West Ham (Review)

We did it, we are through to the Semi-Finals of the F.A Cup. Against all expectation we managed to beat probably one of the best West Ham sides in the last 10 years in their last F.A Cup game at the Boleyn Ground. It was a performance that oozed professionalism and I thought that we wanted it more than them from the very first whistle. We attacked with real intent and looked very dangerous every time we got close to the West Ham box we looked like scoring. I think Herrera in the midfield made a real difference. His attacking intent and attacking movement freed up the space for the forwards and he managed to find Martial and Rashford many times. 

Man of the match for me however was Martial. Although he didn't score on the night, his movement and his ability to beat a man created many chances for us and set up Rashford's brilliant goal. Rashford's reputation again increased over night after his brilliant performance last night, with a lot of pundits and fans alike making the suggestion that he should go to the Euro's with England. I have to be honest, I think its too early for him to be considered for England. Let him play his football, enjoy it and keep the pressure to a minimum, and make sure he develops more and he is on the plane to the 2018 world cup!

When Fellaini was announced in the starting 11 social media reacted in a frenzy, he has been very poor this season, but I thought he was good against West Ham, besides his goal which essentially he knew nothing about. His passing was accurate, and he looked like he was really motivated to win the game, as did the rest of the team. Timothy Fosu-Mensah got another important 90 minutes of football under his belt for the first team, and put in another captivating performance, keeping Dimitri Payet very, very quiet. If he continues to develop I could see him becoming a massive player for the club, I just hope that he doesn't become tempted if Real Madrid or Barcelona came knocking.

Looking ahead to this weekend, we probably have the easiest tie possible in the league, Aston Villa at home. A team that is nearly relegated, and if we win against them on Saturday and others drop points they will be down. In regards to the Semi-Finals of the F.A cup, we play Everton at Wembley on Saturday 23rd April, lets hope we can get to the final where we could potentially be playing either Crystal Palace or Watford in the Final. Lets hope for 3 points at the weekend on Saturday against Villa and keep the red flag flying high!

West Ham away F.A Cup (Preview)

Tomorrow we take on West Ham in a Quarter final replay, after be demolished 3-0 at the hands of Spurs on Sunday. Something has to change, it seems like the story of this season is that we win a couple of games then always go back of the boil, 2 steps forward and then 3 steps back. But in the F.A cup we have strung together some consistency, but there are not many harder places to win this season than at the Boleyn Ground. West ham are in decent form, and that form had led them to 6th in the league and knocking on our door. They are hard to beat, and especially at home, as Arsenal found out on Saturday, by scraping a draw. 

I have got to be honest, normally I have confident in the team, and always believe, even when we don't perform and look terrible. But this time I really cannot see us getting through, I think as a team, West Ham are one of the best in the league, and at the Boleyn they have always been hard to beat. Last time we played at Old Trafford it was a 1-1 draw, and Dimitri Payet scored that excellent free kick, maybe we were a bit unlucky with that on the day.  But if we want to win we need a truly stellar performance, and from the whole team. However reports have come out that after the Spurs game the dressing room is in meltdown, and players have lost it with LVG, they don't share his philosophy and think his substitutions are ridiculous. I think he has well and truly lost the dressing room. 

The only way we can win this game is if we perform excellently in a defensive manner, and our striker, Martial is up for the game and takes his chances. I think his critics were a bit unfair concerning his miss on Sunday. By the way who made the chance? Martial. He did all the work and his team are not really helping him get more chances, the creativity in the centre of the park is lacking big time, and I struggle to see where the balance between defence and attack is. 

Here is the line up I would like to see: (4-2-3-1)

GK- De Gea: Doesn't need justifying! 

RB- Fosu-Mensah: If he is fit, he 100% deserves the chance, was our best player Sunday. if not fit I would go with Valencia, his pace and aggression will be key vs West Ham. 

CB- Smalling: Doesn't need justifying again, our leader and best player this season. 

CB- Blind: Key player for us, need his football brain, moulding into a great CB.

LB- Borthwick-Jackson: Played Monday, but I love his attacking intent and he can cross a ball, Rojo was pathetic against Spurs. 

CM- Schneiderlin: Great in the box to box role, can break up the midfield's domination. This game will be won in the midfield, and energy is needed.

CM- Herrera: Deserves a game and I think he can provide energy and that killer pass that we have been lacking. 

