Here and there

PoM

Player of the month polls are on. Who is your player of the month?

Was it De Gea? The flying Spaniard who made what the great Schmeichel called 'the best save in the history of premier league' and impressed so much that Chicharito declared him 'the best goal keeper in the world.'?
 

Throwback Thursday: Just like old times

 

 

Rafael's Young Graduation

Young before a player's name is used only for young players that showcase talent, ability and maturity beyond their young ages. Only one player can carry the title and will graduate upon arrival of a new prospect or disqualified if they fail to live up to the title for not less than six months. Being that we traditionally support players from when they are young, a 'Young' title can be given, on rare cases, at an early stage of a player's career.
 
Rules to Young are subject to change.
 
After that being said, join me in Congratulating Rafael on his graduation and for a job well done. The First ever Young Graduate, you did the title proud Rafael and good luck facing the world as a grown up.
 
Here is to remembering Rafael's journey as Young Rafael.
 


It all started with a very simple signature.

Behind the pitch: The Da Silva brothers

I received my United Uncovered and of the many things that were in there I loved the article on Young Rafael and Fabio.

PS: If Januzaj gets more play time Young Rafael will just have to give up the 'Young' to the kid, but till then, it's Young Rafael.

Young Rafael is a go getter and Fabio a true professional. And on worst habits; Young Rafael is too messy while Fabio is too tidy to the extent that he wants even his brothers room to be tidy, which if you ask any messy person, that is none of his business!

Young Rafael's messiness might be a bit too much because that is his off-field talent according to his twin brother! They are both real good guys and like helping others.

Young Rafael on Fabio (this is an 'awwww' quote for me);

"... my brother is a very good guy. He always wants to help people. If I look to one guy as an example, it's my brother"

Get the full interview here and see who they like to beat most between the Noisy Neighbors and Liverpool.

Photo credit: fabioandrafael.com

 

 

 

-Zama.

Sunderland to CR7 and everything in between

Nani's backflip, long time no see!

Sunderland  lost five of their six league games this season and drew one. They have only one point with the weight of all 19 team on top of them at the BPL table. In addition to that, they have conceded 3 goals in every one of their last four matches. They have seen the back of the nets of their opponents only four times and never twice in a single match.

So far this season Manchester United have scored sixteen goals and fifteen of them are from forwards, van Persie (6), Rooney (5), Welbeck (3) and Chicharito (1). Valencia scored one too. Defenders are yet to put their names on the score sheet.

All our forwards, except for Chicharito have already recorded a double, who will take it a step further and score the first hat-trick of the season?

Rio's Tour Diary 2013: Episode 3

Rio's tour diary 2013: Episode 1

In the Land of The Red Samurai

Location: Japan

Date: 22nd July 2013.

Smile boys, it doesn't hurt!

    That on the front is definitely Rafael/Fabio!

They Got My Attention: Fabregas, SALE SALE SALE, De Gea, RvP + Young

ONE: Francesc Fabregas Soler 

 

Don't worry, Wenger is a very forgiving man.

I just refreshed manutd.com and boom, there it was, a bid has been made for Cesc Fabregas.

Moyes confirmed that and will know more in a day or two! I am positive about this because I don't think Moyes is the kind of a guy that will publicly announce his interest on a player if there was no hope of getting him. He has already been judged for loosing Alcantara to Bayern Munich, why would he set himself up for another criticism?

Wenger believes that Cesc is staying at least one more season with Barca. And since they have a first refusal right Arsenal would know if he was up for sale. But then he said something I liked;

They Got My Attention: Rooney, Zaha, Alcantara, Rio + Januzaj

By: @Zamaradi_M

 ONE: Wayne 'Baba Kai' Rooney

Again, he got my attention but at least not for transfer reasons. Baba Kai got injured during training and had to cut his tour short. He is going back home to Coleen, Kai and Klay (what? keep up with your players and their families for hell's sake!). MUFC official twitter account also reported that he might be out for at least a month, which means he might miss Community Shield but might be available for Swansea on 17th August. A month from July 11 is August 11, no?

This injury also means that Welbeck has to step up because Zam Persie and Chicha are yet to join the team.

Me: Welbeck, good luck because if last season is any indication, you gonna need lots of luck!

As you would expect, the injury just made an introduction to another chapter of the Rooney madness. Some believe that he was sent home to pack and the injury was just a story to not take the attention from the tour. Until that is announced by the club, it is just a rumor!

Get well soon Baba Kai.

They Got My Attention; @ManUtd, Rio, Young Rafael & Fabio + Varela

 By: @Zamaradi_M

 1.@ManUtd

New era and new rules... Yaaaay

At last we have an official Manchester United twitter account. Was launched yesterday and is quickly approaching 500K followers. With MUFC being the most popular football club in the world, I can confidently say, Move over Bieber and Gaga, we have a new Twitter Ruler!

@MUFCTanzania asked how long it will take for @ManUtd to reach 1M followers, I said TWO days. And I am still standing by my answer.

