Juan Mata left OUT of Spain Squad to face Italy

Manchester United’s record signing Spaniard Juan Mata has been left out of his national teams friendly match vs Italy next week, ahead of Rio.

Del Bosque seems to have gone for who is on form at the moment, he’s chosen Atletico Madrid goalscorer Diego Costa and Bayern Munich playmaker Thiago Alcantara ahead of the former Chelsea man.

Juan isn’t the only experienced player to be left out, Del Bosque has also left Fernando Torres, David Villa and Alvara Arbeloa out aswell. Azpilicueta got a call-up, and Negredo, Navas, Cazorla and Silva all retained places.

Manchester United target Koke is a part of the squad, and David De Gea is missing out to Pepe Reina, Victor Valdes and Iker Casillas.

Vincente Del Bosque chose a 23 man squad, which is the exact same amount of which will be going to Rio in June. However, the Spain manager said “Despite the fixture coming just a few months before the World Cup, Del Bosque said it would be wrong to read too much into the players named or excluded. This is just a squad to play Italy, not for the World Cup. Some players not on this list have a lot of merit.”

For the senior squad, Juan has played 32 games and scored 9 goals. Winning the World Cup with the squad in 2010, the Euro’s in 2012 and coming runner up in the Confederations Cup in 2013.

Hopefully Mata’s motivation and drive won’t be too crushed, hopefully he can be motivated to play well for United, and earn himself a place for Rio in summer.

Personally, I think he’ll make the squad in June; Del Bosque couldn’t risk not taking such a talent to the World Cup.

MUFC IN THE MEDIA (27/02/14) “Hernandez Swipe at RVP” “Evra to Italy” “Jesse Lingard loaned out”

A very active past couple of days for all Manchester United fans, particularly those who follow popular media outlets; after Tuesday nights shambolic Champions League performance away at Olympiacos.

Yesterday, the 27th feb, was a relatively busy day for MUFC in the Media, so let’s get started.

Javier Hernandez swipes at RVP? The mirror released an article accusing our tex mex Chico to have taken a swipe at Robin Van Persie via his Instagram post: Hernandez put “Without your teammates you can’t be somebody in football, always be thankful…”. Rumours of this being aimed towards Robin Van Persie was because he called the team ‘lousy’ and blamed teammates for the loss in a Dutch interview after Tuesdays game. However, when Chico heard the scandalous rumours, he sent a rant of tweets in quick succession, saying “Before I go to sleep, I need to put this cause things get a little out of context… Why do the press always take comments out of context, my comment on Instagram had nothing to do with RVP. We are great teammates working for the same goal, the TEAM! & Cause the team isn’t doing as well as we’d like everyone just wants to make everything look like a bad thing!” and just a bit earlier than this, The Mirror also released a piece explaining how Robin Van Persie has said sorry to his Manchester United teammates and claimed he was not criticising them in a post-match interview earlier this week.

A few more pieces also including the Dutchmen, The Guardian published a piece stating how Van Persie is to consider his future at Manchester United in the summer, with a rumoured move back to his former club; the gunners. However, the Daily Mail also released a piece insisting that Manchester United will not allow Robin Van Persie to leave this summer; so a lot of things going round regarding Robin.

Away from the “gossip”, we’ve got some transfer news, youngster Jesse Lingard has joined Brighton & Hove Albion till the summer, someone who I thought should have had a shot at first team football this season after his impressing performances in the 2013 pre mufc tour; finishing as the clubs top goalscorer.

Some international news, as Shinji Kagawa is added to the Japan Squad, and five Manchester United players added to the England squad against Denmark: Smalling, Carrick, Cleverley, Welbeck and Rooney. All potential World Cup travellers.

Many stories went round about Moyes, The Independent claimed David Moyes has 12 games to prove himself to the Glazers that he’s the right man for the job, whilst The Guardian reported that the Glazers have backed David Moyes to rebuild ‘ageing’ United, with a rumoured £150 to £300 million available to spend.

And lastly, yesterday’s final part of media, by the Daily Mail; saying that Evra could join Inter Milan with Nemanja and Bacary Sagna. Leaving us with a potential loss of 3 defenders in Rio, Evra and Vidic. Meaning we will have to splash the cash on some proper defenders, Luke Shaw; who according to The Guardian, now has Manchester City chasing him aswell, Dante; who was rumoured in January from Munich and possibly Mangala, from Porto.

For all news regarding Manchester United from The Mirror, follow @TheMirrorMU; The Independent, follow @IndependentMU; The Guardian, follow @TheGuardianMU and The Daily Mail, follow @DailyMailMU.

Manchester United vs Olympiacos F.C. – Match Preview

It’s a big day for David Moyes’ men as they prepare for their round of 16 1st leg against Super League stunners Olympiacos at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Greece.

Now there’s no doubt about it, when Moyes heard the news of the draw, he will have been relieved. Not because Olympiacos are a bad side, but because we could of matched up against a number of exceptional opponents.

Stereotypically, the majority of football fans look upon Olympiacos as an easy draw, but their stats don’t suggest this. This season in the Greek Super League, they’ve got an astounding 74 points from just 26 games, averaging 2.6 points per match! And of course, they are unbeaten, they’ve won 24 and drawn 2, and have an immense goal difference of +69. They had a bumpy ride in the group stage, and swiftly rode their luck, only getting through by having a +2 goal difference compared to Benfica. However, PSG were the only team to beat them, 4-1 at home, and 2-1 away.

Of course United are traveling to play tonight, and Olympiacos’ home record is very impressive, in the champions league the past few years, they’ve turned over Arsenal, Dortmund and Benfica. However their away record, not so great; they’ve won just 3 out of a possible 9 away games since 2011.