CAM- Periera: Needs a chance. He probably wont play, but I think he deserves an opportunity, creative, clinical and passionate. 

LW- Lingard: Been one of our bright sparks and provides pace, and creativity again. Mata has been off the boil recently and should be benched. 

RW- Memphis: Give him a chance!!! He needs a start and a chance to impress. Obviously has the talent and quality and no better chance than vs west ham. 

ST- Martial: Prefer him up top. Can create a chance for himself, bring others into the game. Need to give Rashford a rest. 

Subs: Romero, Mcnair, Valencia, Carrick, Mata, Weir, Rashford. 

The danger man for me is obviously Payet. He is deadly from set pieces, and we need to watch the fouls that we concede, otherwise he will punish us again. Also Carroll, I actually think Smalling will keep him quiet but he needs to be limited and needs to be controlled. Again, another reason to be careful at conceding set pieces. 

Prediction: 2-1 (Carroll, Payet: Lingard).

I don't like to be negative but I want to be realistic too. I think we will go out and the pressure will crank up on LVG. We will go ahead and then sit back, LVG will probably make some dodgy substitutions and we will lose it. Confidence is low. But lets hope I am wrong and we get to Wembley and to the Semi-Finals. 

Spurs vs United (REVIEW)

So we have just lost 3-0 to Spurs in a game where we again had lots of possession and even lots of possession in the opponents half, but also once again failed to create any substantial chances that threatened Lloris' goal. Just the 1 shot on target in the whole game, and no suprise it was Martial that created and attempted the chance.

So where did it all go wrong? Was it coincidental that the minute man of the match for us, Timothy Fosu-Mensah went off injured, then we fell apart and 6 minutes later we were 3-0 down? As well as he did I don't think the entirety of the blame can be put on that one misfortune I would also love to provide a reason to divert the blame from LVG but it simply was down to him, once again.

I'll start with the shocking decision to take Rashford off at half time, a young player who has re-injected hope into our doomed season, what a way to dent a youngsters confidence. To then bring on Young, and play him as a centre forward, by the way we had Depay, a competent and far better player on the bench. It is like a child has got hold of FIFA and is playing around with the selection, week in week out, LVG is making laughable decisions regarding the team selection.

The team looked like they had no real game or tactical plan! Every time we got into the Spurs half there was little to no movement and all we seemed to do is attempt to find Martial on the left wing, but most of the time go back into defender and then invite more pressure onto ourselves.

This has been happening all season and this week our luck ran out and Spurs ran riot over us, and in truth, if not for De Gea it should have been a bigger score line. The only positive from the game at all was the fact that Fosu-Mensah had another decent hour of first team football under his belt, he looks a real talent and would love to see him playing next to Smalling more regularly, and Blind playing in midfield. 

I would be very suprised to see LVG here next season, he has taken the heart and soul out of United, and he looks like a beaten and lost man. As for our top 4 hopes in a way I would love to say yep, it's over now, but I still think, in this league and in this specific season, nothing can be ruled out. However it seems unlikely.

Next up for United is a very tough FA cup quarter final replay at West Ham on Wednesday. I will be very suprised if we make it into the semi finals, but let's be hopeful, and keep the red flag flying high! 

Spurs Vs United: (PREVIEW)

Spurs have had a ground breaking season, finally they seemed to have moved away from disappointing their fans every season, by nearly getting into the top 4 and being inconsistent all season. Their record against the top 6 is pretty good. Most impressively, they have thumped Man City 4-1 and home and beaten them at the Ethiad. they have become a hard team to beat, and I think their defence has been the best in the league. But can we beat them? Absolutely.

We scraped past them 1-0 in the first game of the season at Old Trafford, but we still won, and I think a similar score line is on the cards. Our form is once again improving and we know if we win this game, our top four hopes go from fragile to very very possible. I would go with a counter attacking set up, lets face it, spurs will have most of the possession and they use it well, if we press high and hit them on the break with Martial, Rashford and Lingard we can hurt them. I think we are very competent now defending from open play, the main problem that I see week in, week out is defending set plays, we always look fragile and I think we need to be careful against spurs, with the sheer height of their team. Here is the Line up I would select for the game: (4-1-2-3)

GK -De Gea: No reason to explain his selection, no reason at all.

RB- Darmian: He has got some match fitness together and I think he needs a run in the team.

