FA COMMUNITY SHIELD PREVIEW VS MANCHESTER CITY

The Manchester derby is once again headed to Wembley Stadium - this time in the FA Community Shield, which is played between the English Premier League champion and the FA Cup winners. In their two league matches last season, Manchester United got the best of their "noisy neighbors" as they earned a draw at the Eastlands in a 0-0 stalemate while Wayne Rooney's famous overhead kick proved to be the winner in a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford. However, Manchester City got some vengeance in a FA Cup semi-final tie at Wembley with a 1-0 victory - this propelled them to their first trophy in 35 years after City defeated Stoke City in the final. While United have participated in 14 of the last 19 Community Shield matches, they have only met City once in this competition - a 1956 tie that United won 1-0. This fixture is typically a glorified pre-season match but both sides may potentially see this particular encounter as something more - especially when each considers who their opponent is and the context of City's ambition.

Manchester United

In preparation for the upcoming season, United embarked to the United States for a pre-season tour. While across the pond, the Reds played four matches against Major League Soccer (MLS) competition and outscored their counterparts 18-2. The grand finale of the tour was an exhibition versus FC Barcelona in Washington D.C. where United earned a small measure of revenge against the Catalan side with a 2-1 victory, whom they had just lost to in the UEFA Champions League final in May. While United certainly looked the part as favorites to repeat as Premier League champions during their tour through the U.S., perhaps the most important part of their adventure was the acclimation of newcomers David de Gea, Ashley Young, and Phil Jones. de Gea, the presumed new No 1 after a £18.9 million transfer fee during the summer, joined the tour in Seattle after helping Spain's U-21 side win the European Championship in July. Young, the former Aston Villa attacker and current rising England international, looked electric at times during his stints on the left flank. Jones, the 19-year-old defender, showed his versatility and promise while featuring both at center-back and right-back. In addition, United have mostly gone through the pre-season unscathed. The one major exception to this is the concussion that Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez suffered while training in New Jersey. It is being speculated that the Mexican striker will miss the early portion of the Premier League season. In less serious news, it has been reported that both Michael Carrick and Rafael have both received minor knocks, however, the latter participated last night in Paul Scholes' testimonial match at Old Trafford. Darren Fletcher and Antonio Valencia both stayed back in Manchester during the tour to recover from illness and injury, respectively. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson has indicated each should be available at season's beginning.

Manchester City

While United's preparation for the season can generally be described as having gone smoothly thus far, the same probably cannot be said for their neighbors. Quite simply, this has to do with their talisman and Manchester-hating captain Carlos Tevez showing himself to be selfish - the reports that he had to be threatened with fines in order to show up for their FA Cup winning parade during the Spring is incredibly telling of his situation at City. While he has been linked with a move to Corinthians or for a loan spell to Inter, the Argentine striker is still a City squad member. The mercurial, but immensely talented striker will miss the Community Shield match as he is still on leave after his Copa American duty for Argentina. There certainly is a positive side though for City in regards to their summer - mainly in the £38 million acquisition of Sergio 'Kun' Aguero. The Argentine attacker is arguably world-class and he may prove to the be signing of the summer transfer window. If Tevez does depart City, Aguero could show himself to be more than suitable as a replacement. If the Tevez saga continues at Eastlands, Aguero theoretically could play in the hole right behind Tevez in attack. In addition, City have brought in Gael Clichy from Arsenal FC and the promising Stefan Savic from Partizan Belgrade over the summer.

 

What to look for:

While this is still a pre-season match and unlikely to have the pace and intensity of a league match, it is still likely to be much more competitive than a typical friendly. Thus, I will attempt to provide both a few tactical keys along with simple things to keep an eye out for in this match:

* Nani vs Clichy: It is possible that the Portuguese winger does not even start but this match-up is worth pointing out because of their history. While at Arsenal, Clichy regularly struggled with Nani and even on some occasions, he got destroyed. In addition, during the match at Old Trafford in February, Nani terrorized City down the flank with his threat of crossing the ball with his right boot from the touchline or his dangerous ability to cut in and shoot with his left.

