King Rooney

Goal of the year? Yes. Most athletic play of the year? Yes. Only found at a Manchester United? Check. Prior to Rooney's bicycle kick today, Berbatov held the honor of having the best bicycle kick of the year. And of course, he's another Manchester United player. I don't think I need to say much besides just post the video below and allow it to do all the talking.



Jersey of the Post: Wayne Rooney Signed Manchester United Jersey

A Week in European Soccer (4/9/10 - 4/15/10)

EPL

- Over the weekend there weren't too many exciting results or much movement in the table. Manchester United wasn't able to get a much-needed win over Blackburn and Man City got a huge 5-1 win over Birmingham. United and City will be facing each other on Saturday. Will Rooney be fit?  Mancini hopes so.

- On Tuesday, Chelsea was fortunate to just barely defeat Bolton 1-0 and go 4 points clear ahead of United. However, on Wednesday, Arsenal suffered a huge 2-1 defeat against Tottenham officially knocking them out of the title race. Wenger certainly wasn't happy about that. Personally, I'd like to give my young, but what I think to be my mature opinion on this: WENGER NEEDS TO BE SACKED! The man isn't bringing the kind of talent into his lineups which can be seen as Arsenal simply haven't been able to produce the much needed results over the past few weeks (as was the case in their loss, essentially, to Messi). However, it seems the  Arsenal doesn't feel this way.

Spanish Premier League
- After Real Madrid suffered their huge 2-0 loss at home to Barcelona, they bounced back with great discipline and athleticism by winning earlier today 2-1 over Almeria. With the win, they are now only 3 points behind league leaders Barcelona. For Real, they are going to have to hope Barcelona slip up over their next six games otherwise Barca will be saying "hello" to another league title.

Photo Credit: Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Cleat of the post: Nike5 Zoom T-5 FS...awesome color way!

Rooney Scores his 100th...Egypt takes the glory!!!

Congratulations to Wayne Rooney on scoring his 100th goal in the Premier League. Rooney helped lead United to a 3-1 win over the Gunners in a game that now puts Manchester United only one point behind of Chelsea. In a game that saw Arsenal actually outshooting United and pretty much having most of the United’s three goals on target somehow managed to be enough to get them the win.


With United wining in England, Egypt also got their well deserved win over Ghana to take home the African Nations cup. Mohamed Gedo was the lone scorer of the game, to give Egypt a 1-0 win over Ghana (in the 85th minute) as well as Egypt’s third win in the tournament. Egypt did have most of the possession, however, it was Ghana that truly seemed to be making better opportunities yet they were unable to get the ball past Egyptian keeper, Essam El Hadari.

Gedo's game winning goal for Egypt.


Cleat of the post: Adidas Copa Mundial - A classic boot for a classic game.

Rooney and many others out with injuries

Last weekend England took on Ukraine in a World Cup Qualifier in which Rooney sustained a calf injury that will now be keeping him out of Manchester United's game against Bolton tomorrow. Furthermore, Manchester United would naturally fall back on Berbatov to take Rooney's spot however, Berbatov won't be available due to a birth in his family. Fortunately van der Sar will be returning in goal after returning from a hand injury he suffered earlier in the season. Currently, it seems as if Man U is injury ridden yet hopefully this won't stop them from remaining right behind Chelsea at the top of the league.
Just as Man U seems to be suffering some key injuries, so is Liverpool. With both Torres and Gerrard being ruled out of their matchup against Sunderland this weekend, we may witness some interesting results this weekend. It seems that international play has been affecting the players in terms of their abilities to play with their club teams as is always the case with pre- World Cup matches. Hopefully, the players are saving up for what will hopefully be an even better World Cup than in 2006.

