Apr 16
Grant “Believes” | Capello on Rooney | Queiroz Loves Ron
Some United related news to talk about today, as usual. So like real gentlemen, let’s talk about it.
Avram Grant and his title ambitions
It’s come to this. Most fans weren’t too happy when Avram Grant was appointed, and opinion hasn’t changed much now. At this point many Chelsea fans just want the season to be done with and don’t even think that they deserve to win the title — however improbable it may be. Avram Grant thinks the title can still be won. Mathematically, yes. With his style of management, unlikely. Anyway, it’s not my interest to discuss their season at the moment, but towards the end of the article there are some interesting stats thrown about on how some of Fergie’s old pals have done us a favour by nicking points off the ‘big four’. And they are substantial. I am not too much on stats, but it’s interesting reading that.
Carlos Queiroz has reiterated that not even £ 97m can force him to part with Ronaldo. There is no way he can let Ronaldo leave United. Good to see the confidence, and hopefully that puts Real off his radar at least for this year, before they again come round circling next year.
To make this even clear, Ronaldo has expressed his frustration at constantly being linked with these clubs. He has for the 5987th time reiterated that he’s “happy at United”. He’s also added a “these rumours make me mad” quote just to confirm that these were not regurgitated quotes from before.
Fabio Capello has been quite impressed with Rooney. He gushes about his superior technique — names him among the best of the England squad — and even tips him for a future role as England captain. He also thinks his finishing needs to be worked on. ‘Constant practice in training sessions’ as an option — which would seem rather obvious. He cites the example of Crespo, and that with time he will improve.
Trust me, I was thinking of this pun ever since I saw the headline “Mikael eyes silverware” on Manutd.com. It was very tempting to do a tabloidish word play — you know, guilty pleasures and all that. So Mr Easter Island Head (or EIH for convenience) wants to join in and contribute as best as he could to help United achieve double glory. EIH just made his return against Roma, and while he has been prone to the loss in concentration, he is an adequate back up to Evra, who has been running at full pelt for a good part of this season. It’s nice to see useful players of his kind coming in at this crucial juncture — a luxury we weren’t blessed with last season.
Vidic Returns to training
… and is in contention for the Blackburn game. What can I say? Great news, and hope he’s in full flow for Barca.
Other bits and bobs
Well, there’s an article in the Sun where Torres wants to see Barca beat Man Utd. Giggs says that he’ll stop playing when he doesn’t enjoy it anymore or if he feels he’s not performing to a good level.
And that’s about it for the day. Over to you, lads.
- Featured Lookalike: Nani and…?
- Why Carlos Queiroz is More Important than Ronaldo
- Future Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand named England skipper
- Raging Rooney, Real ‘Defeated’ [for Now] and the Holy Trinity
- Rio Almost Signs - Can Fergie Make Him the Captain From Next Season?
Tags: Daily Roundup
April 16th, 2008 at 10:14
the best news…vidic is back.if he starts against blackburn we will have a graet chance of winning. but lets see what everton can do for us tomorrow. I think chelsea will draw again and can even lose.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:27
May that pattern of former players under Fergie doing a favour continue. That said, Hughes’ Blackburn away is not the easiest of games, regardless of what Everton manage to do to Chelsea.
I wonder if there’s any pattern with former players who are still active against United’s main rivals. Perhaps the younger Nev to score the winner?
Great news about Vidic!
April 16th, 2008 at 10:39
no, vidic will start on the bench and come on in the last 20 minutes for ferdinand(so he can a rest, not that needs it, but a rest is a rest) and score a header.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:52
Good to hear Vidic is back…
i think Fergie might play him and Rio for the whole blackburn match, to sure em up for the Barca match… Maybe but who knows.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:27
Steve Bruce has basically won us the title then, eh? I thought it was the holy trinity (rio, roo, ronny), but dem numbers are quite convincing…
April 16th, 2008 at 12:23
tevez rooney ronaldo=holy trinity.
April 16th, 2008 at 12:27
A new beginning and a fresh effort to buy the Championship!
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/chelsea/article3754622.ece
Meanwhile, knives are already out.
http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/08/04/16/SOCCER_Chelsea_Ben_Haim.html
And they say they can still win the Championship! Well, ok, we have to admit that they have a better chance than Liverpool or Fulham, providing they get something tomorrow.
April 16th, 2008 at 13:30
With Rio’s confidence and van der sar’s magic gloves we shall win the Champion’s League. Read Rio’s interview in manutd.com . He is in the skies. Of course he can be a leader. No, he is the leader for this year. Along with Ron,Van der Sar , Vida , Evra , Brown he is the most consistent performer + he is the player who wants it more than anyone else (maybe ron wants it more…anyway).
Everybody respects him and he is responsible for the music in the dressing rooms. So, we signes him for his leadership years. Nice job there you Alex.
Grant is somewhat like a furry white headed shit that can belive he can make the treble. But since we can win them he can make a single one. LOSER CHELSKI idiot you re a prick. you got a great mourinho team and you think you re a good manager or coach.you abra-puppet shut it up!
April 16th, 2008 at 14:02
funny rio quiz!
