Jul 14
Ronaldo’s Alligator Adventure + Cannavaro – Zola – Eriksson – Pele – Banks – Ferdinand
The Sun runs a story today that Rio Ferdinand could face a four match ban. It’s only the Sun at the moment that carries this ‘exclusive’ (that’s why they call it an exclusive, don’t they?), but one wonders why it’s taken them this long. Ferdinand lashed out after the Chelsea game, which seems like aeons ago. The part of the article that reckons that his captaincy status for England would be threatened is pure bollocks, because that would be Capello’s decision. But if he does get punished, we could be in for a rocky start to the season. Not that I lack confidence in Brown but Ferdinand has grown in stature so much that his assurance is absolutely crucial.
I am not going to cry conspiracy, because if he is found guilty then I couldn’t possibly condone it. I don’t want my players, especially the ones who are the presumed leaders in the side lose it — it shows your weakness more than anything. At the moment I’ll adopt an ‘innocent until proven guilty’ stance.
Chelsea legend, Zola thinks United blundered in letting Rossi go. And he calls him the Italian Messi. Hmm… I was a Rossi fan and was sad that we let him leave. But I guess that will be our cross to bear if he turns out half as good as Messi.
Cannavaro, Eriksson, Pele and Banks — all think Ronaldo must honour his contract. I think he should walk into a cave full of hungry alligators. Upon walking in he realises that the alligators could be a bit of a problem. To his surprise however, he sees that the alligators can speak English and that surprise turns to horror as he’s asked a question by one among the gathering:
‘So have you decided on your future yet?’, asks the one that looked like the papa gator.
‘I will let you know in two to three weeks.’
The papa alligator being visibly unimpressed asked him to be more clear or risk being torn apart.
‘It’s my dream… err… you never know… everyone knows what I want… I like ice creams… err, no sorry, that was a statement for my personal chef. You see, we are slaves and we need to memorize statements… it’s a tough life I say.’
Papa gator also being the smart one realises he isn’t going to get an answer right away so he drags him by his injured ankle deep into the cave as the boy from Madeira curses himself for forgetting to get his hair gel.
He suddenly finds himself tied to a pole and threatened to make a clear statement or risk losing a limb for every word of indecision.
‘No! No! I stay!’, he screams.
Baby gator, being the hungry one, in enthusiasm (or you could call it youthful exuberance), chewed up his left foot anyway. His left foot gone, it didn’t matter whichever club he went now, and the alligators were hungry and rather miffed that they had to wait so long for dinner. There was only one thing they could really think of now.
The casual passerby heard only shrieks — one that went, ‘I stay!’ and one that went, ‘I go!’ appearing alternately.
Note: The alligator adventure was a figment of the imagination. A poor one, no doubt — but no animals were harmed while thinking this up. It may have been inappropriate, but in the face of slow news, the mind tends to go idle, and we all know what they say about idle minds and devil’s workshops.
And with these thoughts, enjoy your Monday.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Links of the Day
- Jonny Evans: on Manchester United, Northern Ireland, Ferguson…
- The 500 Great Goals Collection
Win Your Own Copy Courtesy of RedRants - Madrid Win Title | Rossi Expects Chance
- Ronaldo’s career to end by February
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Opti (541)
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RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (345)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@tevez: I cannot prove something that has happened. I looked for a clip on Youtube, but I didnt find anything. But I remember that when he played in Argentina, he was 17 years old, he met at a press conferanse in a United shirt. One from the press asked him why he wore a United shirt and he responded: “Why cant i wear the shirt of my favorite team?”
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If you wanna know where I get this from then I can tell you. I can watch Argentinian football once in a while before, so I watched it from 2002 to 2006. It was lots of entertaining football being played at that time with Tevez, Machcerano and Aguero being the most known. Boca Juniors and Indipendiente were good teams to watch, but the League system was confusing at the start. But then Tevez joined Corinthians, so Indipendient became my favorite Argentinian team because of Aguero. He was strong and bullied the defenders arounf,making tricks, scoring goals and setting them up. He was being linked with Atletico, something I liked cause they are my second favorite team. He was their Cristiano Ronaldo and quite right being called the new Maradona. He dates Maradonas daughter to if you want to know more about him. He joined Atletico in 2006, 1 year after he said he liked United, for a record transfer for Atletico with 20 mill. He worked well with Torres but lived in his shadow more often than not. But last season Atletico played a team game and even though Aguero is a trickster, he is a team player. He made them beomce 4th in the League.