CB- Smalling (C): Our best player this season in my opinion. A leader at the back, never looked fragile or exposed this season, second name on the team sheet. 

CB- Blind: I don't like Daley Blind playing at CB, I know he's a much better defensive midfielder and i think he can offer more from DM. however he has been brilliant there this season, he has played every game for united, he is an intelligent footballer. 

LB- Fosu-Mensah: I think he has been brilliant when he has come on for united. 18 years of age but he plays the game with confidence and he looks the part. 

CDM- Schniederlin: brings tonnes of energy to the midfield and should start every game.

CM- Herrera: more energy again, and tenacious. We need loads of energy against spurs, Alli needs to be contained. 

CM- Carrick: Rotate with Schniederlin all game, mix it up, we need his experiance.

LW- Martial: I think they have a weakness with Rose. I think martial can expose him more than Rashford, if we win it will be won through good wing play.

RW- Lingard: Mata is too slow for this fixture. We need pace, speed and unpredictability, and Lingard is all those, he has played well recently, start him.

CF- Rashford: you all know what he can do, think he can use his speed to get at the spurs defence. 

Subs: Romero, CBJ, Valencia, Periera, Fellaini, Memphis, Mata

Kane for me is the one player that spurs have who is nearly world class. Similar to Lukaku last week, he knows where the goal is and can come out of no where and score. Alli is also an obvious danger, but he can see red fast. 

Prediction: 1-1 (Kane, Martial)

Even if we only draw this one, its still a good result. The pressure is on spurs. I think it will be a draw but i wont be surprised if we sneak a win, come on Untied!!!

Everton Review!

Yesterday Manchested United grounded out a 1-0 win against a tricky Everton outfit. I think it's fair to say that United were far from their best, especially the first half, and Everton were generally poor, which is a suprise as they only lost 1 away game in the league before yesterday. It's now 2, 1-0 wins on the bounce no, and before the City and Everton games, few people thought United would take 6 points out of them. 

For me, man of the match was indefinitely Daley Blind. He has played every single game this season for United, and mostly in positions in which he is competent in, but unremarkable. He kept Lukaku quiet at every minute of the game, looked calm and composed throughout and never looked like making a mistake. However he has been outstanding 9/10 times he's pulled on the red shirt this season and he's a serious contender for player of the season for me. When Fosu-Mensah came on at half time I felt he made a real difference, he also grabbed his first assist and looked very conpetent for an 18 year old. He will hopefully be a United player for years to come. 

On a negative note, I did also think Carrick had a laboured and mistake ridden game. He played very well at City, but I thought yesterday he was poor on the ball with passing and gave away the ball a few times. I still think he should have a year extension on his contract and become more of a squad player, he's been excellent throughout the years and he has turned in some good performances this year. 

For me these two great results will mean little if we don't get something from White Heart Lane this weekend. Even a draw would be a okay result but confidence is high in the squad and the youngsters should be given the starts again! Onwards and upwards! 

Man United vs Everton (PREVIEW)

United entertain Everton at Old Trafford on Sunday, looking to complete the double over the toffees for the first time since 2007. United should come into the game with confidence, after a fantastic win at the Ethiad against rivals man city before the international break, but unpredictability in performance has been the bane of Manchester United's form throughout the season. However, United have won 3/5 of their last previous games in the League, and should just start the game as favourites to beat Everton. 

Everton go into the game very much in the same stead as their opponents. Very unpredictable in form and results and they have turned up on times this season and performed very well against top sides. But inconsistencies have lead them to currently being 13th in the Premier League table, a position that most Everton fans will be discontent with. Recent form wise Everton have only won 2/5 games, however they have a more impressive away record, winning 3/3 trips on the road in the league, something of a concern for United, maybe. 

United Lineup 

GK- De Gea: an obvious one, he picks himself in the team.

RB - Darmian: more match fitness under his belt for Italy, think Varela was poor in the Derby. 

CB- Smalling: again, picks himself.

CB- Blind: did well against England. And played well against Aguero, his long balls could be useful against a weak Everton defence. 

LB- Rojo: more match fitness for Argentina, get him a run of games, like his passion and aggression. 

CDM- Schniederlin: should be starting every game for me, solid player who breaks up attacks and works hard. 

