Manchester United may be swooping up to the top of the Premiership League despite being plagued by injuries this season. Another player to be officially added to the growing list of injured players is John O’Shea. It has been announced that O’Shea will be missing the rest of the season because of complications that happened after he suffered a dead leg and it looks like it is far more severe than initially thought.

Sir Alex Ferguson has said that the injury itself is unusual because a dead leg usually lasts for just three or four days. He further revealed that the blood clot that is one of the causes of the problem has become knotted and this has caused calcification. He said that treating this will take a long process and this is the reason he will be unfit to play for the rest of the season. Sir Alex further revealed that it’s a really big blow for O’Shea given that he would’ve been a sure starter this season because of the Manchester United defense has been reduced because of injuries. O’Shea is known for being very versatile at the back and he can even play midfield, which really makes it a bigger disappointment that he’ll be gone for the season.

With the Red Devils beset by all these injuries it’s a big accomplishment for the team that it has soared to the top of the Premiership League again. Will O’Shea’s injury stop this momentum or is the team just too hot right now that one less player would hardly matter at this point? Personally, I’m hoping for the latter.

O’Shea will also miss Ireland’s friendly with Brazil at the Emirates Stadium on March 2 and a scheduled end-of-season training camp.

Ferguson says the upcoming friendly date is one that club managers could do without.

He added: “I don’t even think the international managers think they’re all that important now. They never play their full team and there’s always drop outs.”

Tags:   injury. · John O'Shea

Rumors that Gary Neville is planning to retire at the end of the season were immediately quashed by Sir Alex Ferguson.

Neville will be celebrating his 35th birthday soon. Though he’s getting long in the tooth, he’s still not considered within retirement age. But time has not been kind to him. He has been suffering from numerous injuries over the last three seasons. Add to that his sub par performance during the absolutely devastating defeat against Leeds United, which has led to the third round exit of the Red Devils in the FA Cup and you’ll realize why the retirement rumors are so strong.

Everything will be determined this summer though. Both Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes have already extended their stay at Old Trafford for an additional year. We’ll find out what Neville’s decision is in a few months.

Personally, I think Neville still has a lot of years to offer Manchester United. Everything really depends on his injury situation. Hopefully, his injury problems will end this season and this will prompt him to renew his contract.

Tags:   Gary Neville

Manchester United’s defensive woes continue to haunt it as defender Nemanja Vidic has been sidelined for at least ten days following an injury he suffered in his leg.

Vidic is one of the most consistent defenders in the team and his injury comes at a very bad time for the Red Devils. Vidic suffered his injury during the warm-up for the FA Cup third round match versus Leed United. The Red Devils will go on and lose 1-0 and handing Sir Alex Ferguson his first ever third round defeat in the FA Cup every since becoming United’s team manager.

Because of the injury, Vidic will definitely miss the match against Birmingham this weekend and the game against Burnley next weekend.

Vidic’s injury is just one of the many injuries the Red Devils’ defensive side has suffered this season. Vidic’s partner, Rio Ferdinand, has been sidelined for months because of his own injury problems.

We’ll see how Vidic’s problems get resolved especially since there are also rumors that he is unhappy at Old Trafford and would like to move to another team, preferably Real Madrid.

Tags:   injury. · Nemanja Vidic

Manchester United’s goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has been announced to have been given an indefinite compassionate leave after her suffered a personal crisis. Van der Sar’s wife suffered a brain hemorrhage.

Van de Sar has not played since Manchester United’s win over Everton because of a knee injury. Because of the unfortunate medical emergency, he was allowed to go back immediately to Holland. He will just receive treatment for his knee from a Holland-based team doctor.

There is no news yet on the condition of Van der Sar’s wife. Annemarie van Kesteren is 36 years old. She is being examined to find out the cause of the problem.

Our well wishes for the speedy recovery of Annemarie.

Tags:   Edwin Van der Sar

I’ve blogged a couple of weeks ago about Rio Ferdinand’s injury situation and how Ferdinand thinks he’s nearing his comeback.

But it looks like his health woes are still not behind him. Ferdinand recently had an injection in order to help ease his back problems that have been blamed as the cause for all of his health problems.

Ferdinand has been out of action since the last week of October and even though Sir Alex Ferguson has said that Ferdinand is not out on the long-term, he has missed 13 games already. At this point, there really is no good news yet and his schedule for a return remains uncertain.

Ferdinand has remained optimistic about his situation and has even promised that he will be available for the World Cup in South Africa next summer.

I admire Ferdinand for keeping an optimistic attitude despite his injury and health problems. It’s tough not being able to know whether you can really get back to your old fighting form but Ferdinand is keeping his chin held high and I believe that his positive attitude will help him recover more quickly from his injury.

At the launch of his new charitable Foundation last week, Ferdinand insisted his place at next summer’s World Cup in South Africa was not in jeopardy.

It was an important statement, not only in terms of a health bulletin but also the positive attitude it betrayed.

