time for lee to take over as korean diplomat?
he looks less focused imo.. but he is still the same hardworking park i knew

I would like to see Rooney do that to Bruce this weekend since we know he has some sort of mutany recovery!

Fabio Capello could be ready to select Wayne Rooney for England's game with Montenegro, despite Manchester United's claims that the striker will be out of action for three weeks.

Rooney needs time to recuperate from a nagging ankle injury but with suggestions that he also needs to get his head right after allegations over his private life, Sir Alex Ferguson claimed this week that ''it will be two to three weeks''.

However, there is speculation that Rooney could be set to for a shock return against Sunderland at the weekend having been left at home for the 1-0 win over Valencia in the Champions League.

ESPNsoccernet understands that Capello is now seriously considering picking Rooney when he announces his squad for the Euro 2012 qualifier on Monday and the England medical staff are in "day-to-day" contact with the United doctors to assess the condition of his ankle.

"At one time it was three weeks, now it might be two days!" an insider revealed.

waaa unless big fab ada some kind of shamanic powers and magic powers to use on rooney, the 3 loins musti usdah gla...  

well who knows aside from the gaffer .but with him being a bit off form, a rest would do him good imo.since the internationals is next week it would play in nicely in terms of him missing less of our games.the enguland fans cry foul over his form but suddenly when he is deemed unavailable they still panic.he in the squad pun they marah, he doesnt make it pun they x puas hati.what else they want from rooney....

Rooney believes he will be fit to join the squad next week despite the claims of Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson who says the striker will be out for three weeks. Rooney even thinks he could face Sunderland this weekend, having trained on Thursday following a scan on his left ankle.

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is not counting England international Wayne Rooney out of this weekend's Premier League clash.

Rooney missed United's 1-0 midweek success over Valencia in the UEFA Champions League due to an ankle problem.

Sir Alex Ferguson says Rooney will be missing for up to three weeks, but Bruce remains unconvinced that he is sitting out this weekend's fixture.

The Black Cats tactician thinks talk of Rooney's non-availability could be just a ruse and he feels the striker could still feature at the Stadium of Light.

Doubts

"Is he out for three weeks, Wayne Rooney? I don't know if he is," he said. "I don't know if he is or whether Sir Alex is playing one of his games.

"But make no mistake, there is one person who will look after Wayne Rooney better than anyone else, and that is Sir Alex, and I am sure he will do.

"It's been a tough time for the kid, we all realise that, and possibly the reason for what happened at the World Cup, if we are honest.

"But make no mistake, he is a fabulous player and a strong mental character, and he will need that at the moment."

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney may be fit to play for England in their Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro on Tuesday 12 October.

The 24-year-old was set to be out for up to three weeks with an ankle injury, but United boss Sir Alex Ferguson says Rooney could be available for England.

Rooney picked up the injury in the second half of United's 2-2 draw at Bolton last weekend.

He will not be fit in time to play for United against Sunderland on Saturday.

"Wayne trained on Thursday and he wants to play on Saturday," said Ferguson. "But I have to take the view that this injury has been niggling away for a while and he kept on playing.

"I have to be dead sure that I am doing the right thing because Wayne has not been doing himself justice. I think in a week he will be fine. Obviously we don't play in a week, so it is up to [England boss] Fabio Capello whether he wants him to.

"The Montenegro match is another 10 days away and by that time I would expect Wayne to be 100%."

Alien, can update the match time please

Wayne Rooney will miss United’s trip to Sunderland as he continues his recovery from a persistent ankle injury.

The Reds striker is typically champing at the bit to play, but Sir Alex feels it may be better to wait another ten days and make his return for England against Montenegro on Tuesday 12 October, before returning for United against West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford four days later.

“Wayne trained yesterday [Thursday] and wants to play of course,” said Sir Alex on Friday morning. “But I’ve got to take the view that this ankle injury has been niggling for quite a while and has kept on playing with it. Now we have identified that, we have to be dead sure we are doing the right thing for him.”

Rooney has no doubt been badgering the boss to put him in the team, but it looks as though Sir Alex will hold off the temptation to throw him back into the action at the Stadium of Light and allow his niggling ankle problem to fully recover.

“He wants to play obviously, being Wayne he is always going to be that way,” adds the boss. “He has been playing with the injury for a while and that tells you he is not doing himself proper justice. I think in another week he will be fine.

