Paul Scholes heads the winner at City

I wouldn’t say relief was etched on my face, but I may need my wife’s iron to straighten it out!! Sky Sports begins their match report:

A Paul Scholes header in the third minute of stoppage time handed Manchester United a precious 1-0 victory over fierce rivals Manchester City at Eastlands.  The veteran midfielder marked the signing of his one-year contract extension with the 149th goal of his glittering United career to keep the title race well and truly alive.  The win reduces the gap at the top to just a single point, although Chelsea could increase that back to four with victory over Tottenham later on Saturday.

In a game starved of clear-cut chances which United had the better of, Scholes arrived on cue with the last play of the game to meet Patrice Evra’s cross and nestle a firm header into the bottom corner. City had chances themselves to snatch the spoils in the second half with both Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bridge coming close in the latter stages.

http://www.skysports.com/football/match_report/0,19764,11065_3151692,00.html

This could argueably be the most important goal he ever scored, of his 149 goals for United, this keeps us in with a slight chance, I give it no more than that. We still have some major contests ahead and Chelski have the easier run in. Still, we should not complain, 3 points against this shower is well received.

The same Red Knight told me he was delighted by the appointment and what he believes is real momentum behind their campaign. Guy Dawson, who will lead Nomura’s team, advised United’s board when the club was sold to the Glazers in 2005. Now he will speak to the 70 wealthy individuals who have expressed an interest in investing in the takeover bid, explore the possibility of a sale with the Glazers, whom he knows well, and try to come up with a timetable that could lead to a bid. “This is a significant next step for us,” a spokesman for the Red Knights told me. “This is the start of the process, but it’s good to have Nomura on board to help us structure a deal.” Until now, the Red Knights have been a fledgling campaign, with expressions of interest but no money changing hands. This statement of intent proves they are serious about making an offer to the Glazers and persuading them to walk away from the club. Interestingly, I am told that the Red Knights have now turned away two mystery ‘super-investors’, worth hundreds of millions of pounds, that had offered their support to the cause.

The intention is to only accept financial help from genuine Manchester United supporters and members of the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust (MUST), which now number 130,000. This makes Dawson’s task a complex and unprecedented one, but he believes the project is credible. The Red Knights believe they will need to raise between £800m and £1bn, but they appreciate Dawson may need months before he is in a position to make a formal offer to the Glazers. Despite Nomura’s involvement, a Glazer’s spokesman told me: “The club is not for sale and we are in it for the long run.” Dawson was a key player five years ago when United was sold to the Glazers. Now his challenge is to help buy the club back from them.

BBC Sports News

Owen Scores For United

Wayne Rooney came off the bench to head the winner as Manchester United retained the Carling Cup by coming from behind to beat Aston Villa 2-1 at Wembley. Replaced by Michael Owen in the starting line-up, Rooney came on for his injured team-mate before half-time and then guided home the winning goal 16 minutes from time. Villa had enjoyed a dream start when taking the lead on five minutes after James Milner coolly sent Tomasz Kuszczak the wrong way from the penalty spot after Nemanja Vidic was fortunate not to be sent off for bringing down Gabriel Agbonlahor.

United were level less than 10 minutes later, though, when Dimitar Berbatov robbed Richard Dunne of possession and, while the Villa defender recovered to tackle the Bulgarian, the loose ball was swept home from just inside the box by Owen. But Owen failed to last the half as his injury jinx struck again and he was replaced by Rooney before United almost went into the break in front when Park Ji-sung’s shot thudded off the post and bounced clear off Carlos Cuellar.

Brad Friedel produced an excellent save from Michael Carrick early in the second period, but was beaten on 74 minutes when Antonio Valencia, after a slick one-two with Berbatov, stood a cross up for Rooney to guide a header beyond the Villa keeper’s reach. Rooney headed another Valencia cross against the base of the upright moments later and, though Emile Heskey’s header deflected on to the top of the crossbar, Villa were unable to prevent United from winning back-to-back cup competitions for the first time in the club’s history.

