Ronaldo does it again

Stretching superlatives and defences alike, Cristiano Ronaldo continues on his remarkable path. The prolific Portuguese may be better than the best around the world and, indeed, better than Best.

It is now 25 goals in 23 starts for Ronaldo, whose domination for a second successive Premier League season has now extended to overcoming Tottenham in the FA Cup. He is on course to surpass the 32 goals that is the current record for a Manchester United winger. That was set by George Best four decades ago and, while it once bordered on blasphemy at Old Trafford to suggest as much, Ronaldo may be the superior player.

In the manner of the great goalscorers, he has the capacity to decide games where his involvement has been peripheral. That is a trait more associated with, say, Ruud van Nistelrooy, than Ronaldo but as arguably the Premier League's two finest strike partnerships met at Old Trafford, the match was decided by the country's most productive winger.

In the process, he contrived to upstage Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez plus Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov. And, not for the first time, he proved his manager wrong. This week, Sir Alex Ferguson made the remarkable admission that: 'I signed him as a winger, pure and simple. I didn't spot his goalscoring potential at all.'

It has been a welcome benefit nonetheless. Ronaldo's latest brace were among the least memorable in his collection, though a coolly converted penalty and a shot that, thanks to an error by Radek Cerny, squirmed under the Tottenham goalkeeper turned a potentially awkward replay into a safe passage into the last 16 of the FA Cup.

The accumulation of seven goals in his last four games is the sort of statistic that each of the four specialist strikers on the pitch would have coveted. In an era when partnerships in attack are a comparative rarity, United and Spurs possess perhaps the best around. Yet it is notable that each of the quartet are footballers first and strikers second, with a capacity to involve themselves all over the pitch.

[Source: ESPN]

MP4-23.....

McLaren MP4-23 - cockpit area

Major changes have been introduced to this area to improve the quality of the air directed to the car's rear wing. The engine air intake has been placed further behind the headrest and a sort of long splitter (yellow arrow), which continues towards the very slim engine cover, has been added to reduce the area's cross section and diminish disruption to the airflow. In line with new regulations, the side protection around the driver's helmet (red arrow) has also been heightened. This connects to the rear bodywork in a more abrupt way to minimise the additional drag it creates.

McLaren MP4-23 - rear bodywork

Compared to the MP4-22, the rear of the car has been visibly lowered, with the exhaust pipes now placed further to the side. There are new movable covers (1), which could be replaced with cooling slits as the season progresses. The winglet behind the venting chimney (2) has also been refined. Rather than being curved, as on the MP4-22, the profile of its top edge is now completely flat. This increases the quantity and pressure of the airflow directed towards the rear wing, and uses the low pressure of the exiting hot exhaust gasses to accelerate that airflow.

McLaren MP4-23 - front suspension

The changes made to the car's front suspension are particularly interesting. As on the Ferrari F2008, the front of the chassis now higher than that of its predecessor, hence the quantity of airflow passing underneath the car has been dramatically increased. As a result, the team have angled the lower wishbone (2) downwards and increased the number of small sculpted winglets (1) underneath in order to manage the airflow more efficiently.

[Source :Formula1.com]

Team F1 McLaren memperkenalkan mobil MP4-23

STUTTGART, Tim Formula 1 McLaren, Senin (7/1) memperkenalkan mobil terbaru mereka yang akan dipakai pada musim balap tahun ini. Mobil terbaru tim asal Inggris ini diberi nama MP4-23.

Acara pengenalan mobil terbaru McLaren ini berlangsung di Museum Mercedes-Benz di Stuttgart, Jerman. “Target utama kami adalah membawa pembalap dan tim bersaing untuk merebut gelar juara dunia,” ungkap bos McLaren, Ron Dennis.

Tahun lalu, McLaren menempatkan dua pembalapnya, Lewis Hamilton dan Fernando Alonso, di posisi dua dan tiga. Namun di kategori konstruktor, McLaren tidak mendapat angka setelah dihukum akibat kasus mata-mata terhadap Ferrari.