* De Jong vs Rooney: This matchup is dependent on if Fergie elects to play 4-4-1-1. If so, Rooney's preference to operate between the lines will match him up with the formidable De Jong. During last season's run-in, when Rooney thrived in this role, he generally did well with his intelligent movement and superb technique to foil holding-midfielders. However, De Jong is arguably the class of the Premier League in this role. Even if Rooney does not play in this role, De Jong could influence the match by providing inside cover when the likes of Nani, Park, or Young cut inside from the flanks.

* Newcomers: de Gea, Young, Jones, Aguero, Clichy - this will the most competitive scenario each side's supporters will get a chance to see their new acquisitions prior to next weekend when Premier League action begins. Is de Gea up to the task as the successor to the great Edwin van der Sar? Is Young capable of displacing the superb Park or Nani as first-choice on the left flank? Is Aguero capable of being of being City's talisman if Tevez departs? Quite obviously, none of this can be answered on Sunday but subtle hints can be provided.

'Genius' Paul Scholes bows out with a goal in Manchester United testimonial victory against New York Cosmos

The Old Trafford hero scored the opener in a 6-0 win and then declared: "I'm glad it's all over," forcing Wayne Rooney to take a penalty ahead of him

The end of an era as Paul Scholes ends his Manchester United career in front of a packed house at Old Trafford as the Reds crush the New York Cosmos 6-0. So, finally after 676 games for Manchester United Paul Scholes finally decided to call it a day with a benefit game at Old Trafford against the New York Cosmos. A rather ironic choice considering the former England midfielder’s aversion to the limelight, to play out his career in front of over 70,000 fans at a sold-out Theatre of Dreams. But then Scholes has always done it his way. From shunning the trappings of celebrity for the security of family life, to walking away from an England career because of all the travel and hassle involved.

When the likes of Barcelona’s Xavi rate him as the best midfielder, “In the last 15 to 20 years” or Zinedine Zidane description as, "undoubtedly the greatest midfielder of his generation," then the Salford born lad must have been doing something right. In short we are not talking about some ordinary talent. Probably the only ordinary thing about the 36 year old was his tackling - 120 bookings in all competitions and ten sending-offs tells its own tale. Not that Scholes is severing all links with United, he will become a club coach from the 2011–12 season onwards. 

With likes of Reds legend Eric Cantona in the New York Cosmos dugout 14 years after his shock retirement from the game coming up against his former boss Sir Alex Ferguson, then not all of the limelight was directed at Scholes, and if all else failed we had Pele, Bryan Robson, Roy Keane, Peter Schmeichel and Denis Law in the stands. Ferguson included Scholes in his Manchester United team one last time together with the 'Class of 92' (Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville). But no David Beckham who is contracted to LA Galaxy and was unable to attend. Cantona had to make do with members of the Cosmos U23 squad plus some ‘named’ makeweights, including Fabio Cannavaro, Robbie Keane, Wayne Bridge and Gary Neville.

For the Cosmos it was mainly a chance to show that they have never really been away since their demise in 1984 as they look to secure the 20th MLS franchise. You see, for the moment the club which was most associated with those heady days of professional ‘soccer’ in the States during the 70’s, who signed Pele and looked like usurping baseball, basketball and American football in terms of popularity are now just a name looking for a league to join. Rather like the Olympics, testimonial games are all about the taking part not the winning and that presumably explains the awful version of ‘New York, New York’ we had to endure from some pitch-side crooner just before kick-off. Set back Anglo-American relations for at least 90 minutes. Then, as befits playing an American based team, the opening strike on 8 minutes was straight out of Hollywood. Scholes received the ball some 20 yards out and with the whole of Old Trafford willing him to shoot he duly obliged with a screamer past Brad Friedel. The stadium erupted.

