The Show Must Go On!

Dear Fellow Manchester United fans & Blog lovers, 

It pains me to write that this will be my last blog post for a very long time. That's write, your very own TRDS (The Red Devil Spot) is temporarily discontinuing from publishing content about a topic that unites us all - Manchester United.

At the time same, my sincerest apologies to y'all for not keeping up with  you recently. It feels proud to admit that we published 365 + articles over a period of 8 years! It's been a wonderful journey and we have witnessed some extra-ordinary achievements of this great club. However, lifting the Champions League trophy was one check box still unticked.

Let's start off by talking about how Manchester United has progressed ever since the Great Sir Alex Ferguson has retired. In short, we are still in a transition phase with Managers coming and as if Sir Alex's hair dryer is still operational. A total of three managers have arrived at the club. They survived an average of 18 months. Our current manager - Jose Mourinho has been the most successful so far winning three trophies out of the possible five.

A total of 18 players have been added to the senior squad with few of them even breaking the International and the British Club Transfer Record.

Despite the club's expensive signings, United has struggled after SAF's departure.

The club recently broadcasted that Wayne Rooney will be re-joining his boyhood club - Everton. It appears that the Merseyside born, ex club captain has started off just the way he finished his first spell at Everton. Wayne has already scored a dream (second) long range debut goal today in a friendly game against Tanzania's Gor Mahia. You can watch the goal below :-

  

With Michael Carrick announced as the next club captain, the club is in safe hands. Not only Michael offers solidity and a rigid structure to the midfield, but has out-lived his senior peers at the club.  Michael's fitness and contribution will be under a heavy scrutiny. The Englishmen recently played in his Testimonial game at Old Trafford. This year will be undoubtedly be his last club at the club and hopefully he can sign off in style with the Premier League Title in his hands!

During the 2017-18 season, the club has so far signed the 24 year old Belgian Centre Forward - Romelu Lukaku from Everton on a record £75m transfer (potentially reaching £90m including add-ons). 
The other addition to the squad has been the Swedish defender Victor Lindelof from Benfica at a fees of £31m. The 22 year old is 6 ft 2'' and a lethal centre back. He also has experience at playing at the Right Back position.

The Show must go on at the Theatre of Dreams, so here I am signing off for good. 

Thank you for your support and reading this blog! I can be contacted on my personal email address maheep.91@gmail.com, should you wish to have any comments or suggestions about how this blog should be preserved in the future.

A word or two ahead of West Ham Clash

The time is right for the English and Manchester United captain to start scoring goals

Wayne Rooney, Man United's and England's captain, has been all over the place in the United squad recently. He has been all over the pitch and been seen running up and down. Some one please tell him that he is not a Super Man. He's a valiant soldier of Manchester who is most lethal up front as a Striker and that position is precisely where he is not being used at the moment. So one tweak van Gaal must be willing to make is to partner Wayne Rooney and Radamel Falcao vs West Ham. Robin van Persie is nothing but a hindrance to a successful Manchester United attack. For a player who barely had 10 touches vs Arsenal in 90 minutes does not deserve to be a regular striker for a club as big as Manchester United. Simple.

So below are my thoughts and predictions for tomorrow's fixture at Upton Park in brief:

1. David de Gea: Has been solid lately. Perhaps he should sign the deal after keeping clean sheet?

2. Marcos Rojo: In great form, needs to communicate more with fellow defenders and GK
3. Luke Shaw: Lacks consistency
4. Phil Jones: Stop taking those corner kicks mate!
25. Antonio Valencia: Boss man

17. Daley Blind: Enjoy the responsibility
31. Fellaini: Needs to pass more often / 07. di Maria: Stop firing stupid shots Angel!
21. Herrera: Player to watch
8. Juan Mata: Let's hope he scores a goal or two.

9. Radamel Falcao
10. Wayne Rooney: Will he score a hat-trick and make it 21 goals in 21 appearances vs West-Ham?

20*: van Persie: Sell him!