Tahun ini, Alonso hengkang ke Renault dan posisinya digantikan Heikki Kovalainen.

“Semua orang bekerja sangat keras di akhir tahun 2007 untuk membuat mobil ini siap secepat mungkin dan membuat pembalap kami bisa melakukan tes selama mungkin sebelum seri pertama balap tahun 2008 berlangsung di Australia, 16 Maret mendatang,” jelas Dennis.

Hamilton, yang Senin ini berusia 23 tahun mengatakan dibutuhkan 14 ribu jam kerja untuk memastikan mobil ini siap. “Saya tidak sabar untuk bisa mengendarai mobil ini, Kamis mendatang,” jelas Hamilton.

Menurut rencana, MP4-23 akan menjalani tes pertama dalam ujicoba di Jerez pekan ini. (AFP/OL-06)

Owen's Wembley mission

Success in this season’s FA Cup won’t just provide Owen Hargreaves with another winners’ medal – it could also afford the 26-year-old his first run-out at Wembley Stadium.

It seems incredible that Hargreaves, now a regular in the national side, has never played at the home of English football. And yet, following United’s win over Spurs in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday, Hargreaves told MUTV of his ambition to go all the way in this season’s competition.

“We’ll just take it game by game and we’ll focus on the next one once we know our opposition,” he said. “But hopefully we’ll get to Wembley. It’s still a long way away and there’s lots of football to be played.

“I’ve never played at Wembley before. I’ve sat on the bench for England once or twice and I was injured when United were there for the Community Shield last year. It would be nice if we could get there.”

There is a chance Hargreaves could fulfil his ambition of playing on the hallowed Wembley turf before May’s FA Cup final. If picked by new manager Fabio Capello, the former Bayern Munich midfielder could line up for England against Switzerland in a friendly match on Wednesday 6 February.

Cup Combat

United and Arsenal have met 12 times in the world's oldest cup competition, and the honours are evenly split, with five wins each and two draws.

The most recent, and arguably most painful, meeting came in the 2005 cup final. Despite dominating for 120 minutes, United failed to break the 0-0 deadlock and lost 5-4 on penalties.

The most memorable, of course, was the '99 semi final replay - Giggs' shirt-swinging celebration after his 109th minute winner at Villa Park indellibly etched in every United fan's mind.

Reds draw Gunners

United and Arsenal will play out the tie of the round after being paired together in the FA Cup last 16.

Having overcome Tottenham in Sunday's thrilling tie at Old Trafford, the Reds will now entertain Arsene Wenger's side at Old Trafford in the fifth round of the competition.

The Reds may feel slightly unfortunate to have drawn such difficult opponents, especially as Chelsea and Liverpool were handed home ties against Huddersfield and Barnsley respectively.

Incredibly, United have now drawn Premier League opposition in each of the last 10 FA Cup ties (plus two replays). In order, they are: Arsenal, Tottenham, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Watford, Middlesbrough, Reading, Portsmouth, Aston Villa, Liverpool.

The full draw is as follows:

Bristol Rovers v Southampton
Cardiff v Wolves
Sheffield United v Middlesbrough
Liverpool v Barnsley
United v Arsenal
Preston v Portsmouth
Coventry v West Brom
Chelsea v Huddersfield

Ties will be played on 16/17 February. ManUtd.com will bring you confirmation of the match date and kick-off time as soon as it is announced.

[28/01/2008 13:30, Report by Ben Hibbs on manutd.com]

HEIKKI KOVALAINEN Q&A POST MP4-23 TEST

You have had three days in the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-23 this week, what are your first impressions of the car and the team?
I am really excited after my first test with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team. Everyone has made a huge effort to get two new cars out on track this early in January and I have really enjoyed every day so far.

Are you settling in well with the test team and your engineers?
Absolutely, everyone has been really helpful and I feel very welcome in the team.

What has been your focus at the test in Jerez last week?
The most important thing has been to become familiar with the way the team operates and to get to know all the people in the test team. It is also important to get the feel for MP4-23 and to understand all the systems in the car.

