Jul 17
What Happens When A Player Doesn’t Get His Move?
Three top Premier League clubs — Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United — have players that have been agitating for (or as they say these days: trying to engineer) a move to another club. With Arsenal it’s Adebayor, with Chelsea it’s Drogba (and Lampard) and with us it’s you know who.
In the cases of Adebayor and Drogba they’ve been whining in public for a move away whilst, in the case of Ronaldo he has done a lot with his silence.
The funny part of all this is that it’s gone all quiet on the Adebayor and Drogba front. Milan, after having signed Ronaldinho (haha! take that, City!) seem to have cooled their interest in the Togo man, whilst no one really seems to be interested in Drogba. In the case of Ronaldo, however, Madrid are interested. But, lately, two Madrid players have voiced reservations of varying degrees regarding the signing of Ronaldo. [As an aside, I am not really sure if it was appropriate for them to be making those statements as contracted players of their club but, then, as they say: like club, like players.]
Cannavaro said that Blatter’s comments were daft and that Ronaldo must honour his contract. Wesley Sneijder, who not so long ago said that he’d love to play alongside Ronaldo, said that if Ronaldo is given a bumper contract it would cause tensions in the Real dressing room — confirming that he’s a two-faced twat. But two-faced twattiness aside, what Sneijder said was true. In a dressing room containing living Real Madrid legends like Raul and Casillas, it would cause friction if Cristiano were to walk in with a cool 150k pounder plus image rights. It’s not wrong that he gets that considering his current status in the footballing world as the ‘best player’. But squad tensions will definitely surface — although, it must be said, it’s not new in the Castillian club.
But what happens when Real somehow cool their interest due to fears of squad upheaval? Or what happens when it becomes clear that no one’s interested in the services of Adebayor or Drogba? Because then, the dynamics change. It won’t be the club’s fault — it’s only lack of interest in the player from other clubs. Egg on his face, how would a player react? How would he face his club mates?
He could release statements re-affirming his commitment to the club with an ‘I was always looking to stay on and it was just media speculation’, but it’s not quite easy to face up to the lads in training with a straight face and get on with football.
But certainly it leaves the club in a stronger position with regard to the player. It would be harder for the player to attempt another move to a club the next summer unless a club comes in for him. We are talking about big players here, so basically, it has to be a couple of the big clubs really that the player would want to move into. So when that move does not materialize due to previously interested club’s loss in interest, it’s the ego of the player that will get a battering. And in the current climate of inflated player egos, I think it wouldn’t be all that unfair for a player to get a reality check on his sense of self worth.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Why Heinze Won’t Go to Liverpool
- Can the Guardian Please Find a Better Writer than Daniel Taylor?
- Hargreaves Move Confirmed – Breaking News
- Heinze loses arbitration for Liverpool move, what’s next for him and United?
- Decision To Be Made On Heinze… Today!
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (542)
Stephen (500)
RedDevilEddy (463)
Craig Mc (349)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
Grog, listen to Red Ranter, this is NOTHING compared to the summers 05/06 and 06/07. At least we have some success to revel in. I suggest you do what I did before, watch a video of our penalty shootout victory vs Chelsea in the Champions League Final, and you’ll be instantly put in a good mood. Works for me every time!
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@AlexOfMancunia: I think he IS looking to mellow down.
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Well thanks for that Roy
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7512607.stm
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@benjd: He is clearly hurting from the way his time ended at United.
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@Red Ranter: yeah for sure, it just makes me sad to hear him say things like that.
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@WhiteY: Grognard won’t be happy with your Lahm comments
I think Lahm is a good defender he just made a mistake in the semis and was injured when Torres outdid him for the goal
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@benjd: im not going to lie, i took that to heart, he needs to sod off, i almost hate the guy.