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If Aguero does sign for us I personally I don’t think he will, I hope he knocks his spitting on the head, when he spat at Taylor my opinion of him went down massively in my book!
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Kinda quiet at the moment…
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Aguero wants to stay at atletico and eventually move back to independiente. He is not interested in playing for any other club. This is what i’m aware of him saying so it would seem he would not jump at the chance to join us, or barcelona etc. It also seems he would not be tempted to move to a team with messi or tevez. He also feels that the spanish league is very different to argentinian football, that it is much faster and more direct and it took him some time to adapt. Imagine how he feels about british football.
Being a utd fan would matter because it would change the way he thinks. You want to join your favourite club. Circumstances like limited game time definitely come into play and quite rightly affect a player’s judgement. However, if you are a player’s favourite club, that puts you in the driving seat because their heart would be set on playing for you. Then the only way the player would decide to play somewhere else is if you put them off, by, for example, giving them the impression they would be used for rotation.
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Can someone explain this to me, why are we being linked to a moody ageing overhyped player like berbertov, he is no christiano ronaldo that’s for sure and he never will be ever, why didn’t we just buy Torres from the very beginning. What as really got under my skin is there has been this obsessed media campaign that man utd need another van nistlerooy yet we are better without that player. if ronaldo decided he would not want to leave isn’t he the out an out goal scorer that as replaced horse face.
some man utd fans are the same saying we need to replace van nistlerooy with an out an out goalscorer well dont blame fergie when the signing of berbertov completely unbalances the side, to slow to old and to moody for this team, we dont play the flat 442 system anymore we dont have scholes beckham or giggs in midfield anymore to suply that donkey. so it would be pointless buying someone like berbertov and thats the reality.
united have changed fact plus where in the hell is rooney and tevez going to play, none of the two can play on the wings so you are going to accomadate berbertov and sacrifice rooney or tevez’s real position, what as served united greatly for winning trophys over the years is players playing in their best positions, remember when veron was bought he completly upset the shape of our squad, its about getting the system right not throwing names in the same team and hoping it will work. we saw when we had three top forwards all fit remember when saha was keeping van nistlerooy on the bench van nistlerooy was not happy and it made it a unhappy camp, this is a disaster waiting to happen united need a back up forward for rooney and tevez we ave the box office front two all we need is a good player that can come in and do a job not another expensive forward.
no one ever thinks including the press of what a fantastic four ronaldo rooney tevez berbertov just as they said barcelona’s fantastic four of ronaldinho eto’o messi and henry that was hyped to death last summer and look what happened, you cant have rooney tevez and berbertov in the same team when all three prefure to play on the center you need the width and a more balanced shape.
berbertov is not better then what we got it will be a massive mistake just as veron was who for me was a joy to watch at times and a class act as a football player he just never played in is real position as this could happen again, we are going backwards and it could be another 2001.
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I dont know about you guys, but I think Bento would be a good assistant to Fergie. If they birng him in because of players, its not only Cristiano but Anderson and Nani he knows too. If CQ have told Fergie that he is the right man for the job, I believe him.
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I just couldnt live with myselfif I didnt post this vid. We dont need to buy a replacement for Ronaldo if he leaves, we already got him! This is gonna be Waynes season!
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remember what SAF said when asked about the season whilst he was playing golf? something along the lines of we want young players but its difficult because their teams don’t want to sell… that sounds much more like aguero than berbatov to me.
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@ Steve thank fuck he is not like Ronaldo, a player you would never see being moody?! really you can’t cpmpare the 2, a, one wants to play for us and one doesn’t and B, they are completly different players!
Berba is only 27 and has prem experience, he is also a class act who offers us something we don’t have already.