Here's hoping Louis van Gaal is wise enough to place a 4 - 4 - 2 formation against the Hammers.

RISE WAYNE ROONEY! MANCHESTER NEEDS YOU!

Final Score prediction: West Ham United 1 - 3 Manchester United:

Sakho;

2*Rooney, Mata

Has van Gaal much to prove vs Arsenal?

Arsenal vs Manchester United
Saturday, 1730 GMT

All eyes on Louis van Gaal who is yet to win against a big team in the Premier League so far.

Manchester United are to face an in-form Arsenal at the Emirates on Saturday. The stellar game kicks off at 17.30 (GMT standard) and is one of the more important games to be played this weekend if not the entire season.

After a two week international duty break, one would have thought United's injury worries will be alleviated, however, the issue has only deepened as Daley Blind and David de Gea (doubtful) and Michael Carrick (doubtful) join the list of the players currently out injured: Phil Jones, Marcus Rojo, Johny Evans, Daley Blind, Ashley Young and Radamel Falcao. 

Arsenal vs Manchester United fixture has always been a talking point and this season is unlike any other. Corporations like Sky Sports have profited from games of this magnitude by rolling out services such as Sky Sports HD and Sky Sports 3D on this very fixture in different seasons earlier.

Moving focus to the big game on Saturday. 
The game is equally important for both the clubs which are struggling to hit peak form with only one point separating them. United are below Arsenal and both teams desperately need to win to climb up in the premier league table. Both Arsenal and United have won just four out of their 11 games this season. It is shocking to observe Southampton way clear of United by 9 points.

In the last 14 games that United and Arsenal have played, Arsenal has only won once (the 2011 season) and lost 10, drawing 3. Can this game extend United's lead over their once-arch-rivals? Well maybe not, considering their current away form. United is yet to win a single game away from Old Trafford this season. That is absolutely poor and I do not recall such an occurrence since the time I started following Manchester United (the 2006-2007 season). 

Manchester United's recent form has been rather encouraging as the last 6 fixtures saw MUFC winning three of their four victories in total (in the Premier League). The victories came against teams like West Ham, Everton and Crystal Palace. Saturday evening's test is a first realistic wake up call for a potential top four finish. They simply cannot give points away now!

Has Louis van Gaal justified being a manager of a Great British football club? 
Another critical topic of discussion is the adaptability of Louis van Gaal to the English game. His ego and no-nonsense approach at the press conferences has been widely acclaimed to be like Sir Alex Ferguson, but has he really got SAF's mettle? 

Source: Wikipedia 

The Dutchman's career has seen him move between various clubs. However, he achieved most of his success at Ajax and I'm sure he won't be a happy man if he compares it to his current United form. 




One thing that I absolutely admire about van Gaal though is his habit of giving youngsters a chance. Paddy McNair and Tyler Blackett, who still play for U-21 MUFC teams, wouldn't have been given a first team appearance by David Moyes, United's previous manager. 

Winning 4 games out of a possible 12 clearly isn't a big deal at all and signals that LvG is clearly a slow adapter to change. United's injury problem has not allowed LvG to settle down. Having said that, if Jonny Evans and Phil Jones were game fit, I doubt if even LvG would have picked Blackett or McNair but the point is the man's tendency of favouring the youth is good and will be liked by the United faithful. He has done this at all the clubs he has managed so far and it is good to see him carrying it to Manchester too.

However, just like any other United fan, I am disappointed on not seeing Juan Mata in the Playing XI too often. The fact that he was bought to address United's midfield woes last season doesn't seem to affect the gaffer who clearly doesn't favour him and always ends up playing Rooney in the no. 10 position. Watching the Spaniard rot on the bench is very annoying. This issue needs to be resolved by van Gaal sooner rather than later, else we might see Juan Mata switch clubs come summer transfer window. 

10 games on, Moyes v Van Gaal, who wins?