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@benjd: That might be harsh by Keano but you know with all honesty he is absolutely right. Loyalty is a two way street and although Fergie has shown great loyalty to players like Solksjaer, Scholes and Giggs, he has shown the door to others like Beckham, Hughes, Robson, Bruce, Pallister, Yorke, Cole, Sheringham, RVN and Keane himself when the time came in his mind to ship them off. Players are responsible to only themselves and they should only look out for number I suppose but here is the hitch. THE CONTRACT. As long as there are contracts, they are obligated to look after themselves and therefore must be very careful about the kind of contract they are going to sign. They all want the security and the big bucks that comes with a long term deal yet, they are the first to bitch if they want to break that deal because another player received a bigger offer somewhere else. One must honor a contract as it is a legal agreement. They can’t have it both ways. Security of the contract protects both party’s who agree to it. And no team has ever been able to transfer a player against his will. Why then should a team be forced to deal a player against against it’s best wishes?
What Keane should consider when he makes these comments is that he is managing a minnow and minnow are good for two things. Being pounded by great teams and being raped of their better players by those bigger teams. Wake up Roy, Fergie’s stand can only help you as a manager. Showing an allegiance and a loyalty to players is not going to make them loyal to you when the day comes and a bigger payday is being offered elsewhere. I think his views are correct up to a point but the basis for his argument sounds like it comes from some bitterness towards Fergie and United for shipping him off before he was ready to go. Not feeling wanted by a team that you gave everything for for over ten years has to hurt. But unfortunately it is part of the game. Players get old and lose their effectiveness. Some don’t know when it’s time to hang it up. Yorke, Cole, Sheringham and Solksjaer are examples of players that refused and in the case of Cole and Yorke, still refuse to call it a day even thought they are well beyond their best. For me that’s sad but it’s their decision. But Keane or Ole should not expect United to have a spot for them when they are past their best and this team is still fighting for trophies. One must not hold bitterness to a club for letting them go when they were clearly through. However, he has a point when you consider the way players like Beckham and RVN were shown the door. Apparently, loyalty in those situations don’t mean much to Fergie as he wants his players to tow the line and never question him ever. Hang on! Isn’t that sort of like slavery?
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@Liam: Yes Grognard definitely disagrees with that comment but what really gets me is that Lahm is being blamed for that Torres goal despite two major factors that are in his favor. First and least of all, he was covering up for Metzelder’s shoddy marking. Torres was not his man and he had to scramble to get to him. Secondly, just a few minutes before that Lahm suffered a foot injury that required over a dozen stitches to close. His speed and ability to perform with this injury probably lead to his ineffectiveness against Torres and also lead to him being subbed off at halftime. Do you think Germany would substitute the number one fullback in the world over one mistake? No, he was injured and unable to continue. So lets be fair to the lad WhiteY as he is a quality defender who can defend as well as he attacks.
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Hm, it seems welbeck is a key player in the england u19s, lets see a 17 year old, playing for under 19s, 1 team away from the senior squad, we should loan this lad out to hull/stoke shouldn’t we.
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One thing Keane is doing though that is wrong is while he is showing his bitterness towards Fergie and United he is also hurting if not stabbing the loyal fans who loved him to pieces in the back with this statement. Most won’t sit down and see the logic in what he is saying. They will only hear echoes of Septic Bladder in their ears. He shouldn’t disrespect his loyal following with comments like that as he is also shooting himself in the foot if by chance some day he has the qualifications to be United’s manager. Man the amount bridge burning that goes on here is unbelievable.
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@AGP: He said on Sky Sports that Hargo would be fit for the start of the season, so he should play ahead of Fletcher.
Today’s news from Fergie was cheering, cus even though we haven’t signed anyone, at least i know Fergie isn’t sitting on his hands like some thought. Now as for the big surprise which isn’t a surprise, its probably Berbatov, but i’m still keeping hoping for Huntelaar.
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@Rd: Yeah I caught that but he was ultra confident about Hargo’ injury last year, I think this tendonitis thing is a real problem for Owen. the point is Utd have on board a lot of players carrying on/off injuries and perhaps goal shy Saha is the scapegoat!?!
