SoccerBlogs

Now that David Moyes is set to join Manchester United July 1st of this year, fellow Toffees may also find their way to Old Trafford this summer. For quite some time, both Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines have continuously seen their name in the rumor mill and this time, a promising connection to Manchester United seems to be in order.

Chicharito Hernandez, Mexico's prolific scorer has been called into the Mexican national team to lead his side throughout the summer. The Mexican Football Federation today announced the group of players that will represent Mexico during their busy summer schedule that sees them feature in friendlies, World Cup Qualifiers as well as the Confederations Cup in Brazil.

The future of Chicharito Hernandez has been a topic of discussion this season as the Mexican international has failed to once again find consistent playing time within Sir Alex Ferguson's team. With the arrival of Robin Van Persie, Chicharito was forced to once again play second fiddle in a team that secured the Premier League title several weeks ago.

By Chris Wright

Now available to buy on Ebay: what may or may not be the lastpieceof chewing gum ever chewed by Sir Alex Ferguson as a professional football manager...

Apparently the gum was somehow recovered from The Hawthorns by a fan on Sunday afternoon, though the piece of nigh-on priceless (it is quite literally worth nothing at all!

By Chris Wright

What with it being Sir Alex Ferguson's 1,500th and final game in charge of Manchester United, theatmospherewas always going to be a bit wappy at The Hawthorns on Sunday afternoon and, as onecursory glance at the scoreline will duly attest, things got a bit hectic.

When we think about modern football, we think of the advanced formations from the ever-present 4-4-2, to the introduction of the inside forward, and to the extremely popular 4-3-3 variants. Football is an ever-changing scenario and with the likes of Guardiola / Mourinho / Laudrup – all young, aspiring, technical managers, new formations and systems will arise as quickly as others are dropped.

Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud (Google Creative Commons)

Having already wrapped up the Premier League title, Manchester United capped off a wonderful campaign with an extraordinary 5-5 draw against West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns. United twice led by a three-goal margin, but the home side – inspired by Romelu Lukaku's second-half hat-trick – managed to battle back each time.

Now that the Premier League season has come to a close, it's time for a retrospective look at events from the 2012-13 season. In my opinion, it hasn't been an exhilarating season by any means, with the title race a breeze for Manchester United.

But this season is something else: It will be the last time that Sir Alex Ferguson will be at the helm of Manchester United.

The 2012/13 Premier League season is over and, to be honest, it wasn't that great. We were definitely spoiled by the dizzying last-minute climax of the 2011/12 season, but watching Manchester United trudge to a 20th title while the rest of the league floundered and groaned had all the excitement of bingo night at Gareth Barry's house.

WhoScored has calculated the best Premier League XI from the 2012-13 season based on their average ratings through the course of the nine month campaign.

Surprisingly, title winning side Manchester United only have two players in the best team, while fourth place Arsenal had the same number.

WhoScored has calculated the most ineffective Premier League XI of 2012-13, and there are a few surprises.

While names such as Charlie Adam, Clint Hill and Carlton Cole are no surprise inclusions, there are shocks including footballers from Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea.

Some of the statistics included in the above infographic are very revealing — Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck having a conversion rate of just 3%, while Victor Moses's crossing ability is embarrassingly poor.

The new Manchester United 2013-14 home shirt? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Images of a shirt that seems to be Manchester United's home shirt for the 2013-14 season have been leaked on the internet. The three-buttoned shirt is plain red with black trim and features a black buttoned-down collar.

Arsenal's 1-0 Premier League victory over Newcastle ensured that the Gunners will be playing the Champions League next season at the expense of North London rivals Tottenham, despite their 1-0 win at home against Sunderland courtesy of another late blockbuster from Gareth Bale.

With the title already secured by Manchester United and relegation matters settled in midweek, the only piece of intrigue left to be settled was who will be playing in Europe next season.

Scarves outside the gates of The Hawthorns pay tribute to Sir Alex Ferguson (Image via Facebook)

On May 19, 2013, Manchester United and the world of football said goodbye to living legend, Sir Alex Ferguson. In what was the manager's 1500th match in charge of United, his charges delivered a send off that was worthy of the 71-year-0ld.

Wayne Rooney will not play in today's match against West Bromwich Albion, the final game of Sir Alex Ferguson's managerial career.

While Rooney was benched for last week's game against Swansea, today he has been excused from traveling with United because his wife is in labor. Colleen is due to give birth to their second child.

Coleen and Wayne Rooney (Image via Zimbio)

According to reports from ESPN on the morning of May 19, 2013, Manchester United have announced that Wayne Rooney will not participate in today's match against West Bromwich Albion.

Rooney has been on a mission to see if the grass is greener on the other side as his ill-timed transfer request already upset enough people having been brought to the table the same time as Sir Alex Ferguson's announcement of retirement at the end of the campaign.

After celebrating his 1499th game at Old Trafford last week, Utd fans had one final opportunity to witness Sir Alex's Reds in action away to West Brom yesterday. Personally, I didn't want the game to ever go ahead. I didn't want to witness the moment where the whistle blew, signalling the end of the game, a game that has been 39 years long, completely unique and utterly special.

After celebrating his 1499th game at Old Trafford last week, Utd fans had one final opportunity to witness Sir Alex's Reds in action away to West Brom yesterday. Personally, I didn't want the game to ever go ahead. I didn't want to witness the moment where the whistle blew, signalling the end of the game, a game that has been 39 years long, completely unique and utterly special.

After over 134,000 minutes on the sidelines watching Manchester Utd play in 61 different cash-generating kits, Sir Alex Ferguson took to the dugout for the final time on Sunday at The Hawthorns.

Fergie was denied a victory in his 1,500th game in charge as a Romelu Lukaku hat-trick earned West Brom a bizarre 5-5 draw, but there was one clear winner on the day: the man who bought 700 souvenir programmes, spending £2,800 ($4,250) in the process.

Shinji Kagawa was voted the best player in the Bundesliga the season before he joined Manchester United, so despite winning the title in his first season, we've yet to see the best of him. He spent a large chunk of the earlier part of the season injured and has made most of his appearances on the left wing, instead of the central role he prefers.

By Alan Duffy

West Bromwich Albion 5-5 Manchester United Premier League 19th May 2013

One imagines Sir Alex Ferguson wasn't expecting to see his side ship five goals in his final game in charge. However, on a crazy afternoon at the Hawthorns, a second-half hat-trick from Romelu Lukaku helped the Baggies to a creditable draw against the title-holders on a day which also saw Paul Scholes hang up his boots (again).

By Anthony Lopopolo

For once, David Beckham had nowhere to go. There was nothing left to conquer. Winning in four different countries, this 38-year-old, though still capable, got the chance to depart the game as a winner, on his own terms.