Mar 11
The need for a right-back and a forward | Title race blown open
It was a very bizarre weekend, the one that just passed; it gave Man Utd fans a lot to think about. The defeat at Portsmouth was one thing: a rather infuriating encounter which will have given their fans cause for pessimism. But the blows which Arsenal and Chelsea suffered were of another nature, a sort of a remedy after such a poor display for the Old Trafford faithful.
Our Right Back
After the Portsmouth game it became clear that Fergie would have to address two key issues with the squad in the summer. The first, and less obvious, was the right back position. Wes Brown has been in the line-up for most of the season, with Gary Neville out injured, and yet again he showed us why he is not fit for that position.
Defensively he is very good. Perhaps not as fast as he should –- in that position -– but not many wingers would say: “sweeeet! I’m up against Brown!” However going forward is the weakest part of his game: he can hardly cross, he cannot run at defenders and he cannot shoot. At this rate, he might as well stay back and admire the scenery while his team-mates press forward with all their might.
But something is not quite right when your right-back cannot help the team in attack and, while the team can get away with that in fairly even matched games where the full backs stay back more, in some games, like the one against Portsmouth, it will hurt us. Nani desperately needed someone to offer him cover when he was running at defenders, but giving the ball to Brown would not have inspired him. Neville can hardly be considered the right man for the position these days either (with his age and lack of match fitness), so Fergie is going to have to do something he has not done in a very long time: buy a right-back.
The Striker Shortage
The more obvious of the two issues is the one of a centre forward. Rooney has received much criticism after the match at Portsmouth –- actually many people criticised his overall recent form despite the fact that he has won Man Utd player of the month in February (as voted by the fans) -– but most of it was undeserved. Sure Rooney has not been scoring many goals, but then again, did he ever score a lot?
The problem is not that Rooney has been playing poorly; for most part he has not. The problem is that all of his hard work goes to waste because there is nobody there to convert it into goals. Tevez is not the man and it would be downright ridiculous to ask that of Ronaldo. Everything would be much simpler if Saha could stay fit, but since he cannot, the Glazers will have to splash cash on a new striker. Here are some options, Fergie!
Speaking of Saha, he has to go. He is a really good player and can really add another dimension to our game when he is played, but relying on someone who can only deliver on occasion is very bad for the team. Sorry Louis!
The Title Race
The remedy for this very bad match by Manchester United more than compensated for the pain that the cup exit inflicted on most fans. Following the Man Utd game, Chelsea bounced from the FA Cup and, on Sunday, Arsenal dropped another two points.
I cannot say that I am happy that Chelsea have lost in the cup, as long as Man Utd is not in it, it is okay if anybody other than Liverpool or Arsenal win it, but the fact that Barnsley won made Fergie’s men look so much better. We lost to Premier League opposition, you know?
Arsenal’s draw, however, made my week. These two points dropped could prove to be their downfall come the end of the season. Wenger’s boys have now won only one game of the last five. Perhaps it is a bit ironic that they managed to beat Milan in such spectacular fashion and then draw at Wigan, but amazing tactics from Bruce and a pitch that looked as if it’s from Canada put everything back into Man Utd’s hands again.
The more amazing thing about that game, and the one against Aston Villa, was that Arsenal was not its usual attacking self that only failed to win because the opposition’s goalkeeper was extremely strong or because Adebayor could not hit a ball if it was as big as a hot air balloon on the day. In their past two Premier League games, Aresnal has really given the impression of a mid-table team.
The other title challengers (besides us, Chelsea) will be starting to smell blood and since Manchester United could, after their game in hand, retake first place (after they had been five points behind just a few ago) there should be a great amount of optimism among us that the title can stay at Old Trafford. It will not be easy: the games are hard, the schedule is a mess and injuries and fatigue are going to start kicking in soon. But then again, Arsenal are in horrible form and Chelsea are quite a bit behind – but still very much in it – so Manchester United know that it is all in their hands.
