Angelo Hénriquez

Angelo Hénriquez

By now many of you would have heard of or seen Angelo Hénriquez play thanks to his goal for the United 1st team in Sweden. If you’ve seen the match, it was a simple goal that he scored, but the positioning for it, that is commendable. More so when you think about the time it had come (when we were losing 1-0). A pure striker’s goal, you could call it! 

This isn’t something new-for him or for people who have watched him previously. This lad joined us from La “U” last season and went on to have some time with the U21s before he left to Wigan on loan. Coming to the point, from what I have seen of him, he looks like a really good prospect for the future. His assets, according to me are his killer instinct in front of goal, his strength and his work rate. 
He works really hard for the team-holds the ball up field well, likes to get involved in the build up play. This aspect (getting involved in build up play and work rate) of his play is almost comparable to ex-United striker Carlós Tevez. When he signed for us, he was only 18. But he still did alright in his first season in England-he is strong as an ox for a lad of his age, mind! Now, quite a few have asked me who he reminds me the most of. I’d go for Ruud. His play has quite a few similarities to that of Ruud, but, what’s better in him is, unlike Ruud, he can play in a few positions on the pitch. If you haven’t seen the U-20 WC, The Chile coach pushed Gohan (yes, his nickname) wide to the right hand side to accommodate Castillo. He played the 1st match (around 60 minutes) while not fully fit without complaining and did well. Second match there, he bagged an assist while also getting into dangerous attacking positions and putting crosses in. When he did get a chance to play/drift centrally, he scored a good goal. This is what I like the most in him. He might drop back once in a while, he will work extremely hard in the build up play, he will keep running into channels all the time and cause problems for the defenders and when you give him the ball anywhere near the box, there’s a damn good chance of him finishing it-on EITHER foot!
(PS: He has the knack for scoring on his debuts, if you know what I mean-Chile NT, Chile “U” levels, Utd U21s, Utd first team). 

He’s 19 now and looks like the perfect time for him to start getting more 1st team action. There are 3 things that could be done:

1. Real Zaragoza confirmed interest in taking him on a season loan. He’s more than likely to get chances there and as we know, Liga Adelante isn’t the most physical of the leagues. (Not a big fan of this option). OR

2. Find a PL or a Championship club for him and send him on loan and monitor his progress there. Now this is my choice. Why? Because, he’s a player from South America and he needs to learn the culture and playing style of England and get settled ASAP because once he becomes a 1st team regular at United, there wont be many excuses. So, it’s better to loan him to an English club and monitor his progress than to do what happened to Kiko Macheda. OR

3. Make him stay with the U21s and let him fight for the 1st team spot. For now, even Will Keane isn’t fully back, so Angelo will start up front for the U21s. But the thing is, he’a quite good for that level already. If he has to stay at that level and keep waiting for the 1st team spot, it might be a futile move- especially because he already has RvP, Chicha, Welbz and Wazza ahead of him. 

So, keep an eye on this young Chiléan of ours because he’s quite close to making it and he definitely looks destined for big things!

Michael Carrick expects tough battle for title this season.

Michael Carrick expects tough battle for title this season.

"Potentially there could be between four and six teams involved right until January or February," Carrick said.

"Just after that is when it really gets sorted out. The pressure kicks in and the expectations change. It's how you deal with that.

"Two years ago, Tottenham were right in there, but they faded away a bit.

"Hopefully we'll be in with a shout at that time and are able to use our experience to see us through."

Arsenal's Santi Cazorla: 'David Moyes will have difficult start at Manchester United

Arsenal's Santi Cazorla: 'David Moyes will have difficult start at Manchester United

The Premier League champions have started a new era following the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, who stepped down from his role after accumulating 38 trophies in 26 years at Old Trafford.


"The most radical change is at Manchester United because Ferguson has been there for so long," Cazorla told the official Arsenal Magazine.

"It will be a little difficult at the start for a new manager but I don't think it influences too much in terms of being an advantage for other teams. There are great managers at those clubs and I'm sure [the title race] will be just as difficult."

BREACH OF TRUST - JAAP STAM

He came at a time to United when the League title had just been snatched from the hands of Manchester United by Arsenal emerging as a force in English football. This towering centre Back stood 6ft 3” tall a frightening sight for the opposition. It was none other than the big Dutchman JAAP STAM.

He was the most expensive Dutch player at that time and the most expensive defender in history and Ferguson pounced at the opportunity in the summer of98’ to bring this CB to strengthen United’s back four for £10.6 million from PSV 

Call him good, call him great, call him United’s lucky charm.

He spent a meager 3 seasons at United where United won a hat-trick of Premier League’s, one FA CUP, 1 champions league. In his first season came the historic treble of 98-99 season. United also won the Intercontinental cuplater in 99’ with Stam at the Centre of United’s success.

This was a marriage made in heaven Jaap Stam had found a new home, United had found a new Backbone.

But this marriage soon turned ugly with Jaap Stam’s autobiography ‘Head to Head’ in the market wherein he criticized his fellow team-mates and Ferguson.Ferguson was furious about this and crossing Ferguson was not something anyone would look forward to for any player at United.

The defender was sold to Lazio in 2001 after alleging in his autobiography ‘Head to Head’ that Ferguson had approached him about joining Unitedwithout the permission of his previous club, PSV Eindhoven. He also made some unflattering comments about his team-mates.

Over the years the Ferguson’s bust ups have driven a few high profile names out of United but Stam was the only one Fergie showed any regret for. These high profile bust-ups included the likes of Kanchelskis, Ince, Beckham, Keane, Ruud van Nistelrooy.

As Stam left for Lazio in the summer of 2001 United won the Premier League only once in 5 years which saw the days of Arsenal’s Invincible’s and the arrival of a certain Portugese ‘Special One’ to Chelsea. It took United more than 5 years to find a replacement in the form of Nemanja Vidic who restored the clubs success in terms of trophies after joining United in 2006. Meanwhile Stam joined AC MILAN and was at the losing end of 2005 UCL Final to Liverpool.

Alex Ferguson has since described the decision to sell Stam: “At the time he had just come back from an achilles injury and we thought he had just lost a little bit. We got the offer from Lazio, £16.5m for a centre-back who was 29. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse. But in playing terms it was a mistake.”

It was a deal that cost both sides dear and remains to be Sir Alex Ferguson’s only regret.

Stam recently in June 2013 returned to Old Trafford for United Legendswearing the United shirt yet again as he was on the losing side of a 2-1 scoreline against Madrid Legends.