Jul 20
United’s Malaysia Rematch
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.
The manager looks to ring in changes. Owen is expected to get his first start, as are Fabio and Gary Neville.
Pre-season is always interesting to me because I get to see some of the new arrivals or youngsters. Also it’s the first time one gets to watch the lads after a long summer break. The results of course won’t bother me much.
In other news, The Guardian reports that we are again in for Douglas Costa. Apparently his initial price has dropped down to £8m. I have a bad feeling about this player. I’ve heard a lot of negative reports, on how it may be a bit too early for us to get him. And the fact that he wasn’t able to make it to the Gremio first team regularly prior to his injury. It’s a bit too early for him, by most accounts, and hence even an £8m fee seems a bit steep. Also, since Chelsea and Real Madrid are in the fray, we won’t expect this price to go down.
The Guardian also has a nice interview with Owen. He’s been saying all the right things. It’s a question of him staying fit and doing the right things on the pitch. We shall see.
And the plaudits keep flowing for Owen. Rooney the latest one to heap praise on him. I think it’s too much of praise for me to stomach.
Finally SAF ends a day of too much praising — to the point of jinxing — by saying Rooney is destined for more. We always hear this at the beginning of every summer. There is something intrinsically Liverpool-esque, saying ‘this is going to be his season’. Yes, I said it. Sue me!
Related items from Red Rants:
- United touchdown in Malaysia, dodge potential disaster
- Man Utd Stories of the Day
- United Close Out U.S. Tour With Barcelona Rematch
- Man Utd Headlines 27 May 2007
- United’s debt situation explained
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
Stephen (487)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (348)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
If you can’t watch Malaysia XI vs Manchester United on tv you can try live streams, they will be available 5 – 10 minutes before match starts.
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@radzio: Oopps… I thought its Traverse..
Are you by any chance…
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Just read the Owen peice and I must say, as a human, allbeit he’s a bit boring, I actually like his personality. Lets hope he can score a bag full for us and stop the Pile winning the league this season.
I watched the Malay XI game on sat morn and must say, he looked good at finding space but I just can’t help hope that Berbaslob picks up a bit. Macheda looks even stronger on the ball these days aswell!
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@Onkar:
we have similar avatar only 
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I don’t think we’ll buying Costa, we are covered with enough ‘potential’ on the wings. If Owen does what he was brought in for we’ll do more than fine this season!! Glory Glory United!!!
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As much as I am fed up about specualting about transfers it id compelling stuff, we seem to be if we sign this Costa which does seem unlikely that we could end up frittering the money away of posibles rather than definates.
Owen regardless of some peoples views is a good signing, he adds experience as well as goals coupled with the fact he was free and his wages are low it is a no brainer. Valencia is not a favorite of mine and would not have gone for him myself but the fee was Ok and he has premiership expeience which counts for something and he is a decent crosser of the ball, and time is still on his side so can see the logic there.
Obertan and this Diouf seem a total waste of time to me I do not see the point at all, clogging up the squad with “punts” seem to be pointless, I would rather Fergie look at what he has and buy quality in those areas we need, centre of midfield for me is a must and not an area he has remotlely looked at.
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@Stephen: We all are raving about the Center Midfield area. But, what you feel what need… Is it the Midfield general (Ala Essien) or Creative head (Ala Snider). I mean if you talking about the later position then accepted but if you talk about the midfield general position then i can’t see any one who is Manchester quality.. (Forget about the DeROssi and Essiens of this world). So, as it is we have very limited choice.
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@Onkar: A bit of both mate to be honest and it will depend on if Hargreaves is fit, all seems to be quite positive but you never know!
I am a big Sneijder and feel we missed a trick there we should have got him, The Hunter, Drenthe or even Van der Vaart out of that deal, we could also look at Flamini who I have been going on about for a while, he would be cheap wants to leave Milan and Fergie could even play him at full back if he desired, or even someone like Arteta who is top draw in my eyes.
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@Stephen: Now you hit the nail on the head mate. I mean for last month or more I am advocating about Flamini. I mean why people can’t see the obvious. He is cheap and he is effective. Another person which i may like to see is Mikeal Arteta. I mean he seems to posses everything. Great crossing, good head on his shoulder to think and react, good amount of experience in the PL and to add to that Cracking Free kicks to make sure that we won’t miss Ronaldos shot from dead ball….
