FRANK LAMPARD


DARREN FLETCHER

Comparing Lampard at 23, 24 and Darren at 23, 24 years old.

Lampard: 7 goals, 8 goals 2 assists
Fletcher: 2 goals 1 assist, 4 goals 2 assists

They played vastly different number of games though. I don't want to spend too much time on statistics, but in those years when Fletcher played 25 games he scored 3 goals. Lampard played 27 games and scored 5 goals.



He may never score as much as Lampard, but it's not that far off.

His weak, bone body didn't help I guess.

Ben Foster will start for United against Stoke City as the Reds will be without Edwin van der Sar for a further three weeks.

Tomasz Kuszczak impressed between the sticks against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday, but Foster keeps his place for league duty against his former club.

Van der Sar, who suffered a broken hand in pre-season, isn't expected back until mid-October.

"Edwin is still three weeks away," confirmed Sir Alex at his Friday press conference. "It was a good opportunity for Tomasz to play on Wednesday, but Ben will play against Stoke."

The boss also confirmed that there were no fresh injury concerns from Wednesday night and all the players who played in the 4-3 derby victory over Manchester City are in contention for selection this weekend.

Sir Alex revealed his respect for the work Tony Pulis is doing at Stoke and says that the trip to the Britannia Stadium will be tricky.

"Stoke have a good home record, and I'm not surprised how they've started the season at all," he said. "They're a club on the up and they're going to be a force this season."

http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid=...&newsid=6640319

Therefore we shall name him Bone Fletcher

Cristiano Ronaldo still watches every Manchester United game on TV and has backed Nani to fill the void left by his Old Trafford exit.

Ronaldo revealed his affection for United, despite leaving for a world record fee of £80milion in the summer after six years under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson.

And World Player of the Year Ronaldo backed his compatriot Nani to flourish at United now the Portugal team-mates are no longer in direct competition for the same spot.

"Every time I can I try to watch United's games on television," said Ronaldo, who has created history at Real by scoring in his first four La Liga games.

"I still like to know what's happening at Old Trafford. And despite now being at Real, I'm always happy when I know when United have won.

"I've also seen that Nani is playing much more than he was last season when I was there. That's good for him and he will benefit from that.

"Now he has more opportunities to play, he will be able to show the fans just how a great player he is.

"We still speak regularly on the phone. And it's good to see United's fans are starting to appreciate him more and have been happy with his form up until now.

"Nani is an excellent player. There's a lot more to come from him and I'm sure that in a few years he will be amongst the best players in the world."

Nani impressed in United's 1-0 Carling Cup win over Wolves on Wednesday, but is likely to be back among the subs for tomorrow's Premier League trip to Stoke.

The 22-year-old started in United's 2-1 win over Arsenal but was dropped to the bench for last Sunday's Manchester derby and has yet to cement himself as a first-team regular.

Gary Neville, who skippered the side in the win over Wolves, warned the likes of Nani of the size of the task they face in breaking into United's first-team on a regular basis.

"It's difficult to get games at this club as a young player, because you've got to be very talented and very good - which they are," said Neville.

"During the season you always need to call upon your squad. There will be injuries in certain areas and those lads could be the ones who will be really important for us."

After a stuttering start to the season, which saw them lose at newly-promoted Burnley, United have won their last six games and Neville claimed they are now on a roll.

"Momentum is very important," said Neville. "The reason we maybe started sluggishly in the first week of the season was because we probably weren't at our optimum fitness levels.

"A lot of the players hadn't played a lot of games, then a lot went away for the internationals, while some stayed back and trained.

"Some players got a couple of games in during the international break, so we came back from that in much better shape and since then we've done pretty well.

"We're in a much better position at the moment, where everybody seems to be fit, and we've got players who are desperate to play."

meaning SAF will use strong squad against stoke city...

that, is the different between Ronaldo and Tevez

It will be a test, for whoever starts in goal. Foster need to do well if he is to improve his reputation among the fans. Those balls will be flying into the box constantly.

he's scored in all four of madrid's games.

good luck to him

United on Hi-Def
Guys, ive jus experienced it! SkySports HD...Uniteds games ... really ... mindblowing stuff. I just dloaded it via rapidshare! it was a 2.2gb file but it was AWESOME !!! u can hear the stadium loud and clear, and the clarity was magnificent, so ... trust me.. youve got to start gettin the matches in HD. Ill be dloading all the good matches this season in HD Trust me guys, ud love it!

Ronaldo Vs Tevez

Different circumstances lah buddy. Nobody really appreciates that Tevez respected the rivalry between Pool and United, and for the love of the fans, decided against moving to our more, intense, rivals.

Realistically speaking, Pool are more of a threat than City, and the hatred between both sides are well and deep, so i for one keep a closed eye on that one. It wudve been far more painful for us if he had joined them and helped them put one over us, than Owen joining us and doing the same to them. At least Owen was known as a wash out before he joined us!

Foster

Anyways, on a different note, i dono how much longer i can take foster. Hes a bit extreme. He makes unsaveable saves, then he goes on to make his howlers. Sigh. But as United fans, we shud support whoever under whatever circumstances right?

Lampard vs Fletch

On the debate between Lampard and Fletch, ive always always said Lamps was a great player. Even in his WestHam days, it was pretty obvious back then, plus Chelsea poured out 11mil quid to acquire his services, and thats alot!
Fletch...i dono ... its still hard to see him as a star midfielder till he puts away the goals ala Lampard. Although i think hes about to hit top form, so for me, with regards to fletch, the verdict is not out yet... mebe at the end of the season?
Nice argument by Wan though. Wan, ill sponsor you tickets to OT if he wins us the CL this season

United on Hi-Def
Guys, ive jus experienced it! SkySports HD...Uniteds games ... really ... mindblowing stuff. I just dloaded it via rapidshare! it was a 2.2gb file but it was AWESOME !!! u can hear the stadium loud and clear, and the clarity was magnificent, so ... trust me.. youve got to start gettin the matches in HD. Ill be dloading all the good matches this season in HD Trust me guys, ud love it!