Manchester United: What The Hell Do We Do Now

Champions League Quarter Final Draw

The draw for the Champions League quarter finals have just been done and as you can see there are a few shock names in there.

F.C Kobenhavn will face off against Schalke as two shock sides make the quarter finals.


Claudemir is going to be very important for the Danes in this match

Kobenhavn had a fantastic win against Hannover in the round of 16 and will look towards the likes of Pourie and Claudimir to produce the goods and hopefully fire Kobenhavn into a very unlikely Champions League Semi Final. Schalke have had a wonderful tournament so far and are lying in 4th place in The Bundersliga, defeated French heavyweights Monaco 6-5 on aggregate. Unlike there opponents, Schalke have some outstanding talent in Huntelaar, Schurrle and Sakai.

Prediction: 2-1 on agg. Schalke

Lyon face off against Bayern Munich in what could be a brilliant match up. Lyon destroyed Spanish side Valencia by 5 goals to nil in the last round, which although Valencia are not the power they used to be was still an amazing achievement by the French club. Lyon will need players like Manchester United bound Lacazette and his partner in crime Doumbia to perform to the best of there ability if they are to beat the German Heavyweights.


Doumbia could be the guy to fire Lyon into the semi finals

Bayern and Pep Guardiola have had a fantastic season again this season, although being second in the Bundersliga, they make the second of three German teams left in the competition and they did not take long to dispatch Everton in the first knockout round. Players like Javi Martinez, Toni Kroos and captain Phillip Lahm are integral to this team but we can see a shock here and I think the French team will want it more.

Prediction: 2-0 agg. Lyon

Real Madrid take on Benfica in a very interesting Quarter Final match up. Madrid and there team of Galacticos like Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo only just scraped through the last round on away goals against Galatasaray but will still be a big, big threat this round. They are currently 11 points clear at the top of La Liga and look good for this round.


Rodrigo needs to perform for Benfica

Benfica have performed way over there expectations but are a big threat. Benfica have a lot of Argentines in there squad and they will be a big, big threat. Claudio Yacob and Rodrigo are going to be the players that pull the strings for the Portuguese side who finished 3rd in the Portuguese League last season.

Prediction: 3-1 agg. Madrid

Manchester United, the runners up in this competition last season will face off against German giants Dortmund in a mouth watering clash.

United defeated Barcelona with what can only be described as a stunning victory in the last round, winning 4-0 at home. There main players are Steven Naismith, Kevin Mirallas and Tom Cleverley. If those three perform to the way they are meant to, then this is going to be an amazing match up.


Ginczek is in great form this season for Dortmund

Dortmund were 2-0 down to Kyiv after the first leg but with a 4-1 victory in the second leg they came back superbly to give them a tie with Manchester United. the second leg showed what a great side they are when goals from Daniel Ginczek and Nuri Sahin sealed the victory and they are the ones to watch along with Marco Rues and Sven Bender means that this is going to be a fantastic occasion for the fans and each team.

Prediction: 2-1 agg. Dortmund

1

United Perform Well As All Teams Stutter

Manchester United had a very successful month really. Yes they suffered a loss at Everton but they scored 15 times this month, in quite an amazing month for The Reds.



It all started with a boring 0-0 draw with Arsenal. Both sides looked tired but it was Steven Naismith that always looked the man to defeat the Gunners bit it was just not possible.

Then came that wonderful day in the F.A Cup sixth round when Bony, Cleverley, Naismith and Townsend got the goals as Manchester City were demolished by 5 goals to nil. Tom Cleverley was exceptional throughout the match and was involved in everything that was good for Manchester United. Steven Naismith was also at his usual best and scored twice as United flew into the Semi Final at Wembley to play Liverpool.


Townsend on the scoresheet in the F.A Cup

They then destroyed Barcelona in the second leg at Old Trafford. The Red Devils were 1-0 down after the first leg in Spain but the Central defence scored 3 or the 4 goals from set pieces as John Stones looks a shoe in for the English Players Young Player Of The Year Award by scoring 2 goals and Vlad Chiriches scored the first goal of the game. Jordan Rhodes scored also to give Barcelona the slip and win 4-0!

Everton then caused a shock by by defeated United 3-2 in a absolutely thrilling contest. Ross Barkley, who is a target for United scored a hat-trick after United went 2-0 up through Naismith and Castillo. This was a Everton side that looked like the side that had won the Premier League last season.


