Freshly spashing around the news headlines at the moment, Edwin Van der Sar is out for two months after surgery on a broken finger and bone in his left hand.
The Guardian reports Van der Sar sustained the injury saving a penalty during United's shoot-out against Bayern Munich in a pre-season tournament in Germany last week and United have confirmed he will be out for "up to eight weeks".

England v Kazakhstan Live Streaming & Match Preview
England vs Kazakhstan Live Online - Click Here
Saturday, 6th June 2009
Kick Off : 16:00 GMT
Venue : Central Stadium, Almaty

It is practically impossible for Kazakstan to qualify for the 2010 World Cup Finals, whereas England are sitting quite comfortably at the top of Group Six, 5 points ahead of nearest rivals Croatia.

This week's little saucepot is sultry Kelly from Kent. Kelly has appeared on Broadway and loves nothing more then watching her beloved Man United play. She's also massive McFly fan, yes, she really is!

Photography by Bliss Photography

If you would like to be our girl of the week then e-mail girls@ukfootballfinder.

What, me Worry?
The best team in England is just getting weaker by the day this summer. Surely, every football fan expects title holders Manchester United to remain as firm favorites when the Premier League returns this month, but I'm a bit worried.
News today emerged that Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic will miss the start of the season with a calf injury.

In the 90th minute of the game, i had a little strop. I threw a wobbly as we say over here. Id just witnessed Rio Ferdinand, do the worst thing he had ever done in a United shirt and watched the greyhound-like Bellamy race away to put the ball past the floundering Foster. I picked my [...]

The kind of performance that silences critics.

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Well that was just what the doctor ordered...and then some. Its hard to imagine a more perfect result for Rafa and Liverpool Football Club, obviously having Javier Mascherano sent off late on was not ideal but in many ways him giving his all for the team all the way until the last seconds, hence the late challenge on Edwin Van der Sar, is in many ways a good thing and shows that the Argentine is mentally back on the ball.

So here we are then. With just three competitive (if you prefer not to count the Community Shield as meaningful) games of the season played, we face our first big test in the shape of Arsenal.

While last season's meeting at Old Trafford in the Premier League was hardly of massive significance, tomorrow's encounter will certainly provide a decent benchmark to how we are shaping up in terms of our title credentials this campaign.

Tim Howard emerged as the unlikely hero of the FA Cup semifinal match between Manchester United and Everton as the Toffees booked a spot against Chelsea in May at Wembley. After 120 minutes of scoreless play, the American goalkeeper came up with two huge penalty saves to end United's dream of an unprecedented quintuple.

Nice game face, Benjamin
Nice game face, Tomasz
With Manchester United # 1 Edwin van der Sar sidelined with a broken finger, the goalkeeping shirt is up for grabs at Old Trafford. And while it looks like Carling Cup hero Ben Foster is first in line to claim the starting spot - fantasy premier league managers should proceed with caution as Tomasz Kusczak waits in the wings.

So United took on Valencia in a match that I (for some reason) thought was supposed to be the Testimonial for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Perhaps not? Regardless, a rather young United side managed to knock two past their Spanish counterparts and managed to look rather convincing in the process.

Second half goals from Wayne Rooney and Tom Cleverley (both assisted by a once again impressive Antonio Valencia) gave United the victory, and made me even more excited about this Sunday's Charity Shield match against Chelsea.

Melanie Slade is the new face of Helly Hansen. Hey, sailor.
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Huge congratulations to Manchester United/England NT keeper Ben Foster. He's become a father to a healthy, new baby boy!
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Pep Guardiola gets a standing ovation at the Coldplay concert
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God bless you, Chelsea team photographer.

Sir Alex is looking for an able replacement for when Edwin calls it a day.

Manchester United are eyeing up Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev as they prepare for life after Edwin van der Sar. Sir Alex Ferguson is not convinced by Ben Foster, and has set his sights on the 23-year-old CSKA Moscow man.

Blaming the goalkeeper is Ferguson's favorite past time. You'd be hard-pressed to find a goalkeeper in his tenure that hasn't received his famous hairdryer treatment. Save Mossimo Taibi, who seemed to be doomed upon arrival at Old Trafford. Even Peter Schmeichel confessed he was on the receiving end of a face full of words often in his career.

Word out of the News of the World reports that Manchester United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson is to commission special Premier League winner's medals which he will distribute to his fringe players.
Quote from News of the World
The players to be awarded Ben Foster, Wes Brown, Danny Welbeck and Federico Macheda will all receive some silverware.

Malaysia XI 2-3 Manchester United

A 100,000 capacity saw Manchester United do the expected but some goalkeeping errors turned what looked like a comprehensive victory into a game that was only minutes away from a draw.

Even though this match was scheduled some time back, when Ronaldo was still a United player, they did at least get to see the new no.

Arsenal's path back to the UEFA Champions League has a tough first hurdle in the form of Scottish giants Celtic.

The British clubs were drawn against each other in the UEFA Champions League fourth round draw on Friday. Here are some of the other high-profile match-ups:

• Sporting Lisbon vs.

The Charity Shield illustrated several points of concern for EPL FF managers looking to Man Utd defenders, and has started to turn decisions on players into something of a headache. Vidic has been ruled out for up to two weeks with a calf injury, Ben Foster had some shaky moments in goal which may have opened the door for Kuszczak.

No. 1 for England? You wouldn't start on my Sunday League team in L.A., mate
The countdown to the season is truly on now - just five days to go, and we got a taste of what's to come yesterday as Chelsea took down Manchester United in the Community Shield on penalties. I watched the match with pen and paper in hand - and here are some of my player specific reactions and ratings - on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest).

Many a football fan around the world is in full-on rejoicing (or relief, for some) mode, with the focus shifting back towards club action on the pitch.