Twenty minutes later and the hosts doubled their advantage from the penalty spot after Ashley Young was fouled. With the Reds faithful wanting Scholes to take the penalty Wayne Rooney stepped forward to a chorus of boos and converted. United were clearly the more accomplished outfit for no other reason than they are used to playing as a team, with at least eight of the starting line-up likely to begin the Charity Shield final on Sunday. David de Gea in the Reds goal must realise not all games will be like this, whilst his opposite number Friedel can only hope for a more secure defence at Tottenham.

Interestingly, considering we had Robbie Keane and Wayne Bridge out there for the Cosmos trying to impress other clubs, it was the 39 year old former United star Dwight Yorke who looked the livelier for the visitor’s. Unsurprisingly, wholesale changes were made at the break to both teams but it made little difference to what happened out in the middle. Scholes continued to show his range of passing whilst the rest of his colleagues boosted their match fitness ahead of the weekend showdown with Manchester City.

It was three soon after the restart. A neat interchange of passing ended with Anderson stroking the ball home. It was soon after this that the inevitable Mexican wave started. And during this display Danny Welbeck took advantage of some poor defending to make it four. We than had a contender for villain of the night as Patrick Vieira came on for the Cosmos to a crescendo of boos which continued whenever he touched the ball. But even the former Arsenal hard-man and fellow Cosmos defender Gary Neville could not prevent number five and six from Mame Biram Diouf as the American’s substitute keeper Chad Calderone was again exposed by a rapidly tiring back-four.

And then it happened with 16 minutes remaining, Paul Scholes left the Old Trafford pitch for the last time as he was substituted to thunderous applause.  The game then drifted to its conclusion with the only disappointment being Cantona did not make an appearance on the pitch in a playing capacity.  Scholes reappeared after the final whistle to take the applause and make one final lap of honour with his wife and children.  For Manchester United fans, The King is Dead, Long Live the King!

NEW YORK COSMOS SQUAD

21 Armando Gaitan*

7 Robert Pires (Ex Arsenal & Villarreal)

9 Dwight Yorke (Ex-Man Utd)

8 Nicky Butt (ex Man Utd)

3 Wayne Bridge (Man City)

13 Chad Calderone *

6 Sol Campbell (Ex Arsenal, Tottenham)

5 Fabio Cannavaro (Ex Real Madrid, Juventus, Inter, Italy WC captain)

14 Ibrahim Diaby *

16 Stefan Dimitrov *

1 Brad Friedel (Tottenham)

18 Marvin Iraheta *

11Robbie Keane (Tottenham)

20 Brian McBride (Ex Fulham, USA)

17 Dane Murphy *

2 Gary Neville (Ex Man Utd)

15 Yanik Reyering *

12 Michel Salgado (Blackburn, Ex Real Madrid)

19 Moriken Sangary *

4 Patrick Vieira (Ex Arsenal, Man City)

*Denotes New York Cosmos U-23 Player

MANCHESTER UNITED SQUAD:

32Mame Biram Diouf

1 David De Gea

29 Tomasz Kuszczak

34 Anders Lindegaard

40 Ben Amos

3 Patrice Evra

4 Phil Jones

5 Rio Ferdinand

12 Chris Smalling

15 Nemanja Vidic

20 Fabio Da Silva

21 Rafael Da Silva

23 Jonny Evans

8 Anderson

11 Ryan Giggs

13 Ji-Sung Park

16 Michael Carrick

17 Nani

18 Paul Scholes

18 Ashley Young

24 Darren Fletcher

25 Antonio Valencia

26 Gabriel Obertan

28 Darron Gibson

35 Tom Cleverley

42 Paul Pogba

47 Oliver Norwood

49 Ravel Morrison

7 Michael Owen

9 Dimitar Berbatov

10 Wayne Rooney

19 Danny Welbeck

7 Federico Macheda

Referee: Peter Walton

Here is a video highlights of the goals during the Paul Scholes Testimonial:

Victory against Barca in Friendly !