CM- Herrera: compliments Schniederlin well, provides balance to the midfield, has a killer pass in him, need his tenacity against Barkely. 

CAM- Mata: technically the best player in the squad. Far superior player as a no. 10, creative, set piece genius, lots of opportunities vs Everton. 

LW- Depay: play the lad! 2 assists for Holland in break. Give him game time and a run of games and he performs, need unpredictability. 

RW- Lingard: played very well against city, takes people on and can score goals, bags of energy. Rashford needs a rest after 8 games on bounce. 

CF- Martial: prefer him as a complete forward, offers more, play to feet. 

Subs; Romero, Varela, Fosu-Mensah, Valencia, Carrick, Periera, Rashford. 

The danger man for Everton has to be Romelu Lukaku. With an impressive 25 goals in all competitions this year, he needs to be dealt with. I think he's one of the best strikers in the league, and on the brink of being one of the best in Europe. Barkely is also a threat from long range and set pieces, he needs to be denied space. 

Prediction; 3-1 United. (Martial, 2; Herrera: Lukaku). 

Come on United! 

Louis Van Gaal; the Julius Caesar of Football?

   Last night saw another lacklustre and diminishing united performance turn into yet another away defeat, and this time at the hands of a side who had just formed in 1999 a few months before United won that memorable Champions League at the Nou Camp. It is reminiscent of the Roman empire collapsing under the rein of Julius Caesar, Louis Van Gaal's United reign.  In the first season, there were signs of obvious improvement from the terrible previous season under David Moyes, but there were signs then of the paper papering over the cracks. This has transcended into this season, and Louis Van Gaal now boasts a shocking win percentage of just 49%, which is far worse than David Moyes, and this makes him the worst Manchester United manager in 35 years (Mail, 2016). 

(Louis Van Gaal looking like a broken and lost manager after loosing in Denmark.)

   However, before I start outlining where that Dutchman has gone horribly wrong, firstly I think its important to state what he has done right, which may be little but its still important nevertheless. Firstly, the signing of Anthony Marital, many mimicked Louis Van Gaal when he parted with nearly £60M for a relevantly unknown teenager playing his trade in a French league which is considered as fairly poor in comparison to the Premier league's quality. However since the first minute of his début against Liverpool, Martial has silenced his doubters and showed the football world that he will certainly not be the next flop and the next youngster to fail at United, and has scored an impressive 10 goals and 6 assists in 30 appearances for United. In years to come people will forget that he was indeed a Louis Van Gaal singing and many people thought it was another moment of madness, however all the evidence is there to suggest that Martial might very well one day, be amongst the worlds best. 

(Anthony Martial has been a positive aspect of Louis Van Gaal's reign.)

   Another big positive for me has been the way in which youth has extensively been given a massive chance this season, even though it may be a forced chance, we could have bought in January but instead Louis Van Gaal blooded youth and its great to see. Players such as Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Guillermo Varela and Jesse Lingard have all hugely impressed this season when largely filling in the starting 11 due to a string of injuries, and it could be suggested that Louis Van Gaal has given the youth more of a chance than even Sir Alex Ferguson did back in his reign. So credit must be given where credit is due, and he has been brave in his fielding of many youth players this season, and these players will continue to grow and hopefully improve because of this trust implemented largely by the manager. 

   Furthermore, for me one of the main issues that I and many fans alike have with Louis Van Gaal is his lack of motivational presence or skills. He simply has none. Players want to see their manager on the sidelines giving them encouragement or issuing them instructions in time of struggle. When Untied conceded to Sunderland last weekend, Louis Van Gaal should have been on the touchline issuing instructions to his troops and trying to get a reaction out of them and reassuring them that there was still something left to gain from the match. But instead he showed no emotion and sat back in his chair working on his mystery novel in which he seems to spend most of the time he is on the bench doing. The best managers in current football, the likes of Arsene Wenger, Mauricio Pochettino, Jose Mourino and Jurgen Klopp spend the large majority of the time on the touchline encouraging and making players aware of what is expected of them and keeping them focused, and I feel this is sometimes the epitome of the reason why untied drift in and out of games and eventually lose. 

