Hello there, I’m in the middle of moving house, hence there will be some minimal blogging today. I will probably be more detailed when I am well settled in my new abode — internet connectivity permitting. In the meantime, hopefully, Stephen Darwin might fill in, or even — who knows — I might swoop in when I find an idle computer with internet connection like a starved dog on a juicy bone and pen some, mostly inconsequential, words.

I had the chance to watch the Boca Juniors game but only the first half of the Bayern one. In the spirit of the underlying theme of this post I’ll go with something vacuous: I found some parts of the game encouraging and some discouraging. (I know, I told you today wasn’t the day)

Continue reading “Audi Cup: The Escapist’s Roundup”

There is no doubting the immeasurable void that’s been left in the United side following the departure of one Cristiano Ronaldo. When you remove a player capable of scoring 42 goals in a single season, there’s bound to be a gaping hole left behind. While Sir Alex clearly had no choice but to allow the Portuguese the chance to fulfil his dream of playing for Real Madrid, our trusty Scottish manager has undoubtedly had a major say on who potentially joins/has already joined the club this summer.

Antonio Valencia, Gabriel Obertan and Michael Owen – the three newest members of the Manchester United squad. OK so the aforementioned signings certainly haven’t got pulses racing amongst many of us but shrewd they are nonetheless at a combined total of around £20 million. The underlying fact is that no one in the world can replicate the unprecedented talents of our former number 7 and that’s been represented in our transfer dealings. Ronaldo simply can’t and won’t be replaced, but my question is…are we really that worried?

Continue reading “No Ronaldo? No Problem For United!”

The new United away kit has been launched today and is available for pre-order.

The 09/10 away shirt was leaked earlier and we saw then that it was based on the same template as the new home kit, using a blue V stripe on a black shirt for outfield players and a awesome looking blue shirt for keepers (with a black V stripe).

Photos after the jump.

Continue reading “09/10 Manchester United Away Kit”

OK so it’s hardly the best kept secret in European football but Jose Mourinho has admitted that he fancies a crack at succeeding Sir Alex at United. At 67-years-old, Ferguson clearly doesn’t have too many more years of management left in him, but does the former Chelsea boss really tick all the right boxes? I honestly don’t think he’s a bad shout you know.

“I would consider going to Manchester United but United have to consider if they want me to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson,” Mourinho told the Daily Mirror.

“If they do, then of course.”

Continue reading “Jose Mourinho CAN succeed Ferguson at United”

So after completing the Asian money-making exercise leg of the pre-season, United return to Europe with a stop in Germany (Munich, in particular) to play in the Audi Cup. This ‘Cup competition’ involves United playing two matches on Wednesday and Thursday (of this week). With such a demanding schedule, I honestly hope they are in the plane to Munich, like right now.

Continue reading “United gravy train chugs back after Asian jaunt”

I’ve been trying my best to sidestep the ‘intelligent’ mudslinging happening between the two Manchester clubs.[I am of course talking about this] It could be passed off as ‘passion’, and ‘banter’, but really it has got a lot more mileage than it deserved. But since Tim Rich — continuing in what seems like a rather productive-looking Asian assignment for him — pulled off a fantastic interview with the manager, I think I’ll have to allow myself to be sucked into this.

Continue reading “Ferguson rips into City, and also talks other stuff”

This has been a topic I had been meaning to touch upon for a while but haven’t until now.

Tim Rich, who seems to be The Guardian’s man accompanying the United travelling party, has been doing his share of sending postcards from the far-east. Topics covered in his daily dispatches range from describing the boredom of our poor, grossly overpaid, footballers [boo, hoo. The players have exhausted their stockpile of DVDs and can't get out of their hotel rooms. How are they ever going to survive? Cue: an idea for network executives for a pilot of 'I'm a Premier League footballer, get me out of this claustrophobic, yet plush hotel room'] to pointing us towards the 1.2 million South Korean owners of Manchester United credit cards, for the 98247th time.

Continue reading “Glazers defend Ferguson, and United’s Asian Invasion”

Keano sings the Ronaldo song, from the Ian Dempsey breakfast show podcast.

Click here for direct link or click here to stream.

So the boys play another game today against the Malaysian XI to compensate for the loss of the Indonesian friendly. I wish I could look forward to it, but timezones don’t help.

Continue reading “United’s Malaysia Rematch”

Update: United cancel Indonesia visit. Club working on revised itinerary outside Indonesia.

Every now and then we get hit by news that brings us down to reality. At the time of writing, nine people were killed in bombings of two luxury hotels in Indonesia.

It’s more shocking if you realize United were scheduled to stay at the Ritz in Jakarta. The cause, people behind these attacks aren’t yet known, so we’ll have to wait for further details to be revealed.

Whether United would tour Indonesia is also up in the air.

A spokesman for the Indonesian organizers, Souraiya Farina, told AFP they had not had any information yet from the team on whether they would cancel their visit. ‘We have had no confirmation of what they might be doing and noone has indicated to us that they will cancel their visit,’ she said. ‘They may move to another hotel,’ she added, citing the Pacific Hotel as an alternative.[link]

Meanwhile, United kick off pre-season in Malaysia with a match on Saturday. We will hopefully have mini-reports of the preseason friendlies.

Travelling squad: Edwin van der Sar, Tomasz Kuszczak, Ben Foster; Jonny Evans, Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville, Wes Brown, John O’Shea, Fabio da Silva; Nani, Zoran Tosic, Darren Fletcher, Anderson, Darron Gibson, Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick, Ryan Giggs; Michael Owen, Dimitar Berbatov, Federico Macheda, Wayne Rooney.

We will look to update this post as an when we get to hear about United’s plans to tour Indonesia. Watch this space.