No Messi, no problem. Two months after Champions League final heartache, United fans finally had something to celebrate against Barcelona, as the Reds beat the European Champions 2-1 at FedEx Field in Washington DC.

Without their Argentinian playmaker (or Xavi, Dani Alves, Javier Mascherano, Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol), Barcelona lacked much of the creativity and movement that tore the Reds apart in May's Champions League final. Of course, this game didn't matter quite so much, despite local media billing the game as a Wembley rematch and a chance for United, apparently, to “exact revenge” for May's painful defeat. In reality, though, this was merely a pre-season run-out for Sir Alex's men, albeit a vital one with the Community Shield clash against Manchester City just eight days away.

United, at the end of a three-week stint in the States, started brightly and Rooney should perhaps have opened the scoring on 10 minutes when Nani whipped a dangerous ball across the box from the right. Rooney edged in front of his marker at the near post but blasted his low shot wide of the post. Barcelona – shorn of their South American stars, including Lionel Messi - enjoyed a spell of short dominance after Rooney's miss, although failed to test Reds goalkeeper David De Gea. One deep cross from the right did force Fabio, on as a substitute for his injured brother (knee) on 17 minutes, to head behind for a corner, however, with the Catalan side committed forward, the Reds cleared the set-piece and broke quickly down the pitch. Danny Welbeck slipped a pass between two Barcelona defenders for Nani to chase and when the Portuguese wide-man collected the ball he kept his cool to steer home United's opener via the gap between Victor Valdes' legs.

It was classic counter-attacking football from the Reds, the sort of which United fans saw far too infrequently in the last two Champions League finals. Instead, those games will always be remembered for Barcelona's staggering possession play. Here in DC, there was less of that on display, although admittedly the Catalans were missing keep-ball kings Xavi and Messi. The less savoury side to Barcelona's game remained, though. Ashley Young and Jonny Evans were caught by wild tackles in the first half, while Sergio Busquets and David Villa both made the most of tame challenges.

Sir Alex made three changes at the break (an interval that featured basketball superstar Kobe Bryant taking penalties on the pitch) but it was Nani, United's liveliest player in the first 45 minutes, who continued to pose problems for the Barcelona defence whenever the Reds pushed forward.At the other end, David De Gea's first save came just after the restart when he smothered Pedro's angled shot. Otherwise, the former Atletico Madrid stopper had precious little to do until the 70th minute when Thiago rifled a swerving shot into the top corner from 20 yards. There was no stopping that thunderbolt and the goal gave Barca a noticeable shot of confidence.

Six minutes later, though, United were back in front when Cleverley intercepted a stray pass and fed Michael Owen through the middle. The former Real Madrid forward – Barcelona fans won't have forgotten that fact – is usually lethal in one-on-one situations, and he made no mistake here, dinking the ball over Valdes to restore the Reds' lead. United's win doesn't erase the memories of May's Champions League final or even strike a significant psychological blow in the battle for European football supremacy. It did, however, ensure Sir Alex's men remained undefeated in all five US Tour fixtures (scoring 20, conceding three), and provide a high-intensity finish to pre-season preparations. Next up: the Community Shield. Bring on the Blues!

United: De Gea; Rafael (Fabio 17), Vidic (Jones 76), Evans, Evra (Smalling 46); Nani, Cleverley, Anderson (Giggs 46), Young (Obertan 62); Rooney (Owen 46), Welbeck (76)

Subs not used: Amos, Berbatov, Ferdinand, Carrick, Park, Macheda

Friendly Match Vs FC Barcelona [Preview & Live Stream]

United face another severe examination against Pep Guardiola's princes...

Form guide

United have a 100 percent record on tour and the goals have flowed. The 4-0 battering of MLS All-Stars now means all the forwards who have played out in the US have managed to find the net at least once. Barca have already enjoyed more success in pre-season, getting past Internacional on penalties before defeating Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Audi Cup final with new sensation Thiago Alcantara scoring both goals.

