Spain vs England in Sweden and Transfer News

Tour 2012 continued yesterday evening with undoubtedly the toughest opposition in the form of FC Barcelona. The clash took place on home ground for neither, in the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg. Why? Not sure, but it’s apparently the biggest stadium in Scandinavia. Also unsure what to take from this one following another 0-0 draw. This was but a tour match, and the concern is obviously on fitness, but despite a lack of goals on tour, a mere 3, Utd looked fairly sharp. Credit must go to the goalkeepers for ensuring the man in charge of the scoreboard could have spent the evening at home.

The match was settled by a reduced form penalty shootout, three each. Nani missed, Xavi slotted home, Young’s was too close to the keeper so ex-Red Pique netted to win. If only circumstances had allowed us to keep him, for the Boss is concerned about central defence as the season approaches. Vidic is back after a long layoff, and will take a little while to get back up to speed, and Ferdinand is clearly not expected to be able to play every game now, as his back and he continue to have occasional disagreements. Chris Smalling is out for three months, Evans will not be fit in time and Phil Jones has recently picked up a knock. Michael Carrick seems to be the choice to fill in, but it still doesn’t look quite right on the team sheet.

In transfer news, the Van Persie deal remains centre-stage. Lucas Moura, the 19-year old from Brazil, has been announced as joining PSG for the sum of 45m euros. Clearly they had a rummage down the back of the sofa to finance that one. I think it a little stupid to pay so much for unproved talent, whatever the potential, and it doesn’t show the money side of football in the best light sometimes. It does restrict options, but I don’t think Utd can be blamed for not forking out that much every time they are interested in someone. With regards to Van Persie, Arsenal sound like they will do anything but sell to Utd. Don’t they remember we sold them Silvestre? How we can be treated so negatively after such generousity is amazing.

Hannover 96 up next in the Tour. Maybe we’ll score, who knows. Comments below.

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Category: Manchester United