England - Premier League

This hurts. First Manure steal Macheda from Lazio and now he scores the winner on his debut to give them a come from behind win which I am sure will clinch them the title. F*ck they piss me off.

great win by united and awesome game all together, forza mufc!!

Jofo wrote:

UNREAL I tell you what is unreal. Unreal is when you give up kid like that off the club. Instead of Man this guy could have played in Lazio.

We've known for a while it isn't the clubs fault. So many talents have been poached by Chelsea, Man U and Aresnal. It's disgusting.

This is a structural problem for the football in Europe, and somehing that will continue as long as there actually is a possibility for the giants of other countries to step in and buy players from other clubs due to different rules and regulations.

This has to be stopped. English clubs are the only ones who really benefit out of this and the Italian and Spanish clubs get hurt the most.
Platini is supposedly trying hard to enforce legislation that would stop young players (under the age of 18) to be allowed to leave clubs and I really hopes that he succeeds in doing this.

The beauty of the Macheda situation is that it brings attention to the problem and I'm sure Platini will have his say in the coming days.

Ultimately, you can't blame Lazio or the boy himself but United offered his family a chance of a better life and they took it.

It's just a shame his family have made the wrong move because in a few years time, Macheda will be sold at a profit just like Giuseppe Rossi and Pique were. Man U are all about the business.

Manure have not broken any laws but they have been very unethical. Its disgusting and as much as I don't like whats happened as do many Lazio fans, there is nothing that can really be done about this specific Macheda case. I only hope Platini and Europe do something to prevent stuff like this happening again in the future because like Ivan said the main losers from this are Italian and Spanish clubs.

Its also not good for English teams. Sure they can muster up a Fabregas or a Rossi, but they aren't giving their youngsters a fair chance because of all the imported youngsters coming in. As a result their national team is pretty shite and will not win anything for a while to come - which is a shame considering England have world class players in Gerrard, Carragher, Lampard and Terry.

Out of curiosity, what happened with Arturo Lupoli? He was signed by Arsenal a few seasons ago but where is he now?

I totally agree with everyone's posts about this current crisis, football seems like it is all about $$$....the more money your team has the better off you will be....at the same time I don't understand why everyone thinks manu is the only team acting in a unethical manner, arsenal/liverpool/chelsea are doing the same things and its not fair just to pick on united because they win.

On the macheda situation, how can you blame the kid?? He took an opportunity that was offered to him and now he is currently playing on one of the best teams in Europe loving life....Of course we absolutely could have used him this season and it sucks that we get to see him produce for another team (if he was 18 he would be producing for us). I suggest that there needs to be some rules made so we don't lose another kid like this to a wealthier club in the future.....

I wonder if Lotito is enjoying his time in the media spotlight?
His name is everywhere in the English media.

Bobbi wrote:

Out of curiosity, what happened with Arturo Lupoli? He was signed by Arsenal a few seasons ago but where is he now?

He moved on a free transfer to Fiorentina a few seasons ago. At the start of this season he was loaned to Norwich, he played a few games but wasn't considered as a definate starter. He is currently playing for Sheffield United which he moved on loan in January.

David wrote:

He moved on a free transfer to Fiorentina a few seasons ago. At the start of this season he was loaned to Norwich, he played a few games but wasn't considered as a definate starter. He is currently playing for Sheffield United which he moved on loan in January.

That's right, I remember reading about him going to Fiorentina but didn't know he went back to England on loan. This is one example of how it didn't work out unlike Rossi for example. So sad.

It's not like we are giving any of our talented youngsters a go anyway is it? Even in these years of turmoil we have had when seasons go down the drain and players underperform, no one has been introduced except Lorenzo. Mendicino and Tuia should surely be getting more playing time or we will simply let them go like all the others in the past? Think about it, for many years Italian teams have been loathe to place trust in home grown youngsters so why wouldn't they go elsewhere? It's only this season when Inter have found a gem in Santon and Mourinho has been brave enough to play him because Maxwell etc. are underperforming or clearly not good enough. Whatever happens to Macheda in the future, would he really in all honesty have been playing for us now, whatever the club say about him? I doubt it.

No matter what, if the situation in football goes on like this (with no salary caps or limits to what teams can spend etc) the polarisation with a few teams that can buy whoever they want, will continue. More and more teams will turn out like the English ones with some rich foreigner stepping in and playing around with a team that means so much to so many (Man City the most recent example, but look at Utd, Chelsea, etc etc) Then, it doesnt really matter if they pick a player up when they are 16 or 19, as long as they pay for him...

Some serious measurements is needed to be taken...