I’m not concerned by the early fixures but september we need to be in the hunt Chelski and Scouse away that ain’t easy. Ronaldo(still here) will miss those matches and this injury hit squad better recover in time.
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@Brian Lomax: As I said above I ain’t really concerned with Newcastle, though Pompey away and a few other tricky games I just think we need to start better this year(remember Reading they held us at home) its the pre season fitness you want the top players fit cause they can make the difference.
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-Is setanta showing the South Africa tour?? or MUTV?? Not to be to negative but why has Eagles, Martin and Gibson travelled I thought these boys would be in the shop window!?!
surely Rodrigo and Eckersley are worth looking at? perhaps Ole wanted to keep them with the reserves.
I’m looking forward to the season really kicking in largely due to be unable to celebrate the double triumph as the Ronaldo circus is still pissing me off.
lol at Keano bidding for the Spurs rejects, this can’t be true can it. Lets lone him out Campbell and Eckersley they have gotta be better than Taino and Kaboul!!
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See this is what happens when you drag your ass in negotiations. The Daily Mail is reporting that Barcelona have entered the arena in the attempt to sign Berbatov. Just what I needed. If they coughed up the two frakken million that was needed to get the job done this week, we wouldn’t have to worry about this. And it’s something to worry about because unlike United, Barcelona has money to blow. Especially now that they unloaded Ronaldinho’s salary. The only bright spot to this situation is that if Fergie fails and Berbatov goes to Barca, then we would surely have to sign Huntelaar. But with Fergie you never know.
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for chelsea, it isnt drogs who wants out, its lampard. drogba hasnt said anything really about leaving
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@Grognard: The daily mail report a lot of things. The negotiations did not stall over two million. United have more money to spend than barcelona, especially since they have just signed hleb for 12 million and have already signed dani alves. Guardiola has assured henry that he will play the central striker role this season so don’t expect a bid for berbatov from them. They wouldn’t cough up for arshavin either so they do not have money to burn.
Ofcourse, i like to think huntelaar is a little further down the list of targets.
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@AGP: Gibson will turn out to be a half decent player, well at least as good as fletch.. Eagles would play more if we didn’t have Ronaldo, but he’s 22 now and really should be moving on to… sunderland.. don’t know that much about martins..
anyway.. it looks like the “mystery player” is unless SAF is throwing a real curve ball here is mr Berbatov… personally i think he will make our already quite frankly awe inspiring (read put the fear of god into the defence of the rest of the premierleague clubs) front line even better… now the only thing to think about is how to line them all up.. (hope im not cursing the deal by jumping the gun here)
Berbatov
Rooney Tevez
Ronaldo Scholes Hargreaves
Evra Vidic Ferdinand Neville(c)
D.Saar …. if you want to go for the millan way of doing things.
or the more
conventionalMy perferred wayBerbatov
Rooney
Nani Anderson Hargreaves Ronaldo
Evra Vidic Ferdinand Neville(c)
D.Saar
i reckon Foster should get a run out unless he goes on loan again…where is he in pre-season btw?
next year… if not in January we shall be looking for Nev’s replacement that is if a combination of O’shea, Simpson, Hargreaves and Brown won’t do…and im not saying that they won’t.
like fergie keeps saying, this is an awesome squad, and it only needs a little tweaking… you could say that Berbatov will be the cherry on top…. but i don’t think we’ll find out for certain until after S.africa/Charity shield rehursal.
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keane in a way makes some good points that clubs do kick players out the door when they are finished it goes hand in hand, he is bitter over the club but what he should not forget he had overstayed his welcome at united and should have been sold in the summer of 2003 he forgets that doesn’t he. look at giggs scholes and neville they are getting on but united are sticking by them isnt that loyalty mr keane, look at solkjaer when he was getting injured during his late years how many clubs would have cut their losses loads.
