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Manchester United 2008-2009 Pre-Season - Football Slate

Manchester United 2008-2009 Pre-Season Summary

August 8th 2008 05:47
Opponents Score Stadium Occasion Date
Aberdeen F.C. 2 – 0 Pittodrie 25th Anniversary of European Cup Winners' Cup D/MM/YY">12/07/08
Kaizer Chiefs 1 – 1 Newlands Vodacom Challenge D/MM/YY">19/07/08
Orlando Pirates 1 – 0 ABSA Vodacom Challenge D/MM/YY">22/07/08
Kaizer Chiefs 4 – 0 Loftus Vodacom Challenge D/MM/YY">26/07/08
Portsmouth F.C. 2 – 1 Abuja National Pre-season Friendly D/MM/YY">27/07/08
RCD Espanyol 1 – 0 Old Trafford Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Testimonial D/MM/YY">02/08/08
Peterborough United 2 – 0 London Road Barry Fry Testimonial D/MM/YY">04/08/08
Juventus 0 – 0 Old Trafford Pre-season Friendly D/MM/YY">06/08/08




Players Status Position Games Played Games Started Goals
Ben Amos Academy Goalkeeper 2 1 0
Wes Brown First team Defender 6 5 0
Fraizier Campbell Reserves Striker 8 3 2
Michael Carrick First team Midfielder 4 4 1
Craig Cathcart Reserves Defender 3 1 0
Tom Cleverley Reserves Midfielder 3 0 1
Fabio Da Silva Reserves Defender 1 0 0
Rafael Da Silva Reserves Defender 2 1 0
Chris Eagles** Reserves Midfielder 5 3 2
Jonny Evans Reserves Defender 8 2 0
Patrice Evra First team Defender 3 3 0
Rio Ferdinand First team Defender 4 4 0
Darren Fletcher First team Midfielder 7 6 0
Ben Foster First team Goalkeeper 1 1 0
Darron Gibson Reserves Midfielder 8 3 1
Ryan Giggs First team Midfielder 6 5 1
David Gray Reserves Midfielder 1 1 0
Sam Hewson Reserves Midfielder 1 0 0
Tomasz Kuszczak First team Goalkeeper 5 4 0
Lee Martin Reserves Winger 5 4 1
Nani First team Winger 2 2 0
Gary Neville First team Defender 3 3 0
John O'Shea First team Defender / Midfielder 8 4 0
Rodrigo Possebon Reserves Midfielder 4 1 0
Wayne Rooney First team Striker 4 3 2
Paul Scholes First team Midfielder 7 5 0
Mikael Silvestre First team Defender 5 3 0
Danny Simpson* Reserves Defender 5 2 0
Carlos Tevez First team Striker 7 6 1
Edwin Van der Sar First team Goalkeeper 2 2 0
Nemanja Vidic First team Defender 6 6 0
Gary Woods Academy Goalkeeper 1 0 0
Ron-Robert Zieler Academy Goalkeeper 1 0 0


*on loan to Blackburn Rovers
**Transferred to Burnley F.C.
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Manchester United Ends Pre-season with Scoreless Draw Against Juventus

August 8th 2008 03:09
For their last match of preparation before the season gets under way (unless you count the Community Shields game), Manchester United met their toughest foe of the pre-season, Italian giant Juventus. Although the game ended scoreless, there were a couple of things that stood out in both teams' performances.

Juventus did a good job in denying space to United forwards. The defense was very compact so the Red Devils couldn't make their quick passing plays nor shoot at the goal since there too many bodies in and around the box. When the Red Devils tried to attack from the flanks, their crosses were more often than not intercepted by goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Their best scoring opportunity came at the 50th minute when Rafael Da Silva delivered a superb cross to Paul Scholes who somehow missed the header.

The Italians' attack was a one-man show with Alessandro Del Piero being their most dangerous player. The striker showed a lot of skills to get passed defenders but his shots were often blocked by Ferdinand, O'Shea, or Vidic. When he finally was substituted at the 71st minute, Old Trafford rose up to a man for a standing ovation. The veteran striker rightly deserved it since he put on quite a show for the fans.