Remaining Premier League fixtures (for the three contenders):
Arsenal: Middlesbrough, Chelsea, Bolton, Liverpool, Man Utd, Reading, Derby, Everton, Sunderland
Chelsea: Derby, Sunderland, Tottenham, Arsenal, Middlesbrough, Man City, Wigan, Everton, Man Utd, Newcastle, Bolton
Man Utd: Derby, Bolton, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Middlesbrough, Arsenal, Blackburn, Chelsea, West Ham, Wigan
Related items from Red Rants:
- United’s Italian Interest. Neville’s Retirement Plans. Fergie and Carrick Speak. eBay Scarves.
- Manchester United ‘Official’ 07/08 Away Kit
- Manchester United Make History As World Champions
- Transfer Talk: Lahm and Benzema | Evra’s Contract
- Boro 2-2 Man Utd: Alves Breaks United Momentum
Tags: Opinions/Columns
March 11th, 2008 at 11:47
what about GK? Do you expect VDS to be still there next season (or the season after that). That might also be a position of concern. Frankly PIG doesnt give me any confidence that he’ll be a utd player. So we only have one option (Foster) but he too is untested!
Can our German fans say something about the Leverkusen goalie Rene Adler? Apparently he is rated quite highly and is also a utd fan!
March 11th, 2008 at 12:27
As you say, the title race is really open now. If Chelsea win their games in hand they will be just two points behind Arsenal. In fact, looking at the games that the gooners have coming up, I can see Chelsea overtaking them by the time we play them (Arsenal) at Old Trafford, making the game at Stamford Bridge every bit as significant as the Arsenal game and possibly even a title decider.
March 11th, 2008 at 12:32
Van der saar will be at the club next season at least hopefully foster will step up though, if we buy a goalie i hope its schalke’s Manuel Neuer.
He is best young keeper i have seen and played well in the champions league
March 11th, 2008 at 13:33
I think VDS will be there next season, but not the season after. Anyway I will be happy with PIG for a back-up as long as Foster is the main man. He looked really good at Watford last season and if he gains a little bit of confidence he will make a good, good goalkeeper for Man Utd as well. Hope he starts in the weekend.
Yea, Chelsea will be ahead of Arsenal if the win their next four games, hopefully Man Utd will also be ahead by that time.
March 11th, 2008 at 14:57
Manucho will be good for United next season – Fergie should have fought harder for that work permit. We still need another potent goalscorer as well as Manucho though. Two new top class strikers would be fantastic. Then Rooney and Tev would have to fight to play behind these strikers, which will be good for Rooney to know he has competition. We definately need a top class right back – one who isn’t injury prone, and another top class GK. But I also believe we need another top class left back too, so Evra gets rested now and again.
March 11th, 2008 at 14:58
Rooney has been playing poorly.To think a few years ago he was one of the most feared strikers tells you he has been playing badly.I couldnt care less if he scored or not.Its his touch that worries me.He had a great touch and could finish without thinking.Now he can barely trap the ball
March 11th, 2008 at 15:06
What position do you all think is a greater priority to fill- right back or striker?
March 11th, 2008 at 15:20
Striker; Benzema or Huntelaar
March 11th, 2008 at 15:32
I heard Steve Mcmahon say saha has been injured three times this season during the warm up,and he also told
all the three times he wasn’t named in the starting eleven and might perhaps be faking injury
since he wasn’t on the starting eleven.If that’s the case we should terminate his contract ASAP..that
arse has been injured since he signed for us 5 years ago and has been earning big bucks sitting in his house
and he has the nerve to screw us at a crucial match..I say we need to terminate that prick from
the team….
March 11th, 2008 at 15:56
folks,rooney to a large extent is the problem.he has been such a poor player this season its scary.injuries have hit other strikers too.torres forexample.whenever its time for a sub, its tevez off.he has scored last gasp goals.what has rooney done apart from those stats of not losing with him on the pitch?the reason we have been flying is ronaldo.
fergie has become a tinkerman of sorts mainly in the midfield.wtf is scholes doing on that pitch and anderson benched?
