Watch "Free football" over the internet - too good to be true?

Ok it's that time again, it's another weekend of tiresome international football. Does anyone really give a flying **** about England? I lost interest in the Three Lions a long time ago, the best we can hope for is that our respective club players do not sustain any injuries while on England duty this week.

As ever, the largely pathetic and all too often jingoistic press are full of stories relating to England with headlines like "Rooney has a new haircut", yawn. As if that isn't bad enough, we have to also endure unfunny Borat too.

Anyway, one game that might be worth tuning into this weekend is Argentina vs Uruguay, it's the oldest South American derby, the venue is River Plate, kick-off 18.00hrs local time.

Argentina go in search of their first victory in five games as the South American World Cup qualifying group reaches the half-way point. This for me is the game of the whole weekend, the only problem is its not on TV as far as I know, which brings me nicely onto watching football over the internet.

A few months ago I joined one of these sites which supposedly was going to give me "free access" to watching football matches over the net. Did it work? No, it most definitely did not. I won't name the site in question, but all I ended up with was a host of links to sites in places like China and I never did get to see a match. In my experience the exercise was a complete and utter waste of time.

Some, but not all of these free football sites, charge a joining fee, largely from what I can tell for the dubious privilege of providing links. I'd like to hear from anyone (not connected to one of these sites) who regularly watches football over the net, who has had a positive experience. I'd also like to hear from folk like me who have had a negative experience...

Fergie goes in search of British Manucho....

IF you're like me and you're not particularly interested in watching England these days, you will no doubt be at a slight loss regarding what to do with your time this weekend, what with international football taking centre stage. The good news is that United will be on TV this weekend, albeit on Sky 1 at 12pm and 8pm.

Ferguson is set to star in a programme entitled "Nike Most Wanted", in which the United manager goes in search of potential young stars who have escaped the football net due to one reason or another.

Apparently, there was over 35,000 applicants from Britain and Ireland, of that number 1,600 became hopeful contenders for the actual trials, which eventually led to just 22 finalists taking part in a training session overseen by Ferguson himself. During the show the United manager talks to the finalists about what it is like to be a professional footballer, "it's a good life", Fergie tells the wannabe stars of the future.




Fergie uses the example of new striker, Manucho, to make his point when saying that it was only two years ago when the Angolan became a professional footballer. Those of you with half decent memories will no doubt recall that in the mid '80s Arsenal's Ian Wright was catapulted from non-league obscurity into the big-time. Closer to Manchester, Wayne Collins was another who made the step up from Winsford Town to join Crewe, then Sheffield Wednesday and then Fulham among other professional clubs.

While the players mentioned undoubtedly have proven that it is still possible to find a way into the top-flight, even at the age of 24 like Manucho, sadly the reality is that finding stardom once you are out of your teens cannot be anything but a dream. So why exactly is that then? United and other top English clubs have scouting networks which stretch far and wide, so the chances of not being spotted at an early age these days are extremely remote.

In the programme Fergie also brings up another issue that has no doubt burdened many managers, which is that of allowing players to leave the club too soon. The United manager hints that maybe he would have liked to have given some players longer before making what truly must be an awful decision for all concerned.

The search for new talent starts a very young age these days, at one time the club would invite youngsters down to train with them with a view to joining the United school of excellence, which later became the Academy.

I have personally been involved in taking youngsters to train with United and Oldham Athletic and I have seen kids under the age of 10 having their dreams shattered when being told that, no, they won't be invited back the next year. At the same time, I have heard coaches telling parents that they realise that they will not get it right all of the time.

Fergie has drawn upon his personal experiences when alluding to those young players who he's allowed to leave United, some of which perhaps prematurely, but the record shows he's barely put a foot wrong in this respect, as no one that I can think has gone on to better things after being shown the Old Trafford exit door at young age - though Robbie Savage might well argue the point...

In the case of Manucho, given that the talent net is cast wide and far these days in the trawl for new stars, the fact of the matter is that some countries like Brazil for example, have an excess of burgeoning young players. Take the example of recent signing, Rodrigo Possebon; until he signed for United he was unheard of in his native country.

