Rooney Tops Pile of Manchester United Goalscoring Legends

Manchester United has a long history when it comes to late goals, winning dramatic derbies and even a Champions League with breakthroughs right at the death in injury time. However, it is hard to remember any moment in the past when a late equaliser at Stoke City led to as much widespread praise and acclaim as it did on January 21st.

At any other point in Wayne Rooney’s career, his late free kick at the Britannia Stadium would have been seen as an important effort which rescued a valuable point in the club’s continued search for a place in the Premier League’s top four. But this most golden of goals actually took his total tally for United to an astonishing 250, surpassing Bobby Charlton’s record to make Rooney the club’s all-time leading goalscorer. (more…)

Manuel Pellegrini has admitted that if Manchester City doesn’t raise their game immediately

Manuel Pellegrini has admitted that if Manchester City doesn’t raise their game immediately, the Premiership title will be out of their reach very soon.

The Sky Blues have lost three matches in a row in the English top flight and they are not only in danger of losing their Premiership crown, but, also, missing out on a Champions League place.

They are still in top 4, but, Manchester United is chasing them fast and one more poor performance might see them being overtaken by their local rivals.

There is no points’ gap between United and City at the moment and it’s only the better goal differential because of which the latter is placed higher up the table.

Pellegrini, who will leave his post as City manager at the conclusion of this season, was visibly unhappy with the application of his boys in the Liverpool game which they lost by 3 goals.

According to the manager, more than the conceding of the goals, what concerned him was that there was not a single shot hit on the target by his players. (more…)

Aiden McGeady has been linked with a return to his roots at Celtic

Everton winger Aiden McGeady has been linked with a return to his roots at Celtic.

The Scottish winger started his career at Celtic before moving onto Spartak Moscow in 2010. At that time,McGeady was on course to becoming one of the valuable players from Scottish football in recent times. After four years in a different league,McGeady struggled to establish himself and made just 72 appearances. This saw him return to British football with Everton offering him an escape. Everton appeared to be ready to offer regular first-team football to the 29-year-old but this unfortunately has not been the case.

McGeady continues to struggle for first-team opportunities and he made only 16 appearances last season. As the January transfer window has begun, rumours about a return to Scottish football have cropped up once again. Celtic have been struggling for form under Ronny Deila and the club are expected to make some improvements to the squad in this transfer window. However, the Norwegian manager has ruled out the possibility of the 29-year-old returning to Celtic Park since he would cost a lot in wages. Deila says that the only possibility of such a move happening is if the player accepts a huge cut in wages, which is unlikely to happen given that the player is just entering his 30s. (more…)

David de Gea has rejected claims that the dressing room is a tough place

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has rejected claims that the dressing room is a tough place to be due to the recent poor results.

He claimed that the morale within the dressing room is high enough for the club to turn the situation around. United are without a victory in the last five games. They host Norwich City in the league this weekend, but the away team can be expected to get something out of the game at Old Trafford due to the contrasting fortunes. Norwich are on a high after getting points from the likes of Everton and Arsenal in recent weeks.

United, meanwhile, appear to have forgotten the feeling of winning a game. They have found it very hard to score goals. Under the regime of Sir Alex Ferguson, this was one of the main strong points of the team. The defensive tactics of Van Gaal coupled with lack of options up front mean that United are no longer threatening in the attacking side of things. Apart from slipping down the table, United were also recently handed the embarrassment of Europa league football after being knocked out of the champions league by Wolfsburg. Any club that is struggling for results will struggle for morale, but De Gea reckons that this is not the case. (more…)

Louis van Gaal has confirmed that he is looking for reinforcements at Manchester United

Louis van Gaal has confirmed that he is looking for reinforcements at Manchester United during the January transfer window.

After a fine start to the season, the Red Devils have been struggling of late. Their struggles have especially been profound in attack. Van Gaal was criticised earlier in the season for his failure to bring in strikers to replace the likes of Robin van Persie. Anthony Martial was the only major attacker brought to the club during the summer. The French international, however, was seen as one for the future even at £ 36 million.

As goals from Wayne Rooney have dried up, it is natural that United have struggled to get results. They have been able to get only a handful of good results in the last month and this has seen them slip several points behind table leaders Manchester City. Just two league victories in the last five games is not good enough for a team that wants to win the title. Van Gaal is aware of this aspect, while he is also concerned about the threat from Tottenham. The Dutchman claims that he has always maintained the need for speed and creativity in the wings. Summer signings like Memphis Depay have gone off the boil while surprises like Jesse Lingard have sprung up. (more…)

North Korea were seen as the least favourites for the East Asian Cup title

North Korea were seen as the least favourites for the East Asian Cup title, but they managed to bring a huge surprise to the party after securing a 2-1 win over initial favourites Japan.

The team managed by Bosnian VahidHalilhodzic was expected to make a huge impact at this tournament, but they have gone home without making any impact whatsoever. Part of this reason was the surprise performance from North Korea. The game between the two ended in a 2-1 victory for Korea DPR, who had to come back from going a goal down.

Prior to this match, North Korea were on a good run of form with the team claiming victories over the likes of Yemen and Uzbekistan in the World Cup qualifying group. This run undoubtedly helped the team get some huge confidence ahead of this game against Japan. However, few would have expected North Korea to rebound very well in the game after conceding to Muto as early as in the third minute.Hyok-CholRi came up with the equaliser in the 78th minute beforeHyon-Il Pak score the unlikely winner with just two minutes of normal time remaining. North Korea held on for a famous victory and they will hope to repeat this astonishing performance when they take on China in the next match. (more…)

Robin van Persie has hinted that Manchester United will be spending another huge sum of money

Robin van Persie has hinted that Manchester United will be spending another huge sum of money in the upcoming transfer window.

The Red Devils splashed out a whopping sum of more than £ 150 million net last summer on players like Angel di Maria. However, this only helped the team managed a top four finish. Even the tactical brilliance was unable to see them remain in the title hunt for much of the campaign. However, it cannot be classified as a bad campaign since the main priority for the club was to get back into the Champions League.

Armed with the prospect of European football once again, United have the capability to attract the best players in the world. This has put a number of players on the shop window and one of them could be star striker Robin van Persie. The Dutchman has struggled to replicate his Arsenal form in the last two years. Even though he helped them win the title in Sir Alex Ferguson’s last campaign, van Persie has been personally struggling to keep himself in the starting line-up. This situation could get worse if United sign another top striker in the summer. Van Persie has been linked with a move to Juventus to replace Carlos Tevez. (more…)