Roon: We're Not Same Without Ron

This is from The Sun so read it with a grain of salt:

WAYNE ROONEY is still not happy Cristiano Ronaldo left Old Trafford last summer, claiming the Portuguese superstar is 'irreplaceable'.

The United striker has had to carry the burden of expectation now that Ronaldo plies his trade in Madrid rather than Manchester.

Incomparable duo

Rooney returns from a calf injury tomorrow to take on the old foe Liverpool at Anfield.
It is some game in which to make his 250th appearance for United in five years at the club. But he wishes he was still playing with Ronaldo by his side.
Birthday boy Rooney, 24 today, said: "I don't consider I was ever in Ronaldo's shadow but, no, I'm not happy he left the club and I don't think any of us are.
"I'd prefer him to still be in the team if I'm being honest.
"He's a brilliant player, irreplaceable, the best player in the world - so no one's happy he left."
Rooney says that, on the first day back for training after Ronaldo's departure, manager Alex Ferguson told him he had to up his goals rate.
The England star revealed: "The manager said he wanted me to score more goals - but then he tells me that every season. As the season goes on, if I am not scoring enough, he'll tell me I need to improve.
"And if I am scoring goals, he'll still tell me I need to improve. That's just how he is."
Rooney still keeps in touch with Ronaldo following his former team-mate's world record £80million move to the Bernabeu.
Some thought they would never speak again after the Portuguese international's part in Roo's red card in the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals.
But Rooney quickly patched things up with 'The Winker' and they went on to win three titles and the Champions League together.

Ronny and Rooney

Rooney added: "We still speak from time to time. He's enjoying his football in Madrid and obviously he's settled in well and is scoring goals. He sounds like he is loving it over there." (hahahahaha)
Despite Ronaldo's absence, Rooney is still happy with United's form this season.
They go to Anfield tomorrow top of the table and all but certain of qualification for the next stage of the Champions League.
Rooney said: "It's funny because as soon as we got beaten at Burnley, people came out saying 'we're not as good as last season, we won't win the title, we'll be lucky to finish in the top four' and all that.
"It was laughable, we'd only lost one game. But then they've done it the last three seasons when we've won the league - the next season they've been straight out saying Chelsea are the favourites. I think because of United's dominance over the last couple of decades, a lot of people like to see us lose. We just have to get on with it."

Another linkup...another goal.  Club World Championship 2008

Rooney's return will be a major boost for United after he missed the midweek trip to Moscow which saw United beat CSKA 1-0 with a late Antonio Valencia winner.

Rooney said: "If I think someone can improve in a game I'll tell them, just as I expect they'll tell me if they think I'm not doing what I should or playing as well as I should.
"I think a bigger part of my game is trying to set an example by raising the tempo of the team.
"If things are a bit flat at Old Trafford, I'll chase about and try and get the crowd up a bit. Little things like that can make a massive difference."
Despite his seemingly fearless demeanour, Rooney will stand in the tunnel at Anfield tomorrow with nerves. But he believes the butterflies in his tummy help him fix his attention on exactly what he is going to do.
Rooney admitted: "I get nervous before every game, be it against Barcelona or Andorra or whoever.
"But it's not like uncontrollable nerves. It's more just running scenarios through my head, like what would I do if this happens, what will I do if that happens.
"But then as soon as I'm out there playing, it's gone and you're just playing on your instincts."

More from The Sun:

ALEX FERGUSON has warned the Anfield hate mob they will not faze Michael Owen.