Ross Barkley scores an amazing hat-trick

After that disappointment, Rhodes and Stones continued there great form this month by bagging all three goals in the 3-0 victory against Liverpool. Rhodes' second goal was absolutely fantastic, when he picked the ball up in the United half he played an unbelievable one-two with Naismith and rounded 4 players to chip a delightful shot over the top of Reina to score. Stones then got the third from a corner and Liverpool looked shocked.


Cleverley is winning a lot of plaudits

Then came the luckiest point United will ever pick up after showing nothing all match in the Manchester Derby but they will see it as 1 point gained when Tom Cleverley picked the ball up 30 yards out and drilled home a dramatic equaliser 2 minuted into time added on. It was a superb effort and Tom was probably one of the best players this month.



United are 4 points clear after it all worked itself out. The fact they have lost just 3 matches all season they deserve to be there. Chelsea and Liverpool are in a private battle for second and third with Arsenal trying to catch Manchester City for 4th place (nothing new there then).

Aston Villa and Forest look doomed but Hull, West Ham and Sunderland are in a relegation dogfight. Wigan and Huddersfield are both safe to complete a successful first season in the Premier League since coming up.

Rodgers Verdict

We were great again this month! Stonesy and Rhodes were fantastic this month, however the month belonged to Steven Naismith again. This guy just impresses and impresses me but he has sensationally been dropped from the Scotland fold and that is ridiculous if you ask me, I mean fucking stupid and Scotland fans agree, they are bemused with it.

Our matches couldn't have gone any better really because take away the win for Everton, Ross Barkley was really fantastic and would suit a top club, but I AM NOT interested in signing him AT THE MOMENT. The wins against Man City in the F.A Cup and Barcelona in the Champions League stand out.

Tom Cleverley gets a lot of stick off the media, Man Utd fans and forums like FMScout but he proved a lot of them wrong this month and this season really. I sold a lot of players when I signed to be manager here but he was one player I saw something in and he will not be for sale at any price because for 3 matches this month he saved us. He set up 5 goals over the two matches I have spoke about and in the league against Man City he scored a sensational long range shot to salvage a draw against the Citizens.

We are 7 games away from the league and we could still win the treble! I think we have the squad to win the treble but in Dortmund we have a tough opposition to play as in the F.A Cup with Liverpool! It is going to be a fantastic run in.

Player Watch

Who Is Atsuto Uchida

Atsuto Uchida is a Japanese footballer, who plays for Premier League club Manchester United and the Japan national football team as a right back.

Uchida was educated at and played for Shimizu Higashi High School prior to joining the Kashima Antlers in 2006. On 5 March 2006, he debuted for Kashima at the age of 17 in the season-opener against Sanfrecce Hiroshima, since which he has remained a fixture in the starting eleven. His first goal as a professional footballer came on 21 March 2006 when he scored against Ventforet Kofu. He was also selected by popular vote to play in the 2006 J. League All-Star Soccer game. On 13 June 2010, German club FC Schalke 04 announced that they had signed the Japanese international to a three-year contract. On 13 April 2011 he became the first Japanese footballer to play for a team that reached the semi-finals of the Champion's League. On September 18, 2013, he scored his first goal in the Champions League in a 3-0 win against Steaua Bucuresti.

He represented Japan at several underage levels. He was part of the Japan team for the 2006 AFC Youth Championship finals hosted by India and Japan finished runners-up. He also took part in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup finals hosted by Canada.

In 2006, he received an international call-up from national coach Ivica Osim but did not play any game. He finally made a full international debut for Japan on 26 January 2008 in a friendly against Chile at National Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. This was the first match under the reign of new manager Takeshi Okada. On 6 February 2008 he played 90 minutes for Japan in a 4–1 win against Thailand and became the first teenage Japanese footballer to play FIFA World Cup qualification after the establishment of the J. League in 1993. On 22 June 2008 he scored the winner in a 1–0 win against Bahrain. It was his first international goal and he became the youngest Japanese goalscorer in FIFA World Cup qualification at age 20 years and 87 days, beating an 11-year-old record that was held by Hidetoshi Nakata.

He was a member of the Japan team for the 2008 Summer Olympics finals.