The title might have slipped through United's fingers, the strategy regarding this summer's transfers might still be unknown (and it will, perhaps, remain so for a few months) but at least United have their new kit for the 2012-2013 season. At 4pm today, the club's official facebook page published a picture of the shirt [.

David Beckham has played for some of the most recognizable football clubs in the world, including Manchester United, Real Madrid, Milan, and now the LA Galaxy.

He has also been managed by several of the sports' great managers: Sir Alex Ferguson with the Red Devils, Carlos Queiroz with Real Madrid, and Fabio Capello with the England National team.

Forget Lionel Messi, it was all about Homare Sawa's kimono (traditional Japanese costume) at the FIFA Ballon D'or awards in Zurich last night! The captain of the Japanese women's team and winner of the FIFA Women's Ballon d'Or lit up the stage with that outfit which should make her countrymen and women extremely proud today.

It started out as a joyful collaboration between Arsene Wenger and Roy Hodgson. Then Andrey Arshavin joined on vocals. Now the Wenger Boys are getting mighty crowded. Kenny Dalglish will now be playing bongos and Sir Alex Ferguson is a Bez-type figure. Great work from RedCafe poster Olly.

Vincent Kompany headed home powerfully at the stroke of half-time to give Manchester City a precious 1-0 lead an advantage they hung on to when the full-time whistle was blown at the Etihad Stadium.

The highly anticipated title showdown between defending champions United and noisy neighbors City began with the Red Devils enjoying a three-point lead at the summit but ended with the Citizens leapfrogging them on goal difference.

1. It's difficult to conclude any differently than Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini: that was a crazy finale to a crazy season. 2. Two decisive, trophy-winning goals during a longer than average spell of injury time. Perhaps the tide really is turning in Manchester. 3. Manchester City fans with a long enough memory will be [.

Rumors of Napoli star Ezequiel Lavezzi moving to Manchester United are rapidly gaining pace, with talkSPORT suggesting a move could be imminent. The report indicates that Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to meet the attacker's minimum fee release clause, believed to be in the region of £25 million.

Oh no he didn't! Thierry Henry confounds the sceptics and scores on his second debut for Arsenal. Image: Clive Mason/Getty Images Europe.

You couldn't make this stuff up, could you? But from the moment Thierry Henry appeared on the Emirates pitch for Arsenal's warm-up last night, the cheers of the crowd and the player's delight suggested something awesome was about to occur.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was delighted as his side's 2-0 win at home to Stoke was complimented by former United midfielder Darren Gibson's maiden goal in Everton's 1-0 win over league leaders Manchester City.

The result brings United level on top with the Citizens, leaving Fergie with no option but to praise the resolve of his injury-plagued side while also joking that the sequence of events surrounding Gibson's recent transfer to Goodison Park was planned out by him.

Josep Guardiola is the very first coach ranked No 1.
An informed answer to the everlasting question 'who's the best football coach in the world?' is now made available thanks to the newly launched Football Coach World Ranking® to be found at www.coachworldranking.com
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By JOHN BOSCHINI

Barcelona will be without Eric Abidal for the rest of the season as the defender needs to undergo liver transplant.

Abidal had liver surgery a year ago to remove a cancerous tumor but was able to recover by the end of the season to make an emotional return.

After establishing that Barcelona star Lionel Messi is the world's highest-paid footballer, earning €33 million a year (€10.5-million salary, €1.5 million in bonuses and €21 million in advertising and other contracts), France Football magazine has discovered that Manchester United disappointment on loan at Beskitas is the world's 97,612th highest paid footballer.

Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed that the £80m that Real Madrid paid us for Cristiano Ronaldo was a bargain. He has finally won the league with them this season, having won just one trophy in his first two years in Madrid.

Ronaldo has scored 145 goals in 143 games for Real Madrid (33 in 35 in the first year, 53 in 54 in his second and 59 in 54 this season), leading the manager to believe we could have charged a lot more with hindsight.

