Nov 19
An Interesting Monday Roundup
It certainly is more interesting than the snorefest that was the last two days. My absence speaks volumes.
Nemanja Vidic will not join up with the squad when the international break gets over. Instead, he will stay back to play for Serbia, whose game with Kazakhstan was postponed to next Saturday on account of unplayable conditions — heavy snowfall, they say.
Although this is contingent on Serbia’s chances of qualifying. So if by the Kazakh game they get knocked out, then Vida should be back for the Bolton game. Either way, I think it won’t be a big blow. We should be able to beat Bolton, with or without Anelka.
Some quotes (finally) from the Glazers as they come out of hibernation to assure everyone that they are 100% behind SAF and the club on the whole. Manchester United is a long term thing for them according to Joel Glazer who had this to say:
“Sir Alex Ferguson will be given all the resources to compete at the highest level possible,” Glazer told the People. “When you’re around this club, the heritage, the history - when you’re walking around Old Trafford, it’s an incredible feeling. “But with it comes a lot of responsibility and we take that very seriously. “Manchester United are one of the few truly global sports teams in the world. “We have a global fan base of around 140 million. It’s the only club we were ever interested in.”
I want to believe all that he said. I really do. But the cynic in me would not like it. I wish he really means it. There is far too much ill-will surrounding them that even if we win the treble for two consecutive seasons, I doubt people would ever look to give them any credit.
And why would they? Plunging the most profitable, and recognisable, club in football into heavy debts only amounts to a constant fear in the minds of every fan. The only way they could ever be forgiven is with time. And that time would be the supposed twenty year period when they would have paid off all the debts — if they last that long, that is.
Meanwhile Kaka reckons Ronaldo is the more deserving candidate to win the European Player of the Year. It’s quite obvious that he would be modest here. But certain things that he says does make sense:
“He is the best, not only for his technical ability, but also for what he has done with Portugal,”
Fair enough, the lad just won his 50th cap for Portugal. And that is something. And in terms of achievement, Ronaldo did that much more for United and Portugal than Kaka did for Milan. Sure, Milan won the Champions’ League. But they were dire in their domestic campaign, despite all that can be said about their points deduction and had nothing to play for in their league prior to facing us. We, on the other hand, were challenging on three fronts and were pretty much knackered when we faced the Rossoneri. But I wouldn’t hold any grudges if Kaka were to win it over Ronnie. He is a top, top player. No doubt about that.
Some hilarious transfer rumours did the rounds too. Eto’o was linked with a swap deal involving Louis Saha. Umm, it’s Samuel Eto’o we are talking about here, just to make sure. The deal, you ask? Louis Saha plus 5 million pounds. This news rumour was perhaps inserted as a joke of the day by the folks at the People, I am sure.
And here’s a brief roundup of the international fixtures: Fletcher played for Scotland where they lost out to Italy. Ronaldo and Nani (as a sub) played in a 1-0 win over Armenia. Tevez was involved in the build up to Kun Aguero’s goal as Argentina strolled past Bolivia. Jonny Evans played in N. Ireland’s 2-1 win over Denmark. John O’Shea played for Ireland as they drew with Wales.
About the England game. Well, what do I say? It saddens me that the more deserving team lost out while a team that keeps playing so poorly manages to stay in the race. I feel sorry for the Scots. But I honestly didn’t think they had much of a chance against Italy. They ought to have won against Georgia. The Italians are past-masters of doing surprisingly well when all else is in disarray in their personal lives or things back home. Call, me bitter, but I really didn’t want England to qualify this time.
Oh well, there is still hope. England could still mess it up in Wembley.
[For those who aren’t aware, we have a nice competition where you could win a scarf. Head over to this link to find out. Hurry!]
Related items from Red Rants:- Slow Monday Roundup
- Quiet Monday Roundup
- Monday Roundup: Smith, Richardson and Torres
- Worry over Rooney and Vida | Evra’s Abuse | Curbs Plans Weak Squad
- Giggs and Brown to Remain Reds | Ex-Reds Clash | Wenger Threat | Takeovers And Other Such Nonsense
Tags: Daily Roundup
November 19th, 2007 at 15:16
I heard about ManU going for a Scottish right back..Moreover barring the physical fitness/glass body I think Saha is as good as Eto’o ..He is fast and creative as Eto’o and aerially stronger..Eto’o is a better one touch footballer..But if this deal materialises (I hope not) Fergie will have a hard time managing the players and things can go out of control…Eto’o is a hot head and opens his mouth to media about dressing room incidents n all which turns out to be bad than for good,.. I will still stay by Saha if he can stay fit..I consider him among the very best for typical no 9..He is so so good in the air than anyone else..
November 19th, 2007 at 16:52
Shyam i can guarantee u that that report is totally bs.some bored reporter….
November 19th, 2007 at 20:06
i find it funny that evans is an ireland starter but cant even make our bench.
November 19th, 2007 at 20:08
i can see it now, 20 million plus saha for theo walcot
November 19th, 2007 at 20:43
[Dan] Northern Ireland, not the Republic. Big difference, you know.
November 19th, 2007 at 21:08
sorry bout that, i always get them mixed with that lad
November 19th, 2007 at 21:41
i think we should go for this 19year old i know, forgot his name, but has loads of talent, if someone reminds me tomorow i’ll get his name.