April 16th, 2008 at 14:38
Good to have Rio on a long term contract and Vida back, but sign Evra now! Champions League looks a real possibility and the Premier League is ours proided we beat Blackburn in the weekend.
Lol. That Rio quiz is hillarious!! Poor PIG and who knew that Rooney is a bad trainer?
April 16th, 2008 at 15:21
An offering from Kevin McCarra of the Guardian:
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/04/15/united_are_all_the_more_exciti.html
April 16th, 2008 at 15:39
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0fVNr3Phxc
C.Ronaldo doing his thing…
April 16th, 2008 at 17:17
that video was on soccer am last week.
April 16th, 2008 at 17:26
dickie best, father of george best, has died in hopital in northen ireland.
link
R.I.P dickie.
April 16th, 2008 at 19:14
I am eagerly anticipating the Chelsea v Man Utd game for obvious reasons but because I feel it gives Fergie a chance to give a master class in coaching and managing that will make the far less competent AV Grant’s knees wobble. Winning the double is vital and foremost in importance but I say go for a new treble. That treble would be the BPL, CL and destroying the undefeated record of Chelsea at home. How sweet would that be? I honestly do not believe Grant is up to the task. His players are quality and they will work hard to beat United but the cream will rise to the top in the second half after Fergie makes intelligent and well place substitutions and tactical changes that will turn the game in our favor. I do not think Grant has that part of managing down, not by a long shot. What do many of you think? I would be shocked if he were to beat us on that vital day.
April 16th, 2008 at 19:21
On Capello; He also wrote on how he feels that Rooney needs a lot of work to improve on his wasteful finishing. He pointed out how he wasted three clear cut goal scoring opportunities against Arsenal. He was confident that Wayne could improve on that though because he feels Wayne is a great player who is willing to work hard and improve on weaknesses.
April 16th, 2008 at 19:26
It’s looking more likely that Pique will walk at season’s end with Brown. He feels unsettled at the club and the signing of a 5 year contract for Rio is a message telling the lad that he has no starting place with the club. I think that is why the rumors have been strong for weeks about United going for the central defender Garay. United may have a whole new look in the back four next year. From a depth perspective. Lets also not forget the hunt for a RB. Could be interesting times this summer watching the transfer speculation.
April 16th, 2008 at 19:43
we wont by a rb, and if we do, its just cover, hargreaves will be the right-wing back next season, i feel sorry for pique, he is a class defender that is good enough to be in our starting 11, the only reason he is not playing often is because, our CB partnership is settled. if the bloody media weren’t always saying we have the best CB partnership in euorpe, he just might be getting more games. hopefully next season he will get more games(thats is he doesnt move). If he does move, it would be a swap deal at racing for garay, or a swap deal at barcelona.
April 16th, 2008 at 20:08
Dan; I’d personally would love to see Hargo be our RWB next season but I don’t think it will happen and I’ll tell you why. Hargo still has an unsettling uncertainty due to his knee tendinitis problem. It could flair up on him and if he were to take three months off for surgery, there is no guarantee that the surgery would completely cure him of the problem. I am sure Fergie wants a man he can count on to start 90% of all games at the RB/RWB position. Can he depend on Hargo for that? No is the simple answer. Can he count on Neville to regain his old form? No. Hargo as a defensive midfielder is more ideal for him because United are deep at midfield and will always have backup available for him if he can’t go. With Brown probably leaving, Fergie will want security at that position. Expect the signing of Bosingwa this summer. Worse case, he will sign a cheap Willy Sagnol to back up Neville, but I cannot see that happening either.
April 16th, 2008 at 20:12
Dan; Agrred on Pique, I had high hopes for him
But if you think he’s good enough for the first team then that means you think he’s better than Rio or Vidic, which isn’t true at all. Also anyone who says to me he could play at right back will be slapped, 
because he has not once played there for us and therefore never will, regardless of whether he played there for Zaragoza or not. Plus we can’t rotate our CB’s as we can with our centre midfielders or strikers, it doesn’t work that way. You always need a settled defence, that is vital to any team. And there is not a hope in the world that Hargreaves will become our regular right back, no matter how adept he is at playing there. And Pique for Garay? 
I wish! Garay is one of the most promising players in the Spanish league, as was Pique,(or so we are led to believe, I disagree) but he has the added bonus of being able to take fantastic free kicks and he has 2 years of regular first team experience. Garay would be in the 15-20m value bracket, Pique would cost around 10m.
April 16th, 2008 at 20:31
Regarding Pique, I’d love him to continue at Old Trafford but our main big two centre backs are so good that it will be harsh on him. However, I think sending him out on loan for the first half of the season with, say, Sunderland would be a good idea, just to see how he copes with things there. He would pair up with Jonny Evans — who looks like he’ll end up there permanently anyway, which is a shame. On Evans, his arrival in Sunderland has coincided with them doing reasonably well, and them not leaking as many goals as they were prior to his arrival. I think his contributions to Sunderland have been understated plainly because the team as a whole is crap.