Well, it doesn't really matter. One should look at the big picture and I do not see it developing well as of now. The above picture sums up my concern. I am clearly worried about the spending spree of Manchester United in the last 2 transfer windows. 6 new players were brought in costing nearly £30m per player (excluding Falcao's loan deal). Yet, it is disappointing to see United not performing to the standards they should be. 


2.1 : Final thoughts about the game vs Arsenal. 
Well, United simply cannot afford to lose this one, so we predict it will be a 2-1 win for United with Rooney and Sanchez both on target.

Just how much time does the Dutchman need to stabilise his Red Army in Manchester? Will United finish top 4 in the Barclays Premier League? Feel free to share your thoughts below. 
Make yourself heard people!

How compatible is LvG with MUFC as our new manager?

When personalities like Usian Bolt, the super Jamaican runner, publicly say that they are closely monitoring the performance of Louis van Gaal, you know that you need to tighten up your nuts and bolts at least a little bit. Watch his statement in the embedded video below:

Video Courtesy: BeanymanSports

Note: This article is currently undergoing a huge edit. Do come back for an in-depth analysis.

United Chief Ed Woodward returns to Manchester; sparks transfer rumours

TRDS understands that Manchester United's new Chief Executive Ed Woodward is making his way back to Manchester in order to complete some urgent transfer business. What could this mean for the future of Manchester United?

In this blogpost, we present three possibilities which could have encouraged David Gill’s replacement to make an emergency halt to the 2013-14 Manchester United pre-season tour.

TRDS predicts a David Moyes-Marouane Fellaini re-union at OT

         1. Marouane Fellaini

We rate the likelihood of Fellaini’s transfer negotiations to be the highest. The Belgian recently suggested that if given a choice between Arsenal and Manchester United, he would undoubtedly like to join the Red Devils where he would be re-united with his ex-boss David Moyes.  We recently blogged about why Marouane’s case will be a good fit at Old Trafford (Fellaini’s post). Fellaini has a £23.5M release clause in his contract at Everton and Manchester United should easily be able to splash the cash.

The fact Fellaini already owns a house in Manchester further convinces us that he will be playing for Manchester United next season.

2.      Cesc Fabregas

Fabregas to return to Arsenal?

Manchester United recently submitted a bid of around £26M for the ex Gunner Cesc Fabregas which was soon rejected by Barcelona. It is not surprising that Fabregas feels frustrated at his club, Barcelona, due to the fierce competition he faces to feature in the starting XI. Joining Manchester United will be a right step for his career progression with the World Cup 2014 just around the corner. If Cesc can perform well at United next season, he will certainly feature for Spain in the World Cup. This might be a huge incentive for Fabregas, but then Arsenal seems interested in buying back Cesc Fabregas.

We believe Cesc will join Arsenal and the odds of his transfer to United are low.

3.      Wayne Rooney  

TRDS expects Wayne Rooney to apologise again and stay at Old Trafford.

We rate the transfer possibility of the wantaway England striker, Wayne Rooney, to be the lowest. Manchester United today officially rejected Chelsea’s £20m transfer bid for Wayne (source). Wayne is also reluctant to move abroad. Hence, TRDS predicts that Rooney will stay at United for another year. He will simply not be allowed by the club to leave.

All in all, TRDS believes that Ed Woodward’s eratic return to Manchester United signals the signing of a player and we predict that it is of Marouane Fellaini, the ominous Beligian midfielder.

Stay tuned for the updates!

Grow up Mr. Wayne Rooney!

Wayne Rooney swore into the camera after his hat-trick against West Ham

Wayne Rooney's terrible year continues as he faces a two match ban due to his controversial swearing into one of the Sky Sports cameras after completing his hat-trick goal at Upton Park (West Ham)

Rooney publicly issued an apology saying that it was just a "heat of the moment" matter and he didn't intend to drop the F-bomb on anyone in particular. The fact is that Wayne Rooney is still a kid from within and he needs to grow up. The Liverpool lad scored his 100th league goal with Manchester United and that was DEFINITELY not the way to celebrate it.

