May 04
Man Utd 4-1 West Ham: One Hand On the Title
Yes, one hand on the title it is. Wigan won their game yesterday against Villa and ensured their survival. So they have nothing to play for when they face us next week. Despite it being an away game, this season’s Premier League title is only United’s to lose.
But getting back to yesterday’s game, it’s nice to see the swagger back. Presumably, the win against Barcelona could have driven the men on. Or perhaps, it’s the knowledge that, with only three games to go, prior to yesterday, they can afford to give it their all for the final push.
Either way, a warm welcome to Manchester United as we know them. What we saw over the past two-three weeks was a pale shadow, to be honest.
Now it feels so nice to be writing about a big win after a long time that you can’t really think of things to write about; the performance was top notch with every player playing so well that you can’t really spend time dwelling on shortcomings like we did in previous games. Plus, it would also be boring to be saying, Ronaldo was excellent, Rio was fantastic, Tevez was amazing, Man Utd played like Champions — in a drone similar to the puppet on Setanta Sports. So let’s just keep this short for a change, and instead bask in the happiness.
With Rooney still out, Fergie went with his strongest team — just as I thought he would — and sent the same side he did against Barcelona; Park and Nani played in the wings; Ronaldo and Tevez upfront; Carrick and Scholes in midfield; Evra, Rio, Brown, Hargreaves and EVDS at the back.
Ronaldo immediately opened the account in the third minute by making Lucas Neill look silly, cutting in and scoring goal number 39. Soon after he was to score #40 thanks to an excellent cross by Hargreaves and the Portugeezer’s gifted thighs/crotch/thigh+crotch (throtch?). Carlos Tevez belted in a screamer and apologised to the Hammers fans, who in turn applauded him. Strangely the atmosphere appeared pretty cordial as United supporters applauded Dean Ashton’s brilliant overhead kick.
As an aside, there were murmurs in the press about Fergie being interested in the Hammers striker — I read somewhere that he was a Man Utd fan too as a kid. While I can’t take this seriously, I would certainly expect this to gather weight as he’s now scored against us, and Fergie’s been a known admirer of players who perform well against United. Personally, I found him promising when he first arrived from Norwich but has now been too injury prone for my liking.
Even Michael Carrick, another ex-Hammer, scored — albeit helped by a deflection to make it 4-1.
But before this there was some drama. Lucas Neill and Nani were involved in a bit of a scuffle which ended up with Nani headbutting him and falling like he was tasered by an invisible entity. It was clear that Neill provoked him into doing what he did; the Australian himself falling down like he’d been shot. But Nani’s behaviour — both the headbutt as well as him falling down — was disgusting to watch.
It’s hard to point fingers at other teams when some of your own resort to play acting of this kind. Ronaldo did a lot of this, but has now cut it more or less from his game. Nani could do well to learn from him that diving will haunt him later on in his career as it could be a case of the boy who cried wolf. Ronaldo has been faced with countless such situations of late, and it is his reputation that has become a burden on him. When Fergie’s and CQ’s post match talk accept that it was a fair decision from the referee, you know they would have beaten some sense into Nani.
Moving on to pleasant stuff, it’s good to see Hargreaves playing so many games in a short span amid concerns over his fitness. It’s good that players like Rooney, Tevez, Hargreaves don’t have to be involved in the Euro’s. They all deserve a lot of rest and some rehabilitation to get in peak shape for the next season. I would have also wanted Ronaldo to give himself a break, but at the moment he does seem like an unstoppable machine.
Monday will see Chelsea visit St. James’ Park and could be tricky given Newcastle’s good form. But if we do our job next weekend it doesn’t really matter.
Loved the game yesterday, loved the movement. Loved Fergie addressing the crowd and appreciating their support in our last home game of the season. Hopefully the next time we return, it will be with a League trophy and a Champions’ League crown.
Related items from Red Rants:
- West Ham v Man Utd: Live
- Tevez Update: Is a Solution Finally In Sight?
