What The Papers Say: Tuesday 20 July

20/7/04 7:50 AM

United halt Heinze´s trip to Athens...and now for Ronaldo
Manchester United have won their battle to prevent new signing Gabriel Heinze from travelling to the Olympics - and are quietly confident of achieving the same outcome for Cristiano Ronaldo. Just 24 hours before call-ups were due to be finalised, the £6.9m signing from Paris St Germain has learned his services will not be required. Meanwhile, Sir Alex Ferguson was yesterday attempting to contact Portugal coach Felipe Scolari in the hope of persuading him to use his influence to convince youth team coach Jose Romao to leave Ronaldo behind.
Simon Cass and Ian Ladyman, Daily Mail

Shout Of The Day
Are you in favour of Ronaldo playing for Portugal in the Olympic Games? It could be his only chance of winning an Olympic medal but if he goes to Athens, he will miss the start of United´s season...
Posted by ManUtd.com Editor
Reply on our Message Board

Brown lands £8m reward
Wes Brown is poised to sign a new four-year deal worth £8million as a reward for his latest successful comeback from injury in what has been a severely disrupted career. Brown had only a year of his current contract to run, and his performances after returning from a second cruciate ligament rupture have convinced Sir Alex Ferguson that he is worthy of a new one. Negotiations over a £40,000-a-week deal have begun and versatile defender Brown, 23, is hoping to sign it before the start of the season.
Richard Tanner, Daily Express
Gab good for John
John O´Shea welcomed the arrival of Gabriel Heinze — even though he could nab his Manchester United spot. Heinze, 26, was signed for £6.9million from Paris St Germain last month. And Republic of Ireland defender O’Shea, 23, said: “You have to expect new faces but there is no point worrying. The only person I can afford to worry about is myself.” O’Shea has not resumed full training yet after close-season knee surgery. He added: “Fortunately, I can play in several different positions and can’t wait to get fit. I’m really looking forward to the new season.”
Sports staff, The Sun

Miller´s the new Keano
Manchester United legend Denis Irwin has claimed that Sir Alex Ferguson has ended his search for the new Roy Keane - by snatching Celtic starlet Liam Miller. Former Old Trafford star Irwin said: " Roy Keane has been the heartbeat of Manchester United for the last eight or nine years, but there will come a time when they will have to try to replace him. Replacing him is nigh on impossible, but of the players the manager has brought in, I think Liam Miller has the best chance. He´s a bit like Roy in the way he plays. He´s quick around the park, keeps his passing simple and has a fantastic engine. I´ve seen him a few times for Celtic and Ireland against Romania recently. Playing alongside Keane for a year or two will help him grow into the position."
Mark Ogden, Daily Star

Kleb: My new start
Manchester United flop Kleberson has vowed to put his first disastrous year at Old Trafford behind him and prove his worth this season. The 25-year-old insists: " Everything is ahead of me. The worst that could have happened has already happened." Kleberson made only 16 appearances for United last season after dislocating his shoulder and then injuring a knee. He said: " Football in England is faster and with more contact. Also, I´ve had bad luck. In five years at my previous club I was hardly ever injured. Everybody is hoping to see the player I was in the World Cup in 2002, and that´s the level I want to reach again."
David McDonnell, Daily Mirror

He´s on the ball
Kleberson has warned Premiership goalkeepers to beware the new Nike football. Manchester United´s Brazilian ace used the ball in this summer´s Copa America in Peru. Now he´s planning to use his inside info to terrorise keepers in England. Kleberson said: " We trained with the ball at the Brazilian training camp before the Copa America and I liked it a lot. I can´t wait to score with it and I´m sure the Premiership players will enjoy using it."
Sports staff, Daily Star

Wayne war zone
Wayne Rooney will return from his Caribbean holiday tomorrow to find Everton on the brink of civil war and the escape hatch to Old Trafford wider than ever. Despite assurances from chairman Bill Kenwright that Everton can afford the £50,000-a-week deal being offered to Rooney, the teenage striker has no intention of committing himself for another five years to a club £40million in debt while Manchester United offer a far more attractive alternative.

entre 35 et 40 millions pour drogba chelsea . ..

ils ne vont pas bien quand méme . ..

enfin ca nous laisse le champ libre si rooney veut partir d´everton

il le veulent absolument

ouais mais a ce prix c´est ridicule . .

oui il est fort mais ce n´est pas roony non plus . ..

enfin tant mieux pôur marseille

merci Abra surtout ^^

ouais c´est clair mais je trouve le prix absurde . ..

enfin on verra..

mais s´il fait comme mutu ou d´autre de l´année derniére ca craint . .

mais il peut explosr aussi.

mais a ce prix . .