Has it been an easy process to adapt to the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes car, are there any key basic operational differences to the Renault?
It has been quite easy, I was reasonably happy first of all with my seat and instruments which sometimes can take some time to get right. Of course there are some systems that function differently to Renault but we have been able to go through many of them already at the McLaren Technology Centre before the test so it's been ok so far.

You have just completed a positive week in Jerez, do you expect all the tests to run so smoothly?
You never know how the new car will behave and reliability is always a worry at this time of the year, so I was actually surprised that we didn't have any issues that stopped us running. It really shows the preparations that have been put in by both McLaren and Mercedes-Benz have been exceptional.

This week was the first time you have worked with Lewis, did you get on well?
Really well. He is a good team mate and we get on well. We seem to have similar comments about the new car so it also gives us good platform from where to build our year together. I was really impressed with Pedro's input, he is an incredibly good driver and really important for the team. I think he can help me a lot during the year. [F1 Mclaren site]

Report: United 3 Tottenham 1

A goal from Carlos Tevez and yet another Cristiano Ronaldo brace sealed United’s spot in Monday’s FA Cup fifth round draw.

Tottenham Hotspur came to Old Trafford and put up a brave fight – and indeed took the lead – but the Reds’ patience paid off to keep alive dreams of another trip to the new Wembley.

Juande Ramos’ side were far from favourites going into this fixture, despite thumping Arsenal 5-1 on Tuesday in the Carling Cup semi final second leg. History had been against Tottenham on that occasion – it was their first victory over their North London rivals in nine years – but to not nearly the same extent as when they arrived in Manchester.

Without a win at Old Trafford since December 1989, Spurs have endured a horrible run on the Reds’ turf and, despite going in front through Robbie Keane on 24 minutes, now see that record stretched to 20 games.

The match started brightly, with both sides venturing forward at startling pace. Wayne Rooney had two half chances in the opening five minutes; he first failed by inches to reach Edwin van der Sar’s mammoth clearance before sweeping a low Ryan Giggs cross into the side-netting.

The visitors didn’t create any firm opportunities until Dimitar Berbatov's header was cleared off the line by Wayne Rooney in the 15th minute. They had, however, shown promising signs in the early stages, stretching the Reds’ defence on a number of occasions.

Without Nemanja Vidic, Wes Brown came inside to partner Rio Ferdinand in the heart of the back four,
Tottenham seemed to be allowing Cristiano Ronaldo a surprising amount of space in midfield and a minute before Berbatov’s header was nodded wide by Rooney, the Portuguese winger found himself unmarked 25 yards from goal.

With the crowd urging the no.7 to shoot, Ronaldo duly pulled the trigger but, unusually, his aim failed, the shot skewing wide of Radek Cerny’s right-hand post.

Tottenham took heart from Berbatov’s near miss and, spurred on by a raucous travelling support, took the lead through captain Robbie Keane. Aaron Lennon collected the ball wide on the right and, despite Patrice Evra’s close attention, found enough space beyond the Frenchman to tease a low ball across the Reds’ six-yard-box.

The cross eluded both Edwin van der Sar and Rio Ferdinand, but Robbie Keane stretched out a left boot to send the ball into the net and Tottenham into a shock lead.

United prodded and probed in search of a way back into the match but too often mislaid passes in vital areas of the pitch. Still, when Ryan Giggs forced Cerny to tip over a rasping half-volley on 37 minutes you sensed the Reds were getting closer. A minute later, Tevez met Ryan Giggs’ knockdown inside the box, fired hard and low with his left foot and the job was complete.

Former Spurs midfielder Michael Carrick then fired over from 20 yards as United looked to have wrestled momentum back from the visitors. But there was still time for a scare at the other end.....

Boss delighted after tricky tie

Sir Alex admitted the Reds needed a wake-up call before going on to negotiate a difficult FA Cup fourth round draw on Sunday.

Tottenham Hotspur scored first, but a Carlos Tevez strike and a Cristiano Ronaldo double gave United a 3-1 victory.

