Manchester United’s failure to land a central midfielder this summer is with scepticism in many quarters, with the club’s inability to meet the wage demands of Wesley Sneijder and Samir Nasri pointing many critics towards a charge of Glazernomics. Yet, while United’s poor record the road last season was almost entirely down to a paucity of options in central midfield, manager Sir Alex Ferguson has chosen not to acquire new talent for the role this summer.
Far from meeting the challenge of Barcelona’s dominance in Europe, and Manchester City’s lavish spending domestically, some pundits believe that United may well have run simply to stand still this summer. Indeed, while Ashley Young offers a new flexible attacking option, David de Gea and Phil Jones are new-for-old replacements in Ferguson’s squad. The question of whether United is ‘net better’ from this summer’s transfer activity is yet to be answered.
Yet the 69-year-old Scot believes – critics might add he has little choice – that emerging youngsters can fill the void left by Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves this summer. Tom Cleverley’s positive 45 minute display against City in the Community Shield offers reason for supporter optimism. Meanwhile, 18-year-old Frenchman Paul Pogba is singled out by Ferguson as a real hope not only for the future but the coming season as well.
“We’re quite positive about him,” Ferguson said.
“If we hold Paul Pogba back, what’s going to happen? He’s going to leave in a couple of years’ time when his contract is finished. We have to give him opportunities to see how he can do in the first team. He’s got the ability, the physique and the athleticism.”
That athletic frame has drawn comparisons with Patric Vieira, a lazy analogy born seemingly of players’ similar French-African roots and height. Indeed, those who have watched Pogba’s progress in United’s FA Youth Cup winning side last season witnessed a player of significant finesse, quick feet and attacking prowess. The comparison with former Arsenal midfielder Vieira is one that Ferguson rightly rejects.
“He could be a surprise for us. I took him to the charity game in Monaco and he played 25 minutes in the second half against Marseille’s first team and he did very well. He got involved right away and I said to myself, he’s not bad,” added Ferguson.
“He’s a big physical boy. He has a great physique, 6ft 2in, athletic. The new Patrick Vieira? That’s just because of his height and build. Patrick was a great player but this boy is only 18. Look at Patrick when he was 18, he was playing centre half for Cannes. He only emerged as a midfield player at AC Milan.
“But I believe Pogba has the equipment to be successful. Seeing youngsters like him come through helps me, it helps us all. It’s still one of my biggest thrills to see a youngster coming up through the ranks. The kids are the foundation of the club. I think the foundations are looking good at the moment. This helps to drive me.”
Yet there is much work to be done if Ferguson is to fast-track Pogba into the first team picture. Despite his potential Pogba would surely struggle in the Premier League’s more physical encounters. Meanwhile, Ferguson believes that the former Le Harve midfielder must develop a greater range of passing if he is to make it to the very top.
“You don’t want to be putting the lad under pressure yet, but he’s got all the equipment all right,” added the United boss.
“He’s strong and athletic and he’s almost ready to be considered. We are just trying to work on his distribution. He has been playing a short passing game and we think he could do with a bit more range. We will be giving him opportunities this season because if you don’t use good players you end up losing them. We can’t hold him back, and wouldn’t want to do anyway.”
Along with United’s other great midfield talent in the FA Youth Cup winning side, Ravel Morrison, Pogba can expect games in the Carling and FA Cups in the coming season. Ferguson is almost certain to pick fringe sides in the early rounds of both competitions, with United entering the Carling Cup at the third round stage in September.
Morrison, meanwhile, is unlikely to be fast-tracked into the first team picture until the youngster’s many off-the-field distractions have cleared. The club’s willingness to protect the 18-year-old Wythenshawe-born player, despite multiple court appearances over the past 18 months, says much for the talent on offer; arguably the most fluid English central midfielder with the ball at his feet since Paul Gascoigne.
In Morrison, Pogba, Cleverley and perhaps Anderson – if the €30 million Brazilian can ever find some consistency – Ferguson has built with the future very much in mind. The players represent an exciting quartet of midfield talent very much in the United tradition.