- Rooney Out For A Month
- Man Utd 2010/11 Season Fixtures Announced
- West Ham United vs Manchester United: Match Preview
Tags: Match Reports
Opti (541)
Stephen (479)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (345)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
AMEN
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I have to say that yesterdays game was like a FIFA 08 game! The fast play, the cracking goals and Ronaldos first goal was like one of the ones I scored against Barca on my Xbox 360. Loved it, he humiliated Neill and scored his first goal since the pen against Arsenal. And just like on tuesday, we scored a long range screamer! Ashton is a player I admire, I think he is one of the best English strikers in the prem. He is better than Heskey, Crouch and Owen, its just that he gets injured very often. Never mind that, we have gotten used to that with Saha. But all the West Ham players get injured now a days, so maybe its not his fault. Would love him to join us here at the biggest club in the world! Even Fergie said he was impressed by him, without even being asked(!), so maybe he thinks about buying him. He would like to have another english striker in the team.
Well, enough about Dean Ashton. Wigan impressed me yesterday, to beat Aston Villa 2-0 at Villa Park takes something special. Stevie Bruce have made them a great team. Something that worries me. They have taken points off Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea after he arried and before that they had lost every game against the top 4. It will be a hard game next sunday, so hopefully Newcastle will do us a favor. I think they will hold Chelsea to a 2-2 draw on monday!
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Lets assume Chelsea win at Newcastle. Will it still feel like one hand on the title with Man U playing away and Chelsea at home for the last matches?
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antimanu, when you are such a fantastic team as Man Utd, teams like Wigan don’t really scare us so yes we have 1 hand on the trophy even if Chelski win
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[Antimanu]
Lets assume Chelsea win at Newcastle. Will it still feel like one hand on the title with Man U playing away and Chelsea at home for the last matches?
Yes. That’s why it’s one hand on the title. Otherwise it would be two hands.
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first time I’ve commented. just wanted to say that this is a really good blog, particularly to read prior to matches, and afterwards also.
yesterday was a good result, despite West Ham not really having any motivation, and it gives us the boost we need to go on and finish the job. unfortunately Nani’s theatrics were a blemish on the overall teams performance, I’m sure the S.A.F and C.Q will knock this out of him. Nani seems very similar to Ronaldo in his first season, lets just hope he grows up and also learns to look up when he’s running with the ball. heres to Butt and co. doing us a big favor on Monday night.
i’d love it if they beat them, love it.
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Then the Championship is decided!
Champions: West Bromwich Albion
Promoted: Stoke.
Play offs to the PL: Watford, Crystal Palace, Hull and Bristol City.
Relegated to League 1: Scruntschope, Leicester and Colchester.
Looking forward to playing Stoke and West Brom next season! Hopefully Hull will join them. I like the way they play. Their stadium is class too.
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Does anyone have the interview that Sir Alex give after match to the fans.
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Chelsea winning at Newcastle tomorrow is not foregone conclusion. They never play well there and Newcastle is one of the few in form teams playing right now. Their players are playing for jobs so I expect Keegan’s boys to give Chelsea a real battle. In fact, I will go out on a limb and say that Chelsea will draw at St James Park. This changes very little for us. We still need to win next week because I doubt Chelsea would lose at home to Bolton. But wouldn’t that be something. Bolton is fighting for their Premiership lives too. In reality, we have had it easier than Chelsea in the last two weeks of the season. We played or are playing teams with very little to play for. Chelsea are playing one team that is fighting to survive, and another one that hasn’t lost in 8 games on the road. Not an easy task for such an uninspiring and unimaginative outfit. Boys, the championship is ours. I can smell it. And we could be celebrating it as early as tomorrow.
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like wise RD, i want them to come to. stoke or hull will be the derby county of next season, the albion will be a bogey team and finish in the top half of the table, only to be met with a relegation battle on the 09/10 season.
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Bolton are safe Grognard, neither Bolton or Wigan have anything left to play for. And I think Newcastle will get a drw against them.
RedDevil & Dan; I agree that West Brom will do well, and Hull are my favourites to go up. Stoke will definitely go straight back down if they don’t buy a hell of a lot of quality players, they are similar to Watford a few years ago with their long ball style which doesn’t suit the PL.
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i dont know if its allowed, but after you’ve released a new kit for the next season, are you allowed to wear it in the current season? because if im not mistaken, the scouse are wearing their new kit right now against city…
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Ebrahim- http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1126121770?bctid=1531283391
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Dan- I know, Liverpool are doing it now. Just like Newcastle did last season. I think it is allowed, but it must be a new rule..
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Dan, no way in hell will WBA finish in the top half of the Prem!! I reckon they’ll be the Sunderland of this campaign i.e. just about secure survival with good home form and a couple of inspired signings (similar to Kenwyne Jones). They have a good manager though, who insists on playing good attacking football, so I’m looking forward to seeing them next season.
