Premier League - Valencia trains, Park blow for Utd

Tue, 15 Feb 10:51:00 2011

Manchester United have been boosted by Antonio Valencia's return to training only five months after he suffered a horrific broken ankle in a Champions League draw with Rangers - although fellow winger Park Ji-sung was ruled out for a month with a hamstring problem.

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Ecuador winger Valencia had been expected to miss most if not all of the season after a freak dislocation and fracture left his lower leg at a sickening angle during the game at Old Trafford in September.

But Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed that he had begun training with the reserve squad, tempering the blow that Park would miss another month following his absence on South Korea Asian Cup duty.

"The good news is that Valencia started training with the reserves on Saturday," Ferguson said on the United website. "So he’s on his way back and that will be a real boost to have him available for the run-in.

"We got a blow on Saturday morning with the news that Park did his hamstring on Friday afternoon in training.

"It was very unfortunate because it was his last kick of the ball in training as well. We were really looking forward to having him back after being away for a month at the Asian Cup. He’ll be out for up to a month."

Despite the absence of both players United have managed to extend a four-point lead at the top of the Premier League, and face Marseille in the last 16 of the Champions League.

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Comment 26 - 45 of 45

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  1. vally, we r eager to see u in man utd squad!!!!!!!!!!!

    From wondureta, on Thu 24 Feb 20:44

  2. Comment 32. You seem to forget that the rest of the­ top 4 teams also have away games to play so it could­ turn out just as worse for them as well as United. I­ doubt United will lose the title now anyway, after­ watching Chelsea the other day and Arsenal losing a 4­ goal lead there seems to be very little to worry about­ .

    From manic major, on Wed 16 Feb 21:14

  3. 44 Giddard. Shows your not a United supporter and just­ plain jealous of how SAF runs United and gets the team­ to win. Shame that green eyed monsters like you have­ anything to do with football.

    From manic major, on Wed 16 Feb 21:06

  4. #44 Julian Gillard,

    What a green eyed, whinging, self­ obsessed, intrusive ,sad little spiteful individual You­ are!!

    Nuff said.

    From , on Wed 16 Feb 17:37

  5. To SPLIFF #42. The players I am talking about are not­ the same that lost the lead against Newcastle.There was­ no Song, Djourou,Nasri and Diaby when they conceded the­ four goals. Those players are key.

    From filip_vas19, on Wed 16 Feb 12:00

  6. i dont agree with #41. i do think there will be more­ scoring than there first match. i want manu to win, but­ these teams are both good. certainly the best in the­ league, when healthy. arsenal are good like i said, but­ not great. like post #41 says or thinks that that side­ would be against united. two weeks ago they let a 4-0­ lead slip away. not very good. so i say we will all see­ and it will be a good match. no doubt about that, and i­ cant wait to see it. so if anyone with extra tickets,­ please take me. i really cant stand to watch another­ great united win from america.

    From SPLIFF, on Wed 16 Feb 11:15
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I think that we can all agree that if Arsenal play with­ Szczesny,Sagna,Djourou,Koscielny,Clichy,Song,Diaby,Fabr­ egas,Nasri,Theo and RVP in this 2010-2011 season ,­ there is no way Man Utd will get a win or draw­ especially at the Emirates. Arsenal deservedly will­ become champions. They have by far the best starting 11­ and this season are lucky with injuries apart from the­ first 4-5 months. Man Utd are aging and we saw that­ they could not keep it up by the end of last­ season.This season they are even worse.Let's hope­ they don't get Real Madrid or Barca in the quarters­ so that they reach the semis in the Champions League­ and get even more tired.

    From filip_vas19, on Wed 16 Feb 10:37

  8. It's big loss for SAF about Park cause he is not a­ great attacker like Nani but he really is a great team­ player and pace maker... also seems like it will take­ time for Valencia in good form

    From Jaemin Lee, on Wed 16 Feb 8:59

  9. Sammy #28 sell your house and put your bet on yr Arse­ to win the EPL this year then. Don't worry about­ ManU you should be praying for mercy from Barca­ tomorrow. Yr Arsenal bitchez will get whooped tomorrow­ son.
    .
    .
    .
    .
    5-0 to Barca

    From 4Ech, on Wed 16 Feb 6:56

  10. Valencia's return will give SAF more options­ obviously and also the ability to rest­ "Giggsy" and "Scholesy"as and­ when needed with a hectic schedule until end of season.­ As Meerkat says "simples".

    From Patrick, on Wed 16 Feb 6:43

  11. Re 36. Barcelona would be prepared to release­ Mascherano at the end of this season. He has only­ played from the start in three games, all of which they­ have dropped points (two draws and one loss). He is­ firmly behind Busquets in the pecking order, and does­ not possess the quality first touch control demanded of­ Barca players. The fans see him as a weak link, they­ have never seen him play to his strengths which is to­ break up opposing attacks and play simple passes to­ more talented team-mates. As such he is available at­ 20m and I think this would be a sound investment for­ Utd as he has proven able to do in the premiership­ exactly the role which Utd would require ie. protect­ the back-four and release his midfield colleagues to be­ more adventurous safe in the knowledge that he will­ defend the space left behind.

    From chriscunningham92, on Wed 16 Feb 6:23

  12. chriscunningham92
    Whats with all the talk of Mascherano­ to united , where did you hear that?

    From Mutiny at Man City, PLAYERS IN CONTROL, on Wed 16 Feb 5:48

  13. 32 Augustine
    Dont talk cr.ap here please,
    thank you­ very much

    From Mutiny at Man City, PLAYERS IN CONTROL, on Wed 16 Feb 5:46

  14. Re 31. Under my proposal Utd would have a central­ midfield pool of Fletcher, Gibson, Anderson, Scholes,­ Parker, Mascherano, Rodwell , Henderson. and Cleveley­ The cost would be the loss of Wes Brown, Michael­ Carrick, and Danny Welbeck ( sorry about Welbeck). Also­ it would give Utd first refusal on Erikson, widely­ regarded as one of the best young creative midfielders­ in Europe. I think SAF would like to have this pool of­ players available for this season.

    From chriscunningham92, on Wed 16 Feb 4:55

  15. what a day

    From dammy bowale, on Wed 16 Feb 3:54
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Manu cannot maintain four points lead because they have­ to play eight away games, Arsenal will win the PL

    From Augustine, on Wed 16 Feb 3:44

  17. thank christ chris cunningham isnt man utd manager

    From Face Dripping, on Wed 16 Feb 3:17

  18. One of the reasons that Ferguson was "quiet"­ in the recent transfer window is because he has players­ like Valencia and Park ready to come back to the fore.­ Why spend £50Million on a washed-out player or a­ speculative £35Million on a player who has very little­ experience in the Premiership? GGMU!!!

    From GRAHAM, on Wed 16 Feb 3:08
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    ericfish13..arsenal midfielders will destroy­ barcelona..

    From Faim, on Wed 16 Feb 2:21
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I think Utd could completely revamp their midfield for­ less than Chelsea have spent on Torres, as follows:­ offer Sunderland a straight swap Danny Welbeck for­ Jordan Henderson; offer Everton Wes Brown, Michael­ Carrick and 10m for Jack Rodwell: offer Barcelona 20m­ for Mascherano (he is struggling to fit into the Barca­ system, his first touch isn´t good enough but he would­ be perfect as defensive midfield for Utd), and finally­ offer West Ham 12m for Scott Parker. With the remaining­ 7.9m offer it to Ajax as a one-off payment to secure­ first refusal on Erikson whenever he becomes available.

    From chriscunningham92, on Wed 16 Feb 1:30
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