Purest Values

An interesting article? In the dry summer months? Surely not? Jonathan Wilson on The Guardian Blog looks at forwards defending, I'll quote the bits concerning us, I particularly like his comments on Rooney playing wide -

Manchester United tend to use Park Ji-sung as a defensive winger, as he did most notably against Internazionale when he almost entirely negated the attacking threat of Maicon from full-back. Indeed given his lack of obvious creative abilities, his deployment against Sylvinho, who had barely played for two years and who looked nervous early on, was one of the more mystifying elements of the Champions League final.

But Wayne Rooney too has been used defensively. Even within the scope of that final, it was evident in Carles Puyol's surges from full-back in the second half – one of which led to the second goal - just how Rooney had restricted him before switching flanks at half-time. There are those who would argue that Rooney would be better served operating centrally, as a purely creative presence, but that is to ignore both how many goals are scored from wide these days, and also how good Rooney is as a defensive player. Defenders are often spoken of as being frustrated forwards, but Rooney at times gives the impression of being a frustrated left-back, forever chafing at the restrictions of creativity, desperate to go and get involved in a bit of jockeying.

The surges of Aly Cissokho from left-back had troubled United in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Porto, so in the second leg, Sir Alex Ferguson played Cristiano Ronaldo as a centre-forward, with Rooney on the right. Cissokho and Porto were negated, and United completed a relatively comfortable 1-0 victory. Similarly last season, in the semi-final away to Barcelona, Rooney became almost a second full-back, neutralising Messi.

He also has some stats which make for interesting, though, as he admits himself, "crude", reading:

Ronaldo's 42 goals last season meant he was almost universally hailed as United's outstanding player, but consider this curiosity: in Premier League games Ronaldo started last season, Manchester United picked up 2.38 points per game; when Tevez started they picked up 2.44; when Rooney started they picked up 2.52. That's only one measure, and it's fairly crude, but it does hint at how much important work goes unseen. It may be more thrilling to see Rooney employed in a central role, but it is not necessarily more effective. Indeed, it is tribute to his selflessness that he is prepared to function in less glamorous ways.

We secure "the most lucrative shirt sponsorship deal in football", though why David Gill has to say they "share our values" is beyond me? What values? Making money, presumably. Values best left unsaid as far as I'm concerned:

David Gill, the United chief executive, said of the Aon deal: "Today's announcement clearly strengthens our position as one of the biggest clubs in world football.

"We look forward to being closely aligned with the world leader in risk management, a firm which shares our values and is an exciting partner for Manchester United."

The Times has more detail on what those values actually are:

Given the adverse publicity generated by the collapse of AIG, United are eager to draw a line under that saga and start afresh, although Aon has been embroiled in a controversy of its own in recent months involving employee pensions. The insurance broker cut pension contributions to most of its 5,400 United Kingdom workforce in April in a move widely seen as heralding a clampdown on retirement schemes.

Aon said the cuts were necessary to reduce costs to remain profitable, but with that in mind, it remains to be seen how its employees react to news that the company is about to pay a record amount to sponsor a football club's shirts.

The Mail report interest in Vidic:

Sportsmail revealed last month that United had concerns as Vidic’s wife Ana has struggled to settle in Manchester and is keen on moving away from the city to a better climate.

Now Milan and Barca hope to capitalise on the Serb’s predicament and tempt him away with a bumper £25million deal and the benefits of a new environment.

The Mirror report that

Sir Alex Ferguson has told Frazier Campbell, Danny Simpson and Darron Gibson that they are free to look for new clubs.

How they know this they don't explain.
The Tevez situation:

Kia Joorabchian, the head of the consortium that owns Tevez's economic rights, held a two-hour meeting yesterday with the United chief executive, David Gill, aware that City are waiting in the wings should he decide to invite rival offers for the 25-year-old. The talks were described as "cordial" and ended with Joorabchian returning to London to consider United's long-awaited offer. The club had previously asked Joorabchian to reduce the £25.5m fee that was agreed when the Argentinian moved to Old ­Trafford on loan in 2007, a request that left the striker, according to a representative, feeling "humiliated".

Joorabchian will now put United's proposal to Tevez before informing Gill whether they have a deal, although a final decision is not expected until after Argentina's forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Colombia on Saturday and Ecuador next Wednesday.

The Hargreaves situation, from "a source close to the player":

"Owen feels good about his knees, but it's difficult to say if everything is OK or not until he starts training again.

"It will take time, but he is hopeful he will play again some time next season."

And I thought we were going to get through the day with no story on Ronaldo, but, alas, no:

Pérez has now turned his sights to Ronaldo.

"What I want is for many of the best players in the world to play with us, Cristiano would be one of them," he said. "I'm going to work so that Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo can be with Real Madrid.

"It would be very good if great players were at Real Madrid this season. Cristiano would be one of them."

Pérez, who returned to Real on Monday, is believed to be studying a pre-contract agreement made between the club and Ronaldo last season and which could lead to the 24-year-old joining the Spanish giants for close to £75m, a fee the president is thought to be concerned about.

Officially at least, he claims to know nothing about the agreement. "I've been here for two days and neither [previous president Vicente] Boluda or anyone else told me anything about this," he said.