Manchester United Goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak Determined To Prove He Can Be Edwin van der Sar's Successor

Big season ahead for Poland international...

By Matt Monaghan

UEFA Champions League,Tomasz Kuszczak,Manchester United(Getty Images)
Manchester United goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak is determined to prove he is the man to succeed Edwin van der Sar when the veteran retires.

Van der Sar, 39, is expected to call time on his record-breaking career at the end of next season. After five trophy-laden years at United, manager Sir Alex Ferguson is to be set a massive task to fill the void left by the 130-times capped Netherlands international.

Speaking to the Press Association, Kuszczak urged the Scot to look closer to home for the Dutchman's replacement, rather than land a marquee name such as Hugo Lloris, Igor Akinfeev or Manuel Neuer.

"I hope it will be a big season for me. This will be my fifth with the club and I hope to play even more games," Kuszczak, who is the club's obvious back-up shot-stopper after Ben Foster's summer departure to Birmingham, said.

"My challenge is simple - after Edwin finishes I want to be number one at Manchester United.

"It's not easy to sit on the bench - I have many ambitions and I want to keep progressing as a player.

"Manchester United is a great club and I believe it's a club I can play at for many years."

The 28-year enjoyed a 11-match run in the United first team from November to January as Van der Sar struggled with injury. Kuszczak hoped he had proved his quality to Ferguson during that time.

"I knew it was going to be very important for me to prove myself during that time," he added.

"It was a difficult situation because we had a lot of injuries but I enjoyed every game.

"To have a good run of matches really helped me with my form and gave me a lot of confidence.

"I want to become a better goalkeeper and learn new things and hopefully I will get more opportunities this season."

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Hosted by Stephen Crawford & Adam Scime
2/15/12
And with that, we're going to call it a night, folks.

We've had two tremendous matches today, so lets hope the intensity keeps up in the next clashes!

Until next time, this is LIVE commentator Stephen Crawford signing off.

From everyone here at Goal.com, thanks for joining us!

2/15/12
All this focus on the Arsenal and Milan game should not take away from another cracker earlier tonight between Zenit and Benfica. The Russians came from a goal down to lead 2-1 in the closing minutes before Oscar Cardozo levelled things for Benfica, but it wasn't over there as Roman Shirokov won the game for Zenit in the 88th minute.

Here's the thoughts of Benfica coach Jorge Jesus, who felt his side deserved a point from the game.
2/15/12
Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny bemoaned his side's luck tonight but refused to give up. Here's some of his quotes:

"They were the better team on the night and that's the story of the day.

"We have to keep fighting, pick ourselves up, get the confidence back and challenge in the other competitions and in the second leg of this tie too.

"They punished us on every occasion; they scored some quality goals and they deserved to win."

Full story HERE


2/15/12
Another Milan player who was willing to share his thoughts after the match was Mark van Bommel, who has urged caution ahead of the second leg in London.

“The score made it look like it was an easy game, but it certainly wasn't.

(Strange... it looked pretty easy from where I was sitting, but hey.)

“I do not think it's over yet. I remember a clash between Milan and Deportivo la Coruna when Milan was also ahead by four goals, and in the end Deportivo eliminated Milan.

“I went into the Arsenal dressing room after the match to speak to Robin van Persie. I had agreed with him to swap shirts – my sons are big fans of his and he brought two for them. They will be delighted.


Van Bommel went on to talk about a possible move to PSV in the future, but was quick to point out his terms for the move.

“I've spoken with PSV, but we don't have an agreement yet. The club has to decide what they want.

“If Louis van Gaal turns out to be the new coach, I won't go.”


2/15/12
Next up is the Milan maestro Clarence Seedorf. He only managed 12 minutes on the pitch, but watching from the sidelines he was delighted at how his team mates had dominated the game.

"Tonight everything went in the right direction and we did a very good match. You don't start a match thinking to win 4-0, but at the end i think we deserved it coz we played very well."

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