   The injury list for me is not to blame. Louis Van Gaal regularly blames united's bad luck and always references the injury list, but this is not a good enough excuse. In an era where injuries are a common occurrence and with the pace of the league, injuries are going to happen more and more and the manager in the summer should have paid more attention to this and not let as many players go as he did. I think its a very lazy excuse and in January more extensive efforts should have been made to sign players, even on loan in order to fill in for the injuries. The bad luck thing is the very epitome of a lost and finished manager. The constant references to bad luck and this being the reasoning of all the poor performances and results is the sign of a manager running out of ways to turn the ship around. Teams can have bad luck, but the ones in which normally have bad luck also comply this luck with equally good performances and you somewhat agree with the bad luck claim. However this is far from consistent with the terrible performances in which we have seen from untied this season, thus dispelling Louis Van Gaal's obvious bad luck message he continuously portrays to the media. 

(A beaten man?)

   Lastly, where is this this tactical genius that lead the Dutch national team to third place at the 2014 world cup? Because Louis Van Gaal certainly isn't that, very rarely this season have we seen a change of tactic and formation that has been executed well and lead the team to picking up points. This may very well be down to the team not being as good as Louis Van Gaal is used to, but in my opinion it is instead down to the fraud and the false tactical genius name tag that has been successfully applied to the Dutchman. Many fans and pundits were amazed that Marouane Fellaini, a player who for me wouldn't get into any other Premier League side was about to start 10 games in a row and perform badly in every one. At the same time leaving Ander Herrera, a player who normally makes a massive difference when he is involved, on the bench. Decisions like this and other strange tactical choices that Louis Van Gaal has made has led United to a massive demise and it very much looks like United are set to finish outside the top four and condemned to another trophy less season. Which is simply not good enough for a club the size and stature of Manchester United, 3 years without a trophy.

   Moving forward, I cannot believe that Louis Vaan Gaal has not yet been sacked. Any other organisation, company or employment position in the world he would have been relieved of his duties. This failure can only be put down to Ed Woodward, and his apparent lack of bottle, and his primary focus being on securing various sponsorship and money motivated deals for the club, which is great, but balance must be achieved between sponsorships and endorsements and actual team affair. It certainly looks as if Jose Mourinho will be arriving in the summer but for me that will just be the beginning of another transition phase in the club, and as we know, he is unlikely to be here for the long haul. For the sake of Champions League football and the reputation of the Football club I think action needs to be taken now, and to be specific, Louis Van Gaal should be removed of his duties with immediate effect.

Are Louis Van Gaal's methods Outdated?

   Many pundits, ex-players and supporters alike have recently expressed their sincere disappointment in in the way in which Louis Van Gaal has been supposedly setting Man United up to play. Manchester United has always been about fast paced, attacking football with the aim to always take opposition defenders on and exploit the wings with a high tempo style of play. However, recently it seems like the style in which the team has been playing could not be further apart from the Manchester United way in which we have known to love and admire. With four 0-0 draws emulating from the start of the 2015/16 season this shows the apparent defensive and largely conservative style of play that Manchester United have displayed thus far this season. A complete contrast from Sir Alex Ferguson's last draw under control of Manchester United, which ended against West Brom with a score of 5-5, a true representative score of a Manchester Untied era set on on playing entertaining and fulfilling football. 

   This style of play now seems a very long time ago, and as matches go by, even when Manchester United win, myself and fellow supporters are bored to tears at the conservative style and defensive front. The manager, Louis Van Gaal, when confronted with the questionable style of play seems to always say " we could have scored 3 goals" and that " we created many more chances than our opposition". But for me this explanation simply is not good enough. Any side can create chances and any side can create more chances than an opposition, however it appears that under the current management, he seems to be choosing almost to guard against losing matches instead of blowing sides away that we should be comfortably beating. At the 2014 World Cup, Holland under Louis Van Gaal played a dominative but attacking brand of football which led them to the Semi-Finals in an impressive style, scoring an impressive 15 goals in the tournament, the second highest total amongst. With this style of play that Louis Van Gaal implemented with the Dutch national team it had myself and other Manchester United fans full of excitement ahead of him taking over Manchester United and playing a similar style as to the one played at the 104 World Cup.  

