Jun 30
Wenger Speaks Sense As Platini Loses his Mind
Is Michel Platini for real? Or is this different from the rather good player that strolled the park many years ago?
Yesterday he made a statement backing Real Madrid over the Ronaldo saga. Now, I don’t have any problem with UEFA over not taking action against Real; there is hardly any substantial evidence to back United’s complaint. But when Platini goes as far as to encourage Madrid, then it gets a little bit worrying.
This is what he said to reporters in Vienna:
“Every club in the world would like to have Ronaldo. It’s part of the system we have today. Players move from club to club and I can understand why Real Madrid want him. They had [Alfredo] di Stefano and [Ferenc] Puskas in the past, and as Ronaldo is considered one of the best or the best player in the world it’s normal. If the club has the finances they can do it, if they don’t have the money they can’t.”
Like Alfred di Stefano? Are you fuckin’ kidding me? There was a lot that was shady about the purchase of di Stefano — one that, to this day, brings out the worst in Madrid and Barca fans — so surely he’s not going to use that as an example to justify the Ronaldo interest?
What is this love affair between footballing governing body presidents and cretins? Can Platini come across as sounding any more retarded? Not taking action is ok, but speaking about the whole Ronaldo saga in a tone that condones or even encourages Real’s actions is sad to say the least.
Wenger, meanwhile, speaks sense on the whole Ronaldo saga:
“I think Ronaldo will stay at United because I cannot see the club making the kind of statements they have made if they have no assurance from Ronaldo that he will stay. Once a club of their stature say he will stay, he has to stay. If he doesn’t stay you look weak, weaker than if you said nothing at all.
It is not right what Real Madrid do, I agree. And there comes a point when somebody needs to make a stand against them. United have come out strongly at the moment and said ‘No’, and I give them credit for that. Maybe as well they know that the desire doesn’t really come from the player himself. It could be from another environment, from a club that has tapped him up. But it is not something that usually happens between big clubs. It’s not something you do.”
Indeed, and it is a rare occasion where I actually agree with what Arsene says. The Arsenal manager has problems of his own, having to deal with the possible departure of Adebayor. However, it’s all well and good making a stand but will it be easy for Fergie to get Ronaldo motivated on a daily basis, if he does stay? We shall have to wait and see.
Today, I believe, Fergie returns to work and would spend the good part of this week listening to messages on his answering machine. Hopefully by Tuesday we’ll get to see the rumour mills chugging along, linking us with the next wunderkind from Haiti. (We need these stories, don’t we? Otherwise what will we talk about? Actual facts? Bleh! Who talks about facts these days anyway?)
In other news, tickets for the Aberdeen game on July 12 will go on sale [phone lines provided in link].
The Telegraph gives a preview on what to expect from United in the 08/09 season.
Finally, a word on the Euros. It was thoroughly exciting, as a tournament and rewarded teams that attempted to play football. Which is why, barring Austria and Switzerland, every team seemed capable of beating the other because they backed themselves and had a go. Which explains the success of teams like Turkey and Russia. In a way it was fitting that the team that played a good brand of football won the cup, and a team like France and Italy that showed mostly disjointed displays were unceremoniously dumped out of the competition. I just wonder what, Michael Ballack, “the nearly man of contemporary football” must be thinking now.
Anyway, nothing else to report for the day. Till tomorrow, over to you.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Sepptic Blabbermouth Opens Gob + Roundup
- Home Grown Quota Could Temporarily Shut Platini Up
- Edwin’s Dutch Delight, King Cantona and The Ronaldo Daily
- Is United being pound foolish with the below-26 policy?
- Pique, Platini, Ronaldo and Moscow Rumblings
Tags: Manchester United News
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I have to say that I am elated that one German player has come out to voice his displeasure over the bias shown by Referee Rosetti in yesterday’s final. Jens Lehmann has voiced his displeasure at the phantom foul called against the Germans in the Spanish box just as Gomez was ready to score on a real sitter (not a given with Gomez) as well, he was not amused by the refs ignorance at David Silva’s head butt on Podolski. I totally feel vindicated and relieved that I wasn’t the only one that noticed how the ref has screwed Germany in this final. The problem with all this is that it’s a shame it took the controversial and always flaky Jens Lehmann to bring this out. I knew there was a reason why I liked him. Great minds think alike.
