assist at an average rating of 6.86

Davide Petrucci did not make a senior appearance for Aston Villa

Rafael made 2(2) appearances for Tottenham, without scoring and providing 1 assist at an average rating of 7.10

*** *** ***

In England’s final pre-World Cup friendly Foster, Ferdinand, Young and Rooney all play as England wins 3-0 in Turkey. Carrick and Owen come on as substitutes whilst Brown and Shawcross are unused substitutes. Young scores his first international goal in that game.

As a result of that friendly England manager Fabio Capello finalises his World Cup squad with Rooney, Ferdinand, Young, Carrick, Brown, Foster, Owen and Shawcross all called up for duty in South Africa.

*** *** ***

The first summer move is finalised as a young Northern Ireland international defender decides to move north:

Craig Cathcart – D C – free transfer

Hibs is the team who have taken a chance on the youngster from Belfast.

*** *** ***

Within 24 hours of Cathcart's move his fellow Northern Ireland international defensive partner decides to head north as well:

Corry Evans – D C, DM, M C – free transfer

Celtic is the destination for the youngster from Belfast as he looks to revive his promising career that I had prematurely stalled.

[mopphead]

More.... and grab Dean Ashton if you can.

[Spav]

England begins its 2010 World Cup Finals campaign in Group C with a 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia as Foster, Ferdinand, Young and Rooney all start. Brown and Carrick come on as second half substitutes whilst Shawcross and Owen are unused substitutes. Rooney scores his 32nd international goal in the 27th minute of the match with Lampard (30th, 58th) and Gerrard (52nd) providing the other goals.

*** *** ***

England continues its matches in Group C with a strong 3-0 win over the USA with Foster, Brown, Ferdinand, Young, Carrick and Rooney all getting a start. Owen comes on as 32nd minute substitute for Rooney who suffers a knock to his knee whilst Shawcross is an unused substitute. Owen scores his 41st international goal to make it 2-0 after 51 minutes following Gerrard’s opener after just 47 seconds whilst Lampard wraps up the win in the 64th minute with the third goal.

*** *** ***

With England already safely into the Second Round they complete their Group C commitments with a 2-2 draw with Greece. Foster, Ferdinand, Young, Carrick and Rooney are all starters whilst Owen comes on at half-time as a substitute for Rooney who is still struggling with his sore knee. Brown and Shawcross are unused substitutes. Rooney scores his 33rd international goal as England equalises at 1-1 in the 35th minute following Amanatidis’ opener after 33 minutes. Katsouranis restores Greece’s lead at 2-1 in first half injury-time, but Owen scores his 42nd international goal in the 91st minute to tie the match at 2-2.

*** *** ***

As the winners of Group C England faces Group D runners-up Spain in the Second Round and the game finishes at 0-0 after 120 minutes, despite the dismissal of Spain’s Pique after 75 minutes. Spain then triumphs 11-10 in a marathon penalty shootout. Foster, Brown, Ferdinand, Young, Carrick and Rooney all start the match for England whilst Shawcross and Owen are unused substitutes. England is now out of the 2010 World Cup.

*** *** ***

There is some comfort for Rio Ferdinand after England’s World Cup demise as he is voted Player of the Year for 2009/10 by the Manchester United fans.

[Spav]

As the transfer window prepares to open I finalise a new personal contract as the manager of Manchester United until June 2013. After negotiations with the board I confirm my confidence that I can lead the club to the Premier League title again in the 2010/11 season and they back me with a transfer budget of £54M as a result.

1st July 2010 rolls around and amongst the many out-of-contract players leaving the club are the veterans Edwin van der Sar (Holland) and Ryan Giggs (Wales) whilst English reserve team youngsters Oliver Gill, Scott Moffatt, James Chester and Febian Brandy also leave after their contracts have expired.

*** *** ***

The transfer wheeling-and-dealing starts on a low key note as a German youngster heads home:

Ron-Robert Zieler – GK – free transfer

Hansa Rostock takes the unwanted German youth international off my hands.

*** *** ***

Looking for a decent goalkeeping prospect to bolster the ranks of my reserves I headed over to Goodison Park:

Adam Davies – GK – free transfer

Everton were preparing to cut the 18yo keeper from their team, so I took the chance to snap him up on a free transfer. Time will tell if Davies can make the grade.

*** *** ***

Another player heads off to Germany, this time on loan:

Park Ji-Sung – AM RLC – £700K loan fee

The South Korean international enjoyed his spell at Wolfsburg last season and the club were keen to have him back. A £3.9M agreed price clause has been included in the deal and can be activated any time during the loan period.