Stoke and the other promoted team (Watford would be my bet) will definitely be cannon fodder without a doubt and WILL go straight back down, though thats a bit like saying the Pope s***s in the woods…
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thanks reddevil
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Dan- Didnt see that you thought West Brom would finish in the top half. That is impossilbe, Spurs will be better next season, Newcastle will be better next season, so will West Ham and Boro(possibly). There is too much quality in the Premiership for them top finish in the top ten with us, Chelski, Arse, Pool, Villa, Everton, Pompey, Blackburn, Spurs and Newcastle. Do you really think West Brom fit there? I dont.
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i counted 9 teams. if wigan, Ipswich and even reading can do it, i see no reason why west brom can not.
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Because the quality of the Prem has become better with every season. All of the top 10 can probably get to Europe next season. Villa went from 16th to 6th in just two seasons, Everton from 16th to 4th, and Pompey from being one point over the relegation zone to challange for Europe this season. Newcastle have just become worse, but that is the only team I can think of. Blackburn, Spurs, City….the list continues for decent teams that are becoming great teams. The evolution is amazing. People saying the top 10 of the Spanish and Italian teams are better than the top 10 of England have to think again!
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I agree with grognard, chelski always find it difficult at St.James’ Park. I remember last season where Newcastle did us a magnificent favour giving us a boost in our title hopes. Hopefully they can do it again this season.
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Slow day today, so check this out.
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Chelsea have not won at St.James Park since December 2001!
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RR- Hillarious! HA-HA! Wenger is the best.
BTW; Check this out: http://therepublikofmancunia.com/micah-richards-could-be-coming-do-you-want-him/
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Yeah I read that, but it’s News of the World. I don’t trust that one bit. But yes, as a matter of discussion I think Richards would be a good right back — I won’t be prepared to pay the money for him though. There can be better options, I’m sure.
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RedDevil: What you say is true but teams can go backwards just as quickly. Everton got involved in a relegation battle after finishing in the CL spots. Reading are facing life in the championship after a top half finish last year. Who would have penned Spurs down for a bottom half finish at the start of the season or that Newcastle would have been in a relegation dog fight? It would be no real surprise if one or two of the teams mentioned really struggled next year.
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If United were to go down at Wigan -(No chance of this really), Brucie would be brokenhearted. He should find a way to drop Palacios and Valencia, who seem to be the driving force of Wigan midfield for some time now. Wigan will become like a home game for United, the United away fans will see to that!.
With Newcastle/Chelsea game, it will all depend on who Michael Owen, Mark Viduka, and Martins are routing for winning the championship. Footballer’s can say they are neutral all they like, but they seldom are. So lets hope they want to give their all for us. By the way, Arsenal still think they can grab it at the last minute – dreaming or what?.
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praying to christ the Richards rumours have some merit in them
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If you think the arsenal one is funny, check out the same thing in chelsea flavour
http://i29.tinypic.com/2ly3ipx.gif
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im shore most fans dont want richards. a talent yes, but not something we need/looking for.
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Guys you forget that new TV deal kicks in this season, so all the teams from EPL will get good money and will be able to get stronger. I will go so far as to say that all the teams that get promoted will have to fight for their lives and if at least one of the survives I will be suprised. If Reading, Bimingham and Derby go out, all the teams that stay (even Fulham and Bolton) have quility to stay in EPL, so I believ that the new comers are up for a tough ride.
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Of course he’s something were looking for. Hes not even 20 yrs old yet he’s easily the most dominant defender in the league. Hes simple faster n stronger than everyone else. He runs faster, he jumps higher, he tackles harder! On top of all that hes surprisingly skillful for a big lad & more than capable of supporting attacks! Theres nothing he cant do.
I think his main attributes are wasted when he plays CB. As a right back, he could become the best in world with ease. There are very few players on earth who have the speed to pass the boy in a one on one.
Imagine a defence of RIO VIDIC EVRA RICHARDS! Its near enough inpeneterable!
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wow you rate him highly. that doesnt mean we need him. mate, he is no where near the most dominant defender in the league. ferdinand, vidic, terry, carragher, dunne and campbell, they’re much more of a force to be reckoned with. and if he is suppose to be the best right back in the world, how come corluka is playing their?(the same right-back who is meant to be the best in the world according to some)
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He aint playing at right back mate, coz City aint blessed with quality center back unlike ourselves.
