Jan 18
Saha Talks Again | Brandy Off To Swansea | Twins To OT
Louis Saha reckons he will help fire United to glory. He has said something like this for the 789th time this season. We have been waiting, and we’ll continue to wait. So let’s listen to what he’s saying:
It’s great to score goals. I’m a striker and that’s my job and now I want to concentrate on scoring more goals for the team. I’m very hard on myself and always want to do better, so I’m not very satisfied with how the season has gone so far on a personal level. I know I can do better, and hopefully I showed that against Sunderland. The manager’s always shown a lot of faith in me and that gives me a lot of confidence. I’m definitely getting there [with overcoming injuries]. I played two full games in a row over Christmas and that was the first time I’d done that for a while.
And I am going to run for President, I assure you. I have seen the injustices committed in this world and I believe I can turn things around. And I am also, like Saha, getting there.
If a player is continuously out of the team, he must work on his weaknesses and hope to allow his performances speak for themselves. I don’t really buy Saha mouthing off to all and sundry about his injury — although he is making full use of his free time afforded by injury. It gets a little annoying if a player keeps talking to the press and has nothing really to show for all of it on the pitch. A fully fit Saha would certainly be a very handy player to have. But, at the moment, the phrase fully-fit Saha makes for an oxymoron, more than anything.
Academy prospect Febian Brandy heads off to Swansea on loan.
The Telegraph, has a top article on the decision made by the FA to avoid the one minute silence. It certainly is a shame to be seeing mockery made out of an actual tragedy. It is sad to see fans, like those of Citeh, being urged to show respect; they have been reminded that a legend of theirs’ was also a victim of the tragedy. Some things in life have to be above sporting rivalry; the Sevilla-Betis derby, following Antonio Puerta’s death, was a stand-out example of solidarity shown by extremely fierce rivals. It’s a pity, and a firm indication of the levels to which England fans have stooped, that their own Football Association doesn’t trust them.
About the Fletcher news talked about yesterday, the Mirror thinks he will actually leave. Hmm… isn’t that why they are called tabloids? They do a good job of spinning stories, don’t they?
And as mentioned in the comments, a couple of days ago, the Brazilian twins are set to move to Old Trafford in a 5.2 million pound move.
Related items from Red Rants:
- In defence of Louis Saha
- Should Saha leave Manchester United?
- Roma vs Man Utd: Preview
- Brazilian Twins Spotted at Old Trafford | Neville to Play Liverpool | Anderson to Porto Fantasies | Keane Tips United Over Arsenal
- Two Reasons Why United Aren’t Looking for Fullbacks
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (542)
Stephen (500)
RedDevilEddy (462)
Craig Mc (349)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
carrick is one of the best short distance passers in the league. i have no idea how dan is coming up with these sill ideas that fletcher is better than carrick or can replace him. so dan your telling me if man united meet lets say inter milan in the champions league final, you would feel comfortable if fletcher was playing in midfield instead of carrick in that game, against the likes of viera stankovic and so on?
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Brown was a right back when he started and has played there frequently for sustained spells during his career, I would consider him to be equally adept in either position. He effectively, is as much a RB as he is a CB.
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Thank you, mike.. You just posted our 30 comments in 1…
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Well actually JB, you just pointed out that Deco is available, so he’s another option, I know they are hard to come by, but I’m just saying that I think we should all agree Carrick isn’t work 18m, and if we can get that much for him we could buy another foreign player for around the same amount who is likely to be better. And yes I know that if we bought Mascherano it would be like a straight swap between Mascherano for Carrick, as it would be with Van Der Vaart and Deco, all of whom I would call superior to Carrick.
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i havent said he’s better i said he can get the jod done effcientley, carrick is inconsistent and if fletcher plays like he normally does than yes i would play fletcher instead of carrick, your say we should play someone for the sake of playing them which is wrong if their off form, its just like earlier in the season when giggs was playing shite so we played nani a few times and he got the job done. if carrick can play as well as he can play for a long period of time then im wrong but judging on recent time and form, he cant.
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I would have huge reservations over whether Deco would adapt to the EPL and his form has steadily declined in the last year to 18 months. Add in a price tag of around £10m and the fact he is 30 and he suddenly doesn’t look that brilliant a proposition.
VDV on the other hand is a much more attacking player, and would probably be more in competition with the attackers than the CM’s.
While I agree Carrick is overpriced at £18m, that was more as a result of circumstances. The squad doesn’t need much work done to it, a full back and a striker is probably all that is needed. If we can afford them without selling Carrick then, IMO, we should definitely keep him.
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If United sell Carrick for £18 mill, they should buy Van der Vaart. I have followed him and HSV since last summer, cause Hamburg always are on the TV. They have become my favorite german team. And I cant see anything wrong with Van der Vaart. He is better that Ronaldhino when both are at best. He never plays a bad game, fast, great tecnique, amazing passer(Becks like), free kicks like Juninho, better than Carrick at tackling, tall, strong, Left foot like a god(really!), Finishing like Ruud, great vision and versitile. He can play striker, left winger, CDM, CM, ACM and behind striker. And because he wants to leave HSV and because are not a big club, he should cost £18 mill or less. If he joins us he should be in top 10 of the world best player. If we have a midfield with Scholes/Hargreaves/Anderson and Van der Vaart, we should be unbeatable! Go United!