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yeah but i noticed lehmann didnt mention the handball he committed that got ignored, that was a bad call aswell hahaha
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@Grognard: I think, you’re wrong about David Silva, and comparing him to Gattuso is certainly not fair, since they play different positions all together.
Silva is a quality left winger/forward with great pace and class ball control. And as we saw in the Euros, he’s got a solid left foot as well. And he’s only 22. Unfortunately, we won’t be going after him, since we’ve got Nani for the future in that position.
About us being broke – well, I guess it depends somewhat on what player we bring in. And he hasn’t excluded that we could be going for 2. I guess some of the transfer activity going in will depend on what exits, because obviously we can’t risk losing another defender (Silvestre), and not bring in a replacement.
I think SAF feels very confident in his current crop of players, and why shouldn’t he. Yes, the players are a year older, and Giggs will have only 25 matches in him (SAF’s words), but Nani will be ready for a lot more games, and so will Anderson, which means we’re covered pretty well all round, if we bring in a striker.
Neville’s coming back as well, which could be a very important “signing”.
About the striker situation. I read that we might battle it out with Real Madrid for Radamel Falcao, who’s a Columbian international playing for River Plate. I know absolutely nothing about him, but he might be the signing of the summer. He fits the bill that’s for certain:
Young
Selling club’s profile
Striker
And that’s another thing that eases me a bit. SAF has said, we’re after the best young players from teams around. Could be a good sign.
Plus he seems quite certain, we’ll keep Ronaldo. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t talk like this about the transfer plans.
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@Grognard: Fergie sees Anderson and Nani as the long term replacements for Giggs and Scholes, so in his eyes there is no need to sign for those positions.
Maybe signing one player is a morale thing. If he goes out and signs 4 or 5 players after a fairly young team wins a league and europe double, it’s gonna cause a few heads to drop. By only signing one (and lets hope its a striker asthats where we need one) it’ll benefit the younger players.
Also, looking at it, where are the problems in our squad?
EVDS looked good in the Euro’s, and it’ll be Fosters first propper season, Kuszaczk is better than he gets credit for.
With Neville back, Brown can move into the center to cover (as Pique did last year) and Gary can play right back. Left back is an issue if Evra gets a big injury… Silvestre isn’t going anywhere, and can do a decent enough job in short runs.
Midfield we have Carrick , Hargreaves, Scholes, Giggs, Ronaldo, Nani, Anderson… not even counting Flecther, Park and O’Shea. If that can’t see our Midfield through a season, then we have serious problems.
Upfront we have Rooney and Tevez. Saha cannot be relied on, we are yet to see what’s going on with Campbell, but he isn’t a game changer. It’s not yet Welbeck’s time, Manucho is untested (but judging on the ACON he can belt a ball or two) and Dong is here for marketing, not football.
I’m sure you’ll tell me if I’ve gone wrong anywhere
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I also got the impression that SAF’s transfer targets were young. I think his actually words were “we’re looking at one or two things.” I dont think he wants to bring in a ton of players, since that will cause more time to gel. And I also dont think he needs too.
Just because we have money, doesnt mean we need to spend it. And just because we dont spend money, doesnt mean we have it. We are, after all, champions of europe. We dont need a retool. And this may be SAF finally trying to bleed in some youth team players, if not just to find out if they are in fact United material. I would love to see Possebon in the middle of the park with Carrick or Hargo just to see if he can cut it. No use spending money on players to back up people if we ‘might’ already have people that are able. Would certainly love to see us get a good young talent the likes of Garay or someone like that though.
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Come now Grog. You can’t expect Fergie to bring in 4 new signings after he just had a team win the double? Our squad is complete, outside of a striker, which to me, if Saha can stay healthy, we don’t really need. But since we can’t depend on him, we have to make a move. Here’s how I see it…we’re not walking a financial tightrope her. Fergie isn’t trying to bust up this team, a team that has been succesful for him just last year. He just splashed a good $50 mil the offseason before this one, and chances are he’ll drop 20+ mil on a new striker. The fact is, especially if Ronaldo stays, we don’t have much to do with the team. An attacking mid would be a luxury I think, especially if we buy a striker. I think the money is there, we just already have a world class team, so why buy when you don’t really need to. If we need something in January, I expect we’ll be able to get a good player.