April 16th, 2008 at 20:35
Conor- I think Pique played right back against Wigan and Villa. I hope he doesnt leave, I think he is a class defender! Not better than Rio or Vidic, but of cource who is? Great to hear Ronaldo say that he doesnt want to moved to Madrid. I think he loves it here!
Does anyone else than me think that Everton will beat Chelski tomorrow? I mean, if Wigan can get a draw at Stamford Bridge, why cant Everton win at the Goodison. And with Vidic returning for Blackburn and Barca, I think this will be out year!
April 16th, 2008 at 20:45
Conor, saying a player is good for our first team does not necessarily their better than the person playing in that position. i thought you would of known that…
April 16th, 2008 at 21:02
Well if he was good enough for our first team, he would be playing in it would he not? If you were the manager of United, would you play Pique at centre back? If no, then that would therefore mean he isn’t good enough for our first team, just a very good back up. If yes,well that wouldn’t surprise me at all if you said that actually
You have players in the team that you have a certain affection towards, e.g. you would put Welbeck ahead of Tevez I’m sure. Which I think is something about you I admire 
April 16th, 2008 at 21:09
lets put it like this, an on form giggs on the left, and ronaldo on the right, good wingers, but dont you think nani could be in their to, or is he a very good back up to. an on form foster, in goal, but what about VDS, surely he should be in their to, lets say we buy huntelaar and he becomes a first team regular, has tevez or rooney just become back-ups now. its the same principle with pique, he is good enough to be in our first team, he has proven that already, its just that we have got centre back that are better then him.
April 16th, 2008 at 21:16
This is an argument over a technicality really, so I’m only going to bother with this one reply. No, if Tevez got kicked off the team when Huntelaar came, and I thought he should play ahead of Huntelaar, then I would say he’s good enough to be in our team, meaning I would want him in my team ahead of Huntelaar. If Foster was playing great and VDS was on the bench because of this, then yes I would say he is a very good back-up. We are just looking at things differently.
April 16th, 2008 at 21:27
Off topic, in light of Luca Toni’s great form(3 doubles in a row) and his goalscoring exploits all season in the league and Europe, I had always wondered why neither we or Chelsea went in for him. I know he’s old and he would only give a good 2 or 3 years max. , but he would have given us goals among everything else a target man brings, and he only cost Bayern £7.5m. £2.5m a year for what he brings isn’t bad value, however I am aware of SAF’s tendency to buy youth recently which was probably the deciding factor. I know this contradicts everything I said about Huntelaar not suiting our style of play but, meh
April 16th, 2008 at 21:34
i dont want players in my starting11 because they are better then what we had, i want players who can bring us results against the likes of chelsea, arsnal, real madrid, AC milan amongst others. you like to replace players with better players which is understandable, but thats something you do in games, this is real life. it like this, i would rather play ronaldo upfront and hargreaves at rm/rwb against a team like chelsea because hargreaves woould easily beat bridge/cole and deliver a cross and then ronaldo can header it in. where as i would i would rather play ronaldo at the right if we were to play bayern to use trickery and then cut inside.
April 16th, 2008 at 21:47
celtic win with a goal in the 5th min of extra
April 16th, 2008 at 21:50
Conor; Pique’s first match with United was ion the Champions League a few years ago and he played RB. He also played very well in that game.
April 16th, 2008 at 21:58
Conor: If my memory serves me correctly Toni is on an absolute fortune in wages, far more than you would normally expect him to get.
April 16th, 2008 at 22:20
JB; Ah I never knew that, makes more sense. Cheers for clearing things up a bit.
So I was slightly wrong when i said he had never played there for us. By doing a bit of research I also found out he made his full debut against West Ham in this position. I was aware that he was first thought to be a Right Back primarily. I really meant he had never played in this position this season, however clearly this was also wrong 
But against Wigan he only played there due to extensive injuries and the Aston Villa match was the match just after this. Therefore I think we can all come to the conclusion he doesn’t have a real future as a Right Back?
RedDevil,Grognard; Ok! I get get it!
April 16th, 2008 at 22:37
Conor; You are right that Pique does not have a future for us at RB. He clearly doesn’t have the pace to handle that position on a regular basis. I think he is gone because he is good enough to be a starter for most teams out there. He has zero chance of beating out Rio or Vidic so the young man needs to go somewhere where he can reach his potential. And United should not hold the lad back by not letting him go.
April 16th, 2008 at 23:32
Anyone going to the Chealsa match, or know of a united-friendly pub in london?
Ill be traveling threw and have a layover at heathrow during the match. anything close to the airport where i can sing and not get my shoes(and knuckles) scuffed up would be nice.
Pique to sunderland for the first half of next yr seems like a good idea. let him get a good run and see how his fitness and consistancy holds up in the prem without benching one of our towers. then in the later stages he should come back as he could be usefull as he was this yr.
April 17th, 2008 at 0:25
the defense situation always makes me wonder….if pique was to leave us looking for first team football, thats his decision..but then how can we expect a player like garay to come join out team OR for that matter any of the kompanys and the barzaglis…i mean, our back 2 are not gonna change for the next 2-3 years, that would make any young talented defender look elsewhere…and only someone like O shea, brown(willing to wait for a chance) would come join us knowing limited opportunities…isn’t that true?