Why can’t you have Tevez and Rooney either side of the Bulgarian? A player with height rather than 2 hobbits. We need a number 9 and we don’t have that bar Saha and well to say he is injury prone would be an understatement we need that type to give us more options going forward and he offers us goals and a great touch. I would as prefered Huntelaar but that does not seem to be a player Fergie seems to interested in, so Berbatov seems a logical solution.
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@steve: The press also said (and so did many fans) that Tevez and Rooney can’t play with each other. So you could be wrong about Berbatov too.
Next time, please use some fullstops in your sentences — rather hard to read your comments right now.
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I agree to a certain extent that we do not need a first choice striker to come in . I would be happy to see tevez and rooney play up top next season. I disagree about berbatov. He is a lovely player, a class act. He and ronaldinho are, for me, the two most watchable players in the world. Berbatov is my first choice signing simply because i enjoy watching him. I was looking forward to seeing ronaldinho in the premiership this year, even with man city, so i’m disappointed to see that it looks unlikely. Berbatov is not too old or too slow for this team. His classy approach will compliment rooney and tevez’s terrier-like play. He is too good a player to flop for us. As for his attitude, Fergie is a great man-manager and will know how to deal with berbatov’s personality.
Most of the time last season we played 4-4-2 with tevez dropping into space and rooney playing on the last man. Generally, rooney did not have the license to go deep looking for the ball. I don’t want to see all our attacking players drifting about as they please. Having a long option improves a team’s play, stretching the opposition and allowing creative players to show a little ingenuity by providing space and a useful option for a pass. If berbatov comes in and it’s a choice between him, rooney and tevez for two forward roles, which is what looks like happening, then no matter what the combination is one of the two selected players will try to play right on the defense and provide the long ball. Rooney and tevez both like to drop deep so any striker who enjoys playing on the shoulder would compliment what we’ve got already. Huntelaar, benzema, eto’o, villa would all fit in well. Contrary to popular belief, i feel van nistelrooy could slot back in to the team with ease and would be brilliant. Berbatov prefers drifting about too but he is excellent at taking the ball into his feet and is very clever so with willing runners around him (rooney/tevez/ronaldo) he is a great target man to play off of.
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@ Steve: I get so sick of this ‘we played worse because of Ruud’ crap. RVN is one of the very best, if not the best, out and out strikers to have played for United. For some reason people have the impression that he just stood on the penalty spot and toe-poked shots in. He was absolutely world class, and when he had a midfield around him that was halfway decent (Giggs, Keano, Scholes, Beckham for example) we were very, very good. True he only won 1 prem, but he then competed with the undefeated Arsenal team, and come on, they were pretty special. He almost averaged a goal per CL match, and while we didn’t win it in his time, we didn’t exactly stomp our way to the crown this year either. We played some of the most breath-taking football I’ve ever seen with him in the team, easily as good as what we play now. And no he didn’t strive when getting service from an O’Shea/Giggs central pair, with an immature Ronaldo on one wing and quinton fortune on the other. I don’t find that surprising.
Sorry, rant over. But this is the place for rants after all
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Tevez and rooney are less effective when played out wide. They need to be in the middle of the park where their movement is not restricted. So then if they are both playing off and around berbatov, who provides width?
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@Beachryan: You made that ruud point a whole lot better than i did.
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We played that way in the CL final mate, we don’t really play 4-4-2 anymore. The system allows flexibility with play, Rooney and Carlos and run in behind and spin out wide creating havoc, which is generally how we play. It also does not give Wazza responsiblity of scoring goals just creating, a la Messi.
I didn’t say we have to play that way, I said they can play that system if they want, but I can’t see Rooney and Carlito up front same runs and too short in my view.
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We started the CL final with a 4-4-2 didn’t we? Ronaldo and hargreaves out wide, rooney and tevez up front.
Messi, for barcelona, plays on the right in a front three with a main central striker like eto’o. Messi generally provides width in this position. For argentina, they were far more effective when he played with crespo. For both teams messi had a striker to play with. Rooney didn’t have that last season, he was the one who was to lead the line.
So which of tevez and rooney would you play with berbatov? I still think rooney and tevez work. Rooney is gifted enough to adapt to play with any strike partner. Playing with tevez means playing further up the park than he was previously used to, but i think it still works. As long as we play with a strike partnership i wouldn’t mind who plays, but i just hate 4-5-1.