The Manchester United striker faces a rough reception tomorrow when he returns to Liverpool - the club he served for eight years.
United boss Ferguson said: "I don't think it will bother Michael. Everyone wants to be liked but he's got the experience to handle it. It will be interesting to see what kind of reaction he gets.
"There have been very few players who have played for both clubs.
"Paul Ince got a bad reception from our fans when he joined Liverpool.
"Michael may well get that again on Sunday but it is difficult to say."
Owen, 29, was booed when he returned to Anfield with Newcastle in May and can expect twice the abuse now he plays for the Kop's most hated rivals.
But Ferguson believes the hotshot can ram the taunts back down the Liverpool fans' throats with a winning goal.
He is expected to come on as a sub in the Premier League clash and Fergie insists he is sharp enough to affect the outcome of the game.
The Old Trafford chief said: "He is capable of scoring in any type of match, including at the highest level. He has done that in his career."
Ferguson maintains Owen is still a master at beating the offside trap - just as he did in the closing seconds to win the Manchester derby.
The Scot added: "There is no one better at holding the line in the last third of the field. He is very seldom offside and that is down to his experience."
Owen remains the third top forward in Liverpool's history, boasting 258 goals in all competitions between 1996 and 2004.
And Fergie admitted: "The goals he scored mark him down as one of their best-ever strikers."

Beach Ball Bingo

Poor Liverfools.  Even their fans are getting in on the game.  Yesterday during their match with Sunderland, a Pool fan behind their goal threw a large red beach ball onto the pitch.  Their keeper, Pepe Reina, and their players made no attempt to clear the ball away from the box.  The referee did not see the ball until after "the incident."
What incident, you ask?  Darren Bent of Sunderland launched a low rocket at the goal.  It hit the red beach ball in front of Pepe Reina and ricocheted off the ball past Reina.  Sunderland 1, Liverpool 0.  The hilarious part is seeing Reina apparently more concerned with the beach ball going past him than the soccer ball.

Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRe2j07yDQk

¡Vaya, Valencia! (Not Spain)

How difficult it must be to play at Manchester United. It's not like you're a star and everyone around you is an idiot. Any player in the United starting XI or on the bench could go anywhere in the world and be in a starting XI.

So imagine that the world's best player leaves a team for a record-setting fee and his former team looks to fill the very large vacancy. If you're hired, you won't be playing for a no-name team who get no publicity. You will be playing for a name-brand that is known the world over. Their stadium (Old Trafford) is filled with 76,000 screaming faithful every match and their fanbase touches all continents. Would you want to be that player?

Enter Antonio Valencia. A quiet, unassuming Ecuadorian who has been the star winger for Wigan Athletic the past three seasons. Antonio got the call from Sir Alex that he needed a new winger after Cristiano Ronaldo left for that team in Spain. Before accepting (which probably took five seconds), Antonio most assuredly thought about the points I mentioned above. The person he would be replacing won every award imaginable last year (somewhere around 24 trophies), and was known simply as "Ronaldo" or "CR7." Antonio Valencia wasn't a big star in Euro footy so it was with quizzical looks that United fans welcomed him into the Red fold. Could anyone replace CR7?

Yes. United has never been about one player and although some very famous names in footy have been stars for and left the Red Devils, none of them were current World Players of the Year.

If the pressures of stepping into the starting XI at Old Trafford were daunting to Antonio, then he certainly hasn't shown it. He is a calm, commanding presence down the wing and has the ability to turn a match with his physicality, much like CR7 did. His crosses are superb and he has supplied many a ball into the box which eventually find their way into the net. With all of these attributes and his quiet maturity, it is surprising that he is only 23. His former manager at Wigan, Steve Bruce, summed up his talent:

"Valencia has got that thing which not many players have anymore – the ability to dribble," Bruce said. "People who can run with the ball, take it up the pitch and beat a man are a dying breed – there aren't many around."

Antonio "opening his account" against Bolton

So today on 33 minutes, Michael Owen sent a beautiful ball to Valencia, who passed outside to a sprinting Gary Neville, who then passed back to Valencia...and he whacked one past Bolton keeper, Jussi Jaaskelainen. It was well-struck and Valencia's first competitive goal (he scored two in pre-season) in a United shirt. He barely celebrated. He merely turned around and gave credit to Owen and Neville for supplying him with the chance.

The Brits have a wonderful expression for scoring your first goal..."opening your account." Here's to Antonio Valencia carrying an ATM card in his boot!  ¡Vaya, Valencia!
 
