Macheda again has a lot of column inches devoted to him. The main story doing the rounds is the attack by Lazio on our signing of him. The whole issue seems to be a little confused, with different versions appearing in different papers. The Independent says, "United approached Macheda six months before he was 16 – the age at which Lazio, under Italian regulations, are able to offer him a contract". While The Times have, "rules that prevent Italian clubs from tying a player under the age of 18 to a contract". The Telegraph go even further, claiming that Macheda "was plucked from Lazio's youth-team as a 15-year-old with United exploiting rules that prevent Italian clubs from offering professional contracts to players under the age of 16". So which is it? There seems to be no doubt that we acted within the rules and to me the crux of Lazio's attack seems more directed at the Italian rules than at us. Take this from The Times report:
“We tried in every way to stop Manchester United from taking our players, but the present Italian regulations don't give you any type of defence. We have to be provided with more reliable and concrete rules than those which govern Italian clubs.”The passionate language he used against us seems a way to convince the Italian authorities to change the rules which allow this to happen. Of course they would still be up against the bigger spending power of English clubs at the moment, but, if the rules were changed, presumably they'd be more likely to be better renumerated than they are now (The Sun claiming that Macheda cost us £35,000).
Also on Macheda out of Lazio are words of praise from former Lazio youth coach Volfango Patarca, in The Telegraph:
"I first saw him play when he was with Savio, a club based in Rome."He was just 11 years old, but he already had goal scoring in his blood.
"He was the real jewel of Lazio's youth team - he is tall and languid, speedy too, and that is a rarity - Federico definitely resembles Ronaldo."
The Sun has words from Macheda's dad and from the restaurant owner where he ate Saturday night...
“Ever since he was a young boy I have watched my boy and thought of Marco Van Basten. In the past 18 months he’s developed enormously, physically and technically at United. They have done a fantastic job.
“When United were 2-1 down to Villa I thought there would be no room for my son to come on. But then someone said ‘there he is!’
“I rubbed my eyes because he looked like he had been playing for years — even alongside Cristiano Ronaldo he did not look like a rookie.
“When he scored I blanked out, I didn’t see what happened. All these years I asked him ‘when are you going to dedicate a goal to me?’ He said nothing on Sunday, he didn’t have to. His look said it all.”
...
“Our pasta gave him the energy! Seriously though, he will be a brilliant player and is at the best club in the world as well.”
"Before we bring a young player into the team we've got to ask the question about his temperament because there's 76,000 people at Old Trafford and when we're playing for the stakes we were on Sunday it's a big ask for any young kid," said Ferguson yesterday.
"But we're sure of Kiko in that respect. You see how he handles situations. Ole Gunnar was told to tell him last Monday that, if he did well in the reserves, he'd be on the bench on Sunday. So it's a challenge to him and, of course, he scores a hat-trick. That's him saying, 'Get me on the bench quick.'"
"There will be an adrenaline rush against Porto," said Fergie. "That's always the case on a big European night at Old Trafford. But you have to say the winning goal against Villa has galvanised the club.
"At 2-1 down it was time to take a risk, as we always do, and Federico did an incredible job. The goal had an effect on me, of course it did.
"That's what you're at this club for. Manchester United are the one club in the world where you can almost guarantee that will happen. In situations like that, in the last few minutes, there wasn't a soul in that ground who didn't think it was possible.
"They all expect it because we've done it too many times.
“Sunday was a defining moment. I picked the wrong team, I made the wrong decision on Gary Neville. It was asking far too much of him to play against Carew and it gave us a fragile look at the back, but when it went to 2-1, then you saw the real Manchester United.
“How much running did Gary do in that last 15 minutes? It was unbelievable for a 34-year-old and just transmits itself - that message - to everyone else. They start running longer and faster and showing more determination. The whole thing sucks them in and it's an incredible feeling.”
these public appearances can be deceiving and, like Ronaldo's insistence that he was "happy" at United, they cannot always be taken at face value.