   However, as we know things could not be more different, and as previously mentioned this season has seen fans become increasingly frustrated with the system and the boring style in which Louis Van Gaal has instead implemented. So where does the problem lie? For me its in the players that he has at his disposal. The attacking players simply are not good enough to play the system in which we as Manchester Untied fans are so used to. However some blame has to go down to Louis Van Gaal, he strangely let go players such as Javier Hernandez in the summer, himself blessed with a natural goalscoring aura and blistering pace. Also the sale of Di Maria, one of the best attacking players in Europe has to be questioned, and the possibility that more could have been done to convince him to stay and to find his place  in the team.  People may then form the argument that we have replaced these sales with Memphis and Anthony Martial, and yes I do feel that they will be huge players for Manchester United one day. But as of now, they are young, naive and not established players in which we need in order to be successful and play an attacking brand of football that will not only win games, but win in style. 

   The defensive side of performances has however dramatically improved and this must be recognised as a great feat by Louis Van Gaal. Under his predecessor, David Moyes Manchester United looked like a team who would always be leaky at the back, and conceded many goals every match, this has improved and Louis Van Gaal has transformed Chris Smalling into one of the best centre backs in the country, if not Europe. However he now needs to focus less on improving the reliability of attack and more on the level of threat that the attack can pose to opposition defences. I do feel that in January the manager must go out and by a fast paced, attacking winger such as Saido Mane or maybe even Gerard Deulofeu, who have both hugely impressed this season and the back end of last season. Both are proven Premier League players and I feel would hugely benefit the side and the attacking threat in which the side has. I also feel as if a proven world class striker would be a good purchase in January, as although Anthony Martial as previously mentioned has huge potential, I worry about the lack of competition and feel he could become stale. I see no reason why a striker like Karim Benzema, Alvaro Morata or Pierre Emerick-Aubemayang could not come to Old Trafford and bring the goals with them.

   I do still have faith in Louis Van Gaal. He has without a doubt improved the teams fortunes and after all we are still 2nd in the table, and have a good chance of going into the last 16 of the Champions League, so things are not as bad as some people think. However something does need to be done about the way we play, less backwards passes, more gamble in the balls we put forward, a higher tempo and a more attacking DNA needs to be implemented. I wand the older United style back where the aim is simply to score more than the other team and to focus on attack and then defence. Louis Van Gaal will get it right and as previously mentioned as massively improved the defensive vulnerabilities, and we can look forward to a hopefully successful second half of the season. 

Time for Wayne Rooney's doubters to reflect

   Tuesday 8th September 2015, Wembley stadium is rocking. Chants of: "Roooooney, Roooooney" are louder than ever and the star from Croxteth, Liverpool has just become the nation's leading goal scorer at the age of just 29.  The primary debate amongst pundits, ex-professionals and fellow supporters has asked the question; Is he the greatest player ever to pull on the England shirt?

 

Wayne Rooney celebrates his 50th goal for England, a new record.

   Firstly, no one can take away the fact that he is now the country's all time top goal scorer. Many claim he is overrated, not world class or that he has never fulfilled his potential. Nevertheless, his record now speaks for himself, and great credit should be given to Wayne Rooney, especially as he beat the record set by Sir Bobby Charlton with 4 years to spare of his predecessors record (Sir Bobby Charlton was 34 years of age upon getting his 49th England goal). However what went through my mind is the fact that if you look at the goal records of other International players, such as Miroslav Klose (71 Goals in 137 Caps), Ferenc Puskas (84 Goals in 89 Caps), Ronaldo (62 Goals in 98 Caps) and of course Pele (77 Goals in 92 Caps), in comparison with Wayne Rooney's current record (50 Goals in 107 Caps) he seems so way behind what are considered some of the best International strikers of all time.

   Consideration must be given to the fact that Wayne Rooney is of course only 29 years of age. I believe, fitness permitting that he has at least 5 years left of being a regular in the England side. So far he has averaged 4.1 goals a year over a spell of 12.2 years of International football. If he carry's on his current level of goal projection for the national team he will bag at least 70 goals, and thus, put him in the same bracket as International legends as Miroslav Klose and Pele, and would certainly make him the greatest England player ever. Or would it?

   Sir Bobby Charlton and Jimmy Greaves famously contributed to England winning their only ever World Cup back in 1966. It seems that the majority of the debate is split between Wayne Rooney and Sir Bobby Charlton as to who is the best England player of all time, and football fans have frequently stated that Wayne Rooney's England tally has come mostly from 'Easy Friendly's'. However if you look at the amount of goals that both have scored in terms of tournament qualifiers, it tells a contrasting story. Wayne Rooney's tally of 30 goals in comparison with Sir Bobby Charlton's 12 (FourFourTwo), put the debate that Wayne Rooney's England tally has mostly been compromised by friendly goals to rest. I do not want to be miss lead here, Sir Bobby Charlton's achievements for England are of the highest possible for any International. But I  do feel Wayne Rooney has contributed more in a goals sense, and I also feel if the players around Wayne Rooney had been consistently better within his time as England's main man, he to would have led England to an International Trophy.