"Obviously we don’t play next week, but the England game is a week on Tuesday, so that’s another ten days. It really is up to Fabio [Capello] if he wants to play him. We feel it’s better for him to wait another week [and miss the Sunderland match]. We feel more comfortable with that. By that time we would hope he is 100 per cent.”

Rooney isn’t Sir Alex’s only selection consideration for the weekend. Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Anderson all played against Valencia in midweek following spells on the sidelines.

The Reds boss will be keen to have all of them involved, particularly Ferdinand who helped United to a clean sheet at the Mestalla – something that has become worryingly rare this term.

“Rio, Michael Carrick and Anderson played their first real game for a long time, so we have to look at them and see how they’ve come through it.

"We hope there’s no reaction, because playing your first game back in a place like Valencia is not easy, and then there’s the travelling back. That’s one issue we have to deal with.”

Sir Alex was speaking to Key 103.

will Rio-Vidic partnership continue in tomorrow's match? or will Evans replace one of them? I prefer Rio-Evans than Vidic-Evans if he made the first 11...

probably due to the squad rotation?

"We want [the captain] to be a player who's consistently available for us," he told MUTV. "Everyone will recongise that if Vidic is fit – and he has been all season – he'll always be there. You wouldn't leave him out of your team unless you were resting him.

"He's started the campaign as the captain and it will stay that way."

Vidic is our new captain and i can't see the rotation (if there is) will affect him unless he is injured or carded. other than that, actually rio does all the shouting on the field rite? compared to vidic? rio organizes our defence very well

Bro Alien, did my post consider name calling? I was just cursing only (not with the right word). Did not name calling the players

seriously...draw most of away games is not the way to win bpl. saf said he's satisfied with a point. yea right. his lineup is an error to start with. macheda + owen start against sunderland? he's just trying to prove that his tactical point is spot on. anderson as left wing?? since when?? we dun even have a proper left winger until bebe came in.so it's basically 4-3-3 from start.

the squad needs to seriously buck-up. dun gimme bullcrap bout we'll start the season after krismas. time changed. team evolved. we'll need to win all matches as much as possible. one consolation point: rio's back!

and yes: sunderland is a small team.

i've never see ManUtd kena pwned by team like this in my life. i just hope we dun struggle when we meet up with birmingham away. it's time to change the tactic. time to adapt to life without the old horses. if the young guns cant step-up, they might need to do something about it edi.

meh, look at the bright side: us & fulham stil unbeaten. :

Sir Alex Ferguson separated United's latest league away draw from the previous three, citing the defensive display as his reason for feeling "satisfied."

The manager's call for another clean sheet - following the 1-0 win over Valencia in midweek - was duly heeded as the Reds' defence, particularly the formidable partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, repelled countless aerial raids by Sunderland.

"We always view it as dropped points when we draw a game," said Sir Alex. "But we threw the other games away; today we had to battle for a point.

"Sunderland had more chances in the match and I have to say we were fantastic defensively. That's the area in which we have been throwing games away this season so I'm pleased with that."

Ferdinand's performance in his first league appearance of 2010/11, following a full 90 minutes in midweek in the Champions League, particularly impressed the manager.

"We freshened up the team as best as we could, following the European trip. Michael Carrick was a natural one to rest - it was his first game back on Wednesday - but we asked Rio how he felt yesterday and he said he felt great. He was absolutely brilliant today. I thought the whole back four did well. John O'Shea also did a great job against their threat in the air. And young Rafael carried on from Wednesday with a terrific performance."

United were under the cosh for much of the first half, with Sir Alex admitting that his side had "no attacking purpose" and struggled to keep possession as the home side dominated.

"For the first 20 minutes in particular, Sunderland kept bombing in the crosses," the boss reflected. "They're good at that, they put that ball in the box and Darren Bent has a good spring and is a good header of the ball. He's a threat. But we handled it.

"In the second half we did a lot better, there was more threat by us. Sunderland had some chances from corner kicks and free-kicks, they kept pelting the ball in there and we had to block shots. But that wasn't the general run of play after half-time, their raids were spasmodic, coming from setpieces."

United's increased attacking prowess followed the half-time introduction of Dimitar Berbatov, but although the Bulgarian went closest to scoring for the Reds with a shot that whistled past the post, it was the second sub - Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez - who really caught the manager's eye.

"I think we had more penetration, particularly when Chicharito came on," said Sir Alex. "He was bright, quick and penetrative. We tried to win the game that way and put on the players that could win the game for us.

