Louis Saha who will face Newcastle tomorrow believes he's nearing his best form for Manchester United.

The French Star Said: "I believe I am showing people the real Louis Saha now. "I am playing with consistency, confidence and without injury - and that is showing in my goals.

"I always felt I could go on a run like this if I could just get over my injury problems."If I stay fit, I will continue to score - I'm convinced of that - and help United win things."

Saha notched 53 goals in 117 league games for Fulham before Alex Ferguson signed him in 2004.

But it was only in the second half of last season that Saha started to shine, scoring 14 times in his final 16 games.

It was enough to convince Fergie he could dump Ruud van Nistelrooy and rely on Saha.

But Saha said: "I do not see myself as another Ruud."He was a great player for us and got a lot of goals. I'm a different person and a different player but one thing I aim to do is score a lot.

"I believe I am now more composed in front of goal than I used to be and that has helped things to go my way."

There are two big reasons why the France star believes the goals and chances will keep flowing. He said: "When you are playing alongside Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo you are always going to get chances.

"You know something is going to happen because those two can do magic things."There have been signs this season that Ferguson's blend of youth and experience is coming together.

Saha said: "We are getting stronger all the time. There are players with a great hunger to succeed and we are developing and improving. "It is a new team and I am glad to be part of it."

Rio Ferdinand said he wants to play the rest of his career with United. The former Ledds United defender signed a new Old Trafford deal last season after a controversial negotiation.

"When the whole contract situation arose it went from being a great relationship with the fans to being the worst with anti-Rio banners being held up. I could understand it," he said at the launch of his autobiography `My Story'.

"I could understand the fans' feelings in view of what they were being fed in the media. But that was one of the reasons I wrote the book. I wanted people to know that there was no intention on my behalf to leave the club.

"The manager asked me what was going on with the Kenyon meeting. It was a freak, chance meeting. I didn't want to sign for Chelsea. I never spoke to him about that. I just wanted to sign for United.

"The proof of the pudding was me signing. That was all I ever wanted to do. "I don't mess around. If I didn't like it here I would tell the manager that I wanted to leave. But I love it here. Some days I wake up and think I might stay in Manchester for the rest of my life and raise my children.

"Going abroad or anywhere else that people might think would guarantee success more are not even thoughts I have in my mind. "I have no other thoughts in my head other than playing for United and winning things.

"People seem to think that Londoners don't want to leave London and come here. "The common image of me is somebody who loves the bright lights. Yes I did. But you evolve as a person and you change.

"I have a baby now and responsibilities. That changes you even before we had the baby I was thinking the same way."

About Cristiano Ronaldo's performance against Benfica Neville said: "To be honest with you some of Ronaldo's play just makes you smile. He runs at players and runs into trouble when he shouldn't, but then he will go past players.

"To play against him must be a nightmare for defenders. The amount of running he made the Benfica players do was incredible and that makes space for other players. "He is learning all the time. We are telling him to do the right things for an hour and then exploit the space that comes in the last 20 minutes.

"It is then that we have told him he can go and win us the match. Even though he didn't score, the running he did against Benfica really helped to take the pressure off our defenders. "It then enabled Louis Saha to go and score his goal."

Ronaldo later said: "Last year here things did not go well, but this time they have. "The booing does not matter for me. If people in the stands were whistling, I forgot all about it. I don't care. "I just stay focused and play my game. I am used to being booed these days."

Ronaldo is still only 21 and has come through a lot in the last year. His father died and he was the subject of a false rape allegation.

Now he has had to deal with the fall-out from Wayne Rooney's World Cup sending-off. But he has come out the other side with his talent very much intact. Indeed Neville believes he will go on to have a glittering career.

Neville said: "He is young. He has had difficulties because he is young. "He came over here at 18, leaving home and his family. I would not like to experience that myself. "He has overcome all that and now we are all seeing the player he can be. If Ronaldo doesn't go on to become the player he should be, then there is something wrong.

"Cristiano is an incredible player and an incredible talent. United fans want to come and see players like Ronaldo going down the wing, they are terrific to watch. "United fans will always rally round their own - and Ronaldo is one of our own."

Portuguese legend Eusebio says Cristiano Ronaldo has magic in his boots. He says: "Ronaldo has magic in those boots. The first thing you notice about him is that he is incredibly quick and very, very powerful for such a young man.

"He has great close control and his technique is excellent. "He believes he can do anything with the ball and that confidence makes him very special indeed."