Yet, for all that future promise the feeling that United has sacrificed short-term progress at the Glazer’s financial altar is inescapable. Despite Barcelona’s utter destruction of the Reds’ midfield at Wembley in May the Catalan club has acquired in Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez two talents of the highest order. That – Nani aside – no United midfielder would make Barca’s squad, let alone first team, is telling.
win fuck all with kids
yea thats what everyone said the same season scholes , beckham, the neville brothers and co came through into the first team…and what happened?? the double was it?? fuckin ridiculous comment get your facts straight
If we don’t buy a central midfielder, I bet Pogba gets used in more than CC and FAC games. All it takes is a couple of injuries in that area and he’ll be thrown in the deep end.
Well written article, a lot of United fans have gotten a little carried away with the obvious potential of the younger players to the extent that Sneijder or Nasri are no longer seen as a necessity. Your point on the relative strengths and recent additions to both Barcelona’s and United’s midfields is very well made. I’d be very hopefully that our young midfielders will mature into very fine players but there is still a very obvious gap in our current midfield.
Final paragraph sums up the short term situation (2-3 seasons). Barca advance their squad potentially taking football to new heights on the European stage. We frustratingly tag along in second place due to the Glazers. The most annoying thing is that Barca are in debt due to poor financial management and over spending. Without the Glazers we could sustainably bring in 2-3 highly paid midfielders paying them in excess of £160,000 a week. I may be wrong but are we not the most profitable club in the history of football based on turnover? Our squad should be out of sight in terms of players, trophies and football.
I’m not complaining I grew up supporting United in the 80’s but like Keane said after the Treble winning season we should have signed big. We missed a trick then to fully realise our potential as a club. Due to the Glazers we are missing that opportunity now. We should be signing the worlds top talent. I know people will say that certain stars prefer Spain but look at the talent we have missed out on and the type of players who have signed for Chelsea and City. We should have been presenting a package that players could not have turned down which included history, success, support/facilities and money. Yet we can’t due to the Glazers. Not only are they holding the club back they seem to temper the enjoyment that the Man United fans/community should be experiencing in what is our most successful period. Like it or not the Glazers leaving and the business running without the debt would potentially open up a period of success beyond what any club in the world could imagine. Think about it or don’t…it’s so frustrating!
I rate Pogba and I do think he will come good earlier than expected. Just not this early.
Mario Goetze from Dortmund..he’s 19 and won’t cost a fortune and he’s a great playmaker.
i hope pogba does get his chance and even if we sign another midfielder i am sure he will.
however i still think we might bag someone if and its a big if a deal that comes along and no matter whats said we will still be linked with target after target. plus many have said that a deadline deal is very possible as a tactic in getting the best deal.
tbf i dont think we can blame the glazers for greedy players as i am sure we would have offer a very good wage and if players want silly money then they know where they can go.
also not many midfielders would get into that barca three, let alone ones from the weakest part of our team.
this season like the last few we are relying on midfielders stepping up, we have the numbers but we could do we adding at least one and hopefully that happens. but if fully fit i am sure our current bunch can do the job.
its important fletcher gets fit and ando steps up too
we still have that giggs and carrick combo that did well at times last season plus cleverly’s looking good with a young crop to come in soon, so its not all doom and gloom.
hopefully gibo leaves as his had his chance and didnt take it.
No one is blaming the Glazers (may they rot in hell) for the greed of modern players; we blame them for turning the world’s richest club into one that can no longer compete for the signatures of the best (and, therefore, best paid) players.
we have rarely been a club that goes for the proven world class player.
i am sure we could afford it but it doesnt mmeans its a good idea to paid snijder the £220/250k he is reported to want. he should want to play for us and its not like we expect him to pay for nothing or even on the cheap but a more than fair wage is reported to have been offer in the region of £180k with add-ons.
btw, i dislike the glazers as much as the next fan but the reason we dont sign some players is down to greedy clubs/players/agents and fergie isnt a short term manager he also wants players at the right price.
We have on many, many occasions paid large sums of money and very high wages for proven players (Robson to Veron) and not so proven (Rooney Berbatov). It’s a myth that we haven’t in the past. We got lucky with a crop of youth players but still needed to supplement. However, the landscape has changed and we need that freedom to spend that’s curbed by the Glazers. I’d be interested to see what WS really wants and what we are prepared to give. I’m fairly confident that his wage demands are under £200,000 pw. WS aside we are simply not allowed to buy under any circumstances unless we can sell on and recoup some costs or make a profit. That is creating a serious problem with regards to capturing the players we need to dominate europe. Talking about WS not being worth that amount of money is irrelevant. If he was worth it we still wouldn’t buy him because we are not allowed.
