Here we are, after the hullabaloo of Federico Machado’s entrance into the world of Premier League football we’ve calmed down and are ready to think about tonight’s match. This ain’t gonna be a huge preview, just a few wee things of note, and I hope you guys can all get involved to get some excitement going for tonight. After the jump.

Tonight, at approximately 7.45pm GMT we face off against FC Porto in the Champions League Quarter-Final First Leg. Not ideal having the first leg at home, but it’s the knockout stages so anything can happen, regardless of where you’re playing.

Here’s who I want to start.
VDS, Neville, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Ronaldo, Park, Scholes, Rooney.

This sort of team would probably be some kind of 4-3-3 with Park, Rooney and Ronaldo playing as strikers/wingers. I’d like to see the return of all three previously suspended players too.

Let’s just hope the players have enough about them to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

The big thing here is that Rooney is back, and honestly, we’re always better with Roo-Roo in our team. He’s our dangerman here, I feel. If we can get him running at Porto’s defence and regularly shooting at Helton, I think we’ll score a few, because honestly, Helton sucks ass.

Porto’s main man is the Hulk, or simply Hulk. He’s big, fast, can score and you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry. But then again, he’s facing off against vidic, and he can kill a man even when he’s not angry.

It’s gonna be a cracking match, leave your comments and predictions and let’s get some buzz going about tonight’s game.

C’mon United!!!

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.

Somehow, someway, someone up there is smiling down on us for the first time in about two weeks.

Wayne Rooney, despite his Mascherano-esque behaviour after being sent off for two yellow cards against Fulham, has escaped any further ban other than the compulsory one-match ban for two yellow cards from the FA.

Rooney was given his second yellow card by Phil Dowd for throwing the ball ‘away’ in the direction of the free-kick that was about to be taken. Some say he deserved to be sent off, some say it was harsh but it’s irrelevant.

Honestly I’m really surprised that he’s evaded extra punishment. His anger afterwards, however warranted, was more exuberant than is usually accepted by any Premier League ref.

So, as it is he’ll only miss the upcoming home match against Villa. And how glad are we that he won’t miss anymore matches, he was the only player who showed any heart against Fulham and we’ll need his attitude (perhaps without the outbursts) during the run-in.

(Photo by Getty Images)

Very short. We lost 2-0 to Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Scholes sent off for deliberate handball, Danny Murphy scored from the penalty. Berbatov had probably his worse match ever for us, the kind of display that makes you think he’s not worth €1, never mind €30M.

Ronaldo was awful, some typical petulance towards officials and the type of display that reaffirms the notion that Messi is undeniably the best player in the world.

Rooney came on in the second half, made a real difference. Made chances and United should have scored two, Ronaldo missed a free header and Park had a great chance saved, as did Rooney. Schwarzer had a great game.

United showed fight but no bite in the second half. Then Zoltan Gera scored in the dying minutes after United brought O’Shea off for Tevez, leaving us with three at the back. Rooney had got booked for a cynical foul on Dacourt in the middle of the second half and then got his second yellow for throwing away the ball.

Finished 2-0 to Fulham. United finish with nine men.

Disgraceful. These pieces of shit are earning 100 times more than they deserve; no effort, fuck all heart, seemingly no pride in the badge.

These guys better buck themselves up if they want to win this title because at the moment they don’t deserve it.

(Photo by Getty Images)

According to The Guardian, Wayne Rooney has suffered a setback in training during his rehabilitation from the hamstring injury he suffered against Wigan in January. The injury ruled him out of England’s friendly tonight with Spain and out of United’s past few games.

Ferguson had been saying last week that he would let Fabio Capello decide whether or not to bring Rooney into the squad, but he has apparently suffered an injury in training and it’s said that Ferguson has already ruled him out of the weekend’s FA Cup tie with Derby. He’s only a ‘maybe’ to be back for the midweek against Fulham.

There’s not been much on this so I can’t imagine it’s too serious, especially as Fergie regards him as a ‘maybe’ for the Cottagers match. Hopefully he’ll be up and scoring soon.