“I think it was a fantastic cup tie and both sides contributed to that,” Sir Alex told MUTV.

“It was quite an open match – we attacked and they also had some good chances. I think we also had great opportunities to create chances, although the final ball wasn’t so good at times today.

“I think [Robbie Keane’s] goal woke us up a bit. We were looking a bit slack at the time – we were too relaxed and there was no intensity in our game.

“But we controlled most of the possession and put a lot hard work in – we had to against what was a good Tottenham side.

“I’m very happy. We were playing a top-flight team and, remember, they came bouncing into the game today on the back of a fantastic result against Arsenal.”

Tottenham’s Michael Dawson was shown the red card on 68 minutes after handling the ball inside the area. Sir Alex admitted referee Peter Walton had little choice but to dismiss the 24-year-old, although sympathised with the Spurs defender.

“It was certainly a penalty kick but whether it was a sending off… maybe it was by the letter of the law.
“Referees are put in a difficult position with the mandate regarding the last man. I’d say [today’s decision] was harsh – there’s no doubt about that. I felt sorry for the lad [Dawson].

“You have to give Tottenham credit for keeping coming at us. They gambled by bringing Jermaine Defoe on and playing three up front. We seemed to sit back a little bit and when you stand back and give players of that ability time on the ball, you’re going to have a problem.”

Video: Watch Sir Alex's interview at MUTV Online.

Kuszczak aiming for the top

Tomasz Kuszczak says he’s pleased with how he fared over the festive break when he stepped in for first-choice stopper Edwin van der Sar.

Van der Sar returned from injury in the Reds’ recent FA Cup win at Villa Park but Kuszczak remains braced for a recall.

“It’s a difficult position I’m in because I know Edwin is number one,” the Polish goalkeeper told Manchester United Radio.

“But every day I’m ready for training and I approach every game ready to play. It’s important to me to play as many games as I can.

“It was a good exam for me over Christmas and I think I did quite okay. I certainly did my best and I tried to help the team win our games.”

Although Kuszczak is acutely aware of his understudy status, he insists being at Old Trafford is beneficial to his career.

“Every single game I play for United is a step forward,” he said. “I feel more comfortable and confident each time I play and that’s what a goalkeeper needs. The Champions League experience has been very good too, so I think I’m on the way up.”

Van der Sar may be Sir Alex’s current first choice but Kuszczak says he hopes to one day dislodge the Dutchman from the number one spot.

“I’ll do everything I can to push Edwin for the jersey and I think that helps both of us. We have a good relationship and there’s healthy competition on the training field.”

Strike duo ready to fire U18s

Under-18s coach Paul McGuinness hopes United’s young strike duo, Danny Welbeck and Federico Macheda, can fire the Reds to FA Youth Cup success this season.

The pair have scored 15 of United’s 36 goals this season in league and cup matches, and will hope to fire the Reds past Carlisle in the Youth Cup fourth round on Wednesday (KO 19:00 GMT).

Italian youth international Macheda is the U18s’ top scorer this term with eight goals, including his strike in the 2-1 third round victory over Brighton & Hove Albion. Welbeck, an England U17 international, has scored seven goals this term. Together, they form a formidable partnership up.

“They are both very good players,” McGuinness told PA Sport. “Danny is still only young and has another year at this level. He’s a very talented player and all the other players respond to that.

“Federico is a very good technical player. He’s a good finisher, makes good decisions and some very clever runs. In some ways he has a style like Dimitar Berbatov. His touch is very good.”

Rome-born Macheda has made a strong impression on and off the pitch since arriving in the summer from Italy, where he was on Lazio’s books. “His English is coming on, he’s a bright boy,” added McGuinness. “He understands what we’re after and he has fitted in well with the culture of the club.”

“Federico and Danny are on a really good wavelength. That is what you want, good partnerships. When you see them in training and you look at the likes of Rooney and Tevez and the way they link up, those two lads are capable of doing similar sorts of combinations.”

Brown’s England ambition

Wes Brown is determined to feature in Fabio Capello’s plans when the new England boss picks his first squad on 31 January.

