Thursday, 31 July 2014

Zaha eager to impress Van Gaal

Zaha eager to impress Van Gaal

Zaha eager to impress Van Gaal

Posted: 30 Jul 2014 06:27 PM PDT

Zaha, 21, was a 15m signing from Crystal Palace at the start of the 2013-14 campaign but only managed four appearances in his debut season under manager David Moyes. Moyes was eventually sacked after United finished seventh in the Premier League and missed out on European football altogether. With Dutchman Van Gaal now at the helm at Old Trafford, Zaha is relishing the opportunity to emerge from the shadows and stake his claim for regular football in Manchester after a forgettable season. To be honest, if you are not the managers cup of tea you cant do anything about it, Zaha said when asked about Moyes. There was nothing I could do. It was definitely not my attitude. The manager had his way of playing and maybe I just didnt suit it. There was so much pressure on him, so I cant really blame him. I could have got a better chance but coming to United brings a load of pressure. Zaha was the only player in the travelling squad not to have played a minute in the United States prior to Tuesdays penalty shoot-out win over Inter. But the Englishman was given time in the second half at FedEx Field and he showed glimpses of his potential in an impressive performance. I played all right and Im just happy the manager is happy with my performance really, said Zaha. I just have to work hard and I have just done what he has asked. He said if I worked hard I would get my chance. It definitely is [a fresh start]. All I can do is work hard and see how the season goes. Its a clean slate for me. Zaha is down the pecking order at United, with strikers Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez vying for a spot in the starting XI. However, the former Crystal Palace man is buoyed by Van Gaals history of promoting youth. I have heard that before he came, so I am buzzing to hear that he will give youngsters a chance, he said. Thats all I really [wanted] since I came here. I just want to be a Manchester United player. Hopefully this season I will get the chance.

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Glazers offer up 8m United shares

Posted: 30 Jul 2014 03:58 PM PDT

The Glazer family will part with about five per cent of Uniteds shares on the New York Stock Exchange, which is set to earn the American investors US$154.5m (91.4m). The current share price on the NYSE for United is $19.31, after Wednesdays trading. A press release stated the Premier League powerhouse would not be beneficiaries of the share sale, only the owners. Manchester United will not receive any proceeds from the sale of any Class A Shares by the Selling Shareholder, the statement read. The Class A Ordinary Shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MANU. The Glazers appear to be cashing in on the clubs renewed optimism, after replacing David Moyes with Louis van Gaal as manager. When Moyes sacking was confirmed, Uniteds share price had dipped to US$14.98, but had already bounced back to $16.74 by the time Van Gaal was appointed.

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No official Cuadrado bids yet, insists agent

Posted: 30 Jul 2014 05:03 AM PDT

Cuadrado's representativeAlessandro Lucci admitted he had held informal negotiations with a several clubs - including Spanish giants Barca - but added that his client is happy in Florence. Manchester United have also been linked with a move for the 26-year-old, who shone in Colombia's run to the World Cup quarter-finals. But Lucci reiterated comments made by Fiorentina sporting directorDaniele Prade, who claimed no bids had been received for Cuadradoon Tuesday. "We have been talking with Barcelona as well as other clubs for a while," Lucci told Tuttomercatoweb."We have noted a lot of interest but, as of today, there are no official talks, not with Barcelona or any other club. "Barcelona is represented by very serious professionals that in our conversations have never, let me repeat it, never talked about using dodgy strategies. "I'll take the chance to clear out things on another subject. "The relationship we have with all at Fiorentina, personal and professional, both for me and for Cuadrado, is exceedingly good. "Should there be in the near future some important, first level, talks we will sit down, analyse the pro and cons and close the deal to the maximum satisfaction of all parties involved."

