Manchester United counting cost of five-trophy assault

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson saw his dreams of landing five trophies kept alive, but admitted that the 2-1 FA Cup fourth round win over Tottenham came at a cost.
Dimitar Berbatov's first-half strike against his former club settled the tie in United's favour at Old Trafford after a Tom Huddlestone own goal had cancelled out Roman Pavlyuchenko's early opener.
But Ferguson's team didn't emerge unscathed.
"Cristiano Ronaldo had a stomach bug and it showed because he was nowhere near the player we know he can be," said the United manager.
"Fabio da Silva picked up a calf injury and Danny Welbeck has injured his knee. The full-back positions are causing us a bit of concern at the moment."
United have already won the European Super Cup this season, are on top of the Premier League, in the last 16 of the Champions League and have an English League Cup final date with Spurs in March.
"We gave Spurs a start, but we recovered well. We played some good stuff and their keeper made some great saves, but Paul Scholes got us back into the game with his deflected goal," said Ferguson.
"It was a great strike from a fantastic cross by Michael Carrick. It's a dangerous game when you are only winning 2-1, but we were always comfortable."
Ferguson, who dismissed claims that he had attempted to forego a replay for this tie as 'absolutely scandalous,' insisted that neither he nor United had any intention of calling for the game to be settled on the day.
He said: "There was never any issue of me not wanting a replay and I said that on Friday. How can you deny the likes of Torquay or Southend the chance of a big gate against one of the big clubs? It's scandalous."
Scholes, whose deflected shot opened the scoring, admits he is not certain whether the goal will be marked down as his first of the season.
He said: "If it was on target, then it's my goal. If it wasn't, then I won't claim it.
"If it takes so long to score a goal, it isn't great. We are in January now, the second half of the season, so you want to be scoring a lot sooner than that."
Meanwhile, Spurs manager Harry Redknapp accused Teddy Sheringham of talking 'absolute rubbish' after the former Tottenham and United striker claimed the Londoners 'lacked fight and looked happy to be out of the FA Cup'.
Spurs' failure to turn the tie around earned scathing criticism from television pundit Sheringham.
Despite his team's exit, however, Redknapp refused to accept the hard-hitting analysis of Sheringham, who spent a season under Redknapp at Portsmouth.
"I'm disappointed to hear Teddy Sheringham saying things like that. He ought to know better," said Redknapp.
"It's very unfair and I don't what he is getting at. How can people say that the players weren't trying?
"People are just jumping on the bandwagon at the moment, though, and getting on our back. It's not as if we were beaten 6-1 here. We have lost 2-1 and we had chances to get a draw from the game."

Manchester City Want Didier Drogba

According to The Sun, mega-rich Manchester City are preparing a £15 million swoop for Chelsea’s unsettled forward, Didier Drogba.
The Sky Blues are in need of an out-and-out striker, as the likes of Jo, Benjani and the injured Valeri Bojinov have failed to make much of an impression at Eastlands.
City boss Mark Hughes has long wanted Roque Santa Cruz to lead the line, but Blackburn Rovers continue to jack up the price on the Paraguayan hitman.
Thus, ‘Sparky’ has begun scouting out other potential targets, and it is thought his new favorite currently resides on the fringes at Stamford Bridge.
Drogba has fallen out of favor at Chelsea this season, as a combination of off-field drama and Nicolas Anelka’s red-hot form have seen him relegated to second choice in the club’s one-striker system.
Indeed, following a meek display in the Blues’ recent defeat to Manchester United, the Ivorian was banished to the reserves and missed out on the FA Cup replay with Southend United.
He was also excluded from the squad for last weekend’s narrow win over Stoke City, with youngsters Miroslav Stoch and Franco di Santo filling the bench instead.
There has been considerable speculation as to where the 30-year-old’s future lies, with former club Olympique Marseille touted as a likely destination, but Luiz Felipe Scolari has dismissed those rumors.
However, the Chelsea manager could be tempted by the possibility of a swap deal involving Robinho, with Drogba replacing Anelka in the supposed four-man trade reported yesterday involving Florent Malouda, Salomon Kalou and Alex.
It remains to be seen whether Robinho is eligible to move this month, but it is nonetheless highly unlikely that City would swap him for a player who, on paper, seems an ideal strike-partner for the samba star.

