Pepe Reina open to Manchester United switch :

Pepe Reina claimed that it is normal for a player to win a title, so he wanted to move out towards Manchester United putting Liverpool on alert.

Ten months ago the Spaniard signed a fresh six-year deal with the club but warned that he could follow international team mate Fernando Torres, who completed a £50million switch to Chelsea last week, out of Anfield in a bid to further his ambitions.

United are actively searching Europe for a follower to Edwin van der Sar after he announced that he will retire from the game at the end of this season and Reina, one of their main targets, has admitted that Liverpool's absence from the Champions League has given him thoughts for transfering.

"I can't do or say anything; I renewed my contract with Liverpool last year. But what a player wants, logically, is to challenge for titles."

He added: "I would like to think that the departure of players does not mean that we are slipping.

"I think Liverpool will always be a big club but we have to be realistic and the reality is that right now we are not at the level of Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea or Arsenal. That's the truth.

What might change if Reina joined Manchester United ? Yet leaving Liverpool is not an easy transfer.

Preparations for Saturday's Derby vs. City

Sir Alex Ferguson will have his fingers crossed so he can avoid a defensive crisis in international week in the run up to Saturday’s Old Trafford derby against City.

The Reds boss has already lost Rio Ferdinand, who suffered a calf injury in the warm-up before United’s match at Wolves on Saturday. Yet, Chris Smalling will do.

Some of the international calls for this week are :

-Rafael and Anderson who are called with the Brazil squad in Paris to play France on Wednesday.
-Captain Nemanja Vidic is away with Serbia to play Israel in Tel Aviv and that will also cause Fergie some concern.
-Rooney will be in Denmark with England.

-Javier Hernandez has got a long-haul trip to be with Mexico in Atlanta to play their friendly against Bosnia.

Sir Alex will hopefully have a full squad on call to face City as the Reds look to bounce back from the shock 2-1 defeat at Wolves on Saturday that demolished their attempts to set a club record of 30 matches unbeaten in the Premier League.

So, hopefully Manchester United should be ready for Saturday's game vs. City at Old Trafford.

The darkest day : 6 Feb 1958

February 6th will forever be circled on the calendars of everyone connected with Manchester United.

On that day in 1958, the darkest day in United's history, 23 people - including eight players and three members of the club's staff - suffered fatal injuries in the Munich air crash.

Flying back from a European Cup tie against Red Star Belgrade, the team plane stopped in Germany to refuel. The first two attempts to take off from Munich airport were aborted; following a third attempt, the plane crashed.

Twenty-one of the people on board died instantly. Aeroplane captain Kenneth Rayment died a few weeks later from the injuries he sustained while Duncan Edwards - one of the eight victims from the team - passed away 15 days after the crash. The tragedy is an indelible part of United's history, as is Sir Matt Busby overcoming his injuries to build another great team which won the European Cup 10 years later.

Roger Byrne (28), Eddie Colman (21), Mark Jones (24), David Pegg (22), Tommy Taylor (26), Geoff Bent (25), Liam Whelan (22) and Duncan Edwards (21) all died, along with club secretary Walter Crickmer, trainer Tom Curry and coach Bert Whalley.

Eight journalists died - Alf Clarke, Tom Jackson, Don Davies, George Fellows, Archie Ledbrook, Eric Thompson, Henry Rose, and Frank Swift who was a former Manchester City player. Plane captain Ken Rayment perished, as did Sir Matt's friend Willie Satinoff. Travel agent Bela Miklos and crew member Tom Cable also died.

We will never forget.

After this horrible incident, Manchester United grew larger and larger reaching people from all around the world.

MW: "History is what makes us United today, without it we're just Manchester, and not United".

Wolverhampton 2 - Manchester United 1 : Match Report

After a well played match by Wolves tonight, Manchester United's record was beaten. Louis Nani opened tonight's match in only three minutes, Nani got past the defender very quickly and managed to put in the goal from a very tight angle. Wolves equalized and were able to concede and hold on till the end of the match. Chris Smalling and Chicharito were supposed to be the match's turning point, yet were not able to turn the game into a draw or a win. Even though Manchester United lost the three points today, still Manchester United remain on top with 54 points and Arsenal in second with 50 points. Congrats to all Wolves fan who remain the last team in the Barclays Premier League. So its Wolverhampton 2 - Manchester United 1. Its all right boys, we'll get'em next time.

Neville staying for the season

Gary Neville has confirmed his intention to remain within the Manchester United fold for the remainder of the season.
The 35-year-old announced his retirement with immediate effect on Wednesday night, bringing an end to a stellar career that brought him eight Premier League titles, a Champions League triumph and 85 England caps.
In an extensive interview with MUTV, Neville confirmed it had been a decision he had been thinking about for some time and his performance against West Brom on New Year's Day turned out to signal the end.
However, although there has been speculation about a media career with Sky, or a place in Sir Alex Ferguson's backroom team, Neville does not have any concrete plans, although he will stay with the Red Devils in the short-term to help out behind the scenes.
"I am going to stay at the club until the end of the season and do some coaching because I have got my coaching badge to complete," he said. "But at this moment in time my mindset isn't to go into coaching or management full-time".
"I have been working for a football club every day for 20 years. I definitely want to try and continue my relationship with this club, even if it is just as a fan. But I want to have 12 months to gather my thoughts. I don't want to rush into another relationship quickly. I want to ease off a little bit and just relax. I need to chill out."

Wayne Rooney: Season Expectations

Wayne Rooney has insisted that Manchester United have not written off Chelsea as challengers in the Premier League title race, despite holding a ten-point advantage over them.

"We certainly haven't written Chelsea off," Rooney told the BBC. "They are a big, strong side and we know if anyone is capable of going on a run it is them. But we know it's up to us where the title goes."

Rooney said that he hoped his goals would kick-start in his own scoring form because before facing Villa, he had scored only twice in the Premier League this season.

"Obviously I want to score. As a striker you want to score goals but I have been happy with my performances, apart from the Blackpool match last week. "

Rooney added "I'm delighted to have scored and hopefully I can go on a run now and help the team to win games."

Its true that Rooney hasn't been in top scoring form this season, yet his role this season was to assist and be the playmaker.

Manchester United 3 - Aston Villa 1 : Match Report

Wayne Rooney opened the night in only 56 seconds by scoring a stunning volley from Van Der Sar's goal kick. Again, Wayne Rooney was able to double his goals by scoring at the end of the first half from a beautiful lob from Louis Nani. Darren Fletcher the man who turned 27 today was substituted by Anderson because of an eye injury. Darren Bent was able to penetrate Manchester United's defence and score a good goal and give Aston Villa hope yet, Nemanja Vidic hammered in his second goal against Aston Villa this season from a rocket shot that flew into Aston Villa's goal. Wayne Rooney should have scored his hatrick, yet the Aston Villan goalkeeper was able to stop him beautifully alot of times. Louis Nani also had his chances but Dimatar Berbatov wasted an unbelievable oppurtunity. So, after today's win Manchester United rise to the top of the Barclays Premier League table even more with 54 points ahead of all the teams and yet remain undeaftable. So its Manchester United 3 - Aston Villa 0.