Qq bonnes nouvelles ce matin ^^

Finalement Heinze pourrait ne pas aller aux JO et Brown pourrait signer un nouveau contrat.

j´ai vu ca . .

et chelsea n´est plus sur rooney . .

donc soit il reste soit il part chez nous

ronaldo les fait lui les jo??

On sais pas encore ^^

Sinon qq news:

Stewart a demandé à être libéré de son contrat pour signer aux Rangers, réponse dans les heures ou les jours qui viennent.

Gill va rencontrer Glazer lors de la tournée aux USA pour en savoir plus sur ses intentions.

Spector, Phil Bardsley, et Eagles font ntoamment partie des joueurs retenus pour cette tournée.

Forlan à Villa c´est démenti par O´Leary.

Kleb has point to prove

KLEBERSON is relaunching his career at Manchester United to kill off his image as a flop.

The injury-jinxed Brazilian midfielder said: " My desire to succeed has more than doubled after everything I´ve been through.

" The school of hard knocks has been a good one. It fires me up to show more of what I can do.

" The gaffer thinks next year might be mine and I hope that´s the case too."

The playmaker, signed for £5.93m on the back of his performance as a 2002 World Cup winner, blamed injuries for his debut season which disappointed Old Trafford fans.

But he said: " Everything is ahead of me. The worst that could possibly have happened has already happened.

Opportunity

" The settling-in time is over and now I am looking forward. I want to help out as much as I can because so far I haven´t had the opportunity to play my best football.

" The good times are in front of me and are sure to come about if I make the most of my chances."

Kleberson only made 16 appearances for United last season after dislocating his shoulder and then suffering a knee injury.

He said: " I´ve had bad luck. In five years at my previous club Atletico Paranaense I was hardly ever injured, but in England I´ve hurt myself twice inside a year.

" Everybody is hoping to see the player I was in the World Cup and that´s the level I want to reach again.

" The past is gone, one season is over and another one will start, so I hope to begin it in the best possible form."

on arrivera jamais a s´en debarasser de forlan c´est pas possible . .

ce n´est pas faute d´essayer mais bon ya des joueurs comme sa tu peu pas ten debarassé ^^

De plus en plus présente sur le marché asiatique, la marque " Manchester United" tend à se développer encore un peu. Ainsi, lundi à Hong Kong, le fameux club anglais a ouvert une école de football destinée aux 8-15 ans. Le but de cette école est d´apprendre aux jeunes apprentis les bases tactiques et techniques du football moderne. Parmi les intervenants, l´ancienne gloire du Man Utd, Eric Cantona, qui s´est livré gentiment à une petite interview dans laquelle il n´hésite pas à casser le foot français. " Je ne m´intéresse pas au football français. Eux ( ndlr : les dirigeants) ne se préoccupent pas pour moi, et je ne préoccupe pas pour eux. Je m´identifie au football anglais" a déclaré le mythique numéro 7 d´Old Trafford. Un joli tacle de le part de ce joueur qui a été il est vrai dénigré par nombre de cadres de la DTN et de la fédé. ( Par Pierpaolo Colucci).

Sir Alex Ferguson is expecting plenty of complaints from disgruntled Manchester United strikers this season.

With Ruud van Nistelrooy, Louis Saha, Alan Smith and a fit-again Ole Gunnar Solskjaer available, Ferguson believes his striking options are stronger than they have been since the 1999 Treble campaign.

The United boss said: " Over the last few years we haven´t had those four strikers who give you a problem in who to leave out every time you pick a team.

" The complaints are something I can handle because you are dealing with top players and leaving two good ones out.

" Now I have four completely different players and a number of combinations. That gives us something to work on, the main point is that we have the players.´´

Alan Smith insists that his desire to play for United mirrors that which he displayed so wholeheartedly for his former club Leeds.
Much has been made of the striker´s Yorkshire background, but the £7million new-boy stresses that he is dead set on realising his ambitions at Old Trafford.