City need him playing at CB coz theyd be too vulnerable witout him there.
Have you not noticed Richards completely closing us out the last two times weve played City?
Tevez, Rooney, Ronaldo, None of our players had the beating of him. I take that as significant seeing that doesnt happen to us too often!
Il accept the first 3 names you mention are better than him but you have to acknowledge they are also significantly older.
This boy is the best young defender in the country hands down.
Look at his England appearances to date. HeS looked assured as if hes been playing at this level for years.
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I heard that United would use the kits we wore against City on February 10th in the Champions League final as an honour for the Busby Babes. Can anyone confirm that?
About Richards, I think he is a great defender. One of the Prems best, no doubt, but maybe not in the world as long as he plays in City. He would fit in well with this United team, maybe Rio could learn him how to behave. I think he is worth a shot!
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they’re all better than him, rio, vidic and pique are better CB then him, hargreaves is a better RB, simmo has the potential to be a great and its the same with the brazilian twins. Bottom line it, we are well covered at the back, and if we where to buy a defender, it would be a left back and thats it.
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All of us want a striker. Someone wants Huntelaar, someone wants Berbatov, someone wants Benzema and someone wants David Villa. The point I wanna reach here is good for the ones that want David Villa. He will be available for transfer this summer because of Valencias poor season. For some reason, the manager blames Villa. I have watched Valencia this season and I must say that it is the managers fault that they now are only 2 points above the drop-zone with three games left. Can anybody belive that this team was in the CL this season? But David Villa will be available for £15 million this summer because the manager doesnt see him as a first team member anymore and Villa thinks that he is too good for the team. Well, who can blame him? He is a first team member in the Spain team, one of the worlds best strikers, and the team he plays for doesnt wanna use him and they are 2 points from being relegated. Since he previously said that he wants to go to England, it might be a good chance for him ending up at Old Trafford this summer.
These news came after the Valencia game today: Valencia 0-6 Barcelona
Who is the best team in Europe now? I think we are!
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Dan- Richards is waaaaay better than Pique and Simmo! No contest actually.
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Dan; You want our own youth to succeed so much that you are blinded with regards to their real ability and the ability of others. You are also too biased with regards to our own when comparing them to others. Simpson couldn’t get a game at right back during January and we ended up playing O’Shea there, i.e. Simpson won’t become a United regular. Pique is not a better CB than him, Hargreaves is not a better right back nor should he be played as our regular right back, and the Brazilian twins come with a lot of potential and media coverage but not a lot of defensive ability, which is a lot more important here than in Brazil. Physically, Micah Richards is probably the best defender in the Premiership, and in terms of defensive capability he is right up there with the best, but the likes of the Ferdinand’s, Carvalho’s and Vidic’s are still better than him, I admit that. But in time it is definitely conceivable that he will become one of the best defenders in the world.
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I think whomever we buy, we’ll see Fergie doing what he did last season, i.e. close out the transfers within the first few weeks of the end of the season..so if we’re seeing these rumours about Ashton n Richards now, I think there’s more to it than just being run of the mill rumours…
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Since I am on fire with posting many news at the moment, here is an update before I leave:
Real Madrid are Champions of Spain!
Bayern Munich are Champions of Germany! Good for you Groggy
Inter lost to Milan today, so it only seperates 3 points between them and Roma with 3 games left.
Lyon are having problems in the French League! Bordoux are now only two points behind Lyon with two games left.
Good night! If you dont know the stats, I will tell you: Every time Real Madrid win the league, so do United…
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conor, read again, i said he has the potential, i didnt say he was better. saying richards is better then pique or pique is better then richards is a matter of opinion, and my opinion is that pique is a better cb then richards, and hargreaves is a better rb then richards, is that wrong to think? im not being biased, its my opinion, if i where bias i would say ferdinand is the best defender in the world and carragher is shit but not as shit as richards, but no im truthful in what im saying. its my honest opinion, i dont think we need him.
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[RedDevil]
According to reports, Valencia had one of their worst games of the season today…they are truly in shambles. That said, some of the goals Barca scored today were beauties…esp liked the Bojan one (5th goal).
You know just because we beat Barca and they thrash Valencia..that doesn’t make us the best in the world, mate.