Little United fact that I read over on the Man Utd website; 923, yes 923 Football League managers have lost their jobs since Fergie took the United reins in 1986! That is one hell of a statistic, in my opinion.

Wayne’s Fact Of The Day: Although Fulham’s nickname is The Cottagers, a ‘cottager’ is actually a man who has anonymous sex with other men in public toilets, rendering Fulham’s nickname rather amusing. Hope that’s brightened up your day!

He won’t start but Wayne Rooney will be on the bench for United’s EPL game against West Ham at Upton Park on Sunday. Wayne has been out since the Wigan match in January, getting injured only minutes after he scored the decisive, and only goal. It’s a boost for us, even though things are going brilliantly anyway. Seeing Rooney back will be great for the team and the fans, hopefully providing the goals that ahd been missing for a while. He starts on the bench and I could put my house on the fact that he’ll replace Tevez at some point during the game.

Strangely, although Rooney’s been out for a while, Sir Alex has said that he won’t stand in Fabio Capello’s way in picking the striker for England’s upcoming match with Spain.

Ferguson said, “I have no strong issue with that. It is a question of whether he would play or be a substitute, which is the same position as I am in.

“It is up to Fabio. I really have no strong objection to that.”

All of which I’m pretty surprised about. But he must be pretty confident about Rooney’s fitness. It also hints that Fergie and Capello have a good relationship, or perhaps I’m over-analyzing. I have a habit of doing that.

In another wee bit of news, United are believed to be front-runners for the signature of Michael Jackson circa 1982. The American singer’s displays since joining Wigan a few years back have apparently convinced Fergie he’s good enough to play for Man Utd, but United have competition in the form of nearly everyone, including Madrid. Will Jackson circa 1982’s potential arrival spell the end for United’s current Michael Jackson lookalike, Nani? Only time will tell.

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…

You can’t help thinking that Fergie is relieved that the International break is over as he will be no doubt be dying to try out his brand spanking new signing, Dimitar Berbatov, who has been burning a hole in his pocket (in more ways than one) since the end of the transfer window.

Although, undoubtedly a great signing, it raises many questions as to how he is going to play him and, indeed, whether he will start him. Rooney and Tevez have been busily buzzing around up front so far like a pair of excited chipmunks around a juicy redwood, but, being similar players, they haven’t really produced an attacking display that has had a real cutting edge. However, after Rooney’s creative display for England, especially as it was next to a big man with quick feet, Berbatov will be looking forward to a lot quality ball. I doubt Fergie will worry about showing any restraint against Liverpool by not playing a front three. The y will recycle the responsibility to drop deeper for the ball, although I doubt Berbatov will venture past the half way to many times.

Luck has been a feature of all Liverpool’s games so far and who’s to say they’re not going to get more. Sulky face Gerrard and Man-child Torres have surprisingly returned from injuries, which is a big boost for them, but then again, so have Hargreaves and Carrick for United which equally will provide a good stable platform for the forwards to menace, in my opinion, a suspect back four. Could this game, or at least Liverpool’s attacking flavour, be decided on where Rafa decides to play Keane? So far the wide positions have been awful for Keane and have created many problems when he cuts in to join up with Torres and Kuyt leaving lots of space behind him in the breakdown. If he plays as a second striker he will feel he has a lot to prove and may try to do too much. However, Liverpool’s play has been so lacking in width it’s practically anorexic at the moment, if Babel and Riera play those channels Keane and Torres may get more ball to run on to.

United have a full squad to choose from except for Ronaldo, who is expected to be fit for Villarreal on Wednesday. I expect the starting line up to be Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Hargreaves, Carrick (or Fletcher), Scholes, Rooney, Tevez, Berbatov. The last four names fill me with expectation of industry, creativity, flair and most of all goals, which is what we have been lacking.

Hmm. I wonder which teammate he’s accommodated the most? I wonder…

For me, there’s little doubt that Rooney had a decent, but hardly spectacular season.

But he was injured for parts of it, so we should probably cut him a little slack. Thought I’d try to gauge the mood around here.

Is Wayne Rooney Actually Quite Rubbish?
( surveys)