The English Striker has until 6pm BST on Tuesday to decide on what to do with this punishment. He can accept the charge which will force him to miss Saturday's premier league action against Fulham at home and the FA cup clash with Manchester City at the new Wembley Stadium on 16th April. Alternatively, Wayne Rooney could appeal and risk being banned for even more games.

Wayne Rooney's loss can create a huge impact on United's attack. The 11 goals he has scored for United are all very important ones. However, the good thing is that this season United has been more reliant on other strikers rather than just the no. 10. The Previous season, Wayne was responsible for about 1/3rd of all the league goals. This season, the story has been very different. United has scored 68 goals (dated 02/04/2011) and Rooney has contributed only 16%. We've had 16 goals from Chicharito and 20 from Dimi Berbatov. Michael Owen has had a bad spell of injuries lately - however, the good thing is that he's available to play.

Rooney's loss is Michael Owen's gain. Finally, we can hope to see Michael back in action soon. Owen brings a lot of uniqueness in the game. His touches are superb and he's definitely one of the most killer strikers in the world ONLY if he spent lesser time recovering from injuries. Owen's contract with United expires at the end of the season and there have been rumours that the Englishman may be offloaded as a free-transfer. But if Owen impresses Fergie, then he may as well be offered a new contract. Owen, is keen to defeat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday and also wants to be a part of United team next season. This is what Michael Owen had to say

"I've made no secret that, in an ideal world, I would extend my stay. I would love to play here for longer but I will just wait and see what the club say. We've not held any talks yet"

Rooney however will play against Chelsea tomorrow, let's hope he can keep his mouth shut and answer all his haters with a superb display on the field.

Glory Glory Man United.  

Match 31 Highlights: Wayne Rooney hammers West Ham (and the camera too!)

WAZAAA

Wayne Rooney who scored his 100th goal with Man United against West Ham, scored 3 crucial goals within 14 minutes to make sure United are still leading the title race


West Ham 2-1 Manchester United
Rooney's free kick goal.

West Ham United 2-2 Manchester United
Lovely assist from Valencia, excellent first touch from Wazza.



West Ham United 2-3 Manchester United
Rooney finishes his hat-trick and abuses in the sky sports camera. He says "What? F*cking what?" That's a slap in the face of people who stopped trusting Wayne. Well done Rooney!



West Ham United 2-4 Manchester United
And finally, Hernandez took his goal tally to 17 for the season - 4 away from Dimitar Berbatov.

The two bullets that killed off Gunners (Fabio + Rooney in HD)

MANCHESTER UNITED 2-0 ARSENAL!

Fabio and Rooney inspired a fledgling United squad to an encouraging FA cup victory over arch-rivals Arsenal after facing tough defeats at the hands of Chelsea and Liverpool last week. Sir Alex placed a weird side with 7 defenders featuring in the starting XI. Read how our players fared against the gunners HERE.

The outcome: Arsenal and Arsene Wenger are out of their 3rd football competition in two weeks. That's a big insult on the Gunners' face.

Celebrate the elimination of Arsenal from FA Cup by watching the two goal videos in HD. Hope you will like them and please share with your fellow RED DEVILS.

Fabio's 28th minute stunner

Rooney's 49th minute header

szólj hozzá: ---

PLEASE RECOMMEND  this blog post to your friends and relatives if you appreciate the HD goal videos. Simply push the RECOMMEND button. SIMPLES...

Match 28: Chelsea 2-1 Manchester United (Video Highlights)

Martin Atkinson

A look at all the goals from the dirty game at the Stamford Bridge where Manchester United were let down by the match referee Martin Atkinson on various grounds.

1) David Luiz not sent off despite the fact he made 2 clear cut yellow card offences
2) Penalty decision too harsh for United
3) Poor decisions have resulted in losses for United for the past 3 years!

Damn you referees, will you never let us win at Stamford Bridge since 2002?