I just watched the Man U - Porto game and the camera kept showing Macheda and the commentator was Macheda this...Macheda that....

It's great for the kid and I wish him the best because as Ed said, if he stayed here, there is no doubt he would be in the Primavera and wouldn't even be considered for a few years and would probably have ended up elsewhere anywhere. It's a shame, our coaches have to wake up and nurture our youth.

Premier League - Macheda dad thanks Lazio

Federico Macheda's father thanked Lazio for developing his son but believes he made the right choice by leaving to join Manchester United.

The 17-year-old Italian struck a stoppage-time winner on his debut on Sunday to help the Red Devils to a 3-2 win over Aston Villa which lifted United back to the top of the Premier League.

Macheda's achievement was of little consolation to Lazio, who were left angry after United snatched away the star prospect from their youth academy in September 2007.

"It's thanks to Lazio that today Federico is doing well in his English experience," said Pasquale Macheda.

"He was a part of Lazio's youth team and he was fortunate there to learn a lot and become a serious lad from a sporting point of view.

"Federico was born in Rome and grew up at Lazio. But it's not easy to resist an offer from a prestigious club like Manchester.

"Now we are enjoying the moment and we are proud of what Federico has done.

"He is a serious kid with his feet firmly on the ground."

One person at Lazio who did celebrate the player's instant success was Federico's former coach with the club's youth team, Stefano Avincola.

"I am delighted for him," he said. "Of course there's some regret at the Lazio camp for seeing a quality player leave.

"But I want to reiterate that Lazio did everything they could to keep Federico at the club, seeing in him a player with potential and good prospects.

"Unfortunately, it was not possible and the lad and his family made an understandable choice of leaving Lazio and thanking the club for everything they did for the young Federico."

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/07042009/58/premier-league-macheda-dad-thanks-lazio.html

Premier League - Lazio fury at losing Macheda

Federico Macheda's debut goal for Manchester United is the result of a cattle market where young players are snapped up by rich foreign clubs, Lazio president Claudio Lotito said.

The 17-year-old Macheda, a product of Serie A side Lazio's youth system, scored in stoppage time on Sunday to give the Premier League leaders a crucial 3-2 win over Aston Villa.

"It's unthinkable that a lad of 15 can be bought as if it was a cattle market," Lotito told Italian television.

"Normally these boys are not from wealthy families and they look for alternatives in foreign countries for economic reasons."

Born in Rome, Macheda joined United in 2007 and in August became the latest in a string of non-English youngsters to sign professional forms with a Premier League club.

FIFA wants to protect under-18 players and keep them with their local clubs but employment law complicates the situation.

"We knew that he was a great player, we did everything to keep him. We can not allow ourselves to behave in a way which I feel is immoral."

Lotito added that his mid-table side would be packed off on a training camp and may have wages held back after losing 2-0 at Siena on Sunday in the latest in a series of poor displays.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/06042009/58/premier-league-lazio-fury-losing-macheda.html

and macheda does it again.

valdanito_10 wrote:

and macheda does it again.

united obviously made a great descion going after this kid, he is turning out to be world class (even though in reality he should be playing for us....) COME ON UNITED!

Damn United scraped through again today with a lucky deflected goal.

Bobbi wrote:

Damn United scraped through again today with a lucky deflected goal.

The tide is definately with Liverpool. Man u are struggling to win and it's beginning to show while Liverpool are cruising at the moment.

Yeah Gio you are right. Liverpool are playing better football definitely, no question about it, but that means nothing as long as you pull off a win. Whether you win 4-0 or 2-1 with a lucky deflected goal its still 3 points. But that's football.

Giolazio wrote:

Bobbi wrote:

Damn United scraped through again today with a lucky deflected goal.

The tide is definately with Liverpool. Man u are struggling to win and it's beginning to show while Liverpool are cruising at the moment.

But United have Macheda

Obviously most of the talk will be about the top and bottom of the table but I think its needs mentioning how good of a job Roy Hodgeson has done at Fulham- especially with 2 strikers that have only scored 9 goals between them this season and an idiot of a chairman who hopefully wont expect them to achieve such standards next season

bermudalazio wrote:

Obviously most of the talk will be about the top and bottom of the table but I think its needs mentioning how good of a job Roy Hodgeson has done at Fulham- especially with 2 strikers that have only scored 9 goals between them this season and an idiot of a chairman who hopefully wont expect them to achieve such standards next season

You know I was thinking the same. Rescuing them last season was amazing and they have done superb this season too.

Follow up on the Fabregas issue - 2 match ban, appeal due until May 12.