Villa’s flying start meant there was no chance of either side being allowed to turn this into the sterile affair many had predicted. At the time, Martin O’Neill questioned how Vidic avoided a card of any kind for his foul on Agbonlahor. As the contest wore on, and an increasing number of his own players ended up in Phil Dowd’s notebook, the criticism grew. If Agbonlahor had gone down when Vidic first grabbed his shirt, the card should have been red. Instead, the Villa striker admirably attempted to stay on his feet after outpacing the Serbian to reach Ashley Young’s lofted pass beyond the United defence.

In the end, it was too much. Vidic stuck out a leg and hauled Agbonlahor down. Milner kept his nerve, sending Kuszczak the wrong way to provide the contest with the start it craved. As tends to be the case when they fall behind, United’s response was an all-out attacking assault, which in turn provided Villa with space to counter. The mixture produced a thrilling spectacle, made all the more absorbing because Sir Alex Ferguson’s team levelled so quickly. So solid all season, it was just Dunne’s luck his blunder should come in Villa’s biggest game of the year.

The Irishman was robbed by Berbatov inside his own half, and though he made up the ground, in making his despairing tackle, Dunne only succeeded in rolling the ball into Owen’s path, offering the kind of instinctive first-time finish he has made a career out of. That Owen’s contribution – and Rooney’s exile – came to an end three minutes before the break was cause for regret, although the watching Fabio Capello has long since deduced those dodgy hamstrings cannot be trusted through another World Cup campaign.

Capello was probably also reaching the conclusion Stephen Warnock should be handed his problematic left-back berth against Egypt on Wednesday. But when Warnock slipped just before half-time, man-of-the-match Valencia galloped past him down the by-line, his cross eventually arriving at the feet of Park, who slammed it onto the inside of a post, where it rocketed across goal for Cuellar to hack clear. Friedel palmed away a magnificently constructed effort from Carrick after half-time, although Villa were United’s equals and could easily have levelled when Young sent a volley bouncing into the ground.

The decisive moment arrived on 74 minutes when Berbatov nonchalantly flicked Valencia’s pass back into the Ecuadorian’s path and he lifted up a cross for Rooney to loop a header into the net. Rooney almost made the game safe four minutes later, with Valencia again the provider as the England ace’s header came back off the post with Friedel beaten. Villa responded in kind, Vidic deflecting Heskey’s header onto his own bar and then Dunne nodded wide after steaming in to meet Stewart Downing’s cross at the far post.

But Villa were unable to force Kuszczak into another save and Valencia had a chance to kill off his team’s opponents when lashing wide in stoppage-time.

Wayne Rooney - 2 goals in Milan

Manchester United secured an historic win at the San Siro as they drew first blood in an enthralling Champions League last-16 tie with AC Milan. Wayne Rooney was the match-winner with a brace of second-half headers to earn United a precious first-leg advantage. They came after Paul Scholes’ fortunate equaliser but Milan played their part after Ronaldinho’s deflected opener. Clarence Seedorf’s skilful 85th-minute finish gave Milan hope, while Michael Carrick was sent off in injury time. Carrick’s second yellow card – for kicking the ball away – capped a frantic finale as Milan, who had bossed the opening hour, threatened to deny United a first win in the stadium.  And that, combined with Seedorf’s late goal, served to take the edge off the win, even though United showed just about enough to suggest they can keep Milan at bay in the second leg on 10 March. It was a strange affair for Sir Alex Ferguson’s men, who in many ways can consider themselves fortunate to have come away with the win after a first hour in which they looked a shadow of a side that has gone nine games unbeaten.