TweetCarlos Tevez has sparked controversy after unveiling a poster with the message RIP Fergie scribbled across it during Manchester City's Premier League trophy parade. The banner was handed to Tevez by a Manchester City fan during Monday's open-top bus parade through the streets of Manchester. It was of course a cheeky reference to Sir Alex [.

Wesley Sneijder has more or less ruled himself out of a January transfer move after reports linked him to a move to Manchester United.

The Dutch midfielder was close to a move to United in the summer and rumours suggest that Sir Alex Ferguson isn't prepared to give him a second chance at joining the club.

Goal: What we learned this week... Wayne Rooney deserves another fine from Sir Alex Ferguson after another rotten display

The striker was woeful in defeat to Newcastle, Andre Villas-Boas was snubbed by the cool kids, Suarez & Dalglish disgraced Liverpool (again), and Barton was a whopping hypocrite

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2012-01-06 07:54:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Paul Scholes made an incredible return to the Manchester United team today after retiring last summer. Despite not playing football for eight months, Scholes was brought on for the last half an hour against City in the FA Cup 3rd round game today.

Incredibly, he made more passes than any City player did all game, with a 97% completion rate.

Much has been made in many circles over the past month or so about Man Utd's lack of talent and depth in their central midfield, and with their "reincarnation" of veteran retiree Paul Scholes, it appears that there are people at the club who agree with that opinion. Despite the January transfer window, it appears that Sir Alex Ferguson's pledge to not add to his playing staff "unless the right man becomes available" will come to fruition.

Arsenal slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester United as boos rang out after Arsene Wenger inexplicably substituted Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with the scores at 1-1 The nippy and technically astute youngster was having his best game in an Arsenal shirt and after much persistence from the hosts, set up striker Robin Van Persie [.

Crashing out in the FA Cup against their bitter rival, Liverpool, obviously left a bitter taste for Manchester United especially since they were not actually outplayed in the match but lose out due to a defensive error.

The club's manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, was the one who voived out his disappointment and disbeliefs with the Red Devils' failure in advancing from the competition especially since the tactician believes that his team played better than their opponent.

Roy Keane has claimed that after playing for Sir Alex Ferguson and then going in to manager, he struggled to adjust his mindset from one of winning all the time to one that has to put up with defeat.

"I think when you are playing under a manager like that and winning lots of games, part of your mindset is that it is going to be easy," said Keane.

Goooood piece by Jonathan Wilson here.

Evolution lies at the heart of longevity and Chelsea have spent the past five years simply not evolving. Perhaps Sir Alex Ferguson's greatest act of management was the culling of Paul Ince, Mark Hughes and Andriy Kanchelskis in 1995 after Manchester United had finished second in the league and lost in the FA Cup final.

It's already thought that, while not yet terminal, the 3-2 defeat by Athletic Bilbao could be another harrowing moment in Sir Alex Ferguson's European career. Like the three seasons in which they were essentially knocked out on away goals before and after winning the Champions League in 1999, it's the concession of home goals which was their bane here.

In recent years Manchester United have been at the centre of some of the more heavily media-scrutinised transfers. But if David Beckham and Ruud Van Nistelrooy moves to Real Madrid exemplified Fergie's resoluteness in parting ways with loyal servants that had overstepped the line, and Ronaldo's departure for the Spanish capital was seen as the [.

Sir Alex Ferguson has sung the praises of Antonio Valencia who was arguably our best player on the pitch in the 5-0 win over Wolves.

"He could be very important," said Ferguson. "His form before he got the injury was outstanding. Now he is back we hope he stays back fit. He is such an honest, hardworking player.

Liverpool have joined the race to sign Athletic Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez, reports the Metro.
Martinez has a growing list of suitors after impressing for both club and country in recent years, and was an integral part of the Bilbao team that knocked Manchester United out of the Europa League earlier this month.

By Dominic Vieira

The 2011/12 Premier League is now Manchester United's to win or lose. Alex Ferguson is sitting in a position which he's overly familiar with, which is not only a throne of comfort but one where he freely shares his wise words to antagonize local rivals Manchester City as he bluntly indicated "A season lasts for a bit longer than three months.

