For those who missed it

United new boy, Javier Hernandez opened the scoring before Chris Smalling equalized from a corner. United then conceded two more goals from set pieces, showing some sloppy marking by the young defenders. Nani pulled one back to make it 3-1, but it was too little too late and United failed to salvage a draw.

Chicharito’s movement and finishing will be a positive for Fergie, but he must be concerned with the slack marking. Chris Smalling was very unconvincing. His movement can be described as lumbering and his marking was casual, but he was not the only United player who was below par.

If I had to describe the game, I would say it was a subdued performance. The players looked tired playing so soon after the MLS All Stars game, but the physios would have wanted the lads to get used to playing games only 2 or 3 days apart.

Chivas looked sharper and looked the better side throughout the match. They were obviously up for it and their players Medina, as well as Bautista were a handful for the United rearguard. As I mentioned earlier, the marking on set pieces was absolutely atrocious.

Chivas pressed United well and didn’t allow the reds to settle and get any sort of rhythm and that’s pretty much how the game went to be honest.

Chris Smalling seems to be an aerial threat and he almost scored a second goal from a Nani corner, but he really needs to learn from Vidic and Ferdinand. The performances of Smalling, O’Shea and Brown have highlighted how good Evans is at centre back and how magnificent both Vida and Rio are.

My other concern would still be centre midfield. I would keep Cleverley at United this season. He has real confidence, as well as determination. With Hargreaves struggling fot fitness and Anderson out till September or even longer, Fergie should sign another central midfield player.

Ritchie de Laet also struggled throughout the game and was partially at fault for the second Chivas goal. He misjudged the flight of the ball from the free-kick and failed to clear.

United: Kuszczak; De Laet (Rafael 65), Smalling, O’Shea, Fabio; Gibson (Nani 46), Scholes (Giggs 65), C.Evans (Fletcher 75), Cleverley; Berbatov (Hernandez 46, Welbeck 65), Diouf (Macheda 65). Subs not used: Amos, J.Evans. Booked: Scholes.

Here are all the goals:

Highlights:

Chicharito’s goal:

Smalling’s goal:

Nani’s goal:

Hernandez strikes again!

There have been a fair few players who have struggled with expectations and the pressures of becoming a Manchester United player, but Javier Hernandez does not appear to be one of them. After scoring on his debut against MLS All Stars, the Mexican striker scored against United whilst playing for his old team Chivas in a pre-season friendly.

Chicharito continues to show that he can finish with both feet and that he is a very instinctive player, which I like. Compare to Berbatov who tends to over-think situations at times, Chicharito makes very instinctive decisions that tend to be right. When you dilly-dally in football, by the time you make the decision, the moment will probably have passed and any decision will be the wrong one.

I’m starting to get really excited about Chicharito and have to be careful to remember that he’s going to need to get used to the premier league.

Here are the goals, which includes Chris Smalling’s equalizer. The lad is so tall he doesn’t need to jump much to rise above others, although he does seem to be climbing on the back of the opponent.

Rafael van der Vaart represents fantastic value

With the transfer of Sami Khedira to Real Madrid, there is even more competition for central midfield position at the Bernabeu stadium and several players will find themselves surplus to requirements. Amongst them, one name is particular stands out form: Rafael van der Vaart. Once regarded as one of the finest midfield talents in Europe and exciting fans in the Bundesliga, he is now almost a forgotten man in world football.

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Rumours attributed to German tabloids and magazines are fabricated

This is just a blog post to highlight the rumour-mongering that goes on during the transfer season. Several websites have published that Manchester united are about to table a bid for Mesut Özil, but this is simply not true.

The latest article on Kicker’s website is from the 18th of July – 12 days ago – and sporting director, Klaus Alofs, admitted there have been no bids so far.  This doesn’t mean that there won’t be a bid from Manchester United, but the reports that Kicker has stated that Manchester Untied are about to bid for the player are a complete fabrication.

The article on Kicker can be found here

In it Alofs says: “We did not find a solution during our discussions. There were times during the negotiations where we were on a good path, but in the end we didn’t manage to close the gaps financially.” He goes on to state “When we receive a concrete offer, we have the responsibility to consider it, if it is the wish of Mesut and his advisor.” That is a clear indication that no bid has been received yet.

Alofs also rejected reports by Spanish paper AS stating the Madrid had tabled a bid: “I have heard that the newspaper have reported that, but we have not received an offer”.

The only time Manchester United are mentioned is near the end of the article where kicker.de writes “Manchester United are believed to be interested in signing the 21 year-old”.

So fellow United fans, please treat the Özil rumours thus far with caution. They are total fabrications. Even the mother of all German tabloids, Bild, do not claim that United are about to bid for the player. Maybe united will buy him, but my point is that the quotes attributed to kicker.de and unnamed German tabloids are false.

Here’s part of the Article in German:

“Wir haben bei den Gesprächen keine Lösung gefunden. Wir waren zwischendurch auf einem guten Weg, die noch fehlende Lücke mit Leben, sprich mit Zahlen, zu füllen. Wir hatten unsere Vorstellungen, aber der Weg war nicht zu Ende zu bringen”, erklärte Allofs.