More photos from United's 2-1 victory over Bolton, which sent us top of the table:
 

Michael Owen celebrating his header (which became an assist, when a Bolton defender knocked it in)

Anderson played brilliantly today...he is finally maturing

Old Man Ryan Giggs schooling a defender on the finer points of winning a corner

Another photo of Michael Owen (just for fun!)

My MOTM:  It would be a toss-up between Valencia and Berbatov.  Both were key players in the buildup.  Valencia's strength in out-muscling players is so fun to watch.  His physical presence is equally matched by Berbatov's sublimeness.  His pitch awareness is second-to-none.  Today he was simply "suBerb!" :)

"Now boarding for Guimaeres...Gate 7"

He should go.
Forget the likes of Jorge Valdano and Florentino Perez.
He is the captain of his squad and should be there to support them in their quest to qualify for the World Cup.

Irreal Madrid has announced that Cristiano will not be allowed to watch his team play Malta in Guimaeres, Portugal. Their reason? He might miss one treatment for his ankle.
I could understand if they were trying to get him fit for this Saturday. He will be out for a month. I can't see how one treatment will negate what they've done already.

I really don't like these "people."

The Longest Month

As I reported earlier, Cristiano was injured in a Champions League tie with Olympique Marseilles two weeks ago.  Diagnosed as a sprain with edema and curvature to the ligament (grade 1), he didn't play in the Real Madrid match with Sevilla last Sunday.  They lost.  Convincingly. 

Doesn't look like an ordinary knock to me...

I, and others who are not Madridistas and thereby are able to back up and look at the real picture, were not surprised that Sevilla pounded the Merengues...they have no defense.  If you listen to any sports guru they will tell you that "defense wins championships."  So this summer Real Madrid spent a king's ransom for strikers galore and barely bolstered their holy backside.  Sevilla capitalized on this and took los Blancos "to the woodshed."  Factor in that RM is a PR machine, with pithy soundbites to keep the masses happy.  That tactic does not work when you are losing, only when you are winning.  When everything begins to go wrong, as it did in Sevilla, then the well-trained birds begin to sing a different tune.  One such example was RM's star keeper, Iker Casillas, screaming at just about anyone who would listen to him during the match.  The co-captain of the team, Guti, just happened to be in earshot when Iker decided to rant about the defense not doing anything...

Iker blasting RM's co-captain, Guti

In a heated argument, heard by the ultra-sensitive TV cameras, Iker told Guti that he had "done nothing," to which Guti responded with, "shut your mouth!"  Giving Casillas some credit, the RM defense hadn't done anything and managed to give the Sevillans 18 corners!  But with that said, I don't think the powers-that-be at RM would like the public to know that everything isn't just peachy on the team.  Rumors of infighting and petty jealousies (mostly aimed at Cristiano) finally spilled onto the pitch in the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

"without Cristiano...no paradise"

So...Cristiano played for Portugal yesterday in an international tie that the Portuguese needed desperately if they wanted to assure a place in the playoffs.  They succeeded with a convincing win over the Hungarians, 3-0, but their star limped off after the first goal with pain in his ankle.  The Madridistas probably didn't want to risk their star striker for an international match, but there was no way Cristiano was going to miss an international qualifier that would help or kill his team's chances of making the trip to South Africa.  With doctors on both sides giving treatments to the striker and the press in both nations on edge, with polls of "Should Cristiano risk playing in the match?" he decided to play.
As I said above, he played well for the 20 minutes he was on the pitch, but this photo says it all...

Portugal boss Carlos Queiroz shields CR's face as the medical team wraps his ankle

...his ankle really hadn't healed.  Now the Spanish press is lambasting the Portuguese national team for letting him play because their doctors should have known that he wasn't fully-healed.  The Portuguese press is reminding the Spanish press that he was injured in an RM match, not a Portuguese national team match and that the RM medical team failed to realize that the injury was that serious.  It's your fault.  No, it's your fault. 