Keep in mind that Fergie wants to lock up Tevez, and that Ferdinand, Eva, Carrick all got new deals this year. Ronaldo will also most likely get a raise in wages. Tevez will be like a new signing. All in all, I think we’re fine.
And to be honest, I don’t know if I’d meet Zenit’s asking price for Arshavin. I mean its not my money, but I just have this bad feeling about Arshavin. I feel like he is going to be a tournament wonder who doesn’t live up to the hype with his new squad. If he proves me wrong, then great happy for him. Just don’t see it personally.
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well, it looks like Red Ranter and Grogs were right about the transfer kitty! now thats a kick in the bollox. As euro champs we won £££££s, but we can only afford one major signing! What the fuck? I’m pissed off if this is true.
, Silvestre to stay 
Gary Neville back from a year out and so big things are going to be asked from Simpson and Manucho 
This is our plan to maintain our dominance?
the jury’s out there! I’ve said before and i’ll repeat it; get rid and use the money to buy. I think we would get the most out of the fascists this summer, and with some decent aquisitions, we move forward with strength and style
So do we believe Fergie that Giggs and Scholes are able to perform at the required level? even though Giggs has lost alot of his pace? I heard that Anderson got a bad injury recently playing for Brazil? anyone know anything?
So Saharrrgh is off
We definetly need a striker and in my mind that man is Berba. He would be a great addition to our squad.So what kind of performances can we expect from our star winger who dreams of playing for the fascists? mmmmmmmmm
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If we are buying just the one player Im hoping it is a world class striker. But as Ferguson says its hard to buy good players because clubs like to hang on to their good players, so Im guessing we’ll be buying another “one for the future”. The Colombian guy sounds interesting but could end up being another Forlan.
Van der Vaart would have been my choice but a striker is more of a priority and to be fair our midfield is covered. We do not need the AMF player so long as we have Ronaldo and the way Tevez and Rooney drop back they are equivalent to an AMF.
I think it will be another surprise signing like the Nani/Anderson deals of last years. A young forward for around 10 million up front with installments rising to a total fee of 20 million. But I cannot think of a player who fits that bill.
What do people think of Zarate? Only got a few games for Birmingham but has the physique we are looking for.
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@whiteY: Give Anderson a chance. Last year he was just past recovering from a broken leg. Now that he is off the mark (penalty in the CLF) he might starting banging them in a la Fabregas only now has started to.
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I know i may get a bit of stick for this but i think a great signing this summer would be Benny Macarthy
he had a great season for Blackburn the season before last second only to drogba in the league i seem to remember.
a big plus would be his price we would not have to fork out 20 million for him we could get him for around 10 million
Any Thoughts
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So Chelsea have signed Deco – no big surprise there. Apparently it’s a deal worth £7,9 mil. He’s a great player, but in my world, they can sign all the 30 yos they want to… not exactly long term. But he’s a good player, and it gives us an idea of what kind of football Scolari wants to play.
To me, he’s just another midfielder in Chelsea’s squad, but it could mean exit Lampard, and frankly that would be a poor swap, since Lampard is used to the league and a sure goal scorer.
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@Grognard: , seriously mate, just because SAF said that he only wants to sign one player does not mean that we are broke coz lets be realistic here, there is at the most 2 positions on our team that need strengthened, striker and right back.
With Nevilles return and Silvestres decision to stay we are adequately manned in the full positions and if both of these players can stay injury free it will give SAF time to get a closer look and develope the Silva twins who could save us a fortune if they come good so I honestly dont feel concerned about us defensively.
The only position that I think we definately need to get a player into is the striking position and I dont think you have to be a genious to work out that the ONE player that SAF is speaking about will be a striker and if he suceeds in getting quality then I will be happy enough.
To bring in more midfielders or wingers might increase our squad size but in the long run could damage the development of some of our existing players like Nani and Anderson who must be given more games and responsibility next season to see if they are the real deal, to bring in more players just for the sake of it would be unwise and unfair coz ultimately this would lessen game time for players who are at a vital stage in their development at OT and I honestly believe that it is this that is influencing SAFs thinking this summer and not a lack of funds.
Now I know some of you are still worried about the Ronaldo situation and what I wrote above only applies if he stays at OT, but having listened to what SAF had to say today about his squad, the idea that Ronaldo wont be there next season is definately not in Fergies mind and I would be very surprised if Ronny boy is not our no7 next year.