The positives out of the game:
1) Rooney's lovely goal. Oh boy, he brings FIFA 11 skills to the ground. Has scored 5 goals in the last 5 premier league games and it would be safe to say now that he's kicking on some good form with some important fixtures coming up.
2) Nani is proving to be lethal match in match out.
3) Smalling is holding up the defense really well. Who needs Rio Ferdinand in such circumstances?

Match 26: Rooney runs the show as United win yet another derby! (Video)

That Wayne Rooney goal was easily worth 20

The Manchester Derby on the 12th of February will be definitely remembered as the one in which Rooney scored his best goal of the career and also the most memorable moment at Old Trafford.

Manchester United   2-1    Manchester City

Nani  41' Rooney 78'                              Silva 65' 

Booked: Kompany, Milner,  Scholes, Giggs  

Go HERE to read the match review, but I'm pretty sure you would wanna replay the above video as many times as possiblee!

In case you were looking for other goal highlights of this derby or any other great goals scored recently go HERE. P.S. You may wanna bookmark it!

I'd love Rooney at Barcelona : Xavi

A part of the World Cup winning Spanish team, one of the best mid-fielders in the world, Xavi has showed his love for the way United Legend Rooney plays. More than that, he has stated he would be happy if Rooney comes and plays along with him in Barcelona!

"Rooney is extraordinary, he could play for Barcelona," the 31-year-old told the Guardian

"And before people imagine headlines like, 'Xavi says Rooney to join Barcelona' - although, I'd love him to! - what I mean is that he's our kind of player."

We should feel happy that our favorite player is receiving acclamation from other super stars, but Rooney be careful, don't take the words too seriously! We want you at Old Trafford for ever!  

Match 24: Confident United ease past Villa with a handy win!

Spread the Hype!

Manchester United confidence is back with Wayne Rooney scoring his first brace of the season!

Manchester United vs Aston Villa

20.00 K.O

Old Trafford

Attendance: 75,000

Match 24 against Aston Villa was eyed as a tricky fixture by people outside United. But it all looked too easy for the Red Devils as two goals from ever-confident Wayne Rooney and a lovely strike from Captain Serbia Nemenja Vidic were enough to seal a comprehensive victory at Old Trafford. Manchester United still sit 5 points atop at the Premier League after Arsenal and Chelsea won their close fixtures against Everton (2-1) and away to Sunderland (4-2) respectively.


Match Review:
Wayne Rooney's 1st goal against Aston Villa

Chicharito's gain is Wayne Rooney's loss

Chicharito is already a hero at Manchester United, undermining the likes of Wayne Roooney!

Wayne Rooney has seen the worst times this season. After a miserable World Cup where he was expected to guide his team through, he has not been very good in the Premier League. The England international has scored just three goals this term, with injuries and a distracting contract saga hindering his cause.



Although he has returned to good form lately, he is still not the same Rooney, every rival feared. The last match against Blackpool can be a turning point in his career. He is now in real danger of losing his starting role, with Mexican starlet Javier Hernandez waiting in the wings. The 22-year-old helped to dig United out of a hole at Blackpool on Tuesday, making an immediate impact after replacing Rooney in a dramatic 3-2 win.

Ferguson admits to being impressed with Hernandez's ongoing progress and faces something of a selection poser now that he is outshining Rooney.

Following the midweek encounter at Bloomfield Road, Ferguson said: "We tried to use Wayne as a wide player and although he has played that role well many times, he was just not getting into the game in the first half.

"It was no fault of his. The rhythm of our game wasn't right. We were all over the place.

"We then tried to put him through the middle but, when we were still 2-0 down 20 minutes into the second half, we had to do something and had to gamble.

"Chicharito [Hernandez] was a gamble. But of course immediately he went right through and forced a terrific save from their goalkeeper.

"Then he got the equaliser for us and in fact could have scored four goals. So he made a great impact."

It's no surprise, Chicharito is in Love... With Manchester United!!!

