Fletcher close to comeback

Sir Alex Ferguson is on the verge of welcoming back one of his "big game" players as he prepares to face an Everton side missing key men of their own.

Midfield powerhouse Darren Fletcher has missed the recent action due to a virus but he could return in 10 days' time as a gripping season enters its final, crucial phase.
"Darren Fletcher’s back training now. He’s had a good week. He may be available in 10 days' time," said Sir Alex.
"He’ll be a very, very important player to come back. Darren’s excelled in big games and important games over the years because he’s got the knowledge and the discipline to carry out whatever job you want him to do. That’s the value he brings to the team. When he does come back, he’ll go straight into the team."
Although this weekend's clash will come too soon for Fletcher, Sir Alex will be able to recall Rafael if required following the right-back's return to fitness. The manager's only injury concern is Dimitar Berbatov's slight groin strain. "We'll see what he's like today in view of tomorrow," said the boss in reference to the Bulgarian striker.
Meanwhile Everton will arrive at Old Trafford on a good run of form, despite being without some stellar names.
"Everton have done exceptionally well, considering that David Moyes has had a mountain of injuries in the last few weeks," said Sir Alex.
"He’s been without Fellaini, Arteta, Cahill and Saha but they’ve still been turning out results.
"Games against Everton are never going to be easy because it’s a local derby in a way. But our home record has been fantastic this season, performance levels have been fantastic, and hopefully that will continue tomorrow."
Another home victory would, of course, nudge United closer to the title. Sir Alex said:
"If we win tomorrow we’ll have a minimum lead of six points with only four games left. That’s the way I’m looking at it. You run out of games eventually. I’m not looking beyond tomorrow."
As for the presence of reigning champions Chelsea now in second place, he added:
"You have to recognise who’s behind you and you can’t become complacent. I think it’s good to know that someone’s behind you. In that sense, we’ll use our experience of past years in situations like this and hopefully get what we want out of it."

Papers: Reds want Wesley

Reds launch £25m Sneijder raid to replace Scholes
 
Sir Alex Ferguson will try to exploit growing turmoil at Inter Milan by making a concerted attempt to sign Wesley Sneijder at the end of the season. Though a huge admirer of Tottenham’s Luka Modric, the Manchester United manager has set his sights on Sneijder as his principal summer target and is prepared to meet a £25million asking price to prise him away from the San Siro. Recruiting a midfielder with drive and energy is Ferguson’s priority, and the feedback on Sneijder’s likely availability has encouraged the Old Trafford boss to seek clearance to proceed with a bid. Sportsmail understands an offer will be lodged with Inter, and their president Massimo Moratti is willing to sanction the Holland World Cup midfielder’s departure, despite him signing a long-term deal this  season. Sneijder, 26, accepted improved terms until 2015 but has since seen Inter unravel under coach Leonardo, with the one-time Brazil midfielder coming under heavy fire for his tactical approach to their Champions League tie against Schalke and Serie A clash against city rivals AC Milan. Sneijder, who spent two seasons at Real Madrid before joining Inter in summer 2009, is ready for a fresh start and evidently relishes the challenge of replacing Paul Scholes as United’s new midfield general.
John Edwards, Daily Mail
The Mail also claims United are monitoring Porto centre-back Rolando and striker Hulk with the Portugese champions apparently ready to cash in on their main assets to ease financial worries.
Meanwhile, The Sun say Sir Alex hopes to have Darren Fletcher, who has been out since early March with a virus, back by the end of the month. The paper also ask three former players - Ian Wright, Lou Macari and Clive Walker - to give their verdict on the Premier League title run-in with the trio all backing the Reds to land the Championship crown.

Youth Cup final dates set

FA Youth Cup final 2011
Manchester United v Sheffield United

17 May, 19:30 BST - Bramall Lane
23 May, 19:30 BST - Old Trafford

The FA have confirmed the dates for United's FA Youth Cup final showdown with Sheffield United.

The two-legged affair gives the Reds the opportunity to win the trophy for a record 10th time against the young Blades, who have reached this stage for the first time in their history.
Paul McGuinness' side travel to Bramall Lane for the first leg on Tuesday 17 May before the sides meet again at Old Trafford on Monday 23 May, the day after the first team's final league game of the season against Blackpool.
Both fixtures are scheduled to kick off at 19:30 BST. Look out for ticket information on ManUtd.com in due course.