April 17th, 2008 at 1:43
If the youngster has a lot of self-belief he could come here with the intention of dislodging Rio or Vida from the team. And those are the only players SAF would want. We want players to compete for their positions, knowing that they’ll get chances to impress and just have to take them. If Pique was playing incredibly now, SAF probably wouldn’t put Vidic straight back in.
April 17th, 2008 at 5:59
t_reason; Thats a very valid point but it never stopped many players from signing with big clubs. Sidwell, Pizarro, Alex, Ballack with Chelsea, Henry with Barca, are just a few obvious examples of stars signing with clubs where there was a surplus of players already ahead them in their given positions. A lot of players like the challenge of fighting for their places and even more just want to be part of a championship side. Look at Van Buyten at Bayern. He is a quality CB that many clubs have expressed interest yet he likes life with Bayern and has told them that he want s to stay and fight for a starting spot even thought Lucio and Demichelis are in front of him.
April 17th, 2008 at 9:41
As good a partnership as Vidic and Ferdinand may be, Ferguson should have given Pique more games. I do not think it is a coincidence that Rio and Vidic are getting injuries again at this time of season. By using Pique in some of the easy games we could have made sure Vidic and Ferdinand were as fresh as possible for the title run in and the Champions League games. Having said that at his age Pique could probably benefit from being a first team regular so may decide to move elsewhere like Rossi did. I hope we use him as a make-weight because he is coveted by the Spanish clubs. He does not have the pace to be right back for us.
April 17th, 2008 at 9:46
in other news, manchester United are ready to splash £38m on four young stars in the summer - Sporting Lisbon’s Joao Moutinho and Miguel Veloso and Wigan pair Wilson Palacios and Luis Antonio Valencia, the sun claims.
the sporting pair i understand, well at least velso, where would moutinho fit in? i can understand palacios, i have all ways admired his style of play and he good be a great super-sub, but what the fuck is valencia doing in their? he quite possibly is worst then giggs(no offence).
April 17th, 2008 at 10:00
Well Dan I have to say all of that most likely is complete bollocks. Firstly Veloso and Moutinho aren’t needed, Veloso is a worse version of Hargreaves with better vision, Moutinho is the better of the two by quite a bit, but he is in the mould of Scholes or Carrick, so we definitely won’t be buying him. Valencia and Palacios both just signed permanently for Wigan this season, so buying them would be highly unlikely. I don’t think they are good enough anyway, but I am surprised you think Palacios is better than Valencia, Valencia is much more productive and also has more of a chance of getting in our team than Palacios. All I really want right now is a striker, preferably Gomez or Benzema as I am still not a fan of Huntelar and never will be until he comes to us, although I think his most likely destination is Real Madrid because of Schuster’s tendency to buy Dutch players. I don’t see any right backs that are particularly brilliant, I did watch Bosingwa for a few games and have yet to decide whether I would settle for him, and the only right back I really want is Lahm. Although I know we will not get him.
April 17th, 2008 at 10:31
a bit harsh on veloso, you shouldn’t say that moutinho is better than veloso and hargreaves, especially this season where he’s playing as a right winger, they play in different positions, you wouldnt say evra is better then ferdinand would you?
April 17th, 2008 at 10:36
Oh no I didn’t mean Moutinho is better than Hargreaves, I meant Moutinho is the better of the two between him and Veloso. And it may be slightly harsh on Veloso but he was being built up as the next best thing to come out of Portugal and I was beginning to get caught up in the hype that we would get ‘A Michael Carrick with determination and energy’, 2 years ago he probably would have been a good buy for us, but at this moment in time we don’t need any more cm’s.
April 17th, 2008 at 10:39
oh, ok.
April 17th, 2008 at 13:10
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7352401.stm
this could be bad…
April 17th, 2008 at 13:23
The Sporting connection makes sense but i doubt Ferguson would pay the asking price for either, and having already spent around 50 million on midfielders last summer it is an area we are well stocked in.
I cannot see any suitable right backs likely to be available so im inclined to just give Brown what he wants. If Pique leaves a central defender would be needed. A striker would be nice also as Saha is incapable of staying fit, and Manucho is definitely not ready for the Premiership yet.
April 17th, 2008 at 13:26
Oh yeah and I think Luis Fabiano is the striker we should buy. He has played at the highest level, has scored over 20 goals in the difficult spanish league, and fits into the strong, pacey target man mould which i think we need right now.
April 17th, 2008 at 13:43
Colver; Luis Fabiano is not a top class player, I don’t see how more people don’t realize that. He scored goals regularly this season but sure so did Fredi Kanouté for the same team the last 2 seasons, Diego Forlan scored around 60 goals in 3 seasons for Villareal; yet both were flops over here for the most part. At Porto he wasn’t a good striker, in his first 2 seasons at Sevilla he was rubbish, and the only place he really shone was in Brazil(bar this season). Plus his overall play is terrible, much worse than Huntelaar’s or our other supposed targets. Fabiano may come to Manchester, but he is definitely more suited to play at Man City, where I still think he will be a flop. And yes I do know Luis Fabiano well, I’m not just making some snap judgement. But I agree that we should do what we can to keep Brown and that Manucho just isn’t ready. 3 games and one goal fairly showed over excited fans he isn’t the next Adebayor after is great ANC performances.
