Red News - 5/7: Bow down to the king
I Red News får ni senaste United-nytt.
Pat hyllar Eric the King
Eric Cantona kom till United från Leeds 1992, och nådde snabbt legendstatus. Under sina fem år i den röda tröjan var Cantona briljant, magisk, en kung på The Theatre of Dreams. Patrice Evra hyllar Cantona för sina år i klubben, och tackar honom för att han ”öppnat dörren” för andra fransmän som tagit en plats i United över åren.
"If French football players like me succeed at United, it is him who first opened the doors for us. We will never thank him enough for that. During my first season, I watched lots of Eric's DVDs and told myself 'you now know what the United fans are expecting from the French players.'"
Fransmännen som representerat Manchester United sedan 1992:
Eric Cantona
William Prunier
Mikael Silvestre
Fabien Barthez
Laurent Blanc
David Bellion
Louis Saha
Patrice Evra
Gabriel Obertan
Ginger Prince sågar The Gunners
Paul Scholes, som nyligen lagt av med fotbollen efter en lång karriär i den röda tröjan, anser att Arsenal kanske spelar den vackraste fotbollen i England, men att den vackra fotbollen inte har eller kommer att resultera i titlar, något en 6 år lång titeltorka är ett bevis på.
“Arsenal just flatter to deceive. They may play the prettiest football, but it doesn’t always produce results, does it? It doesn’t irritate me that people keep going on about them being the best footballing team because while they are doing that, we are winning games.
They do play the best football to watch at times, but what is the point if you are not winning anything? It doesn’t help, either, that they are potentially going to lose their best players in Fabregas, Nasri and Clichy. Is Nasri coming to United? I hope so!"
Valencia slår upp gammal skada?
Antonio Valencia åkte som bekant på ett benbrott i september förra året, men har snabbt hittat tillbaka till sin bästa form, och var högst delaktig i framgångarna i ligan och i Champions League. Just nu är han i Argentina där han representerar sitt Ecuador i Copa America. Ecuador och Paraguay drabbade samman i söndags, och Valencia fick kliva av planen efter endast 45 spelade minuter. Det är samma vrist som han skadade förra året, som nu spökar, och frågan är om Valencia hinner blir frisk i tid till Ecuadors nästa match, som spelas på lördag.
Ecuadors tränare, Reinaldo Rueda om detta:
"The referees must take care of this situation because it [the injury] happened in the first half and [Antonio] was no longer the same. He could not stand or walk on it and we had to make a change. It's a shame because we all know the process he went through to be here.”
Vi hoppas att det hela inte är så allvarligt och att Valencia kommer tillbaka till spel så fort som möjligt!
Evans tror att USA-turnén är nyttig för ungdomarna
Jonny Evans, som var med i truppen som åkte till USA för ett år sedan, anser att turnén är ett bra sätt för ungdomarna att kliva fram och visa sig från sin bästa sida.
"The tour always provides some of the younger players with a chance to impress. My brother Corry got the opportunity to go last year, as did a few of the other younger lads, and it gave them a lot of confidence for the new season.
We all really enjoyed the tour last year and it’ll be good to go back again.
Pre-season is always tough, but the facilities in the States are fantastic. Also, we had great support from the fans there last summer. To be honest, I was quite surprised at just how much interest there was from the American fans. Football is definitely getting bigger there and I’m sure we’ll see that again this time around.”
Evans om USA:
Favourite American city?
New York
Favourite food?
Can I say pizza?!
Favourite TV show?
Modern Family
Favourite music artist?
Eminem
Favourite sport?
American football
Favourite holiday destination?
Las Vegas
Favourite souvenir from Tour 2010?
An American football
Favourite tourist attraction?
I’d say the JFK Memorial in Dallas
Albiston ser fram emot nya ansikten på Old Trafford
United-legendaren Arthur Albiston ser fram emot att få se nya spelare i den röda tröjan, samtidigt som han menar att Manchester United tappat en del viktiga spelare, och måste ersätta dessa med nytt, ungt blod.
Like all fans, I get excited about new signings, just as we're all sad when time catches up with some of the older lads who've had to retire this year - Edwin van der Sar, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville. We’ve got some great memories of those three in a United shirt and they are almost irreplaceable. But the club moves on and we have another generation of players coming through now. The three new signings so far are all at a good age, they have all got the best years ahead of them and hopefully many of those years are going to be at United.
I’ve seen a lot more of Ashley Young and Phil Jones than I have of David de Gea. I've only seen de Gea on television, playing for Atletico Madrid in La Liga and for Spain in the recent Under-21 Championships. But I'm sure the manager will have done as much homework as he can on the young goalkeeper. I expect the scouts will have checked him out not only recently but over the past year or so, probably from when he first got into the senior team at Atletico. After all, we've known for a while that van der Sar was coming to the end of his great career.
I’m sure the manager’s always on the lookout for players in every position but if he could get another midfielder in this summer, I think that would help him because we’ve lost not only Scholes but Owen Hargreaves as well. So Sir Alex might be trying to get another body in that department to take the weight off Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick and Anderson.
Not that the manager ever signs players willy-nilly, just to make up numbers in the squad. He will always want to find players who are good enough to force their way into his first team and a lot of groundwork goes into the search. He covers everything and knows exactly what the situation is with different prospects. He has pulled some rabbits out of the hat over the past 15 to 20 years – nobody expected Eric Cantona to come here, for example.
I think Sir Alex will be looking at his midfield, and I'm sure we’d all like another Paul Scholes, a young Paul Scholes, to come into the side. But we'll just have to wait and see and, as always, put full trust in the manager.
Sharlie Joseph blickar framåt mot 13 juli
New England Revolution-stjärnan Sharlie Joseph ser fram emot att få spela tillsammans med de regerande ligamästarna. United möter N.E. Revolution den 13 juli.
“The technical ability they have is incredible. You have your mouth wide open when you see how good they are and how well they hold on to the ball. They are so good with the ball and keeping possession - I will have to keep my head on a swivel!
It's likely they will try to control possession and we need to be ready to counter-attack. We will have to step up the tempo and take it to them when we can."
Övrigt
Trophy Tour-nytt: På onsdag är det dags för det sista stoppet innan pokalen återvänder till Manchester. Suppportrarna i Singapore har chansen att träffa f.d. United-målvakten Edwin van der Sar och se pokalen i restaurangen Brewerkz Bar & Grill i Clarke Quay.
Edwin kommer även att delta i ett evenemang arrangerat av Nike, i Jalan Besar Stadium, där han kommer att träffa ungefär 50 spelare från Singapores ungdomslag. Efter det kommer holländaren dyka upp i en Hublot-affär där han kommer att svara på frågor och skriva autografer.