United are without two experienced front men for Tottenham's visit to Old Trafford tonight as Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen face extended spells on the sidelines. But the form of Dimitar Berbatov and emergence of Javier Hernandez as a ready-made Red means United are in good shape.
Chicharito has six goals this season, including four in his last four games and two winners in the last two matches. “We’re all pleased with him,” says Sir Alex. “Everyone at the club is excited about him. He has the right desires, trains well and is very receptive to coaching. He looks after himself, and he’s got good pedigree, everything's in his favour.”
That’s some endorsement. But Sir Alex isn’t completely surprised by how quickly Hernandez has settled since swapping Mexico for Manchester. “We’re not surprised - we identified a lot about him before we signed him. We did a lot of work on him. Seeing him in pre-season and in training, we thought he'd do well and he has.
"You never know with a young boy coming from Mexico because it’s a different culture. But he speaks the language and that’s important. His winning goal on Tuesday demonstrated again that he’s a very good finisher."
It’s not just Hernandez that has instigated a turnaround in fortunes for United, now with three straight wins. “The players are focused,” explains the boss. “It was a great result at Stoke. Everyone knows how difficult it is there. It was good coming back from losing a goal. Given our record this season, it could have been a killer. But it galvanised the players and we played our best football after that. The fans were brilliant too. It was a big lift for everyone.”
p/s: hope united will win against tottenham tonight!3-0!^^
LONDON (AP) - Javier Hernandez scored his third goal in three days Tuesday to give Manchester United a 3-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers and continue his club's attempt to win a third straight League Cup title.
Wolves twice equalized with their first goals at Old Trafford since February 1980 but Hernandez, on as a substitute, dummied a defender and lifted the ball over the goalkeeper for a 90th-minute winner and a place in the quarterfinals.
Bebe and Park Ji-sung scored the other goals for United.
Birmingham also advanced from the fourth round but the Premier League club needed an injury-time equalizer before beating third-tier struggler Brentford 4-3 in a penalty shootout.
Ipswich beat Northampton 3-1, Wigan beat Swansea 2-0 and West Bromwich Albion won 4-1 at Leicester. United manager Alex Ferguson fielded a second-string lineup including goalkeeper Ben Amos, winger Gabriel Obertan and Portuguese forward Bebe, who started a match for the first time since joining the club in August.
But equalizers by George Elokobi and Kevin Foley forced Ferguson to introduce Hernandez, who scored twice in the Premier League on Sunday for a 2-1 win at Stoke, as an 81st-minute substitute.
"He's got a great attitude to the game and he wants to learn," United defender Wes Brown said. "He tries his hardest and he deserved his goal at the end."
Bebe put United ahead in the 56th minute with an apparent attempt to cross from the right side of the area, sending the ball looping over goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey.
Foley headed the ball out from almost underneath the bar, but the referee awarded the goal after a linesman told him - correctly according to replays - that it had crossed the line.
The 20-year-old Bebe was playing in the Portuguese third division last year. He was unknown outside Portugal before United made a surprise move following recommendations from a club scout and former assistant manager Carlos Queiroz.
Elokobi headed in from a corner four minutes later and, after Park scored with a shot into the top corner, Foley collected a back-heeled pass from Steven Fletcher and hit a shot under Amos to make it 2-2 with 14 minutes left.
Hernandez then made his dramatic late entrance. "We tend to build up heroes very quickly here, but the boy's justifying the praise at the moment," Ferguson said. "He's such a great professional, the kid."
Brentford was within seconds of beating its topflight opponent but ended up going out when Birmingham goalkeeper Maik Taylor saved the 10th kick of the shootout from Craig Woodman.
Brentford took the lead in the 68th minute, Charlie MacDonald heading the ball to Sam Wood for the midfielder to score with a low left-foot shot from about 12 meters (yards). It led until the second minute of injury time, when former England striker Kevin Phillips collected a pass by Liam Ridgewell and equalized from close range to make it 1-1.
After 30 minutes of scoreless extra time, Phillips then scored the first goal in the shootout.
Northampton, which at next-to-last in League Two is ranked 91st out of England's 92 league teams, took an early lead at Ipswich but was 2-1 down at halftime after conceding goals to Carlos Edwards and Damien Delaney.
Hungary forward Tamas Priskin completed the scoring for Ipswich in the 88th minute.
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez watched his current team beat his former side with second-half goals by Mauro Boselli and Ben Watson, while Simon Cox scored twice to lead West Brom to victory against Sven-Goran Eriksson's Leicester side.
The three remaining fourth-round matches are scheduled for Wednesday, when Arsenal is at Newcastle, Aston Villa hosts Burnley, and West Ham hosts Stoke.
::TheStar::
MANCHESTER: Wayne Rooney scarves were back on sale at full price on Friday but it could take plenty of goals before some of Manchester United's supporters buy the items or welcome him back into their affections.