Before the match, Ferguson had talked pointedly of avoiding the “circus” that surrounded David Beckham’s first match against his former employers.  But whether they had been caught up in the pre-match hype or merely overwhelmed by the occasion, United barely got out of first gear in a nervy half-hour.  Poor in possession, toothless in attack and ill-organised in defence, the visitors allowed Milan the freedom of the San Siro as the hosts quickly got into their stride.  Just three minutes were on the clock when a Beckham free-kick found its way to Ronaldinho via a dire attempted clearance from Patrice Evra, and the Brazilian wasted little time in lashing home, via a Carrick deflection, for the opening goal.

In truth, though, it could have been a lot worse for Ferguson’s men before half-time as they gave the ball away cheaply time and again.  Before the match, Ferguson had talked pointedly of avoiding the “circus” that surrounded David Beckham’s first match against his former employers.  But whether they had been caught up in the pre-match hype or merely overwhelmed by the occasion, United barely got out of first gear in a nervy half-hour. Poor in possession, toothless in attack and ill-organised in defence, the visitors allowed Milan the freedom of the San Siro as the hosts quickly got into their stride.  Just three minutes were on the clock when a Beckham free-kick found its way to Ronaldinho via a dire attempted clearance from Patrice Evra, and the Brazilian wasted little time in lashing home, via a Carrick deflection, for the opening goal.

However, with Rooney an increasingly unsettling presence for the Milan defence, there was always a chance United would spark and when they finally clicked into gear just past the hour mark, the visitors finally showed their class.  First Rooney rose above Daniele Bonera to expertly head home substitute Antonio Valencia’s cross.  Then, unmarked, he executed the far simpler task of heading in Fletcher’s clever pass just eight minutes later to hand his side a two-goal cushion.  With Milan looking out on their feet, and Beckham having been withdrawn in the 72nd minute after a largely ineffective display, the tie looked to be there for United to put beyond doubt.

And yet there was still a twist left in the tie as Ronaldinho found room on the left and crossed for Seedorf to flick in Milan’s second.  The hosts might even have snatched a thrilling draw had Filippo Inzaghi not blazed over from Ronaldinho’s pass or Thiago Silva not headed over from a corner in injury time.  But United held on to secure a vital first-leg lead, extending their unbeaten away run in Europe to a record 16 matches in the process and ensuring Beckham’s first match against his boyhood club was not one he will remember with any great fondness. BBC Sport.

All United supporters are entitled to voice their opinion but these comments were made by one individual at a meeting where it was made clear it was private and journalists were briefed that it was totally off the record to allow supporters to speak freely. We believe that all those journalists who attended the meeting respected this agreement but the story came from reports on internet message boards followed by a call direct to Mr Flacks rather than from the meeting itself….

MUST does not believe that the views expressed represented a widespread view of those present and indeed another speaker who offered the counter point of view was given a loud round of applause in response.

We believe Johnny Flacks and indeed every Manchester United supporter is absolutely entitled to express their views but it is important to distinguish individual views from those of organisations or those present at a meeting.

We believe Manchester United has the best manager, the best players and the best supporters. It is only the owners that let our great club down. They should go before they do any more damage.

Tributes to the ex-United forward have been pouring into newspapers and football sites alike . Scanlon who did good work for the media in his later years, was spoken of by United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, on manutd.com.

Sir Alex said: “I have known Albert since I came to Manchester United and he was always a pleasant and delightful man. He was always cheery and never lost his sense of humour despite the experience he had, and to come through that shows his strength of character.

“He will be a great loss, as he was a popular man, and our condolences go to his family.”

Scanlon, who was part of the legendary Busby Babes commented on the team prior his illness.  “I think they would have got a lot better.  There was such a lot there, such a lot of youngsters. It probably was at the time one of the best club sides ever. It was not actually a team or two teams, it was one of the first clubs to have a squad.”

