Ready or Not: Hull City

This will be the 25th match between United and Hull City. United as expected enjoys an overall good record with 16 wins, 3 draws, 5 losses and a +26 goal difference. Our trip will not be easy at all, we have managed only six wins from twelve games with a 0 goal different while travelling to Hull City.

Hull City are on a draw streak with three consecutive draws that came after beating Liverpool 3-1 and enjoy an almost perfect home record with only one loss this season. To neutralize this, United can boost four consecutive wins which incude three clean sheets and have scored nine goals while allowing only one! And don't forget, December is usually United's favorite month. Evidence? Since 1990 United have played on every boxing day expect for 1995 and 2009 recording only one loss and two draws the rest were ALL wins.

Ready or Not: Spurs

Manchester United will play 9 matches between December 1st and December 28th. That is an average of one match after every three days. This will exhaust the players but the holidays season could not be any better! At least I will not complain about how much Tv subscription costs me!

Task at hand, a trip to White Hart Lane. This will be the 179th meeting between the two clubs, even though United enjoys an overall positive record of 84 wins from 178 matches, trips to Spurs are not as impressive as we have suffered 31 losses from 86 matches.

Bragging Points: Since year 2000, we have faced Spurs a total of 31 times, lost 2, drew 7 and won 22! One of those two losses was self inflicted as Evans scored an own goal in a 2-3 loss at Old Trafford.

Ready or Not: Real Sociedad



Off to Spain, well, they have already arrived but you get the idea. And tonight for the second time ever Man United will face Real Sociedad. Our last meeting at Old Trafford ended with a UTD win and a clean sheet.

 

As for the clean sheet, it's a home coming for the flying Spaniard. While every other UTD player will be playing for the first time at the home of Sociedad this will not be a first visit for DDG. 

De Gea;

"It’s always a good experience to go back to Spain and, of course, doing so wearing the Manchester United shirt makes me very proud."

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.

Questions, Troubled Kind Evra

A group photo that managed to represent every United fan's reaction after that Saints' goal. Jones for those who couldn't watch it, Evra looks angry, that guy who couldn't believe that we conceded and had to stand and take a closer look, Rafael is hiding, De Gea looks confused and beat, that woman holding her face is definitely crying. Look closer and you'll see your reaction represented here. Kudos to manutd.com photographers for capturing this moment.

 

 

Well, at least we have Januzaj for the next five years and looks like he is on the right track. The kid was voted Man of the match against Southampton which is his second in a row! Moyes and Ed, while we are still into signatures how about getting Rooney to putting one down?

Robin is back into scoring! We can all drink to that.

Bragging Rights: The Future is Bright

If you like to know your facts like me so you can brag with your head high, here are five youngest Reds to score for Manchester United in the premier league. I am kindly sharing some pointers here;

And this is because haters people have been bothering us with how we over-celebrate Januzaj.

1. At 18 years and 8 months Adnan does not even make it to the top three youngest Reds to score in the league! But he holds the fifth position.


2. NONE of the five youngest Reds to score a league goal for Manchester United is twenty five yet. The oldest is Danny Welbeck, and don't let that body and 80's hair fool you, Danny boy is only 22 years old. What does that say about our future?



I am King of this freaking world.

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?

Shakhtar Donetsk: A cold point

Picture perfect.

We would all have loved 3 points but a point is not so  bad. As group standings, we are second to Shakhtar but we have same points and same goal difference. On 23rd this month we will host Real Sociedad and Shakhtar will host Bayer Leverkusen.

Our next opponents are yet to win a match. They suffered a 0-2 home defeat to Shakhtar and lost 1-0 to Leverkusen. Bring on Real Sociedad.

Rooney picked another injury during training! It doesn't seem to be serious as Moyes planned to use him as a sub but decided against it as to not risk any further complications. Moyes also promised that Rooney will be ready for a trip to Sunderland this week end. And this time it was Welbeck. Does Welbz have a magic touch like Jones? Only time will tell....

