would love to hv Bayern

DUTCH veteran Edwin van der Sar is poised to give the green light to another 12 months at Old Trafford - if offered a new deal.

The Manchester United keeper, 39, is under contract until the end of the season after signing an extension last year.

It was widely expected the current campaign would be his last as he made way for Tomasz Kuszczak or Ben Foster.

United have also been linked with a move for Schalke keeper Manuel Neuer.

Yet Van der Sar has told pals that he feels he would still be able to compete for the first-team slot at United and is seriously considering staying for another season.

United manager Alex Ferguson has insisted he will give the Dutchman as long as possible to make up his mind after last term's heroics.

UEFA voted Van der Sar Europe's top keeper in 2009 as he helped United to the Premier League title and another Champions League final.

He also went a world-record 1,311 minutes without conceding a goal.

He is Holland's most capped player, with 130 appearances, and came out of international retirement to help them reach the World Cup finals.

Michael Carrick says United are ready to starting clicking through gears in pursuit of top honours.

Having topped Group B in the Champions League with a performance full of character in the face of horrendous injury problems, and of course courtesy of the deadly finishing of Michael Owen, the Reds are now ready to turn the focus onto league matters.

Aston Villa visit Old Trafford on Saturday evening in one of the toughest fixtures on the winter schedule. United have been in excellent form in the league, hitting three past Everton, scoring four against Portsmouth and claiming another four against West Ham.

And despite the team's injury-hit defence, which has forced Carrick to twice be deployed as an emergency - and impressive - centre-back, the Reds midfielder promises United are looking only to extend that run of form.

"We won't take our foot off the pedal now," he says. "We're starting to play well now and we are scoring some goals too. Hopefully that continues.

"There's an awful long way to go and we are not getting carried away. But we have been there before and know what is required. It is about doing the business now."

Carrick could find himself partnering Nemanja Vidic in central defence against Villa, but the against-odds triumph of the makeshift defence in Wolfsburg has given him confidence in this temporary position.

"We will have to see who is back," he said. "That might be the end for me [at centre-back]. We'll have to see what the body count is like. It is another big game.

"Against Wolfsburg it was the first time a lot of us have played that system and in those positions," he said. "So it was very satisfying to come away with a win.

"It is a lot different playing centre-half to midfield. I enjoyed it though. It was a good test for us. It's not the physical side that's hard about playing centre-half it's the mental aspect. Concentration and focus are vital... and hoping for the best!"

Carrick has taken to the role with aplomb, although his adaptability may be tested to the full if he lines up in defence against Villa's pace and physical dominance. But against Wolfsburg's powerful forwards Edin Dzeko and Grafite, at least he got some good practice.

"I just tried to put myself in the right positions and tried to do my best," he added. "I've never headed the ball as much before! They had a spell in the second half, which you expect away from home, but we did well to come away with the points.

"We rode our luck at times but we knew we had to do that. We got our heads down and worked hard and the lads in front of us were brilliant keeping the ball. Overall it was a great night."

I've never headed the ball as much before!

never know blomqvist did such move before 

Pele did that once also but Jesper's is much better. Keeper totally fell for it.

Giggs got sir already?
so am i. twice i saw him played in the flesh. owh, don't forget when selangor entertain MU 15years ago.

Bring it on Villa

Prediction lineup :



Sub : Park for Scholes, Owen for Rooney, Oberton for Giggs

scholes kena ban la. gibson to start i guess

Yup, Scholes suspended against Villa for 5 yellow cards so Gibson will probably get another start. Unless somehow Brown can recover in time then maybe Carrick can return to midfield role.

Luckily we dont have to throw Scholesy in that position.. 

pele didnt score.. blomqvist scored.. so blomqvist > pele

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Added on December 10, 2009, 7:22 pm
the 4-1? i think scott olerenshaw (dunno how to spell ) scored from penalty spot for selangor

Yup, Scholes suspended against Villa for 5 yellow cards so Gibson will probably get another start. Unless somehow Brown can recover in time then maybe Carrick can return to midfield role.

Hmm.. After watching some of Obertan's moves in the Wolfsburg game, I felt he has been watching some of Ronaldo's videos. The way he dribbles the ball and doing the ronaldo chop and ronaldo trademark scissors/stepover trick..

2 yellow card and sent off in first 10 minutes 

i'm not sure about putting Giggs against Villa. Other than manchester city, i dont see how Giggs can perform well against some big team. Judging by Giggs performance against the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, i'd put Nani into the left. Giggs of the bench to come up for nani if needed

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Added on December 11, 2009, 5:55 am
Ronaldo is undoubtly some of the quality football player now. Frankly speaking, maybe due to prejudice to our own player, i felt that Ronaldo is better than Messi. It might be his injury that cause him to underperform in the El Clasico for Madrid. But I thought he did rather well against Barcelona for Madrid. He possesed more danger then Messi in that game, and the only reason he cant net is Pique and Puyol 

And yeah, United is the type of club that dont rely on one or two players    It will be great to have back Ronaldo in the club, but with or without him, we are still going to get our 4th premier league cup. Having him might be a shortcut to becoming the champions of england again but without him, the underrated players like Fletcher, Carrick, Valencia, Owen    can actually shine in the team.