Manchester United's Tom Cleverley goes to top of class of 2011 with England call-up

Cleverley, named alongside Manchester United team-mates Phil Jones and Chris Smalling in Fabio Capello's England squad for the euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Wales, has been ever present this season, filling the void left by the retired Paul Scholes in which Ferguson had hoped to deploy Inter Milan's Wesley Sneijder.

Manchester United's Tom Cleverley goes to top of class of 2011 with England call-up

The 22 year-old's energetic performances in midfield have embellished the club's 100 per cent start to the campaign, which has also seen Jones, Smalling and striker Danny Welbeck play central roles in the 3-0 victory against Tottenham and 8-2 triumph over Arsenal at Old Trafford.

But Cleverley insists that their emergence is merely the latest chapter in a lengthy process. "I have been coming to Old Trafford for 10 years and have always looked on, thinking one day I want to be on the pitch. At the minute it is happening, but I have got to work hard and stay there.

"It is what I have been working towards for the last two or three years while going out on loan [to Watford and Wigan]. I knew I had to work hard in pre-season and impress the manager and hopefully that is what I did. "I have waited a long time for this chance and I want it to go on as long as possible. We are a young, high-energy team and hopefully we will keep putting on performances like that [against Arsenal] and the trophies will come."

United's start to the season has seemingly set up a Mancunian battle for honours with neighbours City – a clash of youthful promise against big-money signings. Cleverley's impact even led to a banner being unfurled at West Bromwich Albion, stating 'Who needs Wesley? We've got Cleverley.' Cleverley laughs off the comparison and says it is too early to judge United's young crop.

"Wesley Sneijder is fantastic, but if the fans think that, then I must be doing something right. Nobody wants to get too carried away, but this is a youthful squad and it's exciting to be a part of it. "We have to remember that we're only a month into the season and there's a long way to go. Some of us younger lads don't know what it's like to win the Premier League yet, but that's where the experience of others comes in. A few older players have left the club in the summer, but we've still got experience in abundance."

Although Cleverley insists he aims to build his own reputation, he admits he purposely chose the 23 squad number to emulate David Beckham.

"The manager offered me 22 or 23, but due to superstition, I prefer odd numbers. Also, David Beckham was my idol and he wore 23 at Real Madrid and still does with LA Galaxy. I looked at Scholes and Beckham, top professionals you can model your game on, but I'm just being Tom Cleverley.

"Growing up around Gary Neville, Scholes, Nicky Butt and Beckham, you pick up a lot and you know the history of the club. We are not comparing ourselves to them just yet, but this is a good batch of young players."

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Manchester United cash in with sponsored kit and caboodle

There is nothing for it but to doff your heavily branded caps to Manchester United, which has found £40m down the back of its metaphorical sofa, having secured a deal with DHL to sponsor its training kit. The arrangement outstrips what all but a couple of other Premier League clubs pull in for even their shirt sponsorship, with United's chief executive, David Gill, declaring: "This breaks new ground in the English game." Quite so. The kit will be on TV screens only for the brief flashes of pre-match warm-up – and even then not for European games – so DHL is forking out to advertise on something that will primarily be worn around United's well-appointed Carrington training complex.

Indeed, given that no plans have been announced to make the club's training sessions more open to cameras, let's assume that the deal is at least in part a marketing push aimed at the guests who frequent its facilities most frequently. Namely, the much-courted football hack demographic – or the Scribblers' Pound, as it is known in consumer circles. Though the spending power of this group has yet to rival that of other lazily stereotyped tribes such as the Pink Pound or the Pre-School Pound, Her Majesty's Sports Press is clearly being targeted for its ability to influence the wider market. "Get a pair of DHL jogging bottoms on Woolly Woolnough," a made-up Old Trafford insider tells me, "and you see an almost immediate spike in the Asian retail figures."

Furthermore, I am reassured to read that United is now actively looking beyond traditional areas of branding. The message is that the training kit deal is far from the end of it. And why not? Every garment or accessory in the footballer's wardrobe should be regarded as virgin snow into which some sponsor or other might stamp its imprimatur, and I imagine Mr Gill is already firming up the possibilities.

Clearly they should begin with sponsored sleepsuits for night flights. One day we will marvel that players for the game's biggest financial powerhouse ever flew home from European ties, or out to summer tours, wearing anything other than branded winceyette rompers. The convention for squads to pose on the plane steps, or to stalk through aircrafts looking grumpy, would appear the ideal opportunity to do so while drawing people's eyes to the branding of an electronics firm or brewery.