Blues always the main threat

"If we can just get a couple more results - certainly a result against Chelsea at Old Trafford - that should win us the league. We're not going to make any mistakes against Blackpool in the last game of the season. If we happen to beat Chelsea, it's game over."

 - Lou Macari 

United legend Lou Macari has told ManUtd.com he has always viewed Chelsea as the Reds' biggest threat in the race for Barclays Premier League glory.

The reigning champions overtook Arsenal on goal difference after Wednesday's matches; both clubs are now six points behind Sir Alex Ferguson’s side with five games remaining. Macari is monitoring the situation avidly in his role as an MUTV pundit and believes the Old Trafford clash with the Blues on Sunday 8 May could prove decisive in the Reds' pursuit of a record 19th league title.
"To be honest, before they moved into second place, I still saw Chelsea as our biggest challengers," Macari admitted.
"I just never had the belief that Arsenal, week in and week out, would go out and pick up maximum points wherever they were playing – home or away and whoever their opponents would be.
"I thought Arsenal would make mistakes. Making the mistakes they have has allowed Chelsea back into contention. Chelsea's result will be the first one I’ll be looking for after ours each weekend.
"If you look at Chelsea's remaining fixtures, I can’t see them losing any of those... apart from the game against us. Okay, Chelsea have got to play Tottenham at Stamford Bridge but I expect them to win their home games, especially now they're so close to the top, the closest they’ve been since they fell away in October."
Macari feels Sir Alex will have fully expected a battle to land the title in any case as the pressure begins to build ahead of United’s next assignment – Saturday’s home clash with Everton.
"That's what winning the title is all about in most seasons," he explained. "Very seldom does anybody walk away with it and have it wrapped up long before the end of the season.
"It's fair to say, in the last couple of games that we've played against Chelsea, although we got through in the Champions League, I don’t think there’s a great deal between the teams. I just hope we’re first past the winning post and I don’t care where they finish!
"If we can just get a couple more results - certainly a result against Chelsea at Old Trafford - then I think we'll win the league.
"We're not going to make any mistakes against Blackpool in the last game of the season. If we had to win that game, I don't care how well Blackpool can play or have played, they're in freefall and not looking like a team that can stand up to United at Old Trafford.
"So if we happen to beat Chelsea on 8 May, it's game over.
"Hopefully we can pick up three points on Saturday," he continued. "Even though Chelsea are playing West Ham at home, there would be a little bit of pressure on them as there's no room for error.
"We've got to do our job first by beating an Everton side that was easy to beat but have
now been revitalised in the last couple of months.
"I think, when nerves play a part, little doubts come into your mind but, on our day, when we're firing and playing near our best, we should beat Everton.
"It's up to the players to get back to our best form rather than the form we saw in the last couple of games. The game against City wasn't great from our point of view as it was a big game and we came unstuck so we've just got to make sure we get it right on Saturday."

 

Young Reds impress

Immense talent

"Gary Neville was impressed with how United took the game to the Blues and feels that this is the best youth side at the club in a long time. And, let's face it, he's in a pretty good position to judge the kids." 
- David Stowell

Of all the matches at the club this week, the FA Youth Cup semi-final second leg was the one I was most looking forward to. It didn't disappoint and nor did United's kids.

So many Old Trafford heroes have cut their teeth in this competition. The likes of Sir Bobby Charlton, Duncan Edwards and Gary Neville, who was in the commentary box with me last night, have all grown up on youth football's biggest stage. Last night we saw the latest crop of youngsters strut their stuff on the hallowed turf and I'm absolutely delighted they got through.
There were match-winning performances right through the team, from the brave and agile Sam Johnstone in net, right through to hat-trick hero Will Keane up top. With the Reds trailing 3-2 after the first leg, the first goal of the night was always going to be crucial. Ravel Morrison's deflected shot looped up into the Chelsea net and it was quickly followed by Will Keane's downward header to make it 2-0. Those two strikes in two minutes shifted the tie massively in United's favour.
The tigerish Ryan Tunnicliffe had an electric second half, chasing down anything that moved in blue and forcibly putting Chelsea first-teamer Josh McEachran into the shade. In the end, United were too strong for Chelsea, both physically and mentally, and another two goals from Keane wrapped it up. But make no mistake: the Blues had more than had their say in the early exchanges.
Gary Neville was impressed with how United took the game to the Blues and feels this is the best youth side at the club in a long time. And, let's
face it, he's in a pretty good position to judge the kids. Personally, having watched the lads and worked with them for the last few years, it's very exciting to see the development many of them have made. There are some who have worked really hard to get stronger, some to improve their ball work and some to improve their CV off the pitch.
It's easy to forget how young these lads are, so this victory is a welcome boost on so many levels. They've shown guts, determination and class to survive a really tricky run to the final, beating Portsmouth, West Ham, Newcastle, Liverpool and Chelsea.
Hopefully the youngsters can go and lift the trophy and write their names into the history books. But even if they don't, they will have gained so much from their FA Youth Cup journey and I, for one, have loved watching it unfold.