April 17th, 2008 at 13:49
but conor, to go on a goalscoring run, you need to be played regularly and since manucho went to them in january, he’s only played three times. he’ll probably be played more when he comes to us.
April 17th, 2008 at 14:06
How’d you figure that one out Dan
At a better team with better strikers, how will he get more games? If he was good enough he would have got a run of games for Panathinaikos and scored a few by now, he hasn’t.
April 17th, 2008 at 14:26
when manucho came, the pana coach made it incredibly clear that mancuho was there just for back-up.
April 17th, 2008 at 14:30
Re: The Great Striker Debate
With regard to the above, in addition to the usual names being bandied about i.e. Huntelaar, Gomez, Fabiano et al, I was wondering why nobody has suggested David Villa of Valencia??
The guy is a terrific finisher and has been one of the top strikers in Spain for the last few seasons! The skill, power and pace that he possesses in abundance would definitely see him fit into our style of play, and in addition, he could also possibly play the target man role and get us 20 goals a season simultaneously. Lest I forget, he is also only 26 and would definitely be a long term investment too (on that note: GET RID OF SAHA!!).
Valencia have had an abysmal season by their standards this year, and consequently this could see a possible mass exodus of their stars. Villa has been quoted in the press as wanting to definitely leave this summer, and should he do so, his primary destination would be England. I reckon sending a cool sum in the region of £15-20m in Valencia’s direction would be enough to seal his capture, with another £10m to be spent on strengthening the right back position. What do you fellow ranters think?
April 17th, 2008 at 14:36
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7AbdU0y7Q
Check this out!
April 17th, 2008 at 14:45
I read David Villa’s comments as well Nino, and started to get excited at the thought of having him in our team, until he said this:
But there is no doubt he is the best striker who is definitely available right now, and he’s one of the top 5 strikers in the world.
“I watch the Premier League a lot and the team I’m most attracted to is definitely Arsenal,”
Unfortunately I don’t see Machester United being mentioned in that quote
Dan; I never heard the Panathinaikos coach saying that, what website was this reported on? And also, think about it, do you not think he will be just as much of a back-up for us as he is for them?
April 17th, 2008 at 15:02
Conor, I would not really read too much into that quote from Villa. After all, Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel both also previously said they would only ever consider playing for Arsenal if they came to England, and look where they ended up………………
…….nothing ventured nothing gained, and I would like to see SAF bid for this talented forward (see YouTube clip I posted above). Better to get knocked back that not have tried at all eh?
On the topic of Arsenal, I read today that the Gunners are being linked with that Amauri fellow from Parma (or is it Palermo?) and Chelsea have been warned off Sergio Aguero of Atletico Madrid. Can anybody run the rule over these two players, and their suitability to contribute positively to the United cause? (Grognard? lol)
April 17th, 2008 at 15:19
A letter to Fergie
Ruud van Nistelroy , Drogba , Etoo , Adebayor , Ibrahimovic , Toni , Torres are the top strikers that we re not buying. We just can’t have these players in our team cause their teams are based on them or they re ex-Manchester players or transfer targets.Since we didn’t buy Adebayor or Drogba or Torres we can’t have them next year.In fact,we can never have them.
The other top in box strikers are Villa , Berbatov . Huntelaar and Benzema maybe—in a couple of years. Can we buy Berbatov or Villa? Of course we do! Buy one of them and no need for more transfers. Maybe even a right back is not needed then.
Don’t buy the finished Adriano - Owen - Henry.
April 17th, 2008 at 15:32
Nikos; who knows maybe we will buy Drogba? I definitely don’t want Berbatov in my team, he’s just not what we need, he’s not a finisher, he has no pace whatsoever, and the main thing is, he’s lazy, I just can’t accept that.
However I think you are undervaluing him greatly, sure Valncia are having a bad season, but look at Berbatov, his team are in the bottom half of the league as well and the price for him is still around £20m-25m, and he is a worse striker than David Villa.
Nino; fair point, reason to be optimistic still then
Re: Amauri, he is an absolutely terrific target man, scores goals from all over the pitch, is terriffic with his head and still great with his feet. He is like Toni or Drogba, but just with a few less goals. Still, I feel he is overpriced at £19m. He could do well for us, but as he’s not particularly young (27) I doubt we will go in for him.
Re: Aguero, he has the ability to play for any team in the world without doubt. He is great with the ball at his feet, great finisher, creates chances out of nothing, is fast and he links up well with strikers and the midfield. However he is in the Rooney/Tevez mould so is not what we need at all right now. Will definitely be one of the best strikers in the world some day.
April 17th, 2008 at 17:14
The striker that would make us best is karim benzema.He is destined for greatness.All these lads huntelaar,villa etc are all great but benzema is on another level.His goal against us was proof.He was shoving our own vidic around in that game.Whatever striker we get he MUST have pace.We dont need no slow guys.