The club suit is beginning to look hopelessly undermonetised, given that all we hear about them is that they are made by M&S or whoever, when they are crying out for more logos. The DHL-branded training kits will doubtless soon be available in the club shop for sale to completist fans and so, ideally, would the club suits, allowing fans to share in the magic of combining sharp tailoring with shilling for a fast-food chain. If sponsors are worried about how little wear the club suit would get, they should be aware that the garment is a more integral part of some players' sartorial arsenal than others. Did you see Luis Boa Morte's appearance on Cribs? It was remarkable for the fact that he lived in a modest semi, had a Vauxhall Corsa in the drive, and his wardrobe contained a single suit – his club suit. I know. It was like he was openly urinating on the values of an entire generation. I can only hope that MTV has locked this blasphemy in a vault marked "NEVER REBROADCAST", as Viacom tried to do with the South Park episode in which Tom Cruise is trapped in a closet.

The next logical step would be washbag sponsorship, which would see players come off the bus for away games clutching not the standard Louis Vuitton but a club-issue toiletries tote, perhaps bearing the logo of CK In2U, or one of the more misery-engendering online casinos.

Finally, it is a sad fact of the modern game that every now and then a player will end up having to defend himself against trumped-up charges of disco-brawling, or demanding a Phil Collins record with menace. For this, he will need a courtroom suit, which is of course different from a party suit, and should be carefully targeted club issue. There is no earthly reason why denying an assault charge should not be combined with promoting a kiddies' charity. Of course, should a player be before a judge to obtain a superinjunction, his kit would ideally be seen by nobody at all. Yet ought wearing an item in camera really preclude its being monetised by any truly enterprising 21st-century club? The way things are going, only a dinosaur would suggest such a thing.

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Ferguson delighted with United youngsters

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has praised his younger players following the 3-0 victory over Tottenham on Monday. The Red Devils took the lead in the second half through Danny Welbeck, before further goals from Anderson and Wayne Rooney secured a convincing win. Now the Scot has hailed the likes of Tom Cleverley, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Danny Welbeck for the part they played in the match.

"It tells you we still believe in young players. All the fans appreciate that," Sir Alex said. "This is what the club is all about. We have always had confidence to play young players and this group has such fantastic ability it forces you to play them really."

With Welbeck putting in impressive early-season performances and Javier Hernandez having returned to fitness following a concussion, the presence of Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen has given the boss a selection headache.

"If you look at Berbatov, Michael Owen, Chicharito (Hernandez) and Wayne Rooney, we have different qualities," he said. "You have to utilise all that and make changes as best you can. But the horrible part for me now is, with Chicharito back, what do we do. It is going to be a big problem."

Sir Alex added: "He (Welbeck) has always had that ability but he has made slow progress because when he was growing up, he had a knee-growth problem. It was a situation where we knew we had to wait for him. We put him on loan to Sunderland (last season) and that is when he became a man. He has grown up and the lad has a great future."

The 69-year-old was also happy with David de Gea having kept his first competitive clean sheet for United and also praised Chris Smalling, who has played at right-back so far this season. Sir Alex said: "David was very confident. He was excellent. He got a bit slack towards the end of the game but other than that, he was very confident."

"He (Smalling) had a marvellous season last year and he is showing more maturity," the boss added. "He has done a great job at right-back. You'd think he'd played there all his life. We are pleased with all these players. They have all done well tonight and you cannot criticise any of them."

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Manchester United beats Tottenham 3-0 in Premier League

Manchester United delivered a vibrant second-half performance to beat Tottenham 3-0 on Monday and make it two wins from two in the Premier League. Tottenham, seeking a first win at Old Trafford since 1989, kept the scoreline blank in the first half, with American goalkeeper Brad Friedel marking his Spurs debut with a full-stretch save from Tom Cleverley's well-struck shot. United turned up the heat after the break and Danny Welbeck broke the deadlock in the 61st when he headed in Cleverley's precise right-wing cross.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp responded with a double substitution on the 74th but two minutes later, Welbeck set up Brazilian midfielder Anderson to stroke home the second goal. Substitute Ryan Giggs crossed for Wayne Rooney to head in the third in the 87th to wrap up the win and leave the defending champions on six points from two games, behind league leader and cross-city rival Manchester City on goal difference.

"The second-half performance was absolutely fantastic," United manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports. "It was a fast game in the first half, it was end-to-end. Tottenham had a lot of possession, but in the second half we just took off." Tottenham was playing its first game of the season after its opener was postponed in the wake of the London riots.

Redknapp chose not to select Chelsea transfer target Luka Modric in his squad, but said afterward he expected the Croatian playmaker to stay at the club. "For sure, he's a fantastic professional," Redknapp said. "We need him back playing. "We need one or two more players. We've got good footballers but we just lack a spine to the team. I know who we need and if the chairman can help me bring them in we'll be fine."

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Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur: Alex Ferguson stands by his man as David De Gea struggles to find his feet

When Tottenham Hotspur visit Manchester United, two goalkeepers with reputations for inconsistency — one reputation recently earned, the other of a more long-standing vintage — are due to face each other.
David De Gea’s beginning at Old Trafford has not exactly been the ticker-taped coronation imagined after slow-witted performances against Manchester City in the Community Shield and West Bromwich Albion last weekend.

