Jun 30
In memory of United’s greatest
I’m posting again after a long time. I’ve noticed how most of the posts for some time now have been battling transfer rumours spread by obnoxious tabloids. This isn’t going to be one of those.
This is about a sadness that wells up every time I think about two players that have left United via the ‘back door’. These two, together, have proven to the world what they can do when playing together. No points for guessing. Its Ruud and Becks. The first was the result of a really bad case of the club trying to offload a jaded star and for a decent price while they still could. The second, well, is a truly sad story.
Ruud has picked up the Pichichi this season. Forlan went that way before him. 25 goals apiece. It really irks me to think that we let him go and that for a petty $18M. 25 goals mate! I mean, it’s worth a king’s ransom. He has had his moments of brilliance, no doubt. But this season, ageing player that he is, his record has come about mostly thanks to some incredible feeding from many of his team-mates. Given our own amazing team efforts this season, I am beginning to wonder if he wouldn’t have scored as many here at OT.
Those goals in no small part came thanks to much slandered Beckham. He really deserved a lot better than the treatment he got since his departure. I can’t believe that there are United ‘fans’ who berate him and hold him in contempt despite his immense contributions to the club’s success. For those of you who tend to have a fickle memory, the winner on that wild night in ’99 came of his corner. There are times when his crossing has been so inch-perfect that it upped the goal scoring capability of really mediocre players. Take Crouch’s goal against Trinidad and Tobago in the World Cup for example. England were skulking around the pitch in want of some good old fashioned creativity till that forty yard cross came out of nowhere.
The truth about Beckham is that he has been blind in his ambition as he has been blind in his dotage toward his dear wife. I have nothing personal against the Beckhams, mind you. It’s just that, in my eyes, and the eyes of any United fan, Becks chose his wife and their ambitions over those of his club. Both are, I suppose once in a lifetime affairs, but nonetheless, I will feel aggrieved.
But I will not tolerate badmouthing of a player who, in all respects, is one of the world’s most talented midfielders. His vision and crossing are impeccable. Passing is fine, even by United’s high standards. And he should have been here at OT where he was at his very best. A move to LA is by no means a career highlight. It is my belief that this again is a result of the coaxing and cajoling by his ambitious better-half, but then, that’s just my opinion. Whatever the reasons, I rue the day he set out from Manchester to play with the Galacticos.
Again in pure retrospective speculation, I will go as far as to say that Fergie would have been a happier boss today if he hadn’t ousted Becks. Financially, he was a boon. On the pitch, his professionalism is unquestionable. In fact, United haven’t really been able to play the 4-4-2 effectively because of the lack of such crossing ability in the wings since his departure.
His presence along with Ruud’s would have assured that those fiascos in Europe and at home never happened. And what Fergie is pushing for now, in the twilight of his career, as he would have it, he would have already had: a second Champions League trophy in the cabinet.
For the second time, a player of immense caliber left United much to our woe. The first was God. The second, well, was only too human. If only history was written in retrospect…if only…
June 30th, 2007 at 12:51
The best post till now on this site mate!!! It brought bought all those nostalgic feelings of celebrating countless times when ever these duo scored for United.
June 30th, 2007 at 13:54
Fair comments mate,
But Ronny & Rooney surpass Becks & Ruud.
June 30th, 2007 at 17:58
A very good post.I still rue the fact that we let becks go.His class is obvious by the performances he has put in for RM and he has shown what we’ve missed since his departure.Same applies for Ruud.We let him go and now we r desperately searching for a good goal poacher,none come better than Ruud.They both have won the La Liga title for RM on their own.Perhaps if Fergie would have been more considerate then he would’ve won a second champions league by now.
June 30th, 2007 at 20:35
I think offloading Beckham wasn’t the worst move ever because it was becoming a case of the man is more than the club, he was wondering when the next aftershave ad was on rather than who he was playing that weekend. Don’t get me wrong on his day he was a great player but he wasn’t the type who would come out with a great piece of skill that could lift the fans in the way Ronaldo does. And the way he walked around with his hair tied back after the boot kicking incident, what a girl.
With Ruud we still don’t know all the facts about his exit from United he apparently was refusing to sit on the bench when Saha took his place instead of fighting for it which shows a clear lack of attitude and then to go of at Ronaldo because the only other Potuguese person at the club paid more attention to him than the Almighty Ruud.
June 30th, 2007 at 20:51
About Ruud:
- The five years he was here could be the five least succesful years of the Fergie era: one championship, some cup glory and that’s it, by United’s standard that’s quite awful.
- United scored in his last 3 years(don’t have time to look for the first two): 64-58-72 times; 83 this year so you can’t really argue that the offense became weaker.
- The 1-0 defeats didn’t start this season: glancing through the results of the last years they werce quite common.
- These are just numbers, but my biggest knock on Ruud is that the attacking play of Utd became more stagnant with him in the team. He slowed the team down, in the open play didn’t do much other than hold up the ball, wich is nice and in a different system like in Capello’s it can be very effective, in a team full with free flowing players it may not be the best. When Fergie put in Saha last years instead of him, despite Scholes’ absent United played the best football of the year.
- It’d misleading to suggest that only Ruud’s departure meant 11 more goals from last year. The introduction of Carrick, Ronaldo’s maturation, Fergie ditching 4-5-1 helped a lot.
Basically, what I’m saying is that while Ruud is a great player, who I really like, I don’t think United need a player like him and that the team is better of without him. I know the sample size is small, only one season since he left, but still if you want to blame someone for not winning the CL blame 1, the Italian FA for letting Milan participate 2, the lack of depth and the resulting exhaustion of the player 3, one terrible night in Milan.
June 30th, 2007 at 22:21
Nice post. But if you term Becks in the superlatives as the greatest (and God!), then I beg to differ.
July 1st, 2007 at 15:09
hey!just look at our debts.if becks was here we could have been stronger financially and we could have repaid the huge amount of interest on the glazer loans more effectively.BTW I still feel chills down my spine when i remember the huge debts we have(courtesy glazers).Bloody greedy americans,imagine if they walk out one day leaving their debts on our beloved club.May those shitty yanks rot in hell.The Glazer takeover with borrowed money could have been the worst thing that happened to our club.