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I personally don’t think it really matters which one he plays with Berbatov as both very intelligent players, Berba can play as a foil for either or as an outlet for them. Personally I know Hargo was swinging in crosses in the final but Wazza was out wide right for most of the game, but it was so flexible who knows!
I was saying like Messi they both like to dift inside and out, and with Berbatov they can drop deep and the Bulgarian can slip passes thru to them like he did with that scouse lover Keane.
I think he will play with Rooney if he plays two up front, but you and I both know Fergie loves 4-5-1!
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VDS
Neville Rio Vidic Evra
Owen Carrick Scholes/Anderson
Rooney—————–Tevez
————-Berbatov———-
subs: Foster, Brown, Silvestre, Anderson/Scholes, Giggs, Nani, Fletcher.
or…
VDS
Neville Rio Vidic Evra
Nani/Ronaldo Carrick Scholes Giggs/Rooney
Tevez/Rooney Berbatov
subs: Foster, Brown, Silvestre, Owen, Anderson, Giggs/Nani and Rooney/Tevez/Berbatov.
No one plays every game…
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Damn are we ever going to sign someone?
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berbertov is overrated, it’s not about height it’s about the threat they pose to the defenders, our wingers are not great at crossing and how many headed goals in every game last season not many so height is not the problem. Stephen I meant was ronaldo offers more to united then berbertov pace power more goals and trickery everything berbertov cant provide. and you moan about ronaldos disloyalty what about berbertov isnt he supposed to be loyal to spurs who as spent less time at spurs as ronaldo as done at united dont be ironic, let’s be serious berbertov is not that good he goes around the pitch when things don’t go well with his hands on his hips look what happened when spurs went through a horrible time where was he moaning. He is not good enough for united simple as that.
does our wide players and midfield supply the forwards like they used to back in the 90s and early millennium the answer is no, that’s why van nistlerooy was sold who was one of the main reasons why we were so dull to watch. another thing that is interesting how come when van nistlerooy was benched with a more powerful forward like saha that our football picked up with a so called moderate midfield and saha still managed to bag the goals has good has van nistlerooy.
Beachryan
that’s exactly what he done stood in the penalty area and expected everyone else to supply him the chances and that’s what berbertov will do which worries me, what else did he do that you seem to think he did that not many of us did not see. that is what van nistlerooy done every game did, did he score all type’s of goals no mostly the same type of goal and as the supply declined which was leaded by ronaldo so did van nistlerooys goals did is well. And I wish united fans would move on from that player because we have won more before and since he was here. christiano ronaldo showed up every out an out striker up that the game has moved on, forwards need to be involved in a 90 minute match not moments and unless you have a top rate midfield the out and out striker is useless and out dated.
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@steve: Isnt Nani a great crosser? What the fuck? He is an amazing crosser, had it not been for his crosses we might not have won the Prem. He hits amazing corners too! Had Tevez been taller Nani would have had at least 7 more assists to his name. Giggs is a good crosser, so is Evra and Brown too. Owen made many goals with his crosses when he was on the wing. Against Roma, West Ham and Chelski he made many chanses with his dangerous crosses. My point is that we would have had a much great goal difference had ooney and Tevez been taller or jumped higher. Berbatov fits that bill. He is tall and is a good header. Let me make one thing clear. Had it not been for Ronaldo being a so goood header I dont think we would have won any trophy this season. Sporting away, Chelski in Moscow, Roma away, Liverpool home, Dynamo Kiev away, Fulham home. Had it not been for Ronaldos heading ability we would probably not have won those games.
You must really have a short term memory. Ruud worked hard to win the ball back, and made some chanses too. he didnt just wait in the box for Giggs or Becks crosses. Of cource he scored many goals from that, but he was the best goal poacher we had in our history. But he wasnt only a goal poacher, he was a team player as well. Had it not been for Ruud fighting with Fergie or getting upset cause Saha played, we probably would have played him last season too!
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Berbatov is not tricky? and Ronaldo never walked around with his hands on his hips, not sure what you games you have been watching mate.