Not that I want CR to be injured, but the drama is kind of funny.  I'm waiting for the Spanish Armada to park itself off of Lisbon's bay...war is imminent! hehe

It doesn't matter who's fault it is, but Cristiano now has a four-week layoff from playing.  The ankle is worse than it was before he played in the qualifier, as the RM mouthpieces were quick to counter. 

The part that really chaps my hide is that earlier this week when both sides were at each others' throats and RM "fans" were voting on the "should he shouldn't he play for Portugal" polls, the "leaders" of RM decided that they were looking very anti-World Cup.  So they released a statement that they wanted CR to play in the qualifier because it's imperative that the star plays in South Africa.  Why?  Because if he doesn't then they will stand to lose 100 million euros on CR merchandising.

Unbelievable.

This is going to be the longest month.

Cup o' World

With the Prem League in a two-week hiatus for international play, I feel obliged to comment on the current qualifiers for World Cup 2010 in South Africa.
The UNITED STATES won a dramatic match 3-2 against home team Honduras.  A fantastic save by Tim Howard (stopper for Everton) and a missed penalty by the Hondurans in the latter stages of the match secured a place for the Americans in South Africa with one game to spare.  U-S-A!  U-S-A!
PORTUGAL, predicted to blast through their group and be booked to the Cup with several games to spare, have performed horribly in the first matches and needed a miracle and a bit o' luck today.  With Denmark topping the group and Sweden tied with Portugal for second place, the Portuguese needed a loss by Sweden at the hands of the Danes...they got that.  Now, they needed to beat Hungary, who were on their heels in their group...and they got that.  Winning 3-0 at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, this match was the first one I've watched where they didn't look like they'd been given Thorazine.  Much drama had been in the air since their star, Cristiano, had limped out of a Real Madrid match last week with an ankle injury.  He played for 27 minutes against Hungary, assisting on Simao's first goal, then asked to be taken off.  He sat on the bench with an icepack on his ankle....hmmmm....I wonder if he will play on Wednesday against Malta?  Team Portugal must beat Malta to secure a place in the playoffs.  Forca Portugal!!!!
ARGENTINA.  Well, they are still alive.  I was hoping Peru would end their World Cup bid, as I am NOT a fan of the Three Trolls, Maradroga, Messitroll, and Trollvez.  Unfortunately, the Albicelestes pulled off a win against the Peruvians and their Cup hopes have a pulse, albeit a threading one.  After the match, which was played in a torrential downpour, the Argie's "leader" Maladroga (as his countrymen call him) slid on his stomach in the mud.  He's already dragged his name and his country's national team through the mud, so it was a fitting end.  If they fail to qualify, or even if they escape by the skin of their teeth, he may be shown the door by a country tired of his antics.
CAUTION:  A SUSANA RANT!