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[Dan]
No harm in stating your opinions. But when you have opinions they are usually based on some evidence that you’ve seen. Otherwise you’d just be throwing out words. So when you say Simmo and the twins have potential to be great on what are you basing your assumptions on? For example tell me what strengths have you seen in the Brazilian twins that makes them potentially great — other than a minute’s worth of youtube clips. Have you seen them play for the reserves? If so, what attributes have impressed you? If it’s the Brazilian league that you saw them play then how do you think they will adapt? Surely you’ve got to have seen something to conclude that they have potential to be ‘great’ (not just good, but great). These things make them concrete opinions.
Otherwise they wouldn’t be opinions, they’d be just words thrown on a hunch. Of course, if it is just a hunch do let us know. Nothing wrong in that, but it should make your point of view a little clear when we debate.
Personally I can’t say much about the kids for example because I need to have seen them play. What guarantee is there that they are different from the likes of Dave Jones or Kieran Richardson?
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RIO VIDIC RICAHRDS EVRA……Thats all im saying!
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First of all Dan, Ferdinand right now is the best defender in the world. Nobody in Spain or in Italy and certainly nobody else anywhere else is better than him at this moment. Vidic is pretty close though. If we could sign Micah Richards that would be fantastic but I would insist that he change his name to Michael because I absolutely hate the name Micah
. Also, I agree about Hargreaves. Right now I think he could qualify for one of the top 6 RB’s in the world. He’s that good and that comfortable in that position. Conor he’s a fantastic DMF but he offers more on the right side because of his pace, overlapping ability and of course his ability to make laser guided crosses.
Secondly, I have a feeling I an a lot of other fans are going to be very disappointed because I think Fergie’s only forward signing will be Dean Ashton to back up Tevez and Rooney. That means no Huntelaar, Villa, Benzema, Gomez or Berbatov. This is bad news for two reasons. First, we really need a top line striker, not just a good backup. Secondly, chances are Chelsea and and other top clubs we play in the Prem or in Europe will sign the others. It just makes us weaker and them stronger in my opinion. Now I also hear the audacious attempt of Chelsea to buy Messi from Barca for a record 80 Million. If that happens it will spell catastrophe for United. We can’t allow our opponents who are already not that far behind us in points to improve that much and then expect us to be better than them if we stay pat. Richards would improve us but not as much a goal poacher would. I’d settle for an attacking midfielder who could score the odd goal though. Just my opinion.
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Villa would be a great signing but from what I have seen he is also in the Tevez/Rooney mold. But if he really is going for 15 million we would be hard pressed to find anyone else of that quality for that amount.
I do not want Ashton. We do not need another injury prone striker to replace Saha.
Richards would be good but I would not pay more than 10-15 million. He lacks positional sense and is not that skillful. I also doubt Man City would sell us to him. If they appoint a new successor and Thaksin gets hold of some millions they’d want to keep their best players.
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But at £25m Richards is a bit steep. I would have thought buying him wouldn’t leave a hell of alot of money in the striker pot. Still I do like the idea of him at RB.
RedDevil: What manager was blaming Villa? If it was Koeman, he has now been shown the door and I wouldn’t like to try and call the maangement situation at Valencia in the future. My biggest concern about him would be his physical attributes. He gels well with players like Morientes and Torres however with us he would be another in a vast collection of short strikers who like to play in the hole.
P.S. £15M is the lowest price tag I’ve heard for him. He normally weighs in around the mid twenty mark.
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[Grognard]
Messi to Chelsea is absolute rubbish. There are no quotes to back that up. Secondly, at the moment, Barcelona are looking to re build their side around players like Messi. Clearly he is their Messi-ah and there would be public outrage if that happens. Moreover he’s been brittle even in the spanish league and could be a big risk with his history.
Plus he won’t fit into Chelsea’s high work rate system.
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Grognard: I think the strikr situation depends on what SAF deems is necesary. There are two ways of looking at it. One is that we need a new striker who will go stright into the starting 11 and be a automatic pick. The other is that he is happy eough with the first team and is simply looking to add depth to the forward line.
If SAF has decided on the second then Ashton is a reasonable enough signing (although I have reservations over his mobility and fitness). And to be fair you can’t relly base you transfer strategy on the aim of denying your opponent targets. As for the Messi story don’t pay it much attention, it is the usual tittle tattle the Sunday tabloids have been serving up over here since Roman arrived.
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What we need is a striker like Drogba, not necessarily him, but one like him. A big strong powerful forward that could break down defenses. Benzema seems to fit this profile, and maybe huntelaar.
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