Wes Brown is determined to feature in Fabio Capello’s plans when the new England boss picks his first squad on 31 January.
The 28-year-old defender has been almost ever-present in the Reds’ defence this season, making 20 league appearances in the absence of regular right back Gary Neville. Now he wants to be involved when England play Switzerland in a friendly at Wembley on 6 February.
Brown played just five of England’s 18 matches under Steve McClaren and was an unused substitute on a further six occasions.
But his form for United this term has been top-drawer and he may well have done enough to catch Capello’s eye.
“Hopefully that’s the case,” Brown told Manchester United Radio. “If I can stay in the United team and continue to play well then hopefully I can get an England call up.”
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Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Carrick eyes front-runner role
Michael Carrick says United’s challenge now is to remain top of the league until the end of the season.
The Reds midfielder had arguably his finest game of the season in the 6-0 hammering of Newcastle on Saturday evening. The win moved United above Arsenal on goal difference at the Premier League's summit, and Carrick says the Reds are determined not to let the advantage go.
"Before we played Newcastle we knew Arsenal had drawn and that if we won we would go top," Carrick told MUTV.
"It is nice now to be sitting on top of the pile. Hopefully we can stay there, but that’s up to us. That’s the hard part. We managed to do it last season and hopefully we can do it again.
"I am sure we will if we keep playing like that. We want to get the momentum again and hopefully stay there for the rest of the season."
United currently have 51 points from 22 games, three less than last season’s total at the same stage. The Reds took 35 points from a possible 48 in the final 16 matches of last term’s title run-in, and may have to go close to that total again this time around. That means the Reds may have to pass the 85-point mark to retain the title.
Carrick is certain the Reds can deliver successive titles if United take all the good elements of the second-half performance against Newcastle into the crucial forthcoming months.
"We just have to do the right things in games," he added. "As long as we try to do that we’ll win a lot of games. When it does click, teams struggle to cope with us. When we play to that standard we will beat anyone and cause anyone problems. Hopefully that continues." Read more...
The Reds midfielder had arguably his finest game of the season in the 6-0 hammering of Newcastle on Saturday evening. The win moved United above Arsenal on goal difference at the Premier League's summit, and Carrick says the Reds are determined not to let the advantage go.
"Before we played Newcastle we knew Arsenal had drawn and that if we won we would go top," Carrick told MUTV.
"It is nice now to be sitting on top of the pile. Hopefully we can stay there, but that’s up to us. That’s the hard part. We managed to do it last season and hopefully we can do it again.
"I am sure we will if we keep playing like that. We want to get the momentum again and hopefully stay there for the rest of the season."
United currently have 51 points from 22 games, three less than last season’s total at the same stage. The Reds took 35 points from a possible 48 in the final 16 matches of last term’s title run-in, and may have to go close to that total again this time around. That means the Reds may have to pass the 85-point mark to retain the title.
Carrick is certain the Reds can deliver successive titles if United take all the good elements of the second-half performance against Newcastle into the crucial forthcoming months.
"We just have to do the right things in games," he added. "As long as we try to do that we’ll win a lot of games. When it does click, teams struggle to cope with us. When we play to that standard we will beat anyone and cause anyone problems. Hopefully that continues." Read more...
Man Utd deal on cards says Hertha's Gilberto
Hertha Berlin's Gilberto has emerged as a candidate to give United extra cover at left back. The 31-year-old's agent Alexandra Martins claimed agreement with United was close after talks on a new deal at his German club broke down over his demand for £1.75million a year. Gilberto's contract runs out at the end of the season and United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to snap up the tough-tackling left-sided defender or midfielder. Gilberto said: "I have received offers from England, Portugal and Brazil. I have become accustomed to winning trophies with Brazil and would like to do the same at club level." Hertha general manager Dieter Hoeness said: "Trying to extend his contract is a priority for us."
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Monday, January 14, 2008
Rio relishes Reds' miserly streak
Rio Ferdinand insisted clean sheets are as important as goals after United’s 6-0 romp over Newcastle on Saturday.
The towering centre-back scored the Reds’ fourth goal against the Magpies, but he took greater pride from his side’s imperious defending throughout the match as United registered a 13th clean sheet in 22 league games.
“It’s nice to get on the goalscoring sheet, but more important for me was the clean sheet,” he told Setanta Sports. “If we keep clean sheets then we’ve got people like Ronny (Cristiano Ronaldo) upfront who can score us goals.”
The Reds’ canter, allied to Arsenal’s failure to beat Birmingham, saw the champions move back to the top of the Premier League. United’s form augurs well in the ongoing title race, and Ferdinand is keen to keep his focus in-house.
“We’ll have to wait and see, we just concentrate on Manchester United,” he said. “If we keep clean sheets and score the odd goal here and there then we know we’re going to be in with a shout at the end of the season.
“It’s too early to say whether we’re going to stay there or not, we have to get our consistency going and make sure we’re performing like we did today and we’ll be alright.” Read more...
The towering centre-back scored the Reds’ fourth goal against the Magpies, but he took greater pride from his side’s imperious defending throughout the match as United registered a 13th clean sheet in 22 league games.
“It’s nice to get on the goalscoring sheet, but more important for me was the clean sheet,” he told Setanta Sports. “If we keep clean sheets then we’ve got people like Ronny (Cristiano Ronaldo) upfront who can score us goals.”
The Reds’ canter, allied to Arsenal’s failure to beat Birmingham, saw the champions move back to the top of the Premier League. United’s form augurs well in the ongoing title race, and Ferdinand is keen to keep his focus in-house.
“We’ll have to wait and see, we just concentrate on Manchester United,” he said. “If we keep clean sheets and score the odd goal here and there then we know we’re going to be in with a shout at the end of the season.
“It’s too early to say whether we’re going to stay there or not, we have to get our consistency going and make sure we’re performing like we did today and we’ll be alright.” Read more...
Rooney's been robbed!
Wayne Rooney's frustration at not finding the net in the Reds’ 6-0 win on the weekend was clear, and perhaps more understandable when you consider the United ace learnt just 24 hours prior to kick off that his personal goals tally had been cut by the Premier League.
A memo circulated last Friday from the Dubious Goals Committee revealed the Reds’ opener at the Emirates Stadium in November had been ruled as a William Gallas own goal.
United’s club statistician and official media outlets, including ManUtd.com, had previously credited the strike to the England international.
The decision now means Rooney’s 2007/08 tally stands at nine, while his goal at Villa Park in the recent FA Cup third round clash was his 68th in a United shirt.
Other rulings by the Dubious Goals Committee included allowing Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs’ strikes at Villa Park in October to stand as Reds goals, while the same decision applies to Carlos Tevez’s second against Middlesbrough and Cristiano Ronaldo’s first against Blackburn Rovers. Read more...
A memo circulated last Friday from the Dubious Goals Committee revealed the Reds’ opener at the Emirates Stadium in November had been ruled as a William Gallas own goal.
United’s club statistician and official media outlets, including ManUtd.com, had previously credited the strike to the England international.
The decision now means Rooney’s 2007/08 tally stands at nine, while his goal at Villa Park in the recent FA Cup third round clash was his 68th in a United shirt.
Other rulings by the Dubious Goals Committee included allowing Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs’ strikes at Villa Park in October to stand as Reds goals, while the same decision applies to Carlos Tevez’s second against Middlesbrough and Cristiano Ronaldo’s first against Blackburn Rovers. Read more...
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