FIFA, the governing body for World Cup soccer, is like every governing body...trying to make a profit.  Seeding for group-stage play in the runup to the Cup was done based on past performances of each team.  In theory, the number one team in each group should have "given a clinic" to the other members of the group, booked their place long before it became a five-alarm fire situation, and all would be well in the world of soccer.  BUT...many of the teams did not leave their underlings crying in pain.  Quite the opposite.  The likes of Germany, Portugal, France, and Argentina, left it late and find themselves scrambling to make the plane to South Africa.  It should be noted that two of the top players in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo (the reigning World Player of the Year) and...*coughs* MessiTroll (yawn) play for teams who have yet to make the finals.  With the prospect of a World Cup without "high profile" players like Cristiano and His Royal Shortness, FIFA got a knot in its panties.  So what did they do?  They decided to change the rules in mid-stream.  *rolls out the long-nines and prepares to blast*
THE WORLD CUP SHOULD BE ABOUT THE WORLD, NOT A SELECT FEW DEEMED "WORTHY" BY FIFA.  I'm beginning to think FIFA stands for Freaking Inadequate For governing Anything.
They've announced that they will now seed the remaining teams who have failed to qualify on merit and need the playoffs to secure a berth.  Portugal, France, Russia, and Greece fall into this category.  Exactly what does this mean?
The World Cup qualifying is broken up into groups.  UEFA (Europe), Africa, Asia, CONCACAF (includes the US), Oceania, and South America.  Within these lie subgroupings.  Europe has 53 teams in the final grouping (8 groups with 6 teams each and 1 group with 5).  Because of that only the top team in each group is assured an automatic berth in the World Cup.  The second-place teams are then put into a playoff for the remaining spots.  The second-place team from Group A would play Group B, Group C would play Group D, etc.  But with so many high-profile teams now finding themselves in the second spot, FIFA took action to change the rules and say that the teams will be seeded based on their world rankings as of October 16. *shakes head in disgust*.  This means that Portugal (WC 2006 semi-finalists and Euro 2004 finalists), Greece (Euro 2004 winners), Russia (Euro 2008 semi-finalists...losing to eventual winner, Spain), and France (World Cup 2006 finalists) will be assured that they don't meet each other in the playoffs.  They will instead be pitted against lower-ranked teams. *shakes head in disgust*.  This ruling was not instigated before a single team began qualifying for the Cup, but was decided upon at FIFA's meeting on Sept 29th.  They were so afraid at losing out on the capital gains of having Cristiano Ronaldo and other notables in South Africa that they panicked.  But they panicked at the expense of fairness.
To me, the entire purpose of the World Cup is for each country to field their best team, vie for a place in South Africa and then represent their country well.  One need only to watch the Gabon vs. Morocco match (as I did today) to see that their fans think they are just as worthy of a berth as perennial title-contenders Brazil, France, Argentina, and Germany.  To these countries, like Gabon, Rwanda, and Sudan, the World Cup presents a chance to forget their daily struggles, which consist of war, famine, and fatal diseases and affords them the hope and pride of competing against and possibly beating a giant like Brazil, or France.
But FIFA, despite their outward goal of bringing the world together, doesn't care if Gabon, Rwanda, and Sudan make it to South Africa, because they don't have notable players on their rosters.  The only teams who really matter are the Brazils, Spains, Portugals, Netherlands, etc.
*shakes head in disgust*

