Manchester United FC

[Abruzzy]

Ryan Giggs will miss Manchester United's Champions League last-16 first leg at Marseille on Wednesday.
United said that the 37-year-old winger had not travelled to southern France along with six other squad regulars.
No reason was given for Giggs's exclusion but known injuries to Rio Ferdinand, Anderson, Michael Owen, Jonny Evans,Park Ji-sung and Antonio Valencia keep them out.
New goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard makes his first European trip having played in the weekend's FA Cup win over Crawley Town but Edwin van der Sar is set to retake his place.
Full-back twins Rafael and Fabio recovered from slight knocks to fly out as part of the 22-man squad.
Giggs's absence suggests Nani and Darren Fletcher could play on the wings with Paul Scholes being partnered by Michael Carrick in the centre of midfield.
Marseille have been given a boost by forward Mathieu Valbuena returning to training and he could fill in for the injured Andre-Pierre Gignac at the Stade Velodrome.
Reuters

[Abruzzy]

Rio out, Giggs returns

Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans will both be absent for United’s visits to Wigan Athletic and Chelsea, leaving Chris Smalling and Nemanja Vidic to continue their partnership at the centre of United’s defence.
Ferdinand and Evans are both likely to be fit for the trip to Anfield to take on Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool next weekend. But Sir Alex Ferguson will be encouraged by the recent performances of Chris Smalling, softening the blow of Ferdinand’s absence since the start of February.
For United’s visit to the DW Stadium on Saturday, the Reds could have Ryan Giggs and Michael Owen available for selecton.
Sir Alex told reporters on Friday: “Nothing much has changed on the injury front. We’re trying to get Ryan [Giggs] fit for the Wigan game, and Michael Owen is back training and could be available. Rio and Jonny Evans should both be back for Liverpool next weekend.”
On the more longer-term injuries, Ji-sung Park (hamstring), Anderson (knee) and Antonio Valencia (ankle) are all on course for March comebacks. “Ji-sung Park is still two weeks away,” added the boss. “Anderson will probably
be back in three weeks, he’s back in Portugal now and we’ll have to see how he progresses.
“Antonio is doing well in training but it’s difficult to assess when he’ll be back. We have to make a decision on when to play him in terms of his own confidence after being out for so long. He could be back in two weeks hopefully.”
The return of Giggs and Owen could be beneficial for Saturday’s trip to Wigan, where Sir Alex is concerned about the newly relaid pitch at the DW.
“It’s obviously a concern that they’ve relaid the pitch, although I understand it’s OK," he said. "It’s be a difficult game, Wigan are a team who play fantastic football, but this time of season they’re all difficult. It’s important that we keep our momentum going because the team who is most consistent will win the league.”

Injury update

Ryan Giggs - back v Wigan
Michael Owen - back v Wigan
Rio Ferdinand - back v Liverpool
Jonny Evans - back v Liverpool
Ji-sung Park - back in two weeks
Antonio Valencia - possibly back in two weeks
Anderson - back in three weeks

[Abruzzy]

Title race down to two

For much of this season the title race has looked like being one of the most open for years, but as so often is the way two teams have broken away with Sir Alex admitting that the championship crown seems likely to be heading to either Old Trafford or the Emirates.
In the last few weeks United and Arsenal have stretched their advantage over the chasing pack of Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea. And while the Reds have a big week of matches in the league, including a trip to Stamford Bridge, Sir Alex says it’s looking more and more likely that it’ll be either United or Arsenal lifting the Premier League trophy in May.
“I’ve said before that normally you have two teams breaking away. It’s looked open at particular moments in the season and it has been for the last few years, but then all of a sudden as you come towards to the end there are always two teams,” the boss told reporters on Friday.
“That’s the way it’s looking at the moment – I think either ourselves or Arsenal will win it.”
The Reds’ championship credentials will be put under severe pressure in the coming week with three away games on the trot, including trips to Chelsea and Liverpool.
“Our away form has not been as good as it normally is. We have these three away games now and that’s the test for us,” added Sir Alex.
“We showed good resilience against Marseille. It was a solid result and a solid performance from us. We defended very well and defending is going to be the name of the game. If we get that stability and concentration we’ll be very difficult to beat.”

