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Fan Football - by Ross Carpenter

 
A forum about football, for football fans
In the second of Manchester United's pre-season fixtures in their tour of North America, they thrashed MLS side Seattle Sounders 7-0, with Wayne Rooney scoring a quick-fire hatrick (three goals in 21 minutes) from the bench.



Despite United's strong line up, with Ashley Young, Nani, Anderson and Giggs in midfield, Macheda and Owen up front, and a full-strength back four, the hosts started brightly, displaying confidence- they had run up a 9-game unbeaten run in the MLS recently- and led by Colombian Fredy Montero, tested Anders Lindegaard, the Danish goalkeeper making his 2nd consecutive United first-team start.



However, on 15 minutes, Michael Owen headed a Patrice Evra cross past veteran former-Spurs and Leicester City keeper, Kasey Keller, and into the net to open the scoring.
Half-Time: 0-1

Into the second half, then, and United finally began to dominate against the Sounders, who had every right to feel pleased with their first half performance.

Mame Biram Diouf (49), the Senegalese international, returned from his loan-spell at Blackburn Rovers, rounded Keller's replacement, Terry Boss, to make it 0-2, before Rooney (51) hit his first just 2 minutes later to make it 0-3, hammering the ball into the roof of the net.

The home-side fought back, Fucito pulling an excellent stop out of sub goalkeeper, Ben Amos, before Noonan hit the bar, but Rooney had other ideas and scored his second, collecting a pass from before firing home on the 69th minute. 0-4.



Park (71) himself turned goalscorer, slotting in Obertan's cross and making it 0-5, before Rooney (72) completed his hatrick with a half-volley, again, from Obertan's delivery.



Finally, Obertan got one himself, on 86 minutes, sealing the rout after another defensive slip.

So dominant at the end, were United, that they could have made it 8 through Diouf, or even 9 had Jonny Evans not headed over, but at the final whistle, a resounding 7-0 victory means United have hit 11 goals in two games since starting their tour with a 4-1 win over New England Revolution.
Full-Time: 0-7
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John O'Shea, the 30-year-old Republic of Ireland international, and Manchester United defender, is reportedly in Sunderland undergoing a medical.

This morning, he left for Wearside for his medical, following in the footsteps of United team-mate, Wes Brown, who was in the north east for his medical on Wednesday night.

Should O'Shea and 31-year-old Brown sign for the Black Cats, they will become Steve Bruce's 7th and 8th signings of the pre-season, with hopes of a 9th to be confirmed also- that of Darren Gibson, also from United.

The United (soon to be Sunderland?) trio
They won't need to change their ties...


A £12million joint bid was made several weeks ago, which was accepted by Bruce's former manager, Alex Ferguson. The deal for Gibson has proven to be the most problematic, despite Gibson indicating his willingness to consider a move to the Stadium of Light early on.

Whether only Brown and O'Shea, or Gibson as well, sign for Sunderland, it will, as well as adding stability and experience to a weak defence, bring United fans everywhere to reluctantly bid farewell. O'Shea particularly is one of those players that has given his all, worn his heart on his sleeve, and any other number of clichés you can think of, for his club, and has adapted to any role given to him.



They will both, or all, be missed by United, and Sunderland will shore up a squad that has been all about change in recent weeks.
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David De Gea, the Spanish U21 Atletico Madrid goalkeeper has agreed a 5-year contract with Manchester United, signing for a reported £17million.



Having already signed Phil Jones and Ashley Young, De Gea becomes United's 3rd major signing of the summer transfer perio, and pushed the expenditure through the £50m barrier,

De Gea stated: "I feel very proud and I can’t wait to start playing here. When a club the size of Manchester United comes in for you it obviously makes you very, very happy. I saw their interest as an extra motivation to work even harder to show off my ability. It’s a great privilege to be part of a club like United and I'm keen to do my best and show what I can do."

He will now set about the challenge of replacing Dutch legend, and retired United stopper, Edwin van der Sar, who, at 40 years of age, is double the age of the Spaniard.

Having made his La Liga debut for Atletico in 2009, and having just secured the U21 Euro Championship trophy with Spain, he will be thrown in to competition with Anders Lindegaard, the 27-year-old Danish keeper who joined last November, and Tomasz Kuszscak, the Polish keeper who has, in recent times, failed to impress.

After a huge void was left when Peter Schmeichel moved to Sporting Lisbon in 1999, a string of keepers tried to fill the gap. While some started well, such as Mark Bosnich and Fabian Barthez, they eventually left on bad terms after a catalogue of bad goalkeeping errors. Some, such as Massimo Taibi, is not even worth the screen you're reading this on.



But the arrival of Edwin from Fulham in 2005 gave United the goalkeeper to rival Schmeichel's pedigree. And having won a Champions League (2008), and four Premier League titles (2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2010-11), he felt it time to hang his gloves up, and the hunt for a new keeper could finally commence.
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Following victory in the U21 European Championships with Spain, 20-year-old Atletico Madrid goalkeeper David de Gea has been spotted arriving in Manchester to go through his medical ahead of an £18m transfer.Though staff tried to hide him behind a blanket (you couldn't write this!), his 6'4" frame was too much to be covered, and photographs were inevitably taken.


Prior to heading to Denmark, it was reported that Manchester United and Atletico Madird had agreed a fee for the young keeper. However, De Gea remained mute on the transfer, besides to refute claims the deal was a 'done deal' back when Fergus was reported to have announced his imminent arrival.

De Gea started every La Liga game last season, after coming to prominence in the 2009-10 season. Along the way, he kept 11 clean sheets, and rose to 3rd place goalkeeper in the Spain national side.



Were he to sign, De Gea would be the 3rd United transfer of the pre-season period, joining Phil Jones and Ashley Young, and it doesn't look as if the champions will stop there. With the gap between United and Barcelona so vast in the Champions League Final, and with Scholes, Neville and Van der Sar retiring at the end of the season, new blood will be required to keep ahead of the likes of Chelsea and derby rivals, City.
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