March 11th, 2008 at 16:29
another thing to note is the fact that from next season each team will have 7 subs. so we will be easily able to accomodate 4 strikers in the squad.
benzema wiil be the ideal striker.
also, i believe we missed out big-time on hutton
March 11th, 2008 at 16:29
It is as if Rooney was told never to shoot on goal
what does he want fom taking the ball in the goal
can’t he shoot? Nani is selfish with his crosses, Tevez
never wants to release balls when near the box.All in all
We do not have a goal scorer, what shall we do when Ronaldo stops
scoring goals. For the right back we really need to look for one
though I would not want Brown to leave, Evra needs competition and
Saha for his own sake he should leave, he is not a bad player but
by our standard we can’t leave with sick players paid for nothing
and Ronaldo should share taking free kicks with Owen Hagreave
of late I have seen them fight for free kicks
March 11th, 2008 at 18:22
Resign Brown and let Pique go to Athletico on loan. Sign Lahm to start at RWB and also as a capable backup at LWB for Evra. Yes we need scoring. All the posters who blind themselves with statistics and reasons why our forwards are fine and that they do other things to contribute are out of touch with the realities of the game. Since the game was invented the number one tactical schem to scoring goals is funneling the ball in towards your forwards.
We have two strikers who spend more time out of the 18 yard box expending tons of energy doing things that are not in their job description. Rooney especially has become timid in the box. The tell tale sign of a striker who is lacking confidence is when he thinks ass first and when he spends more time outside the box and very little in it. Rooney needs to work on regaining his once outstanding first touch abilities. Also, his shooting has become woeful and his heading is nonexistent. Tevez is a far superior header of the ball and he is shorter than Wayne. Tevez is really not a prototypical striker. Quite often Argentina play him on the left wing where he is good at cutting in. Rooney also does not play well when he has to hold the ball up or play with his back to the goal. Saha is capable of a lot of these striker skills but as we all know, BalsaMan has hurt himself by just walking on a windy day.
For Gods sake lets get some reality and perspective. Yes we are a great team and yes our strikers contribute a lot to the team, but no Goals are not one of their contributions. We need to be thinking about how to become greedy as hell and add to our goal haul, not try to match through the use of midfielders. Fergie has to seriously look at buying one of four strikers next year. Either buy BENZEMA, HUNTELAAR, MARIO GOMEZ or AGUERRO. Also, bring in Manucho as a sub. Lets take the blinders off and face reality. We desperately need a striker or two. And send Saha packing PLEASE.
March 11th, 2008 at 19:04
I always thought that Aguero was a Tevez-like striker. In fact I am sure he is a Tevez like striker unless he is played out of position at Atletico. Bring on Huntelaar, he already said he will leave Ajax in the summer.
The striker issue is much more urgent. We can cope at right-back with Simmo, if nothing else.
Faizan, are you sure about the 7 subs thing? I never heard about it…
March 11th, 2008 at 19:50
[Andrei]
That was old news mate. The seven sub rule was perhaps the best new rule (and also the most underreported issue) in the Premier League.
Sources:
Sky Sports
The Independent
The Guardian
The Telegraph
March 11th, 2008 at 19:56
You are a scouser, an ugly scouser,
Your ony happy on giro day,
Your mums out theiving,
Your dads drug dealing,
But please dont take my hubcaps away…
March 11th, 2008 at 20:29
Okey….
March 11th, 2008 at 21:42
i really hope inter win their match, in attack yes they are class, but in defence, they are literally the WORST team i have any seen, the amount of times they have been passing it around in their box and flopping the ball to liverpool is huge, any attacking team(US!!) would absolutely destroy them, they are beyond shite in defence.
March 11th, 2008 at 22:42
Andrei, isn’t Aguero more of a fox-in-the-box like Huntelaar? Or no?
March 11th, 2008 at 22:47
If we win two of the three matches against the big four then we’ll surely win the title.Out of the three we have two at home so we have a very good chance of winning the title this season.
I’ve been watching the champions league game between the scousers and inter and both have been shit probably inter the more poorer of the two.Inter blew atleast five clear chances to score and the ref also didn’t help inter with a very soft red card..once again a game where a poor referring decision cost one side dearly.Here Inter had been unlucky in both legs….
Now we have four english clubs in the last eight and i’ll like not to draw anyone of them…Probably SCHALKE or FENERBAHCHE will do very well for us.
March 11th, 2008 at 23:13
[Kurt] not really in all the games I have seen with Atletico this season, he plays a second-striker role just behind Forlan. I could be wrong give that Atletico are not usually attacking
but that was the impression I got. BTW a little clip of Aguero (when he was 17). Sensational stuff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XNmh9OLheg
[Dan] did United not play Inter in a pre-season friendly? Inter won 3-2 at OT on that gloomy day. I think their downfall in their manager.
