last chance .., peluang terakhir United untuk bermain di liga 'EROPA' musim depan ...

[danygiggsy]

Gapapalah man.united cuti dulu semusim di kompetisi eropa biar kita tau gimana rasanya ga bangun rabu/kamis dinihari selama semusim

Last Chance | enjoy 7th

[zudomiriku]

United will miss Euro adventures

Manchester United's failure to qualify for the next Champions League means that 2013-14 was a failure for the club. There were many other shortcomings which contributed to the 7th place league finish; the poor football, the woeful home form and the mistake of appointing David Moyes, but that one deficiency overruled the other factors. Moyes would have survived had he led his team to that minimum of targets: fourth place.

United are geared up towards playing in that competition every season. Players' contracts have Champions League clauses in them and it's almost taken as a given that they will be activated. And why not? United have played in the Champions League every year since 1995.

Back then, only one English club went into the competition -- the champions. United finished second and only qualified for the UEFA Cup where their first tie was in Russia. 140 of us flew to Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, to see United take on Rotor Volgograd. It was the club's smallest away following since 1968, when the club won the European Cup for the first time.

The city had two principal hotels then. United's players and officials stayed in one and we fans were put with the journalists in the other. To our amusement, ours was marginally superior -- we had beds which you could lie down in fully flat, while the players complained of having to curl up as their beds were a little over five foot.

Volgograd had been described as "grim" by one British newspaper, but Manchester was often described as such and that wasn't accurate either. Volgograd's residents were friendly and the vista boasted the river Volga and the world's largest statue -- Mother Russia.

There were only two bars for a city of two million and restaurants were thin on the ground, but it felt like a great adventure. Aside from one loony local berating us for being English and the police telling us off for sitting in the home end, it was good fun.

It's that spirit of adventure which makes so many of the regular United Euro away travellers go to games. They'd rather play in the Champions League than the Europa League, but plenty were looking forward to the prospect of trips to unusual destinations in the Europa League next season -- not that United were good enough to qualify for it.

United's ruling Glazer family wanted Europa qualification because it would have limited the damage to the bottom line from missing out on the Champions League. More games would have meant more minutes to play players too and interim manager Ryan Giggs was told to do what he could for United to qualify. Whatever, it wasn't enough.

European football has become the norm for United fans and the Europa League is mocked, but I can remember the excitement of the draws which accompanied games in the 1990-91 Cup Winners' Cup. United visited Pecs in Hungary, Wrexham in Wales, Montpellier in France and Warsaw in Poland, none of them usual Champions League destinations. Happy memories were formed in all. Then there was the final in Rotterdam, where United beat Johan Cruyff's Barcelona. Did it matter then that it wasn't the European Cup? Not at all, expectations were lower.

The current Europa League includes so many games that it can be seen as a distraction, but I would rather have seen United in it than not, the team topping up their levels of European experience and becoming accustomed to two games most weeks. Better that than playing 'lucrative' friendlies to make up the shortfall as is now likely United will do on occasions next term.

United's 64-point haul is the lowest since 1991's 59 points. Then, United eased up at the end of the season to concentrate on that Rotterdam final -- which meant more European football the following season. It was so long ago that Wimbledon finished a place below United in the league, Crystal Palace finished third. So long ago that Ryan Giggs made his debut. He's still undecided about his future.

Fans are saying good riddance to 2013-14 and, if they don't want to forget United for a good few months, they're trying to look forward. It has been a sobering experience after the sustained successes of the previous 24 years, one which nobody saw coming. Third or fourth maybe, but seventh?

Even United didn't expect it. When I interviewed Phil Neville late in December, he maintained that United were going for the title. United did manage a run of five December wins before the abyss of January saw such thoughts buried. Even then, the club line remained that "we must all be doing better". Blame was not apportioned to individuals as it was post Olympiakos (0-2), Liverpool (0-3) and City (0-3) two months later.

As with last summer, there will be more huge changes at Old Trafford again in this close season. Positives have been few; the emergence of Adnan Januzaj, David de Gea's development and his first, tentative words in English, decent support from fans.