Man U has big turnaround while Drogba continues to lead Chelsea to Victory

This Past Wednesday, Man U had an embarrassing 1-0 loss to new Premier League team, Burnley. Although Man U did have a chance to tie up the game right before the half, Carrick was unlucky a missed his PK. However, Yesterday they were able to really turn things around against Wigan. The had an emphatic win with the final score resulting, 5-0. Goals came from Rooney (2), Berbatov, Owen, and in the 90th minute from Nani. It seems that Man U is still able to keep in relatively good form without Cristiano Ronaldo. Although Ferdinand did get hurt in training earlier this week, Man U will certainly be the team to watch - it seems as if this is one of those seasons for them that could either be really good or really bad. Only time will tell.

At the top of the table and currently tied for first with Tottenham are the Blue's. At the moment, it seems as if Didier Drogba really is the magic person on the team. After he came off of an okay season in 08/09, he has certainly turned things around and gotten off to a fabulous start. Out of the team's seven goal total, Drogba is responsible for 3 of them. Things are certainly looking bright for Ancelotti's squad.

Furthermore, with Hull's new addition of American Jozy Altidore, Hull has finally gotten their first win of the season. Altidore was able to make his debut an excellent one by assisting Ghilas in the 61st minute - only 1 minute after he had gotten onto the field. Hopefully this will improve America's soccer image and this certainly is one of those steps that we, Americans, needed for our progress.

Hull's Jozy Altidore

Enjoyment for Beckham and Sadness for Man U

In today's game between England and Slovakia, Beckham claimed his 109th appearance for his side and in addition, now holds the record while beating out Bobby Moore's record of 108 appearances. Not only did Beckham make his 109th appearance, but he also helped out with the scoring. He assisted Rooney in the 70th minute to help England take a 2-0 lead which they would continue to expand up to the final minute of the game. Goals came in the 7th, 70th, 82nd, and 90th minutes by Emile, Rooney, Lampard, and Rooney respectively.

Other UEFA WC results:
Latvia 4-0 Luxembourg
Germany 4-0 Liechtenstein
Denmark 3-0 Malta
Netherlands 3-0 Scotland
Russia 2-0 Azerbaijan
Switzerland 2-0 Moldova
Finland 2-0 Wales
Italy 2-0 Montenegro
Hungary 1-0 Albania
France 1-0 Lithuania
Spain 1-0 Turkey
Bosnia-Herzegovina 4-2 Belgium
Northern Ireland 3-2 Poland
Serbia 3-2 Romania
Cyprus 2-1 Georgia
Armenia 2-2 Estonia
Israel 1-1 Greece
Ireland 1-1 Bulgaria
Slovenia 0-0 Czech Republic
Portugal 0-0 Sweden

While England enjoyed a great win today, Man U continues to have a gloomy cloud hanging above their heads. According to Sir Alex Ferguson's son Darren, he believes his father is ready to quit after this season. But Darren also says that there is a small chance Sir Alex Ferguson will remain for one more season if things don't turn out well for Man U. Darren also made it clear that sir Alex Ferguson does not have any health issues which would cause him to leave the game. We, as in Man U fans, can only hope that whenever Sir Alex Ferguson does leave, we will be getting a very good manager to replace him to continue the Man United legacy.

Need for some major updates

Sorry to any of my followers for not giving updates.
In the past week or so, Manchester United have fallen in form; they have lost to Liverpool and Fulham, 4-1 and 2-0, respectively. In both these games, Man U has been awarded red cards on behalf of Vidic against Liverpool and Rooney against Fulham. Obviously, the cards have not helped them. Furthermore, because of these two losses, Man U is now only 1 point ahead of now 2nd place Liverpool (65 v 64).

Unlike Man U, Liverpool have recently been doing amazingly well. In their past two games against Man U and Villa, they have scored a total, 9 goals and only given up 1. Congrats got to them and head coach Benitez.

As for Hiddink's Blues, things looked god, at first. On March 15th, they played Man City and gained a much needed win over them. However, this past Saturday was quite bleak for them; they fell 1-0 to the Hotspur's. With only gaining three points in two games this meant that they would not only drop down to third place, but also be three points behind Liverpool and four behind Man U.

With only 9 games remaining for Man U and 8 for Liverpool and Chelsea, one can hope that Man U returns to their prior, excellent form and ride out the season to victory and hopefully a first place finish in the Champions League.