But I will say this again berbertov is way too old to be paying 25 million cant you lot get it two maybe three good seasons out of him, when man utd pay 20 to 30 million on a player I expect 7 to 10 years at the top not two to three years. why do some of you seem to think he is that good there are better options out there, when the going gets tough where is he is just a lazy slouch. The grim thought of having that moody idiot in our side is a worrying prospect, how many goals did he get 23 in all competitions while someone like Santa Cruz scored just as many in a lesser side. His price his wages and the temperamental player he is he would be a disaster.
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Steve
How did keane overstay his welcome? We didn’t have better players in the squad, therefore he was still not just useful, but important. Giggs, scholes, neville and solskjaer were and are kept on because they are still useful to the team. Neville and scholes are still the best players in the squad in their positions. I’m sure giggs is useful for something but i struggle to see what it is…maybe just a good example to the younger players and has a great deal of experience. Solskjaer was kept on because in the end he would never let you down. Bring him on when you need a goal and he would score.
A large fee is justifiable for either a top player in his prime years or a young player with the potential to do well for a long time. Berbatov fits into the first category and would be worth 25 million based on his current ability. The level of performance for the next 3 years would be of the highest standard. He can be a lazy bastard, but i think the idea that he is lazy is blown out of proportion. He is so relaxed on the ball and generally laid back. It’s just his natural game. You call it laziness, i call it class. In the end, i couldn’t care less if he tries his hardest to stay in the one spot when the opposition have the ball. When we get the ball he will perform, which is the important thing. You can get away with having a lazy striker. Rooney and tevez are both busy little workhorses anyway, they will carry his workload and a bit extra. Also, having this sort of approach from teammates as well as the management should motivate him and get him working. As for his moody side, in 2 full seasons at tottenham i’ve only ever seen a problem with him at the start of this season, where he wanted to join united and never got it. It unsettled him, and yet ramos came in and sorted things out at spurs. Berbatov got back on form and was excellent for the rest of the season. Fergie will know how to deal with him. Put an arm over his shoulder. Molecoddle him and he will perform. He won’t go around in the huff. Also, blackburn can’t really be classed as a better side. They finished 7th, with tottenham 11th. So berbatov actually scored just as much as santa cruz playing for a lesser team, as well as contributing much more to the team’s overall play. So he would be fantastic.
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@tevez: They didn’t cough up for Arshavin because they didn’t fancy him. Instead they bought Hleb. They have spent money so for a team that doesn’t have more than United, you could sure fool me.
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Barca need to spend lots of money, they are overhauling their entire squad. They’ve bought Pique in on the cheap, only £13mil for Hleb and spent big on Alves.
Will they be any better than last year for that outlay?
United did this (rebuilding) last season (Hargreaves, Anderson, Nani and Tevez) so 1 player seems more than reasonable to add to a team who just won the EPL, Champions League and has the best defense in Europe and thus world football. Evans will come in to replace Pique in the squad, and Neville and Slvestre are like new signings…
Next season I’d expect us to strengthen at RB as Neville will move into the backroom staff, a winger as Giggs will do the same (someone to be backup for Nani) and cover for LB as Silvestre moves on after his testimonial.
Hopefully after defending both of our trophies
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They didn’t cough up for arshavin because they wanted too much money. They made a bid that was turned down before they went for hleb. Hleb was there second choice. If they had money to spare, arshavin would be signed with them. They have spent something like 35 million so far, how much do they have left? Last year we spent a fair amount. We’re not going to go from huge transfer warchest to struggling for funds in a season. Also, gill, fergie and the glazer’s (i think) have all said the money is there for strengthening the squad. You are assuming we have no money because we have not completed a transfer yet. You believe that we would not up a bid for berbatov and so do not have the funds, even though there is no way of knowing that, and yet you believe barcelona have money to splash around even though it has been confirmed that barcelona made a bid for arshavin which did not match zenit’s valuation and they would not up it.