*** *** ***

I was soon sniffing around the City Of Manchester Stadium when the news came out that an English international was on the transfer list:

Joe Hart – GK – £2.0M

Manchester City were surprisingly prepared to let their second-choice keeper go after a strong performance on loan at Birmingham last season and Hart provided me with additional cover for Foster as Amos had been my only back-up last year.

*** *** ***

After spending the previous season on loan at Partizan Belgrade back in his homeland of Serbia I was prepared to sell off another foreigner:

Adem Ljajic – AM RC – £3.2M

Real Madrid saw some potential in the attacking midfielder and I was happy to take their money for a player who was never going to play under my regime.

*** *** ***

Having picked up cover for the goalkeeper’s position, the other area that needed strengthening was the defensive midfielder’s role and after protracted negotiations I got my man:

Lee Cattermole – DM, M C – £17.0M

Sunderland put up a fight to keep their star midfielder and then Cattermole’s agent held us over a barrel by demanding a huge signing-on fee, but finally I secured a quality player for the centre of the park.

*** *** ***

A Brazilian with an Italian passport had spent last season on loan at Portugal’s Braga, but I was happy to let him go for a few more shekels:

Rodrigo Possebon – AM C – £1.7M

Wigan were the club who came in with a structured deal that allowed me to get another unwanted foreigner off Manchester United’s books.

*** *** ***

The 2010 World Cup in South Africa comes to a conclusion as the final is played in Johannesburg with Spain beating Brazil 6-5 in a penalty shootout after the teams drew 0-0 in regular play.

Serbia clinched third place with a 5-4 win on penalties after a 0-0 draw with Russia.

[mopphead]

Nice... but wouldn't Jenas have been cheaper and roughly the same talent wise?

[Spav]

Nice... but wouldn't Jenas have been cheaper and roughly the same talent wise?

Tottenham wanted £26M for Jenas on my game. Remember, I'm Manchester United and everyone want's to screw me when it comes to transfers.

[chesterfan2]

What, everyone ?

[Spav]

What, everyone ?

Yes, it certainly seems that way to me. The Premier League clubs want 3-4 times the listed value of any English player of note when I enquire/bid for one of them.

[mopphead]

Any youngster regens you can poach from newly promoted sides?

[Spav]

With my two main worries covered by the incoming transfers of Hart and Cattermole I had only one other area of concern and that was in the centre of midfield where Scholes was starting to lose his edge. I looked for a young player with some potential and found him at Upton Park:

Mark Noble – M RC – £6.5M

West Ham were surprisingly happy to do business with me and the English U-21 international gladly accepted my invitation to move to Old Trafford.

*** *** ***

After knocking back a return to Wolves on loan, Scotland seemed like a good destination for the upcoming year for the Irish international:

John O’Shea – D RLC – £825K loan fee

Celtic were very pleased to take the defender on loan for the season and O’Shea voiced his approval of the deal in his introductory press conference.

*** *** ***

My assistant manager Mike Phelan and his backroom staff had set up a series of seven pre-season friendlies with the final game at Stoke being part of the deal from Shawcross’ signing from the previous season.

On July 17th we visited St Mirren and won 4-0, even though debut boy Cattermole was sent off after just 11 minutes for two yellow cards. Welbeck, Osman, Carrick (pen) and Cleverley were the scorers with the final three goals coming after we had gone down to ten men. Carrick ran the show in the centre of the park and his MOM award was well-deserved.

Two days later on July 19th our trip to Ross County resulted in a 5-1 win. Two goals from Young and singles from Cattermole, Carrick and Scholes gave us a straightforward win as Hart made his first appearance in a Manchester United shirt. Cattermole made up for his early sending off two days previously by putting in a sterling performance which he capped with a stunning thirty-five yard free-kick. Young was the unanimous MOM for his outstanding wing play.

On July 23rd a trip across the Channel to France saw us win 2-0 against Grenoble. Noble made his debut as a second half substitute and the only low point of the dominating display was a lack of goals other than those Carrick and Rooney either side of half-time as Carrick again picked up the MOM award.

The next friendly on July 25th against Bury saw Owen at his predatory best as he scored twice in a 4-0 win. Young and Hargreaves notched the other two goals as Owen won the MOM award in a performance that turned the clock back five or six years.

On July 29th the annual match against Newcastle Town resulted in a 5-1 win. Welbeck continued his early good form with the first and fifth goals and in between Cole registered a hat-trick, including one from the penalty spot, to clinch the MOM award.