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!

Moyes' First BIG win

In case you did not watch the game let me make it worse for you, you missed one hell of a game!

Imagine Welbeck scoring twice! Yeah, it was that good!

It is always good to see players showing massive talents and giving it their all but when those players are not even considered old enough to be in the first team, it is way more special. I am talking about the amazing Lingard, the super talented Januzaj and that Keane boy! Doesn't look to have the moods of the other Keane, which is a good thing especially with how soft football has become.

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.

Lil' red Devil

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.

2012/2013 Report

Most Appearances

Robin Van Persie	48
Michael Carrick	46
Patrice Evra	42
David De Gea	41
Rafael Da Silva	40
Antonio Valencia	40
Danny Welbeck	40

 

 

Top Goal Scorers

Robin van Persie	30
Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez	18
Wayne Rooney	16
Shinji Kagawa	6
Ryan Giggs	5

Most Man of the Match Nominations

Rafael da Silva	19
Robin van Persie	17
Wayne Rooney	17
Michael Carrick	16
Patrice Evra	15

Most Man of the Match Awards

Wayne Rooney	9
Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez	6
Robin van Persie	6
David de Gea	4
Ryan Giggs, Rafael da Silva, Phil Jones, Shinji Kagawa	3

 

Total votes

Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez	62,542
Robin Van Persie	54,184
David De Gea	41,176
Wayne Rooney	37,687
Shinji Kagawa	32,283

 

Most Player of the Month Points 

Robin van Persie	46
Michael Carrick	44
David de Gea	34
Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez	34
Shinji Kagawa	32

 

 

Most Over-all points

Robin van Persie	133
Michael Carrick	115
Wayne Rooney	111
Rafael da Silva	98
David de Gea	86

  

 

Most yellow cards

Paul Scholes	10
Rafael da Silva	8
Wayne Rooney	7
Antonio Valencia	7
Patrice Evra	5

Players Table 2012/2013

This table combines all votes from Man of the Match and Player of the month to determine the best and our favorite players. All votes from manutd.com

The first 11 are our Favorite 11 of the season while the first 5 are nominees for our player of the season.

Last record: May Player of the Month, May 2013

This is the final table for 2012/2013.

	NAME	APP.	NOM. (MoM)	#1	#2	#3	#4	#5	#6	MoMth	PTS
1	Robin Van Persie	48	17	6	6	3	2			46	133
2	Michael Carrick	46	16	2	6	3	4			44	115
3	Wayne Rooney	37	17	9	4	3	1			22	111
4	Rafael Da Silva	40	19	3	2	4	8		2	28	98
5	David De Gea	41	11	4	3	2	1	1		34	86
6	Javier Hernandez	36	7	6	1					34	75
7	Ryan Giggs	32	13	3	2	3	3	2		18	70
8	Phil Jones	24	11	3	2	3	2	1		22	70
9	Rio Ferdinand	34	13	2	3	2	1	4	1	16	68
10	Patrice Evra	42	15		1	4	4	6		20	65
11	Tom Cleverley	32	12	1	3	4	3	1		12	60
12	Shinji Kagawa	26	5	3	2					32	60
13	Jonny Evans	30	13			4	7	2		12	53
14	Nemanja Vidic	23	10	1	2	5	1	1		8	49
15	Anderson	26	6	2	3	1				8	39
16	Antonio Valencia	40	6	1	2	2	1			10	37
17	Danny Welbeck	40	9		1	3	3	2		4	34
18	Paul Scholes	21	4	1	3					10	31
19	Alexander Buttner	13	8	2	1	1	2	2			31
20	Chris Smalling	22	5	1		1	3				19
21	Ashley Young	23	4		1	1	2				15
22	Luis Nani	21	3	1		1	1				13
23	Nick Powell	6	2	1		1					10
24	Darren Fletcher	10	2		1			1			7
25	Lindegaard	13	1			1					4
26	Michael Keane	2	1				1				3
27	Wootton	4	1				1				3