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@Fred The Red: Agree. I think Ronaldo will stay (although that does little to change the way I think of him), and I’m sure he’ll perform well next season. So really it has to be a striker that he’ll bring in. I’ll be happy if we just sign a striker (a good one) all summer.
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Deco is a great signing for Chelsea giving them some creativity in the midfield and someone who can pull the strings. It would be interesting to see how he adapts to the English game but he’ll be a major asset in Europe no doubt. I thought he was better than Ronaldo for Portugal in the Euros.
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He said they are looking at a couple of things – so we may sign 1 or even 2 who knows.
We dont need a new goalkeeper.
If Ronaldo stays we dont need any new midfielders.
If Silvestre stays and Neville is fit then we prob dont even need to strengthen at the back as brown/silvestre/O’Shea and evans will be back up CB’s. Maybe a cover LB.
So the one area is up front where we need 1 striker. Berbatov!
So all in all we won the double with this squad so a small tweak is all we need really.
20m on Tevez and upto 30m on another striker will 50m spent! not bad for a club in financial crisis!
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@gator: Thats because it wasn’t a hand ball. He handled in the box and then quickly controlled eith his chest because he knew his momentum would carry him outside. Even the commentator for the game in the feed I watched agreed with me on this one. For what it’s worth. It was close though.
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If we signed 3 or 4 players then how the hell do we keep them all happy?! must have been hard enough last season. We have a big quality squad and adding 1 or 2 players will freshen it and make us better.
Neville is back and we already have Manucho so thats like 2 new players already!!
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Tomas. I was comparing him to Gattuso in temperament not in the position each plays. I don’t like his style of play and his cheap shot bull crap theatrics. We have enough of that crap to deal with in Ronaldo and Nani.
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I love it. Fergie says it’s hard to go out there and buy players for such and such reason. The bottom line is that it’s hard to buy players when you have no money and the team’s are asking for more than you can afford. Let’s call a spade a spade here. Wake up people! United is almost broke. We’re operating on fumes and what money we make from the Champions League.
And to those people who think I want four or five players bought, you are wrong. Ideally I would love a striker, a backup at LB and an attacking midfielder. For me that’s two major signings and convincing Silvestre to stay. For me Huntelaar and van der Vaart would be ideal. That’s of course if Ronaldo stays. If he leaves I would want those two, Ramos and Robinho in return and Fergie goes out and signs a player like Arshavin. But hey, whose complaining when we can look forward to Manucho and Grandpa Nevile’s return. Wooopee!
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Our current squad:
Goalkeeper:
Van der Sar
Kuszczak
Foster
Defenders:
Neville
Evra
Ferdinand
Brown
Vidic
Oshea
Evans
Simpson
Silvestre
Midfielders:
Hargreaves
Anderson
Giggs
Park
Carrick
Nani
Scholes
Fletcher
Eagles
Forwards:
Ronaldo
Saha
Rooney
Tevez
Manucho
Campbell
Welbeck
Add a new signing and we have 7 players that can play as a striker.
A good squad, can get better, will get better!
P.S. Is it just me or has the Ronaldo transfer-talk calmed down since Portugal got knocked out? Maybe CQ was right? Maybe Calderon did this just to unsettle Ronaldo so Portugal wouldnt win. In the end Spain won, so maybe Evil-Calderon got what he wanted.
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@Grognard: Showing a lot of faith in one of the absolute best right backs in the world there Grognard?
Huntelaar and van der Vaart aren’t good enough, and therefore we won’t buy them, and neither is Arshavin. He won’t work outside Russia. Van der Vaarts only great asset is his delievery from set pieces, but I guess we have players able at that already. Huntelaar… well, he’s not exactly first choice for his national team, neither 3rd nor 4th choice either. Not sure he fits the bill, but we’ll see. I like his goal scoring ability, but if his footballing skills aren’t good enough to get him on the pitch, what does it matter.
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Yeah ok – Huntelaar might be 4th choice
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Fred the Red; Sorry mate, I think we are broke. And I also believe in never standing pat. Champions don’t look to yesterday, they look to tomorrow and in the past Fergie has thought like me. If he’s not doing so now, it’s because he doesn’t have the capital to really make the changes that are needed. I’m not saying we need to make wholesale changes. But we need a world class striker and a world class attacking midfielder. Anybody who doesn’t see that is wearing blinders and fatalistically optimistic. Scholes and Giggs are on their last legs and so who is going to back up the already injured Anderson and the not ready for prime time Nani?
