It has been confirmed that this summer United will compete in the Audi Cup 2009, to take place in the Allianz Arena. The tournament will take place over two days from July 29, with Boca Juniors, AC Milan and obviously Bayern Munich the other participating teams.

United will play Boca and Bayern will play Milan in the Semi-Finals on July 29. The Third-Place Playoff and the Final will be held the next day, July 20. Dunno what the winner, but I’m gonna guess that the player of the tournament gets a car, probably an Audi!

Sounds like it will be a good tournament. Four good teams ‘battling’ it out in a great stadium. It seems that these new tournaments spring up every summer. Does the Amsterdam Tournament even exist anymore? No word about what TV station the tournament will be broadcast on but I’m going to guess either Sky Sports or Setanta.

(Tickets for the Audi Cup 2009 are available at the Bayern Munich Official Website.)

In another tidbit, United’s Patrice Evra has come out and said that he’s not too concerned about United’s current form. His, as well as United’s form, has dipped noticeably recently but the French left-back isn’t fazed by the occurrences of the past few weeks.

“I have been at Manchester United for three years now and this is the first time I have lost two straight matches.

“I am sure it is just a little accident.”

Staggeringly in-depth comments from the French international, I know. I wonder if all United’s players are as nonchalant about what’s happened? They’ve been truly awful in the last two games and I think that if they all have this attitude there might be another defeat around the corner.

Finally, an interesting piece over at The Guardian by Rob Bagchi regarding Rooney in the aftermath of his red card at Fulham. He raises the point (that many have recently) that if he wants to be one of the best, he has to channel his anger into something positive. Check it out here, I don’t agree with some of it but it’s interesting.

First of all, don’t start thinking it’s some crappy Photoshop job because of the quality of the photo. That’s all my PC’s fault. Go onto FSC (link at the bottom of the post) to see the pic in better resolution. Make sure to come back though…

The jersey is a remake of United’s 1909 jersey, it is to commemorate United’s first major trophy; the FA Cup win against Bristol City in 1909. It was designed by former United player Billy Meredith, who ran a sports shop while he played for United. I can’t be arsed to go into it, so read it all here. It’s pretty damn sweet I think, it’s a bit unusual but that’s what I like about it. I especially like the laces on the collar, it’s old-fashioned but pretty kick-ass. I also like the logo under Nike sign.

This leads me nicely onto my next point. In the link in the first line of this post, I talked about possibilities for United’s new sponsor, seeing as AIG are pulling out. After seeing this (allegedly) new kit, Saudi Telecom look set to be the new sponsor. If you remember, I talked about it before on the blog. Some folks didn’t like the thought of how the logo would appear on the jersey, but I think it’s turned out alright.

So, what do you think of this? If I was a betting man, which I would be if I ever had any money, I’d say that this is our new away jersey.

Do you like the jersey or do you think it’s shit? You know the drill…

(Originally spotted at Football Shirt Culture)

A good day today for United. An exciting if not very solid win against Derby County in the Carling Cup Semi-Final sees us through to the Final to face either Spurs or Burnley, probably Spurs.

Aside from the usual stuff, turns out that Sir Alex was today voted the best manager of the last 12 years. The IFFHS, or the International Federation of Football History and Statistics have released their new list of the best football managers of the last dozen years. Why do it over 12 years? I have no idea, but I’m sure a federation with a name as important sounding as that doesn’t need a reason. Anyway, Fergie sits in first place, followed by Italy manager Marcello Lippi and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. I’m not going to go through the whole list, mainly because it’s not much of a laugh. But at least we know that historically and statistically Ferguson’s the best manager of the last 12 years.

Second bit o’ news is taken from yesterday’s Daily Dose, posted by Chris. Amongst the many interesting pieces, there was one that surprised me. It was news of United’s home kit for next season, a red jersey with a white v-shaped sash down the front (much like Bordeaux’s jersey).

Apparently it will be made by Nike to commemorate United’s first FA Cup win 100 years ago in 1909 against Bristol City. United will allegedly wear the kit for the whole of the 2009/10 season. I’m really looking forward to what it will look like. Will Nike go with a real traditional look or try to glam it up? Only time will tell. I can’t upload a pic at the mo so check it out here.

Some other potentially important news that I read over at the Football Shirt Culture Blog is that Indian company Sahara India Pariwar, shirts sponsors of the India cricket team and multi-conglomerate involved in real estate and finances and other shit, have been approached by Man Utd with a sponsorship proposal. Sahara’s head of Corporate Communications Sahara Abhijit Sarkar said; “Yes! We have definitely received a proposal from Manchester United. It is an elaborate proposal from Manchester United. We are still studying it and I cannot comment further.”

Love the firmness of his ‘yes’.

Apparently, United sent over samples to the Indian company and photos of Rooney and Ronaldo wearing United jerseys with the company’s name across them. Sounds a bit desperate by United, or maybe that’s how these things work.

That’s all the random news for now. Peace plebs…

*Sporting were powerless to stop United [MEN]

*Brazil boss full of praise for Anderson [SportingLife]

*Sir Alex’s greatest ever bit of business? [The Sun]

*Offering some insight on the big deal [Soccernet]

*United fans argue the ins and outs [Football365]

*So just who are these two anyway? [BBC Sport]

I must say, this is the single biggest transfer bombshell United fans have been hit by since, er, that Brazilian Anderson’s signing was announced yesterday. Now we can frantically begin our research to find out more about just who this fella Hargreaves is.

It’s going to be very interesting to see how Hargreaves copes with playing at the biggest football club in the World, and performing on the biggest stage. It’s a true test of character — that has consumed many.

Thankfully EVDS’s dodgy late season moments didn’t have any major catastrophic consequences to the Premiership race — but it was a bit too close for comfort, and he really looked out of sorts towards the end of the season. Which came as a bit of a surprise, after a very solid United career so far.

There’s little doubt that Ben Foster excelled while at Watford, but let’s be a tad realistic — it was Watford. Being the keeper of Manchester United is an entirely different kettle of fish, that has proved too much for plenty of talented players in the past. Meanwhile, in the bastion of transfer rumor, The Sun — we’re after Hearts keeper Craig Gordon!