Brazilian starlet Anderson can already lay claim to an unforgettable debut season. As he told United Review, there's still time to make it even better...How would you sum up your first season at Old Trafford?I feel I’ve improved my performances both in matches and in training. At first, it took me time to get used to the way things work at United, but from then on I’ve just tried to improve step-by-step and give my best for the team. I’m very happy with everything about my life at Old Trafford.Which do you feel has been your best performance so far?If I had to pick one I’d say the 4-0 win over Wigan [in October]. It was only my fifth appearance for the club and I came on after [Nemanja] Vidic got injured. It was a great win for the team and I felt I was the best player on the pitch that day [laughs]!You’re a big favourite with the fans already, does that mean a lot to you?I love it – we all sing each other’s songs in the dressing room when we’re joking around. I find it difficult to describe how it feels to hear the fans sing my name – it’s amazing. It gives me extra strength on the pitch and makes me want to do my best to repay the fans for the fantastic support they have shown me since I joined. They’ve all made me feel very welcome.The words of the song describe you as a midfield magician and we’ve seen you play in a number of midfield positions – where do you feel your best position is?I don’t have a preference, to be honest. I just want to play in as many games as possible. Even if I have to play in goal, I’ll do it! I’ve enjoyed every match I’ve been involved in this season and the different positions I’ve taken up. In the long term, I’m sure the manager
Well the champions semi-finals line up as follows:-
Liverpool v Chelsea
Barcelona v Manchester United
Personally Think Its A Chelsea v Manchester United Final
cheers tony
Double troubleArsene Wenger insists Arsenal can still win the Premier and Champions League double. On the eve of tonight's Euro clash at Liverpool, he said: "I still believe we'll be champions in this league. Manchester United's result at Middlesbrough on Sunday helped a lot. If they had won, I’d have thought we couldn’t do it but now I still believe we will. We have belief we can win everywhere." The Gunners are six points behind United in their Premier battle. And they have an Anfield mountain to climb if they are to save their European dream. Arsenal managed just a 1-1 draw against the Reds in their quarter-final first-leg clash at the Emirates last week.Phil Thomas, The SunThe Sun also reports ex-Reds and MUTV pundits Viv Anderson and Lou Macari sticking up for Ryan Giggs, after the winger was criticised by some fans following the draw at Middlesbrough. Meanwhile the Daily Mirror says Sir Alex Ferguson is set for a "Euro gamble on Gerard Pique" following the news that Rio Ferdinand is likely to join Nemanja Vidic in missing Wednesday's Champions League match against AS Roma.
Arsenal will be without Mathieu Flamini and Bacary Sagna for Sunday's crucial trip to Old Trafford, but Robin van Persie is fit to start having overcome a thigh problem.Flamini was forced off at half-time during Arsenal's Champions League defeat to Liverpool on Tuesday with an ankle injury. He has since been ruled out for three weeks and will be replaced by Gilberto Silva."It is a big blow but Gilberto has a lot of quality and experience. He will come in. He can help the team recover and focus," insists manager Arsene Wenger."Apart from that we don't have any other injuries from Tuesday. We have a few bumps and bruises but nothing special. "Robin van Persie is available. He had two good sessions on Wednesday and Thursday. He looks to be okay and we'll see how we go from here."Wenger also confirmed that right-back Sagna will miss Sunday's clash because of an ankle complaint. Kolo Toure is likely to continue at full-back, with Philippe Senderos partnering William Gallas at the heart of the Gunners' defence.