While United and Nike had over 35,000 hopeful applicants, I predict there will be no professional contract at the end of this show; this is due to the reasons outlined in this post. However, no matter what the reality is, if you have bags of talent, coupled with dedication you've got a chance and that is what this show is all about, the chance to fulfil a dream of playing for the biggest club in the world, let's hope it makes good TV.

I have my own views on how things could be improved regarding nurturing and finding young talent, but I'll save that for another time.

Jealousy is behind UEFA's threat to kick United out of Europe...

Let's stop beating about the bush, UEFA's latest threat to kick heavily in debt clubs out of Europe is targeted at Manchester United and Liverpool - Chelsea and their mega wealthy owner, Roman Abramovich, are a completely different case and everyone knows it too.

If, and it's a very big if, this threat is actioned, the likelihood is that it won't be restricted to just one club like United and of course UEFA do like to make examples of British clubs as we have seen before.

As a long-standing Manchester United supporter and someone who is still vehemently opposed to the sale of the club to the Glazer family, this UEFA threat to boot United out of Europe has got me onto my soap-box. Here's why.

Thousands upon thousands of United supporters were totally opposed to the sale of the club to the Glazers', not just because of who they are and what they stand for, but also because fundamentally they could not afford to buy the club without borrowing a king’s ransom which has put the club massively into hock with the banks.

Question, why didn't UEFA poke their snotty noses into this affair at that juncture? Because if they had done, just perhaps the sale of the club to the Glazers' would never have taken place.

But no, UEFA did not take any action, I seem to recall at the time they did their usual trick of buck-passing to the English FA, which is their get-out-of-jail-card for those occasions when they really cannot be bothered to take any action.

Role the clock forward to 2008 and the newly formed European Club Association and added to which the recent appointment of Michelle Platini. Over the last few month's there has been reports suggesting that some European Club Association members have been bending Platini's ear about the unfairness of the current situation, whereby some European Associations, specifically the English FA, have allowed clubs to rack up huge debts with the banks.

Here's a question: If United, Chelsea and Liverpool were failing to qualify for the Champions League, does anyone seriously think that the Germans and UEFA would be complaining? The answer to that is a rather obvious NO.

The reason that UEFA and the Germans are unhappy is because the English clubs are growing stronger and they do not like it, they are jealous; it is as simple as that. If that isn't so, then why didn't UEFA see this coming when it mattered, when they could have tried to stop the Glazers from their debt laden mission of madness which has resulted in thousands of rank and file United fans being priced out of following their beloved club?

I remain totally opposed to any new owners who come into the English game looking to exploit our clubs with a view to cashing-in on the back of our supporters and the game we know and love.

Despite my feelings on ownership, I for one remain unconvinced that UEFA is on solid ground over this threat. Here's why. As I understand it, the Glazers' have a holding company which is totally separate from Manchester United and it is this company which is responsible for the bulk of their debts, so I'm not even convinced that booting United out of Europe would stand-up on legal grounds.

There is also an argument that United, taken as an ongoing business is as solid as a rock, it is the owners acquisition debt that is weighing down the club's finances due to staggering annual interest payments to Red Football Ltd.

We all know and realise that UEFA and FIFA think that they are a law unto themselves, but could UEFA really kick out a football club if their parent company is on dodgy ground?

I suspect there would be a very strong legal challenge from United and anyone who thinks otherwise must surely be mistaken, there is too much at stake for all concerned.

Let us take this a step further. Let us assume that UEFA carries out this threat, let us also assume that this move sent out United and the Glazers' out of business. It could happen - especially the latter, it would seem to me that the Glazers' would have a solid case against UEFA for bringing down their empire, given that they had moved the goal-posts after the takeover and by banning the club they have effectively bankrupted, Manchester United, formerly the biggest club in the world. Now would UEFA really fancy taking that on in court?

UEFA need to understand that talk is cheap. Nothing will come of these empty threats of that I am fairly certain. United and Liverpool will be told to get their houses in order, you do wonder if that in turn could eventually lead new owners of both clubs.

Fergie has to be bold over Carlos Tevez dilemma...