April 17th, 2008 at 17:40
Colver; Being fresh has nothing to do with getting inured. It has more to do with poorer play. If someone sticks his spikes into you or tackles you poorly and causes an injury, is that the fault of having played him a lot? By playing a lot you of course increase your chances of getting injured but in turn, not playing a lot doesn’t eliminate the chance of a late season injury either.
April 17th, 2008 at 17:54
DAN; Don’t you think the Greek club would have played Manucho more if they thought he was good enough. You just can’t make things go your way just because you deem them to be true. Manucho has a lot of development ahead of him. He’s probably not that higher up in the pecking order than Welbeck, and he is not going to be at the big club as a starter any time soon. To go on a goal scoring run you need to play more games, yes. But you also need to be good enough to play those games. Right now Manucho is not good enough to play in the Greek league. And you already have him starring in the BPL FOR Manchester United? Totally ludicrous. My father probably played more games in his first year at Panathinaikos(Yes he played for their reserves before World War 2) than Manucho. And yes he was named just a backup because the Greeks had two stiffs they considered better than him. They were chasing Olympiakos for the league title. Do you not think he would have played Manucho more if he thought the boy was ready? The boy played his football in some backwater third world nation. It’s going to take a while before he is ready to wear United red at OT. Get your head out of the clouds mate.
April 17th, 2008 at 17:58
Nino; Villa has made it clear in the past that the only clubs in England he is interested in playing for is Arsenal and Liverpool. No Spanish ties here attractive enough for him to come over. At Arsenal he has his buddy Fabragas and at Liverpool he has a displaced La Liga team with an ex Valencia and Spanish manager. Hell, he is already turned down Chelsea’s big money too.
April 17th, 2008 at 18:16
Nino; The chances of any team other than possibly Chelsea signing Cun Aguerro are slim and none. Atletico’s owner just came out and said that he promises to keep Aguerro at Atletico and if he were to sell him we would be looking at 100 million to get it done. Outrageous but they see him as their Ronaldo. Chelsea are stupid enough and rich enough to pry someone like him or or Kaka or Messi, but United, Liverpool and Arsenal have to be a little more fiscally responsible.
To all the Benzema lovers out there. WAKE UP! We aren’t getting him. He doesn’t want to come here. In fact, he has no interest in the English League. He’s also a loser because he is comfortable playing in a tier two league for a team that rules the league and that will be knocked out of the Champions League every year at the Round of 16. He’s a LOSER. His dream is to bore himself playing in Italy once he decides to Lyon. In my opinon he is overrated anyway and much has been made over that one big goal he scored against us. I’d rather have a lot of garbage goals than a few gems anyway.
Regarding the 4 transfer targets. I think the Wigan part of the rumor is rubbish as I see no need for two players who aren’t good enough to be United players. As for Veloso and Moutinho, that rumor has been around for quite a while and I see it as a possibility. Veloso is versatile and he gives us that backup at CB or LB as well as playing the holding midfield role. Moutinho is a very good replacement for Scholes but weren’t Anderson and Carrick supposed to be that? For me it’s a player too many as we already have a clogged central midfield. Jesus H. Christ! If Fergie does not satisfactorily address our need for a quality striker and our lack of depth in that department this summer I will have a hissy fit. Enough already! Huntelaar, Gomez, Fabiano, Benzema, Drogba etc I don’t care which one, just get one for crying out loud. If I’m forced to seeing Rooney up front by himself again or Tevez and Rooney working a great one/two every tenth game and then clogging up the midfield then I will vomit. Please Fergie, I’m begging you. Please sign Huntelaar or Gomez and make that poor miserable old Grognard happy.
April 17th, 2008 at 18:17
are you seriously comparing a management team post-world war to one now… theres been this little thing between then and now called time, and in time things change. if he wasnt as good as welbeck, why would saf sign him anyway? why sign a 24 year-old who is worst then an inexperienced kid, the man utd management must see something in him worth buying. the thing with you grognard, if there is a player you dont like, you are quick to dismiss them, you’ve done this countless of times but if its someone you do like, like benzema, you would say he should be in the starting 11, or like torres, or drogba, you love to talk nicely about other teams strikers and talk so poorly of our own and you cant deny this. i think manucho can be the striker you want just that your reluctant to give him a chance.
April 17th, 2008 at 18:26
[Grognard]
Manucho has done well in the African Nations Cup too, not just the “backwater Third World Nation”. True he doesnt have experience playing at the top level but yes, there can be no doubt that he has the quality to shine. Man Utd don’t hire trash and I would like to believe that they do think considerably about a player before purchasing him.
Manucho will bring aerial threat and physical presence in the box, which our team desperately lacks. Perhaps he wont have a huge impact in his 1st season here, I grant you that, considering his inexperience and the monster called Premier League, but he wil get there. Look at Adebayor, Manucho is in the same mould.