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Tomas; I’m not even going to dignify that with a reply mate.
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Grog why do we need Van Der Vaart? We dont need him, he is just a luxury. Decent player but not needed this season. Drop Rooney into that role of ACM and let Tevez and Berbatov run the show up top!
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Grognard – I kind of knew you wouldn’t, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
Imo van der Vaart plays for HSV at the age of 25, because he’s overpriced, and the same goes for Huntelaar. People in the business know the value of these players, and if they aren’t traded away from Holland or Germany, it’s because they’re overpriced.
Arshavin – well, I’m undecided on him. He comes in and plays very well in 2 matches. He’s fully rested and up against slow defenses of Sweden and Holland. Then he encounters more skillful and quick defenders from Spain and is completely torn apart.
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@Grognard: Grognard, you are not calling a spade a spade. You are calling what you think to be a spade as a spade. Big difference there. No one knows, so you are neither right nor wrong. The fact is you want to believe (or at least that’s how it comes across when I read your theory of united being broke) that United is broke because Fergie is not buying as many players as you thought he’d buy.
There is a big, big chance that he reckons we are good if we manage to keep Ronaldo and sign a striker. There is a big, big chance that Fergie has a different opinion of the squad than you, rather than the financial situation.
Yes, we may be in financial trouble, but may is the operative word here. We’d be daft to assume we are either extremely loaded or completely broke without having any idea of the numbers. It’s a private company and they can show anything based on their accounting jugglery. Speculate, but when you state it like it is the ultimate truth, then I will say just this: I strongly disagree.
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@Grognard: weres the evidence that we are operating on fumes, have I missed something and before you start talking about the debt we are in I am well aware of the current Glazer situation so if you would like to show me the basis of your opinions I would be happy to study it but until then it sounds pure supposition to me.
Like RR said, a quality striker would suffice for me, the rest would be buying for buyings sake and would be to the detriment of the squad.
Many of us on here believe Anderson will provide the attacking impetus from midfield so he must be allowed to show wether we are right or wrong, the addition of an attacking midfielder at this stage could bring about a situation were too many cooks spoil the broth.
This team and particulary its younger players must be given the chance to grow and mature coz the way I see it, there isnt a lot wrong with it.
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@Grognard: I agree that champions should never stand still but I honestly believe that our situation is slightly different than most teams that are reigning champions in that our current squad is nowhere near its peak and the improvement that you desire could come through maturity and not major surgery.
This time next year we will know if SAFs blue print is gonna work long term and also we will know what if any areas need changing but until then lets wait and see.
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@Red Ranter: Agreed about Ronaldo, his antics this summer have shown the calbre of person he is and for me it has left a bitter taste in my mouth.
I also believe that we only seen about 80 percent of what Rooney and Tevez are capable of last season and I am expecting to see both players improve next term and this will be aided by the signing of a proper no 9.
Add to this the natural improvement of Nani and Anderson after a fine first year and I think you would agree that United are in good shape.
Give me Berbatov and I will be happy this summer.
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RR; Ya but Fergie is wrong and I’m right.
I mean really, wasn’t that obvious?
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@Fred The Red: I am basing my theory on how the Glazer’s have been operating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers now for over decade. That team is cheap cheap cheap. They never spend to bring a proven quarterback, runningback or wide receiver. They never spend for the team’s skill positions and when they won the Super Bowl 7 or 8 years ago, they did it with a strong defense that never costs as much to build as a good defense. There have been rumors in Tampa that they have no money and that the team may go up for sale. What evidence do I have? The evidence of inaction. Nothing is happening. No great team stands pat. They always tinker and improve while sending older players on their way. United is doing none of this. I believe that they shot their transfer budget for the last two years when they bought big last Summer. And I’ll be surprised if we sign either Huntelaar or Berbatov. Nope, we’ll settle for the cheaper Santa Cruz or Fabiano. Only a team scared of it’s own shadow would allow what Ronaldo has done and not gotten rid of him. I honestly cannot see how him returning is going to be good for the team after he has burned his bridges with his actions. Whether he goes or stays he is dead to me unless he apologizes to all the supporters and Fergie and devotes himself to fulfilling the entire four years remaining on his contract. I’m sorry fellas but I just have a bad feeling about things. Proof is not always in the pudding. It also is in there being no pudding.
