RedsUnite: a man utd blog

Not much news to report today, so I plan on making a lot out of a little.

Saha to Recruit Benzema
In what would be one of the cruelest maneuvers ever employed at Manchester United, the Mirror reports that Sir Alex Ferguson has asked Louis Saha to help recruit Karim Benzema from Lyon.  I dearly hope this isn’t true.  Talk about training your replacement.  But if it means that we will replace a 30 year-old, oft-injured striker with a 20 year-old, healthy striker then I suppose I’d get over it.  It’s a cold world out there, Louis.

Neville’s Return Triumphant

Gary Neville returned to action for the reserves against Liverpool yesterday, playing 60 minutes in a losing effort.  While it may have only been a reserve team match, Neville was matched up against Harry Kewell, a Liverpool first teamer.  Apparently no one in the press actually watches these games.  I’ve read about 8 articles about Neville’s return and not one of them can tell me anything more specific than the number of minutes he logged.  In the media’s defense, however, one paper did say he looked tired.  Astute reporting.

Michael Carrick is on the Microphone(for a change).

Michael Carrick has found a microphone again.  Honestly, is he on the books as press secretary as well?  Not a day goes by that Carrick’s name is absent from the four featured stories at Manutd.com–it’s unbelievable.  With headlines ranging from today’s “Form pleases Carrick” to “Carrick is talking again so we wrote down what he said,” the man’s verbosity is unparalleled at the club.

He’s got a talking point for every situation.  United are playing well, Carrick is pleased.  United are slumping, Carrick eyes rebound.  Carrick scores, Carrick looks to continue goal-scoring ways.  Rooney scores, Carrick hails in-form Rooney.  Enough.  If I had known that the recent influx of international players was going to mean that Carrick was going to become our spokesman I would’ve had some serious reservations.

If any of you are actually interested in reading what he had to say, here you go.  Pretty much take what Owen Hargreaves said yesterday, reword it, and there you have it.

Manchester United Hire Agency to Help with Customer Relations

Cover your ears, isolationists.  Manchester United is looking to “secure its relationship with United’s global fan base” and they have hired SmartFocus to help them do that.  From HowDo.com:

Old Trafford bosses have selected SmartFocus, based in Bristol, to help them understand how the team’s supporters across the world interact with the club and how their experiences can be enhanced and relationships strengthened.

This is essentially a data management task, with SmartFocus’ ‘campaign management and marketing analytics technology’ being used to build up a single, unified view of supporters across all ‘Manchester United related transactions.’

The knowledge gleaned from this will assist the club in building its global CRM campaigns and further pushing out the powerful Manchester United brand.

I’m curious as to how this news will be received.  There is a palpable amount of fear regarding the long-term future of Manchester United in regards to its global reach.  Hearing stories like this seems likely to agitate the folk that nearly blew a gasket when the EPL was fancying a 39th game abroad.

Alright, well that’s all.  526 words and some of them aren’t mine. Better than nothing, I suppose.  Hopefully something will happen today, but I doubt it.  Not much to be said in the midweek run up to a fixture against Fulham.

Gary Neville is set to make his return to action for the reserves this evening. If you feel like you’ve seen this before, you’re right. Neville trotted out with the reserves a little while back, played 45 minutes, and promptly pulled his hammy. Hopefully tonight will be different.

I am hoping for a healthy return for the captain, but I can’t say that I am too optimistic about his return. Not that I don’t believe he will become healthy, I do. But when he returns I don’t know that he will be deserving of a first team spot. What am I basing this off of? Giggs and Scholes. Neither of them has been exactly triumphant this season, particularly failing in their ability to cover ground. If Neville returns to the squad with similar issues, can we afford to have a right back who struggles to cover ground? I doubt it. It’s one thing to have a winger who struggles to get back, but a fullback is a different story.

Balsa Boy Louis Saha is back as well and Sir Alex is thrilled. Who can blame him? Fergie praised Saha for his uniqueness in the squad, stating, “He is different from everyone else in the squad. He gives us strength and penetration.” Not to quibble with the boss, but if the reports about Ronaldo’s penchant for hookers is accurate then Saha isn’t the only one penetrating. ZING! (more…)

Yeah, I don’t really know anything about the match last night that I didn’t read in the papers. It wasn’t televised here in the States and I had to work during the match, so I wasn’t able to Sopcast it either. Poor me.

From what I’ve read, however, there seem to be a few talking points:

• Sir Alex needs to stop favoring “over-the-hill” experienced types
• Giggs looked horrible and Scholes not much better
• Rooney was ineffectual as the lone striker and should have done better with the chances he was offered
• Ferdinand was a couple of feet away from one of the greatest calamities in Champions League history
• Nani and Tevez added an instantaneous spark to the side and should not be left out
• Rooney’s attitude leaves something to be desired
• Benzema is a going to cost us a fortune (more…)

It’s match day. This evening we face Lyon in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. Thus, it is time to check in with Fergie and his lads to see how United are feeling today.

Evra’s Take

United seem to be a confident bunch coming off the heels of Saturday’s victory over Arsenal, but Patrice Evra advises that we do not discount the abilities of Lyon, stressing the need to “respect our opponents.” Referencing a victory over Real Madrid he experienced while at Monaco, Evra stated: (more…)

An abbreviated United Daily for all you junkies, as today is match preview day.

Gallas Avoids Punishment

If you aren’t already aware, William Gallas will not be disciplined for his unspotted kick at Nani on Saturday. While I do think the kick was deserving of some type of punishment, as he certainly would have been disciplined if it was seen by an official, I think Arsenal–Gallas in particular–have suffered enough. I don’t know where my sympathy is coming from, but for Gallas to have received a fine or suspension two days after a match in which they were defeated 4-0 under his captaincy, for a kick that was pathetic, childlike, and illustrative of his lack of leadership on Saturday would have been cruel. However, if the FA had decided to pile on the Gunners I certainly would not have complained. (more…)