On the Spurs side, Heurelho Gomes is also a No 1 with previous, and none more so than at Old Trafford. In this fixture last season, it was his comic misunderstanding of the free-kick laws that allowed Nani to dispossess him unchallenged, score and win United the fixture.

But when it comes to goalkeeping errors at the moment, it is United who are occupying the glass house into which stones are being thrown, yet manager Sir Alex Ferguson remains undaunted about De Gea’s start and believes he will prosper under the Old Trafford lights, claiming that he was hindered by West Brom’s physical style of play as opposed to any personal faults. “He coped with the crosses into the box with no problem; he just didn’t get any protection,” Ferguson said. “You saw the challenges — an elbow in the face, a boy went under him and he didn’t get the free kick.

‘‘It’s disappointing when you don’t get the protection but he’s at home against Spurs and it won’t be a problem. It’s just away from home where he might get subjected to that. I have no problems with him.”
And when it comes to toughening De Gea up, Ferguson insists no special treatment is required.
“He’ll go through the same programme of core work as the rest of the players do when they come here,” he said

“Van der Sar was still a tall skinny kid when he won the European Cup in 1995. He was the same — David’s only 20.”Ferguson’s rigorous defence of his new goalkeeper must surely be tempered by his concern that Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, his principal central defenders, may be ruled out for as long as six weeks and five weeks with respective hamstring and calf complaints.

However, the United manager believes he has the strength in depth via Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, to provide the necessary cover for De Gea and he was particularly open in his praise for Jones. The former Blackburn defender was brought to Old Trafford earlier this summer for around £17  million in a move that widely seen as a purchase made 12 months earlier than Ferguson wanted to in order to keep him out of the clutches of the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool. Yet Ferguson denied that and argued that Jones’s acquisition was a proactive move rather than a reactive gesture.

“He was just one that we couldn’t miss,” Ferguson said. “He’s definitely got all the parts, there is no doubt about that. He has got the desire to play and he’s a good trainer and great determination about him.
"When he was playing against us in the 7-1 [defeat Blackburn suffered at Old Trafford last season], after the fifth goal he was running out and giving everyone stick and he was only 18 then. I was very impressed.

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Sir Alex Ferguson coy over Dimitar Berbatov's Manchester United future

Sir Alex Ferguson has cast doubt over the future of Dimitar Berbatov at Manchester United after appearing to suggest that the Bulgarian could leave the club.

Ferguson made the admission after his reserve side's 8-2 defeat in a charity match against Marseille in Monaco on Tuesday evening. A French television journalist asked the United manager if Berbatov could play with Paris St-Germain, who are interested in signing the striker. "Yes," a smiling Ferguson replied. "Absolutely, no problem."

The French club are reportedly willing to pay £18-£20m, which would help United to recoup some of the £50m they have spent so far this summer on Ashley Young, David de Gea and Phil Jones.

Berbatov was United's top scorer last season and, alongside Carlos Tevez, the joint winner of the Premier League's golden boot, but Ferguson appears to have lost trust in the Bulgarian's ability to influence the more important matches. The club-record £30.75m signing from Tottenham Hotspur was not even on the substitutes' bench for the Champions League final against Barcelona in May, a decision that devastated him to the point he did not even leave the Wembley dressing rooms.

Nonetheless, Ferguson's statement represents a considerable change of direction for the champions, who have maintained all summer that Berbatov is not for sale and can still play a significant part in their attempt to win a 20th league title next season.

David Gill, the United chief executive, said at the weekend that the club had never considered moving on the Bulgarian. "Everyone has been talking about Berbatov from the outside, saying he wants to leave or that we want him to leave, but we don't want him to go. We want him to stay. He scored 20 goals last season, so there is no desire on our behalf to see him go."

Gill also said nothing sinister was to be drawn from the fact Berbatov was the only player at the club in the final year of his contract not yet to be offered an extension. "People keep telling me he's in the final year of his contract but there is an option on the club's side to extend Dimitar's contract by another year. We can do it whenever we want, there are no conditions around it and that means, in effect, he has two years to go."

It also makes Berbatov more valuable in the market if PSG, who have a £37.7m deal in place for Palermo's Javier Pastore that would smash the French transfer record, are serious about adding him to their new-look side.

Ferguson also attempted to brush off the latest speculation about Wesley Sneijder, saying it was "just all the newspapers" when he was asked about the possibility of signing the Holland international from Internazionale.

United have been trying to play down the matter for weeks, repeatedly informing reporters they are not interested in the player, but a deal is actually in place providing Sneijder agrees to lower his financial requirements.

Ferguson was quoted in one Sunday newspaper saying: "If he [Sneijder] wants to come, he must accept our contract offer. If not, we have other options in mind. We're done talking." The United manager has since denied saying such a thing but this is, in fact, the accurate and latest position.

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