And all you guys are building Nani and Anderson into something I don’t think they are or ever will be. We’ll see.
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Grognard: You want us to sign an AMF, but we need to change the whole system we played last season. We had two MFs, who interchanged perfectly.. Against good teams we played 3 MFs where 1 sat in front of the defence. Now you want a new AMF, an experienced one that is, which means that we need change our system again… Our team is young and they’ll only develop from here…. Sure you look at both sides of things, yet in your last (i don’t know how many) posts you’ve sounded as if doom had already been upon us. Fergie never sounded as if we did not have the money to buy players…
He said that clubs are now ambitious so they want to keep the best players, and they have to be sold then the price for them has to be exorbitant… So we are going for younger players… And he also said that we have a relatively young team which means that bringing experienced players will only limit the chances of players like Nani, Anderson etc…. He doesn’t want to do that…
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@Grognard: thats the point mate, as much as you believe that Nani and Anderson wont be the players that some people think they will be, at this stage its just two differing opinions and only time will prove if they are right or wrong but if SAF believes in the opinion that is contrary to yours would it not be madness for him not to let the team mature and grow together without unnecessary changes that might take us backwards instead of forward coz dont forget, WE are the reigning premier and european champions and this fact proves that things are ok at present so forgive me for saying this Grog, but I think our current position completely defies your pessimism and if this is what your like in times of success Im not looking forward to reading your comments when things go wrong.
Cmon Groggy, the glass currently isnt even half full, its actually almost filled to the brim
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@Krishnan: No you don’t have to adapt systems. A good player is bought that best fits a system, not the other way around. To say we don’t need an attacking midfielder is a mistake. I’m saying we need a young and quicker and more adventurous Paul Scholes. That kind of player perfectly fits our system. A Ballack style player would add extra scoring dimension and added pressure in the attacking box etc. It amazes me that many of you cannot see this.
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@Grognard: I perfectly understand what you’re saying but show me young AMFs in the market. Again we need to go for young unproven ones which is like what Arsenal are doing.. testing the talent that they have…
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@Krishnan: “He said that clubs are now ambitious so they want to keep the best players, and they have to be sold then the price for them has to be exorbitant… So we are going for younger players…” That sounds like defeatism due to no money. That doesn’t stop the Real Madrid’s or Chelsea’s from buying whomever they want if all that stands in the way is money. Fergie is on a penny pinching budget so he is looking for cheap young prospects and hopes for them to become like Aguerro or Ronaldo. Playing with fire. I like youth too but there comes a time where you need to add a bit of experience. Not a 30 year old but 24 or 25 year old is fine. But when all you have is a few coins to scratch together and Louis Saha, it doesn’t lead to too much optimism.
Fred; Once again I will emphasize that I am not expecting Fergie to gut the team and buy half a dozen players. I am asking for a world class striker which we need badly whether you aor others think we do. Even Fergie agrees on that one. We also need an attacking force in the middle of the park. If nobody cannot see that than I can’t help them. Add those two ingredients to an already solid but aging team and we can be more lethal than ever. EVDS, Neville, Scholes, Giggs, Saha are all question marks for either their age or their health or both. That’s five players that need to be replaced,if not now, by next year. And Saha needs to be shopped now. I’d take a plate of fish and chips and a subscription to 4-4-2 as well as a few shillings for him. Just get him the Hell out of my sight. Eddy and Scholesy have a year left in them tops, and Giggs is really quite finished but he may be OK as just a reserve. Neville is a major question mark as pace and strength is required for his position and I need to see that he still has it.
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Grognard
Buying as many players is always not the solution. Real Madrid and Chelsea, despite buying as many players as they wanted to, threw up a horror show the past two seasons. Yes, Real won its league, but I’d rather watch paint dry than watch the jokes that were the Real and Chelsea circus. Yes you can buy an entire side, but past experience would show, that one or two signings that fits into the system would be easier to integrate than wholesale purchases.
I agree regarding your response to Fred that we need a world class striker. But just because Fergie says one or two signings are enough to take the team forward does not mean we are in a financially bad position.