Thanks for that RR. I guess I somehow missed it…
March 11th, 2008 at 23:36
Come on guys lets cut Inter some slack. They are 6 points clear in the Italian league despite suffering horrendous injury problems. The defensive frailties tonight commented on by Dan may well have something to do with the absence of Maxwell, Samuel, Cordoba and Materazzi. They had to play for an hour with 10 men at Anfield and came within minutes of a credible 0-0 and looked capable of getting back into the tie tonight until Burdisso was dismissed.
They were containing Liverpool fairly well in both games when they had 11 men on the pitch and they posed a threat, albeit a limited one. That’s not to say Mancini is perfect, personally I thought Inter would have been better placed putting Suazo (for his pace) or Crespo (for his movement) up with Ibrahimovic and holding Cruz back to use as a battering ram late on. But given they spent about 100 of a 180 minute tie with 10 men it would be a big ask to expect them to progress.
March 11th, 2008 at 23:42
yeh aguero is a flair player, along with benzema on grognard’s list. Huntelaar and gomez are more fox-in-the-box. By the way grognard – what about henry and berbatov. They are never in a rush to get in the box. Henry was phenomenal without scoring many goals inside the box. Aguero and benzema are not fox-in-the-box players but they’ll still contribute with their fair share of goals – just like rooney and tevez. To say they don’t contribute in terms of goalscoring is just a lie. Also, tevez better in the air than rooney….aye right
March 11th, 2008 at 23:50
Could a thread take a more negative turn than this. I have seldomly read such unsubstantiated bs before.
We have no this, and we have no that. We’re short in this and that area, and we can’t score goals. Tevez and Rooney don’t score goals and what more do we have.
Please. We’re the most scoring team in the PL. And so what if Ronaldo scores a lot of them? Is that reason to be concerned, or pleased that we signed him, when he was young. I’m sick of reading about what will happen, when he stops scoring or when he’s injured. So far none of them have happened, and why speculate? If he’s injured or stops scoring, we’ll see what happens.
Look at the positives in stead of being so negative…it’s sickening. We have the league in our hands again, and the CL could go our way as well. The other teams have exactly the same problems as we have… a few players they seemingly rely on. Chelsea without Drogba and Lampard, Liverpool without Torres and Gerrard, Barca without Messi and Eto’o, Real Madrid without RVN and Robinho, Arsenal without Fabregas and Adebayor… no difference. It might happen, and it might not happen.
March 11th, 2008 at 23:57
huntelaar is an excellent header of the ball.. but when do we get good crosses in? Lahm is by far the best option at right back, he is very similiar to evra who from 2 years ago i was ashamed to note was a united player who to this year has given me the most consistent pleasure to watch. Poor rooney… he badly has to relax. earlier in the year he was consistently finishing from close range..ie taps ins which gave him enough confidence to add a few more. ever since christanio has realised how easy it is to score by hogging the ball and tevez has followed suit cos he knows he’s a better player, rooney has been completely cut off… which brings me to a final point..yes anderson is brilliant potential but don’t dare disregard scholes one of the few players with the ability to string all aspects of united’s game together and reproduce the devastating football obviously in this team when they are driven in the same direction,
March 12th, 2008 at 0:29
Can someone tell me what happened to eto he was what most people wanted last summer
is he playing for barca or is injured????
what are your thought on him?
March 12th, 2008 at 0:47
Duffstuff: Eto’o is playing for Barca at the minute, he was injured for roughly the first 3 months of the season. As of the end of February he had 10 goals in a dozen games. I personally don’t think he has looked as sharp as two seasons ago, although that maybe due to the fact that Barca have lost some of the sparkle from their attack. That being said, I think he is exactly what we are looking for in a striker. He is effectively a highly upgraded version of Saha. Cons, he has a bit of an attitude, requires good man management and he would be expensive. However he may an achievable target, particularly if Rijkaard leaves at the end of the season and Barca have there much speculated clear out.