IF we are to believe what we read in the press, then Carlos Tevez is becoming frustrated at the lack of progress regarding a permanent Old Trafford deal. United have reacted to the speculation by stating that there's no problem and that they will conclude the Tevez deal by the end of the year. Ironically that will be when would be suitors like Man City could make their move to capture the Argentine, which would be hugely embarrassing for United and our supporters.

If Tevez is sold to another club, it would be a tragedy given what the former West Ham star has for the United so far - it would also be seen as an act of betrayal by the Champions, given the player clearly wants to stay if at all possible.

As ever with these contractual situations it cannot be ruled out that this latest story has been leaked to press via an agent, with a view to moving the deal along, because according to the club - Tevez remains cool about the current state of affairs.

However, one thing that is surely beyond any doubt is the fact that Tevez will not be happy about being constantly left on the bench, because since the arrival of Dimitar Berbatov the Argentine's role has been reduced to that of bit-part player.

Any sensible Red will tell you Fergie has to find a way of accommodating Tevez, Rooney, Berbatov and Ronaldo into his team. So how exactly does Ferguson achieve result? The answer is simple.

Ferguson needs to be bold; he needs to ask Rooney to drop back into the old Paul Scholes role, the one earmarked for him when Veron arrived at United. Rooney needs to be given license to drop back into midfield when required and to launch forward when the Reds are attacking.

The facts of the matter is, and love him as we rightly still do, Scholes is too slow now, this was self-evident in the defeat an Anfield where our midfield was swamped for long periods of the game.

Ferguson has been hampered by the loss of Carrick and Hargreaves through injury and until such times as they are both fully fit, the manager will have to make do with the likes of Fletcher, who has done pretty well when given a chance.

If and it's a big if, Fergie took the bull by the horns and went for it with the following formation, it could be devastating:

...................Van der Sar

Da Silva.........Ferdinand.....Vidic......Evra

.......Hargreaves or Anderson.....Carrick......

.................. .Rooney.....................

Ronaldo...........Berbatov............Tevez

I fear that Ferguson will not take the bull by the horns and make the necessary changes due to the manager being sentimental regarding his favoured son in Paul Scholes. The fact of the matter is that both Rooney and Tevez have better engines than Scholes, they can tank up and down the park all day long and so United will lose nothing by way of work-rate by selecting the above formation.

Tevez will not put up with being a bit-part player for any length of time, this coupled with the lack of deal progress could open the door for an Old Trafford exit, Ferguson must realise this too and it is why he needs to take decisive action.

Berbatov and Ronaldo ignite Reds afterburners...

United went into their Premier League clash with Blackburn at Ewood Park on Saturday knowing that they needed to kick-start their season with a good win, for their part Blackburn went into the game on the back of three wins. Going into the game the media had tried to build-up the clash by focusing Ferguson vs. Paul Ince aka "Big Time Charlie".

Ince talked this week of his respect for his former manager, but make no mistake the Rovers boss would have loved to have put one over on the Reds by winning what turned out to be a good game to watch, albeit from a United perspective.

The first-half was a decent contest, but United could have been and perhaps should have been two up after the first 20 minutes after Vidic and Fletcher failed to convert good chances.

Ryan Giggs had a good effort saved by the Rovers keeper on thirty minutes, but a minute later Blackburn's resistance was finally broken from a corner when Wes Brown nodded the Champions into a well deserved but controversial lead, because Vidic had clearly elbowed keeper Jason Brown when the two clashed inside the six-yard box.

From that point on there was really only going to be one winner - it wasn't the home team. However, it took until the 64th minute for United to score the vital second goal, but it was well worth the wait.

The move that led to Reds second goal started deep in United's own half, with Berbatov laying the ball off, which led to a succession of quick passes before it eventually came to Ronaldo, who then majestically brushed aside the challenge of a Rovers defender then expertly picked out Rooney whose finish was clinical and emphatic. The goal was one of the seasons' best so far; it took 18 seconds from the time it left Berbatov's boot to it ending up in the Rovers net.

Rooney (unlucky not to) and Ronaldo (sans shooting boots) should have added to United's tally. Such was the Champions dominance, if the match had finished five-nil, no one, including "big time Charlie" could have complained. It didn't stop the justified carping of Paul Ince over the opening goal, but it really wasn't a serious contest for much of the game and the Rovers manager did admit as much saying that United were too strong for his team.