The 28-year-old defender has been almost ever-present in the Reds’ defence this season, making 20 league appearances in the absence of regular right back Gary Neville. Now he wants to be involved when England play Switzerland in a friendly at Wembley on 6 February.

Brown played just five of England’s 18 matches under Steve McClaren and was an unused substitute on a further six occasions.

But his form for United this term has been top-drawer and he may well have done enough to catch Capello’s eye.

“Hopefully that’s the case,” Brown told Manchester United Radio. “If I can stay in the United team and continue to play well then hopefully I can get an England call up.”

Red View: Ronny’s on fire

Cristiano Ronaldo’s goalscoring form is simply incredible: 16 goals in his last 13 games, he’s just one behind his overall total from last season and we’re barely past the halfway point.

That’s why this week’s edition of Red View is paying tribute to the 22-year-old winger. We take a closer look at his unbelievable form (Reading watch out!), and compare his first Reds hat-trick with some of the best United trebles since the turn of the century. In our free video you can watch all the goals, and then discuss your favourites on the message board.

We’ve also got United’s Reserve team coach Brian McClair discussing the second-string’s season so far and how the players are prepped for life in the first-team.

Fletcher wants to stay

Darren Fletcher says he is happy at United and has no intention of leaving, despite interest from other Premier League clubs.

Media reports suggest the 23-year-old midfielder’s former international boss Alex McLeish is keen on taking him to Birmingham City. But Fletcher insists he is not looking for pastures new.

“I am still happy playing for Manchester United and I am not thinking of going elsewhere,” he said. “I never heard anything about Birmingham being interested, I just know I want to be here for a long time.

“My only focus is on being ready when the manager needs me and being able to perform for the club when asked.”

The Scot has played 15 times for the Reds this season, nine times as a substitute with Anderson, Owen Hargreaves and Michael Carrick so far higher up the pecking order. And with Paul Scholes due back later this month, competition is fierce for central midfield opportunities. But as the season enters its crucial stages, Fletcher hopes this will be the time where he can make his contribution felt.

“It is frustrating because any player wants to play,” he said. “But it has been down to the form of the midfield. Fair play to Anderson, when Paul Scholes got injured, he came in and has great. The manager has stuck by him, which is what he does when you perform well.

“We will see how things pan out at the end of the season in terms of games played and what you have contributed to the squad. But I am not thinking about that just now. I’m looking short term, and I’d like to win a few trophies and hopefully go a few steps further than last year.”

Blog: Ronny is top dog

Paddy Crerand looks back on a memorable year for the Reds and pays tribute to United winger Cristiano Ronaldo…

Well, what a year 2007 has been for United. Winning the league was a fantastic feat and definitely one of Sir Alex’s greatest achievements. The team played a lot of exciting football and, of course, everyone played their part. But you have to say Cristiano Ronaldo has been quite exceptional over the last year. He responded in the best possible way to the criticism he received after the 2006 World Cup and I think the manager deserves a lot of credit for the confidence he gave Ronaldo. He could have wilted under the pressure, but instead he blocked out the abuse and rose to the occasion, delivering when it really mattered countless times – the true sign of a great player.

His late winner at Fulham last season stands out for me – that was a huge result and one that really set us on our way to the title. There were so many other great moments, winning at Anfield in the dying seconds with ten men, coming back from two down at Everton, the list goes on.

I’ve got extremely high hopes for 2008 and personally I’d love to see us win the Champions League again. As the manager has said on many occasions, this club should have won more European Cups and I really believe this could be our year. The squad is looking very strong and this season’s new acquisitions have blossomed since they joined. If we get the luck we need with injuries, there’s no reason why, come May, we won’t have more than one trophy in our possession.

Paddy Crerand was talking to United Review.

Boss hails “incredible” Ron

Sir Alex Ferguson described Cristiano Ronaldo’s goalscoring this season as “fantastic” and “incredible” after the Portuguese winger shifted his tally for the campaign up to 22.

