Football (Soccer)

[Oriphus]

A great win for United at the weekend with Ronaldo scoring his first and a rare Left footed goal from Roy Keane that was truely fantastic. Real Betis on a 2 match slump with defeats to Osasuna as well as athletico. very disappointing that was.

United take on Rangers tonight. I wont be surprised if its quite a tight match, though i do expect United to win it. However, a 4-0 win for United is completely impossible. I just wish we had Solskjaer back as he would destroy Rangers and really support Rudd. Speaking of van Nistelrooy, even though he has not scored in 3 or so games, he has played a very influential part in Man Uniteds wins. It was him that cause Ronaldo's goal by drawing the defenders towards his run. A very smart and talented footballer.

Roll on tonight....

[Oriphus]

Go home Rangers and stop trying to play football with the big boys. Champions of Scotland. Haha. Thats about all you will be Champions off.

LOL LMFAO

[baltique]

as a yank and Leeds fan (don't laugh) my only real interest in ManU is to see Tim Howard do well. Having said that my only real "enemy" in the Prem is Chelsea *spits*

i don't mine arsenal, tottenham, even newcastle.. but chelsea? yeach.

ok. just had to get that off my chest.
carry on.

[Oriphus]

Good man, i like your thoughts. however, there are 3 keepers in the premiership all from America. What do you think of Kelsy? He is good. MLS seems to be taking off a lot more recently. I even watch it (living in Belfast, Ireland) each week. one thing that annoys me a bit is the way the Americans have to over dramatise the names of the teams. lol - You know what i mean

[baltique]

Keller at Spurs? He's ok.. been a bit unsteady at the back this year although his problem is a leaky defence and the fact no one able to control posession in midfield.

Friedel (at Blackburn) is our best keeper. Trivia: the number 2 keeper at Rovers is ALSO an American (david yelldell) so technically we've got 4 keepers in the Prem.

Howard is the future number 1 after Brad. I don't think he'll fully take over the USA number 1 shirt for another 4 years though although, should we qualify, he may get a run in 2006 WC.

Marcus Hannemann (Reading) is also a good shot stopper. He had a cracker of a season last year... just missing out on promotion through a jammy Wolves side.

another trivia fact.. Howard is NOT the first Yank to be on the books at Old Trafford. Can you name the others? (hint 1 is STILL there)


MLS is good and getting better. On average I'd compare it to about the level of top Division 1 teams but I'd bet Chicago could finish mid-table were they in the Prem. Which is not bad going for an MLS team really. The league is in a bit of financial trouble but as soon as the new endorsements come in and they finish the "soccer-specific stadia" it'll turn around. Right now most teams have to share grounds with the other and more dominant sports (baseball, football).

as far as the over dramatic names go.. that's not just an American thing. You should see some of the odd names for teams in Australia and Canada.

(and read a list of some South American team names.. hehe pretty funny)

[Oriphus]

When you say on the books, do you mean a player or a member of the coaching staff/doctors/physios? I know that there are no first team players, apart from Howard, although i would have to say im not sure where Edward Johnson or Ben Williams are from, but my guess is they are British.

Im not sure if this guy is still on the books, but he was an American who was a keeper for United, though never really got first team action. His name was Paul Rachubka and he was in the team in 2000 i think. Is that who you were talking about? Maybe he is a goalkeeping coaching staff member or something, im not sure. Let me know though.

[baltique]

1. jovan kirovski. was a ManU player in 95-96. never saw first team action but scored 21 goals in 22 games for the reserves. for some reason just couldn't crack the starting XI. went on to dortmund and now is at birmimgham city (injured)

2. paul rachubka : correct. now at charlton.

3. jonathon spector. USA U-17 and a very promising young player. had a cracking FIFA u-17 championship. still at ManU



freddy adu another US u-17 player and currently all the hype has been looked at by ManU. he's only 14 but has already been offered a deal by Inter Milan (which he turned down as he was 13 at the time). watch for his name in the future.

[Oriphus]

Never heard of Jonaton Spector. I watch a lot of the Reserves and some U-17 matches, but i cant remember his name coming up. To be honest, i havent really heard of Kirovski playing for United. I know who he is though, so maybe the name is familiar to me

I'll keep an eye out for Freddy Adu. The best types of players to come out of USA, seem to be goalkeepers. It must have something to do with the catching philosophy of the American Football. Maybe Tim Howard was a reciever or something lol

[baltique]

Spector cuts United deal

MANCHESTER United have swooped for 17-year-old American defender Jonathan Spector.

The 6ft 1in centre back, from Chicago, has agreed a four-year deal with the Reds and is expected to sign in July.

Spector, who has modelled himself on Rio Ferdinand, said: “I was playing for the USA Under-17 team in a tournament in Ballymena last year when I was approached by United scout Dave Bushell.

“They got in touch again when I went to play in a tournament in Italy. I think United had discovered by then that I was eligible for a work permit because my mom was born in Germany.

“There were other European clubs interested but my mind was made up. I might be American, but even I know you never say no to Manchester United.”

[Oriphus]

lol - I was at that Tournament, its only about 20miles away from where i live. Some great international matches were played there, countries from all over the world competed. Man Utd won the club one.

[MPS]

nice win by MU lately good to see the boys winning...

[Oriphus]

Yeah, but it was expected if you as me

An important match tomorrow against some useless team, oh yeah, Liverpool....Since those useless twats Spurs couldnt hold on to a 1-0 win late in the second half, we have to beat Liverpool.

[admin]

useless twats Spurs

I think that's their official name ...

[Oriphus]

Yeah, it sure is starting to become a trade mark of spurs. Another trademark is Lucky Arsenal. They have played ****e compared to last season, yet its their best start to a season ever. Whats going on???

[admin]

I think we create our own luck through character the resilience, not giving up until the game is won - something that we lacked from last season.

We badly miss Vieira though, and also a top quality striker to partner Henry.