March 12th, 2008 at 2:06
will everyone please get off Rooneys back you people seem to need a scapegoat to blame a bad performance on it was carrick earlier in the season and now its Rooney. Newsflash people strikers go through bad spells all the time. Who knows maybe rooney hasn’t been scoring as much because ronaldo has been gobbling up the ball on every chance we get. I wouldn’t mind its just Ronney is quite an inconsistent shooter some days its like he can’t miss but on other days he couldn’t hit an elephants arse with a banjo. We all know about ronneys weaknesses but we choose to ignore them because when he gets going he can be brilliant. In short please give Rooney a break and please give me the name of one top striker who hasn’t gone through a bad spell in his career. By the way how Many of you Benzema lovers have actually seen him play more than ten games?
March 12th, 2008 at 2:56
As the saying goes, opinions are like a**holes, everyone has one. However, there are good opinions and bad opinions. The bad ones are those knee-jerk reactions that come after we lost an important game, because people start getting blinded by their emotional disappointment and start looking blindly for answers.
Other posters (losers) like me, prefer to look at a season as a whole, to see how we have progressed or not, hence we use statistics to help us form our opinion, but not blindly follow it, as has been suggested.
In this specific instance, some people think we need more strikers because our current strike force isn’t doing well. But what is the basis of that? Just a feeling? Or is it based on some facts? I know a certain war in Iraq that was started from an opinion that was not based on facts.
While it’s simple to say that football since its invention has been about channelling the ball to the strikers and bam, goal. It’s almost as good as saying, football since its invention has been about defenders defending. Modern football is a lot different from how it was played before. 4-2-4 used to be the way until defenders got smarter and teams started defending as a team.
Likewise, unless you are out of touch of reality, football played at Man Utd has changed quite a bit as well, as I mentioned in my earlier post. No more out-and-out striker that spends the entire game in the box. The team now prefers more mobility and interchangeability up-front, with strikers pulling wide for wingers to cut in, or to drop down to receive the ball from midfield and even defense. It’s not because the strikers don’t have confidence to have a cup of tea in the opposing penalty box, but because they can hopefully pull their marker, a defender, out of position and create space in an otherwise congested defense.
This IS the new game plan at OT since last season, whether you like it or not. And the reason behind it is because teams come to OT and put 10 people behind the ball. Having wingers repeatedly cross the ball into the box for the out-and-out striker had proven not to work. How do we know that? Because the number of goals scored when we had RVN were actually MORE than before he came and after he left.
Ask someone who is a defender – is it more difficult to defend against a striker that can shoot, or against a striker that can shoot AND pass?
It’s easy to say buy this and buy that when performances don’t go in the way of expectations. But like karl said in his earlier post, this is not Football Manager. There are no neatly laid out statistics such as shooting, technique scored upon 20 in real life. Buying a player is a really risky task because a manager will never how a player can integrate with the rest of the team, get along with players, etc. There have been many players who have come to OT and not live up to expectations.
One key factor is the language issue. It’s difficult enough for non-English players to understand what other team mates are saying. Can you imagine having to learn Scottish as well?!? The goal we conceded against Portsmouth could have been attributed to the fact that Rooney couldn’t understand what the hell Anderson was trying to tell him. It could also explain why Forlan took so long to settle at OT compared to in Spain where he could communicate better in his native tongue.
Given a choice, as the manager, it would be a situation where you really no longer have any more faith in your strikers that you would want to risk 15m on an unknown quantity.
March 12th, 2008 at 3:29
did anybody catch torres’ goal against inter? a swivel and a goal. i’m wondering if man utd really missed out big time by not signing torres. but then again, with a spanish striker, a portuguese winger and a portuguese assistant manager, what kind of team dynamics will this result in..
March 12th, 2008 at 3:29
Hi, Andrei. I already read your list of striker… How your opinion about Benzema, our Manucho and Jeremy Menez ? I agree for your opinion too about our sort of striker. Hopefully United can find striker or take one from our academy, with Welbeck or Campbell as strong candidate striker of the academy.
March 12th, 2008 at 3:32
I am from Canada and we have very good football (or soccer, as they call here) pitches all around the country..
March 12th, 2008 at 4:08
I guess you have a point about Rooney and Tevez being there because they suit the Manchester United style of play more than an out-and-out striker. I used to take the same stance, but then then in one game, the camera shifted on Saha and I remembered: when RVN left, he was supposed to take his place as a first forward playing just ahead of Rooney. Then of course there was the aquizition of Manucho, which makes me think that there is even less of a possibility that Fergie is satisfied with just Rooney and Tevez up front.
