August 10, 2008
After a day that saw star Christiano Ronaldo confirmed his stay at Old Trafford for the coming season, Manchester United secured a goalless draw against the inform Juventus.
Although the Red Devils might have failed to score against their Italian opponents, but their boss might be satisfied with the team getting out of this bout with a clean health bill.
With most players picking injuries in every friendly, Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been put under enormous pressure ahead of their fresh campaign, where they will be defending two titles. Even with the news of confirmed commitment from Ronaldo, the Scot will be rethinking all his plans for the season.
With the boss raising possibilities of not looking for players before deadline ceases at the end of this month, United’s fans will be worrying about their performance in the near future with top players certain of not being available.
With Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney already added to the injury list, Sir Alex Ferguson would be worried ahead of their Community Shield clash against Portsmouth on August 10. Even there is a probability of players missing out in season’s opener next Sunday.
In the midst of all this problems clouding United’s preparation, Ferguson is confident of another impressive show from his team in spite of playing without big names.
With players like Nani, who has been suspended from club duty, and Anderson, who will be representing Brazil at the Olympics, also missing out, experienced players like Paul Scholes & Ryan Giggs will require hitting form to the earliest. Again, young players will also require rising to the occasion and giving their maximum in this pressure situation.
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August 10, 2008
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has stated that due to a lack of strikers in his squad, he is going to give 20 year striker old Fraizer Campbell a chance into their first team, adding that the front man has a future at Old Trafford.
Just yesterday, the striker scored the winning goal against Espanyol in the Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s testimonial match, a match in which the former player and now reserves team coach played for about 20 minutes.
The young striker has been on fire on his loan spells with Royal Antewerp and Hull City with whom he played a great role in gaining promotion to the Premier League, assisting in the goal in the 1-0 win over Bristol City in the Championship playoffs.
Hull are said to be interested in signing him on a further loan or on a long term contract, but Ferguson has said that United will have Campbell as a part of their squad for the 2008-09 season.
As far as the current squad is seen, Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick are infected by flu and won’t be available for the match against Juventus on Wednaday. The manager, however, insists that both are expected to be fit for the Community Shield next Sunday.
Captain Gary Neville, who was reduced to the bench in the testimonial match due to a calf strain, will be, according to Ferguson, in good shape for the match against Juve.
As a back up to the strikers, Manchester United have tried getting Angola international Manucho, who is already a part of the squad and hopefully will be filing papers soon.
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August 10, 2008
After a month of speculations surrounding his future at the Emirates Stadium, Emmanuel Adebayor came out firing in the Arsenal’s Emirates Cup match against Spanish Giants Real Madrid, winning the game and the heart of Arsenal fans.
Adebayor, who was the top scorer for the club in their previous campaign with 30 goals, was under the speculation of moving to either AC Milan or Barcelona. The fans already showed their ‘disappointed love’, as Wenger puts it, towards the Togo striker in Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat against Juventus on Saturday. However, he dismissed the allegations and announced his love towards the club. He even went to sign an extension of his contract with the Gunners.
However, the lanky striker, over 6 ft tall, showed his pleasure after converting a penalty after 5 minutes in the 2nd half against Madrid. Following the goal, he kissed his badge celebrating the goal with Arsenal fans.
After playing a young side in the loss to Juventus, Wenger had a more familiar team playing against the Spanish Champions, with Gallas, Adebayor and Van Persie fielded.
Against a strong Madrid side, which had the likes of Guti, Raul, Robinho, Julio Baptista, Gabriel Heinze and Jerzy Dudek, Arsenal was on the attack with Walcott, Persie and Adebayor. There were several shots on the goal in the first half, but Dudek held everything thrown at him.
However, the deadlock was broken only minutes after the restart, when referee Chattenburg pointed for a spot kick with Persie barged over by Real’s Salgado in their penalty box. Adebayor made no mistake in converting a 12-yard shot and sealed the win for his side. He could have given a thumping win for the Gunners breaking Real’s defense, but failed to hit the target.
With this win and their excellent performance in the field, Arsenal has thrown a warning to everyone ahead of a new Premier League season.
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July 9, 2008
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has finally given a nod to Portsmouth bid for their striker and England international Peter Crouch. He agreed to sell him in order to pursue other transfer targets.
Now, Crouch will be one of the two players to be sold this transfer season by the English Club along with Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso’s yet-to-be finalized move to Juventus, which again is being delayed for transfer fees.
Crouch ended 2006-07 as Liverpool’s top goal scorer in all competitions with 18 goals.
According to reports, Portsmouth will be required to pay an 8 million pound down payment, and a further 3 million as add-ons. Having joined the Reds for 7 million from Southampton in 2005, ‘Crouchie’ is leaving them with a good margin to join ‘Pompey’, the club he played for during 2001-02.
The money accumulated from transfers of Crouch and Alonso will be used by Benitez for getting further additions to his squad, which may include Villa midfielder Gareth Barry and Spurs forward Robbie Keane. His other potential targets for Anfield are Valencia’s David Silva, Real Madrid’s Ruben De La Red, Espanyol winger Albert Riera and Borja Valero from Real Mallorca.
Liverpool has already bought Switzerland’s Philip Degan and Italian Andrea Dossena as Wing backs, and Nikola Saric, a Denmark under-18 international. Saric is a 17 year old with all the ingredients for making it big at major events.
Now, Crouch, with over hundred league goals under his belt, is sure to be seen rubbing shoulders with the likes of David Nugent, Nwankwo Kanu and Jermian Defoe at Fretton Park.
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