Macheda Grows Up Just In Time?

Those who stayed up into the early hours of the morning to watch Manchester United's pre season game against New England Revolution will have seen Kiko Macheda score two very instinctive and classy goals in United's 4-1 win in Boston, Massachusetts.

In fact, his all round performance had improved vastly from the last time I saw him in a Manchester United shirt, as he scored double the amount of goals in this game than he did in his six month loan with Italian side Sampdoria last season. Sent on at half time last night, he was clearly a man on a mission.

He wanted to and quite frankly needed to prove to Sir Alex Ferguson that he can compete for a forward position at Manchester United, ahead of the five other strikers fighting for a place.

The 19 year-old, who has recently joined Twitter and already making headlines on the site with a tweet about possible United signing Wesley Sneijder, was delighted to be back in a United shirt. He said:

"I am very happy because I had a difficult six months. I couldn't wait to get back here from Italy, even though it is my own country." 

"There is a different mentality in Italy. They don't see young players like they do in England. They don't tend to choose them, especially when things are not going well." 

"I am not scarred by it. You learn a lot from bad experiences. I grew up as a man. I have another mentality now." 

"When you leave Manchester United, go somewhere else and come back, you realise how different it all is. It is better to work really hard and I hope to stay here."

If he can continue to put in performances like the one against New England Revolution, he certainly has a good chance of staying at United. He looked fit, sharp and up for the task, and with a bit more coaching could have a big future ahead of him.

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Berbatov Should be Sold if £15m Bid is Offered

Dimitar Berbatov is a fantastic football player and a top professional for Manchester United. That much has been confirmed in the crazy season the Bulgarian has experienced at Old Trafford, from the highs of scoring some fantastic goals on the way to becoming the Premier League's top scorer to the low of being left out of the Champions League Final squad. However, despite affirming his commitment to Manchester United for next season admirably, it has been revealed that Berbatov will not be signing an extension to his contract at United.

With only one year left, Sir Alex Ferguson offered Berbatov a one year extension to his contract before the Champions League Final, and Berbatov did not sign. He said that he is happy to stay at Manchester United, fight for a first team place and ride out the rest of his £80,000 a week contract to allow him to leave on a free transfer at the end of next season.

Now, however much you like Berbatov for his graciousness and the certain vulnerability he showed when he told the world of the shame that came over him from being left out of the Champions League Final squad, you cannot see leaving the guy in the squad for a year only for him to leave for a free a good deal for the club. Berbatov cost the club £30 million plus Friazer Campbell on loan - he didn't come cheap, and it was a last minute deal involving a lot of stress and strained relations with Tottenham. Surely United must take some money from a sale rather than just release him?
Berbatov said on Bulgarian TV:

"I will stay, I will fight for the 20th title. If I were an easy quitter, I would never have made it this far. Everything at Manchester United starts from scratch for me on July 4."

"There will be new finals and we will be fighting for new titles. I am moving ahead. When you go through difficult times, you should not quit."

Okay, he will not quit, but he will not commit either, according to Goal.com, so it is not a great situation for United if they want to take in some money from his sale. PSG have apparently opened the bidding for Berbatov at £13 million, and there are several clubs interested in his signature, including Bayern Munich, and some have even said Tottenham.

Manchester United may be able to offload Berbatov to his former club Tottenham in some sort of player plus cash exchange for Luka Modric whom United have reportedly made their prime target, though Tottenham are far from willing to let go of him at any price.

Don't get me wrong, I would love Berbatov to stay if he was signing a new contract - a one year extension, I simply object to United allowing him to run down his current contract and allow him to go for free when you consider how much was paid for him. I hope that if Berbatov truly has decided not renew his contract or extend it, then any offer for him is very seriously considered.

With Owen recently signing an extension, Welbeck and Macheda returning to fight for a starting place with Rooney and Hernandez, competition is going to be increasing tough, so, it pains me to say it, perhaps Berbatov leaving wouldn't be such a bad thing in terms of the young players chances in the first team.