RIP Albert Scanlon
Busby Babe
10/10/1935 – 22/12/2009

Sir Alex Ferguson

This was his equivalent of Liverpool’s defeat to Red Star Belgrade in 1973, the game that persuaded him to tear up the old blueprints and start again. Then Bill Shankly, despite having won the Uefa Cup the season before, decided that if Liverpool were to dominate Europe, they had to alter their approach. “We realised it was no use winning the ball if you finished up on your backside,” said Bob Paisley. “The top Europeans showed us how to break out of defence effectively. The pace of their movement was dictated by their first pass. We had to learn how to be patient like that and think about the next two or three moves when we had the ball.” And so Liverpool changed and, under Paisley, came to dominate Europe in a way no other English side has managed, winning four European Cups between 1977 and 1984.

For Ferguson, too, the decision to change was a tremendous risk. That season his side won the second of three successive Premier League titles, finishing a record 18 points clear of Arsenal in second, while scoring 97 goals in 38 games. The year before they had won the Champions League. There would be many in the difficult seasons of transition who would tell him he should never have changed his approach. His willingness to do so, though, his ruthlessness and clear-sightedness (at least in seeing what was wrong, if not necessarily what the solution was), is precisely what makes him a genius. It is one thing to build a great side; quite another to be brave enough to dismantle it and start again, shaping football’s evolution even as you adapt to its changing shape.

The misperception of inadequacy

Yet the strange thing now, looking back at the game, is that United were by no means outplayed. In the Guardian, Jim White spoke of “trademark United huff and puff” being overwhelmed by Real’s class, and perhaps that is how it seemed eight minutes into the second half as Fernando Redondo backheeled the ball through Henning Berg’s legs, ran on, and crossed for Raúl to tap in his second of the night to make it 3-0.

When a British side loses to a continental team, especially when they are helped to their victory by such a memorable moment of skill, it is natural to reach for the old explanations about the greater subtlety of foreign technique. The fact that Chelsea had been demolished 5-1 in Barcelona the night before probably encouraged the sense of English inferiority in the face of Spanish football. The truth, though, is that United could easily have won the game, perhaps even should have won the game; that their passing and movement, the angles they worked around the box were at least the equal of Real. Besides, the stereotypical lament of English clumsiness hardly tallied with Steve McManaman being arguably the most influential player on the pitch.

This wasn’t a case of, say, England against Brazil in 2002, exhaustedly chasing a ball they never quite won back; or of England against Croatia in 2007, doggedly following the Corporal Jones in their heads and launching yet another long ball in the belief that foreigners didn’t like it up ‘em. This was a very good team playing very good football, and being thwarted again and again by an inspired Iker Casillas and, in one case, by the hand of Aitor Karanka, who seven minutes before half-time, with the score at 1-0, got away with tipping an Andy Cole header over the bar from three yards.

That’s not to say United were unlucky – or even that their defeat was predominantly down to ill luck – for Real had dominated the first leg in the Bernabéu, which had finished 0-0, and they benefited at Old Trafford from an unexpected tactical switch by Vicente del Bosque, who had replaced John Toshack earlier in the season. Pulling Iván Helguera deep, almost as a third centre-back, to guard against Dwight Yorke, he both liberated McManaman, who regularly initiated breaks, surging from deep, and the two full-backs, Míchel Salgado and Roberto Carlos, who both got behind United’s full-backs again and again. Ferguson eventually matched Real’s shape, but by then United were three down, and he admitted he wished he had made the move sooner. “They’ve never played that formation before,” said Ferguson. “I suppose it was a compliment to us, but we were too slow to adjust.”

Why United lost

It was a cross from Salgado that led to Real’s first, Sávio breaking, exchanging passes with Raúl and moving left, then laying the ball inside for McManaman, who was fouled by Berg. Pierluigi Collina allowed play to carry on as the ball broke for Fernando Morientes, who slipped it into the path of the overlapping Salgado. His cross was low, and Raimond van der Gouw would almost certainly have dealt with it, but either he failed to call or Roy Keane failed to react to the call, and United’s captain, lunging to cut the ball out at the near post, diverted it into his own net.