As he and Liam Miller were paraded in front of the Press, Smith said: ”I obviously spoke to a lot of people about the move, but there were no doubts in my mind. For a young player who wants to achieve things, there is no better place to come than Manchester United.

" At Leeds I did everything I could for the club. Once I’d decided that I was going to leave there was only one place that I wanted to come to and it was here.

Smith´s switch from Elland Road to Old Trafford follows that of his former captain at Leeds - Rio Ferdinand, who Smith consulted before making the move.

He said: ”I spoke to Rio before I came here and he told me it takes a lot of courage to come from Leeds to Manchester United, but to do it if I wanted to improve as a footballer.

”Everyone talked about the fans and that there would be trouble, but as far as I am concerned I did everything I could for Leeds. My passion and commitment will be the same for Manchester United as it was for Leeds.”

Smith has been training with his new team-mates for under two weeks, but has already been impressed with the desire for success that is ingrained in the squad.

”This club always wants to win trophies. Whether they’d won it last year or the last three years on the trot, I’ve seen how much people want to win trophies - and I’ve only been here two weeks.

”I wasn’t really surprised by the determination. When you play against a team like Manchester United, which I have done quite a few times, you realise you need a determination to get here in the first place. I think everyone who walks through the doors here realises that you need that determination to go out and win trophies."

The England striker also played down talk of nerves at United as Chelsea continue to haemorrhage transfer fees and champions Arsenal look to extend their long unbeaten run into the new season.

”What other clubs do and how much money they spend doesn’t really bother anybody here," said Smith. " Players here believe in their ability and believe in their teammates.

" We believe that we have got a good enough squad to win the championship. I don’t think this club has ever been nervous about any challenge.”

< << il me plait un peu mieux ce joueur

Heinze Is Fergie´s Left-Back Solution

Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed Gabriel Heinze is his preferred choice as left-back for the new season.

Although the tough-tackling defender, currently on Copa America duty with Argentina, has played as a centre-half for his country, Ferguson intends to use Heinze as a left-back.

Sir Alex said: " We’ve seen him playing in the Copa America as a centre-back, and that will obviously be a great option for me. But we see him in the position of left-back.

”He played there for Paris Saint Germain a lot last season, and that is the position we see him taking up in our team."

Ferguson says the Argentine defender is expected to meet up with his new team-mates while the club are on tour in the United States.

Everton ponder Rooney sale
Everton have told the BBC they are contemplating the sale of teenage striker Wayne Rooney. Goodison Park director Paul Gregg admitted it was " incredibly sad" that the club had to even think about offloading their 18-year-old superstar. " I wish we could persuade him to stay. It´s sad other forces make decisions for us," Gregg told Radio Five Live. " This is a home-bred talent who has not had the chance to mature. We´ve not had the full benefit of his talent yet."
Source: BBC Sport

21/07 09:27 - Foot, Premier League
Benitez enthousiaste
Liverpool a frappé un grand coup cette saison en enrôlant l’Auxerrois Djibril Cissé. Un recrutement judicieux qui offre à Rafael benitez, le nouveau coach des Reds, une ligne offensive impressionnante.

«Je pense que nous avons la meilleure ligne offensive de Premier League», Rafael Benitez, le nouvel entraîneur de Liverpool ne mâche pas ses mots mais il suffit de se pencher sur son effectif pour comprendre son enthousiasme. «Nous avons Cissé, Michael Owen, Milan Baros et Florent Sinama Pongolle et ils joueront tous cette saison», renchérit le coach espagnol. Les défenses des autres formations du championnat anglais doivent déjà chercher la parade, si parade il y a !

Concernant Djibril Cissé, Benitez n’est pas avare en compliments : «Avec Cissé nous avons fait signé un très bon joueur. Il va très vite, il marque beaucoup de buts et offre des opportunités aux autres». Le soleil brille au-dessus d’Anfield. Vivement la reprise.

< <<< eh bne tout le monde est super confiant . .

je vois pas en quoi leur lignes d´attaque est meilleur que la notre, mais bon . ..

Surtout quand on voit l´Euro d´Owen ^^