In Belgium on August 1st our feeder club Antwerp gave us our first serious match of the season as they pushed us hard before we finally triumphed 2-1. After Pivaljevic gave them a 31st minute lead we worked hard to draw level through Cattermole’s long range shot after 57 minutes. A draw looked to be on the cards until Driver popped up in the first minute of injury-time to stab home a loose ball and give us a 2-1 win. Cattermole was voted the MOM for his all-energy display.

Our final friendly on August 4th was away to Stoke and the Potters put in a fighting display that matched our performance for sixty minutes before a shocking refereeing decision gave Stoke a 2-0 lead that they would eventually turn into a 3-1 win. Lawrence’s free-kick gave Stoke the lead after 33 minutes and Sidibe was at least five yards offside when he collected a Tuncay pass before beating Hart to make it 2-0 after 63 minutes. A header from Davies three minutes later pulled the score back to 2-1 before Fuller got the benefit of the doubt on a lineball offside decision after 77 minutes to run on and round Hart to make it 3-1. Stoke’s Lawrence won the MOM award as a Manchester United player failed to collect it for the first time in seven matches.

[Spav]

I decided to blow my remaining transfer kitty of £30M on a left-back and a right-back and targeted a player from Everton and Newcastle respectively.

Firstly I got into a bidding war with Manchester City over Everton’s Leighton Baines. Despite topping City’s bid of £14.75M it was my cross-town rivals who secured Baines’ signature with a reported £66K per week in wages that I was unwilling (and unable) to match. With no other quality left-backs being available I decided to stick with what I already had.

After a protracted series of negotiations I got my right-back though:

Steven Taylor – D RC – £12.0M

Newcastle finally accepted my offer after I originally started my bidding at half that price. Still, Taylor gives me cover on the right and in the middle of defence as Neville’s aging legs are finally giving out on him.

*** *** ***

8th August 2010 – FA Community Shield

There were debuts in the starting eleven for Hart and Cattermole whilst Noble was on the bench as we faced the FA Cup winners Liverpool in the Community Shield. Carrick was the only notable absentee as he was still having treatment for an ankle injury suffered in the friendly against Grenoble a couple of weeks ago.

We totally dominated the first half, having twelve attempts on goal to Liverpool’s one. Ferdinand crashed a header against the crossbar after 8 minutes and then went close again in the 22nd minute as Reina superbly tipped over the skipper’s header. Young dribbled in from the right wing and made room for a shot before blasting it high into the stands after 28 minutes and Rooney was similarly wasteful after doing all the hard work and then blazing over in the 41st minute. Gerrard finally had Liverpool’s one shot in the 43rd minute after Ferdinand’s poor headed backpass fell his way, but Hart pulled off a good block. Just as it seemed that we would get nothing for all our efforts Cattermole sent Young away down the right wing after 45 minutes and his cross was headed in at the near post by Cole for a 1-0 lead.

In the 49th minute Ferdinand stood off Torres just a fraction too much as Gerrard’s pass came in and the Spanish striker controlled the pass before swivelling and hammering a vicious twenty-five yarder past Hart to make it 1-1. With the scores now even so was the contest in the second half. A couple of half-chances fell to both sides as the game headed towards its final ten minutes, but then we finally regained the lead. A loose ball fell to our substitute Osman just on the edge of the box after 83 minutes and he dinked in a delightful cross from which Cole looped a header over Reina to make it 2-1. That should have been that, but in the 86th minute Brown hurried a throw-in which Mascherano intercepted and sent to forward to Brown’s now-unmarked opponent Babel. The Dutchman ran clear on the left wing and sent in a precise cross that Torres glanced past Hart with his head to draw things level at 2-2. A couple of minutes later the referee ended regulation time and a penalty shootout ensued.

Manchester United went first and Shorey blasted his spot-kick high into the top right-hand corner. Carragher went low left to make it 1-1 and then new boy Noble hit his effort straight at Reina for the first failure. Torres went low left as well to give Liverpool the edge at 2-1 before Rooney, Kuyt, Osman and Gerrard all scored easily to make it 4-3 in the Red’s favour. Hart took the short walk from being beaten by Gerrard’s penalty to take our fifth himself, but he didn’t fail as he found the bottom left corner of the net to tie it up at 4-4. Johnson then had the chance to win it for Liverpool and he calmly slotted his spot-kick to the right to make it 5-4 to the delight of the Reds’ fans as their team clinched the Community Shield and sent us to our second consecutive defeat in the season’s traditional curtain-raiser.

Manchester United 2 Cole 45, 83

Liverpool 2 Torres 49, 86

Liverpool wins 5-4 on penalties

Hart; Brown, Dawson, Ferdinand, Shorey; Young, Cattermole, Hargreaves (Noble), M.Taylor (Osman); Rooney, Cole.