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RedDevil: if he is that good he will cost a damn sight more than £18m as every club in Europe will be after him.
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RedDevil although I also agree he is fantastic, don’t exaggerate things! JB he most definitely is better than Carrick and I very much doubt that he would cost much more than 18m, 20m at most. He nearly left to Valencia for 16.5m last summer, but then pulled out of it because of interest from others. Although one thing that may be a downside with him is that he seems slightly injury prone, but he would be a good signing and would definitely be able to get into our team.
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damn reddevil, the way you describe him hes the worlds best player and if what u say is true, we should sell carrick and buy him.
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Conor: I’m not arguing that Carrick is better than VDV, I would say you are right that VDV>Carrick. However Kaka is a better player than Wes Brown but if you were looking for a defender you would still buy Brown. My point being is that I believe VDV primarily operates in a different area of the pitch to Carrick, ergo you are not replacing like for like. I also think we are well enough stocked in the attacking areas (bar a central striker) therefore he wouldn’t be a priority target for me.
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jb, VDV is a cdm/cm/cam, carrick is a cdm/cm/cam how does VDV operate in a different part of the pitch
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Haha fair point. But really Van Der Vaart is as good in attacking as he is in defending, which is why he is a great box to box player. He is defferent to Carrick but he and Hargreavs could become a good partnership, as could he and Scholes, and I’m sure Anderson and VDV could forge a really great CM pairing.
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Carrick is a deep lying midfielder/playmaker primarily used for keeping possession ticking over and to shield the back line. VDV is an attacking midfielder, who frequently operates very high up the pitch and is responsible for supporting the strikers, linking play and scoring goals.
To my knowledge Hamburg play something close to a 4-2-3-1 with VDV in the three, whereas Carrick would be in the two. I’m not sure when he has ever played as a CDM. Just because Makelele and Lampard are both CM’s does not make them similar.
At any rate it is a bit of a moot point as we have never even been linked with him.
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you cant really say makalale because it takes him years to make a couple of shote, he’s different.
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Yeah I agree we really should just forget about this conversation as it seems highly unlikely we would even consider buying him,so it’s irrelevant.
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No, what I meant was just because you are classified as a CM doesn’t mean you are all the same. Alonso and Gerrard, Makelele and Lampard, Seedorf and Pirlo, Toure and Deco, Gago and Guti. They are all nominally CM’s but they all do different jobs, in different ways, in different parts of the pitch. Just because they are CM’s doesn’t make them all interchangeable. Toure wouldn’t be suited to Seedorf’s job, while you wouldn’t ask Gago to do what Gerrard does.
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Yes JB I know, but then you could have the different partnerships, VDV-attack : Hargreaves-defense, VDV-attack : Scholes-lying back playmaker, or finally you could have VDV and anderson in interchanging roles as both seem to have the capacity to defend and attack. Carrick and Van Der Vaart wouldn’t be a straight swap in terms of what they provide for the team, but I’m not sure we need a Carrick as we have shown with Anderson taking his role in the team and Scholes being able to do almost everything Carrick can do except better under pressure and Hargreaves can be our main defensive minded midfielder.
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I agree with the concept of the idea Conor. However I don’t think any medium to long term planning should include Scholes. We were badly burned in our failure to replace Keane in a timely manner and it would criminal to make the same mistake again. If that is the case then we, IMO, most definitely need to keep Carrick on board.
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True, and your reasons behind keeping Carrick are well thought out so I guess you’ve convinced me we need Carrick in our team. You win
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well the point is if 18m is what u r getting for carrick than u take it with a (red) devilish smile
you can always spend it on much much better player(s).
JB how about VDV to replace Scholes (instead of Carrick!!!) For the same price its VDV always in my team!
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JOS: That is the type of thinking I like. Always room for another good player!!!
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took the words out my mouth jos we sell carrick and replace scholes with VDV and replace carrick with gibson. i know what your going to say jb but youngsters have to start somewere dont they? and if he is a proven flop then what the hell, last time i checked we were one of the wealthiest clubs in the world so we could sell gibson and buy a cm/cdm.
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A proven flop, interesting definition Dan, I couldn’t be bothered arguing with you on it. One thing though, JOS just suggested keeping Carrick……..
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i was under the impression he ment sell carrick for the money, buy VDV, and he replaces scholes.
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We must have read it differently!!
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yep
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My li`l bro must haveused my account to write about Van der Vaart. Hes a massive HSV fan! I watch some of their games, and Van der Vaart is a great player, no doubt, but he is not better than the likes of Totti, Gerrard or Ronaldinho. He is better than Ronaldinho when both are at best. No doubt he is better than Deco, Carrick and Lampard, but he lacks strenght and aerial ability. I would choose him over Carrick no doubt, and if he doesnt cost more than £18 million, I say: Fergie, what are you waiting for?!
And Conor- Everybody gets injured in thier career. He was injured for a long time last year, cause HSV rushed him back. He aint injury phrone
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anyone know where i can watch the match tomorrow.
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It is on MUTV, but I haven’t got a clue if there are any streams for it.
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