"We ended up with Bebe on the pitch, making his league debut for us. It was difficult circumstances for him, to come on in the maelstrom of a game here. We're quite satisified with that. He showed us that he wanted to play, he wasn't afraid to take the ball, these are good points to start with."

Edwin van der Sar was disappointed that United couldn't cap a difficult week with a win at Sunderland, but conceded that the Reds lacked the attacking invention to justifiably take all three points from Wearside.

After a disappointing draw at Bolton and a smash-and-grab victory at Valencia, the Reds were on the back foot for long periods at the Stadium of Light, as Steve Bruce's side sought to exploit United's exertions of the last six days.

"That's the way we expected Sunderland to play, because they knew we had games on Sunday and Wednesday," Edwin told MUTV. "It was a lot of travelling, plus coming up here on Friday was also four hours all in all, so that's exactly the way we expected them to play against us.

"We were happy to go in at half-time with a nil-nil. In the last 15 minutes we had one or two chances, but not enough to get the winner. I don't think we put enough in our offensive game to really claim the three points. I don't think the service was sufficient to get the goal in the end.

"We can be happy that we had a clean sheet, the second in a row after Valencia on Wednesday, but I think it was two dropped points today, because we dropped too many already in away games.

"We were disappointed with a draw at Bolton, we got a nice win in Valencia which sets us well for the Champions League and of course today you're looking for a win to close the gap a little bit. Now you have to hope that Chelsea and Arsenal draw tomorrow."

Van der Sar was largely employed by marshalling his defence rather than repelling shots, but he was forced into a fine early save by Steed Malbranque, and the Dutchman enjoyed outfoxing his former Fulham cohort.

"It was a good run that he made," said Edwin. "He's a technical player and I still know him well from our days at Fulham and he's never one that shoots blind, for example, so I just waited and managed to block the effort."

Dimitar Berbatov has picked up the first PFA Fans' Player of the Month award of 2010/11 after his excellent start to the campaign.

Sir Alex declared "this could be Dimitar’s season" after his wonderful goal in the Community Shield and, judging by the Bulgarian's form since then, the Reds boss could well be right.

Berbatov netted against Newcastle, West Ham and Everton, and his stunning hat-trick against Liverpool also made a big impression on givemefootball.com readers, who voted him ahead of Chelsea trio Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda.

Dimi's first Reds treble took his tally for the season to six and he hailed Ferguson as "one of the most successful managers in the history of the game".

"I write things down about the way we train and how he treats people. It is like a school," he said. "You work with the best manager and play with the best players. I try to learn. I am at the biggest club in the world. If I can learn anywhere it is here."

Meanwhile, Brazilian defender Lucio, who played alongside Berbatov at Bayer Leverkusen, says the Reds frontman is up there with the best players in the world.

"With the natural ability that guy has, we could be talking about him being the world player of the year this season," said Lucio.

"I've played with Kaka, Ronaldinho, Wesley Sneijder – and Berbatov is as naturally gifted as any of them. It took him time to adjust at United but, once he did, I was always confident he would hit this sort of form.

"He is now entering his peak years and I am sure he will get better and better."

Sir Alex Ferguson is set to have several selection dilemmas when West Bromwich Albion visit Old Trafford following the international break.

The United squad is arguably stronger now that any other point during 2010, with Rio Ferdinand, Anderson, Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes all available again after injury, Owen Hargreaves now in full training and weekend absentee Wayne Rooney expected to be fit in time for England’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro on Tuesday week.

Add to that the way new signings Bebe, Chris Smalling and Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez are settling in, plus the fact international retiree Ryan Giggs will have had another fortnight to recover from injury, and things are looking rather rosey for Sir Alex. Selecting a side from a huge squad will be his next challenge, although his back four is beginning to pick itself again after the successful reunion of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

“When you know your defensive part is strong and solid, then it gives you the encouragement and the freedom to attack at will," said Sir Alex. "If our defence is solid, then we can wait until the 85th minute to win a game. We’ve always been able to do that."

In central midfield, Anderson, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Hargreaves, Darren Fletcher and Darron Gibson are all vying for a maximum three places. Meanwhile up front, Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov are being pushed by Chicharito and the pair who started at Sunderland - Michael Owen and Federico Macheda.

“With Michael, Chicharito and Kiko, we’ve got really terrific choices," said Sir Alex. "This is where it’s proving more difficult for me, choosing the right players in the right game."

Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs has admitted for the first time that he would love to manage the club.

The 36-year-old winger has spent his entire career at Old Trafford but concedes his playing days will soon be at an end.

With an eye to the future, the Welsh wizard is currently taking his Uefa coaching badges.