April 17th, 2008 at 18:32
Dan; It was a joke! Buy yourself a sense of humor will ya! The fact that I would be comparing my Dad’s era to now is obviously meant as humor. And they call me too serious. JEEZ! Of course United see something in Manucho. But he is a 24 year old kid that has never played football at a high level. He needs to get acclimated to the very best and it’s going to take time or you will shatter the lad’s confidence. You watch and judge the game like a true couch potato. Have you ever played a sport? Your rash comments make me wonder? Benzema, Torres, Huntelaar and Gomez are world class young players who are currently playing for top of the line teams. They don’t come from nowhere with no experience in top flight football.
And I don’t talk badly of our own strikers because frankly speaking, WE DON’T HAVE ANY! Tevez is not really a front line striker, neither is Rooney. And don’t get me started on Balsa Boy. You are bloody hopeless Dan. Your arguments remind me of the kind a grade schooler would give because he just happens to like a player. I admire your passion and your devotion for United but please wake up to the realities of the situation as well as the sport and it’s professional approach. “i think Manucho can be the striker you want just that you are reluctant to give him a chance.” Your damned right i’m not willing to throw him into the starting lineup on the best team in Europe when he isn’t ready enough to play for fucking Panathinaikos in the second tier Greek league. God give me strength! Get your head out of the clouds and have drink of reality juice.
April 17th, 2008 at 18:34
Fair points Grognard, but let’s not forget we have a strong Portuguese contingent at United, which is the next best thing. Also, do you not think that, if it happens, our possible coronation as kings of Europe would greatly increase the chances of having top-class players at our doorstep begging us to sign them up?
United are a team very much in the ascendancy, and I struggle to understand why players like Villa would turn down the chance to play for four competitions each season, with the best player in the world Cristiano Ronaldo and company providing the bullets, and instead scrap for third/fourth place with Pool/L’Arse?? Oh well, their loss I guess…
April 17th, 2008 at 18:43
Mihir, you still remember Djemba-Djemba by any chance? I’m not for one second saying that Manucho will turn out like him, but we are not infallible in the transfer market. I agree Manucho showed flashes of true quality at the ANC, but at the moment he is like a very very rough African diamond that needs to be cut and polished a lot before he begins to sparkle. I agree with Grognard that he is far from ready to play for us yet. Maybe a season in the Championship or League One will give us a better indication of whether he is ready to step up to the plate.
PS. This Manucho talk reminds me of what happened with Dong a few years back. Whatever happened to that fellow?
April 17th, 2008 at 18:53
Hey guys! I’m from Greece and my team is Panathinaikos F.C. (Domazos , Saravakos , Warzycha , Veron - the father,great footballer - , Basinas , Seitaredis )
Some things about Manucho. He ’s way over the average greek player in terms of physical attributes. He is a nice finisher and he ’s got average technique.
But still, his intelligence in the pitch is very poor. Very poor decision making , very poor positioning.
If he comes to Manchester he’s got to make some serious effort. For Panathinaikos he was average for reasons. 1 he is very careful cause he wants to train in Altraford next summer , so he wasn’t hungry for the ball nor he was tackling or marking. In Greece we say it “he doesn’t put his legs in the fire” 2 the coach didn’t give him many opportunities.
So Manucho will need at least 6 months of training in Altraford. Berbatov “doesn’t put his legs in the fire either” so we should go for Villa. Benzema will go to Real or Barca. Aguero will do the same thing. Also these two players will need to stregthen so as to come to England. You know, something like Defoe is better than them in England. They are great technicians , they are pacy strikers but still they don’t fit in the EPL.
Huntelaar is a very good choice as a good prospect for the future.His technique is great . He has never been in a club like Manchester where the training sessions are very hard and the starting eleve must be really great. We don’t know if he can handle the pressure although he is a Dutch professional footballer.
I don’t want us to buy Berba but I want us to buy Villa or try Benzema.Karim Benzema isn’t coming though.Who knows ? Maybe SAf will take onme more risk in his life and we will buy Huntelar.He is a great choice and the most possible cause SAF said he wants to bring in youth players.
CHOICES in SAF’s mind 1 Huntelaar 2Berbatov 3Aguero-Villa
in my mind 1 Villa - Aguero - Benzema - Arizmendi 2Huntelaar 3 there’s no third choice no Berbatov I mean.
ARIZMENDI?
April 17th, 2008 at 19:02
Nino; Actually the number one reason a lot of player don’t want to play at United is because of the city’s location in the north and the harsh weather. Most players especially South American’s, Africans and Latins prefer Spain, Portugal and Italy for cultural reasons and because the weather is suitable. French players like it in England but they especially like it at Arsenal because of Wenger. Most quality Spanish speaking players prefer Liverpool despite the weather because of Benitez and some prefer Chelsea because of the money and because many wanted to play for Mourinho, before he left of course. Ferguson is not as attractive to more proven players because he has a reputation as a disciplinarian and because his name has been tarnished by players like Veron, RVN, Heinze and others that left on bad terms. I’m sure even Beckham has said a few negative things about him in private, while praising Fergie in public. The one bonus we do have in signing more exotic players with Spanish or Portuguese heritage is Carlos Queiroz. We can never underestimate what he means to this club when it comes to securing the players we have and we will get. He is very highly respected. Ronaldo, Nani and Anderson are very happy here because of him. He has helped them make the cultural transition while working hard to maintain their happiness on and off the field.