[salkster2102]

Great work Mr Spav

[gandycoleuk]

Fantastic read Spav, as a United fan liking the 1st season, KUTGW

[mark wilson27]

Cant really complain about losing the Community tin Shield, got to give the scousers something to gloat about

[Scalamunger]

I'm gonna do this challenge myself also with Man United as there my team alkthough ill be plsaying with the 10/11 update and also wont restrict myself to only buying premiership players.

[Scalamunger]

For those that are interested, you can follow my own experiance with this challenge here - http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/225716-Man-United-The-English-Experiance?p=5865412#post5865412

[salkster2102]

Oh dear who has a mod stick around

[Spav]

Thanks to Terk's post in Scalamunger's thread (that he touted earlier in my thread) I have just realised that I have completed The Lisbon Lions Challenge by winning the Premier League and European Cup double with an all-English team. \o/

[Scalamunger]

Thanks to Terk's post in Scalamunger's thread (that he touted earlier in my thread) I have just realised that I have completed The Lisbon Lions Challenge by winning the Premier League and European Cup double with an all-English team. \o/

Sorry about that *Looks sheepish* i have now read the forum rules and shant "promote" my own stories again. Loviong reading your work keep it up

[Spav]

Sorry about that *Looks sheepish* i have now read the forum rules and shant "promote" my own stories again.

Don't worry about it, Scalamunger.

[nik tik]

craving for more!!! =)

[Spav]

My all-English Manchester United team is now ready to defend the Premier League title that we won last season. I have not lost any senior players from last year and have added four new players, so I’m fairly confident that we’ll give it a good shot this time around as well.

An expansion to Old Trafford is scheduled to be completed by the end of August 2010 and this will increase the stadium’s capacity by 16,000 to a league-high 92,212 spectators.

My final decision of the pre-season is to determine the captaincy roles and I decide to remove Gary Neville as the club captain and replace him with last season’s vice captain Rio Ferdinand. Wayne Rooney is the new vice-captain of Manchester United.

*** *** ***

14th August 2010 – Premier League

Our first game as defending champions is at the City Of Manchester Stadium as we come up against our fierce derby rivals Manchester City. The team is at full strength with Carrick having recovered from his pre-season ankle injury. Dawson gets the nod over Shawcross to partner skipper Ferdinand in the centre of defence whilst Cole’s two goals in the Community Shield ensure that he starts ahead of Davies.

Our start is tentative and City takes the early initiative. Tevez, Barry and Hangeland all go close with Foster making a couple of good saves. Lescott has Rooney in his back pocket with our star man being totally anonymous and Young and Taylor are getting nothing out of Bridge and Richards respectively. Cole has our first shot after 32 minutes, but Given saves easily. The first half ends with Adebayor and Robinho forcing Foster into yet another couple of fine saves as we somehow keep the score tied at 0-0. In the 49th minute Ireland’s left-wing corner is met powerfully by the head of Hangeland as the former Fulham man scores on his debut to put City 1-0 up. In the 62nd minute Foster pushes Barry’s low drive around the post for a corner. Ireland curls it in and Foster catches the ball, but then he inexplicably drops it. Robinho quickly toe-pokes the loose ball goalwards, but luckily it strikes the crossbar and rebounds to safety. When Tevez gets the better of Dawson after 69 minutes he races down the left wing before driving a low cross through the box. Shorey has completely lost Wright-Phillips and the winger rifles a first-time shot high into the roof of our net from ten yards to make it 2-0. Angrily I make a triple substitution as Dawson, Matty Taylor and Rooney all come off for Shawcross, Osman and Welbeck. Finally there is some sign of resistance from my team as Ferdinand’s header brings a fine save from Given after 75 minutes. Cole’s fierce drive then produces an even better save from the City number one just a minute later. As the clocks ticks over to 80 minutes Welbeck sprints clear and gets one-on-one with Given, but his shot is deflected away for a corner by the Irishman’s foot. Welbeck is suddenly presented with a loose ball after Adebayor’s miskick in the 84th minute and the youngster drills it home from fourteen yards to pull the scoreline back to 2-1. It’s as close as we can get though and City defends intelligently for the final ten minutes to ensure that there is no equaliser as we lose the first game of the season 2-1 to our great cross-city rivals.

Manchester City 2 Hangeland 49, Wright-Phillips 69

Manchester United 1 Welbeck 84

Foster; Brown, Dawson (Shawcross), Ferdinand, Shorey; Young, Hargreaves, Carrick, M.Taylor (Osman); Rooney (Welbeck), Cole.