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Top 10 friendly foul-ups: Barton the peacekeeper, kidnaps and hotdog arson

Posted: 30 Jul 2014 04:45 AM PDT

1) North-east neighbours get naughty Joey Barton may have ended the 2011/12 season by booting Sergio Aguero up the arse, but he began it as unlikely peacemaker for Newcastle in a game that proved there's no such thing as a friendly derby. In bizarre scenes at the Darlington Arena, 300 members of the Toon Army flooded onto the pitch after Sammy Ameobi put Newcastle 2-0 up, leading to violent clashes with their Darlo counterparts as Barton pleaded in vain for calm. Proof that Geordies and sunshine don't mix. 2) Friendly fire, Victorian-style In the 19th century, football was described as "a gentleman's game played by ruffians", but there was nothing gentlemanly about some fans. The first recorded instance of hooliganism in English football actually took place after a pre-season friendly. In 1885, after Preston North End had thumped Aston Villa 5-0, both teams were pelted with stones, attacked with sticks, punched, kicked and spat at by supporters described as "howling roughs" by press reports. Oof. 3) Making an impression Joining a new club is rarely easy –at the start you have to settle in, impress and earn your stripes. New Bayer Leverkusen manRyu Seung-Woo, a summer signing from Jeju United, thought he'd done just that by netting the equaliser against second-tier Aachen with 10 minutes left of his side's pre-season 1-1 draw. Three minutes later, however, he saw red– quite literally, after being sent off for headbutting an opposition player. The DFB didn't take too kindly to the incident, banning him from Bayer's three remaining pre-season tussles. Naughty. 4) No fun in the sun We all love the Mediterranean. The sun, the sand... the squabbling. Things got particularly heated over one close-season weekend in 2010, when two inter-island games turned into wars on the shores. First, the match between Sardinians Cagliari and northern neighbours Bastia of Corsica was abandoned after 75 minutes following a succession of fouls and scuffles. Then 48 hours later, it was the turn of the Sicilians and Cretans. Catania vs Iraklis was halted after yet more fisticuffs, this time with just 70 minutes on the clock. We thought the Med diet was supposed to calm you. 5) 'The blond arrow' vs the gunmen Nothing gets in the way of a good pre-season like having your star player kidnapped – just ask Real Madrid. Alfredo Di Stefano was nabbed at gunpoint from the European champions' Caracas hotel on their 'friendly' tour of South America in 1963. "At first I thought they were going to kill me," said the Argentine, but he was released unharmed two days later and reunited with the main perpetrator, Paul del Rio, 42 years later for the launch of a film that recounted the incident. Bygones and all that. 6) Football's fieriest hotdogs Friendlies in Argentina are, it's fair to say, a little different. For a start, they take place in January – between the traditional Apertura and Clausura halves of the season. Secondly, they're not friendly. During the '90s, these traditional summer round-robins turned into 'revenge' tournaments, with so many red cards the authorities were forced to suspend players for subsequent competitive games. River Plate gaffer Ramon Diaz even resigned in 1993 after losing one of these 'friendlies' to a team of Boca youngsters, while in 2002 another superclasico was suspended because of crowd trouble, with a hotdog vending cart set on fire and thrown from the upper stand into the lower tier. 7) George's not-so-marvellous medicine Getting injured in a pre-season friendly is careless. To do it in your own testimonial is just plain daft. But that's exactly what happened to Denis Irwin in 2000 after the Manchester United full-back was the victim of George Weah's only meaningful act in a Manchester City shirt, a hefty challenge in an otherwise friendly derby. The Irishman was stretchered off but thankfully recovered to play two more seasons at Old Trafford. 8) "Does your husband know you're here?!" Protest was in the air at a host of friendlies in summer 2011, with fans of Bayern Munich, Birmingham, Feyenoord and Egypt's Al-Ahly all using the off-season to demonstrate against their clubs' various crimes. But in Turkey, Fenerbahce turned the tables on their unruly element by banning male supporters for two games after violence at a pre-season friendly against Shakhtar Donetsk. It didn't hit the Istanbul giants in the pocket either, as 41,000 women and children under 12 turned up in the men's absence. 9) Older but no wiser Pre-season tours are the perfect time for a bit of team bonding. Shame nobody told Dennis Wise. On Leicester City's 2002 trip to Finland, a late-night game of cards reportedly got out of hand and as Wise squared up to an unnamed player, Callum Davidson tried to intervene. His reward: a broken nose and jaw. Wise's punishment: the sack. Incredibly, he initially won his case for unfair dismissal, before a Foxes appeal eventually succeeded. 10) From Saint to gonner Spare a thought for Lloyd Morrison. While most managers enjoy the honeymoon of pre-season and at least the first few real games to see if a marriage is going to work, the unfortunate gaffer lasted just five days in charge of St Helens Town after a disagreement with the North-West Counties Premier Division's hierarchy over where the club should do their pre-season training.