FAYC: United 4 Chelsea 0

FA Youth Cup semi-final, second leg
Old Trafford, 20 April 2011

MANCHESTER UNITED 4
(Morrison 38,
W Keane 42,76,87pen)

CHELSEA 0

Aggregate: 6-3

Will Keane grabbed a hat-trick as United's youngsters crushed FA Youth Cup holders Chelsea 4-0 on the night and 6-3 on aggregate.

Revelling in the atmosphere provided by over 9,000 fans, the Reds turned on the style after Ravel Morrison broke the deadlock with a deflected shot. After scoring twice from close range, Keane completed his treble after being brought down by Chelsea goalkeeper Jamal Blackman to the sound of 'Keano' booming around Old Trafford again.
Both sides took time to adapt to the surroundings with the pace and intensity slower than at Academy League level. The Reds started brighter with Will Keane charging down a Blackman clearance and Larnell Cole heavily involved on the right flank.
Gradually, Chelsea began to exert some pressure and United keeper Sam Johnstone pulled off a vital save to deny Milan Lalkovic following good work by Aziz Deen-Conteh. However, Morrison then started getting on the ball and showing off his range of tricks as the Reds' class came to the fore. Michael Keane's overlapping run almost carved out a chance for brother Will and Gyliano van Velzen was twice denied by blocks when shooting opportunites presented themselves.
Morrison glided forward to work Blackman for the first time and, seconds later, saw his deflected shot loop over the keeper for the opener after Paul Pogba cleverly touched off a van Velzen cross. Moments later and the aggregate lead belonged to United for the first time thanks to Will Keane's powerful far-post header following Sean McGinty's fine cross.
Chelsea tried to mount a second-half response but Johnstone pushed away a Lalkovic drive before the Slovakian volleyed over the bar. The hosts, driven on by the buccaneering Ryan Tunnicliffe, always remained a threat as the midfielder had three attempts on goal, two of which forced Blackman into saves.
And a third goal on the night arrived when Morrison timed his pass to substitute Tyler Blackett to perfection and the defender, playing left wing, crossed for Will Keane to bundle home from close range at the second attempt.
After a slow start, this became an exciting show from a young Reds team brimming with talent as the FA Youth Cup holders were humbled. There was a scare when referee David Webb inexplicably failed to award a foul on Johnstone by Daniel Pappoe but Lalkovic was unable to profit for Chelsea with the United goal gaping.
With time running out, another searing break by the stamina-packed Tunnicliffe allowed Will Keane to round Blackman, only to be fouled by the keeper's rash challenge. It merely delayed the centre-forward's treble as he steered the spot-kick into the corner of the net for 4-0.
The Reds still hungrily chased another goal to leave everybody thoroughly entertained and already eagerly anticipating the two-legged final with Sheffield United.
 

United: Johnstone; M.Keane, Thorpe (c), Fornasier, McGinty; Tunnicliffe, Pogba (Lingard 89), Cole, Morrison (Lawrence 90), van Velzen (Blackett 73);W.Keane. Subs not used: Coll, Massacci.

League: Arsenal below Blues

Arsenal are no longer United's closest challengers in the Barclays Premier League race, after the Gunners were held 3-3 by neighbours Tottenham and Chelsea beat Birmingham 3-1 to go second.

Carlo Ancelotti's side have responded well to their European exit at the hands of the Reds and were comfortable victors at Stamford Bridge. Florent Malouda scored twice and Salomon Kalou was also on the mark with Birmingham replying through a Sebastian Larsson penalty. With two more home games on the horizon, and a chance to beat United at Old Trafford, the west Londoners will feel they're still capable of retaining the title.
Arsenal were also 3-1 up at one stage in their thrilling derby with Tottenham at
White Hart Lane. They took an early lead through Theo Walcott, only for Rafael van der Vaart to draw Spurs level within a couple of minutes as a see-saw contest unfolded. Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie looked to have given Arsene Wenger's outfit a commanding lead going into half-time but Tom Huddlestone pulled one back on 44 minutes.
There was only one goal after the break but it could be a crucial one from United's point of view, Van der Vaart keeping his cool to convert a penalty for Tottenham after Aaron Lennon was fouled by Wojciech Szczesny. Although both sides had chances, it ended 3-3 to leave both Arsenal and Chelsea six points behind Sir Alex Ferguson's leaders with five games remaining.

