Comments on: Manchester United confirm new contracts for Brown, Ferdinand and Carrick

By: Paddy

Paddy — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:31:38 +0000

Grognard, in relation to Adriano: as they say “he who dares wins”. And if Alves wasn’t possible Lahm and Rafinha would be good alternatives.

By: Conor

Conor — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:49:44 +0000

I would take Torres without hesitation, as he’s not only a goalscorer but he can run in behind and he can create chances for himself. Saha provided a good foil for Rooney last year and Rooney had his best season playing alongside him and we had our best season goal-wise for a while so we should be looking for an ideal partner for Rooney rather than someone who can finish the countless chances we create. I think first and foremost we should be looking for someone who can stretch and occupy the last line of defence to leave space for Rooney, Torres would be ideal but we will not be getting him. Berbatov could be this man, but I’m just not sure, Gomez may also be able to do this and score a few goals but who knows. I mean I just changed my mind as in I definitely do not want Huntelaar as I was considering buying him for the goals he would score rather than the partnership he would be able to from with Rooney.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:33:57 +0000

So Coner you would reject Torres as he is not the kind of striker we need and wouldnt improve us?! That is if your saying we dont need a goalscorer?

Come on guys, we need to stock up in the striking department as we only have 2 we can rely on. Why buy what we already have in Rooney and Tevez?! Lets have something different on the plate. Look how well Saha did last season when fit as and out and out striker – just what we need as an alternative.

By: Conor

Conor — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:41:48 +0000

Don’t know why I missed some of these comments but this one comment here from JB:
“Jos: Bingo, we have won 9 champioships under SAF. How many times did we have strikers scoring 20 goals in the league? Twice.” has completely changed my mind about what kind of striker we need. Sorry Grognard, I’ve left your side and gone over to the dark side regarding this subject

By: Grognard

Grognard — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 22:02:21 +0000

Paddy; Adriano is a risk I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole. And I think the chances of getting Alves are slim and none.

By: Paddy

Paddy — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:15:14 +0000

The contacts are good news but a few new players are needed. Alves should be bought to become first choice right back. Brown would then only count as a centre back so we wouldn’t need to buy another one. The other problem area is another striker as Saha is always injured. Most people would say to buy Berbatov or Huntelaar but I’ve something totally different in mind. This striker had one or two desperate seasons but he went back top his homeland and has now rediscovered his old form. He’s an out and out striker, he’s very physical, has a stinging shot, can take a free kick and never misses a penalty. Who is this man, the answer is – Adriano. Think about it, he’s only 26,wouldn’t mind being on the bench, has been playing great in the Torneo Paulista and would be piss cheap(in football terms of course) around Â£5m would get him. My Man Utd team next year would be:
1.Van Der Sar
2.Alves 5.Ferdinand(C) 15.Vidic 3.Evra
18.Scholes 4.Hargreaves 8.Anderson
7.Ronaldo 10.Rooney 32.Tevez
Bench: 12.Foster, 6.Brown, 16.Carrick, 17.Nani, 9.Adriano.
Saha and Fletcher would be sold and I’d retire Gazza Neville because he’ll never get back to his old form. Next season would be Giggs’ last one.

By: Grognard

Grognard — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 15:40:17 +0000

Jos; You can’t put all the responsibility for not having won more trophies on to RVN’s shoulders. If he was the same player today (which he no longer is) with our current lineup he would score well over 30 goals in all competitions and we would probably have an insurmountable lead in the BPL right now. Instead we are 2 points ahead of a sad and unimpressive group of misfits managed by an idiot. When RVN was here Arsenal had their famous undefeated campaign and Chelsea won two championship in two years under the Special One, while only conceding three or four league defeats in two years. Our opposition was very good and we had problems on defense, and no great depth at midfield like we have right now. Todays team is so much better than what RVN had for most of his tenure.

JB is partially correct when he says we need somebody to take the pressure of Rooney and allow him to play the role he is comfortable with, which is the position of second striker. However, it is important that this player be a goal scoring striker because that kind of impact player is capable of taking attention off of Rooney and even Ronaldo. Tevez or anything remotely resembling Tevez won’t do it. Tevez for me is an ideal super sub because of his work ethic and terrier like running in short 30 minute bursts. As a starter he tends to lose gas in the second half. As well, if he offers all that in the beginning of a game, then he faces fresh opponents as opposed to late in the game when they are tired. That ruins the advantage he gives us with his energy and speed.

Sorry but like Dan, I am stubborn and nobody can convince me of any alternative that doesn’t involve the purchase of a true goal scorer. We need to stop having lowered expectations. If you shoot for the stars, you may reach the moon. If you only shoot for the moon, you may not make it in to space. Why settle for 70 to 80 goals in a BPL season? Shoot for 100. A true striker would bridge that gap in goal scoring quality and total, and with it would come even fewer losses and ties and a closer chance to showing the record dominance of those Arsenal and Chelsea teams that hardly ever lost a match.

By: Dan(u-o.l)

Dan(u-o.l) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:46:27 +0000

then yea, buy veloso, how many times have said we dont NEED a striker but IT WOULD BE BETTER. im not saying saf should hold all his transfer plans and buy a winger im just saying it would be useful. but yea fine, buy veloso and use evra as a winger, that would work to.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:31:18 +0000

I think what everyone means with the lonely striker is that we need that different option. We are fine as we are and have shown this season that we can be succesful without an out and out striker but we do need that extra option and its gonna help us improve and thats what its all about, being stronger than the previous year.

Fergie has said he will be looking at younger, hungry players who will make the squad better and have the potential to improve in the future. Do Huntelaar, Bowinga + Veloso fit that requirement? Yes they do.
O’Shea is a terrific player but still what is his best position? I think left back as most people do but if Evra got a season long injury could we rely on O’Shea to play left back all season? A bit like Brown has with Nev’s injury, im not sure. Im not saying Veloso would do a better job but he has some great qualities from the half dozen times i’ve seen him and playing with better players will only help him and if he has the required desire to improve and succeed then he could become a very good player.

By: NiKOS

NiKOS — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:05:29 +0000

jos I do like your view of the football things. As we can see football isn’t the same anymore . I mean who is the forward who’s the midfielder. Are there clear positions or do they depend on players’ creation and needs of the attcking psition?

You know, Manchester has never had the first scorer when we won the EPL, except 3 times I think.

1st time was Yorke 18 goals 98-99 together with Owen and Hasselbaink
2nd 2002-03 RvN 25 goals.
So , it was 2 times we had the first scorer.

All these LONELY STRIKER goals (215) by RvN gave as the 4 domestic titles , one time each , between the seasons 01-02 and 05-06

So, who fcks that lonely Striker ?