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@Grognard:
Perhaps, it may have escaped your notice that Zenit were asking £24m for Arshavin whilst Hleb went for £12m. That’s double the money. Fancying a player over another would come if the prices were at least comparable.
Like it or not, Arshavin has generally been under the radar (call it poor scouting) so 24m quid could be considered steep when they were getting Hleb for half of it. At least they know what they’re getting with Hleb — even though I must say it would have made Arsenal only happy going by the reactions on some Arsenal blogs.
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Will where is Carrick in your line ups?
I disagree that Berbatov is not needed by Barcelona. They have sold Ronaldinho, Et’oo is on the way out and they are a striker short. Hleb was a replacement for Deco not Ronaldinho. If they bought Berbatov their top three would be: Messi, Berbatov, Henry/Bojan.
Tottenham will prefer to sell to Barca so if Barca really are interested and prepared to pay 30 million or so its game over unless Berbatov insists on a move to us.
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@Traverse: I’ll gladly settle for Berbatov. Just sign him for crying out loud. Also, if Ronaldo leaves they will have replace him too.
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@Red Ranter: No it didn’t escape me but if they wanted him as badly as he wanted them, the deal would have been made. Clearly they don’t value him as highly as Zenit or even myself for that matter.
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@Grognard: Yes they don’t value him as highly as Zenit. There is only so much you can want to pay for a person you want at your club. Clearly they thought Arshavin was a bit too highly priced for their liking. Honestly, 24m quid is a bit much for him. The Russian league is yet to prove its pedigree despite the UEFA cups or their run in the Euros. Market forces wouldn’t dictate that much money on him under normal circumstances which explains why Barca were not prepared to shell out that much money.
And Arshavin’s agent’s behaviour has been rather dodgy throughout this saga and I feel for the fans of Zenit as Arshavin himself is declaring his love for Barca, Arsenal and any top club so openly. I mean make up your bloody mind, for fuck’s sake!
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@steve: I agree about the supposed fee though my arguement isn’t with his age, more so the fact he will expect to waltz into the starting 11 and for all this guys ability he is extremly lazy. I mean granted some ranters out there have a problem with Carlos Tevez in our starting line-up well heres news for you Berba will waltz in front of him make cleaver touches scores goals then when he loses the ball winge about it. I mean him and Ronaldo both not defending! Are European crown will go if Berba jumps ahead of Tevez(no doubt). This is no discredit to his ability I CAN SEE the comparison with Cantona but guys are team is about hard grafting and counter attack where is Berba in last years line-up(no where).
@Will: Sorry mate not to cause a stir but Fletcher was starting for Utd at a younger age than Gibson(2003) he is lightyears ahead of him! Eagles my god people watch him play he is your mate who can do a Cryuff turn and win the affection of a 16 year old girl, he is naff! close to Richardsons abilty.
Also without starting starting a turf war your line-up is pure fanstasy, Paul scholes holding a midfield with 4 attackers no chance he is 33 Rooney would be dropping back to holding midfield in that line-up.
Listen once a player joins Utd they have my eternal backing(including Dimi) I just hoped it was other transfer targets we had gone for. The Berba/Tevez thing is more Carlos I rate higher and for Utd to stump around 28mil for Berba is a slap in the chops for Tevez who Fergie last March had suggested he claimed to have agreed terms with!!
@Grognard: Mate one thing how on earth has Berba jumped ahead of Huntelaar in your ‘most wanted list’ I thought you had already got the Hunter 9 United shirt on delivery? He had to be way down on your list of potential signings a while back!- don’t take that wrong I mean I just thought Huntelaar was your draft pick #1.
Berba will score goals but this forum is a little harsh on players who are egotistical and lazy, back him as long as he’s scoring(lol)!!
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@AGP: This is a blog not a forum. I take offence at that
So you’ll continue to back Ronaldo by your logic?