When the inevitable, and fully justified, question about Ronaldo's future at the club came, it was Ferguson who looked like he might burst with anger. Ronaldo just grinned."How many times have we had that question, how many times have we had that question?" fulminated Ferguson before exasperatedly ordering Ronaldo to "carry on". Smiling, Ronaldo chimed in: "Always this question." Ferguson calmed down.
"I know, it's always, it's pathetic," he concluded. Finally, Ronaldo answered: "I'm happy at this club. I think this is the right club for me." But that was all he would say.
To be fair the article does at least go beyond the usual Ronaldo talk:
Ronaldo was nothing like his most effective against Aston Villa yet he scored twice and is now the Premier League's joint top goalscorer with Nicolas Anelka on 15 goals. He said little that was particularly insightful yesterday but his point about it being more difficult for United to win games "naturally", to get on a roll, made sense. The immediate perception of his season is that it has more often been punctuated by images of his petulant frustration than the brilliant goals that dominated last season.
The statistics, however, say something different. Ronaldo has featured in an impressive 42 games this season, 38 of them starts, and is the team's top goalscorer with 19. Playing that much takes a phenomenal physical toll on any footballer and the only team-mate who can equal that is Nemanja Vidic, also on 42 appearances. For a player subjected to as many physical challenges as Ronaldo, it is a remarkable record. He is a lot tougher than his usual reaction to being tackled would suggest.
When Real were thrashed 4-0 by Liverpool at Anfield last month, Ronaldo arrived at training the next morning to find his United team-mates all waiting to mock him for even thinking of moving to the Bernabéu. “You owe us for saving you from playing for that rubbish,” they told him. Apparently, he took the ribbing well.Real are, it should be said, only ever two or three big signings away from challenging for top honours, but will they be the right two or three arrivals? They are awaiting the outcome of club's presidential elections in June and do not have a manager for next season. That is a lot of questions that need answering before any prospective recruit even ask how much he will be paid.
"It would be stupid to think this is going to be easy," said Ferguson. "When teams are used to winning their domestic title, as Porto are in Portugal, you always feel they will play with great confidence. They have a lot of South Americans in their team as well, which gives them a great physical strength. By beating Atletico Madrid in the last round, Porto proved they will be hard to beat. Complacency does not come into it, as far as we are concerned. We will be going at full throttle in order to get the result we want."While The Mail have Sir Alex talking of taking a two goal lead to Porto:
The United manager told ESPN: ‘I’ve been watching the videos over the last couple of weeks and they are very difficult to play against in their own ground. They have a terrific record there. So, it goes down to the first leg and hopefully we can get a two-goal lead. If we do that it gives us the best opportunity, without question.
‘And, looking at their home record and how difficult they are to play against, I think we need that two-goal advantage.’
Hulk
Hulk to his friends – Givanildo Vieira de Souza on his birth certificate. The 22-year-old Brazilian was signed from Verdy Tokyo in the summer and has been a revelation at Porto this season, becoming the joint top goalscorer in the Portuguese league.
Bruno Alves
Has been at Porto since he was a teenager. Now 27, he is the cornerstone of their defence. The club have a tradition of producing elegant defenders and Alves is among the best, although he took a long time to establish himself at Porto. Finally became a regular in the last four years.
Lucho Gonzalez
The 28-year-old is Porto's Argentine playmaker. He has 41 caps for his country, scoring Argentina's goal in last week's 6-1 defeat by Bolivia, and is nicknamed "El Comandante" for his ability to galvanise the team. He is not physically imposing, but can pick a pass.
Finally, The Telegraph are quite obsessed about our new sponspors, always with the stories about it. Today they link Prudential to us (though sourcedfrom The Mail):
A spokesman from Prudential confirmed that the company had been approached by United and it is understood that talks have been ongoing for some time with a final agreement imminent.
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