He was linked with the vacant Wales post after previous boss John Toshack confirmed his resignation last month but ruled himself out of the race.

But he admits he would love to manage both United and Wales one day, although he accepts he will look to cut his managerial teeth away from Old Trafford before a possible return.

Finish career

Giggs told The Sun: "I think I will probably finish my career here (at Old Trafford).

"I am at an age now where it is coming to an end pretty soon. I cannot see myself dropping down leagues and playing at a lesser level.

"If you do decide to go into management, for me the ultimate jobs are Wales and Manchester United, purely because I have played for my country and for the team I supported. Those two would be the best ones for me.

"If that was to happen I shouldn't think I'd be able to take over straight away. So if I was to go into management I would have to go elsewhere and be very successful - then come back."

Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has praised the form of Rio Ferdinand since his return from injury.

Ferdinand endured a lengthy spell on the sidelines following a knee injury sustained on England duty prior to the World Cup.

But the United stopper played in back-to-back outings last week, helping his side record clean sheets in both games.

And Van der Sar has backed Ferdinand, in particular for his response after his World Cup heartache.

He told the Manchester Evening News: "It is nice when you get experienced players back. He did really well and has been working so hard to regain his fitness.

"He had the disappointment of not captaining England at the World Cup. But, hopefully, all the hard work he has put in will pay off and give him a good season without missing too many matches."

Federico Macheda has brushed off speculation suggesting he could be on his way to Lazio in January.

The Italian striker has often been linked with a return to his homeland since making the breakthrough at Manchester United towards the end of the 2008/09 campaign.

With limited opportunities available to him at Old Trafford, reports have claimed that he may look to move on once the transfer window re-opens.

The likes of Bologna and Palermo have been linked with approaches in the past, but Macheda's profile continues to rise and the quality of his admirers is on the up.

Serie A giants Lazio are the latest name to be mentioned as a possible destination for the 19-year-old striker.

Proud

Macheda, though, insists he is happy at Old Trafford and has no intention of securing a switch any time soon.

Having already made a handful of first-team appearances for United this term, he believes he is an important part of Sir Alex Ferguson's plans and remains determined to make his mark in the Premier League.

"Will I be joining Lazio in the January transfer market? No, I don't think so," Macheda told Ansa.

"Ferguson has said that I am not for sale.

"What can I say, I am very pleased to hear that, especially as these words have come from a coach with the charisma and history of Ferguson."

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has challenged his team to find their killer instinct and boost their title push.

The Red Devils currently sit five points behind champions Chelsea but could have been closer had they not thrown away late leads in the draws at Fulham and Everton.

Ferguson believes his side have not been ruthless enough and wants the Red Devils to kill off opponents in future.

He told the club's official magazine, Inside United: "This present team doesn't kill off sides as well as they should.

"At Goodison, we had three or four chances at 3-1 to really put the game out of sight, but we were wasteful and ultimately paid the price.

"We threw away two goals in injury-time. That's unthinkable.

"That killer instinct just isn't there at the moment and it's something we need to develop.

"We haven't had a problem scoring goals.

"We got three against Liverpool, Everton and West Ham, two away at Fulham, three in the Community Shield; that suggests we don't have difficulty finding the net.

"What we're not doing, though, is killing teams off.

Setbacks

"I have no doubt the players have taken these setbacks on board. They suffer just as much - if not more - than the rest of us.

"They're the ones throwing the points away and they're the ones who know fine well that they're good enough to win this league."

He added: "We're playing well, and perhaps those four points we have dropped away from home at Fulham and Everton have given off something of a false impression.

"Nevertheless, we didn't like letting those points slip away and it's crucial that we don't make too many more similar mistakes this season."

The United boss is not surprised Chelsea are top but believes the Blues face sterner tests in future.

Asked if United could not afford to drop any more points, he replied: "No, no, no. Every team is going to drop points - that's inevitable.

"If you look at Chelsea's start to the season, you'd have expected them to have won all those games, so the position they're in doesn't surprise me.

"Meanwhile, we've had tricky trips to Fulham and Everton then played Liverpool at home. Those are difficult matches.

"Liverpool, Arsenal and ourselves have all played top sides early on.

"Chelsea's sterner tests are still to come."

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed he could recall Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley from his loan spell at Wigan in January.

The 21-year-old moved to the DW Stadium on a season-long loan in August but Ferguson believes he may be ready to challenge for a spot in the United team this season.