Man U In Great Form

Over the past week or so, Man U has simply been unstoppable. With the team currently four points ahead of Chelsea, there is definitely need for explanation of what has happened. Looking back to last Tuesday, the Red Devils took on Internaziionale. Both teams did not have a large number of shots and to add to this low stat, Inter did not have single shot on net whereas Man U only had 5. Clearly, the teams were able to get into the attack at least a decent amount, but neither team was able to actually capitalize on their opportunities. The game would end 0-0 with both sides disappointed to not be able to leave the game with 3 points. An interesting fact between Ferguson and Inter manager Mourinho is that Ferguson has only been able to get 1 win out of 13 games against Mourinho.

Man U's next game was this past Sunday against Tottenham in the Carling Cup final. During this game, Ferguson was not playing his usual starters because he did not want them to be injured or tired before their next game which is tomorrow. he also wanted to give some playing time to the younger and less experienced players on the team. Once again, Man U ended the game in a 0-0 tie, but the game would head into overtime. Even after overtime, neither team was able to score and the game finally ended with penalty kicks. However, prior to the penalty kicks, back up keeper Foster took a quick look on his ipod which contained video of Tottenham Hotspur players taking penalty kicks. After viewing these videos, Foster was able to used what he had just learned and apply it to the game to help his side win the cup. the Fa tried to press chargers against Foster's use of the ipod but could not pass it because there were no rules that went against what Foster did.

Earlier today, Man U beat Newcastle United 2-1 with goals from striker duo Rooney and Berbatov. With the win, Man U now goes 7 points clear of Chelsea and keeps Newcastle at bay in 16th place. Let's continue to watch as Man U looks to once again lift the trophy!!!

Man U, what? #1!

That's right. Man U is back in top form and leading the way in the Premiership. After 3 well hard fought and well deserved wins, Man U has finally gone in clear first with a one point gap over Liverpool and two over Chelsea. With a five game winning streak, it does not look like West Brom can stop them on the 27th.
In those five games, Man U came away with a huge win over rivals Chelsea; 3-0. Scoring came from Vidic, Rooney, and Berbatov (respectively). Although, Man U came away with a big win, the score does not tell the true nature of the game. Chelsea in fact had many opportunities to capitalize on their chances (specifically, Drogba), but they simply could not hit the target. The game gave way for criticism to former Portuguese National team head coach Felipe Scolari. What has he done with the team? What is going on? These are only a few of the many questions being asked of him.
The past five games have allowed for a total of 7 goals: Berbatov - 3, Rooney - 2, Tevez - 1, and Vidic - 1. Best wishes to the Red Devils as they continue with their league successes.
GO MAN U! MAKE IT TWO IN A ROW!

Champions League

Today, Premier league teams Manchester United and Arsenal each had their own respective games that would be important for continuation. Manchester United played Aalborg in which the game was not taken over by either side. It finished 2-2 with goals from Tevez and Rooney. Although ending in a tie, Manchester United still will finish in their group at the top. Arsenal played a very determined FC Porto side in Portugal where they were handed a 2-0 defeat. Porto clearly capitalized on their chances and stayed at the top of Group G. This now gives FC Porto plenty of cushion as it seems impossible for them to drop down.
Make sure to watch for the round of 16 drawings next Friday.

Other scores in the UCL today:
Celtic 2 - 0 Villarreal
Steaua Bucuresti 0 - 1 Fiorentna
Lyon 2 - 3 Bayern Munich
Dynamo Kiev 1 - 0 Fenerbache
Juventus 0 - 0 BATE Borisov
Real Madrid 3 - 0 Zenit St. Petersburg

*ESPNsoccernet

Man U On Fire!

After yesterday's dominating win over Newcastle, 5 to 1, one thing is for sure; Ronaldo is a major key to success for Man U. If you look at what he did, he was involved in 3 of the 5 total goals; two goals and an assist. Also, Wayne Rooney stepped his game up and accounted for 2 goals himself and an assist. Overall Man U have now pulled within 3 pts. of leaders Arsenal who had a dreadful 2 to 2 tie to Birmingham. Hopefully for Man U's next game against Fulham, they can once again have a dominating game with the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, Nani, and others.

Is Arsenal Really #1?

After today's FA Cup match between Manchester United and Arsenal it has become clear; Manchester United really are the better team. How can anyone ignore the fact that Man U won 4-0 with scorers including Rooney, Fletcher (2), and Nani. Just comparing stats is also another proven statement of this: United out-shot Arsenal 21-4. Some may argue that Man U won because of Arsenal's Eboue's red card, but clearly not because United only scored 1 of their 4 goals after the red. As you can see, United is clearly the better team and they will probably carry this back to the Premiership were they should win the title for the second straight year. Go United!!!
Darren Fletcher

Manchester United vs. AC Milan

The next UEFA matchup for Manchester United is against AC Milan; the Italian powerhouse. Wat will each team bring to the finals, we will have to wait to find out. Let's look at the strengths and weaknesses of both teams:

Manchester United: Strengths
- Very strong attack from C. Ronaldo and W. Rooney
- Although Man U may not have the best individual talent in the midfield, they have one of the strongest mid fields in the Premiership
- They don't receive many bookings hence, playing clean games as well as showing great sportsmanship

Manchester United: Weaknesses
- Not a strong defense nor goalie; something the need to invest more money in
- Cristiano Ronaldo is this year's main player since he is basically the only player on the team who consistently plays well

AC Milan: Strengths
- Also a strong offense, but not as strong as Man U
- Top notch defense ranging from all over the world

AC Milan: Weaknesses
- Too many "superstars" in the midfield hence, they don't work too well together
- Have had more red cards than Man U (3 to 1) and

Man U Off To A Fast Start

This season in the premiership, Manchester United have gotten off to a fabulous start. With Chelsea in second, trailing by 3 points, it will only take one mistake for Manchester United to be back in the dust of last year's Premiership champions. Slowly creeping up is a very moderate season for Man U (except for this Sunday, of course!).


With Rooney and Saha leading the premiership with the most goals, 7 and 5 respectively, these two have two very reputable soccer careers. Pay close attention too these two suprestars because they will be difference makers in games to come especially this Sunday against Chelsea. The time where either team can move up or down the standings.

Wayne Rooney, #8, Manchester United, Forward

Louis Saha, #9, Manchester United, Forward

Injuries non-stop?

Over the past couple of months, 3 key players for national teams have been injured forcing them to possibly miss some or all of the World Cup this year. The list includes:

Shevchenko (Ukraine) - 95% chance he will be back for world cup - out with left knee sprain and minor ligament injury.
Rooney (England) - 60% chance he wil be ready - out with broken bones in right foot.
Owen (England) - 94% chance he will be ready - still not fit to play, he has been out since 12/31/05 with injured foot.

(Shevchenko - top left, Rooney - top right, Owen - bottom left)

England in trouble

Unfortunately for Man U, England (national team) and Wayne Rooney, Rooney fractured a bone in his right foot which has questioned his readiness for the 2006 World Cup. According to his doctor, Rooney has slight chances of playing in the 1st World Cup game, but has chances of being ready for the 2nd or 3rd game.

Also, Rooney will be usiing an Oxygen chamber. This is supposed to speed up the recovery with no side effects. Ferguson wanted to also make it clear that anything to try at the moment is worth it. 'There is no conclusive evidence that it does improve injuries but there is no evidence against it. It won't do any harm and everything is worth a try at this stage.'

Not only is this an issue, but England Manager Eriksson is unsure to name Rooney in his 23-man squad before the FIFA deadline to send in the rosters.

As for now, England is in colossal problem and we hope they can resolve this problem. Bst of luck to Rooney and England!

-from Soccernet

Wayne Rooney Possible Candidate for Captain?

Yes, it's true. Ferguson believes Wayne Rooney has the potential to lead the Red Devils. It may not be this season but, it could be in the future. “I think there are indications there that he has the mental toughness, respect and the winning mentality that Manchester United captains need to have.”