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Friday, October 31, 2008
Q&A: Edwin's hungry for more
He may be in the twilight of his career, but Edwin van der Sar’s desire to maintain his unwavering high standards is burning as bright as ever.In just over three seasons at Old Trafford, the veteran goalkeeper, who turned 38 on Wednesday, has added four major trophies to his already bulging collection. And, as he tells United Review, the Dutchman says he is hungry for more…Has coming to Old Trafford worked out as well as you anticipated or even better?You know when you come to a club like this that you’ll be challenging for trophies and we’ve been lucky enough to win a few in the last few years. Winning two titles was fantastic and then we had the nice little bonus of the Champions League. It’s such a hard trophy to win, but we’ve added more quality to the squad and hopefully we can go all the way again.Where does that night in Moscow last May rate in your career achievements?It was a great night. The first time I won it [with Ajax] I was a young player in a team that was winning prizes left, right and centre and at the time you can’t see an end to it. But when you’re coming towards the end of your career you really cherish everything you win, especially the big ones. Of course, it’s the whole team that wins the trophy, but to be the one who stops the last ball, or in this case, saves the last penalty, is something you dream about.Presumably you’ve watched that defining moment back a few times…I haven’t actually! We arrived back late from Moscow the next day and the following morning I left for international duty with Holland. The first time I saw it was during the warm-up before the Juventus friendly [in August] on the big screens at Old Trafford. It was special to watch it with the fans एंड great to hear the cheers when my save came on।How much have you enjoyed working alongside the club’s new goalkeeping coach Eric Steele and, even with all your vast experience, can you still learn new things?I haven’t enjoyed it that much because he’s been working me very hard! He’s very experienced and as a group I think all the goalkeepers are working really well with him. Whenever someone new comes in they bring new ideas and different views, but from my point of view it’s more about maintaining my fitness and my form - Eric’s not going to make big strides in terms of making me a better goalkeeper. That’s more important for the younger keepers who will hopefully form a long lasting relationship with him.After a slow start to the season, United are back among the leading pack. How significant is your league placing at this stage of the season?The most important thing to do is stay in touch. Of course, you’d prefer to start with maximum points rather than play catch-up, but we had a similar start last season and things worked out quite well! We’ve already got some tough away games out of the way and if we can get a good result at Arsenal next month and don’t drop any other cheap points then we should be fine for the second half of the season.You’ve boosted your silverware haul since joining United. Are you confident your medal-collecting will continue?The hunger is still there to win as many trophies as we can. There are some great teams competing for the top prizes - Liverpool and Arsenal and, of course, Chelsea who are always strong contenders. In Europe, you’ve got the likes of Madrid, Barcelona and the top Italian teams so it’s going to be hard. But with the quality we have at United we’re confident of doing well.
Pat wary of Hull ambition
Buoyed by away victories at Arsenal and Tottenham, Hull City will head to Old Trafford believing they can win, says Patrice Evra।The left-back has joined the ever growing list of admirers of Phil Brown's side, who saw their six-game unbeaten run brought to an end on Wednesday night by Chelsea.Nevertheless, Evra believes confidence will still be sky high in the Tigers camp and says United will need to be on their guard on Saturday afternoon."When you beat the big teams, in particular, you feel more confident and it gives you more freedom to play good football. That’s why I expect them to come for a win," Evra exclusively told United Review."I don’t expect to see all of their players defending, I think they’ll have a go. If that happens I think it could be a great game because that would open up spacefor us."Saturday's clash will see Evra renew acquaintances with French compatriot Bernard Mendy. The pair have been firm friends since their days playing against each other in their homeland and Evra is looking forward to the reunion."We first met when we were playing in France and I also played with him for the French U21’s - he's a good friend," explained the 27-year-old."I’m happy to see him doing well at Hull, but when I see him at Old Trafford I’ll be focused on helping United win the game."Pick up your copy of United Review at OT on Saturday. Alternatively, order your copy online.
ze connectors: Boss relishing Tigers' visit
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Boss relishing Tigers' visit
Michael Carrick could start his first match in seven weeks when Hull City arrive at Old Trafford on Saturday.The 27-year-old came on as a substitute on Wednesday night against his former club West Ham and Reds boss Sir Alex Ferguson says his return is "a big boost".At his pre-match press conference at Carrington on Friday, Sir Alex also revealed Edwin van der Sar is likely to return in goal for the Reds."Managing Edwin to keep him fresh is important," the manager said, explaining the goalkeeper's omission from Wednesday night's match. "It's also important we give experience to Tomasz Kuszczak and Ben Foster. I'll be rotating them as the season goes on."Wes Brown missed Wednesday's clash with the Hammers after suffering a minor ankle injury and may also be rested for Hull City's visit. However, the boss was confident the defender would be okay for United's trip to Celtic Park next Wednesday. Sir Alex was full of praise for Saturday's opponents, describing Phil Brown's side as "amazing"."In my programme notes, I've said that I can't believe Hull are above United in the table, and I don't mean that in a derogatory way," he said. "I've always said when you come out of the Championship you need to invest to survive in the Premier League. But Hull have gone about it a completely different way. "We can't treat the game lightly. We took our foot off the pedal too much in the second half against West Ham and we can't afford to do that against Hull."
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