Upon meeting Benfica tonight in Lisbon, Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo will try to erase the nightmare of last season's Champions League when he was red carded and booed by the opposing fans.

He was is determined to prove his commitment against Benfica tonight. He says: "I want to show all United fans what this club means to me.

"I want to win the European Cup for Manchester United. That is my main aim."I know how much the competition means to this club and to me. I believe we can do it with this team."

He added: "I'd be very proud if one day I am held in the same esteem as George Best or David Beckham. That is what I am working hard towards. To do that, I know I need to win trophies - and the European Cup is a special one.

"This is one of the biggest clubs in the world and I want to leave my mark. I'd like the fans to one day say I was one of the club's great players."

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson insists there's no shame for his team after yesterday's disappointing 1-1 draw at Reading.

The result means the Red Devils have now dropped five of their last six points following last Sunday's 1-0 home defeat by Arsenal.

Alex Ferguson said: "Last Sunday was a disappointing performance but not today."

Reading took the lead early in the second half through Kevin Doyle's penalty after the ball hit Gary Neville's hand in the penalty box.

Manchester United try to get an equalizer but was held back by Reading's defensive play before Cristiano Ronaldo netted a fine solo equaliser with 16 minutes remaining.

The penalty award had been against Gary Neville, with the England defender having been adjudged to have used an arm as a cross from the right bounced in the box.

Ferguson said: "I haven't seen it so I couldn't judge but it was a big decision."

Wayne Rooney again failed to hit the net but his manager was prepared to defend his performance.

The Scot said: "You have got to remember that was only his sixth game in six months."

Cristiano Ronaldo admits he's thingking about quitting Manchester United over the summer. He said: "It is true that, before returning to Manchester, I said in an interview that anything could happen. But this was a club that gave me a lot of support, and where I have won a lot of things, and the situation needed to be analysed calmly.

"I took the decision to stay very calmly, and I really think that it was the best decision.

"I am at Manchester and I feel very good. This is one of the biggest clubs in the world. My ambition was always to play for a big club; and here I am. I have been here since I was 18 years old. I have felt, and I still feel, very happy about that. "I hope that things will continue to carry one in the same way for me, or even better. There's one thing I'm sure of: Manchester is the ideal club for me.

"I hope to have a good season. Whether I will be here for another two, three, five, ten years, or until the end of my career, I don't know.

"What I want to do is leave my mark on Manchester, leave my mark on the club as the first Portuguese who played there, to leave the door open for others, my colleagues, to go there to play one day."

Tomasz Kuszczak has revealed he grew up wanting to be just like his new Manchester United teammate Edwin van der Sar.

The move to Old Trafford realised his boyhood dream after Kuszczak grew up supporting United with posters of his idols on his wall in Wroclaw. He added: "My idol was always Peter Schmeichel - and Edwin van der Sar.

"It's unbelievable to be following them but slowly the emotion from having been transferred to Manchester United is falling away.

"Now I want to realise part two of my plan - to fight for a regular first- team place, because that's why I came here after all.

"I'm having a rivalry with Edwin van der Sar, a living legend, but that only motivates me further. If I was afraid of playing I wouldn't be at Manchester United."

Kuszczak has been stunned by how down to earth and friendly mega-stars are at United and the young keeper can feel himself improving with every passing day in their company.

He said: "I've only been here a little while but I feel like I'm at home.

"Everyone is nice and there are no stuck-up stars, you can talk to anyone. It's a great thing to play with such famous players at Manchester United. It motivates you to work harder and it gives me a lot of satisfaction to play at Old Trafford.

"I know that I've got a lot more work ahead of me and I've got to improve certain parts of my game. That's the best way to have success.

"Playing with such phenomenal players, I think I can go really far here. You raise your game just by being around them to match them.

"A lot of the players have a good shot but Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes really hit the ball with potent force. I'm made to work for every save in training.

"Afterwards I stay behind with Cristiano Ronaldo and we like to take each other on to see who can hit the crossbar the most times from 16 metres - but the other day I lost."

Tags: kuszczak | manchester united news | van der sar

In his new book Rio My Story, which is being serialised in The Sun, Rio Ferdinand recalls Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney's first England training session

He wrote: "Wazza actually believes he will be better than Eric Cantona and George Best. He actually said so once, half- jokingly, when we were in the dressing room.

"We were talking about Best, Bryan Robson and Cantona and how they are legends at United and he went, 'I'll be the best player to play for United,' and smiled.

"Deep down he really does believe it, but he's not being cocky.