Maybe the two forwards are his first-choice starters, but you have to admit that Man Utd need a newer version of RVN even if used to come of the bench and help us in games like the one against Portsmouth.
Also I would argue that not all strikers are like RVN – cup of tea in the box attitide. Look at Torres, he tracks back on occasion but his sole purpose is to score goals, not create them. There is also Eto’o who usually drifts to the side to help create but still his main focus is scoring goals. We do not need someone like Crespo or Inzaghi. Saha is the perfect choice, if he could only stay fit…
I remember at one point in the Portsmouth game that Rooney brough the ball up from defence on the wing and gave it to Ronaldo (also on the wing about 2/3 inside Portsmouth territory) who then looked to cross it, but funnily there was nobody to cross it to. I love Rooney for that kind of attitude, and I think he is the heart and soul of Man Utd but we need someone to complement him.
March 12th, 2008 at 4:14
Liam; First off, I for one have watched about 75% of Lyon’s games this season and can back up claims that Benzema is the real deal. Yes he likes to roam and doesn’t play like a RVN style striker but he has a nose for open spaces and has scored plenty of goals in the box. He’s a true goal scorer.
Now to all of you bleeding heart Rooney sympathizers who just cannot stomach a little negativity when it comes to the Golden Child, well WAH! WAH! WAH! Tough titties! “Don’t panic”, “every striker has slump”. Soory lads but I’ll damn well call it as I see it so if you don’t like what I have to say, DON’T FUCKING READ MY POSTS OK! Jeez Louis what a bunch of babies. The only time I ever get bent out of shape is when I’m attacked personally for my views. I couldn’t care less if people don’t agree with ideas or theories and they can disagree to their hearts content but never tell me what I can and cannot say. God this site has some PC Nazi’s trying to run the world. Just let me say my peace and skip to the next poster if I ruffle your feathers too much. I’m entitled to my thoughts and I for one believe that Rooney is seriously out of form and presently hurting United’s DOUBLE chances with his poor touches and awful finishing. I have made the point many many times that I personally love Rooney as a player and he is one of my top five players on the planet. But right now I would bench him if it weren’t for the fact Fergie had his thumb up his or Ronaldo’s ass in January when he could have bought a striker for the team’s depth chart. Manucho and his passport visa problems doesn’t count. Instead we are left striker less with only attacking wingers and midfielders to choose from and one striker permanently in the krankenhaus due to being made out of balsa wood.
Tevez; Newsflash!!!! Carlos Tevez is a much better header of the ball than Rooney? I’ve watched him in the past especially in Argentina and he is good in the air. He’s just height challenged. On the other hand I cannot count on one hand the number of goals Wayne Rooney has scored with his head. Come on stats mongers, dig up the numbers to prove me wrong. Rooney sucks in the air, bottom line. In fact when he rarely scores using his head, I consider a misfire.
My biggest concern and only concern is Manchester United winning and scoring lots of goals. I don’t give a rats ass about hurting egos, feelings or ruffling feathers. Players come and players go, United remains forever. Yes we score a lot of goals. We would score even more goals if we had a quality goal poacher playing in front of Rooney and taking the pressure of of him to be the go to man in the box. And FACT, we have become far to dependent on Cristiano Ronaldo a RW/RMF. And those of you who think him not playing wouldn’t hurt the team, well all I can say is that delusions are best had with a bottle of Napoleon’s best plonk. So please spare me the PC positive thinking and anti-negativity lectures in the future. I may be bloody irritating because I have the bollocks to question and to complain. It sure beats being bloody conformist backslappers who would settle for porridge if that’s all the chef was offering. Sorry mates but I have higher expectations of both Rooney and Man United. And you know what, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with my way of thinking. At least I am passionate about it. Also, there is no requirement or law that says I must be patient. It’s not programmed in my DNA so stop expecting me to change my colors. Thank you kindly.
March 12th, 2008 at 4:45
i personally think we should buy a RWB, best choice is Lahm. a good player for us with plenty experienced.but we need t splash big amount money..i think.. for strikers…wait Manucho, he will make wonders and Rooney and Tevez will fight for their place.hope Fergie will fight for Manucho’s permit.