Will Cristiano be in South Africa?

     

It Was "An Off Day"

Aside from a beautiful goal by Dimitar Berbatov, my Reds today were mediocre at best.  Hosting the Sunderland Black Cats, perennial mid-to-low table dwellers, United looked comatose for much of the first-half and had spurts of action in the second.  Perhaps they were stunned by the goal on 7 minutes by the Cats' Darren Bent, a striker tied with Wayne Rooney (United) and Didier Drogba (Chelsea) for second-place in total goals this season (6).  Only Fernando Torres (Liverpool) has more with 8 (thanks to a hat-trick last week).  The key word seemed to be lethargy.  At half-time I'm sure that Sir Alex gave the team his infamous hairdryer treatment, as the Reds seemed to perk up a bit at the start of the second half.  At 51 minutes United defender John O'Shea provided a beautiful cross that found Dimitar Berbatov's foot and the Bulgarian did a backwards cross-body volley straight into the goal.  United had leveled.

Berbatov's volley to level United 1-1

Fletcher celebrates with Berbatov

Ben Foster, United's replacement in goal after starter Edwin Van der Sar suffered a broken thumb in pre-season play, looked timid and unable to marshal the defenders as VDS normally does.  Bent's first-half goal was untouchable, but on 58 minutes Kenwyne Jones (10th in the table with 4 goals) outjumped United defender and captain for the evening, Nemanja Vidic.  The Serbian is rarely outjumped (see photo from blog entry The Cream Rises to the Top and you'll see what I mean), and the fact that he had been outjumped seemed to surprise keeper Foster...and Jones headed in to put the Cats up by one.
The rest of the second-half was largely uneventful, save for a penalty that should have been awarded to United and of course the sending off of former United starlet Kieran Richardson.  Richardson already had a yellow for an aggressive tackle.  When he tangled down the wing with United's Valencia, referee Alan Wiley called for a freekick.  Seemingly angered that a foul had been called, Richardson aggressively kicked the ball away from the spot and despite his protestations was given a second yellow...which equals a red.  Bye bye, Kieran.  It was more than ironic that yesterday Richardson was quoted in a newspaper article that "United was the best place to learn the game."  I don't suppose United taught him to do something so stupid.  Sunderland was now down to ten men with just five minutes of regulation to play.
Regulation ended and four minutes of extra time was added.  In the second minute, United left back Patrice Evra took a shot on goal that careened into the soup in front of the goal.  Ferdinand tried to clear it away but it went into the goal.  United had leveled once again.  If you're wondering why Rio Ferdinand would be clearing away one of our goals then I must tell you that the Ferdinand in question was Rio's brother, Anton, a defender for Sunderland.  He immediately fell to the pitch knowing that his gaffe had taken three points from his team, who had outplayed United for most of the match.  With that one gimme, United earned a point with the draw.

Anton Ferdinand knows his mistake was costly

Sunderland goalscorers Darren Bent and Kenwyne Jones were resigned after the match:

"(I'm) really disappointed,'' Bent told ESPN. "I thought the boys played really, really well. We worked really hard. You know what Manchester United are going to be like at home, they're going to come at us, come at us, come at us.
"It's a good point in the end because if you come to Old Trafford and get anything you've done well, but obviously we're dejected not to get all three points.''

"We definitely can take a lot of positives from this game. We didn't come to sit back at Old Trafford. The game at Old Trafford is never finished until it's finished and as you can see they always have a tendency to come back. "But the team played really well and we got a great point here today.''

The draw, which was deemed "an off day" by Sir Alex, put Sunderland 6th in the table after 8 games with 13 points (United leads with 19), but two teams directly below them with 12 points have only played 6 games.  Tomorrow they may well find themselves in 8th and regretting that they couldn't earn the extra two points against a very lackluster United side.
Sunderland's start this season reminds me a great deal of Hull City's run last year.  Also perennial bottomdwellers, Hull made a great start to the season in '08 only to see their side slide to the bottom at season's end.  It will be interesting to see if Bent and Jones can keep propelling their side to victory.
With 30 matches still to play, the Premier League is shaping up to be a barnburner this season.

The next few weeks is reserved for World Cup qualifiers.  Many United players will be on international duty for their respective countries.  They will not reconvene at Old Trafford until their match against Bolton on the 17th.  I have to say that I despise these international matches.  Too many chances for injuries.  I always envision Sir Alex sitting in front of his telly with a bottle of wine just praying that none of his prized players receive a knock.  Drink one for me, Sir Alex.

Oops...I Shouldn't Have Conjured

I feel terrible.  Today during his Champion's League tie against Olympique Marseilles, CR scored 2 goals...and then left the pitch with an ankle injury.

You don't think?........naaaaahhhhhhhhhh!

Just kidding.  Not about the injury.  He is doubtful for the match against Sevilla this weekend, but I don't think the wizard had anything to do with it.  A tackle from former Bordeaux stopper, Diawara, left CR's ankle a bit dodgy.  He actually looked as if he were crying...hmmmm.  Unfortunately it was the same ankle he had surgery on in June, 2008.  I'm sure he will be back, as he doesn't mind the pain.  He played in pain from January 08-May 08 and one might say those were his finest months yet.

Get well, CR *smooch*

CR goes down in the second half

!Ayy Chihuahua!!

Awww...don't cry...

"Susana...I want my Susana!"

World's Most Expensive Player "en banquillo"...

Update:  CR went through extensive medical tests today and they revealed that he has arthritis with edema in his right anklebone (the same one he had surgery on last year) and a problem with his internal lateral ligament.  He is doubtful for the match with Sevilla on Sunday.  The Sevillan coach said, "If Cristiano doesn't play, all the better!"

Update 2:  CR will not travel with the team for the match at the Estadio Sanchez Pizjuan.  It was confirmed that he would indeed play for Portugal in the next few weeks, as they are in danger of not making the World Cup next summer.