By Dominic Vieira

The 2011/12 Premier League is now Manchester United's to win or lose. Alex Ferguson is sitting in a position which he's overly familiar with, which is not only a throne of comfort but one where he freely shares his wise words to antagonize local rivals Manchester City as he bluntly indicated "A season lasts for a bit longer than three months.

"Every ending always brings a new beginning."

 This line clearly matches with the world of English football, where the end of the Premier League season brings the beginning of the summer. The rumor mill is in overdrive and one can be assured of an exciting transfer window. Being one of the biggest clubs in Europe, Manchester United has already been linked with a host of players that could potentially be donning the Red Devils shirt next season.

And we thought it was all over. Alex Ferguson thinks Newcastle can win on Sunday When Manchester City beat Manchester United 1-0 last Monday night, to get the double over their Manchester neighbors, they went top of the league on goal difference. The conventional wisdom was that whoever won the derby game, would win the Premier League, which we always [.

Sir Alex Ferguson will launch a £100million summer spending bonanza in a bid to prevent Manchester United being replaced by neighbours City as the dominant force in the Premier League. United could finish the season empty handed for only the fifth time in 23 years following Monday's derby defeat, which handed the title initiative to City.

Manchester United v Swansea Preview: Character Is Not Enough - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Manchester United will go into this game against Swansea City eager to put the derby heartache behind them. Although he has publicly conceded that City are now "in the driving seat", Sir Alex Ferguson is way too experienced not to know that even if City emerge from the weekend with the three points, it will still be crucial for his side to get the victory ensuring the heat remains on for the last day of the campaign.

With four days left until Sunday's title decider, Fleet Street has taken its eyes off the title race for a day and concentrated them on the transfer gossip. United fans might wish to look away now as the news aren't exactly exciting. Let's start with the Mirror that reveals that Paul Pogba has finally made [.

Ring the bells and wake the children -- the King of Old Trafford, Portuguese sensation Bebe, is returning to Manchester United after his almost not completely terrible loan spell in Turkey. The 21-year-old Sir Alex Ferguson bought sight unseen for £7.4 million in August of 2010 has yet to be unloaded and never spoken of again, so he will now rejoin Man United until that inevitably happens.

Aw, everyone was so much happier when Phil Jones was scoring at the right end. But this little GIF mash-up gives us some insight as to what it might look like if Fergie could see the funny side of Jones' howler (like the rest of us).

Kenny Dalglish is out of touch over Luis Suarez saga

In difficult times, football looks to its great men for leadership. Sometimes they let us down. Sir Alex Ferguson — though he was just plain ‘Alex' back then — failed us when he allowed Manchester United to withdraw from the FA Cup in 2000.

Goal: Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson believes Arsenal & Chelsea are out of title race & says there is no need for talks with Liverpool...

Red Devils manager suggested the Anfield reaction to the racism row was poorly managed and also reports no new injuries for his squad as City cup clash approaches

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2012-01-06 11:04:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

By Alan Duffy

With so many gifted African players now plying their trade in the Premier League, the African Cup of Nations has become something of an issue for managers in the top division, particularly as it is held slap bang in the middle of the season.

Interesting rumour doing the rounds today, don't think it'll ever happen but I'm pretty sure it'd solve a lot of the problems in the Man United midfield if it was to come true Frank Lampard is apparently wanted by Man United. Lampard is obviously unhappy with his current situation at Chelsea, he's not featuring in all of their games under Villas-Boas and with United's midfield looking very weak, Lampard could be a great signing.

Tomorrow's newspaper's are sure to have hit on the Independent's story of Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney and Manager Sir Alex Ferguson are at loggerheads and Rooney is set to leave the club.

However it's all rubbish and here's the proof.

"Manchester United and Wayne Rooney have been made aware of the theme of an article in (Saturday's) Independent newspaper.