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

Tonight we play the fourth round of the League Cup, AKA Carling Cup or Milk Cup, away at Barnsley. There’s not much to say about this game other than that we can expect many changes again and it is likely that Fabio Da Silva will start, together with Owen and possibly also Macheda and Wellbeck. If Darren Fletcher is recovered from his groin injury picked up during the international break he might also feature.

For Alex Ferguson it will be an ‘emotional’ meeting with the guy who once saved his career and allowed the gaffer to become one of the most illustrious manager s in the history of the game: Mark Robins.

As usually highlights will be updated on the Manchester United blog Facebook page, followed by thoughts afterwards.

Tags:   Barnsley FC · Carling Cup · Darren Fletcher · Fabio Da Silva · Mark Robins · preview. · Zoran Tosic

Now the season really has started and the games follow up each other in a rather high pace, it’s time to start a series reviewing our senior squad members and their performances so far. Today, we kick off with our goal keeper Edwin van der Sar, the Dutch almost 6’6″ tall international, who has won everything there is to win on club level.

Van der Sar has played all the games so far, 7 in the Premiership and the UCL game in Lisbon. VDS had come in in the line of fire after some errors at the end of last season. The tall Dutch international has this year been a role player and a rock in our system.
Although rarely tested during the Community Shield against Chelsea, VDS was our hero when he won the trophy for us by stopping 3 penalties.
VDS, backed by an awesome defense so far, has mostly only been tested by long range shots and always stood solid. EVDS made the difference in last week’s UCL game with two brilliant world class saves.

EVDS has hardly ever been caught on an error in this season so far, although one could say he might have done more with Citeh’s goal, but deflected shots always are hard for a keeper. As known, VDS has ruled on both long distance shots and in the air and kept 5 consecutive clean sheets.

The value of VDS for the team can’t be better worded than Giggs did it some days ago

He has a calming effect on the whole team because he doesn’t make that many mistakes. He has been doing it for so long now, you take it for granted

Continue reading »

Tags:   Carling Cup · Player Reviews · VDS