The account is pretty decent. A few first tweets and we can all see that we are in for the ride of our lives! The tweets are fresh, up to date and not just some boring stats and quotes!

So, should we expect the return of Zam Persie? Especially with the fact that @Persie_Official was the first account @ManUtd followed? By the way, they are not following Rooney and Rio YET! I can already see a new chapter in the Rooney madness once 'media' get hold of this useless info.

With this account, stalking keeping up with Manchester United has never been easier! Like right now I know that Moyes and other senior officials visited the King of Thailand.
 

First Training - How it all went down

By: @Zamaradi_M

Where do I start?

A photo may be?

Okay boys, get to work!

 As ready as can be.

Can this be our new kit? I mean the size and design?

Ladies, you see what I mean?

Ooh Ando. Is that a new hair style? May it come with a new kind of season. And I would love to know what that tat means.

Hey Young Rafael...

Hahahaha... Girl, that's Fabio. I'm over here!

So, here's the thing. You're a player-coach, coach-player, whatever they call you but when we're on the pitch, I am THE co-captain. We clear?

Whew! And that's not even all of them!

ALL photos from Headquarters.

They Got My Attention: P. Neville, Rooney and Alcantara + Nick Powell

By: @Zamaradi_M

 

1. Phil Neville

Phil played for MUFC between 1995 and 2005. He also played under Moyes at Everton, so when Moyes called him in to his team of coaches I was not surprised at all, just very happy!

So, Phil will be reunited with former team mate Ryan Giggs on the coaching staff as well as coach some former team mates. It is always nice to see them come back, but what is even better is when they say those nice things about MUFC, especially how much they love the club. Kinda makes us feel that we are not the only ones obsessed dangerously in love with MUFC!

"When David called to give me this opportunity, I couldn’t resist. I gave my all when I played for Everton but it is no secret that this club is in my heart."

 Me: Phil, you have always and will always be in our hearts too.

He also added this;

"I’ve really enjoyed working with David and his staff as a player and I think that, together with Ryan, we can make a real contribution to Manchester United."

I was nervous about this transition as it looked like everything was going to change, especially after that coaching staff clean up. Seeing familiar faces coming back and Giggs promoted to the coaching bench really calms me down. Are we going to welcome another prodigal son this season? You know, that son who really, really misses home?

Newest members of the Coaching staff.

Well, Rio will now have to know his place, no?

For old time's sake! Those good ol' days! Young Rafael and Fabio have another mentor now.

 Source: manutd.com

2. Wayne 'Baba Kai' Rooney

I can't wait for Baba Kai to stop getting my attention which also means, get the fuck away from media. And that will only be done once he makes up his mind.

There is still no confirmation as for whether he had that talk with Moyes or not. But Moyes publicly confirmed that Rooney is not for sale. But if Baba Kai wants to leave he will have to put in an official transfer request. Apparently, the transfer request that Sir Alex was talking about was not even a formal one!

Me: I am done talking to you Baba Kai.

Well, just another chapter in the Rooney madness!

Blue is really not his color! Fashion experts, back me up on this one.

 

 If Rooney in Arsenal shirt doesn't make you laugh, then I don't know what does!

This one I like!

Source: The Guardian

3. Thiago Alcantara

It's basically more speculations. And you know how good people are with observing? Addition to this is that Thiago's father has put his restaurant up for sale which people translate it to him getting ready for a move to Manchester. But again, Thiago's brother has signed a new contract with Barcelona, would his father move and leave him alone? May be their mother will stay in Barcelona and their father will move to Manchester with Thiago. Did I just try to resolve a family issue that might not even be existing?

Another observation is that Thiago was featured in Barcelona FC's (after the 'I love Barcelona' I think we should differentiate Barcelona the city from the club) new kit's ad on their website but was cropped out on the one they posted on their instargram account.

And here is the evidence!

 

Me: Get it done already or stop torturing us!

And apparently, a source from MUFC told ESPN (and others I guess) that Alcantara's deal is almost done and Moyes might announce that today, on his first official press conference as MUFC Manager.

We'll just have to wait....

Source: ESPN

I just made a new discovery. My discovery has a name, his name is Nick Powell.

NOTE: These They Got My Attention posts are not a daily thing. I post when I can and of course when I want. Just don't expect a daily fix.

Who gets the rights to Scholes shirt?

By: @MUFCTanzania

Before a Champions League final at Wembley in 2011 while every player was preparing for the match, FIVE Barcelona stars were already having a match of their own.

As it happened Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez, Pedro Rodriguez, Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta all wanted to swap shirts with Paul Scholes after the game! They had to draw straws in which Iniesta won. The gentlemen's agreement was honored and right after the last whistle Iniesta asked Scholes for his shirt!

Scholes shirt is now safely hanging on one of the walls at Iniesta's house.

Read the full story here

Giggs doesn't seem impressed with Scholes in Barca's colors!

A very sad say, that was. Fabio is like, 'WTF Uncle Paul?'

This is another day! Does Iniesta have a wall in his house special for Scholes' shirts?