Papers: Owen's boo-boy retort

The Manchester Evening News reports…

Owen hits back at Newcastle boo-boys.
Manchester United striker Michael Owen has hit back at Newcastle's boo-boys after his hostile reception at St James' Park on Tuesday night. Owen spent almost four years at Newcastle - he cost the Magpies £16m in 2005 - but struggled with injury before moving to the Reds on a free transfer. Owen, who came on for the last 10 minutes in Tuesday's goalless draw, wrote on his Twitter feed: "From a personal point of view it was nice to get on. Got a poor reception off the home fans, which was disappointing. Was desperate to score!" In a further tweet, he added: "Knew I would get booed as that's what a lot of fans do but if they knew the facts then they may have a different opinion."
Plenty of coverage is of course given to United’s stalemate with Newcastle on Tuesday night. Headlines include 'Squeaky Bum Tyne' in The Mirror, 'United out of Toon' in The Star and 'You Spot it Wrong' in The Sun – the latter being a reference to referee Lee Probert’s decision not to award either side a penalty at St James’ Park.
Elsewhere, Mark Ogden of the Telegraph claims Dimitar Berbatov could leave United in the summer, with Juventus, Bayern Munich and Fenerbahçe all reportedly eyeing a £15million move for the Bulgarian striker.
In another opinion piece, Oliver Holt has criticised calls for Paul Scholes to retire at the end of this season. Writing in The Mirror, Holt says: "I regard watching him play as a privilege. It will be a cause for sadness, not celebration, when he retires."

Carrick: We must move on

Michael Carrick admits he was "screaming" for an injury-time spot-kick at St James' Park - but insists the Reds must swiftly banish the disappointment of it not being awarded.

The midfielder thought his side were on the brink of a trademark last-gasp winner when his former team-mate Danny Simpson challenged Javier Hernandez inside the Newcastle penalty area. Instead, the latter was booked by referee Lee Probert and the league leaders were left to reflect on what might have been.
"I thought it was a penalty. I've (since) seen an angle on the TV and there is contact there," Carrick told MUTV.
"I was screaming for a penalty and I thought it was [going to be] another late goal for us. Obviously it's disappointing it wasn't given."
While Carrick conceded that Newcastle were the better side in the first half, he felt the Reds merited some reward for an improved perfomance after the break.
"We throught we played well enough in the second half to score a goal at least. Giggsy had a chance or two and Chicha had the penalty shout.
"We came here to win the game so we're obviously disappointed. At the moment the draw feels more like two points dropped [than one gained]. But we'll have to take it and move on.
"We're still in a good position and Saturday's game [against Everton, at Old Trafford] will be another big one for us."

Sir Alex upbeat after Toon draw

"We're in a better position than we were on Saturday as there's one less game and five games left. I think you've got to look at Chelsea also and how they respond to three home games in a row. There's two important games coming up - obviously Arsenal away and Chelsea at home."

- Sir Alex Ferguson

Sir Alex Ferguson remains confident of landing a record 19th title after the goalless draw at Newcastle.

The boss concedes the trip to Tyneside was a difficult one and he feels upcoming fixtures against nearest challengers Arsenal and Chelsea will be pivotal to the Reds' hopes of remaining on top of the Barclays Premier League.
"I'm confident we'll be fine now as that was a hard one to get over," said Sir Alex. "At this stage of the season, we're in a better position than we were on Saturday as there's one less game and five games left.
"I think you've got to look at Chelsea also and how they respond to three home games in a row. There's two important games coming up - obviously Arsenal away and Chelsea at home. But we've got a better goal difference than Chelsea and I think we're in a better position today."
Sir Alex appreciates the need to keep rotating his squad after making five changes to the team beaten by City at Wembley.
"We did that tonight [reshuffled the pack] as we tried our best to freshen up," he added. "We did the best we could as it was a tiring pitch at Wembley, a slow pitch that can drag players down a little bit. But, in fairness, we didn't show signs of that - we were energetic and our players thrived on the challenge, which is good coming at this stage of the season."