Damit deutet alles auf einen Wechsel von Özil noch in dieser Wechselperiode hin. Denn sein Vertrag läuft im kommenden Sommer aus, Werder könnte dann keine Ablösesumme mehr verlangen.

Erstmals signalisierte Allofs deshalb auch Gesprächsbereitschaft über einen Transfer Özils. “Wenn etwas Konkretes kommt, haben wir die Pflicht, uns damit auseinanderzusetzen, wenn Mesut und sein Berater das wollen”, sagte Allofs. Allerdings schränkte der frühere Nationalspieler auch ein, dass noch kein konkretes Angebot für Özil bei den Hanseaten eingegangen sei.

Auch Real Madrid habe sich noch nicht gemeldet. “Ich habe davon gehört, dass diese Zeitung das berichtet hat, doch uns liegt keine Anfrage vor”, kommentierte Allofs einen Artikel der spanischen Sportzeitung “As” vom Samstag, wonach Real eine Verpflichtung des Bremer Spielmachers bereits in die Wege geleitet habe.

Özils Marktwert wird nach der WM auf rund 27 Millionen Euro taxiert. Neben den Königlichen sollen auch andere europäische Spitzenvereine ihre Fühler nach dem Mittelfeldspieler ausgestreckt haben. So soll unter anderem der englische Rekordmeister Manchester United Interesse an einer Verpflichtung des 21-Jährigen haben.

Post-match reaction from Sir Alex

After a subdued performance against the Kansas Wizards, Manchester united were always going to lift their performance levels and ran riot against the MLS All Stars.

A brace from Kiko Macheda gave united an early lead, which was followed by a wonderful free-kick from Darron Gibson, a skilful goal by Tom Cleverley and a delicate chip by new signing Javier Hernandez.

Sir Alex Ferguson was visibly pleased and believes the pace of Chicharito, who was the fastest player at the World Cup, would be handful for Premiership defenders.

“The one thing defenders worry about is players with speed, who get into the space behind them,” he said of Hernandez.

“When you see his goal it is an indication of that speed. The timing of his run, coming towards the ball spinning, he is going to be a threat to defenders, no question.”

Macheda made the breakthrough after being mistakenly set up by All-Stars defender Kevin Alston and he took full advantage.

Ferguson said: “We always think about Macheda that going through on the goalkeeper he is probably the best we have.

“He is outstanding in those positions. You always feel very confident. When he went through I expected him to score. It was a well-taken goal.”

Gibson’s goal came from a free-kick after a challenge on Hernandez and he found the net with a superb effort over the wall and into the corner.

Cleverley’s strike was equally impressive – a cheeky flick over Wilman Conde and a cool finish that had Ferguson applauding.

“The confidence to do what he did, then the composure, it was an outstanding goal,” said the United boss.

United showed no ill-effects following the surprise defeat by Kansas City Wizards on Sunday and Ferguson added: “The thing I was looking for was our possession of the ball. We were much better at that.

“Through that we had a good tempo to our game, good rhythm to our play. It was a really good performance by us. We got a good start to the match and the team were confident for this challenge.”

The only downside was an ankle injury sustained by Gabriel Obertan, which is expected to rule the French winger out for two weeks.

Well done Macheda, Gibson, Cleverley and Chicharito

Another look at Chicharito’s goal:

Stewart Gardner interviews Javier Hernandez:

Chicharito interviewed by MUTV’s Stewart Gardner

After scoring a delightful goal on his Manchester United debut, Javier Hernandez gave the following poast-match interview:

Nice to see this young man relatively calm after a dream debut. You can see his goal here:

Youngsters impress and give Fergie something to think about

Manchester United ran out 5-2 winners against the MLS All Stars in Houston. The 70,000 strong crowd in the Reliance stadium were treated to a 7-goal thriller, which included goals by Kiko Macheda, Tom Cleverley, Darron Gibson, as well as United new boy Javier Hernandez.

Cleverley’s goal and Chicharito’s delicate lob were probably the pick of the bunch.

Hernandez received a rousing reception when he came on as a substitute and showed good movement, intelligence, pace and touch to score on his debut much to the delight of the fans in the stadium.

Tom Cleverley will have done his chances of first team football a world of good with a good display capped by a clever goal, dinking the ball over a defender before sweeping the ball into the corner of the net. Fergie will have a tough decision to make as to whether he should send Cleverley out on loan or integrate him into the first team, keeping him closer to home where his progress can be monitored better.

Here are the goals:

Kiko 0-1

Kiko 0-2

Gibson 1-3

Cleverley 1-4

Chicharito 1-5

Kiko impresses on tour

Manchester United are currently leading the MLS All Stars 2-0 at half time with Federico Macheda scoring both  goals.

Kiko gave United the lead by taking advantage of a sloppy defensive pass and then scored a header from a corner.

Here are the videos:

Sir Alex looks forward to his 24th season in charge