It was not easy but the job was completed in the end. Mind you, had only half the chances created by Manchester United been taken, the game could have been won before half time. Not for the first time this season, good opportunities went begging and United nearly paid a heavy price when Pablo gave Valencia the lead against the run of play just after the half hour. It took an all too rare Anderson equaliser after 62 minutes to get the one point needed to ensure top place in the group.

Read the full story

The annual visit of  Tottenham Hotspur to Old Trafford is always eagerly anticipated by Manchester United fans because it has long been one of the classic fixtures in the English football calendar. Saturday afternoon’s meeting will be no different for two players who have entirely different reasons to anxiously await the big clash. While record United signing from Spurs Dimitar Berbatov always relishes playing against his old club, media reports this morning suggest that Gareth Bale could become the main man in Sir Alex Ferguson’s new look Manchester United.

Read the full story

According to Sir Alex Ferguson, the reason that Dimitar Berbatov struggled to settle into Old Trafford in his first two seasons was purely because of the size of his club record transfer fee. “When we buy a player for a lot of money there is more focus on him” he said  “if they have an odd bad game there is a criticism which other players may not get”. It’s a factor which was well understood by Sir Matt Busby when he agreed to pay Barnsley the odd amount of £29,999  for centre forward Tommy Taylor way back in in March 1953, a fee agreed so that Taylor would not be burdened with the label of a £30,000 player and the story goes that a tea lady was the beneficiary of the extra pound!

Read the full story