Tags:   Rio Ferdinand

With football season about to reach its second half, all eyes should be on Manchester United’s new acquisition.

Sir Alex Ferguson is banking on Mame Biram Diouf to add more pop and crackle to Manchester United. The Senegalese born striker is already hard at work training at Carrington and already possesses a work permit.

A lot of weight is being given to Diouf, especially with talk that he can be the next Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. In fact, it was Solskjaer himself who recommended Diouf to Sir Alex. His glowing recommendation was one of the reasons Fergie signed him. Now a lot of talk has been given the fact that another potentially explosive forward with not much experience is being signed into the team (we all know that Federico Macheda and Danny Welbeck fit the bill and they’re still not getting the minutes) but I trust Sir Alex’s decision. He’s proven that he has the keen intuition to know what the Red Devils need.

Diouf will still need to impress Manchester United fans though. But it looks like he will have what it takes to really win them over. He’s got the talent and the abilities that could really help in the quest for another Premiership title.

Tags:   Diouf · Sir Alex Ferguson · Solskjaer

Cristiano Ronaldo may have had a bit of a troubled relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson by the end of his last season for Manchester United because of his very vocal desire to leave the team but now that he is with Real Madrid, the Portuguese winger has come out to say that he misses being with the Red Devils.

Ronaldo was transferred to Real after an unprecedented £80million fee this summer. But even though he misses life at Old Trafford he still maintains that he made the right choice in going to Real Madrid.

Ronaldo has also dismissed comments that Manchester United has been struggling without him this season. He said that even though the team has lost the last two games they are still the second placers in the league.

I think that it’s very sportsmanly of Ronaldo to say such things about his old club. We’ve often seen players who transfer to a new team lambasting his former teammates and the manager just to justify why they had to transfer in the first place. Ronaldo has proven that you can transfer without having to show any kind of animosity to your former teammates. Yes, he may be seen as a little bit of a brat by most fans but he’s shown that he can also be a stand-up guy.

Tags:   Manchester united · Real Madrid · Ronaldo

It didn’t come as a surprise at a ll.

Ryan Giggs has signed a new contract with Manchester United, extending his stay with the Red Devils until the summer of 2011.

The new one-year deal will mean that Giggsy will be staying at Old Trafford past his upcoming 37th birthday. Giggs has been declared the BBC Sports Personality of the Year and with good reason, the man has been in fine form this season. We all know that Giggs is a stable and consistent player but this year looks like he has upped his game and he’s been performing exceptionally well. In the Fantasy League I play in, practically everyone has him on every team roster, and that’s a fair indicator of the numbers he’s been putting out this season. Even Sir Alex Ferguson couldn’t help but remark about the amazing form Giggs has been showing this season.

Tags:   Manchester united · Ryan Giggs

Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand has seen scant action this season.

The Red Devil center-back has been injury plagued of late and has not played for the team since the Red Devils’ 2-0 loss against Liverpool last October. He’s been sidelined because of a calf injury that has been traced back to a back problem he’s had in the past.

There’s been much speculation on Ferdinand’s injury including talk that his injury is far more serious than what is being reported. But Sir Alex Ferguson has repeatedly denied that Ferdinand’s injury will be long-term. Fergie has also expressed confidence that Rio will be back soon to help in the Red Devils’ cause and to defend the team’s Premier League championship.

It’s no surprise that Manchester United’s defensive capabilities has been severely tested because of the injuries its defense has suffered. Wes Brown, John O’Shea, Jonny Evans and Gary Neville have all been injured and are now in the sidelines slowly recovering from their injuries and helplessly watching their team as it tries to maintain its position in the Premier League table. But in fairness, the injuries of some of the team’s top defensive players show Fergie’s strong knack for picking the right boys because the team has only conceded three goals since Ferdinand last appeared.

If your reserve members are playing this well, it shows just how deep the talent is in Old Trafford.

Tags:   injury. · Manchester united · Rio Ferdinand

As expected Sir Alex made different changes to the squad and the Red Devils started with a completely different line up. Foster made his return in goal and as predicted Fabio, Michael Owen, Danny Wellbeck and Machedo all started. Other players to start were Gary Neville, Wes Brown, Rafael Da Silva, Evans, Anderson and Obertan who made his debut for ManUtd.

It were ManUtd who started the game furiously and after only 6 minutes Danny Wellbeck headed in from a corner from Anderson. We dominated the game with a not too impressive performance but we can easily say that the ‘youngsters got the job done’. Both Obertan and Wellbeck had chances after ManUtd took the lead but failed to convert. The last 10 minutes of the first half were controlled by Barnsley who couldn’t convert either, even though Foster had to concede 4 corners in that period.

Danny Wellbeck celebrated Powel style. Continue reading »

Tags:   Barnsley FC · Carling Cup · Danny Wellbeck · Gabriel Obertan · Gary Neville · League Cup · Michael Owen · Zoran Tosic