Ins and outs

Sir Alex has promised he'll give lengthy run-outs to most of his stars ahead of the Community Shield on Sunday week. Javier Hernandez is ruled out after suffering concussion but wouldn't have played in any case. The boss has a tough choice in goal between David De Gea and Anders Lindegaard. Barca's Copa America stars are missing and that includes Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano and Dani Alves amongst others as well as new signing Alexis Sanchez. Xavi is back in training after an injury lay-off and should be involved.

Last meeting

Wembley Stadium, 28 May 2011, the Champions League final. A masterful performance from the Catalans saw them to a comfortable 3-1 win thanks to goals from Pedro, Messi and David Villa. Wayne Rooney's superb response before half-time was, ultimately, in vain.

Top man

For all of Messi's magic, it's arguable that Xavi was man of the match at Wembley. The midfielder ran the show and orchestrated a superb team performance by dictating the tempo and pulling the strings. A wonderful footballer in the Paul Scholes mould, he is the man who makes Pep Guardiola's side tick - with able support from Andres Iniesta and, of course, Messi who won't feature.

Quote/unquote

"Players from both teams do not want to get hurt just before the start of the season so I do not think a feeling of revenge is a good idea" - Wayne Rooney.

Any sub-plots?

The question as to how to match Barcelona after two chastening Champions League final defeats will have been burning in Sir Alex's mind ever since the end of May. The three new signings - De Gea, Phil Jones and Ashley Young - are all available but most fans will be wondering if the boss has a new tactical plan in mind to take on a team that always dominates possession. It may be a friendly but it'll set some pointers at least for the new season.

Did you know?

United's famous rousing comeback in the 1984 European Cup Winners Cup quarter-final against Barcelona is the only competitive match Diego Maradona played in England - although he did figure in a friendly international against England at Wembley and a Football League v Rest of the World exhibition fixture at the old stadium.

The Washington match is live and exclusive here on UnitedBelievers with full coverage starting at Midnight tomorrow.

MLS All-Stars 0-4 Manchester United: Anderson, Park, Berbatov and Welbeck on target as Red Devils secure fourth tour win

Sir Alex Ferguson’s men won their fourth consecutive match on their tour of America as they cruised to a comfortable victory against an All-Star side including David Beckham

Manchester United eased to a fourth consecutive win on their tour of America with a 4-0 victory over the MLS All-Stars. Anderson and Park Ji-Sung gave United a 2-0 lead at the break, before further goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Danny Welbeck wrapped up the victory.

Former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry was the first of the MLS All-Stars to make an impact, cutting inside past Rio Ferdinand from the left before setting up David Beckham, who could only drag his shot wide of the post. It did not take long for United to stamp their mark on the game, though, with Anderson putting the Red Devils ahead on 20 minutes after excellent work on the edge of the area between Berbatov and Wayne Rooney.

Beckham came close to equalising in the first half for the All-Stars, but his second 25-yard effort of the game was tipped over by Anders Lindegaard. Despite the best attempts of Beckham & Co. to grab an equaliser before the break, Park doubled United’s lead on the stroke of half-time by firing past the keeper from just inside the area

United soon began to dominate in the second half, and Sir Alex Ferguson’s men went 3-0 up on 52 minutes. Berbatov received a pass from Rooney before seeing his chip over the goalkeeper strike the crossbar. But the striker was first to react, tapping home into an empty net. Just 16 minutes later, Welbeck sealed the win for United with a swerving strike from 20 yards out.

Beckham tried to find a consolation goal against his former club late on, but he could only curl a trademark free kick into the side-netting.

Friendly Match Vs MLS All-Stars [Preview and Live Stream]

United tackle the best the MLS have to offer in the star-studded fixture...

Form guide

MLS All-Stars had only lost on penalties to Everton in five exhibition matches against British teams before United rolled into town last year. Sir Alex's side inflicted a 5-2 defeat in Houston which will be extremely difficult to match this time around. Nonetheless, United have won all three of this year's tour games after coming from behind to sink Chicago Fire at the weekend.