March 12th, 2008 at 6:43
Any new news on VDS injury?
Will Foster or Heaton play GK?
March 12th, 2008 at 8:29
if vds is injured, then foster will play on the weekend…
March 12th, 2008 at 9:24
Grognard: How do you know that we’d score alot more goals with a poacher. To me, we’d lose alot of our movement upfront and thereby create less chances. Rooney and Tevez are a very good partnership, and the team’s overall goal ratio is great. Remember that the space created for Ronaldo’s runs comes from the movement of Rooney and Tevez.
March 12th, 2008 at 9:39
Our team now is close to as good as it gets imo. I know we might be a little short in a few positions, but it’s mostly due to injuries and there’s nothing you can do about that. The positions we talk about are RB, LB and striker… well we have 1 RB out, 1 LB out and one striker out regularly, so what is SAF supposed to do? Yes maybe he should buy someone, but it was never going to happen during the season anyway, so we play with the players at our disposal.
The overall team is getting much better at winning, and that to me is the most important thing. Yes we lost to Portsmouth, but these things happen. We were robbed by the ref and would have sailed through had he awarded the penalty. And some times teams miss chances like we did in that game… there’s not much to do about it. We even dropped points when RVN was in the team, if you remember.
I’d like to see a striker come in this summer, but I wouldn’t go for a static goal poacher. To me it would ruin our beautiful free flowing attacking game. I see Benzema as our best option, but I doubt, we’ll get anywhere near him.
March 12th, 2008 at 9:41
Oh and Grognard – I agree with you that Lahm might be the sollution for right back… young, quick, good on the ball and good going forward. Imagine that Grognard…someone agreed with you
March 12th, 2008 at 11:04
striker – 1. Zlatan Ibrahimovic 2. Torres 3. Benzema
right-back – 1. Philip Lahm 2. Daniel Alves 3. Maicon
these are the targets that man utd shud get to be unbeatable.
March 12th, 2008 at 11:47
[Steven] I have not seen Benzema play a lot of games, but in the few I have he really impressed me. I had someone like Huntelaar in mind for Man Utd.
[Sumu] I remember lunging into a tackle once on a pitch in Kirkland, QC. Most of the grass just gave way. Took us minutes to put it back. The artificial pitches are amazing though, you are right.
March 12th, 2008 at 11:57
Y no mentioning of Bosingwa ?folks i saw him play for couple of games..amazing….good dribbler of ball..good pace…great crosses….not great at defending but still can be compared of evra…adn shud be available for 5-7 mlln….he was terrorizing the right side of oppsite defense adn their attacking play always ends up with a cross / Pass from him ..
i guess he can be the man….striker options get Berbatov for 20 m..he is not worth more than that ….sell saha,silvestre ….
strikers : Rooney,tevez,berbtv,manucho
mids: andersn,sgoles,carrick,hrago,fletcher
defe-rio,vidic,evra,bosingwa,pique,simmo
March 12th, 2008 at 12:18
It seems pretty clear that Fergie’s plan at the beginning of the season was to have no ‘out and out’ center forward, ie, not RVN type box poacher. His vision was for a front 3 or 4 that would alternate positions, interchange and provide general chaos for opposition’s defenses. It sounds good on paper. You need players with great short passing skills and movement, and in Giggs, Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo you do have that (nani has been a wonderful surprise, but I doubt he would have banked on him). You never sit still, don’t tell anyone to stay near any defender and in doing so pull them all over the pitch.
And to be fair it tends to work. There have been very, very few performances this year (West Ham, City) when we looked short of ideas, and didn’t create chances. Having seen these performances, it was just an off day, nothing more.
I don’t think SAF wants another big name striker. I think he wants to stick to the plan of having mobile, ’smart’ footballers rather than a goal machine. Manucho is his plan B. His 60 minute option when things aren’t working.
When we run into problems this season it’s from a lack of finishing ability, but that’s not the fault of the system, it’s the fault of the players. Equally, you can’t stick a finisher into the system because then the chances won’t come as frequently. I love watching us play, I think we’ve set up a wonderful squad. I strongly believe all we need is a right back, and we’re set. Simpson can eb the back up, Silvestre is an able backup for Evra, we’ve loads of CB cover…happy days.