Another player deserving a standing ovation was young right-back Rafael Da Silva. The Brazilian came on at half-time and showed no sign of nervousness despite the fact that it was his first game against a world-class team. In fact, he dazzled the crowd by exploiting his speed and technical abilities to their fullest. His offensive rushes created the best scoring opportunities for United, and quickly got on defender Giorgio Chiellini's nerves. Tired of putting up with the kid, the veteran defender fouled the youngster towards the end of the game as if to say “enough is enough.”

Right now, Rafael stands behind Gary Neville and Wes Brown but I have no doubt that he will make his way onto the first-team next season especially if one of the veterans gets injured. His twin brother might have more difficulties to crack the line-up however since Evra is simply unmovable on the left flank.

Manchester United's line-up: Edwin Van der Sar; Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic (Jonny Evans 78th), Wes Brown (Rafael da Silva, h-t); Darren Fletcher (Darron Gibson, h-t), Paul Scholes, John O'Shea (Rodrigo Possebon, 69th), Lee Martin (Mikael Silvestre, 65th); Ryan Giggs, Carlos Tevez (Fraizier Campbell, 69th).
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Manchester United's Reserves Shine in Ferguson Derby

August 7th 2008 02:47
In a confrontation pitting father against son, Sir Alex Ferguson came out on top thanks to the wonderful performance of his young players who managed to defeat Darren Ferguson's team, Peterborough United.

Despite lining-up first team players such as Nani, Tevez, O'Shea, Fletcher, Ferdinand, Brown, and Evra (the rest had the day off in preparation for the match against Juventus today), the Red Devils had a lot of trouble responding to the Posh's efforts. The United defense was constantly under pressure, and were often forced to make several dangerous back-passes, putting goalkeeper Kuszczak in trouble more often than not. The absence of Scholes and Carrick in center midfield was clear as day as the defenders couldn't find that outlet to relieve the pressure. As good as O'Shea and Fletcher are, neither of them can take on the role playmaker with their limited skills. Furthermore, when United did manage to enter the final third of the field, their opportunities were often wasted by Nani who played a terrible game. The Portuguese was unable to link up with any of his teammates, losing possession almost every time he attempted a pass. As such, Peterborough was the best team on the field during that first half until the 38th minute. Less than ten minutes before half-time, United received a gift from defender Russell Martin who chested the ball into his own net while trying to pass it to his goalkeeper. It was the young defender's sole mistake of the match, a rather unfortunate event since he was excellent in breaking down Nani and Evra's rushes on the left wing.

Fergie brought several changes at halftime, including Brazilian full-back Fabio Da Silva who would play on the left while his twin brother, Rafael patrolled the right flank. Surprisingly (after all those changes), the team started to play better from then on, keeping possession by making simple plays. Rodrigo Possebon's entrance at the 58th minute certainly helped in that matter since the Portuguese's main asset is his passing ability. Ferguson made his final changes nine minutes later, replacing Kuszczak (who made an important reflex save at the 56th minute) and Fletcher by Zieler and Possebon. The latter gave United their second goal of the match one minute later on his first touch of the ball, a superb shot that went top-corner, leaving no chance to goalkeeper Mark Tyler. It was clearly a different, more dominant Manchester side who took the field in the second half. Possebon's presence stabilized the midfield while the twins brothers offered an intriguing performance. Can't wait to see more of them.

Manchester United - Peterborough United: 2-0


United's line-up: Tomasz Kuszczak (Ron-Robert Zieler, 67th); Rafael Da Silva, Wes Brown (Craig Cathcart, h-t), Rio Ferdinand (Jonny Evans, h-t), Patrice Evra (Fabio Da Silva, h-t); David Gray, Darren Fletcher (Darron Gibson, 67th), John O'Shea, Nani (Rodrigo Possebon, 58th); Carlos Tevez (Tom Cleverley, h-t), Fraizier Campbell (Lee Martin, h-t).
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