“We are just trying to work on his distribution. He has been playing a short passing game and we think he could do with a bit more range.”
He’s no Scholes then
If he was the new Viera then maybe a ‘new Scholes’ wouldn’t be necessary. But apparently he’s nowt like him, right? It’s just because he’s tall & black
“You don’t want to be putting the lad under pressure yet” but because of our failure to sign a top draw midfielder, it’s become necessary
David Villa £40 mil signed at 28 £180,000 a week no resale value and nobody at Barca gives a fuck! Just scored another blinder when it matters. Whilst typing this RM have dominated Messi just scored out of nothing. You want to compete with this lot get your money out or keep dreaming. Cleverly my arse. SAF talking about faith in youth he’s kidding nobody.
This^^
Spot on
Look this is the state of play. We won’t be buying big marquee name players under the Glazer regieme unless they are on the cheap. No Sneijder, no Modric, no Nasri. Get used to it. We could spend 150 million and it won’t mean that we would be guaranteed to beat Barcelona.
With the addition of Sanchez and Fabregas they could be the best club team ever without debate. There’s nothing United can do about this. When you implement a playing philosophy from the youth teams upwards bringing through some of the best young talent in the world, let them mature and buy the best players from around the world as the icing on the cake you are going to be pretty unstoppable.
United spent big on Berbatov and Hargreaves, and they didn’t justify the expenditure. The Glazers will use this as a stick to beat Gill and Fergie with, but both CEO and manager understand the value of money & won’t want to spend large amounts either. A chartered accountant and a Scotsman – what do you expect!
Putting Barca aside its a case, like Alfonso says, in Fergie we trust – he has the track to prove it and might know a bit more about football management than us. We are title favourites and already our rivals are dropping points. We will be the champions of England but not the champions Europe. That isn’t such a bad existence.
Ed…
This fuckhead is back… using my name…
Sort it out please…
“Badges, to god-damned hell with badges! We have no badges. In fact, we don’t need badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges, you god-damned cabrón and ching’ tu madre! Come out from that shit-hole of yours. I have to speak to you.”
He’s been added to the blacklist
Don’t lump me in with that cunt… he’s just using my name… and I’ll delete every post he makes until he uses his own.
Don’t lump me in with that cunt… he’s just using my name… and I’ll delete every post he makes until he uses his own.
I’ m sick of this `Barca are the greatest team and now they are even stronger with Sanchez and Fabrgas and there is nothing we can do about it’. The word for this is `defeatism’. It’s the sign that we are ready to accept a not-too-bad second best.The surprise will come.. not from Barca… but from some other team with huge ambitions getting the team together that WILL be able to take Barca on when the moment comes. That doesn’t seem to be us, we have given up already, presuming that the 20th title is a formality and nothing can be done to dethrone Barca in the CL. We mustn’t cry if we discover neither of these to be true.
What worries me is, forget the Barca midfield, the City midfield this year will probably be: de Jongh, Toure, Silva and Nasri and maybe a real marquee signing still to come to be thrown into the midfield mix. That’s starting to look a bit scary (on paper at least). If we bought a really proven, consistent, central midfield player, then the youngsters (Cleverley, Pogba and Ravel Morrison) could have learned from playing alongside him and wouldn’t have the huge pressure of being the one called upon the lead the team from midfield. At the moment we have some really good options everywhere except at central midfield, where we have to hope that the two chosen to fill those slots (if we go for 4-4-2) are on their game and able to control things (which we know doen’t happen we what we have got there, more than it does).
At least I hope that we play atacking football and take some teams to the cleaners this season (including on their home grounds), whether we win any trophies or not.
Damian, you want us to turn into Arsenal.
It could get even worse and we could turn out like Liverpool. Keep buying average players and we soon have an average squad. Take out Vidic, Nani, Rooney we start to look thin on proven world class players!
This is not Championship Manager. We don’t NEED to sign big. You’ve all been banging on about Barca’s midfield. Well, not one of those players was bought BIG. All three — Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets — were nurtured through the youth system. They bought Villa last year, yes, but then we bought Berba two years previously — and look how that worked out.
Fact is, Sneijder is getting on and his wage demands are ridiculous. I’d much rather give that role to someone who WANTS to play for the club. Tom Cleverley may or may not be the answer, but it’s in this club’s nature to give players like that a chance. I don’t want to be a City or Madrid who throw cash at a problem rather than invest from the bottom up.
