Saturday, November 26, 2005
Rooney Could Rule For A Decade At OT
Wayne Rooney wants to win trophies with United for the next decade - and the striker is determined that his first winners' medal will arrive this season.The 20-year-old has a deal with the Reds until 2010, but he can picture himself playing at Old Trafford for another ten years."I don't see any reason why I won't be," he said. "It's a massive club with a huge fan base and we've got a lot of good young players in the squad now. Hopefully we're going to keep getting better."I joined Manchester United to win trophies and medals so hopefully I can start this season," he added.Although the 0-0 draw with Villarreal on Tuesday was a frustrating setback, United can still qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League with the right result against Benfica next month. Now the Reds must focus on continuing their form in the Premiership. After beating Chelsea 1-0 and Charlton 3-1, Rooney says United must build a winning momentum to put pressure on Jose Mourinho's side."Hopefully we can kick on from the Charlton game now and keep winning games," he said. "We're hoping Chelsea will drop a few points so that we can get close to them or even catch them. With a bit of luck we could end up overtaking them."If we win our game in hand it's a seven-point gap and there's still a lot of games left. So it's certainly not over."And if Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooy can continue their growing strike partnership, United will be a more potent threat to Chelsea's crown. The England front man is relishing playing alongside the prolific Dutch forward."Ruud is a proven goalscorer and I think if you look at his goalscoring record it's up with the best," Rooney said. "The main thing with Ruud is his instinct. It's his awareness. When the ball's around the box it always seems to find him somehow.The 20-year-old unselfishly added: "Obviously I'd like to score a few more goals but I'm delighted if we win 1-0 and the goalkeeper scores. I'm happy when we win a game and just as happy if one of the other players scores and we win."
Fergie Rules Out January Ballack Swoop
Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed his admiration for Michael Ballack, but insists that he will not move for the Germany captain because of the pressing need to strengthen other areas of his team.
The Scot told reporters at his pre-West Ham press conference that while he admires the 29-year-old playmaker, a defensive midfielder is his priority in the January transfer window.
Ferguson said: "We have considered it for a few weeks. He's a great player, a fantastic player. But he is similar in style Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney."
Rather than build up a surfeit of attacking talent, Ferguson recognises that he has to bolster his ranks with a defensive midfielder
"I think we want to target players we badly need," he conceded. "The biggest problem is numbers. The numbers game is working against us."The last few weeks we've had young players in the team. We need a stronger squad."While Ferguson was understandably cagey over details, he did reveal that he and his staff are monitoring other transfer targets."We're targeting other areas. We're looking at one or two situations without going into specifics," he said.
Sir Alex Laughs Off Rangers Link
Sir Alex Ferguson has laughed off speculation that he is set to take over the managerial hotseat at former club Rangers.The Sun ran a story on Thursday suggesting that the Scottish club were hoping to lure Fergie back to Ibrox to take over the reigns from current boss Alex McLeish. However, the United manager was quick to scotch rumours of a return to the club where he spent two years as a player.“[I've] not a thing to say about that - no need to even comment," he said on BBC Sport. "I’m finished when I leave Manchester United. I’ve said that for a long time."When asked further whether he was interested in the job, Fergie said simply: “Not a bit.”
Clean Sheet Will Aid Our Euro Cause - Edwin
Edwin van der Sar believes a clean sheet against Benfica will go a long way to helping United secure the victory they need to take them through to the next stages of the Champions League.The Reds travel to Lisbon on 7 December knowing a win is crucial to their chances of retaining their status in the knock-out phase of the competition."My position is important because if we are going to win a game then it helps massively if me and the defence can keep a clean sheet," insists the United keeper."It helps to give the players confidence if they know we are not going to concede."While van der Sar is aiming to keep things tight at his end of the pitch, he hopes United will finally be able to make their mark in front in goal after failing to score in seven of their last eight Champions League matches."I don’t know why we are not scoring," admits the 35-year-old. "We would like to have scored more - especially in the home games - but we have not managed it and that’s disappointing."If we had taken one of the two or three chances that we had we would have beaten Villarreal easily."I think we played okay against Chelsea and we started brightly against Villarreal for 20 minutes. We created a couple of chances but the longer the game went on we lost the initiative - I don’t know why. "It’s not because of the young players because they are good players," he continues. "Maybe it is the injuries and things like that."With the players we have up front and in midfield then I hope we will be able to score more goals."
Ballacks To You Fergie
Manchester United finally received some good news yesterday after their week from hell. Bayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer admitted for the first time that midfield star Michael Ballack could be heading to Old Trafford.Ben Kinsella, The Sun
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<--Name: Matthew Matthias Tay Eng Chun School: TMC Academy~Mass Communication Jobs: VJ Times International|freelance Writer| Age: 18 going on 19 Date of Birth: 7/10/1988 Hobbies
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