suley

Sir Alex Ferguson handed Michael Owen Ronaldo's old shirt at Manchester United and then declared Old Trafford closed for transfer business. GettyImages Owen will wear the No.7 shirt. After recieving £80m from the sale of the Portuguese winger to Real Madrid, it was thought Ferguson would add to the signings of Owen, Antonio Valencia and Gabriel Obertan. But, faced with a market over-inflated by Real Madrid and Manchester City, Ferguson has decided his current squad is good enough to challenge for an unprecedented fourth consecutive league title, even though Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez have left. He said: "It is the end of our business, so all these stories about who were are supposed to be getting - forget it.'' It means Owen will take over Ronaldo's shirt and his place in an attacking line-up containing Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov, plus youngsters Danny Welbeck and Federico Macheda, who will both be given a chance to prove they are worthy of the accolades that have been bestowed on them. "They are both young players - but young players with ability always get a chance here.'' Owen maintained he was in good shape despite his injury-prone tag. "It does irritate me that so many people have doubts,'' he said. "But if there is one thing I am angered by, the injury thing would be it. There is no doubt I have had injuries in my career. But there is a long list of players that have had a broken metatarsal. "I was foolish trying to rush back for the World Cup and my leg had just come out of plaster. "But I played 33 and 32 games in the last two years in a team that was not in Europe and did not go on a decent cup run. Still I was continually labelled injury-prone, which gets up my nose. "I am 29 and have played over 500 games for club and country. That says it all.'' What Owen does accept the need to prove is the retention of ability that has made him only the fourth striker in England history to score 40 goals for his country. "In certain parts, people do have a justification to have a go at me,'' he said. "I didn't set the world alight in the last year at Newcastle. That is no-one's fault but mine. We were not playing well as a team and I wasn't doing my bit either.'' Ferguson confirmed he made a bid for Karim Benzema, only to be rebuffed by the Lyon man, who instead became part of Real Madrid's extraordinary spending spree. ''There are some amazing numbers being talked about, not all of them realistic,'' he said. ''It is very difficult to get value now. ''In a way we benefited through the sale of Cristiano, although that figure was non-negotiable. "But I feel we have a good squad, which meant there was no need for knee-jerk reactions. 'We asked about Benzema and we had a value for him. Lyon have done well because they got 42m Euros but I think we took a sensible view.'' "Michael gives us experience in the penalty box, which is vital,'' said Ferguson. "He has always had that little knack of losing defenders in the last third. "I know he will score a lot of goals for us. He has been great at that for years.'' Sir Alex Ferguson says Man United won't be buying any more players - England - ESPN Soccernet Surely his gotta be kidding?... this could only be good news for us then

wow settle down there mate.... he definitely aint crap... at times he's overrated and at times he is underrated... but he is never crap

no... we had torres and gerrard injured for large parts of the season... babel was shocking... riera was only good for the first half of the season... we finished 4th and got 76 points the year before... and now we bettered that by 10 points and finished second... anyone who honestly expects us to jump from 4th to 1st in one season must lower there expectations a little... there not supermen out there.... by all accounts... we did pretty well last season... missed out on a trophy... but for the first time since benitez has arrived here(and for the first time in a very very long time before that) the rest of the league was actually looking at us as a force to be reckoned with... and that in itself is an achievement

Carragher is not untouchable anymore... it should be skrtel and agger that are now untouchable in CB

hey at least there not asking for his head anymore... as much as a few games into last season many fans were adamant he had taken this team as far as it could go and that he had to go.... thankfully by December they had all shut the fuck up... but it still amazes me how much they criticize him... i mean he aint fucking perfect but in Benitez we have a real gem.... he is a masterful tactician and much better than Ferguson and Wenger in that department... i truly believe he will be the one to take this club back to the pinnacle of the premier league...

lol was just about to post a thread on this.... a decent footballer when his fit and firing... but never seems to stay fit enough long enough... a liability we need to get rid of asap in my opinion... sort of in the mould of a certain Mr Kewell

"tender and considerate lover" absolute gold:lol::lol:

not a good enough criteria... lower the bar down to about age of 4.... i started supporting them at 5(in 1992) and even then i didnt think it was possible to change

can you people get the fuck over owen... he's been gone for about 5 years... who gives a fuck about him...

sorry guys i jusst realised the other thread on alonso...

check out the links... apparently he has said his goodbyes to some members of the club... is this just another rumour?... very worrying Xabi Alonso appears ready to leave Liverpool | Football - Times Online Real watchful for Xabi Alonso | espnstar.com Real Madrid On The Alert As Xabi Alonso Says His Liverpool Goodbyes - Goal.com

i dont have any interest in this at all for some reason... we probably wont even notice his in the team unless he somehow transforms into a fantastic striker...

get off the crack

finally... i can watch some games over her in australia instead of waking up an hour before the game so i can set my internet to be able to watch the fucking thing

LOL... rep

his exactly the type of person you would want in your team... the complete opposite to ronaldo... he tries to stay out of the limelight... loves the team to bits... is very committed and you will never worry about him leaving the team for a rival.... and to top it off his one of the best players in the world... a legend already in my eyes

in the league i'll be happy if were strongly involved in the title challenge and just miss out... in the champions league i think we can win it... and the FA cup would be nice too... although these expectations are based on us not losing any of our big players... especially macherano or alonso

It'll still take a while... they need to first get a decent manager in... and then they need to start finishing higher up in the table... it'll be a slow process trying to attract the best players to their team until they start breaking into the champions league spots... that will be the tipping point... because once they break into the champions league spots... players around the world will suddenly view them as not just a cash cow.... but a team going somewhere

nah it'll be hard to swing that pendulum back... fact of the matter is la liga have 2 teams capable of offering big money for players.... our league is full of teams capable of offering big money for players.... and as the old saying goes... money talks and bullshit walks

only time will tell if he will come good... one things for certain... he definitely has the potential there.... you dont get to become captain of the Brazilian youth team otherwise.... maybe it was the style of the premiership or the style of our play... or maybe it was the language or the culture and he just found it hard to adapt for a while... who knows.... only time will tell if he will come good... would just love it if he turned into an indispensable member of this team

Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso has seemingly confirmed that his Anfield future is in some doubt. Reds boss Rafa Benitez looks under increasing pressure as the long-term futures of his midfield stars Alonso and Javier Mascherano appear far from certain. While Mascherano's agents have held discussions with Barcelona, Alonso has intimated he may also be looking for a better deal elsewhere. Speaking in South Afirca, where he is competing in the Confederations Cup with Spain, Alonso stoked up the speculation surrounding his future. "Would you be disappointed if you end up having to stay at Liverpool next season?" he was asked. "I can't answer that question," he replied. Benitez has already insisted he does not want to sell any of his key players this summer, with the club releasing a statement last week stressing their desire to keep the midfield duo. source... Sky Sports | Football News | Premier League | Liverpool | Alonso refuses to commit seems like he wants to go.... hmmm

i feel privileged to have someone in our team who is not only a world class player but someone in this day and age who understands what loyalty still means and sticks by it...

lol exactly... money makes the world go round...

LOL.. rep :thumbup:

lol his only 22 mate... in a couple of years he will be one of the best players in the world