That figure puts him one behind last season’s total of 23, and a remarkable ten more goals than he had scored at the same stage last season.

“It’s fantastic, incredible in fact,” Sir Alex said after the game.

“We wondered at the start of last season whether he could match last season’s tally of 23. You had to say ‘why not?’

“I expected him to score more this season because he works so hard. That’s why there were no bets this season, all bets are off with Ronaldo,” he joked.

“[His first hat-trick] was always coming. He’s been close on a number of occasions but today he capped a really fine display with the hat-trick. We’re all delighted for him.”

But this was more than just the Ronaldo show. Carlos Tevez grabbed two goals, while Rio Ferdinand chipped in with another.

Likewise, it wasn’t just about the goals, it was another sterling defensive display, which Sir Alex feels could be the foundation for retaining United’s title crown.

“Our performance last week at Aston Villa in the cup was carved out of a magnificent defensive display,” he said. “It gave us the energy to go and win the game in the last 20 minutes. It was the same against Newcastle.
“You have to have good home form,” he added, alluding to United’s 11 wins from 12 at Old Trafford. “We’ve lost three games away from home, but the reason we’re top of the league is because our home form has been so good.

“It’s a hard league. You saw the results with Arsenal and Liverpool drawing, teams are taking points off one another.

“We expected it to be tough. Teams well below the top four are spending a lot of money on their squads. There is a drive for teams to improve themselves and stay in the Premier League. The points total could be lower this year.”

Papers: Gilberto Reds link

Man Utd deal on cards says Hertha’s Gilberto
Hertha Berlin’s Gilberto has emerged as a candidate to give United extra cover at left back. The 31-year-old’s agent Alexandra Martins claimed agreement with United was close after talks on a new deal at his German club broke down over his demand for £1.75million a year. Gilberto’s contract runs out at the end of the season and United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to snap up the tough-tackling left-sided defender or midfielder. Gilberto said: “I have received offers from England, Portugal and Brazil. I have become accustomed to winning trophies with Brazil and would like to do the same at club level.” Hertha general manager Dieter Hoeness said: “Trying to extend his contract is a priority for us.”
Daily Mail

Meanwhile the Daily Mirror reports that Cristiano Ronaldo is assuring Sir Alex Ferguson that he does not need a rest. This time last year, Ronaldo set off to Dubai for a five-day break but he has no plans to do so this year as he wants to play every game.

Round up by Chris McKenna

Pen no problem for Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo insists he had no problem with taking a penalty against Tottenham, despite missing one during the Reds' last defeat in December.

When asked if that rare failure was on his mind when he put the ball on the spot, Ronaldo replied: "To be honest, no.

"Sometimes you score, sometimes you miss. I wasn't thinking about West Ham - that's in the past. I needed to think about the present.

"My confidence is always positive. I took a good penalty and I scored. I'm very happy, my colleagues are happy... everyone is happy."

Ronaldo's 69th minute penalty put the Reds 2-1 up against Tottenham, who had followed their 5-1 thrashing of Arsenal by taking the lead against United through Robbie Keane.

"This game was very difficult," acknowledged Ronaldo, whose two goals followed Carlos Tevez's 38th-minute equaliser.

"We knew before the game it would be tough because Spurs are a good team and they were coming to Old Trafford with confidence after beating Arsenal in their last match.

"But I think we played better (than Spurs) and we deserved to win."

Ronaldo sealed the win with a shot that squirmed under the body of Tottenham's otherwise impressive goalkeeper Radek Cerny. It took Cristiano's tally for the season so far to 25 goals - now two more than his total for the entire 2006/07 campaign.
"That's fantastic but I need to say thank you to my team-mates because my colleagues and my friends have helped me a lot this season," said Ronaldo.

"I'm having a great season and I need to carry it on. But the most important thing is the team is playing very well, we are top of the league and in the next round of the FA Cup.

"It's very important for us to win this cup. I'm confident we can win it this season."

Cristiano Ronaldo was talking to MUTV.

[27/01/2008 16:00, Report by Adam Bostock]