• Edwin van der Sar – verdens beste keeper. Rooney verdens tredjbestespiller, i følge The Castrol Rankings.
• Fabio kan være på vei på ulån til Sporting etter at hans sjanser på venstrebacken er mindre som følge av Evras etablerte posisjon samt O’Sheas comeback fra skade, melder TeamTalk.com.
• Fletcher avslører at hørføneren til Sir Alex fortsatt sjokkerer spillerne, spesielt de utenlandske, skriver TribalFootball.com.
• Berbatov og United bør skille veier, med Edin Dzeko inn skriver TeamTalks Ian Watson i sin spalte.
• The Republik of Mancunia skal intervjue spillerne og lurer på hva DU ville spurt Nani om.

Så Dimitar Berbatov-artikkeklen som fortjener et sistat.

I’m stood there thinking how did it come to this [receiving abuse from the United stand]? How did it happen that a player who wears our shirt, who shunned City’s money to play for us (unlike that prick Tevez whose chant our fans sung relentlessly over Sir Alex Ferguson’s end of season speech after we had just been named Champions, meaning he had to cut it short because he could no longer be heard), who is in the top ten scorers in the league, has come to receive such abuse from our own fans. The bandwagon has got out of control and people are getting hysterical with it. I’m all for a difference of opinion, blogs like this thrive because of them, but I am sickened and embarrassed by the attitude of too many of our fans now.

Les hele artikkelen på The Republik of Mancunia.

Tilbake til Nani; hans første sang begynner å bli sunget også på kamper.

Nani Nani Nani
He shags fanny
With Anderson
(melodi: Money, Money, Money)

Litt trøst på tampen; it could be worse, could be a scouse… noen forsvarer fortsatt Benitez. Måtte han fortsette. In Rafa I trust!

«Experience definitely helps. You’ve been there before – through narrow escapes and must-win games. You know how to handle them. The more you go through these situations the better you are at dealing with them. There’s a moment in your career where it clicks and you think, ‘I»ve been in this situation before, I know what to do, I know what to expect’. That comes in handy sometimes.»

Inntil videre så får altså Tomasz Kuszczak vokte buret. Kuszczak viser ustabile tendenser spesielt i felt og med beina, men har ellers klart seg uten de store blemmene som har ført til mål. Kanskje vil Ben Foster få sjansen i ligacup eller FA Cup over den kommende perioden.

Kilde: The Guardian

«“I don’t want to pack it in. At the end of my holiday this summer, I was itching to go back to the training ground. I have the hunger to win the Champions League again. It does not matter that I won it in the past. The season could not start soon enough for me and it was unfortunate I got injured.»

«After our pre-season tour in Korea, I said something about my future and the next day it was all over the back pages that I wanted to ruin Foster’s World Cup dream. That was nonsense. Foster got more playing time than ever last season because I was taking rests. I think Foster has done well as my replacement. But I still work as hard as all the others at training, whether I’m old enough to be their dad or not.»

«Alex Ferguson is the man who guarantees continuity at this club. He has built an empire and a group of loyal and trustworthy people around him and the team. He does not need to be at the training ground every day. He does not even have to try and influence me to sign again.»

“As a player you know what you have got at United because of all the staff around Fergie. They are all great people. The trick is that as a player here, you know you are employed by a multi-million pound football company, but inside it feels as if you are surrounded by family.”

Ryktebørsen sier han snart takker ja til å gjøre comeback for Nederland i VM i Sør-Afrika.

Samtidig linkes Tomasz Kuszczak til russisk fotball etter at han har mistet plassen til Ben Foster. Med sine 29 år er det nok høy tid at han kaprer en fast plass, og ikke lengre kan være tredjevalget i verdens største klubb.

United linkes på nytt til Manuel Neuer, og Sir Alex ønsker etter sigende å sikre seg spilleren før VM for å forhindre Schalkes verdisetting av han dersom han gjør et godt VM.

«There has been a lot of interest in Neuer. While Manchester United expressed a previous interest, it is likely Schalke’s valuation of him could increase if the player continues to improve,» sa en talsmann for Neuers mangement.

Under følger UEFAs beskrivelse av de tre kandidatene.

Van der Sar

The Dutchman showed that, at 38, he remains a formidable presence between the posts, exuding calm and assurance during United’s run of 1,334 minutes without conceding a Premier League goal. Those 14 clean sheets proved pivotal to their third successive domestic title and he was equally reliable in the UEFA Champions League, conceding just three goals in nine games from the group stage to the semi-finals, so ensuring the disappointment of United’s final defeat – his second at the Stadio Olimpico – would not detract from an impressive overall contribution.

Vidic

The powerful Serbian did as much as any player to retain United’s hold on the Premier League trophy, his partnership with Rio Ferdinand providing a redoubtable defensive barrier. He underlined his importance by ensuring Ferdinand’s absence was not felt during the team’s record run of 14 clean sheets in the domestic competition – when he was the only ever-present in United’s back four. «A fantastic performer» was Sir Alex Ferguson’s verdict on the hugely committed defender who was equally effective in Europe, where United conceded just six goals in 12 games en route to Rome.

Ronaldo

When it became clear Ronaldo was not repeating his 42-goal haul of 2007/08, one opponent was moved to utter that the Portuguese forward was only human after all. The next day Ronaldo replied with a stunning 40-metre goal at FC Porto to move Manchester United into the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. Another drive from an improbable distance followed against Arsenal FC in the last four – one of 25 goals last season – and though Rome marked a disappointing end to his United career, the 24-year-old had still earned a third Premier League winners’ medal to take with him to Spain.

Kilde: Uefa.com