A similar blend of United culpability and Real excellence led to the second and third goals. Perhaps United, aware that Real had the advantage of an away goal, were over-anxious, but they were guilty of overcommitting early in the second half. McManaman broke, and chipped the ball over Mikaël Silvestre, who had come on for Denis Irwin at half-time, for Raúl, who turned back inside the defender and curled the ball into the top corner. His second followed three minutes later with United’s defence, seemingly mesmerised by Redondo’s nutmeg, sucked to the near post.

David Beckham, negated until then by Roberto Carlos, scored an excellent goal, beating Sávio and Karanka before smacking his finish into the top corner and, even after Paul Scholes had converted an 88th-minute penalty, Yorke had a header saved on the line by Casillas, but three goals was too great a deficit to overhaul. It was those two strikes in three minutes that cost them.

The fatal flaw

So Real were good and United were good, but Real went into a three-goal lead because United had, as the Guardian’s subhead said, “lost their heads”, perhaps made over-eager by the knowledge they had an away goal to overcome. From Ferguson’s point of view, the game followed a worrying pattern. In 1998, after drawing the away leg of their quarter-final against Monaco 0-0, they were eliminated by an away goal. The year before that, a 1-0 deficit from the away leg of their semi-final was rendered insurmountable by Lars Ricken’s goal at Old Trafford.

Early goals conceded in the home leg, when played second, had become United’s bane, and it’s easy to understand why Ferguson should move to guard against the deficiency. It was, in a sense, specifically a European problem: in the Premier League, United could concede early (although obviously the higher quality in confederational competition made it more likely to happen then than in domestic games), and hit back in the reasonable assumption of overwhelming their opponents.

In that 1999-2000 season, for instance, United conceded the first goal and came back to win or draw against Arsenal (twice), Wimbledon (twice), Southampton, Marseille, Everton, Sunderland, Liverpool, West Ham, Fiorentina, Bordeaux, Middlesbrough and Watford. Ferguson would seemingly revel in the fact that “United always do it the hard way”, and they were routinely praised for their resilience; perhaps the question, though, should have been why such a dominant team was so leaky.

In the later stages in Europe, not only were sides less easily submerged (yet Real could have been; in the 10 minutes following Real’s opener, United had five very good chances), but the consequences were more severe. Over a league season United could afford the odd home draw; in Europe that same draw could mean defeat. And so began the slow, painful, transition towards a lone striker.

The agony of change

The next season the changes were limited to pulling Yorke or Sheringham deeper in Europe and restricting Ryan Giggs’s forays. There was a greater sense of caution, which grew after the arrival of Juan Sebastián Verón, and the very obvious switch to 4-5-1, with Scholes or Giggs used as the advanced central midfielder off Ruud van Nistelrooy. The pairing of Scholes and Van Nistelrooy brought the title in 2002-03, but it was only after the arrival of Carlos Queiroz as assistant coach in 2004 that United began to explore more radical alternatives.

As coach of Portugal’s youth side, Queiroz was a pioneer of strikerlessness, winning the World Youth Cup in 1989 and 1991 with João Pinto operating as a mobile lone forward, dropping off to create space for Toni, Gil and Rui Costa. For a time he bore the brunt of the anger of fans who had seen a team that had won seven titles in nine seasons with 4-4-2 transformed into a team that won one in five with 4-5-1. But revolution isn’t supposed to be easy.

With Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez as a front pairing of constant movement, one or both dropping off to create space for Cristiano Ronaldo cutting in, United became part of the tactical avant garde (perhaps almost despite themselves, because had Louis Saha been fit, the swirling trident of unorthodoxy might never have been given its head. The shape could change by the week, with Park Ji-sung and Giggs adding their qualities to a protean mix – sometimes 4-3-3, sometimes 4-2-3-1, often 4-2-4-0 or 4-3-3-0.

It brought a hat-trick of league titles, and two European finals – one won – and Ferguson by the decade’s end had his vindication. The idea of 4-4-2 as an absolute default to which English teams had to stick was over, and for the first time since Alf Ramsey’s national team lifted the World Cup 1966, an English side was a world leader in tactical innovation.