[Confucius]

Giggs has completed 20 years since his debut with Manchester United in a loss yesterday against Chelsea, the same as his debut when United lost 2-0 to Everton back in 1991. Giggs is now the most decorated player in English history, Congratz Giggsie! [Legend]


priceless pic

In other news: Schalke's sporting director has confirmed that United are interested in Neuer and contacted them in January. United are also interested in Dortmund's Mario Goetze [news say they're gonna buy him for 18 million pounds] but Dortmund being the leaders and qualifying for the Champions League would be an attractive reason for him to stay at Dortmund, they're rumors anyways

[TAREK®]

Irreplaceable Legend Giggs Forever

[Abruzzy]

Manchester United's Patrice Evra Willing To Play Through Pain Against Liverpool


Manchester United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson Confirms Wes Brown Will Start Against Liverpool As Rio Ferdinand Remains Sidelined

[Abruzzy]

Premier League - Fears for Nani after horror injury

Manchester United winger Nani could be facing a lengthy lay-off after suffering a deep gash in his leg during the 3-1 Premier League defeat by Liverpool at Anfield.

A club spokesman said the Portuguese player's injury would be assessed on Monday, but TV images appeared to show a horrific injury that cut the player to the bone.
Nani, United's most creative player this season, was caught on the shin by a dangerous tackle from Jamie Carragher shortly before half-time and was taken off on a stretcher.
Carragher was shown a yellow card by referee Phil Dowd.

Eurosport

Reds to assess Nani injury

United will assess Nani at Carrington on Monday morning following his injury in the Reds' 3-1 defeat at Anfield.
A club spokeswoman confirmed on Sunday afternoon that the Portuguese winger suffered a "very deep gash" in his ft leg after Jamie Carragher's challenge shortly before half-time. The Liverpool defender was booked by referee Phil Dowd and Nani played no further part in the match. He was carried off the field on a stretcher and replaced by substitute Javier Hernandez who later scored United's only goal with a header in injury time.
While fans will naturally be worried about Nani - one of United's best players of the season so far - there was some encouraging news in that his fellow winger Antonio Valencia was part of the Reds' travelling party for the Liverpool game.
The Ecuadorian was not named among the seven substitutes by Sir Alex Ferguson but his presence at Anfield, combined with his recent return to full-contact training, suggests a comeback may be close.


ManUtd.com

[TAREK®]

I am not mad that we lost I am mad because the true loss was Nani, I really hope Antonio returns soon :

[TAREK®]

Sir Alex Ferguson has expressed his delight at how quickly Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez has settled in at Old Trafford and described the United striker as incredible value for money following his low-key capture from Chivas.

In light of the January transfer window, in which an estimated £115million exchanged between Premier League clubs, the Reds boss is more than confident he picked out a bargain in Chicharito.

Sir Alex told Inside United: “We have done fantastically well there, no doubt. We’ve stolen him! It was quite a long process involved in bringing him here, and we’d prefer that.”

So far, Chicharito has bagged 14 goals from 31 appearances in all competitions and is rapidly gaining a reputation as something of a goal machine. It makes satisfying dividends for Sir Alex and head scout Jim Lawlor, who did a great deal of homework on the Mexican international before pen was put to paper.

“We analysed him and found out about his background. Once we knew that, Jim Lawlor stayed in Mexico for a month and made sure we got the deal done. We got him across to England and sealed all the contracts. It was a good bit of business."

Sir Alex continued: “It started last December (2009) actually and we didn’t get the deal done until May. But we’d been watching him since November. The reports were getting better and better so Jim spent a month in Mexico watching him in different games. His international record is incredible actually. He’s scoring almost a goal a game. It’s quite amazing.”

Source: ManUTD

[Abruzzy]

Valencia comeback close


Valencia back for United title run-in
Antonio Valencia is set to boost Manchester United's title charge after coming through the latest stage of his comeback. And the timing could not be better, with the Premier League leaders likely to be without Nani, crocked by Jamie Carragher at Liverpool on Sunday, for up to a month. Ecuador winger Valencia, 25, has not played since breaking his left ankle in September's Champions League clash with Rangers. He was initially expected to miss the rest of the season but on Monday he came through a specially-arranged training game with a mixture of reserves and youngsters. And yesterday he joined in with the rest of the first-team squad at Carrington.
The Guardian report Reds chief executive David Gill's comments made to the culture, media and sport select committee on Tuesday at the House of Commons. Gill suggested that disciplinary procedures should be taken out of the hands of the Football Assocation: “One area I would look at is separating out the discipline and making that semi-autonomous under rules and regulations stipulated by the FA but with a separate body dispensing the decisions.” The paper claims the idea has support from other top-flight clubs and referees.

Source: ManUTD




!!


It seems like Nani's leg isn't broken !! And valencia should be back probably against Arsenal on saturday !