Hargo, Rio, Saha, Carrick and Smithy were not loyal? they all wanted to sign for the best club in the world as Berbatov does as Jol said, and we do need more height up front and Berba is class act.
Nani is probably the best crooser we have had since Beckham and Hargo is not a bad crosser if you remember last season against barca.
Anderson will also knock thru balls to him also.
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Berbatov is the striker were missing! Whats the point of buying another player like Tevez or Rooney when we have them already. If we want to score more goals and win more games and more trophies we need another dimension to our attacking play. We have everything needed in Ronaldo, but he is a winger! He will proably stay next season, and that is great for us. We have an ultimate attacking player in Ronaldo, we have two hard working st hobbits in Rooney and Tevez, and if we buy Berbatov we will have a tricky, clinical, tall and real striker. If we get him then our attacking 4 wil be complete! And with Frazier and Danny coming through the ranks, the future looks bright.
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@steve: Berbatov is a far more intelligent player than ronaldo. His movement and vision are far superior. He is better playing with his back to goal than ronaldo. Ronaldo has very quick feet but most of his tricks are pointless and infuriating. Berbatov has a superior touch and technique, so although ronaldo has more tricks and feints berbatov is more skillful. Berbatov has a balance and guile that ronaldo can’t match.
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Berbatov is a real Manchester United player in the mould of Cantona and Law.
Superb touch, good in front of goal, skillful, arrogant so won’t be overwhelmed with comming to a big club, brings people into play with great vision, 6’2 which is important as Rooney is 5’10 and Carlito is 5’6, great technique.
And importantly really wants to play for us, which will bring effort and commitment, bring on the Berbalution!!
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hahahaha this media circus is going crazy…. i just heard on the radio that barcalona have confirmed man utd have made a bid for ronaldinho…..
and still nothing official… this is driving me nuts, hearing unsubsantiated reports everywhere…. berbatov, this player, that player… sigh come on already! give us fans some respite and give us a concrete signing we can be happy over…
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@tevez: Oh really. I want proof. Where are your sources that he wants to stay at Atletico and then move to Independiente? Do you see my my point mate? Just because you say it’s so, don’t expect people to believe you unless you give them no reason to doubt your sincerity. I personally believe what your saying but that does not make it fact. Players often say things to appease their home team supporters as well as their home country. What it really all comes down to is money and trophies. Aguero will get less of that at Atletico and none at Independiente. He will get a great chance to win silverware and make a ton of money with united. That alone make his chances of joining us stronger, despite what any of us have read or heard. Bottom line, all these players and their agents lie through their teeth and every one of them that is already playing in a foreign country is a mercenary.
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Ronaldinho would be awesome. I completely doubt it’s true…but it would be great.
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Rooney and Tevez played great this season when they were both fit and starters. I was at the Wigan game in October and it was just sublime. They absolutely tore them apart. Berbatov is overrated IMO and isn’t the greatest header of the ball in the world. He doesn’t really offer anything other than being taller than Rooney and Tevez. As I’ve said before We need one backup striker and a backup winger, however with Ronaldo leaving we need a starting winger as well. I would like to get Drenthe off Real as he can be good cover at both LM and LB and then some star player for RW. I think that Campbell could step up to be a decent back up striker and we need another good young striker who can cover in case Rooney or Tevez gets injured. So assuming Ronaldo leaves we only need one new starter at right midfield and we should be ok.
By the way has anybody seen Rio Ferdinand’s version of Punk’d on youtube? Rio has to be the worst presenter in the world but just listening to him talk like he is the biggest gangsta in the world is hilarious. Rooney, G. Nev and Becks all get “merked” (
) so its worth a look.
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@RedDevil: That’s hopeful optimism mate and I applaud you for it, even if I don’t agree. Last year Rooney was not in the same class as Ronaldo and he needs to improve on and find the old magic on a lot of skills to get that kind of consideration. Willing or wishing for it to happen won’t make it so. Still, I think he will improve over last year. And he will be even better if he doesn’t have to play with Ronaldo who I believe keeps him down and forces him to press too much.