November 19th, 2007 at 22:06
Haha 20 million plus Saha, sounds like a nice deal
, and Shyam, even when Saha is fit, Eto’o is a much better player and I doubt he would cause that many problems in the dressing room. And yeah, Northern Ireland are a lot worse, Evans and Healy are their only good players, but we seem to be a good option for Northern Irish players; Healy, Gillespie and Evans and a few others started off here. I have no idea which 19 year old you’re talking about Dan, there are so many we’re apparently going to buy… And since all the talks been about Ronaldo recently, does anyone think Ronaldo is really better than Kaka? There’s not much doubt that Ronaldo had the better season last season but is he the better player? Btw, did anyone see Kaka’s goal on Sunday, quality.
November 19th, 2007 at 23:28
Conor, who are Northern Ireland alot worse than? I certainly wouldn’t say Evans and Healy are their only good players. Aaron Hughes, Steve Davis, Kyle Lafferty, Keith Gillespie. All these guys are good players, but it’s not individual skill that makes them the formidable team they are, it’s team strength and how they fight for eachother on the pitch.
November 19th, 2007 at 23:44
The debate about who is better between Ronaldo and Kaka is an interesting one. The problem I have with Kaka is that he doesn’t always give the great performances in Serie A for Milan but he usually stands out for them in the Champions League. He also plays well for Brazil, but other than his latest goal, I cannot honestly say that the guy lights my fire.
Ronaldo is a more dynamic player with a much greater physical presence. And Conor, Kaka’s goal on the weekend was sublime but you made it sound like Ronaldo has never scored beautiful goals like that himself. We all know he has. He is a better dribbler and he has more presence and aerial ability in the box. Kaka is a shade better at passing and may actually be a better finisher but just by a bit. Where I give Ronaldo the edge overall is in consistency. Although he can occasionally be marked out of a game, he seems to show up more often than Ricky Kaka. He also comes across as a better leader for his national side than Kaka. I think Kaka is a great player but I think Partyman Ronaldinho is still Brazil’s best player when motivated.
For me it’s not Ronaldo vs Kaka or Ronaldinho as world’s best player. For me it’s Ronaldo vs Messi. My favorite Riquelme is not included because of lack of matches to judge him by.
Regardless of that, Juan Roman Riquelme is a God while the rest are mere mortals. Sorry JB.
November 19th, 2007 at 23:53
Why on Earth would United want to break up the Tevez/Rooney partnership by getting a player like Eto? This is a very good player that would demand starting status. I for one enjoy watching Carlos Tevez play. I want to very decent substitute strikers that can contribute when given the chance to come in a game or start once in a while. Keeping Saha in this role would be key because it appears his knee is chronic. If so, than playing the role of Super Sub like Ole, is ideal for him.
For a fourth striker I’d like to see a young promising stud similar to the one we let get away, Rossi. There are plenty of great young strikers available in Argentina and Brazil and we should be looking there. If he is 19 or 20, he will accept sitting on the bench for a couple of seasons until he earns that starting spot.
Big names like Eto, Huntelaar etc would not welcome the role of substitute and personally speaking, I don’t think Tevez belongs on the bench either. We all know Rooney will be starting, so it seems to me that my solution makes perfect sense. Getting Eto would cause us problems when it comes to satisfying all our strikers with enough opportunities and minutes to perform.
November 20th, 2007 at 0:25
Redaddict, I’m a Northern Ireland supporter, and it’s always nice to see they’re making some sort of improvement, but the only thing good about Northern Ireland’s international team is David Healy and Windsor Park. Without David Healy they would be nobodys, and although the Windsor Park pitch is utterly terrible, the atmosphere is great
.
And Grognard that actually suprises me, I thought Kaka was consistently good in the Serie A, he’s one of their main goalscoring threats and any time I check the scorers it seems Kaka has scored, although most of them did seem to be penalties… And I agree that recently he has been unusually poor in most of his matches. I’m not too sure I agree that Ronnie’s a better dribbler, Kaka can beat men better and he has good pace and great acceleration, although Ronaldo’s faster I don’t think he’s a much better dribbler, if at all. And definitely agree about Ronaldinho but I tend to agree with the people that say he slows down the pace of the game too much now for his own pleasure, he rarely tries to run at pace anymore, and I have no doubts that he still has that pace. Hopefully Riquelme will be back in club action soon so we can really judge him, because I think its fair to judge players on adaptability as well as ability and so I don’t think he’ll ecome more than a top 5 player, a truly magnificent one though. And there’s really no point in talking about Eto’o at United because it just won’t happen, plus I don’t think we have the players that would compliment him, nor would he compliment our players, I don’t think. what about this guy lulinha? he’s the new Brazilian people seem to be talking about, if only we had a good scouting network in South America…
November 20th, 2007 at 10:52
What about Campbell, Brandy and Dongh. Perhaps SAF should try to bleed one (or all) of them in. I think this would be the better 4th striker’s role. Why do we need to go buy when we already have?
Should we buy another striker, what are the futures of these lads that have not been given a chance yet?
November 20th, 2007 at 14:54
True karl, I’d love to see one of them become our 4th choice striker but whenever sir Alex talks about the youngsters he sees a big future for he never mentions them, always just Evans, Pique and Simpson, so since there’s no indication they are ever going to be given a real chance I just think they’ll become another championship player.