Where do we have advantages in signing players? We have an advantage buying players from lesser clubs in the BPL and the rest of the UK. We have scouts and good connections in Portugal, Holland, Brazil and in Eastern Europe. We need to open our minds more towards Germany and Italy because there is a growing need for many Italians and Germans to ply their trade outside of the Serie A and the Bundesliga. This was unheard of just a few years ago. Germany is a stronghold of talent but Fergie and United continue to avoid it. I also think that we don’t look at Northern Europe enough. While everybody is scouring Africa for talent, Northern Europe is being widely ignored. Remember Ole Gunnar Solksjaer? The Scandinavian countries have something to offer.
April 17th, 2008 at 19:09
P.S. The fact that I don’t like Berbatov doesn’t he is a bad choice for our team. He ’s got great technique and movements in the box but he doesn’t fit in my favorite pacy style we play right now. I think that SAF likes players like him. Ready to play , used to the English style , international , poacher. But that’s not what we fans like. Villa should be the first choice.I shouldn’t be dreaming of having Aguero or Benzema
April 17th, 2008 at 19:25
[Dan]
“You are quick to dismiss them, you’ve done this countless of times but if its someone you do like, like benzema, you…”
Pointless and unnecessary trying to accuse some one’s bias. If you have points to say about a players’ qualities then say it. Don’t bother yourselves about Grognard’s bias. You have your own on Welbeck. So stop this.
[Grognard]
“Get your head out of the clouds mate”, “Have you ever played any sport?”
Again unnecessary.
April 17th, 2008 at 19:27
Hey people Barca fan here,pardon my english im still learning.I have come here to the website for the
last two weeks to find out your fans mood.Here in spain its do or die this season.Rijkaard already
has benn told that if they do not win the uefa final he is going to be out.And i’m also pretty sure
that the players would give their best.But i feel Man utd are A strong team However the fans of Man utd
are thinking that we would be an easy pass but according to me we have only one chance left for the
season and we feel we are better in certain department like:
Forwards - ETO,Henry,Messi,Iniesta, are going to trouble man utd
Midfield - deco is back,xavi,toure,marquez, are ok compared to man utd
Defence - The only problem we face is in defence so maybe we are weak :
Given the situation we are in as everybody say that we are underdogs,i dont believe that.
milan performed badly last year in serie A so they won so i will be optimistic we win
and MAn utd are already talking about double still semi- final to go.Premiership is a reality
because in europe they dont have enough strenght ;:AND one major point is they have not faced
good team this season,only roma and Lyon all small teams.Plus rooney is not messi.only threat from manu
is ronaldo if we keep him quiet we win::this is my opinion off course”"”
April 17th, 2008 at 19:30
Personally I feel this whole striker thing is being overplayed.We have brilliant goal getters in CR7,Tevez and Rooney.What we need is someone 2 back up and keep Roovez on their toes.That slot would have been Rossi’s and I think we were extremely foolish 2 sell him and our Academy should be burnt coz we are getting rid of Pique too
April 17th, 2008 at 19:35
[Everyone]
And from now on when I see some feud simmering here, I’ll point out things that were unnecessary. Unless of course the entire comment is meant as a wind up.
Take this in good spirit and move on. I have nothing against anyone here.
And one more thing, no arguments about my decisions here in the comments. People who like to always have the last word in an argument, kindly use the contact form and do so there.
April 17th, 2008 at 19:36
Nikos; Arizmendi? Where in the hell did you pull his name out of? He isn’t even a regular starter for Valencia, he is more of an impact sub, so he would never be good enough to play for us. But thanks for the information about Manucho, good to have someone who actually knows how Manucho has done for your team. Agrred on buying Benzema or Villa, or possibly Huntelaar. Also agreed on Berbatov not suiting our fast paced style. But Aguero would drop deep too much and well, Arizmendi is crap
. Surprised no-one has mentioned Mauro Zarat since he is available, and I don’t really see the comparisons between Tevez and Zarate(on a few other blogs) , I think Zarate would offer something in behind, good skill and great finishing, Tevez plays very differently to him.
RedRanter, you seem stressed from all this moderating, just take a break from it for a few days I really think we could handle it ourselves.
April 17th, 2008 at 19:38
I have a different theory than grogy!
I think instead of striker what we need is a top class high scoring CM! Somebody like Gerrard/Lampard/Van der Vaart type! From this position we have scored a grand total of 4 goals or so in the league! This must be the most pathetic performance of all teams this year! Scholes has 1, Anderson has 0, carrick has 1 and OH has 2. I dont understand why knowledgeable people like Grogy et al dont see this as a problem! I think our forwards (Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo) have done pretty well this year (yes lets include Ronaldo in forwards as he has played like one. bucketloads of goals and a few assists)
I think we should just buy one high scoring ACM who can create as well (Diego/Van der Vaart). Frankly I dont see Carrick or OH giving us 10+ goals a season. Gerrard has had 20+ goals for Liverpool this year! Thats probably more than two times all of our midfielders (bar Ronaldo) put together!
April 17th, 2008 at 19:42
oh soory, just saw your later post, i’ll leave it be if you wish.