Lets hope this crisis gets over for our favorite striker and simultaneously Manchester United's gameplay is not disturbed.

How much would you rate Wayne Rooney's performance? [Poll]

GLORY GLORY BERBA-ROO!

Just how good was Wayne ROOney partnered with Dimitar Berbatov the other day? Personally, I would rate him a little above Dimitar just because he was the protoganist in leading United's attack on the poor Birmingham the other day at Old Trafford. It can be safely said that Wayne is back in his threatening form and it's long before he had scored a hat-trick on his own WITHOUT relying on others.


Having said that, how much are you willing to give Rooney based on his performance out of 10?

Match 22: This is why Berbatov deserves the Golden boot! (Videos)

Ryan Giggs made his presence felt with a cracking goal making it 3-0 before half-time. 

Manchester United 5-0 Birmingham City
Berbatov (2, 31, 53) Giggs (45) Nani (83)

One can safely say, Manchester United stepped on the field with just 1 task up their sleeves: To totally butcher up Birmingham City beyond recognition. And this is precisely what happened as we witnessed Dimitar Berbatov's 3rd hat-trick this season and 8th career-wise. Also some cracking performance from Wayne Rooney, Luis Nani and Giggs who was later subbed with Owen.

FIRST

United lead a formidable attack and after Giggs' substitution, the Red Devils played an Ultra-offenseive formation of 4-3-3 with VDS constantly feeding the Reds with some extra-magnificent long balls.

Despite Berba's third hat-trick of the season, today was just not about Berbatov, it was also about his striking partner: Wayne Rooney who did a brilliant job with constant crosses and assists. Without him, 5 goals on board would have been incredibly tough. So big ups to big lad.

Let me talk you through the game now.

LINE UP: VDS, Evra (Rafael), Vidic, Smalling, O'Shea, Nani, Carrick (Gibson), Anderson, Giggsy (Owen), Berba, Rooney

Bad news for United: Rio Ferdinand injured his groin during training and hence could not play in the game. 

Good news: Antonio Valencia and Owen Hargreaves are making excellent progress towards full fitness. 

MATCH REVIEW: One couldn't have asked for a better start as O'Shea set Berbatov perfectly up for a stunning finish. Then came along some bad news for United as Michael Carrick was injured and had to be replaced by Long-range-shooter Darron Gibson.

Ronaldo to Balotelli "Play more and Speak Less"

Recommend this article to your friends?

Former Manchester United star, Cristiano Ronaldo  has recently spoken in defence of his ex- team mate Wayne Rooney. The now Real Madrid CR7 has warned Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli he should "speak less and play more".


Balotelli who joined Man City from Inter Milan last summer and recently made headlines in the press by declaring Manchester United's Wayne Rooney was not the best striker in the country let alone in Manchester, needs to keep his mouth shut!

Birmingham hosts Manchester United in tonight's Tuesday fixture, will Rooney score?

Birmingham City vs Manchester United

20.00 GMT KO

St. Andrews, City of Birmingham Stadium

Capacity 30,079

This week has been quite eventful for Manchester United so far with Chelsea slipping up disastrously against Arsenal last night. 3-1 was the final score of last night's clash of the two top London clubs. Though a draw would have been favourable for United as one would want Arsenal to stay away from the Red Devils. However, the sights of Chelsea losing are definitely mouth watering! Not to forget this was Chelsea's second defeat in which they conceded three goals or more!

Arsenal's victory over Chelsea meant Arsenal reduced their gap to 2 points from Red Devils while the difference between Chelsea and United remained constant at 6. Not to forget, United have still a game to catch up on which is happening tonight away to Birmingham City.

If United wins tonight, which I'm sure they will, the Red Devils will reign at the top spot 5 points clear of Arsenal and 9 points away from Chelsea. However, victory away at Birmingham is quite a hurdle to cross. The facts suggest the toughness of the Birmingham team under the management of Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager. There have been only five goals scored in the last four Premier League meetings between United and B'gham. The Previous fixture at this ground ended up in a 1-1 draw. Even Patrice Evra is damn weary of the Birmingham team.