And if United hadn’t let in two goals just after half-time against Real Madrid, it might never have happened. The tactical course of the decade was set when Henning Berg was nutmegged on 19 April 2000.

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That Famous 1999 Semi Final Goal - Ryan Giggs

With the public choosing their favourite from the shortlist of 10 by phone on the night, Giggs received 29.4% of the vote (151,842 votes) ahead of Button (18.74% – 96,770) and Ennis (15.58% – 80,469) with a total of 516,473 votes cast.  This year has seen Giggs win the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year award for the first time in April and the Wales Sports Personality of the Year award, and in a United shirt he has made his 800th appearance, scored his 150th goal and helping them reach the Champions League final.

The Cardiff-born star added: “I am playing for the greatest manager that has ever lived and I’m playing for the greatest club. Perhaps I’ve become more appreciated as I have got older.  ”It’s unusual for a 36-year-old to be playing with a team like Manchester United for 20 years but I am enjoying it and long may it continue.”   After Ferguson revealed on Friday that his veteran playmaker had been offered a new contract for next season, Giggs said: “It was the first I had heard of it the other day so I was quite pleased. Hopefully there will be another year after that.”

Jonathan Pearce, football commentator on the BBC says in his BBC blog, “That great colossus of Irish rugby Keith Wood and I both roared and jumped to our feet when Ryan Giggs was named as BBC Sports Personality of 2009.  Unashamedly, I had wanted him to win the award. As a United fan, big Keith has followed Giggs from the stands. I do not support the club of his choice but I have always been an admirer of United’s rich tradition of developing marvellous young talent and over the last 18 years Giggs has been a constant marvel to me.

I’ll never forget the first time I saw him play live in the flesh. It was 28 September 1991 and my radio co-commentator at White Hart Lane that day, former Arsenal and Spurs manager Terry Neill, excitedly chatted about the 17-year old United kid we were going to watch.  He’d sensationally scored on his full debut the previous season and was the latest name to be branded as ‘the new Georgie Best’.  He was never going to fill those boots but he’s never needed to and it’s significant that the media no longer labels an emerging United kid as the next Bestie. One day they’ll be describing a fledgling Old Trafford talent as the ‘new Giggs’. He is a United legend in his own right – up there with the greatest of them all.

Antonio Valencia

However Valencia insists he is a different player to the Portuguese superstar and, having scored four goals in 10 matches, is enjoying life at Old Trafford. “I am my own man,” the 24-year-old told The Independent. “I thought Cristiano was a very good player but I always play according to what I think and what I want to do at that particular moment and what I know. I never imitate anyone.”

And the former Wigan man has had similar assurances from the Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson to not try and emulate Ronaldo. “He [Ferguson] said, ‘You don’t have to follow Cristiano but you do have to work’ and I’m doing that.”

His £16million transfer from the Latics in the summer is a far cry from where Valencia started. At the age of 16, his older brother Carlos paid for his bus fare as he travelled eight hours to play for Ecuador’s El Nacional. Despite now favouring the role of a winger, he began life in central midfield and was soon drafted into the international set-up, scoring 17 goals in 23 games for Ecuador’s Under 20s.

Valencia was also called up to the full international squad and had a short spell in Spain for Villarreal. He was later spotted by then-Wigan boss Paul Jewell who brought him to Lancashire before his eventual switch to the Premier League champions this year. Valencia, who has been likened to former United star Andrei Kanchelskis by ex-boss Steve Bruce, is eager to improve through guidance from his managerial mentor and provide goalscoring passes for his team-mates on a regular basis.

“He [Ferguson] told me I must concentrate more in training and in matches, that I must try to score goals at every opportunity but also help my team-mates to score,” he added. “I’m practising all the time. I practise with my team-mates and I like to improve and get better with it.”