Anything else? United conceded fewer away goals than the champions (and more at home than relegated Norwich), James Wilson is an exciting prospect, Old Trafford plays good music pre-match and, erm, give me a moment. Fans will point to Steven Gerrard's slip vs. Chelsea, but it's all a little sad when supporters are looking at the failings of others for satisfaction.

The negatives are numerous. You don't really want to read them all again do you? Good. But it was worse than any expected. Even Sir Alex Ferguson didn't anticipate the abuse he received from fans in the directors' box after the 0-3 home defeat to Liverpool. David Moyes began to lose key support soon after.

A new manager will arrive. United think Louis van Gaal is all sorted, but his arrival is subject to who he'll bring with him and what they'll be paid. Ryan Giggs had a meeting with the club last Wednesday to discuss his future. New players will arrive too. And legends aplenty will depart.

Rio Ferdinand will join Nemanja Vidic in leaving, the former after 12 years at Old Trafford. He was a world class defender who, at his best, made playing football against the world's best strikers look easy.

He grated United fans for missing a drugs test in 2004, which led to an eight-month ban, and then playing hardball for new contract, but history will remember his qualities as a player over his foibles and "5" caps.

Two years ago, I went to see the Brazilian striker Nilmar at Villarreal and asked him "Who has been the toughest defender to play against?" Without hesitation, he replied: "Rio Ferdinand for Manchester. I played against him for Lyon. He’s fast and his positioning was perfect."

I've enjoyed doing this column every Monday since it started late November, writing on a train from Cardiff to Leverkusen. Little did I know that then, but that performance in Germany would be the high point of the season.

I've tried to tell it how it is, I only wish I could I could have brought you more good news rather than a succession of negatives. It won't always be like this, but United will need to time to get back to the top.

Enjoy the close season and I'll hopefully be back pre-season -- on the flight to Los Angeles for the first friendly on July 23rd. But first, the small matter of the World Cup finals...

http://www.espnfc.com/blog/_/name/manchesterunited/id/5155?cc=4716

berkaca pada penampilan Pool musim ini, komen Mata sama kayak gw yg 'mensyukri' absennya United di ajang Eropa, jadi biar lebih konsen ke liga musim depan

[eyeofday]

bukannya kalo Arsenal juara FA maka pos 7 bisa lolos ke EL om?
ah tapi sama sih om, mending ga usah eropa dulu, rebuilding
dan biar Arsenal nambah puasanya

asal ga lupa aja gimana feelnya main di eropa

[troy andreas]

Man United & Valencia may play in next season’s Europa League after UEFA ban Sivasspor & Eskisehirspor



Are Manchester United and Valencia about to be promoted into next season’s Europa League?

Chatter is starting to build up after UEFA announced yesterday that Turkish clubs Sivasspor and Eskisehirspor have been banned from next season’s Europa League on match-fixing charges.

According to UEFA, Sivasspor and Eskisehirspor stand accused of deliberately throwing matches against eventual Super Lig champion Fenerbahce back in the 2010-11 season.

With the ruling handed down on Sunday, Sivasspor and Eskisehirspor’s only hope of overturning the decision will be if they appeal the judgement to the Court of Arbitration for Sport within the next ten days.

Should the ruling be held up, then next season’s Europa League will be short of two participants. Many are speculating that, in that event, the countries with the best UEFA coefficient ratings will be handed the open slots, and those leagues are the Premier League and La Liga.

That could see Valencia and Manchester United be handed a shock inclusion to next year’s competition.

Whether either club would be happy with that outcome is an entirely different matter.

http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/uefa-bans-turkish-clubs-sivasspor-eskisehirspor-from-the-el-for-match-fixing-will-valencia-man-united-take-their-places/?

[wira_ozora]

Is it true??Well,,kalo memang bener...Belanda harus cepat tersingkir nih,,biar Meneer Van Gaal cepet balik ke Old Trafford bwd siapin tim ikut Europa League

[theater of dream]

Dapat jatah dari kesalahan tim lain dan harus lewat play off pula..
Hmm tak apa2 klo memang benar

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