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Mazzarri praises Inter despite United defeat

Posted: 30 Jul 2014 01:37 AM PDT

Neither side could find a breakthrough in normal time, meaning Tuesday'smatch was decided by penalty kicks atFedEx Field in Maryland,and it was United who emerged 5-3 victors. Despite that setback, Inter boss Mazzarri was more than happy with the application of his team in what he considered an even contest. "It went very well for us," he said. "It was a balanced game and I liked the team's attitude." The match pitted new Inter centre-back Nemanja Vidic against his former side for the first time since he left Old Trafford at the end of last season following the expiry of his contract. Vidic was handed a fine reception from the United supporters who were in attendance when he replaced Marco Andreolli 10 minutes from timeand Mazzarri was delighted with the warm welcome afforded to the Serbian. "It's a pleasure to see these kinds of things," he added. "They're really good for football. It was a great event to watch."

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Ronaldo could face Man United, says Ancelotti

Posted: 30 Jul 2014 01:34 AM PDT

The UEFA Champions League holders remain winless on their pre-season tour of the USafter a penalty shootout loss to Inter and a 1-0 reverse to Roma on Tuesday. But Ancelottirevealed that hisside are set to be boosted by the return ofPortugal international Ronaldo, who is yet to appear for Real after representing his nation at the World Cup. "Hedid two sessions today and he is working well on his own," said Ancelotti, whose charges tackle Ronaldo's former employers United on Saturday in Michigan. "Let's see if in the next few days he can train with the team and can play against Manchester. "We have to be careful, right now we have to be calm." Ancelotti also claimedthat there were no set plans to bring in any more signings followingReal's acquisition of James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos. "We have to think about the players who are at Real Madrid at the moment," Ancelotti said. "The market ends on August 31 and a lot of things could happen but we have to focus on those that we have."

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Shaw concedes Van Gaal criticism warranted

Posted: 30 Jul 2014 12:28 AM PDT

Shaw was made to train on his own earlier this week during United's pre-season tour of the United States, with Van Gaal claiming the close-season signing from Southampton was not at the fitness levels he demands. The 19-year-old made a surprise substitute appearance in the 0-0 drawwith Inter in the International ChampionsCup on Tuesday, after Reece James was taken off injured. Shaw conceded that Van Gaal was right in his assessment and admitted he must do more to meet the requirements of playing for a club of the stature of United. "It's something I totally agree with," Shaw said."Playing in this formation [3-5-2] you really have to be fit. I am fit but not at his [Van Gaal's]high demands. I know I have got to get fitter to get up and down. "That's something I am going to work on, and tonight in 45 minutes I felt really good, so I am looking forward to keep on progressing until the start of the season. "I didn't come into United thinking it's going to be much harder and that's something I made a mistake on. I thought it was just going to be the same but United is the biggest club in the world and there are world-class players in training so it's something that is going to push me on. "That's something I need to keep me pushing on and this is only going to help me in the long run. "Pre-season you are always going to try and get your fitness up so I am not too sure but Iplayed 45 minutes and I felt great. I could have played on. It's a progression from the last game I played so hopefully now the main focus is getting fitter and fitter and I'll be flying by the start of the season. "I wasn't meant to play today because me and the staff decided it would be better to push me harder in training, but I didn't have any problems and I feel good." Van Gaal was impressed with Shaw's performance against the Serie A outfit, adding: "I think he did very good tonight. "He's working very hard. He was lucky today because I was going to play our friend Reece James, but he was a little bit injured. "And so I asked Shaw to play, in spite of a very heavy training session this morning."

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