Facts in favour of United have been rather mind-blasting. They are unbeaten in their last 23 matches in all competitions against Birmingham since losing 5-1 at St. Andrews in November, 1978 

As far as this season goes, United are still unbeaten for the 17 games they've played so far - a feat never achieved by Sir Alex with Man United. Althought they must be weary of the fact that they've drawn six of the last 12 away games is rather worrying and they MUST avoid this to stretch their lead over Arsenal and Chelsea to a comfort zone. 

The facts have been very favourable for Wayne Rooney who has scored four goals in his last six Premier League games against Birmingham. Is this his day? Will he be able to end his 9 month goal draught tonight and leave out all the rest. Well time will tell, till then sing along GLORY GLORY MAN UNITED!!!

Check out the Wayne Rooney tribute. This video features all the awesome moments of Wayne Rooney in 2009-2010 season, its EPIC by nature. The video also features Rooney's and United's first goal of the season against Birmingham City in the Opening match. 

UCL Review: An unbeaten and yet to concede United proceed to next round

Glasgow Rangers 0-1 Manchester United

Wayne Rooney 87 ' (pen)

Booked: Whittaker, Naismith (RAN)

Ibrox

7.45 PM GMT KO

The much anticipated "Battle of Britain" began with Berbatov being challenged by S. Davis inside the penalty box which was indeed a clear cut penalty. The 31 year-old controversial Swiss Referee got it completely wrong yet again.

Fabio set up Berbatov perfectly who couldn't find the back of the net through his head.

40th minute saw another inch perfect cross by Fabio which was finely dispatched by Rooney's head only to hit the cross-bar. The first half saw Dimitar Berbatov getting frustrated everytime United attacked. Perhaps the best chance for United was missed by Michael Carrick who was one on one with the goalie but couldn't find the goal.

Kevin Miller produced the best bit of football for Rangers (and United to some extent) in the 42nd minute when Miller's shot was easily saved by Van Der Sar.

Van Der Sar made a critical save after Johnny Evans let Foster have a shot in the second half

Dimitar Berbatov really looked disappointed at himself and rightly so, he hadn't scored for 9 freaking games! That's after his first hat-trick with United against Liverpool. Overall, Berbatov looked impressive with his quick pace and communication with other players - both of which qualities are rarely found in everyday Premier League games.

The tempo of the game picked up in the final half an hour of the game as Rangers actually started to attack rather than depending on Kevin Miller up front all the time.

Manchester United Turkish Airlines Advert

Last bit is awesome where Rooney nearly kicks Sir Bobby Charlton in the face, but VDS comes to the rescue!!

Check out the awesome advert below:
 

If you noticed, there is no Javier Hernandez (Chicharito) in the advert!

Wayne Rooney ready to feature in the Battle of Britain

Rooney training ahead of the Rangers Champions League outing

Glasgow Rangers vs Manchester United
Ibrox Park
7.45 PM GMT  KO 
Where to watch it live on TV: ITV 1 
FREE VIEW

Rooney is all set to return to United after his last first team start back in September. Incidently, Rooney's last Champions League game was at home against Rangers too, the very game where we witnessed Antonio Valencia's horrific injury forcing the Ecuadorian on the sidelines. Watch the injury tribute. Click Here.


Team News:  
1) Rio Ferdinand, Nemenja Vidic and Darren Fletcher have been given a much deserving rest and they have not travelled across the border to Scotland.


2) Johny Evans and Chris Smalling would most likely be in the central defence.


3) Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs are expected to start. 


4) Anderson and Park are set to feature in the Midfield.


5) Park Ji Sung reckons the game is nothing like Japan - South Korea derby games where there is massive pressure on the players. "When South Korea play against Japan the fans tell us that if we lose they are going to throw the players into the sea. Without doubt, they are the biggest thing for us."