The news that the England striker had changed his mind about leaving Old Trafford was the hot topic of conversation in rainy Manchester.
Fans at a tram stop asked "Did you hear about Rooney?" and others in a pub speculated he would never have joined rivals Manchester City.
Outside Old Trafford, shortly after RooÂney had penned a new five-year deal after saying he wanted to leave the club earlier this week, scarf seller John Speed had several "Wayne Rooney, the white Pele, United legend" red and white scarves draped over his arms.
"I was selling them at half price earlier this week but I couldn't get rid of them," said Speed. "He has got a lot of bridges to build, he has upset players, staff and fans.
"The only place he's going to win them over is in there," he added pointing at the stadium. "That's what he's paid for. He has alienated a lot of people and that's all he can do."
Rooney, who turns 25 today, shocked fans by announcing a change of heart on Friday after earlier saying he wanted to quit the club because trophies were imÂÂportant to him and United did not seem to be committed to bringing in new players.
Fans took that to mean he thought the club lacked ambition and some blamed United's American owners, the Glazer family, for failing to make funds available for the transfer pot.
"This is a show of supporter power," ManÂchester United's Supporters Trust vice chairman Sean Bones told Reuters.
"(Manager Alex) Ferguson showed at his press conference (this week) how important it was for him to retain Rooney and fans backed the manager. If ... Rooney had left they could have been on the edge of a supporter revolt," added Bones.
Rooney, sidelined with an ankle injury, needs to get back to the sort of form he showed in scoring 34 goals last season before the hearts of some fans start to melt – especially as his new deal is likely to have given him a big pay rise despite just one goal this term.
"There is no excuse now. He needs to get his finger out and get stuck in," said taxi driver Jan Walker.
"He has realised no one is bigger than the club. His next match will be crucial." Reuters
LONDON: Wayne Rooney performed a shock U-turn yesterday by signing a new five-year contract with Manchester United just days after appearing to be on his way out of Old Trafford.
Rooney had rocked United on Wednesday by revealing that he wanted to leave the Premier League club because they no longer had enough ambition to compete for major honours.
However United reopened talks with Rooney's agent and announced yesterday that the player had made an astonishing u-turn and opted to commit his long-term future to the club.
A statement on the club's website said: "Wayne Rooney has agreed a new five-year contract to stay at Manchester United until at least June 2015.
"The agreement follows intensive discussions between the Club and the player's representatives and means that by the end of his contract Wayne will have been a Manchester United player for 11 years."
Rooney, who was reportedly demanding wages of around STG150,000 a week after tax in the original contract negotiations, insisted he agreed the new deal because Sir Alex Ferguson had convinced him United remain committed to succeeding on the pitch.
"I am delighted to sign another deal at United," he said. "In the last couple of days, I have talked to the manager and the owners and they have convinced me this is where I belong.
"I said on Wednesday the manager is a genius and it is his belief and support that have convinced me to stay.
"I'm signing a new deal in the absolute belief that the management, coaching staff, board and owners are totally committed to making sure United maintains its proud winning history -- which is the reason I joined the Club in the first place."
United manager Ferguson had already revealed earlier in the week that contract talks with Rooney had broken down in August and it seemed certain the former Everton star would be sold.
Ferguson's comments about Rooney's failure to show respect for United seemed to signal a breakdown in their relationship, especially as it came after a war of words between the two over the United manager's decision to rest his star for three matches due to an ankle injury.
But Ferguson said yesterday he was delighted with Rooney's decision: "It's been a difficult week, but the intensity of the coverage is what we expect at Manchester United.
"I said to the boy that the door is always open and I'm delighted Wayne has agreed to stay.
"Sometimes, when you're in a club, it can be hard to realise just how big it is and it takes something like the events of the last few days to make you understand.
"I think Wayne now understands what a great club Manchester United is."
Rooney had been increasingly linked with a move to arch local rivals Manchester City, prompting an angry reaction from fans.
One group protested at his house on Thursday and had to be moved on by police.
Rooney's decision to stay is sure to be greeted with relief by most United fans, but several of the club's players, including Patrice Evra, had already expressed frustration at the situation.
His form in recent months had been well below-par as well and it remains to be seen if he will be welcomed back in the dressing room. -- AFP
This is the last part about coffee...
IT ENHANCES ATHLETIC ENDURANCE AND PERFORMANCE.
now,i want continue write down article 'bout coffee..ok,here we go^^
IT HELPS TREAT VARIOUS AILMENTS
i just found an article from the internet. lets read it.^^
More and more studies point to the advantages of drinking coffee regularly. Angelina R. Bustos, an assistant professor at the institute of Human Nutrition and Food at U.P Los Banon in Philippines, looks at the benefits of this beverage.
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