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@Onkar: Not me guv, my avatar is a much closer view.
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@Onkar: We sing from the same hymn book then matey, I said it after the Champions league final I would go out and buy Arteta and Flamini, not expenisive and sensible.
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@Stephen: Seems like because when i put in my first comment on this blog I said that we need to buy three players…
1. Flamini
2. Arteta / Cahill
3. Young
I know you may not like my third choice but still there are more hits than miss.
I mean what they all can give is stability, ability and adaptability. I know we may not go on big in the CL with these additions but at domestic levels it can be a quick fix. And, definitely won’t cost fortunes.
But, the one change after our Owen acquisition I will go for Arteta and Cahill anymore…
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@Onkar: I have been going on for a while that I believe Ashley Young is overrated, but that doesn not mean I don’t like the lad.
The concerns I have had with trying to aquire him would be the fee, Villa do drive a hard bargain and with Nani in our squad i would rather have a look at him first and take it from there, if he does not make it then Young would be a good option but we need to give Nani a go.
I have have said earlier Drenthe would have been a wise choice, he is young can play anywhere on the left hand side, he speaks good English and is aggressive which would fit well into the Premiership, also he is left footed unlike Nani, Valencia, Park, Obertan and Young.
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@Stephen: Spot on mate. Agreed. But, all my recommendation were just on the date of sale of Ronaldo…. So, was not able to think of Drenthe on the day. But, if you ask me today then yeah your point is well taken.
I mean can i safely say that Drenthe is kinda Dutch version of Zhirkov. I mean I was a big fan of Zhirkov and tbh Chelsea has just got the best deal. Even though, we needed him more than them. As, already have Malouda and Joe Cole how they will fit in Zhircov..
aahhh… But the point is Drenthe would have been good addition for sure….
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@Onkar: He would just give us another option, quick, skillful and some aggression out there coupled with the fact he has a left foot which would give us some balance that is unless Tosic suddenly develops into a player which he currently does not look like doing.
It is amasing what one decent signing would do for the fans, I am not too worried about next season but one more good acquisition would put us back into pole position for the league rather than in the cluster with Liverpool and in my eyes the favorites Chelsea.
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Anaysing the midfields of the big four in order of stregth:
Chelsea: lampard, ballack, essien, zhirkov,malouda, j cole, mikel, kalou
liverpool: gerrard, kuyt, alonso, mascherano, benayoun, riera, lucas
arsenal: fabregas, arshavin, nasri, rosicky, denilson, walcott, ramsey
manutd: carrick, valencia, fletcher, anderson, nani, scholes, giggs, park, hargeaves, tosic.
its a no brainer that we have numbers but the weakest of those midfields. we might even come under pressure against the midfields of city, everton, villa.
winning the league this season is going to be one step to far.
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@Stephen: Absolutely mate… I would to bate on the PL this season (and if i was legal in India) i would have bated on Chelsea at least today…
I mean they are too strong. Specially the area where we are light and susceptible they are too strong… I mean just look at there CMF area and the players they monsters in their trades. The obvious difference was pretty much clear in the way man handled the Barca Team.
So, for me they are clear favorites today at least…
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@United legend:
Gerrard starts his court hearing today so hopefully he will be banged up for 6 months.
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@Cyclops-Red: together with alonso’s possible transfer to madrid will be fantastic
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@United legend:
asssuming Hargreaves will return to full fitness we are one class midfielder/wide player short,in my view. I don’t mind us buying young players with potential but we are overdoing it this season and the cost of these players isn’t that cheap.
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@Cyclops-Red: Compared to NANI and Anderson its cheap enough…
…
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@Cyclops-Red: Agreed a Sneijder plus a fit Hargreaves will give us an excellent chance in all competitions. Dreams????
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@Cyclops-Red: There are to many variables in our squad for me: will nani and anderson step up, will owen stay fit, will hargreaves recover and what effect will the injuries have on him, is valencia as good as fergie thinks, will rooney and berbatov score more goals, how much of a contribution can scholes and giggs still make, is tosic any good ????????????
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@United legend:
Possibly this is the main reason SAF has put the cheque book away??