It’s easy to say that there’s no competition in the Super League, leaving just PAOK as a minor blimp on Olympiacos’ radar; however, you’ll never really know till you play there or watch it for a sustainable amount of time.

Now there’s many things Moyes could do with the team tonight, he may want to rest a few for the home leg, or he may want to go all out away from home. Of course, Mata is ineligible to play in the Champions League this season, and reports are that Johnny Evans and Phil Jones did not train with the squad yesterday morning, and Rafael potentially still recovering from the after effects of concussion. There’s many ways Moyes could go about it, Kagawa is an option – out wide or through the middle, Nani regularly impresses in Europe – so he is also an option; Fellaini is another option, Januzaj, Young and Chico are all more options possible to be involved.

With a tough year domestically, we really need to do the best we can in Europe, the last time we won this trophy was in 2008, and MUFC legend Wayne Rooney said 1 is not enough for him. The football we’ve played in the Champions League compared to the Premier League has been magnificent, handing it to Bayer Leverkusen, and smashing them 5-0 away from home, so I’m pretty confident the squad can perform.

Kick off is 7:45 pm, and team news should be live about an hour before, enjoy the game; and let’s pray that the mighty reds perform!

Wayne Rooney Extends Contract at Manchester United

Brilliant news for all reds across the globe today, as Wayne Rooney extends his contract till June 2019.

The former Evertonian has took a £50,000 wage increase, knocking him upto a hefty £300,000 per week. Along with becoming a club ambassador after retirement and leaving him with an “outstanding chance” to become the top goalscorer of all time in a Manchester United shirt.

After signing from Everton in 2004, Wazza has played 430 games for the devils, scoring 208 glorious goals, currently 4th in the top scorers leaderboard of all time; behind Jack Rowley with 211 goals, Denis Law with 237 and Bobby Charlton in the lead with 249; meaning Rooney has just under 5 and a half years to score over 41 goals and take the crown of Bobby.

Many opinions are going around regarding the new contract, some see it as a huge sign of desperation by the club, and some see it as purely scandalous. However, you’ve got to keep hold of your best players, especially after he’s been here for just under 10 years!

In David Moyes’ press conference today, he said: “Wayne has been the best player in England since I put him into the Everton first team in 2003. Since becoming United manager in July last year, I have enjoyed working with him and seeing just how he has developed his incredible talent. With his ability, his experience and his desire to succeed, he is a vital part of my plans for the future and I’m absolutely thrilled he has accepted the challenge.”

David Moyes clearly has big plans for the future of this club, potentially driving the club into a new era, with as little doubts possible with the Glazers.

To lose Rooney it would have been massive, he’s a key player for our team, and has proved that even more so this season, during our unusual journey!

The deal is done, he’ll die a red. So sit back, chill out and enjoy the future with this magical man in our side.

Manchester United January 2014 Transfer Activity

After the new arrival of David Moyes and resignation of Sir Alex, the first half of the season was always going to be tough. Many expected Moyes to come in, pick up from where Fergie left off and win game after game, title after title; and undoubtedly finish top of the table; but how can you expect someone to come in and do what took numerous years for Sir Alex to do?

Anyway, the appointing of Moyes debacle is for another day; let’s focus on our activity in the January Transfer Window; Moyes’ second Transfer Window experience as United manager.

Many rumours were flying around regarding Mata to United, Gündoğan to United, Vidal, Pogba, Kroos etc. But never really looked very likely. However; of course, Moyes secured Juan Mata’s signature around the 25th of Jan. The Spaniard signed for what is to be believed around £37.1 million pound, a club record fee. Mata has received Player of The Season during his experience at Chelsea and showed he’s a versatile player, who can score, pass and play, unbelievably well.

A lot more activity regarding players going out, and I personally like what Moyes has done here, sent many young players out on loan to clubs so they can get some more pitch time and develop as players. Not only have we loaned out, we’ve also sold a few also.

Starting up, with the players who we have sold. – Fabio joined Cardiff for an undisclosed fee and will wear shirt number 35 for the Bluebirds.

Ryan Tunnicliffe and Larnell Cole have both joined Fulham for undisclosed fee’s, and I’m sure the former reds will play well for the Cottagers.

That’s all United have sold, Fabio will be missed by many with potential move by Patrice Evra to Lille, France in the summer.

Now onto the loans, some very clever decisions my Moyes here.

Wilfried Zaha, who hasn’t really had the time to shine at United as of yet, has gone on loan to Cardiff till the summer.

Anderson, who joined us a few seasons ago, was supposed to be the ‘Next Big Thing’ however, things haven’t yet gone to plan. The Brazilian centre mid has joined Fiorentina on loan, hoping to develop further.

Federico Macheda, who is constantly being brought back from loans, such as Sampdoria, QPR, Stuttgart and Doncaster Rover; had been sent out to another club; Macheda has joined Birmingham City on loan.

Sam Johnstone, a possible goalkeeper for United in a few years, has recently singed a new 3 and a half year deal with the reds, and has now been sent out on a four week loan to Doncaster Rovers.

Jack Barmby has gone out on loan to Hartlepool, Tom Lawrence to Yeovil Town, Tom Thorpe and Tyler Blackett joining Macheda at Birmingham City, Sam Byrne and Charni Ekangamene both loaned out to Carlisle United and Will Keane to QPR.

In my opinion, a successful transfer window, Juan will fit in nicely and all the young players out on loan, I have no doubt will perform to their best ability and possibly be available for selection in the near future for Manchester United.