Manchester United's Brazilian midfielder Anderson has revealed that for the past few months he's been functioning as the club's babysitter for new signing Bébé. Bébé joined the club from Portuguese football's lower divisions, and to help ease his transition to England he's been staying with Anderson.

Mano Menezes

Mano Manezes has called up 23 players for the game versus France in the Stade de France.
Keeper Julio César returns but there's still no place for Maicon, Juan, Lúcio and Kaká. The younger players, such as Neymar, who are currently appearing for Brazil's U-20s in Peru, have also not been called up.

Sir Alex Ferguson has always been tough to predict in the transfer market, he's capable of securing transfer deals that seemed incredibly unlikely, unexpected, genius, or sometimes, baffling. From Henrik Larsson to Chicharito to Gabriel Obertan and Bébé, there's usually something from way out in left field.

Rio Ferdinand has kept himself entertained on the journey back from West Brom by Twittering.

Anderson wanted to pass a message along to the supporters via Rio: "Nice one and Happy New Year to you all" thumbs up for the result!

Rio also reflected on the game and the penalty he gave away, which fortunately was put wide by Odemwingie.

Anderson has revealed that he still feels some discomfort with his knee following his long term injury but that his fitness is much improved.

Our midfielder acknowledges that good fitness is a priority in the Premiership but that it shouldn't be the be all and end all.

"Of course it's a priority, but I think it's more important to make the ball do the work," he said.

Robinho has a word or two to say to the press

Brazil's first outing of the 2011 sees them lock horns with France in an international friendly later this evening. Coach Mano Menezes hands Bayer Leverkusen midfielder, Renato Augusto, his first cap. Inter Milan keeper, Julio César, makes his first appearance since Brazil went out of the South Africa World Cup to the Netherlands.

For someone who is decidedly not a Santo Andre fan, this is purely awesome.

For someone who is a Santo Andre fan...probably awesome, but not purely, as they lost.

Jorge Valdivia, who is pure flair as it is, decided to up his dosage a bit with some showboating. And he got his on the back end via a flying Anderson, whose intent and timing was none too subtle.

szólj hozzá: Manchester Utd 1-0 Schalke

szólj hozzá: Manchester Utd 2-0 Schalke

szólj hozzá: Manchester Utd 3-1 Schalke

szólj hozzá: Manchester Utd 4-1 Schalke

"VIDEO: Valencia, Gibson and Anderson Goals vs Schalke" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.

Welcome to the sixth episode of the "Red Dead Podcast", the preeminent Manchester United podcast for Truly Reds, brought to you as always by Tom "Darren Fletcher" Addison and...
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The boys are back in town or should that be the men? One of the expected title challengers were made to look like boys as Manchester United swept Tottenham Hotspur aside in a comfortable 3-0...
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szólj hozzá: Ma1-0To[MATCHHIGHLIGHT.COM]

szólj hozzá: Ma2-0To[MATCHHIGHLIGHT.COM]

szólj hozzá: Ma3-0To[MATCHHIGHLIGHT.COM]

"VIDEO: Welbeck, Anderson and Rooney goals vs Spurs" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.

Since Anderson Luis de Abreu Oliveira joined Manchester United from Porto back in 2007 the Old Trafford faithful have been split over the midfielder's influence, importance and ability to be included in Sir Alex Ferguson's first team. Gifted? Yes. Committed? One thinks so. Frustrating? Also at times yes.

foto david.skade.legend

Este 2011 nos dejo buenos recuerdos, en especial las jugadas en su máximo esplendor, la mayoría jugadores jóvenes que no les importa mas que lucirse y divertirse en el campo de juego,desde la serie B hasta la Champions League, desde Mario Baloteli hasta Lionel Messi y muchos otros futbolistas que no son tan conocidos nos muestran sus habilidades con los pies, puro talento.

If I could read the minds of players, this could (or should) be some of their new year's resolutions:

Ando: I resolve to keep playing like a raging bull in the middle of the field and stay after practice to work on my shooting and finishing in the box.

Berba: I resolve to stay positive even when if I get dropped to the bench after scoring a million goals in one game.

These statistics compare the passing success of Arsenal captain, Cesc Fabregas, Paul Scholes and Anderson in the games they've played against each other for Manchester United and Arsenal.

The stats are taken from all the games where at least two of the three players featured and show how many passes per minute were successfully completed, as well as what percentage of their attempted passes were completed.

Just like with Nani before him, Sir Alex Ferguson has rescued Anderson's Manchester United career after bad attitude and a lengthy injury threatened to end it.

"Sir Alex has always offered me advice from the day I arrived, in the good and the bad moments," said Anderson. "Many times he was unhappy with my work but that only added extra incentive to me.

Anderson has claimed that he wants to see out most of his career at Manchester United before returning to his first club in Brazil, Gremio.

"I want to make history here," said Anderson. "I look at players like Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes and I want to do what they have done. I want to remain here until just before the end of my career.

You know your hairstyle means too much when... Manchester United midfielder Anderson has revealed he won't be shaving off his dreadlocks any time soon. It turns out he is rather attached to his distinctive 'do. While his manager Sir Alex Ferguson might disagree on footballing grounds, 'Samson' Anderson reckons removing his dreads would be tantamount [.