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I understand and accept that folk may not believe what i say. I am also aware that although i believe what i have said to be true, there is no guarantee that he has been misquoted etc. If you say to me ‘prove he wants to stay at atletico’ then i could probably get the sources but i wouldn’t because i can’t be arsed doing that and because i can’t be arsed doing that i accept you may not accept what i have to say. I’m certainly not going to take offense if you doubt what i say is true.
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@Beachryan: Well said about RVN. Very well said.
How some people love to forget. RVN was world class and he still is. How on Earth anyone can see a goal scorer and a player with instinct as a liability is beyond my comprehension. It’s the same old weak ass excuses being used and they just don’t wash. 
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Grognard
that is garbage rooney did not have a great season because he picked up injurys and it just was not his season just as ronaldo went trough in the early years of his career.
Stephen
the reality is man utd will not sign berbertov simple as. if they realy wanted to buy him they would match the 26 million united dont want to because he is not worth the price all the reasons I give, to slow to old and is attitude stinks. this is not FM its reality. you cant have rooney tevez and berbertov to many problems plus rooney and tevez are far better.
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@tevez: WHAT????
Berbatov provides width? Rooney and Tevez need to be in the middle of the park where their movement is not restricted? Last time I watched a game players had more freedom wide then they did in the middle of the park where there was much more congestion. Also, Berbatov is the last player in football that will provide you depth. He is a striker, not a winger and he doesn’t like playing the sides. Honestly, I’m not sure where you are getting this stuff? 
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Berbatov is not a replacement for Ronaldo. He is the third striker we have been crying out for every since Saha’s injury problems kicked in. I still think 30 million or whatever Tottenham are asking for is a bit steep but then transfer prices today are crazy and he is one of the few players in the world who will improve our squad.
His attributes are perfect for us. He is tall, good in the air, intelligent, skillful, creative, a good finisher and a flair player. In an ideal world he would also be lightening fast but he certainly won’t slow us down.
Last season we played amazingly but occasionally we struggled to break teams down. In those instances it would have been great to have someone like Berbatov to sling crosses into the box for, and Nani and Giggs are both great crossers, as is Hargreaves, Fletcher and Ronaldo. It would add a whole new dimension to our play.
Ronaldo if he stays can go back to playing on the wing which is his best position. If he leaves then we will have to buy a replacement. So if you want to compare Berbatov to anyone compare him to Saha who is the player Berbatov is being bought to replace
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@tevez: And that’s exactly how RedDevil and I feel too. We can’t be “arsed” to do that either. It’s a question of trust. I trust what you are saying is sincere and therefore you must have the same trust towards others on this site who are quoting information they have either read or heard. By casting doubt on their claims yet asserting yours are true, you are slipping in to an arena you should stay away from. Be fair. And they call me elitist on this blog.
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@steve: Nothing I say is garbage mate. I may be wrong in the eyes of some and you can disagree with it all you like but please do not refer to mine or other’s claims as garbage.
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@steve: “the reality is man utd will not sign berbertov simple as. if they realy wanted to buy him they would match the 26 million united dont want to because he is not worth the price all the reasons I give, to slow to old and is attitude stinks. this is not FM its reality. you cant have rooney tevez and berbertov to many problems plus rooney and tevez are far better.”
What reality? Yours? What makes you feel you are right and everybody else is wrong? We all have our preferences and we will go out on a limb to support our choices and find fault with others, but it’s how you go about it that matters. Your being condescending and elitist and you are basically saying to others that they are full of shit and your view is the only one that matters. I’ve been called an elitist because I’ll take the time to back up my points with evidence and many hours of watching such and such player. Although I ma not God and my call isn’t canon, I feel passionate about what I think and believe. And you can to. If you don’t like Berbatov, fine, but to basically make him sound like he should be playing in the Belgian 2nd Division is bloody well insulting to the player but especially to the thousands of people who have watched him and who know he is a world class player with incredible skills. Is he my number one choice? NO! But I’m certainly not going to say things about him that are just biased insults and the fact you have the answers by claiming that United will not sign him. According to who, you? So you work for United and you have the inside skinny on everything do you? For someone so opinionated and condescending, you have just set yourself up for a shit storm of abuse should Berbatov be signed by United. And I’ll be first in line.