"People can see he's so good that it's possible he will be the best United player of all time, provided he can steer clear of the unfortunate injuries which are getting in his way. He's not just about silky skills. He's got the end product, he's clinical and he puts others in on goal.

"I remember when I first saw him close up.

"He was called into the England squad to play Turkey in a Euro 2004 qualifier. He blew everyone away in training with his confidence and sheer ability.

"During one session he went from halfway past a number of defenders and chipped this shot over Paul Robinson from the corner of the box.

"I was at the back laughing, it was so good. The kid was amazing, an absolute joke.

"He was barging seasoned internationals off the ball like they weren't there, then releasing defence-splitting passes.

"He wasn't fazed by anything. He wasn't taking the p*** either. He was a humble lad and was just playing like he would have done in the schoolyard."

Tags: wayne rooney | rio ferdinand book | manchester united rumours | manchester united news

England midfielder Owen Hargreaves has no regrets about publicly stated his wish to join Manchester United. The Bayern Munich player, currently suffering a broken-leg, told the Daily Mail: "I said what I would like to have happened and obviously it didn't.

"It's important when you have an opinion that you stick to it, even though you receive some criticism. What happens in the future is not really down to me, all these things started from me doing well as a footballer, hopefully I can (continue to) do that and we'll see where my path leads."

Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung says his ankle operation was a success. He missed last sunday's game with Arsenal because of injury and has to undergo an operation.

The South Korean will be out of action for three months after damaging ligaments in last weekend's win over Tottenham. But the early indications are the 25-year-old is on track to recover as scheduled in time for the packed Christmas time table.

"The operation went well," Park told the Chosun Ilbo newspaper. "I feel frustrated that I won't be able to play for about three months but I am confident after the operation I will be stronger than before."

There has been a report that Spanish international striker Fernando Torres wants a move to Manchester United.

In return for Torres signing an extra year's deal, Atletico agreed to substantially mark down the buy-out clause - effectively giving United the green light to wrap up a deal early next year.

Even though Madrid ideally want around £28m for the hitman, it is thought United may get him for about £22m after the youngster agreed to give the Spanish club one more season.

Although Chelsea and Arsenal want the striker, Torres has privately told close friends he's only interested in going to Old Trafford.

A source close to the player told the People: "Ideally, Fernando would like to move in January but he realises that is unlikely now so he will wait until the summer.

"Playing for United is a prospect that really excites him."

Not 100% true

There has been a report about Manchester United no1 goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar has been dropped for yesterday's defeat by Arsenal.

The Sun says United boss Sir Alex Ferguson dropped Dutch goalkeeper Van der Sar after a row. Fergie was upset with Van der Sar's after he publicly criticize United's defence after Wednesday night's 3-2 win over Celtic.

Ferguson handed a debut to Tomasz Kuszczak yesterday, who gave away and then saved an early penalty before being beaten late on by Arsenal's Adebayor. United insists Van der Sar missed the game with illness.

Not 100% true

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson shrugged off the boos from home fans after he substituted Wayne Rooney in the second-half of yesterday's 1-0 defeat by Arsenal.

Alex Ferguson said: "The fans don't want to see their heroes coming off, but two games in four days after being out for a while takes its toll.

"We can't deny Arsenal deserve to win. We had some opportunities but not enough to win.

"It's a disappointing result but I don't think it was a bad performance - but we can play better."

Fergie also backed Cristiano Ronaldo for losing possession that lead to Adebayor's goal.

The Scot said: "Ronaldo lost possession because he will always try to beat men. That's the kind of player he is and the kind of player we want here.

"He's a great player and these things happen - it could have been any other player. This was Arsenal's first win after four games and our first defeat after five. It's a difficult league.

"Chelsea have lost one game and Liverpool two which shows the nature of the league now.

"It's not going to be easy. We watched Chelsea v Liverpool and Liverpool should have won it."

Rio Ferdinand has heaped praise on Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo over the way he has bounced back at Old Trafford this season.

Ferdinand was quoted saying: "The kid has been through so much in a year. His father died, he had a rape accusation against him that was shown to be rubbish.

"He had plenty of tribulations before the World Cup and that proved to be just another chapter.

"But I know Ronaldo can be a key figure in a United team that wins trophies. I see the way he is playing now and I notice he has matured over the summer.

"He has looked at himself and I think now you are seeing a player whose end product is so much better now. Like Wayne Rooney, he is a magic player who can win a game on his own."