However, there are still more than two weeks to go in the summer transfer window, so there's still plenty of business yet to be concluded in the market.

Am I alone in being concerned about Gael Clichy who seems to be rushing into tackles like a youth player and losing his positional awareness? I rate the player very highly and see him as potential leadership material when Fabregas departs for Barcelona. He links well down the flanks and gives the team much needed width, but his early performances this season have worried me.

This has to be the most eagerly anticipated derby in years, nay decades. Well certainly in my lifetime anyway.

City's start to the season, culminating in the 4-2 defeat of Arsenal last weekend, will have surely seen United supporters with even the deepest of hatred towards our city neighbours at least acknowledge that they have, thus far, looked impressive.

Arsenal are fantastic right now. Simply brilliant. Wonderful play. Fast and thrilling, even when they lose. Perfect passing. Crisp finishes. Superb combination play. You get the picture.

Okay, please do not kill me on this post. I am neither a fortune teller, palm reader, love guru, snake charmer, nor am I a genius.

When Ben Foster told news reporters that he had been helped to win the League Cup for Manchester United by the technology Eric Steele had an offer, there is no way he could have anticipated the reaction it would create. The press unintentionally revealed themselves as technophones, considering iPods have been knocking about for some [.

Does anyone else get the feeling that things have been going too well for too long? The English Premier League has gone from European underachievers to world dominators in only a few years. Foreign investment and an influx of the world's best talent has made the Premiership the undisputed champion of Europe and of the world.

Sir Alex Ferguson - Denis Law

ALEX FERGUSON said: "Denis was my hero. I idolised him. When I first met him I was so excited. It was at a game in Paris, he had played in the first half and we went for a cup of tea afterwards. I thought, 'This is it, I've made it!'

"He epitomised everything a Scotsman is about.

Breaking years of tradition this season opener was a peach of a game!

Normally these curtain raisers are as boring as..well raising a curtain, but this one was actually pretty decent but did left me asking myself a few questions. The first of which would have to be, Are you allowed to change the order of the penalty takers in the middle of the shoot-out?

England goalkeeper Ben Foster suffers injury and will be left out of the squad to face Holland in Wednesday's International Friendly.

...and then he made one mistake and we sold him to Everton for 30 cents on the dollar... or pound... or whatever? That was good planning, seeing as United now have three... no two.... okay, one and a half fit and capable goalkeepers to start the season off.

Following a performance that would have made Massimo Taibi proud, 26 year old Ben Foster was pulled out of the England squad that will face Holland this week.

Electronic Arts Inc announced today that Cuauhtémoc Blanco of Chicago Fire and Sacha Kljestan of Chivas USA will be featured on the front packs of FIFA Soccer 10.

Frank Lampard seen recently in the FA Community Shield match coolly striding forward and slotting the ball past Ben Foster for the first penalty kick will also be featured on the cover.

. The first half began with the teams cancelling each other out, but both sides began to slowly grow into the game with Arsenal emerging as the dominant force throughout. Quick runs followed by precise passes were the order of the day, and the Gunners maintained their form throughout. Andrey Arshavin was taken down in the area [.

Foster has a lot to think about

Ben Foster has been enjoying his recent run as Manchester United's number one, "I've really enjoyed being involved so far it's what I've wanted, when you have a solid run in the team you can look forward to games in advance and settle down a bit more.

Patrice Evra is concerned about Manchester United defence this season as the reds conceded eight goals in eight games so far comparing to last season where we received only 24 goals.
Continue to the full story

Ferguson very keen on Russian custodian

Portsmouth Vs Manchester United Tickets Still Available!

Manchester United encouraged to step up interest in goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev
Manchester United have been encouraged to step up their interest in Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev following CSKA Moscow's decision to listen to offers for the 23-year-old in January.

The England squad to play Brazil next Saturday in an International friendly has been announced. The main news for Man United is that Michael Owen has yet again not been included in the squad. This isn't much of a surprise, he hasn't played that much for United, so why would he get into the England squad?

There are several international friendlies on Saturday, November 14, 2009 while the final 2010 World Cup Final spots are determined. One of the more high profile friendlies is England v Brazil which will be at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar. Both nations have qualified for next summer's world cup and are two of the favorites to advance far into the tournament.

Are Tomasz Kuszczak's recent performances a sign of better times to come for the current Polish nr 1? At least Tomek is currently winning the rivalry with the English national team hopeful Ben Foster. However, the moment Edwin van der Sar returns he'll be relegated to the bench once again. Will Franz Smuda still trust him then?

Following a week of slatings in the press and the England manager Fabio Capello calling him a 'crazy man', Wayne Rooney went on to score two goals in England's 4-0 victory over Slovakia. Rooney was named Man of the Match before even scoring his second, which turned out to be the last kick of the game.

That's my main reaction to this. I've had a day to digest it and that's how I feel.

As I watched the penalty shootout preparations I had a feeling in my gut that we weren't going to win it. From how the match had gone, and the players that we had on the pitch (from a penalty-taking perspective), I just didn't have a good feeling.

It wasn't the fact that we lost to Arsenal and Manchester United it was the fact that we lost without showing any sort of fight or passion for the game. I can fully understand and even expect to be completely outclassed against two sides competing for the ultimate glory of the Champions League, what I cannot accept is that not one player seemed to care that we are going down without a fight, not one player showed any sort of urgency to try to rescue something.

Johan Cruyff, whose fairly useless son, Jordi, spent several years with the club, has today criticised United, amongst others, for the amount of foreigners we have in our team. He reckons football in general is suffering because of the foreigners we have in our league. Right.

"However much English teams reach finals or semi-finals, I'm sorry, I do not buy it," said Cruyff.