Despite that wonderful second goal, the most encouraging aspect of this game was the performances of Berbatov and Ronaldo, both have been struggling to find form. Against Blackburn, Berbatov, looked much sharper than in his previous United games, he was pulling the strings all around the Rovers penalty area, his quick passing was incisive and to feet.

For his part, while Ronaldo did miss some good chances to have extended United's lead, he still managed to contribute with another vital assist and he is starting to ghost beyond defenders with ease. The threat that Ronaldo carries for United cannot be under-estimated, his pace is frightening at times, it is why the Champions are so dangerous on the break.

Tevez came off the bench and should have scored following another superb run and pin-point cross-field pass to feet by Ronaldo, but the Argentine's 25-yard low fizzing shot came back off the foot of the Rovers woodwork.

Our bitter enemies have been wallowing in the Reds slow start to the new campaign, at Ewood Park on Saturday, United served noticed that the Champions are fiding their form. The message has gone out loud and clear, United are back.

Star duo sign new deals...

Paul Scholes and Darren Fletcher have signed extensions to the current contracts. Scholes who is 34 in November has signed until 210, while Fletcher has signed a three-year extension to his current deal.

Scholes is a model professional and that's partly why he's been able to remain at the very of English football for so long. Flethcer has courted interest from the likes of Everton over the last few months. The fact that the Scottish international has extended his current deal means that he's happy to continue to fight for a starting place in the Reds' first team along with Scholes and the rest of United's galaxy of star names.

Could United finish outside of the top four?

The very thought that Manchester United could finish outside of the Premier League's top four would, just a few weeks ago, seem totally implausible, but right now it doesn't, here's why.

Having spent £30m on a new striker in the summer, fans were hoping that Dimitar Berbatov was going to be the final piece in the United jigsaw, but at the same time some supporters were not convinced about the suitability of the Bulgarian. After a handful of games and scoring two goals in midweek against Aalborg, the doubters will have been given cause for a degree of optimism, but the jury is very much out on whether Berbatov will fit in long term.

Berbatov's arrival should have in theory strengthened United's forward line, but in the last two games the manager has had to drop Rooney and Tevez, in order to accommodate his new signing.

Then we come to the question of exactly where Rooney should be deployed. There's a school of thought which suggests that the former Everton striker isn't being used to his full potential. It was also put to me this week that Ferguson isn't getting the best out of Rooney. I do not buy into those theories, because Rooney isn't a classic centre-forward. I also do not believe in pigeon-holing players into roles or making comparisons with other players.

The minute you restrict Rooney, you take something away from his game, as he wants to be involved all of the time. Normal football logic would dictate that playing Rooney on the left or right wing would be a ludicrous thing to do, but Fergie has by and large got away with it, this is because Rooney drifts into different positions, in doing so making it hard for defenders to mark him.

If Fergie asked Rooney, at just 5'8", to stay up front for ninety minutes against the likes of John Terry et al, he'd be easy to mark, given he's not blessed with pace, which is why I for one believe that Ferguson has been getting the very best out of Rooney, when he's on top form, which he hasn't been all season to date.

For the longer term I see Rooney dropping back into an advanced central midfield role, as Fergie said recently, he'd play in goal if you asked him too. While that was said in jest, Rooney would make an excellent midfield player and importantly if Fergie decided to take this option he could accommodate Tevez, Berbatov, Ronaldo and Rooney in the same starting eleven.

IF there are question marks surrounding the forward line, there's just as many in midfield. Ferguson has talked about retiring at some point in the not too distant future, it could happen next summer and there's a feeling that he might well take Scholes and Giggs with him.

The question is should Fergie still be building around the ageing legs of Scholes? As clearly, Scholes is the central plank in his midfield. Again, with the danger of making unfair comparisons with others, Michael Carrick was brought in for his ability to pass the ball and of course both Carrick and Scholes are currently out injured.

The midfield picture has been complicated due to almost constant injuries to Owen Hargreaves - who is, the complete midfield player in the eyes of many. Then we come to Anderson, somewhat surprisingly, he was left out of the starting eleven which faced Aalborg, especially given that Fergie had stated it was his strongest team. Anderson hasn't so far cemented a regular starting place, which is concerning given his ability.

