So Long Captain Vidic

OUR Captain, OUR Vidic, OUR Serbian Terminator! It's been eight very short years. For eight years we watched you bleed for United ....

 
....put your body and safety on the line for United

....be half of what was one of the best partnerships in world football

After all the hard and dangerous work, for three season you lifted trophies.

It always sucks when players leave and when it is the likes of Vida, it hurts even more. 287 matches and he was on the losing side for only 41 of them. Old Trafford was a nightmare to our opponents when Vidic played. 135 matches at the Theatre of Dreams and we conceded 80 goals and lost only 11 games.

Seven red cards and three of them came while playing Liverpool, we would say Vidic picked up right where his predecessor Gary left off with a £5000 celebration. And that is not a complaint.

We wish Vidic all the best and hope his future club knows what a good, loyal player they will have. And as for me, I am starting to pack my support and ready to follow Vidic on his next challenge. While doing that, I can't help but wonder, who'll fucking murder 'em now?

Thank you Vidic for eight very wonderful and memorable years. The Red army salutes you Captain.

As easy as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...

5 words for this picture: FIVE ASSISTS AND A CAPTAIN.

Don't let that title fool you. Easy ends at three, you don't agree? Well, let's see how many Nos you will have for these questions;

1. Can you count one to five in five different languages?
2. Can you write Welbz's five names without checking on Wikipedia?
3. Can you name the five Reds who made their debuts on this date (November 28th)?
4. Can you name five celebrities that Rio hasn't met?
5. Can you name five UCL records that Man United are yet to break?

Ready or Not: Fulham

A few hours from now Man United will be facing Fulham. This is the first away game for United since Oct 5th. The Champions will step into this determined to keep the unbeaten run going. So far, we haven't lost any of our past six matches in all competitions, and we have played all completions; Champions League, Capital One and the league.

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.

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?

WBA: The Aftermath

Majanga!

Rooney, Evans and Januzaj doing the walk of defeat as Big Dave looks so small!

If I thought the derby was something I needed to forget, I had second thoughts after that shocking unpredictable loss to West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford. And that what makes it even worse, it was at our very own home and it was West Brom! I don't know what hurts more, losing at home to a team that we have been beating back and forth for years or loosing at OT. The combination is killing me!

It started with Robin's injury. Then followed a number of missed chances. Then a very disappointing Rio. Is age catching up with Rio or was he just having a bad day? We don't expect him to be as quick as when he was in his mid 20s but that was one disappointing (sorry, I don't know what other word to use here) show from him.

Rio's Tour Diary 2013: Episode 3

(ManUtd vs Noisy Neighbors) vs Vidic match day conversation

Was just looking for something else when I saw this! Made me laugh. Vidic's replies are so on-point!

Rio's Tour Diary 2013: Episode 2

Rio's tour diary 2013: Episode 1

Buttner, Lindegaard and Smalling on Rio Ferdinand

United Uncovered dedicated a whole issue to Rio Ferdinand. Rio was also a guest editor.

Of the things that I liked was an interview where Lindegaard, Smalling and Buttner spoke of how they know Rio Ferdinand. According to the newsletter, this is one part of the issue that Rio had no power over as a guest editor.

I didn't know Lindegaard was this talkative!

NOTE: Put yeah after every three words from Buttner.

QN: Buttner on if Rio helped him to settle when he joined MUFC:

Throw Back Thursday: A tribute to Beckham's hairstyles

Somewhere in 1980's

Kissed Manchester United: Gary Neville

No, Gary did not kiss the badge that day but kissed the club instead. A much bigger and better kiss than the one he gave to Scholes. This one is even more special because it cost him a good £5,000*. And that was £5,000 well spent.


Name: Gary Alexander Neville
Famously known as: Gary Neville
Position: Right back
Squad Number: 2
Joined: 1991
Status: Retired - 2011

Date of Kiss: January 22nd, 2006.
Location: Old Trafford
Reason: Celebrating a goal against Liverpool (scored by Rio Ferdinand).

BONUS:

* Gary's celebrations were said to be a little overboard and that he intentionally wanted to provoke Liverpool fans and FA fined him £5,000.