Anderson has revealed that he has helped our summer signing Bébé adjust to life in England, just as fellow Portuguese speaker Cristiano Ronaldo helped him when he joined the club.

"He stayed with me for two months," Anderson said. "I can tell you, he eats a lot. He ate all my food!

And so by the skin of our teeth and thanks to some inspired Berbatov magic, the incredible unbeaten run of the "Crap Invincibles" continues. Based on our first half display, the tag is well...
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Impressions (some are more rants):

1. How much more time do we give Gibson before completely writing him off? I've been saying (to myself as much as to anyone else) that we should temper our frustration at the younger players with an understanding that they need to mature into their positions and understanding of the game.

"Let me tell you that Nani isn't very good on the piano. He's hopeless!" said Anderson. "I didn't know about Berba's drawing... My talents? I'm good at video games. Does that count? It's important to relax, so I spend a lot of time on my PlayStation. I play mainly football games, but I like shooting ones, too.

It's been said many times. We can all be the greatest managers in the world AFTER the game yet there are still some uncomfortable questions which keeps arising after Manchester United's defeat at...
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Almost as if to further prove my point here, our already thin (in terms of quantity and quality) midfield takes another hit with news that Ando will be sidelined for 2 months.

A knee/cartilage injury sustained in the Crawley game on Saturday has left SAF in a tough spot heading into the final few months of the season.

Mario Balotelli has attracted plenty of criticism in his short him at Manchester City. On the day he signed, he claimed he wished he was hadn't left Italy and since then has been involved in a whole host of controversies, including training ground punch-ups to throwing darts at City's youth team players.

Park Ji-Sung was intrigued by Anderson's new hair at training at Carrington today, ahead of United's trip to London to face Arsenal.

How did the other players react?

"PICTURE: Ando's Interesting New Hair Do" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.

What an efficient and entertaining display by the lads. Let's not forget as well that we had most of our second team out to start the game.

On to the impressions:

1. Smalling and Evans surprised me. Smalling made the most of the opportunity with a very good outing save for the misplaced pass that led to their goal.

Mano Menezes looking for success before the Copa America

Mano Menezes has called up 28 players for the friendly internationals versus the Netherlands on June 4th and Romania 3 days later.
The Brazilians will take on the Dutch in the estádio Pacaembu in São Paulo. The Romania will be in the city of Goiânia and the estádio Serra Dourada.

English roundup-Ferguson set to ring the changes - Yahoo! Eurosport "There are players who need a game anyway. Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes and Anderson will all play. So will (Dimitar) Berbatov, (Patrice) Evra and (Edwin) Van der Sar." Other news at the link. And do yourself a favor and read, and follow, Fantasy Football Scout on Twitter.

"VIDEO: Park, Anderson and Owen's Goals vs Blackpool" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.

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More United related footage at RoM videos

"VIDEO: Ando, Park, Berba and Welbeck's Goals vs MLS All Stars" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.

August 10, 2011 – There are more Manchester United stories in the media than any other club – some are worth reading, others are absolute garbage! How can anyone possibly keep up with them all? Truly...
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United finally knocked Liverpool off their perch last season. Following an endless supply of trophies under Sir Alex Ferguson, none meant more to United's global legion of fans than their 19th...
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MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - AUGUST 22: Danny Welbeck of Manchester United celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on August 22, 2011 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) (Bleacher Report)Manchester United currently are joint top of the table as they look to keep their streak going against an Arsenal team that is experiencing loads of change this season.

Man United 8 Arsenal 2
A terrible, terrible performance brought a terrible, terrible result. Make no mistake, this was the nadir of Arsene Wenger's time in charge.
For an hour we were outclassed but somehow were in the game at 3-1 down. Then we removed our holding midfielder and put an attacking player on to try and get a result, and conceded five goals in half an hour.

Manchester United midfielder Anderson acknowledges that tonight's encounter with Benfica could be the most difficult fixture for Sir Alex Ferguson's men thus far in the season.

Anderson rose to prominence during an impressive stint with FC Porto and although a reunion with former rivals Benfica excites the Brazilian, he understands that the Portuguese outfit has strengthened ever since his departure for Old Trafford in 2007.

So it's Matchday 2 of the Champions League today and some key match-ups include City/Napoli, Villarreal/Bayern and this one, featuring a solemn-looking Anderson. Ah, why did Man United chose him to sit the press conference with Sir Alex? Players are occasionally picked according to a 'roster' but this time they chose him because he was better suited for the Portuguese press!

Waiting is for pussies.

Just five weeks into the new season, Andre Villas-Boas' sexy is set to invade the Terrordome. Football's equivalent of Cary Grant brings with him 450 minutes of competitive managerial experience with the Chels. Surely that's more than enough to match wits and tailors with one of the greatest to ever grace a sideline.

FC Basel's warm-up mats are ridiculously organized but they won't know it from down there! Anyway, before you write off the Swiss side's chances completely against powerhouses Man United later today, listen to what coach Thorsten Fink has to say. Sure, he sounds like the ice-cream man who knows he is running out of cones, but in football, there are always waffle, chocolate cones, cups, etc.

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szólj hozzá: Ma2-0No

"VIDEO: Anderson and Welbeck's Goals vs Norwich" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.