Ryan silences his critics"Ryan Giggs began the week faced with a storm of criticism. Callers to Manchester United's own TV station were blaming him for the draw at Middlesbrough. Giggs played through the middle in the second half on Sunday and struggled at the Riverside. Even Alex Ferguson screamed at him for failing to latch on to a through ball from Park Ji-sung. For some time people have questioned whether the 34-year-old's shelf-life is up at Old Trafford. Last night he reminded the Reds faithful just what he is still all about before he was replaced by Wayne Rooney on 73 minutes. Giggs may have lost a yard of pace but there will be few 30-somethings still as quick as him with the ball at his feet. And that ball still sticks to his majestic left foot."Neil Custis, The Sun
The papers are full of reaction to United's Champions League defeat of Roma. The Sun reports on Gary Neville's "delight at finally ending his injury hell" and of Sir Alex Ferguson's excitement about the prospect of taking on 2006 European champions Barcelona in the semi-final. "Barcelona are a wonderful club but we want to go there and show them how special this team is."
Elsewhere, the Daily Mirror's Oliver Holt assesses the Reds' chances of winning the tournament, concluding that "this United side is undisputedly a team on the rise" and deciding that "they have a better chance than they did nine years ago."
After watching his side beaten by the Reds at the quarter-final stage for the second campaign in a row, Roma coach Luciano Spalletti feels United have the wherewithal to win this season's Champions League.
The Reds booked a semi-final berth against Barcelona with a 3-0 aggregate victory over the Italians, despite fielding a much-changed side in Wednesday night's second leg.
"We put in a good performance and we're proud of that, but if you look at the track record and the history, Roma aren't at the same level as United," Spalletti said in his post-match press conference.
"I believe United are well-equipped to win the tournament. They have the potential to do so both collectively and individually. We saw this evening that whoever plays for them, they are a strong team."
The 49-year-old Italian admitted that, although his side were hampered by the absence of skipper Francesco Totti, United were worthy winners over the two matches.
"Of course we missed Francesco Totti very much," he said. "Anyone would like to have him in their team. He plays a crucial role for us and is vital to the way we play.
"But to get to this level, a team has to be able to overcome the absence of important players. We must concede that over the two legs United were better than us and deserved their victory."
United's progress would not have been so straightforward if Daniele De Rossi had not blazed a first-half penalty over the crossbar.
The Italian international midfielder waited for an age before hammering a shot into a baying Stretford End, and he conceded that pressure could well have been his undoing.
"It was not a penalty to make it 2-0 in the last minute, but still I think the game would have changed if I had scored," he said. "The first goal was there, eleven metres away from me, but we all know what happened.
"It was a highly-charged moment and probably I had too much time to think before taking it. I've scored penalties in important games like the World Cup final during my career but tonight I was less fortunate."
MANCHESTER (AFP) - Sir Alex Ferguson is relishing the prospect of resuming one of the great rivalries in European football when he takes Manchester United to Barcelona for their Champions League semi-final in two weeks time.
The English champions booked their place in the last four with a 1-0 win over Roma on Wednesday night, Carlos Tevez's second-half header enabling them to set a new record for the tournament with their 11th consecutive home win.
It was a performance that fell short of the standards United had set in winning the first leg in the Stadio Olimpico 2-0 a week earlier but, having rested both Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, Ferguson declared himself satisfied with the performance and the return from injury of two of his most experienced defenders, Gary Neville and Mikael Silvestre.
By the time of the first-leg in the Nou Camp, Ferguson also hopes to have Nemanja Vidic back alongside Rio Ferdinand in the centre of his defence.
"Hopefully we will have a full squad by the time we go to Barcelona," he said.
"We have had some fantastic games with them over the years, matches that represent the way the game should be played."
United will have the advantage of playing the first leg of their semi-final on Barcelona's turf and Ferguson promised his side would travel to Catalonia looking to take control of the tie.
"You have opportunities in life to do something special and I think we have something special in this team," he declared.
"Barcelona are a wonderful team but we can't go there and be negative, we have to go there and be positive."
United face a testing Premier League run-in that starts with an Old Trafford meeting with Arsenal on Sunday, but Ferguson is confident that his side will travel to Barcelona in a more battle-ready state than when they succumbed meekly to AC Milan at the same stage last season.
"I think the energy of the team is far ahead of where it was a year ago," he added. "We had a lot of injuries at the time and we played in Milan against a team that had rested eight players on the Saturday. If we had had better energy we would have gone through to the final."