Exactly. That’s why Barca are so good. Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Pique etc etc… all from the academy.
And Sneijder wouldn’t get in the Barca team either . . .
neither will fabregas
No, I don’t. But I think if we were to get a midfield player of the quality of Fabregas we would be a really scary team, with real strength throughout.
I cannot argue with that
It’s quite clear that year after year Barca strengthen based on bringing youth through AND investing significantly in the transfer market. Ronaldinho, Ibrahimovic, Ete’o, Sanchez, Fabregas, Villa to name a few. It’s all good and well suggesting that you would rather give a role in midfield to someone who wants to play for us on the cheap but that person doesn’t exist. There are lots of people who want to play for United in midfield (myself included) and would do it for less than WS or Nasri (I’d do it for £600pw even I have my price) but they are shit (as am I). I’d happily take someone who is not head over heels in love with the club but is driven enough in themselves to perform (e.g Ronaldo)and at this moment in time I’d pay through the teeth for it just to at least attempt to bridge that gap in europe. Truth is we don’t have the money. So please stop with the smoke screen of suggesting that we can bridge the gap by pushing on with a very small and average crop of youth players. Nobody is suggesting we act like City or Madrid we just want to see the manager allowed to spend some of the money we hand over to the club on players we want to see play for United.
Also at this rate let’s say Pogba and Cleverly turn out to be world beaters how long before they go to Barca, RM or City?
Probably never. You’re clearly an insufferable pessimist. Anyone who would denounce every young player in the United squad, before adding ‘and even if they do turn out to be good they’ll leave United…’ probably didn’t get enough hugs as a kid. Lighten up pal.
How many players have intentionally left United to a bigger club and to further their careers in the last 20 years? I make it a grand total of 1 – Ronaldo. And unlike Pogba and Morrison, Real Madrid was Ronaldo’s dream since he was a kid.
I wonder if you’re actually a City fan in disguise come to think of it….
You don’t think Barca throw cash at the problem? Those precious home-grown stars are so loyal to Barca that they get paid the highest wages in the world, so high that even Barca can’t actually afford them, if they had to play by normal financial rules. Then there’s the players they buy: Villa, Ibra, Fabregas, Sanchez, Mascherano, Eto, etc. etc. Yes they train young players brilliantly, but if they didn’t spend huge amounts of money they’d just be, well, Arsenal, a prestigious farm team for other top sides.
We have spent 50 million this summer, and you want more?
We should not be making Sneijder the highest paid player at the club, end of. And if Fergie believes in these kids then that’s good enough for me. It sets a dangerous precedent to go spending big bucks on players’ wages I think. If Fergie had snapped up Wesley on the cheap when he left Madrid you’d probably still be having a go at the club for not spending big. And u quote the Ibra transfer, the one they made at the start of the season in which they DIDN’T win the CL. That turned out well. It looked a good fit at the time — on paper — a bit like Sneijder does for us. But who’s to say he’d fit in perfectly? The only person, probably, is Fergie — so I’ll go with that . . .
Odbpowell – I’m not taking a position on Sneijder here but United/Fergie have made several ‘bids’ this summer to player and club. Fergie wants him despite saying he’s happy with his kids. He’s hardly likely to say anything else.
True, good point. I just don’t think it’s a sign of weakness that we’re not prepared to cough up. If Sneijder gets ‘X’, then what will Rooney be asking for this time next year? Or Nani when his contract is up for renewal etc.?
cant argue with that at all…spot on
We do spend money and have spent money: but nothing on central midfield, the team’s obvious problem area since Hargreaves’ injuries started ruling him out completely. Fortuitously we bought in Jones to bolster the defence and no sooner is he here and Smalling really starting to show something than the whole backline that appeared in the CL final Raphael, Vidic, Ferdinand and Evra is out with injury. This changes the midfield scenario somewhat: because with a solid defence, what we probably need most is a playmaker to get the ball to our really good wide players and give the through balls to Hernandez (which means that in this team a midfield player who can really pass the ball can really be a worst-nightmare havoc merchant as far as the opposition is concerned) . Now, with these injuries, we need a player who will be able to win the ball in midfield, stifle our opponents’ creativity and shield the all-new, untried and untrusted back four (especially now it seems de Gea is on a very sharp learning curve). This is a player we do not have.