Beckham makes home debut for AC Milan

David Beckham made his home debut for AC Milan on Saturday, playing 81 minutes in a 1-0 victory over Fiorentina in the Italian league.
Beckham is on loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy and hopes to stay sharp in hopes of earning a spot on the English national team. He played his first Serie A match a week ago.
He had a busy night on the right side of midfield before being replaced by defender Philippe Senderos in the game at San Siro.
Just before halftime, Beckham had an excellent chance. The ball was worked across to him on the right side of the penalty box, but goalkeeper Sebastien Frey was able to push his low shot away for a corner kick.
Alexander Pato scored in the seventh minute for the only goal in what many expect to be Kaka’s last game before joining Manchester City for more than $130 million. At the start of the second half, Kaka had three good opportunities, but each time the Fiorentina defense was able to block his shots.
The win leaves Milan in third place, six points behind leader Inter Milan and two behind Juventus. Both teams play Sunday.

Americans in the UK: Friedel Cements Villa’s Spot

In what was a rather boring weekend for the Americans in the UK, Brad Friedel managed to help create some headlines as Villa continued their majestic run amongst the top four in the Premiership.
The 37-year-old keeper was impressive on Saturday as Villa grabbed a controversial victory at the Stadium of Light Saturday. After Ashley Young was sent off in the 72nd minute, Gabriel Agbonlahor was awarded a questionable penalty by referee Mike Dean in the 80th which Gareth Barry blasted home. Friedel made a few nice saves including a great footed stop of Dean Whitehead’s first half effort. Friedel and company now sit three points ahead of Arsenal and are in control of third place, just three points behind leaders Manchester United.

Fergie relishes United's durability

BOLTON, England, (AFP) - Sir Alex Ferguson admits he is delighted with Manchester United's durability after his side moved to the top of the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Bolton.
Last season's English and European champions have had a slow start to the campaign but since they returned from winning the Club World Cup in Japan, Ferguson's team have won five straight league matches.
That run has erased the seven-point advantage Liverpool held over them just a month ago. United's victory at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday not only edged them above the Reds - ahead of their match at home to Everton on Monday - but also equalled Chelsea's record of 10 straight clean sheets in the Premier League.
Having built a reputation for attacking football last season, it was United's seventh 1-0 victory in the league this season and Ferguson believes it is a significant indicator about his team's mentality.

Mark Hughes is confident that Kaka will join Manchester City when he learns of the club's grand ambitions.

Milan confirmed on Thursday they were considering a £107million bid for the former world footballer of the year and, privately, City owner Sheikh Mansour is confident the offer will be accepted. Speculation in Italy has indicated that the player will stay at the San Siro as he believes the club cannot match his ambition, but Hughes does not feel there will be a problem. ''We are all working to the same end; trying to be successful on a regular basis,'' he said. ''You do that by bringing good players to the club to supplement those we already have. ''It is not something that will happen overnight and we have to let people understand what we are trying to do and understand where this club will go in the next few years. ''Once they understand that and recognise the people driving it forward they will become excited by what we can offer.'' Kaka's spokesman Diogo Kotscho admitted that although a deal was not close the Rossoneri had granted permission to open talks. "Milan has authorised the negotiation with Manchester City," he told AP. "The next step now is that Kaka's father will eventually talk to Manchester City. "It's an exaggeration what they are saying in England that it's almost a done deal and it's an exaggeration that Kaka has rejected the offer. ''I have no idea whether he will end up here,'' admitted Hughes. ''It is dependent on too many factors. However, people should not think this is just being done on a whim. ''(Executive chairman) Garry Cook, (chairman) Khaldoon al-Mubarak and I have discussed this for numerous months and Kaka was in our thoughts right from the outset. ''It is not something we have only thought of in the last week and decided to act and it would be naive of people to think I have not been involved in the process. ''It has moved forward at a pace this week. It is a football decision that has been done with a structure and an understanding that we can move it forward.''

Cristiano Ronaldo voted FIFA player of year

Cristiano Ronaldo won the FIFA World Player of the Year award Monday to complete a sweep of soccer’s top individual honors for 2008.
The Portugal winger led Manchester United to the Premier League and Champions League titles in May. He scored 42 goals in all competitions last season and became the first English Premier League player to win the honor in the award’s 18-year history.
“It is an overwhelming moment, a very special moment in my life,” Ronaldo said. “I would like to say to my mother and sister that the fireworks can be fired off now.”
Brazil’s Marta won the women’s award for the third year in a row. She earlier announced she is joining the Los Angeles Sol in the Women’s Professional Soccer League.
Ronaldo received 136 first-place votes and 935 points in a worldwide poll of national team captains and coaches. He was followed by Barcelona and Argentina midfielder Lionel Messi (678) and Liverpool and Spain striker Fernando Torres (203), with the results announced by Brazilian great Pele.
AC Milan and Brazil midfielder Kaka, the 2007 winner, was fourth (183), followed by Barcelona and Spain midfielder Xavi Hernandez (155), Liverpool and England midfielder Stephen Gerrard (98) and Barcelona and Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o (58),