Roma coach Luciano Spalletti has no doubt that United could now go on and lift the trophy in Moscow on May 21. "I don't know if they will win but they are certainly well equipped to. They have huge potential as a team and in terms of individual players."
Spalletti admitted poor finishing had cost his side the chance of making United pay for their own failure to take a string of chances early in Wednesday's second leg.
"We knew we would have to take risks," the Italian coach said. "We also knew we would create chances and the important thing was to capitalise on them. Unfortunately we did not do that. But you have to be realistic. Over the two legs United did a bit more than us and probably deserved their victory."
Ferguson admitted he had been relieved to see Daniele de Rossi blast a first-half penalty over the bar.
"We had our moments in the first 25 minutes when their goalkeeper made four fantastic saves," said the Scot. "But obviously the penalty would have made a big difference.
"But it is a European quarter-final and Roma are second in the Italian league. You would expect them to create something."
United should have killed the match by taking at least one of the five clear chances they created in the first five minutes, the most glaring miss coming from Ryan Giggs who tamely side-footed Owen Hargreaves's perfectly-judged cross straight at Doni, the Roma keeper.
United were grateful to Edwin van der Sar for keeping out shots from Mirko Vucinic, Mancini and Simone Perrotta but their biggest let-off came when de Rossi blasted his penalty high into the Stretford End after Wes Brown had tripped Mancini inside the box.
United continued to flirt with danger after the interval but, with just over 20 minutes left, the home supporters were relieved of any lingering tension about the outcome of the evening when Tevez glanced a Hargreaves cross past Doni.
The Argentinian was rewarded with an ovation that was only slightly less enthusiastic than the one accorded to Eric Cantona when the stadium announcer revealed the presence of the United legend at half-time.
The United fans were on their feet again with ten minutes left but that was only to mark club captain Neville's entry to the fray for his first appearance in a United shirt in 13 months.
Sir Alex Ferguson and Cristiano Ronaldo have been named Manager and Player of the Month for March.The duo received their awards on Friday after what was a near faultless performance from the Reds over the last four weeks. Sir Alex's monthly prize was the 21st of his career.United won every one of their five league games in March (keeping clean sheets in every match), netting 13 goals. Five of those strikes came from Ronaldo, who bagged his fourth Player of the Month honour.The Portuguese winger claimed both goals in the 2-0 win over Bolton and scored again in the 3-0 home thumping of Liverpool. A 4-0 triumph over Aston Villa finished the month, in which Ronaldo netted a contender for goal of the season, cheekily back-heeling the ball past Scott Carson for the opener.Ronaldo’s goals have not only seen him break George Best’s record of 32 goals in a season from midfield, but now leave him odds on to win the Golden Boot Award.The 23-year-old is currently six goals ahead of Liverpool striker Fernando Torres and ahead of Sunday’s crucial clash against Arsenal has 27 league goals to his name.
United fans have been commended for their behaviour in Rome during Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final clash at the Stadio Olimpico.Ugly scenes on the terraces had marred last season's last eight clash, while December's group game also featured skirmishes on the approach to the stadium. However, this week's match passed off peacefully and, in an official letter to the club, the British Embassy in Rome praised United's travelling faithful."I think that the co-operation between the clubs, police forces, football associations and the Embassy really had an impact on securing a successful and trouble free evening for all concerned," stated Matthew Donnelly, HM Consul, British Embassy, Rome. "The stewards and police spotters deserve a special mention for the skilful and calm way in which they handled the supporters.Of course, the fans play a big part in all of this, and I was delighted to see the generally excellent behaviour of the travelling Manchester United fans. They were a credit to themselves and to the club, and helped everyone inside the stadium to enjoy a fantastic spectacle - just the way it should be."United themselves were equally proud of the fans' behaviour."A lot of hard work went into making sure people had the right information and all credit to the fans for following the advice they were given.," said a club spokesperson. "Their support for the team was fantastic – the chorus of 'Viva Ronaldo' seemed to last for most of the match!”