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Krishnan; Why do we need to go for young ones? I really don’t understand this policy for youth only. I like experience in certain positions. The attacking midfielder is the talisman of the team. The last position with central defender I would want youth playing in. I say go for a 24 to 28 year old AMF who can offer a full arsenal of skills. van der Vaart, Sneijder, Diego (too slow), Arshavin, Moutinho, are a few names that are available and qualified. I’d take any of them except for Diego because I honestly think he lacks pace, or at least quickness off the mark. The best in the bunch for me is Arshavin and then Sneijder. Neither seem interested in United and Moutinho is a bit soft in my opinion. That leaves van der Vaart who I feel is the talisman we need. He can do a lot like score goals, take free kicks, corners and he is an outstanding finesse passer of the ball. He can also play LMF or second striker positions with very little loss in his game. But you mark my words, we’ll miss out on him, Arshavin, Huntelaar and even Berbatov. Sure I’m pessimistic. As Tom Cruise says, “SHOW ME THE MONEY!” The last thing I want is to follow Arsenal’s plan. We are the champions, we need to stay where we are. Let Wenger tinker with youth, who cares? While he tinkers we can continue winning until Fergie retires. Remember, he won’t be here forever and I doubt he needs to start on too many youth projects with only a few years left in his tenure. The time is now, not tomorrow.
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I definitely think Fergie is going to be giving more of a chance to the youth players like Evans, Simpson and Welbeck next year. Having secured his 2nd European Cup, the pressure of success is now off Fergie a little. I think he’d love nothing more than to bring another set of youngsters through from the youth team, as a fitting way to finish his time at the club. Don’t get me wrong, the desire for success will still be there, but I think before he won his 2nd European Cup, the pressure for success was too much, and he refrained from blooding youngsters.
Don’t forget, as well, that from next season on, we will be able to have 7 players on the bench in league and FA Cup matches. If we’re 2 or 3 nil up against the likes of Middlesborough and Bolton at home, what better time to bring on the likes of Welbeck and Evans to give them a chance to impress. Before this 7 player rule, we’ve always understandably taken the cautious route of choosing 5 ‘experienced’ players for the bench in the event that we needed to call on them if things weren’t going to plan. Now we have the option of both experience and youth, and I can’t wait to see the possibilities and opportunities it will be bring for the younger players.
Regarding the one player comment from Fergie, it doesn’t bother me too much. Firstly, because I don’t think it’s set in stone that we’ll only sign one player, as Fergie’s done this kind of thing before and pulled a rabbit out of the hat. And secondly, because I don’t think we really need more than 1 player. Truthfully, all we really need is a centre-forward, providing we can hold onto Ronaldo. Berbatov is that forward, and I’m confident that we can sign him from Spurs. After being denied a move last summer, Berbatov will have made an agreement with Spurs that he could leave this summer if the club failed to get CL football. The only other position we may need a signing for is full-back, though given the form of Brown, it’s not a necessity. If Neville can get back to full fitness we’re fine, and Simpson and Evans will hopefully add the other cover we need.
I don’t agree that we need an attacking midfielder. It’s clear to me that we’ll sign a big striker (hopefully Berbatov) allowing Rooney to revert back to his preferred position in the hole. This makes an attacking midfielder redundant, especially if we continue to play with 2 pacey wingers. Much better to stick with the 2 slightly deep lying midfielders, who allow the quad of attacking players to run riot. From what I’ve seen of Anderson, he’s got ‘pacey box-to-box midfielder’ written all over him. Perfect.
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Someone needs to lunge at that Platini fool with a sharp object. How did he become president and when is his term over?
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RR; Again I say that I am not advocating that we buy a lot of players. I just want us to buy 2 bloody players. But I feel we need to spend a minimum of 35 million to get the two players the team needs. I doubt Fergie has 20 million to spend. And when we sign Santa Cruz or Fabiano I will be vindicated for my concerns and paranoia. I think a lot of you are in denial. Go and read about the Glazer’s and their financial empire. I already gave the example of Tampa Bay. A massive debt with a deadline looming? I don’t know chaps, sounds like trouble to me. HOPE I AM WRONG! Sincerely I do!