Squad next season:
GK: VDS/PIG/Foster
RB: ???/Simpson/O’Shea *shudder*
CB: Rio/Vidic/Pique/Silvestre
LB: Evra/Silvestre/O’Shea *less shudder*
CMF: Carrick/Fletcher/Anderson/Hargo/Scholes
LMF: Giggs/Nani/Park
RMF: Ronaldo/Park
CF: Rooney/Tevez/Manucho/Wellbeck/Saha(!?)
The only concern I have is reliance on C. Ronaldo, and if he decides (his agent decides) its time to move. Don’t think it’ll eb this season, but it’ll happen.
March 12th, 2008 at 12:33
There is no urgent need 4 a CF 2 be bought.Pre-season “rooney and tevez are not compatible why did we sell RVN”.Begining of season”Tevez is not good enough why do we keep scoring 1 nils.”.Then Rooney returns and is scoring 4 fun with tevez everybody incl the likes of messi, maradona etc is singing “ROOVEZ”.Then the beloved Ronaldo starts invading CF positions 90% of the time and disrupts the budding ROOVEZ.This resulted in both players losing confidence due 2 limited chances 2 score coz if CR7 is not doing a RVN sit in the box he shoots from range,takes all freekicks and PKs.So CR7needs 2 be a bit selfless or ROOVEZ need 2 be more selfish 2 show u we don’t really need 2 buy.
March 12th, 2008 at 14:09
jaywire,rooney has been dissapionting for both united and england,ronaldo has been good for united and portugal.just admit that rooneys growth as a player has hit a snag.no excuses
March 12th, 2008 at 16:44
A “GOAL POACHER” does not have to be a static player and it’s nonsense to think that a prolific good scorer in the box would ruin the way we play the game. The difference would be that he would make the most of the opportunities given to him unlike Sirs Rooney, Tevez and Saha. Yes Rooney and Tevez’s running does create room for Ronaldo because they vacate the box. I’d rather have Ronaldo’s running create goals for Rooney and Tevez instead. Huntelaar, Benzema, Aguerro, Berbatov etc are not slow, static goal poachers. Their movement would fit in well with United. They would actually help free up Rooney more and take a lot of pressure of him to be the main scoring threat up front.
Tomas; Somone did agree with me. BE STILL MY BEATING HEART!!!!
March 12th, 2008 at 17:10
I’d like to see either one of those 4 strikers in our club, but I wouldn’t expect more goals from any of them, than what Rooney and Tevez are able to offer… yes maybe Benzema but only because he’s such a freakin’ big talent. And I agree that those 4 wouldn’t upset our game… well actually Huntelaar might, but the others would fit in nicely.
The problem is that we probably won’t shell out the £25 mil on a striker that we’d all like. And if we do, it’ll be on Tevez, who we don’t own yet. I don’t think we’ll see too much spending this summer, but I’m pretty confident we’ll be seing a new right back.
And about who frees up space for who… I couldn’t care less about who scores our goals as long as someone does.
March 12th, 2008 at 17:35
another thing to note is the fact that from next season each
club can have 7 subs:
———————————————————–
Is this right? First I have heard…this will really
favour the biger clubs.
Rooney:
He just doesn’t look good to me. Every time he goes
clean through (at least 5 times in the past 6 weeks) I
expect him to miss and he does. His first touch looks
terrible.
Tevez is good. BUT I think there are better. We need someone
with height and pace.
March 12th, 2008 at 21:28
WOO – go Grognard, everybody may not agree with you ( I do about Rooney and his present form), but there can be no doubt you are a champion RANTER. And this board is by name, the place for RED hot ranting!. With regards to the striker we need, who knows Fergies thinking, but I think Manucho will be a big force in the box next season, and defensive bully boys won’t be able to push him about, and he won’t therefore keep finishing up on his arse like some of our present forwards do quite often.
March 13th, 2008 at 3:23
Craig; Thanks mate. Finally, somebody who gets it. If you can’t rant about your passion then might as well take sleeping pills and go to bed. My motto is I agree to disagree.
March 13th, 2008 at 13:50
Grognard mate looks like tribal footie has looked into our discussion abt Gomez
As per the news we are tracking him …