Agree or disagree with people about anything you like, but don’t be demanding and condescending and above all, you better be ready to eat crow if you are wrong. Simply put mate, your attitude stinks.
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@colver: Well said mate about Berbatov. Counting off all his skills and abilities just doesn’t matter to a select few who would have you believe that the American flag is purple orange and white rather than red blue and white just because that’s the way they see things. You cannot defeat stubbornness and people’s pig headed loyalties and biases. I know, I’m stubborn as hell. Cheers!
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I bet we will sign him no doubt in my mind mate.
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We haven’t signed anybody and I for one am counting down the days!
I did not want us to sign Berbatov a few weeks ago and Huntelaar was my first choice but now my opinions have swayed slightly and though Huntelaar is still my first choice Berbatov would be great aswell. The pure reason that I would rather Huntelaar is that we are in need of a third striker to bring a new dimension into our game, maybe as a sub, and Huntelaar fits the bill perfectly!
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Btw, new post up.
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Berba and hunterlaar are both too damn slow…i would prefer anyone else…aguero,villa,benzema,anyone!
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I did read in some forum where a guy said he is a mate of Chris Gunter, and apparently Berbatov has trained only one out of three sessions and in his mind and everyone’s mind at spurs he’s off. Not that I really take these things seriously, but I do believe it’s a matter of time before he comes to OT.
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Grognard- How do you manage to write such long comments in so short time? Man, you must have been the first one to leave class after wrtiting an essay. Great though!
About Rooney, last season he had many reasons to play like he did. Let me make a summary of Rooneys seasons in a United shirt:
2004-05: He broke his metatarsal, and came back to make his debut against Fenerbache. If someone has forgotten what this magical youngster did that night, I can tell you that he scored a hat-trick in 71 minues. He made his first Prem goal for us against Arsenal ending their 49 game unbeaten run. He also won the penalty to 1-0. Rooney made 37(6) apperances scoring 17 goals. His best kick of the ball came against Newcastle in April. He scored his penalty in the FA cup final loss to Arsenal, and became MOTM. He, like almost every other United player that season, hit the post lots of times. Three times in the CL and 8 times in the Prem(watched highligths
). Rooney didnt play in Pre-season because of his injury, so he needed time to recover. He didnt hit top form until December. He played that season playin next to many different strikers. Bellion, Saha, Smith, Ruud, Scholes and away to Everton in the cup with Fortune. He played a good first season despite a wierd faith that made United end in 3rd pace hitting the post a total of 26 times! 
2005-06: Rooney got a good pre-season with the team and started well. He scored against Debreceni, Everton and Newcastlein the first 4 games. He didnt score a goal at Old Trafford until December. United played terrible in the CL ending 4th in their group. He got his only ever red card for United vs Villareal. He became Uniteds player of the season, making 44(4) apperances and scoring 19 goals. He played next to Smith, Rossi, Ruud, Saha and once with Ole. That was the season that Rooney was Uniteds main attacking player. He was the player that created and scored. He was the player that Untied players gavethe ball to in difficult situations. He missed some chances, some when 1-on-1 and once hitting the post on an open goal from 3 yards. He laughted at it cause United already were 2-0 up. He broke his foot again against Chelski. He got 16 assists.
2006-07: He returned from injury. But because of a stupid ref in Holland, he missed 3 of the first 4 games. He played against Fulham scoring 2 goals and setting up 1. He didnt score again until October when he scored a hat-trick against Bolton. In 2007 Rooney hit top form.. He scored against Roma, Milan, Everton, Portsmouth and Arsenal. United won the Prem that season but Rooney wasnt as valuabel as Ronaldo. He took over Rooneys role of creating and scoring goals, and he was the player that got the ball when Untied were in trouble. But, despite Rooney being critisied, he scored the same amount of goals as Ronaldo(23). He played with Saha, Ole, Smith, Giggs and Larsson.