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I have NO IDEA what you are talking about Grognard. The Tampa Bay Bucs are fine financially and has always been. They are buying players as we speak … go have a look …
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/teams/buccaneers/
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@Grognard: If we do buy Santa Cruz, i doubt it’d be for the reasons you stated(being broke), it’d be more like Fergie bought him because he thought he’s right for United, not because we’re broke. And also based on what United fans are going through right now with Ronaldo, i don’t think we should be going for a player who’s being quoted as saying he’s heart is in Spain. Anyone know what happened to the 50mil Fergie had for transfers? I find it hard to believe that we’d be in soo much debt we’d only be able to afford a player of 20mil or less. If we were really up to our neck in debts to the point of being able to afford only bargain price players I’m sure Fergie isn’t stupid he’d have offloaded Ronaldo when Real were still willing to pay 80mil
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@RedAddict: some good points there my friend, agree with the Berbatov with Rooney in the hole with 2 pacy wide men point strongly, get Berba and I think we will be well equipped next season
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Again, I am not in denial. I am willing to believe we are broke only when there is evidence presented before me. Till then I won’t have a clear cut opinion on United’s finances.
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@Grognard: thats it Grognard, Ive heard enough of your unproven and generally all round happiness devouring theories
and it appears that the more people disagree with you the more it galvanizes you, never mind what Tom Cruise said,
Fred The Red says SHOW ME THE PROOF GROGNARD, SHOW ME THE PROOF, in black and white my friend and not from fresh air, and if you cant then let us enjoy our current position of the best team in Europe and possibly the world, weve had enough gloom with Ronaldo this summer, please freind, look at the positives for a change instead of always bringing up imaginary negatives its been a bad summer mate, everybody has tried to rob us of our happiness, dont aid them in their quest Grognard, oh infamy infamy
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Agree with Grog on signings required here!!!
We actually do need a world class AMF and a pretty good striker (although I prefer a third choice one rather than first choice one as I have faith in Rooney and Tevez!)
The AMF I had identified months earlier was Van Der Vaart!!! At that time Grogs had vehemently opposed me but now it seems he sees merit in what I see. VDV is worth pursuing simply because he is a plausible option and he is looking for a move. He is really good, a ready made Scholes but that would also mean Carrick is rendered redundant!!! Plus that would also mean Fletcher leaving as there would be too many mids. But my choice of VDV over Carrick/Fletch is simply because both of them dont score enough. All great teams have a great free scoring midfielder! We had Scholes in 99, Chelsea have Lampard/Ballack, Liverpool have Gerrard, RM have Schnider, l’arse have Febregas. We had Scholes but he is past his best now and he doesnt get into the box so often! But if we retain both Carrick and Fletch than no need to go for him. I just believe we have too many of central mids in the team and no proper AMF! VDV’s arrival can mean contention of starting place with Anderson which would be good for the youngster. He shouldnt get the message that its all so easy for him as there is no competition for him for the starting place.
And about the striker we can definitely do with a third choice one (although my personal first choice is Berbatov!) In fact I believe it could go like this : Either it will be a World Class striker (+ 1 squad player) or it will be a world class ACM + third choice striker!
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@jos: has chelsea won the league since Ballack and Lampard have been Paired, have arsenal since Fabregas took the reins and finally has Gerrard led the pool to the premiership, do you not think its funny that people are saying that a goal scoring midfeilder is needed despite the fact that we are back to back champions and champions league winners.
Winning the league once without one could be put down to luck, but winning it again along with the champions league without one sort of kills the notion that a goalscoring centre mid is a must, especially taking into account that in both seasons we were the top scorers and in reality, to use teams that finished behind us to prove the point seems illogical.
Would you be happy having a ACM scoring 20 a season for us if we then finished second or third.
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Fred
you are missing the point. Nobodys denying our success to this point. All we are discussing is how to improve things. Of course you can have the view that everything is ok and we donot need to do anything and that too is fine by me. I am arguing for improvements on one vital position that we can certainly improve upon in our team. You talk of Gerrard but he led his team to a Champions League! And Lampard also led (thru his goalscoring) his team to back to back titles. In fact Chelsea came very very close to winning the league last season thanks to mostly Lampard and Ballack only. In any case argument is why have 4 or 5 central mids in the team and only one (and htat one is not proven – andy) ACM kind of a player? Isint it more logical to have lets say 3 CMs (OH, Carrick,Scholes) and two attcking types (VDV, Andy) or rather it is more logical to have no goal scoring thread from midfield ???
Last season we were saved by Ronaldo. What if he picks up a long term injury this year or goes into a barren run. Then our only goal scoring threat would be forwards and any team that stuffs them would kill us!!!
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