A Ballad For The Fallen Soldier

Today we're mainly concerned with Sir Alex's pre-Fulham press conference and the quotes from that.  Most of the papers lead on Evra and what the signing of Buttner means for him. From The Guardian:

Asked if it was important to maintain pressure on established stars, Ferguson said: "That's sensible. Evra has been an absolute soldier. Nobody has played more games than him over the last five years. He has played with injuries. He has guts. He has been up and down that touchline for five years. But he's 31 and we have to protect the future."

Of the 23-year-old Buttner, whose signing caused some surprise in his native Netherlands, Ferguson said: "We've been monitoring him for a while. He's a straight forward attacking, quick full-back, he will be a terrific addition to us. Evra for the last five years has played an average of 48 games a season. It's an incredible statistic and Alex comes now to challenge that position. Patrice is in his 30s and, although he is a fit lad, it gives us a good challenge in that position. Buttner will be involved [against Fulham on Saturday]."

Sir Alex also says we'll have the same squad as Monday, despite reports about the the possibility of Evans coming back Saturday:

"We will go ahead with the same squad as Monday," said Ferguson, who added he would start Rafael da Silva at right-back, with Antonio Valencia potentially moving forward to his usual attacking wide berth.

The Sun have quotes from Sir Alex on Kagawa:

“Shinji was fantastic on Monday, he played very well.

“He is a terrific pro, a good footballer, good with two feet, good balance and we’re very happy with him.

“His goalscoring record is better than most players in that position. His last two years at Dortmund showed that.

“I think that will come for us. He will also create chances as he did on Monday. That shows he has the vision and passing ability to open up defences.”

The Guardian have some words from Kagawa which he posted on Facebook apparently:

 "Four days ago one of my dreams finally came true. Playing what I love to do in the Premier League. We ended up losing but as I train more and immerse myself into the club and communicate more with team-mates, I'm confident that the great outcomes will follow naturally.

"[On] the match day it surely was a big day but I wasn't nervous at all. But even though there were some good performances, they don't mean much if they don't lead to goals."

The Independent with Sir Alex's quotes on transfers:

Ferguson said United will not be buying any more players in the current transfer window after a deal for Chilean 18-year-old Henriquez is tied up in the next few days.

"We definitely won't be buying anyone else, that is for sure," he said.

Striker Dimitar Berbatov and winger Nani have been linked with moves away from Old Trafford and asked if there would be any likely departures, Ferguson said: "There is no movement I can tell you about, to be honest.

"There is only a few days left now until the deadline and that will pass quite quickly I would imagine."

The Mirror randomly left Sir Alex's press conference wondering whether Rooney's place is at risk from RvP.  Don't read about it here.  Or Alan Smith's thoughts here.

One last story, David Gill might be heading for a place on UEFA's executive committee.