   England players are always overrated and over pressured by the English media, and supporters and analysts rarely have anything positive to say about the national team, and maybe rightly so. But for me Wayne Rooney needs the recognition he deserves, since being made captain in September 2014, Wayne Rooney has guided England to 8 wins out of 8 in the qualifiers for the 2016 Euro's. In Conclusion there is a certainly a degree of silent expectation amongst some England fans as France 2016 looms ever closer, and the fact that Wayne Rooney has the pressure off him to achieve the goal scoring record will hopefully allow us to see the best of the striker at the Euro's.

  

Is Pedro a good solution for Manchester United?

   It looks as if Manchester United's record signing from last season Angel Di Maria could already be leaving the club. Problems such as settling into the local area, combined with failing to consistently impress in the starting eleven has left little to no reason to suggest that next season Angel Di Maria won't be wearing the red of Manchester United. 

   However recent reports have hugely linked Manchester United with already finding a replacement, in Barcelona winger Pedro. With a release clause of an estimated £22 Million it seems like a justifiable solution to Di Maria leaving for P.S.G. Pedro has always been a consistent performer for Barcelona, in 175 appearances for the current Spanish champions he has netted an impressive 94 goals (Soccerbase), with an average goals per game ratio of 0.36, a very impressive haul for a player who regularly switches between playing on the wing and in a forward position. If you compare these stats to Di Maria, the Argentine comes up short with a goals per game average of only 0.16. Pedro also has a huge amount of honours he has won with Spain to add to the impressive Spaniard's CV. World cup and European Championship winners medal's provide the winger with an added impotence over Di Maria. To win the World Cup especially you have to be consistent, work in a team with huge cohesion and of course have a little luck, but by winning the World cup this can give a player vital experience needed to improve overall ability and vital experience. 

(Is Pedro Louis Van Gaal's 'superstar'?)

   The versatility that Pedro possesses could also be key to the possibility of the transfer. He is capable of playing in a number of different positions, such as Left/Right wing, Striker or a false no. 9 position. This could be a favorable factor for Louis Van Gaal, as he has always had a philosophy of having players who can play in different positions across his teams. With Man United in far more competitions next season it will be key to have players who are versatile and can play in different positions in order to maximize the quality of the starting eleven. Some Man United fans will be doubtful in selling the Argentine International, but the fact that he looks to be perusing a move away from Man United, and specifically to a team like P.S.G, who play in a far poorer standard league in comparison with the best clubs in Europe, might indicate that he is not up for the challenge that Louis Van Gaal expects of his players. Being educated by Barcelona is also a positive in relation to joining Man United, Louis Van Gaal favours players who can play the ball very comfortably with their feet, and adopt excellent technique, an element which is very present in Pedro's game. 

(Pedro scoring against Man United in the 2010 Champions League final.)

   So is Pedro definitely coming to Old Trafford? The situation at Barcelona seems untenable for Pedro, and with Sky Bet pricing him at 1/8 (28/07/2015:17.02 GMT) it looks very likely. With a front line of Messi, Suarez and Neymar consistently performing and starting every game for Barcelona, a place in the starting eleven every week seems very unlikely. Having spent last season mostly on the bench it is well documented that Pedro is unhappy with the lack of playing time. Pedro himself has been quoted in April saying his time in Barcelona has been "difficult" (Marca). His team mate and compatriot Gerard Pique is also a huge admirer of his qualities and has expressed his opinion that he would not be surprised if Pedro left the Nou Camp, mainly as he is not getting the game time because he has the best three players in the world ahead of him. 

   So a move to Man United would only be a positive one for the English club, Barcelona have already admitted they don't like the idea of losing Pedro, but they cannot guarantee him a lot of game time, so Barcelona have limited options. However the move will only materialise if Di Maria leaves, and thus I then expect Pedro to come in soon after and Man United to sign Pedro by activating his release clause within his current contract at Barcelona.