There was a time however when he feared Ronaldo might be lost to the club as the player openly spoke about going to Real Madrid.

Then Ferdinand had to help act as peacemaker when Ronaldo was involved in Rooney's World Cup red card against Portugal.

He said: "I spoke to Cristiano straight after that game and asked him what went on. He told me he did not ask for Wayne to be sent off.

"I told him to make sure he spoke to Wayne straight away and he agreed. Wayne was the same. They got in touch and there was no animosity. At one point I feared Cristiano was going to go this summer. But Man U are not going to let one of their best players go."

Lille midfielder Jean Makoun admits he's flattered by reports linking him with Manchester United.

The Cameroon star was a reported target for both Manchester United and Lyon over the summer, but a move failed to materialise to either.

"I am proud of those contacts," said Makoun. "I thought a lot about it, I won't hide it, it was difficult to refuse.

"Logically, you can't reject such clubs. But I refused to enter the system of putting pressure on my officials.

"I try to respect people to get what I deserve. Around me I have thoughtful people who know what a career is made of.

"To shout my head off is not my style, I have a trusting relationship with Lille."

Old Trafford (given the nickname The Theatre of Dreams by Bobby Charlton) is a football stadium that serves as the home of Manchester United.

Located in the borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, it has been United's permanent home since 1910 apart from an eight year forced exile when the stadium was bombed in 1941. The club had to temporarily share Manchester City's home ground, Maine Road, until the rebuilding of Old Trafford was completed in 1949.

Until the new Wembley Stadium is completed Old Trafford will have the largest ground capacity of any English football stadium, currently holding just over 76,000 spectators (after redevelopments finished in the summer of 2006). The new Wembley stadium will join Old Trafford as the only UEFA 5-star stadia in in England. Thus, Old Trafford is currently the only ground in England eligible to host the Champions League Final (as it did in 2003).

Old Trafford is by far the largest club ground in Britain and is all-seater, which is a legal requirement of all higher league British club grounds and new stadium developments since the Taylor Report in the early 1990s. It became an all-seater stadium in 1992 when the Stretford End terrace was rebuilt.

The ground is currently being expanded by filling in the corners on either side of the North Stand, in order to provide about 11,000 additional seats. A lot of people have questioned why the South stand has not expanded like the North stand which dwarfs it. The main reasons for this are that directly behind the South stand lies the Old Trafford railway station linking the stadium to Manchester City Centre and even though this could probably be built over, the adjacent residental property would have to be demolished for any expansion to be possible.

Part of the new seating was used for the first time on 26 March 2006, when the attendance was 69,070, a record for the Premiership, a record that was broken just 3 days later when 69,522 people watched United play West Ham on 29 March.

The stadium's record attendance remains at 76,962, set on 25 March 1939 for a FA Cup semi-final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Grimsby Town, although this is expected to be beaten once all the new seating has been opened. The newest Premiership and United record was set on 20 August 2006 when 75,115 spectators saw United beat Fulham FC 5-1.

The ground has frequently hosted FA Cup semi-final matches (as long as Manchester United were not involved), and occasionally hosted England international fixtures whilst Wembley was under reconstruction. It also hosted 1966 FIFA World Cup matches, Euro '96 matches and the Champions League final in 2003. With London winning its bid for the 2012 Olympics, the stadium will be used for some preliminary men's and women's football matches during the Summer Games.

In 1968 Old Trafford hosted the second game of the Intercontinental Cup. Manchester United 1 - Estudiantes de La Plata 1. The Argentinian team won the Cup.

Since 1998, when rugby league adopted play-offs and a Grand Final to determine the Super League champions, Old Trafford has staged the Grand Final.

The football stadium is close to the Old Trafford cricket ground.

The Stretford End is the west stand of the stadium and is where the diehard fans have historically been situated. Previously, the K Stand in the old East Stand was the home of the vocal supporters although following expansion to the West Stand (Stretford End) many relocated. In the past, the noise has been compared to that of a jumbo jet. However, nowadays, Old Trafford is criticised for not creating a big enough atmosphere on a regular basis. This is perhaps because of the seating arrangements; the family section, the least vocally heard, is situated on the first tier of the Stretford End, together with the now infamous corporate 'Prawn Sandwich Brigade' in the South Stand. The rivalry between nearby neighbours Liverpool and Manchester City is particularly fierce.

Old Trafford was the first English ground to have to install a perimiter fence to counter fan violence and hooliganism in the 1970s.