He told Inside United: "We'll probably bring Tom back in January. Tom's going to be a great footballer, I really like him.

"I've heard the fans are starting to talk about Tom, and I think they're right to do that because he could very well be the next top player to come through the ranks."

Cleverley had been expected to stay at Old Trafford this season but Ferguson had a change of heart because of the competition for places.

The United boss continued: "I felt it could be hard to give him enough football. I think five or six months on loan could really help him. He'll benefit from first-team football in the Premier League."

Cleverley, who has previously enjoyed successful loan spells with Leicester and Watford, has been limited to one Wigan appearance so far because of a knee injury.

United players will be clocking up the air miles between now and next midweek as they represent their countries in the latest round of international matches.

After a perfect start to their Euro 2012 campaign, England square up to Montenegro on Tuesday with both Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney expected to start at Wembley.

John O’Shea and Darron Gibson will hope to preserve the Republic of Ireland’s 100 per cent winning record at home to Russia on Friday, before facing Slovakia away on Tuesday. 

Northern Ireland are also involved in a qualification double header, with United siblings Jonny and Corry Evans looking to pick up six points from games against Italy and the Faroe Islands.

Darren Fletcher will take his Scotland team to Prague on Friday night in search of a vital win against the Czech Republic. The Scots will then host current European and World champions Spain at Hampden Park in midweek.

Elsewhere, Nani will be in action for troubled Portugal with two must-win games against Denmark and Iceland, while Nemanja Vidic will feature for Serbia as they face Estonia and Group C leaders Italy.

Friendlies outside of Europe will give Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez a chance to build on his impressive international record for Mexico as they face Venezuela, while South Korea captain Ji-sung Park will lead his team out against Japan in Seoul.

Several of United’s talented youngsters are also on international duty, as the Under-21 European Championship qualification play-offs get under way.

England boss Stuart Pearce has called up Reds trio Chris Smalling, Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck to face Romania at Carrow Road on Tuesday, while Federico Macheda hopes to play for Italy in their clash with Belarus.

Meanwhile, at Under-19 level, United Reserves winger Robbie Brady is joined by Academy defender Sean McGinty in the Republic of Ireland squad, young midfielder Etzaz Hussain is on duty with Norway and full-back Marnick Vermijl is away with Belgium.

one big disadvantage of those non-Europe players....the travel times on plane for their international duties are just insane

and hopefully our young lads (Macheda, Welback, Cleverley, Smalling) and those under 19s will have impressive performance

Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has rubbished talk he has decided to retire at the end of the season.

United goalkeeping coach Eric Steele indicated earlier this week that he expected the veteran Dutchman to hang up his gloves at the end of the current campaign.

However, 39-year-old van der Sar has moved quickly to dismiss the suggestions and insists he has yet to make a decision on his future.

"That's complete nonsense. I do not know where this story comes from but it is nonsense," van der Sar told www.sport-promotion.nl.

"I don't yet know whether I will stop or continue after this season. Only in the course of this season will I think about it.

"Then I will decide and not before. For now I keep my focus on United."

Manchester United chief executive David Gill has insisted the club are under no pressure to sell the likes of Wayne Rooney despite announcing a major loss.

On Friday, the Red Devils revealed a post full-year operating profit of £100million, but an overall loss of £83.64million.

The figures have raised concerns over the Glazer family's ownership of the club, but Gill insists they are 'very good results'.

He said: "We are not a club that needs to sell. We have money in the bank so there is zero pressure on that, no pressure at all to sell any star player whether it is Wayne Rooney or X,Y or Z. I can categorically say that.

"There was no desire at all from anyone at the club to sell Cristiano (Ronaldo) - he wanted to go and as a result we managed to extract a world record fee.

"The philosophy is to retain and attract the best players. We have £165million in the bank but in some ways we would prefer to have £80million in the bank and Ronaldo on the pitch.

"There are very good results for the club with records here, there and everywhere but they are complicated with non-cash items and exceptional one-off hits."

Liverpool parallels

Gill also eased fears of parallels with Premier League rivals Liverpool, who are facing administration unless their current American owners clear their unpaid debts.

He said:"I can't speak for any other club but the United fans should not be concerned, we have a long-term financing structure in place, excellent revenues that are growing, we are controlling our costs - total wages are 46% of turnover - and we can afford the interest on our long-term finance.

"In our opinion if something changed in the ownership this club will survive and continue - it is covering the financing cost more than adequately.

"We still have cash to invest in players and to give good contracts to players and we are comfortable with the business model."