As for Ronaldo, he will be key to what happens this season. Last weekend he won a penalty and had an assist against Bolton. In midweek against Aalborg Ronaldo had another assist and should have scored and he's not yet 100% fit.

The defence will look after itself, of that I have no doubt, especially with the emerging Rafael Da Silva, who is a class act, as is his injured compatriot Possebon.

There are concerns about the consistency of Edwin van der Sar, given some recent errors, but hopefully he will come good, if he doesn't there's no obvious heir apparent.

Looking at United's squad of players, there can be no doubting that we have enough quality, but the team has to start winning and importantly gelling soon, because if we do not recapture that momentum then Chelsea will canter to the title.

To me at least anyway, Arsenal and Liverpool look like racing certainties for another top four finish and that is despite some surprisingly poor results from the Gunners. Ironically, at the season start, I was thinking Liverpool could be edged into fifth place, but they've started well and Torres is looking good after a year in England.

United have not been helped by the fixtures, but we have to get on with it. The worry is that either Aston Villa or god forbid even Man City could finish above us in the table, the latter is a real doomsday worst-case scenario.

For the record I am NOT predicting United will finish outside of the top four, but I am saying that Fergie has to solve this problem of how to get the best from his resources, because right now mainly due to injuries it has not happened.

There are too many question marks surrounding the complexion of the forward line and midfield, as a result this current United team has not gelled and our opponents are only too aware of this. Failure to win at Blackburn this weekend will be another painful body-blow and potentially very damaging regarding United's hopes of retaining the title.

The big problem is that until Fergie has a full squad to choose from, he won’t be able to consistently field what he believes is his strongest team.

Norsemen swamped by Red tide....

Manchester United's players went into Tuesday's Champions League clash with Aalborg with warnings from Fergie about what they might expect from the home team and crowd. The Danes were up for it all right, but they simply couldn't match the Champions' quality as the visitors' ran out fairly comfortable three-nil winners with goals from Rooney and a brace from Dimitar Berbatov.

Rooney's first-half goal was the pick of the bunch, it started on the right when Nani made a smart turn inside (pretty much the only thing he did right in the game) and found substitute, Ryan Giggs, who expertly threaded a ball to the feet of the onrushing United striker who applied another clinical finish.

New boy Berbatov weighed-in with a second half double, the first was an absolute gift following a mistake by a defender. The second goal came after smart work by Ronaldo who pulled the ball back from the Danes by-line for the Bulgarian who killed the game off with another decent finish from just outside the six-yard box.

While the contest was a pretty much one-sided affair, the Danes had their fair share of possession, but they failed to make any real impression inside the visitors' penalty area and so it was an easy night for Van der Sar et al.

The game wasn't without its talking points, at the beginning of the season I predicted that by the end of it, Rafael Da Silva and Rodrigo Possebon, could become permanent fixtures in the United first team. Given that Fergie had stated he'd start the Aalborg game with his strongest team and as things turned out that meant sans Wes Brown, it looks like half of my prediction may come to fruition sooner than I'd expected...The Brazilian right-back did his chances of claiming a regular starting place no harm at all with an excellent performance, so much so that he was United's stand-out player on the night, closely followed by Rooney and Giggs.

For his part, Berbatov should have scored his first hatrick for the club, he missed an absolute sitter after just five minutes, however, once he'd scored that brace his game improved, until that point he'd been pretty dire really, all too often his passing was quite poor, given what he is capable of.

Despite his two goals, Berbatov's best moment in the game came late on when he curled a lovely arching ball with the outside of this right boot for Ronaldo to run onto, the Player of The Year should have scored, but instead he pulled his shot wide.

While it wasn't a dirty game, the win came at the expense of United collecting a few injuries to Rooney, Scholes (up to eight weeks) and Da Silva. The good news is that both Hargreaves and Carrick will be back soon as will Neville.

United can cope better these days with injuries to midfield players given the current squad, so even without Scholes the Reds should be ok, added to which it gives Fergie the opportunity to ring the changes. Next up it's Blackburn Rovers and I expect Owen Hargreaves and Anderson to be deployed in the engine room with Tevez starting up front.