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: 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.
 

There is only One Cantona!

Stumbled across this interview by host Danny boy and guest Rio which was done during a photo shoot for the new 2013/2014 home kit.

Danny: Will you be wearing the collar up or down?
Rio: Down. There's only one person who should be wearing it up and that's Eric Cantonna. He's retired now.

Danny: One of your fellow team members has worn it up in today's photoshoot ...
Rio: Who's that? Is it Wazza?
Danny: You'll see the pictures ...
Rio: Is it Wazza?
Danny: That's a good guess.
Rio: Why's he trying to do a Cantona. There's only one Cantona! (laughs)
Danny: That's Wazza for you, isn't it?

Danny: On a matchday do you have any routines you follow?
Rio: Have you not seen them?
Danny: Well, I’m usually too busy doing my own thing.

Catch the full interview here. 

 Can Rooney pull this off? I would love to see him try!

How did that collar stay up even after playing and celebrations? Wouldn't we all like to know!

Watch this video as some players tried the Cantona during a photo shoot. Even Giggs tried it and he was not named as a suspect! I guess Rooney makes for an easy target!

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: Moyes, Sir Alex, Vidic + Rio

By: @Zamaradi_M

 

1. David Moyes

He had all my attention! First press conference as MUFC manager, which in my humble and very unbiased opinion, couldn't go any better!

On Baba Kai:

They already had that talk in which he told Rooney about the possibilities of overtaking Sir Charlton's goalscoring record. Rooney is only 52 goals away.

And it is now official that Rooney is not for sale and will continue to play for Manchester United. He didn't say for how long but fact that he will be there next season is all we care about. Where will he be in the 2014/2015 season? We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

On Sir Alex:

Sir Alex does not intimidate Moyes. In fact, he hopes the former Boss will be sitting at the Director's box!

On Scholes:

Moyes spent two hours on the phone with Paul Scholes who wants time to be with his family before he decides what to do but he has also been told that there will always be a place for him at Manchester United. Duh, like he didn't know!

By the way, two hours talking with Scholes! I bet he just broke one of Sir Alex's records right there and definitely set a new world record. Scholes talking for two hours! Impressive.

On Cristiano:

"This club is always interested in the best players."

And since Ronaldo is the best player then Manchester United is interested in him. And since Ronaldo is also interested in us ........ (you can figure out the rest of this story.)

Me: This guy really did his homework!

On Alcantara new signings:

Asked if he will have a new player before the pre season tour (between July 13th to August 6th) he didn't make any promises but said he'll try. Well, we can live with that.

On Classic quotes:

One of my worries was definitely cleared yesterday. You know those classic Sir Alex's quotes that we thought we were going to miss. Relax, Moyes got that part covered too. And just to give you a taste of what he has in store for us;

"I come to a club where success is tattooed across its badge."

 How about this?

"Old Trafford is the place you want to go."

Me: Moyes, how did you know? Of course it is THE place I want to go.

 Source: Headquarters

 

 

2. Sir Alex Ferguson

Sir Alex was not at the press conference but the way Moyes replayed how he was offered the job, you just couldn't ignore Sir Alex!

I love how Sir Alex was Sir Alex when he first told him that he is going to be the next MUFC Manager. Apparently, Sir Alex asked him to his house which Moyes expected was to tell him that 'I am going to take one of your players.' This got me asking, so, Sir Alex did this when he was taking Rooney? Called Moyes and told him, 'I am going to take Rooney.' How bossy!

Okay, enough with recreating pasts. When Sir Alex told Moyes that he was going to retire this is how it all went down;

Sir Alex: I am going to retire.

Moyes: Yeah, when? *with I had that before look on his face*

Sir Alex: Next week.

Moyes: *Surprised face*

Sir Alex: And you're the next Manchester United Manager.

So, Sir Alex made Moyes an offer he couldn't wouldn't refuse! And that 'You're the next Manchester United manager' was so final! Like Moyes didn't have a choice. How could you blame him, it's Manchester United, we call you answer.

Me: Thank you Sir Alex for everything and thank you for Moyes.

 Source: Headquarters

3. Nemanja Vidic

Two things about Vidic, I like how he plays with no fear and the way he commands with just his presence, we couldn't possibly have a better Captain.

