Sir Alex must have been behind plenty of transfers in his time in football. It adds up: a new centre-back every three years or so, countless midfielders, even more goalkeepers and a few strikers, but one position he has not touched in a while has been the right-back position.

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It’s the day after beating Roma, and boy doesn’t it feel nice. Today will see another pair of Champions’ League games with three other English teams on duty; Liverpool take on Arsenal and Chelsea play Fenerbahce.

The reaction from the media has been positive, although some have gone overboard in their praise. Paul Doyle in particular declares that Fergie has finally found the answer to winning European games away. Now I find such effusive over-the-top praise as a little unnecessary. Fergie got things right yesterday, the team played well. End of. But that does not necessarily mean that he’s found a cure for everything in the world. If unfair criticism can infuriate, over the top praise is on the other extreme end of the spectrum — and is no less annoying.

Trust the Guardian bloggers to barrack Fergie the next time he manages a tame away draw in Europe — these people excel in Orwellian doublespeak.

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Manchester United won 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico thanks to goals before and after the break by Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. The Red Devils take a vital 2-goal lead into the 2nd leg, to be played on Wednesday, 9th April 2008 at Old Trafford. The semi-final beckons, and with it another crack at history.

Highlights (You can read the play-by-play match report here on ManUtd.com):

Cristiano Ronaldo scoring an away goal in a crucial game for Manchester United - showing a resolve that seemed missing in seasons gone past.

Wayne Rooney’s all-round performance, easily the man of the match for his work-rate, creativity and commitment. Ronaldo stole the show with his goal but the rest of the game was more about Rooney.

Vidic’s injury - a knee strain as he landed awkwardly after jumping for a header - will be a cause of concern but hopefully it’s not a long-term injury like last season.

Roma’s wastefulness in front of goal - granted, by the end of the game both teams had their fair share of chances but there were periods of time before both goals that Roma had clear-cut chances to score, and they bottled it. For United to grab those crucial away goals in difficult games - at Lyon and now here at Rome - is a good sign of maturity from their players.

Continue reading “Rooney and Ronaldo punish wasteful Roma to give United 2-0 away win”

Four things spring to mind when we talk about a clash with Roma: Foremost in every United fan (and every Roma fan as well, albeit with a hint of dread) would be the 7-1 win at Old Trafford; the second would be the shit United fans had to put up with every time they went to Rome; the third, although to a lesser extent, would be Francesco Totti; and the fourth, especially when we got to hear the draw would have been, ‘Oh no, not again!’

So there we go, in yet another edition of a Roma-United clash; the word ‘clash’, we’d hope is not literal, and something our fans don’t face today.

But before diving into the excitement, let’s get a little United related news out of the way first. It’ll be quick, I assure you.

Continue reading “Roma v Man Utd: Preview”