I trust Sir Alex Ferguson to make the right decision on the matter, and whatever happens to Berbatov, I am very grateful for what he has done at United, especially this season. He is a model professional and a quality footballer, and he still has game in him - whether he chooses to play them at Manchester United is another matter.

Follow Me on Twitter @DBSFootball

Macheda Set to Leave United

Federico Macheda looks like he will be leaving Manchester United for good if we are to believe the quotes from Sir Alex Ferguson in certain newspapers. The young Italian looked to have established himself as a threat up front in 2009 when he scored two vitally important goals in consecutive games to keep United on route to title success, but has since frittered away into the shadows.

The 19 year-old never impressed in the first team, and he went missing in a lot of the games he played in after the brief success of two matches. In other words, he seemed out of his depth. Whether it was just the need of more experience and time to adapt to England could be a reason for his poor shows, but this January, the former Lazio man was loaned to another Italian side, Sampdoria.

14 games in the Seria A and no goals later, Macheda's loan spell is nearing an end. He will soon be returning to Manchester United, but whether United want him back is another matter. Sir Alex has seen the massive rise and rise of Javier Hernandez in Macheda's absence, with the Mexican showing his manager the ease in which he was able to adapt to the English game.

With Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez, Dimitar Berbatov as well as other young strikers who have shown much better goalscoring ability in loan spells such as Danny Welbeck at Sunderland, Macheda will find it hard to get into the United side - even the bench will be a tough task.

A Sir Alex Ferguson quote from the News of the World throws Macheda's future into further doubt. Apparently, Sir Alex said:

“We’re looking to convert the loan to Sampdoria in Macheda for sale outright. Otherwise, look elsewhere."

He should have been loaned out to a Premier League club in January, not Sampdoria. At the time however, despite Sir Alex wanting him to stay in England on loan, Macheda had his mind set on a return to Italy. The climate and lifestyle may have attracted the young man, but football should have been his priority. Since his move, he has told of his desire to return to Old Trafford. Question is, do they want him?

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Michael Owen: I'm Fit & Ready for United & England Return

Manchester United will have no shortage of strikers next season. Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov will be ready and raring to go as well as those young strikers returning from loan deals; Danny Welbeck, Kiko Macheda and Mame Biram Diouf. One striker whose future is still yet to be decided is a man who Sir Alex Ferguson has described him as "world class", with "absolutely superb" positional play, first touch and finishing.

Surely then, with those qualities, Michael Owen would have no problem in getting into the United side. On the contrary, because of a mixture of both injuries and bad luck, his appearances for United have been limited.

11 appearances this season due to the hamstring injury he suffered during last years Carling Cup final and other unfortunate injuries has seen him score four goals. Despite criticism of being "injury plagued", last season saw a fantastic return from the then 30 year old - 31 appearances and 9 crucial goals.
His last game for England was in 2008 which was incidentally his only appearance under the management of Fabio Capello. 89 appearances and 40 goals for his country however tell a different story.

The new man to Twitter spent today clearing a few things up on the micro-blogging site:

"By the way, to answer a common question: I'm fit. I was on the side of the pitch about to come on last week [against Bolton] until Jonny Evans got sent off."

He also congratulated Gareth Barry on the news that the Manchester City midfielder would captain England on Tuesday against Ghana. He also joked about his England situation:

"Congrats to Gareth Barry, great honour for him. Quite a few dropped out of squad, Mr Capello must be making room for me to return!!!!!!!!!!!" 

In response to some obviously derogatory responses to that Tweet, Owen followed up with this:

"I knew that joke would get a few of you taking the p*** out of me! You certainly need thick skin to play this Tweeting game."

Follow Michael on Twitter @themichaelowen 

Arsenal Striker a Wanted Man

The January transfer market looks as if it may turn into a window for teams to send away their young players on loan to gain match experience and fitness, to return with a possible place for them in the team, and Arsene Wenger will do just that with his Mexican striker, Carlos Vela.