2007-08: This season was the most difficult for Rooney. He missed a total of 8 weeks of the season bneing injured. He still managed to score 9 goals in 9 games. This was supposed to be ROoneys season, but we all know that it bacame Ronaldos. But still, Rooney was quite good! He scored 18 goals and made 19 assists in all competitions. He made a good pre-season, but injureed his foot against Reading on the opening day of the season after being the player of the 1st half. He could have scored 4 goals had he been 2 cms taller, had a little better touch when 1-on-1 and when he injured his foot trying to convert a Carrick cross. He missed many chances, some bad finishing and some just good saves. He was a menace to every defense with Tevez and that Ronaldo. He had a good season, but had he finished 75% of his chances he would have scored more than Ronaldo. He played with Tevez, Giggs, Saha, Ronaldo and Oshea.
This season Rooney got married. He scored against Aberdeen on the first game of pre-season. If Rooney gets a good pre season and gets a strike partner that he plays with in most games, and most importantly doesnt get injured, then I believe 2008-09 will be Rooneys season. If he learns great finishing and United use him like they use Ronaldo then Rooney can probably match the total of Ronaldos 42. He has the speed, the skills, the position, the age, the coach and the desire to do so. Believe me!
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Grognard
and if he does sign and give it 6 months I will be the one right on how big mistake signing that ageing forward will be, more options does not mean we can cope look at 1999 did man utd have big numbers in midfield no. you are right most are talking out of their backsides when they say berbertov is good enough for united because he is not. like I said before why dindnt he buy torres last year then berbertov may not have even been even said. he is a typical spurs player very good but not one of the best players around and not on the levels on what man utd need. we need a back up to rooney and tevez not another 20 million pound player. ppl forget rooney and tevez got united 37 goals between them in all compitions a very good return.
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@RedDevil: That’s because Grogs has plenty of free time.
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@steve: Steve, he didn’t buy Torres because Torres didn’t want to play for United. The only reasonhe actually decided to come to the EPL was because of Benitez and Liverpool’s Spanish contingent. Berbatov is more than good enough to be a United player but nobody is a guarantee to succeed. It’s a crap shoot all the time. You base decisions on a players skill level and intelligence and you hope for the best. 37 goals by Rooney and Tevez is a good return, but adding 20 more to that is even better. We need an inside presence to giv ethe team added dimension and frankly, we need an extra striker or two for depth.. Today’s game is a squad base game with lots of fixtures creating more and more rotations to keeop players from burning out. Last year despite all our success, we struggled without that depth up front. Tevez and Roney will still have their chances to shine. By adding Berbatov they will even get better because he is great at holding the ball up for others and distributing great finesse passes as well as scoring his share of goals. Never turn a blind eye to improving and no team should ever stand pat with what made them good the previous year. always push the envelope and try to improve in areas where improvement is necessary. Fergie and literally millions of fans out there agree we need a striker. That many people and the boss can no t be wrong. Perhaps you are just to set in your ways and being a little stubborn towards change. Have you watched Berbatov play a lot? If you have, I have a hard time believing that you cannot see the player’s skills and specific talents that are well suited to our needs. Perhaps you should go to YouTube and look at some videos although videos don’t show everything. His attitude is a concern but I think it’s because he was unhappy at Tottenham. He really will not have any excuses for poor play and lack of desire playing for United.
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“are talking out of their backsides when they say berbertov is good enough for united because he is not”
steve, try telling that to Ferguson, who’s been trying to sign Berbatov for 3 years now.
Just because people have an opinion that differs to yours doesn’t mean that they are talking out of their backsides, that is a very ignorant comment to make. I, for one, think that Huntelaar would be a poor signing for the money we would be paying, as I wouldn’t really be comfortable with him in the first team, and his abilities have been overrated a little by fans who haven’t actually seen him play more than 1 or 2 times. Despite this I can see why they think what they do and respect their opinion.
In short, the reasons I think Berbatov is a quality player and would be a good signing is that:-
-He’s proven quality in the Prem. In terms of goals contributed to (that’s goals + assists) in the last 2 seasons, he’s third (with 45) behind Rooney (47) and Ronaldo (who was streaks ahead of everyone else).
-He gives us a different option in the fact he has height, and is a good finisher (unlike Rooney or Tevez, who are quite wasteful), and he also doesn’t take anything away from our build up play with his touch, technique, vision and creativity.
-He will both provide AND score goals. With his creativity and finishing which I have already mentioned.
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