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@AGP: Berba never moved ahead of Hunter at all. I just conceded to myself that this was what Fergie wanted and I was OK with it. In fact I said in an earlier post that the silver lining in all this procrastination and Barcelona jumping in to the bidding war, is that if we lost Berbatov, Huntelaar would almost surely be Plan B for Fergie. But with Fergie you never know. Honestly, Huntelaar is probably going to be wearing the #9 of Arsenal when it’s all said and done.
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I think this just went up on Sky sports. Fergie has finally confirmed what we all knew already…
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_3832936,00.html
“…and we have good expectations that this deal will go through”
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@Red Ranter: Sorry mate for the using the wrong term this blog I respect and I believe is managed rather than left to rot like other fan-based sites.
As I’ve said before I have lost my patience with Ronaldo though I do believe he’s been misguided. Perhaps for me the one thing(minus the slave bullshit) is that he has stolen the limelight of a perfect season! I mean David Gill still had champagne on ice whilst swatting away Marca the day after we won the champions league, and although I’m a lot older than I was in ’99 I expected to be grinning all summer past the god aweful weather and truely lapping up the success!! Also Ronaldo was the perfect comparison to Berba in terms of defensive duties and ego(king eric and all greats have this monster ego lol) I know many have had it with Ron but he will be here next year and I won’t wait till he grabs a hatrick to back SAF in his decision to keep the winker!
I meant no offensive in calling this site a forum that was perhaps a lazy typo on my behalf!
@Grognard: Okay mate misread your earlier post, do you reckon Fergie would ever have moved for Huntelaar? His record is immense but perhaps his all round game is putting off the big clubs, shame really he will grab any team 20 a year! Well Berba is set to join for £22m providing Spurs accept I can live with that for now, my earlier rant was pure frustration at the Utd board for not tying up a deal for Tevez! We can’t take him for granted.
Question to those out there> Now Berba looks set to join can any forsee Danny Welbeck ever braking into the Utd set-up? Outside of ‘Rodders’ and Foster he is the best reserve within Utds squad! I hope we don’t see a Rossi/Pique situation with this lad.
Rooney
Berba?
Tevez
Saha
Manucho
Campbell
WELBECK- hard que to jump aye!?!
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@AGP: I really believe the reason Fergie has not gone after Huntelaar is because his #1 target has always been Berbatov. There is no doubting the skills of the hunter and I’m sure Fergie knows that he would have been a fantastic edition to the club but Berbatov is special in the eyes of Fergie. He has that Cantonaesque quality that Fergie loves so much. A striker who scores goals but who has flair, arrogance and incredible vision and creativity to set up teammates with great goal scoring opportunities too. Cantona was good goal scorer but he was not prolific. He wasn’t Shearer. What he was was a player who would score 15 EPL goals a season but set up another 20 to 25 goals directly with his vision and beautiful finesse passing and runs. Huntelaar would have scored 20 to 25 league goals but he doesn’t have that great play making ability to set up others directly. Where he would have had a great influence on the team despite his own goals would have been his stronger presence in the box and the fact that this presence would free up the likes of Rooney and Tevez to get cleaner cracks at goal because of this. Two different styles that work and I am fine with either one. Huntelaar is still my first choice because of his age and because he brings fewer question marks regarding his commitment and attitude. But the same can be said about Cantona and lets face it, he isn’t called the King for nothing. He’s also an impossible set of cleats to replace. Berbatov may be the one player on the planet with the skill set to do that. He is that damned good.