Ins and outs

LA Galaxy ace Landon Donovan is set to miss out with a calf injury while Hans Backe has a choice between Kasey Keller and Faryd Mondragon in goal. Ex-Red David Beckham skippers the side. Javier Hernandez will not be thrown in by Sir Alex despite linking up with the rest of the squad but the manager has healthy competition for places ahead of selecting his XI. In attack alone, Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Federico Macheda, Danny Welbeck and Mame Biram Diouf are all competing for a start.

Last meeting

United's 5-2 victory at the Reliant Stadium in 2010 came courtesy of goals from Federico Macheda (2), Tom Cleverley, Darron Gibson and Javier Hernandez. Italian hitman Macheda won the 'MVP' award for his two-goal display.

Top man

Beckham may still be the pass master and a United favourite but Thierry Henry could prove to be the biggest threat to the United defence. The Frenchman caused plenty of problems for the Reds in his Arsenal days and, even though he is 34 next month, but we've had a full squad here. We've trained well and, during the games, played some good stuff. Basically, it's all about getting the fitness work in to try and prepare for the upcoming season." - Wayne Rooney.

Any sub-plots?

Beckham is rightly adored by the United faithful and will enjoy playing against his former team again. Some romantics would dearly love him back at Old Trafford after he vowed never to represent another English club but he looks set for another couple of years in the MLS.

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The New Jersey match is live and exclusively on here at  UnitedBelievers with Countdown to Kick-off starting at 1.30am BST, with kick-off at 2am. So stay tuned and enjoy the red Devils performances on their pre-season tour!

Friendly Match : Manchester United Vs Chicago Fire

 Chicago Fire 1-3 Manchester United: Wayne Rooney, Rafael & Nani score to complete comeback in pre-season win. The MLS side had gone ahead in the first half through Gibbs, but substitute Rooney chipped his side level before Rafael and Nani slotted home for the win

Wayne Rooney came off the bench to help Manchester United to a 3-1 win at Chicago Fire as Sir Alex Ferguson's men continued their North American pre-season tour.Nani and Rafael grabbed the other goals as the Premier League champions turned around a first-half deficit.

Ferguson sent out a relatively strong side with a handful of first-teamers including Patrice Evra, David De Gea and Michael Carrick. New signings Phil Jones and Chris Smalling rekindled their England Under-21 partnership in the centre of defence.Dimitar Berbatov was given a chance to impress alongside youngsters Mame Biram Diouf and Danny Welbeck in attack. But it was the MLS side who make the first breakthrough after 13 minutes as Cory Gibbs out-jumped Jones and nodded past De Gea.

The Premier League champions responded quickly as Welbeck flashed a shot wide and was nearly played in by Gabriel Obertan a few minutes later - the Frenchman impressing in midfield in the opening period. Obertan then produced a moment of magic, flicking the ball over the defender, but firing wide.The home side grew in confidence as the first half petered out and Patrick Nyarko had a shot well saved by De Gea.

As expected Ferguson rung the changes during the break and those switches continued into the second half with Federico Macheda, Wayne Rooney, Anderson, Ryan Giggs, Nani, Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans among those introduced. The second half begun with Smalling finding the net, only to have his effort ruled out for offside. The former Fulham man was then on the back foot, and lost out to Nyarko who squared to Husidic but the Chichago forward made an utter mess of the chance to put his side 2-0 up.

Rooney and Macheda both drilled in efforts in an attempt to get United back into it, but failed to test Sean Johnson in the home side's goal. But the pressure soon paid off as Rooney calmly chipped Johnson to draw his side level with 20 minutes left. Six minutes later team-mate Rafael made it 2-1 to the visitors; slotting in from a tight angle. Chicago made a flurry of late substitutions to try and swing the game back in their favour but found themselves two goals down when Nani finished smartly.

United played out the rest of the game with relative ease as the gulf in class began to show, but the MLS side will be buoyed by their efforts against the Premier League champions.