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@Onkar:
I don’t understand our transfer policy. I was shocked when we paid £30m for Nani and Anderson, assuming that figure is true. We seem to veer from one extreme to another and then walk away from buying Torres for the sake of a couple of million.
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Foster
Neville Brown Evans Fabio
Fletcher Carrick Giggs Tosic
Macheda Owen
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@Cyclops-Red: Not to forget that famous Ronaldinho fiasco…. Also, I may Marcos Senna debacle as we kept on procrastinating things in his case only to be denied in the end correctly by Villareal.
I mean as you said its not just in terms of money its very much odd in terms of how they handle it as well…
That’s why i am not the greatest of fan of our transfer policy… But, now we have to live with it like we are in many other instances..
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@Dan:
At least, today (whoever is watching a match) will have some idea about Tosic is all about. I mean i have been hearing so many things about me that too without any concrete idea about the lad…
I am saying todays performance will reflect a lot but at least a trailer of a movie…
Keep us updated Bro… BTW whats the telecast timing???
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@Onkar: Coverage started at 1:30, match starts at 1:45.
Ill do my best to keep you informed
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@Dan: Thanks Bro…..
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good link here
http://www.justin.tv/vip_tenisss/old
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Utd1-0 MXI
Macheda
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Utd2-0MXI
macheda,owen
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Owen is a frakken good poacher!!!
keep this up and he’ll light up the prem this season!! 
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Tosic looks good so far,this teams flowing much better than the previous…think the opposition are tired and theres no scholes or nani to give away the ball at every opportunity
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Get the live telecast address here!! http://11reds.com/matchday/asia-tour-where-to-see-manchester-united-vs-malaysia-2nd-match-live/692/
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@Onkar: try the live blog on republik of mancunia , its brilliant
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Ohh giggs still quick and owen hits the post from a tosic cross!!!if owen stays fit and fresh like this berba will have to sit on the bench…tevez 25 mil? lol
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@Taehr: yeah, Giggs was givin us a throwback to them days of his mazy runs
hopefully, there’ll be some memorable ones this season. 
plus, Owen is really looking goal sharp, as in, he’s in positions a striker is supposed to be… something Carlito never seemed to grasp. 
Tosic is okay, bt very lightweight and won’t survive in the prem.. just my opinion. 
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The thing bout tosic is that he is a bit too predictable, i agree with gabriel. He needs to vary the usage of both feet, he is too left footed. All he needs to do is cut in more on his right foot cause then it wld confuse the defender in which foot he prefers. His crossing is below his ability, theyre too low. Owen great poacher!! Macheda one for the future.
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Tosic seriously need to grow a pair when going at full backs. He tends to hesitate when going at them and does a pass back too much too often. His crosses seemed weak. Lack height and power though his swerve’s kinda Beckhamish. However, i still harbors hopes of him developing into a Lennon for us.
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@Anthony Los: @karma: Tosic is short, lightweight and doesn’t have the one ability that players his size use to overcome those negatives; lightening pace coupled with dribbling ability.. and I don’t think he can develop that, not at his age. If he can learn to bend it like beckham
, maybe he might have a future with us, else, he will be a dud. 
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Fabio is looking like he might be a saha type player
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gibson on the left
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hahaha… Rooney just took a malaysian player out!!!
the boy hasn’t lost that fire man!! 
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hahahahaha i saw that 2 he went off in a stretcher
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anybody have a link??
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Again I was unable to watch the game against the Malaysian XI but my concerns seem to be growing. I am not asking United to beat a team like that 27-0 the way Villarreal just beat their opponents but are none of you concerned that we are not blowing these teams away? 3-2 and 2-0 hardly leaves me with a sense of confidence. Sure it’s pre season but United should be able to sleep walk through teams like this 6-0 7-0 or 8-0 with ease. Perhaps I am overreacting because the lads are in extremely hot and humid areas playing through jet lag and all, but I still feel that we should be cleaning these team’s clocks.
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@Grognard:
Not really… have we ever really performed like how your mentioning in pre-season games? especially in asia? and we’re two games in.
Lets take the positives. Owen scores 2 in 2 and Mecheda looks every bit a top notch player the more he plays…
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@Grognard: Last season we drew 2-2 in asia and I think I remember us also losing a couple of years back. Its not that easy. Also difficult with 8-9 changes per game
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