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Ferguson Trots the Same Tired Lines

Alex Ferguson was apparently “interested” in David Villa. Of course, Villa has since moved on to Barca, and most keen observers of the game would know he was unlikely to ever leave Spain. How convenient!

He then goes on to make another outrageous remark—well not so outrageous, if you think about it.

“We’ve looked at a few options,” Ferguson told the Mail on Sunday. “We did consider David Villa but he was always going to Barcelona.

“I just don’t believe there is value out there at the moment. I’m very happy with the strength of our squad as it is.”

No value? Well, let’s translate that to we-don’t-have-money. And I’m very happy with the strength of our squad as it is? Well either he’s lying/being politically correct, in which case it’s sad, or he honestly believes that his squad is alright, which is disturbing.

I think he knows the squad is not as good as he wants it to be. But clearly if he thinks there is no value in the market then he’s either deluded or his scouting network needs an overhaul. Wesley Sneijder stands out as a shining example of how the market has value—I mean, last season, of course. Of course, if you are looking for the likes of Ozil right now, his value is going to go over the roof simply because of an amazing world cup.

At the moment I’m willing to call it a bonus if we sign anyone at all. Fabiano openly declared his interest, but due to a combination of there-is-no-value-in-the-market and oh-but-he’s-29-and-we-look-to-develop-young-kids we won’t sign him. Ozil said something to the effect of ‘he likes the way Chelsea and Manchester United play’ but no one should read much into that anyway. The Mirror reckons we are interested in Stephen Ireland because Man City have bought a gazillion midfielders, but City might rather sell him off to the likes of Everton or Villa—with whom they could work out an exchange deal with James Milner—than to us.

In conclusion, I want the remote control with the fast-forward button, once this World Cup gets over, so we could skip straight to the start of the season.

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Speaking of the World Cup, it’s a shame Brazil are out. Prior to the Cup I predicted Brazil or Spain with Germany as the dark horse. My pick? The winner of Spain-Germany will win the World Cup. I loved the way Germany taught a lesson to Maradona and co, simply because the Albiceleste were outed for their flawed, stuttering defence. I found the pre-match talk—of Maradona being a managerial genius—ridiculous. Whilst I thought Germany would win, I never imagined it would have been this brutal.

Also: doesn’t anyone else find it odd that the Netherlands—who have the best chance to reach the final—have got this far by playing the most un-Dutch football ever?

I bet, if they win this tournament, Rinus Michels will be Cryuff-turning in his grave.