In 2005, FA Premier League fans from all over the world voted online that Old Trafford would be the stadium they would prefer to watch any game.

The ground featured in the 1967 Albert Finney film Charlie Bubbles where a child is disappointed at missing out on fully being involved in the match due to watching from behind the glass window of one of the private boxes.

In its early days, the ground also hosted games of shinty, the traditional sport of the Scottish Highlands.

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson believes recent failures in the Champions League will inspire his side to mount a serious challenge this season.


The 1999 winners have not reached the quarter-finals of the competition since the 2002/2003 season and last year finished bottom of their group after managing to score only three goals.


'I think if you look at our European campaign last year I think it's best written off. It was a poor one,' Ferguson told a news conference ahead of United's opening Group F game at home to Celtic on Wednesday night.

'We did not nearly get to our level of performance and of course that was a lot down to that we did not score goals.

'Hopefully that's behind us and I think the players are eager and keen to do that and make sure that's forgotten. They won't let the fans down this year. We were disappointed last year and that won't happen this year.'

United were unable to score in four of their six group games last season to finish behind Villareal, Benfica and Lille.

Wayne Rooney returns from a domestic suspension to spearhead United's attack on Wednesday against the Scottish champions and Paul Scholes is also expected to start after completing a three-match ban.

Earlier in his career Glasgow-born Ferguson played for Celtic's great rivals, Rangers, which provides a little extra edge to a tie inevitably being billed as a 'Battle of Britain'.

Ferguson said his Scottish roots add some extra emotion to the occasion but he was keen to play down the national rivalry.

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan, however, said his side are representing Scottish football and keen to make up for last season's painful qualifying round exit to Slovakian side FC Artmedia Bratislava.

'What we are doing is representing Scottish football,' he said. 'Scottish football, thanks to (national coach) Walter Smith, his backroom staff and his players, has had a wee turn-around in the last few months.

'We hope to continue that good work that they have started and there will be a lot of pressure on us because we are the champions of Scotland and people will watch our performance and decide if the Scottish League is good enough.

'We are playing for ourselves, but we are doing it for Scottish football as well.'

United will give late fitness checks to Park Ji-Sung and goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar but will be without Cristiano Ronaldo, who serves a one-match ban imposed by Uefa for his reaction to supporters in United's game in Benfica last season.

courtesy of soccernet

A goal from manchester United's evergreen winger, Ryan Giggs, extended Manchester United's 100% start to the season. The solitary goal proved enough to secure a fourth successive win for Manchester united despite the strong fight from Tottenham.

The goal came in the 12th minute after Paul Robinson failed to properly stop a fierce free kick from Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs reacted fastest to put the ball behind Tottenham’s net.

Manchester United: Van der Sar, Neville (c), Brown, Ferdinand, Evra, Ronaldo (Silvestre, 90), O’Shea, Carrick (Fletcher, 80), Richardson (Park, 71), Giggs, Saha.
Subs not used: Kuszczak, Solskjaer.

Goalscorer: Giggs (12)

Tottenham: Robinson, Chimbonda, Dawson, King (c) (Murphy, 82), Assou-Ekotto, Ghaly, Jenas, Davids (Ziegler, 57), Zokora, Keane (Defoe, 57), Mido.
Subs not used: Cerny (GK), Huddlestone.

Attendance: 75,453 (Premiership record)

Man United.......................Tottenham

55.7%.................Possession.................44.3%
1...............Goals Scored...............0
10..........Attempts on Goal..........9
5............Shots on Target............4
5............Shots off Target............5
0..............Blocked Shots..............0
5...............Corners Won...............4
12.............Fouls Conceded...........18
4....................Offsides....................2
2...............Yellow Cards...............2
0..................Red Cards..................0

Rossi, only 19, is rated by Wayne Rooney as the best finisher at Old Trafford. Rossi who is currently on loan at Newcastle could make his debut against Fulham on Saturday with Shola Ameobi struggling to be fit.

Rooney said; "I have seen him every day in training and he has really impressed me. His touch, feel of the ball and awareness are nothing short of brilliant. He is perhaps the best finisher at Manchester United and he will only get better."

"I have talked to the likes of Michael Carrick and Joe Cole about the way Glenn Roeder brought them through at West Ham. The feeling at Old Trafford is that Giuseppe is in good hands with Newcastle."

Manchester United will be facing Tottenham Hotspur next week and it will be Michael Carrick's first match against his former club. Can we maintain our perfect start? In case you didn’t remember, here are the head-to-head stats between the two clubs: