Manchester United continued their good start to the Champions League this year with a 2-1 victory over VFL Wolfsburg at Old Trafford. The win puts United in control of the group and will most likely help along the way to securing their progression into the knock out rounds.

United struggled early on in the match, as the German champions had obviously travelled to England with very attacking intentions. Michael Owen was forced off early on with a groin strain and was replaced by Dimitar Berbatov who signalled a revitalisation of the United team.

It was a bitter blow as Owen had been hoping to play well in front of the England manager, Fabio Capello, who was sat in the stands. However, the Bulgarian’s introduction was not enough to prevent Wolfsburg from taking the lead when Edin Dzeko rose at the far post and buried his header into the near corner.

It seemed to be the awakening that United needed as they stormed down the other end and scored their two goals in quick succession. The first came from Ryan Giggs, who hit a free kick, which was deflected and then went on.

The second was a piece of United class that saw the ball eventually laid off To Michael Carrick who slammed it in with such authority that you virtually knew that the game was over and done with at that point.

Sir Alex Ferguson said: “He felt his groin in training on Sunday and he trained a little bit on Monday, had a rest on Tuesday and thought he was fine. Groins are groins, though, and on a wet surface like that, he has turned quickly, it has gone again and we have had to take him off.”

“It’s not serious, but groin injuries can be troublesome and it could be two to three weeks. The only good part is that his fitness levels are very good, so there shouldn’t be too much of a worry with that.”

United’s next match in the Champions League will be away to CSKA Moscow on a bitterly cold evenings game during the Russian winter. CSKA themselves, revitalised their qualification hopes with a victory over a poor Besiktas side that do not look as though they will go very far this year.

United are well placed and it would take a very brave betting man to lay his money down on another team to win the European Cup this year.

I’ve always liked watching Michael Owen play football, ever since he broke in years ago as a youngster. Who can forget his memorable goal against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup, which made him the youngest ever player and scorer for England at the time?

It seems that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson also remembers that goal and many others as he signed the now 29-year-old striker to a two-year contract on July 3rd.

Owen broke in the league with Liverpool as a 17 year old in 1996 and promptly scored 118 goals in 216 games for the reds, proving he knows where the net is. He has also proven time and time again that he can also score at the international level and looked to be well on his way to reaching Bobby Charlton’s record of 49 goals for England until injuries struck.

Owen now sits fourth all-time on the England scoring list with 40 goals in 89 games, 26 of them in competitive matches. He also played with Real Madrid and scored 13 league goals (18 total) in 2004-05, while it may not seem like a lot, Owen had the highest ratio of goals per-minutes played in La Liga. Let’s face it, he’s a natural scorer and has produced for every team he’s played for.

If newspaper reports are to believed, Owen’s contract will be heavily based on minutes played and goals scored. This is a good move by Ferguson, as it’s imperative that Owen stays healthy. He has been dogged over the past few years by various injuries, especially the hamstring, and that’s a big reason he has disappeared from the football radar screens, both domestically and nationally. Many fans and managers are under the assumption that he’s injury prone and/or he just isn’t that interested in playing for his pay cheque anymore. It seems to have gotten so bad that it’s rumoured only Hull and Stoke had shown any interest in signing him.

It didn’t cost Ferguson any transfer fee to sign Owen and with an incentive-laden contract he hasn’t really got anything to lose if Owen doesn’t produce or if he misses half the season through injury. It’s also unlikely that Owen will complain or sulk if he’s left on the subs bench the majority of the time, but then again it will be hard for him to hit the incentive levels if he isn’t given the chance to play.

Ferguson has painted himself into a corner slightly, by losing Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo. It also appears there’s no chance of United signing David Villa this season, so he needs to get goals from somewhere. Yes, United signed Antonio Valencia earlier in the week, but he’s only going to score a handful of goals for you at the most, he managed three last season.

Owen, on the other hand, had a dismal season health-wise and still managed to bang in 10 goals for relegated Newcastle. Many fans believe Owen has lost it, but he can still produce and his numbers prove that. A move to United should give him a lot of incentive and the right stage to prove the naysayers wrong. If he plays enough, I can honestly see Owen score more league goals than Tevez (5) managed last season, and even Berbatov (9) for that matter.

Owen has been snubbed by England lately, especially since Fabio Capello took over the reigns and scoring a few goals for the Premier League champions will hopefully make the Italian take notice of one of England’s best-ever goal scorers. If Emile Heskey can somehow inexplicably get recalled to England after years on the sidelines, I’m sure somebody should realize Michael Owen definitely deserves another chance.

As soon as Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson leaked his starting-11 to the press last week, the smart money was placed on Barcelona. The Spanish giants winning the Champions League yesterday (May 27th) was about as predictable as snow in Alaska.

The so-called “greatest manager in Britain” made a brutal rookie mistake by leaving Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez on the bench at the opening kickoff. Barcelona players must have been tempted to nip down to the bookies and place a bet on themselves upon hearing they’d really have nobody to worry about up front other than Wayne Rooney. And let’s face it, Rooney isn’t an out and out striker anyway.

I don’t really understand the point of splashing out tens of millions of pounds on these players, just to leave them on the bench in the biggest game of the year. In what other sport would you do this? Would the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL leave Sidney Crosby on the bench for half the game? How about the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers leaving Le Bron James behind or the New York Yankees doing the same with Alex Rodriguez? The answer is no. You bet your sweet ass these guys would be involved right from the get go. So why do football supporters and owners put up with it?




Why is football such a negative sport, why do the Berbatov’s and Tevez’s of the world sit on the bench, while the John O’ Sheas play a full 90 minutes. Berbatov and Tevez inevitably had to be brought on of course, as United were, to sum it up in one word, rubbish. The reason Barcelona won this game is simple, they started their strongest lineup and didn’t change their tactics. United had gone 25 games in the Champions League without a loss, so why change things in the 26th game, the biggest of them all?

Watching the match, you would never have known this was the same United squad that rips teams apart week in and week out in the Premier League. Where was the pace, the attacking and the passion? Frankly, it was nowhere to be seen. They were completely devoid of any creativity and inspiration, while looking like they were out for a stroll in the park. They didn’t pressure anybody and didn’t cut down space, and worst of all they didn’t attack. This team is built around its offence. But Ferguson chose not to play to his strengths, instead preferring to play right into Barcelona’s hands.

And speaking of O’Shea, and this isn’t a dig at him, but he’s a defender not an attacker. Why in the world is Ferguson sticking with four guys at the back when he’s down 1-0 and then 2-0? What’s the point of leaving O’Shea on the pitch and taking off offensive players such as Park and Giggs. What’s he doing, defending a 2-0 deficit? These are moves you may possibly make when you’re winning the game, not when you’re behind.



Chelsea took it to Barcelona in the semi-final second leg in London, and with any luck at all should have walked off as 3-0 winners, and that should have been the blueprint to use to beat the Spanish team. You’d think that somebody supposedly as smart as Ferguson would have the brains to figure this out. It’s a simple adage of sports. If you play your opponent’s style of game, you’re going to lose nine times out of 10 because they’re inevitably better at it than you are.

And Barcelona wasn’t that good either to tell you the truth. A couple of moments of glory and that was about it. If this game was the showcase of Europe, I can seriously see why most Americans don’t understand the sport and why they’d rather spend their time watching fishing or NASCAR or volleyball or bowling or darts or rodeo or tiddlywinks or…….

Manchester United can move back to the top of the Premier League table with a win in the Manchester derby. Their city rivals, Manchester City, will as always be out to cause an upset but United will want to set the Premier League table right and knock Liverpool after the top.

Liverpool comfortably beat West Ham United yesterday to go top of the table on goal difference but this United side has showed so far this season that it has more hunger and energy than ever before and they will be going all out to make sure Liverpool aren’t given the slightest sniff in the title race.

United’s club captain, Gary Neville, looks likely to take part in the game as he has recovered from a foot injury that has plagued him over the last month. Neville is an icon of this very hunger and desire and will be determined to make a point as he has struggled to hold down a place in this season’s side owing to on and off spells on the sidelines.

Wes Brown is out for the rest of the season while Carlos Tevez, Paul Scholes and Dimitar Berbatov will all be hoping that Sir Alex Ferguson gives them a chance to impress in one of the most anticipated derbies in world football.

Manchester City boss, Mark Hughes, is unlikely to include Shaun Wright-Phillips in the travelling squad, as his recovery from an ankle injury is still some distance away. Right back, Pablo Zabaleta could feature but otherwise City appear to be at full strength for the match.

It makes for a great game for all of the neutrals as to compliment United’s want to move back to the top, City will want to keep winning games to improve their own table position as well as increasing their chances of attracting high calibre individuals once the season has drawn to a close.

We are guaranteed all of the traditional elements a derby promises: loud fans, aggression, passion and endless streams of excitement. United will go into the game as favourites but as recent history has shown, City are more than capable of causing an upset or two and a victory for them would offer a small hand of hope to everyone on Merseyside who will be begging for a United loss.

However, Sir Alex is arguably the most experienced top-flight manager in the last 20 years and he is quite obviously no mug. It is doubtful that he will muck around and not pick a full strength side. The Premier League title means as much to United as the prospect of another Champions League final and with the latter of those competitions a distance away, there is no reason why United won’t field a side capable of destroying anyone.

Let’s hope that City put up some real fight and make it a very difficult game for United. As with all end of season times there come a lot of meaningless and pointless games that don’t entertain the fans or do the game justice. This is certainly not going to be one of them.

The future of Manchester United forward, Carlos Tevez, has become even more unclear after a number of reports appeared this morning with the Argentine forward saying he is almost certain he will leave at the end of the year.

Tevez’s future has been debated for months as manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has struggled to fit him into a side successfully with Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Dimitar Berbatov.

A number of clubs are said to be sniffing around the edges waiting for Tevez to throw in the towel with Real Madrid the front-runners to snap up his services. United would do well to offer Tevez a new contract before the end of the season but his departure from Old Trafford now looks almost a certainty.

He said to the Spanish media: “Yes, it’s like that, it’s true I see myself more leaving United than staying here. I don’t see why I should lie to people or anything because the fans support me a lot as you can see. So I don’t have any reason to lie to them.”

“While I wear the United shirt I will leave my life on the pitch. You can see that in every game I play. I respect people a lot and I’m grateful to them. My future? I don’t know what will happen for my future. I would like to go to Spain, yes, but I don’t know yet.”

There are many reasons why his departure from Manchester United would be a bad move for the current European champions. Firstly, his work ethic is as good, if not, better than anyone else in the current side. Even if he is not playing well he will work his socks off in whichever role he is asked to do by the manager.

Secondly, he is one of the most gifted goal scorers in the Premier League. Regardless of the fact he has only scored three times in 25 Premier League appearances this season, Tevez has the ability to create space and magic out of nothing. These virtues will be seen in the Premier League run but United will struggle to replace these qualities if they let him leave.

He also appears to be more consistent than the lethargic Berbatov. You know exactly what you are going to get every time you put Carlos Tevez on a pitch. With Berbatov you don’t know if he is going to be up for it and play out of his skin or whether his attitude will reflect the penalty he took against Everton in the recent FA Cup semi-final.

No one can really argue with Sir Alex, he generally knows what he’s doing. Stam, Keane, Beckham and Van Nistelrooy all left Old Trafford and attracted him scrutiny but they all turned out to be the right decision and this could well end up the same.

If he leaves then Tevez will be badly missed in the Premier League. He was loved during his time at West Ham and his move to Manchester complimented his ability. Where ever he starts next season will be a privileged club.

There’s a time and place to field an inexperienced, young team during a football season, but it’ not a good idea to do in an FA Cup semifinal. But it seems Alex Ferguson hasn’t learned that yet and paid the ultimate price by getting knocked out of the Cup 4-2 on penalties by a less than mediocre Everton side at Wembley today (April 19th).

It serves Ferguson right for being so arrogant and stupid in his selection and substitutions, but it isn’t right for the team’s fans who spend their hard-earned money following the team all year in, year out. I have no problem with the starting 11 that United fielded as I think they have a lot of depth and the players picked were capable enough of handling Everton. But there’s no excuse for not having a back up plan, and not even dressing Rooney, Ronaldo, Carrick, and Giggs is just plain idiotic to me. You never know what’s going to happen during the course of a match. It could be a penalty, a red, card, or injuries, etc. and you have to back up the youngsters with some experience just in case they aren’t up to the task.

And don’t come back by telling me that Ferguson has won so many trophies during his career, so what? If he knew his team and used some common sense he might have won a lot more. Why go through all of the qualifying FA Cup rounds (and complaining about the fixture list as usual) and then throw it away in the semi final. My God, Ferguson, if you’re going to do that you might as well throw it away in the first round, not the second last. It’s like scaling Mount Everest and then deciding to pack it in when you’re 100 feet from the peak. By leaving Danny Welbeck on the pitch and taking off Macheda and Park, baffles my mind.

Ferguson’s penalty kick selection was just as bad as his substitutions. Granted, Vidic scored, but why was he taking a penalty ahead of Scholes and Tevez? As for Ferdinand and Berbatov having their shots saved, what did he expect? These are two of the laziest players in the history of football. Mind you, I can understand why Ferguson let Ferdinand take a penalty. He should know where the net is by now because that’s all he does for 90 minutes, passes it back to his goalie from wherever he is on the pitch. In fact, if captain Ferdinand put as much effort into his penalty as he did when kicking the ball into the stands after missing it, he might be given the benefit of the doubt.

You’d think that Ferguson would know his players by now and who should play in what situations. I’m sure there are millions of 12-year-old kids around the world who could have done a better job of managing United today. The last thing you want to do is go into the remaining few games of the season and the Champions League with no momentum, not when they’re both up for grabs. And by the way, Everton don’t really have any reason to celebrate the win either. While their manager David Moyes may not have cocked everything up, they still played poorly in a rubbish match, and the same type of performance will see them get thumped by Chelsea on May 30th in the Wembley final.