17/11: Berbatov, Swansea & skadeuppdatering
I Red News sammanfattas dagen som gått.
Berbatov: från frysboxen till Ryssland?
The Mirror menar att storsatsande Anzhi Makhachkala är ute efter Dimitar Berbatov, som befunnit sig i frysboxen den här säsongen. Anzhi är tydligen beredda att betala $15 miljoner för Berbatovs signatur, med en årslön på £7,5 miljoner. Den ryska klubben, som för närvarande huserar på en åttonde plats i ligan, ska ha fört samtal med Berbatovs agent, Emil Danchev. “We would be interested when Anzhi make a concrete offer. We will sit down with Dimitar and ponder this. I don’t know if Dimitar is happy in Manchester. He plays, then he just sits on the bench."
Inför Swansea
På lördag kl 18:30 gästar ligatvåan Manchester United Liberty Stadium och Swansea City, när omgång 12 ska spelas. Ligamästare mot nykomling, men detta lär bli en klurig match för United, som haft svårt att föra matcher på bortaplan den här säsongen, och även förra. I United-lägret är man dock redo för utmaningen. Laget har fyra raka vinster, med 7-0 i målskillnad. Kommentarer inför matchen:
Ryan Giggs: "It's fantastic news for Welsh football that Swansea are doing so well and, as a Welshman, I'm very much looking forward to Manchester United visiting Wales for the first ever time in the Premier League. Swansea is a great city and the Swans have tremendous support in a terrific stadium. All Premier League games are tough and I'm sure the match against the Swans will be no different."
Darren Fletcher: "It’s a new experience for us all. They’re the first Welsh team in the Premier League and going there will be a great experience. Swansea have been applauded for the football they’ve played this season. When I was on international duty, I spoke to a couple of my Scotland team-mates who have played against them and they told me how well Swansea keep the ball.
They play football in the right way and have been a breath of fresh air since coming into the Premier League. It’s going to be a real challenge for us on Saturday. I’m sure this is the sort of fixture Swansea and their fans have been dreaming about for years. Welsh fans are always passionate and I’m sure the stadium will be packed out so it should be a fantastic atmosphere.
It’ll be nice to see my old friend Alan Tate who I played with in the youth team," Fletcher recalled. "He was a couple of years older than me and always looked after me and made sure I was okay when I first came to Manchester. I’ll always remember him for that. He’s recovering from a bad injury at the moment and the sooner he gets back in the team the better it’ll be for Swansea because he’s a top player."
Danny Graham (Swansea-anfallare) om Tom Cleverley: "United have bags of talent in every area of the pitch. You look at Rooney, Nani, Hernandez, Valencia etc - all top players. But if you take your eye off someone like Tom Cleverley, then he will be very dangerous and clinical.
I obviously know him very well from my Watford days - he made a big impact there and showed his quality. He scored a lot of goals in midfield and after that stint at Watford - and another at Wigan - he has settled into the United team and he's being mentioned with the England squad now too."
Brendan Rogers: "It’s a wonderful game for everyone to look forward to, but it’s also a celebration for the people of this city that we are going to entertain one of the biggest clubs in the world and one of the greatest managers in the world."
Senaste mötet lagen emellan spelades 1983 och slutade 2-1 i Uniteds favör efter mål av Frank Stapleton och Bryan Robson. Mike Dean dömer matchen.
Jones får beröm - och talar ut
Unge Phil Jones, som nu fått chansen från start i det engelska landslaget, har imponerat på allt och alla. Jones spås en lysande framtid och är idag en av Manchester Uniteds bästa spelare (dagsformen). Han får, inte helt oförtjänt, beröm av Fabio Capello, som jämför honom med självaste Franco Baresi och Fernando Hierro.
“It is difficult to find a player like Phil Jones, really difficult. In my career I found probably only two. I’m talking about Franco Baresi at Milan and Fernando Hierro at Real Madrid. They were great players, who could play as a midfielder but also at centre-back. Phil can play in different positions but always at the top level. This shows what he has - he is a talent.
What is so good about him and makes him such a big talent is that when he receive the ball he plays always without fear. He makes good passes and finds good solutions - the best solution every time. I know something about football and the solution that he chooses every time when he receives the ball always the best. It is a talent.
To see him play in front of the back four against Sweden was really important for me because now, if Parker is not fit, I have a solution. I needed to experiment. I was not sure he (Jones) would be okay to play this position. I knew he can play in every other position but for me it was a really important test for him.”
Även f.d. Blackburn-tränaren Sam Allardyce hade lite att säga: “The only thing that will suppress his ability as a central defender is his outstanding ability on the ball. I think right-back might be even better for him because his attacking flair and attacking qualities are equally as good as his defensive qualities.
He was very unfortunate not to score against Sweden and that shows that playing him at centre-back might suppress his great ability on the ball.”
Phil Jones själv deltog i en Q&A på manutd.com, där han svarade på ett antal frågor. En av dem var vad han tyckte om att folk ser honom som Englands framtida lagkapten.
“It’s nice to hear people talking about me being England captain one day. But I need to keep my feet on the ground and firstly play well for Manchester United. If I do that, then I'll keep getting the chance to play for England.
If I could captain England one day then I think that would be the pinnacle of my career.”
Jones jämförs även med Duncan Edwards, möjligtvis klubbens bäste spelare genom alla tider, och det är han väldigt smickrad för.
“It’s incredible to be compared with Duncan Edwards. He played for United and England well before my time of course but I knew about him when I was growing up. Even to be mentioned in the same sentence as him is a huge honour. It inspires me to go on and become a better player. It makes me want to work even harder in training.”
Sir Alex glad för Zielers skull
Ron-Robert Zieler, som representerade United i 5 år (mellan åldern 16-21), men som aldrig riktigt fick chansen i A-laget, är nu ordinarie i Hannover där han imponerat så mycket att det blev landslagsdebut förra fredagen. Tyskland spelade 3-3 mot Ukraina där Zieler vaktade målet i 90 minuter. Sir Alex är väldigt glad för Zielers skull, men var aningen förvånad när manutd.com informerade hononom om tyskens succé.
“Did he really? That’s fantastic. I must send him a message.
He got an injury here in the Reserves and was out for about eight months. Unfortunately, when he came back, Ben Amos had jumped ahead of him in the pecking order. I’m really pleased to hear this news, though. I’m glad he’s doing well.
We helped Ron-Robert orchestrate his move to Hannover. We had a scout over there at the time and I gave him a call. He then came across, spoke to Ron and got the Hannover coach across to Manchester to watch him train. They were happy to take him and we were delighted to organise that move for him. He’s since come on leaps and bounds and is obviously doing fantastically. He always worked hard and he’s a very nice lad."
Skador & avstängningar
Michael Owen (lårmuskel) - 26 december
Danny Welbeck (vadmuskel) - Oklart
Fabio Da Silva - Oklart
Ryan Giggs, Chris Smalling, Ashley Young och Tom Cleverley har alla nyss återhämtat sig från skador och det är oklart ifall de kan medverka mot Swansea på lördag. Även Darron Gibson och Rafael Da Silva är redo för spel igen, och bägge två startar för reservlaget ikväll som tar emot Wigans dito. Federico Macheda ska enligt physioroom.com vara tillbaka efter sin armbågsskada. Som ni ser har det ljusnat rejält på skadefronten.
Övrigt
Nani fyller 25 idag. Stort grattis!