And the second thing is, don't we all agree that he could make one scary gangsta?

Back to non-fiction, as expected Captain Vidic was there for Moyes' press conference. He talked about the respect they had for Moyes even when he was with Everton, how players are excited to work with him and how they will do whatever they can to make sure that Moyes achieves what he wants to achieve with MUFC. I like that they put their desires aside and work on Moyes' and that they want to impress him. And since Moyes wants to win trophies, well, then trophies we are going to get.

Vidic also said that he has spoken with Rooney but it was not about his future. Could it be because his future will be just as his present which means no need to waste precious time on that?

And on Rooney he said;

"He's in very good shape, the best shape in the last five years."

I think this quote needs a little bit of explanation. What Vidic meant was the way he sees Rooney at training, he is in his best shape of the past five years. He did not mean that 2012/2013 was Rooney's best season in five years. Because that, even I would question!

Source: Sportsmole  and goal.com

Do you remember this look?

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.

They got my attention: Cristiano, Alcantara and Rooney + De Gea

By: @Zamaradi_M

Out of curiosity I normally go through the internet every morning, afternoon, evening, night now and then searching for any MUFC related news.  Whenever I can I will be making these They Got My Attention posts.

Here is to the first one!

1. Cristiano Ronaldo

Cris was in a trip to Singapore when he was heard admitting to missing Manchester United!

“I miss English football. For me, it was one of the best years in my career when I was there in Manchester United. Everyone knows that it is a club that is still in my heart and I really, really miss."

Me: Cris, we really, really miss you too.

Then he spoiled it with this confession;

"But now my life is in Spain. I am enjoying playing there too. Part of my life is there, but in the future we never know. I am really, really happy in the Spanish league.”

I will just hold on to that but in the future we never know. August 17 is also in the future, right?

In case you are having a problem remembering Cris' best years in his career, let me refresh your memory;

Source: manutd.com

2. Thiago Alcantara

There have been rumors that he might be in a red shirt from next season. Before the Euro u21 he was quoted saying that 'Manchester United seems like a good club because De Gea speaks so highly of them.'

I guess Xavi accepted DDG's challenge of who will convince Alcantara on whether to stay with Barca or move to MUFC. A Spanish paper El Mundo Deportivo reported that Xavi met with Alcantara trying to convince the youngster to stay with Barca!

Me: Thiago, would you rather wait to MAY BE become the next Xavi or would you just move to OT and become the Thiago Alcantara of MUFC?

On June 30th, Thiago posted a photo on Instagram and captioned it I love Barcelona. Well, he said Barcelona and judging by the photo itself, may be he meant Barcelona the City and not Barcelona FC!

Here is the photo.

Sources: manutd.com and The Daily Mail.

3. Wayne 'Baba Kai' Rooney

He is and will always be one of my favorite MUFC Legends.

After clearing that one out, let's get to business. Yesterday it was reported that Rooney would have talks with Moyes in which Baba Kai requested that his reps attend too. Fortunately/Unfortunately the meeting was either canceled or someone got the wrong Moyes day planner (or diary, whatever he uses). They are saying talks will be held today!

But, Rooney went for training and stayed at AON Training Complex for more than 3hours where he was scheduled to have his medical tests.

There are also warnings advices from former coach Mike Phelan who said Rooney is at the greatest club he can ever be unless a move is for him to face new challenges he should just stay put.

Also former team mate, now Sky Sports expert Gary Neville warned Rooney that MUFC is not a club a person leaves because a part from being a great club a footballer can achieve whatever they want to achieve here there. I think Gary forgot to add 'Ask Cristiano.'

Me: Baba Kai, make up your mind. And if you are staying, sign a life time contract this time. We've had enough drama from you! And moYES, you are still and will always be one of my faves.

Baba Kai arriving at AON Training Complex yesterday. People say he doesn't look happy!

Now here is Rooney, Moyes and Rio. Who looks happy? Why are Rio and Moyes unhappy too?

Source: Sky Sports

And for no reason at all here is a photo of Number One, do I need a reason to add DDG's photo on a post? NO!