Bolton are a possible destination, and Owen Coyle has been tipped to make a move for the 21 year-old, having already taken Jack Wilshere under his wing in a successful loan period at the Reebok. Wilshere returned to Arsenal and is now a first team regular for Wenger, and often runs the Arsenal midfield - an advantage of loan deals that Vela should carefully consider.

As long as Vela sees his future in English football, he should probably choose to stay in the English League and play regularly to become familiar with the playing style. His other options include Italian side, Chievo Verona of Serie A, or a move to Spain in Deportivo La Coruna and Espanyol while Valencia are said to be front runners:

"With Valencia having been the front runners to sign the Mexico international, Italian outfit Chievo are the latest club to have taken a shining to the 21 year old."

With Manchester United preparing to send Macheda away on loan, and Danny Welbeck already in the middle of a very successful loan spell at Sunderland, it seems the loan is becoming a useful tool for the bigger clubs.

West Ham 4 - 0 Man United - United Humiliated in Cup Quarters

West Ham cruised to a 4 - 0 win against a petty excuse of a Manchester United team. That is something you don't hear very often, but the Carling Cup quarter final showed that Sir Alex Ferguson had massively underestimated the London club.

It was a clash between the top and bottom teams in the Premier League, but by this performance, you wouldn't think that United were the team unbeaten this season and sitting proudly at the top. Their defense was an absolute shambles, their midfield created nothing, and the attack had nothing to work with. It was atrocious. West Ham completely outplayed United in the snow, as the visiting players seemed to take a break in their job as footballers, wondering aimlessly around the pitch, watching Avram Grants side control the game around them.

Jonathon Spector of all people - the former Manchester United defender scored two of the goals for the Hammers, both in the first half, and Carlton Cole scored the other two in the second half.

Victor Obinna of West Ham had a great game - a big threat to United throughout; being the source of most of the chances created. It was a player like this that Ferguson's side were missing. Johnny Evans had a bad game, and he knows it. He was turned too easily for Cole's goal, while the defence in general fell asleep for numerous West Ham attacks.

In truth, after the second goal went in, there wasn't really any way back for United. Sir Alex had no one on his bench who could come on and make an impact. No Rooney, no Berbatov, no Nani. the Scot had no options that he knew could change the game.

We all make mistakes, and Sir Alex made one today. Of course, no one could have expected that his team would perform so poorly, but he should have had one or two top players on the bench that he could rely on to create something if it came it. In the end, it did come to it, and Ferguson wasn't prepared.

West Ham have breezed passed the holders of the competition with ease, and humiliated the young United team in the process. Before the game United were unbeaten in all competitions this season. That record is shattered in pieces as the Red Devils travel to Blackpool on the weekend, but it is a huge confidence boost for the struggling Hammers who travel to Sunderland on Sunday on the back of a brilliant 4 - 0 win.

Being Unbeaten Isn't Good Enough for Manchester United

6 draws in 7 away League matches for Manchester United. They have drawn more in the Premier League season than they have won. Games against Fulham, Sunderland, West Brom, Everton and Bolton, games that the title challengers should be expecting to win, they haven't.

Aston Villa on Saturday was always going to be a tough game for United, especially considering the injuries and mid-week game that ended up as a dull 0 - 0 draw which gave the Red Devils no momentum going into the week-end. The result? A draw. But only just.

Sir Alex Ferguson said of his teams performance:

"we were all over the place,"

United went behind to an Ashley Young penalty in the 72nd minute, and Albrighton doubled Villa's lead four minutes later. This season, United have found themselves in Aston Villa's position more than once; up by a couple of goals with the opposition coming back into the game. They must have learned something from their own performances, as they clawed their way back for a 2-2 draw. Macheda in the 81st and a Vidic goal in the 85th minute.

Ferguson observed:

"Another five minutes and we'd have won."

This may have have been true, but they had 95 minutes to win the game, and the team simply didn't play well enough to get the win from a good Aston Villa side. It was the last few minutes that they seemed to come to life.

United find themselves 3 points behind Chelsea with Chelsea having a game in hand. United are still unbeaten this season, but being unbeaten will not win them the title while Chelsea are still winning.