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@AGP: As for Tevez, no we cannot take him for granted but the team’s loan deal is for two years. There is no rush to make a deal and lets see how he does this season. If he doesn’t improve on his intial season which was good, Fergie may want to use that kind of money for somebody better and younger. For Tevez this may be a year of frustration because I believe he will lose a lot of playing time due to Berbatov. Only the absence of Ronaldo and a 4-3-3 formation with berbatov in the middle and Rooney and Tevez on the wings will give him a real opportunity to play a lot. If Ronaldo returns I feel Tevez will become a role player and a super sub. If Ronaldo is dealt, it all depends on who his replacement will be as to what happens to Tevez’ playing time. This will be a make or break year for him even though he did very well last year. The problem is his price tag is too much for what he offers in my opinion. If it drops, I think he will be around for a while. One way to make it drop is to simply not play him as much. This would be harsh and unfair, but these things happen in the game today.
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I told you didnt I? I knew it first…
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Good on you Fergie finally some positive news!!
I am glad we will sweat the Berbatov deal ou a little rather than paying the £30m for the player. Spurs do not want a moody upset player on their books, but we also don’t want to over pay as we did with Carrick.
It now is a case of who blinks first!
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@colver: if your using the ‘Christmas Tree formation then the centre needs to be the best passer/distributor of the ball… for me scholes scrapes it over carrick.. mind if you want defensive capabilites as well, carrick is the man..
i tend to line up with attack outwaying defence, but if carrick could contribute a few more goals (suppose anderson needs to do that job before being picked ahead of him) then i would put him in.
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@colver: Berbatov is not needed by barcelona because they will be playing henry first choice central striker. Messi will definitely take up one of the wide positions, don’t know about the other one but it certainly won’t be berbatov. He needs to be through the middle, and he’s not going to play second fiddle to henry.
Tevez is on a two-year loan so a permanent deal is next year’s business. I also agree with grognard (Aaarrrghhh!!
) that tevez will start out the season as an alternative to berbatov and rooney. However, i wouldn’t bet against tevez forcing his way into the team. It’s quite a challenge for him but it is the sort of thing he’s good at.
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AGP
If you read my other posts on this topic on past columns made by redrants I have giving my thoughts on this guy but that is another reason why he would be a massive mistake. ppl have short memories that van nistlerooy was pulling some tantrums when he could not play in the team in the closing months of the 05/06 season, today’s footballers have changed and that’s why rooney tevez and berbertov will not work when all expect to start.
tevez
keane was past it in the 02/03 season the real madrid game showed his time should have been up and got a fee out of him. Before the 06/07 season solkjaer looked like he had no hope but united kept faith with him. neville is the same fergie is not buying a full back because he still has faith in neville, other clubs would have tried to cash in on giggs 4 years ago, scholes I would think is the only player no club if they had him would sell at any age and we did have players good enough at the time, tevez we had p neville scholes butt even fortune at the time to play in midfield so keane was not needed and fergie accomadated and changed the team to suit keane, fergie almost ruined all the great work he done in the 03/04 season but luckily he has put the team right and we are winning the trophy’s in even more impressive fashion.
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@steve: Ha phil neville, butt and fortune at the time could still not lace keane’s boots. He and scholes were our best midfielders. Just because he’s past his best doesn’t mean he wasn’t needed. Fergie didn’t change the team to accomodate keane at all. My point is that all these players still had a role to play. They were not sold because they were still useful. Had they been considered of no use to the team, that is when you could measure the loyalty of the team. Had they been kept on regardless of the fact they were of no use, that would be loyal. That definitely would not have happened though. When the team is done with scholes, neville and giggs they won’t be in the squad anymore. They will be gone, regardless of whether they wish to continue playing or not.
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@AGP: Was kidding mate. Call it what you want. Whatever makes you happy
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@RedDevil: Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched mate. A lot can happen before the transfer window closes. I am most interested to hear what Ronaldo will finally say. Because despite Fergie and despite the contract, his word will be the final word. He could counter Fergie easily by refusing to play or acting like a total dipshit. I just feel this saga is far from over. And on the chance he is actually staying, it’s only going to be for one more year. Then again, if he’s not wanted by the entire squad at Real except Calderon, he will have to really get down and do some soul searching.
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