Oh, and I read on the Manchester Evening News site that someone wrote that we should be careful when it comes to buying a midfield playmaker as we wouldn’t want to make the mistake of buying another Veron, because Veron “never won anything’. Maybe I’m too old and my memory is forsaking me: but didn’t Veron win the Serie A with Lazio, and a Premier League Title with us?
Won fuck all:
Estudiantes
Primera División (2): 2006 Apertura, 2010 Apertura
Copa Libertadores (1): 2009
Parma
UEFA Cup (1): 1998–99
Coppa Italia (1): 1998–99
Lazio
Serie A (1): 1999–2000
Coppa Italia (1): 1999–2000
Supercoppa Italiana (1): 2000
UEFA Super Cup (1): 1999
Manchester United
Premier League (1): 2002–03
Internazionale
Serie A (1): 2005–06
Coppa Italia (2): 2004–05, 2005–06
Supercoppa Italiana (1): 2005
= Could play a bit
veron was a great player. would love to have a player of his class at united right now
as for our current predicament, central midfield has been an issue for the best part of 3 years now with ferguson doing nothing about it. its too much to ask that cleverly can fill the void. he looked ok yest. ok against a team that will be in the bottom half of the league. whats he gonna do against barca?
and pogba. i’ll be surprised if he appears in more than 5 league/CL games this season that arnt dead rubbers. one for the future, definitely. but not someone we can presently look to.
we need anderson to really step up. thats what he was signed for 4 years ago. and if he cant and we dont sign anyone then we will be in trouble against the best sides.
Talking of Veron: can anyone remember a game against Arsenal (maybe in that 2002-2003 winning season and maybe at Highbury, if it was before the Emirates) where Fergie paired Veron and Phil Neville in the centre of midfield and they totally outplayed the Arsenal central midfield, 1/2 of which was Patrick Viera then at the top of his game. Then Fergie, to the best of my knowledge, never tried out this devastatingly successful pairing again?
I think the midfield problem is not financial, it’s Fergie decision making. He’s been badly burnt by expensive flops like Veron and Hargo, Anderson is only so-so so far, and then there’s lots more gash cheaper mistakes in midfield than he’s ever made in any other position (Miller, Djemba Djemba etc.).
Fact is, Fergie’s great at finding defenders, wingers, and forwards. He’s iffy when it comes to keepers and central midfielders, and now he seems a bit paralysed by indecision. I’m sure Sneijder would be massively expensive, but I can’t help feeling that if Fergie was really certain he was the man then it would have happened, and why does he have to wait and watch players like Sneijder and Modric play a few seasons with our rivals before being convinced, at which point they’re unaffordable to the point of being impossible to sign?
We should just figure out who it is Spurs would sign to replace Modric, and get that player. May as well cut out the middle man FFS.
i dont know if they were never paired again, but veron did play with butt on occasions and that worked too. the simple reason being that veron needed a ball winner in midfield to get and give him the ball. he would do the rest. keane back then still had the legs to be a box to box midfielder and was unwilling to be veron’s water-carrier.
Yeah we beat them 2-0 at home, Veron with the opener and Phil Neville MOTM.
Ed… I have a theory about that.
Just because we made bids… is no guarrantee we were really in for him.
The way these things work , I’m sure that Gill would know what Inter/Sneijder were roughly willing to accept before even making an offer…
It would be easy enough to make a token offer… enough to stir up some press, and fan enthusiasm… but not enough for Inter/Sneijder to accept… then they could dither, and haggle pointlessly, and generally fuck about, while we sell a few more season tickets… but ultimately come up short, with Ferguson repeating the “no value” mantra… or in this case… “we were never in for him, and I’ve got faith in my kids”.
Cynical as hell, I know… but it is the Glazers we’re talking about.
Alfonoso – the Glazers have a history of low bidding for players. See the £8m offered for Romelu Lukaku last season so you may be right. Having said that the club has known for more than a year the price required by Inter (£35m) and the wages by Sneijder (£250,000k p/w) to do the deal… and been haggling it down ever since.
OK here we are disappointed at the incompleteness of the transformational rebuilding of our team, thinking money must be involved and that we have been trying to get a player on the cheap, way below his club’s evaluation of him.
And then City, who had a solid team but not really inspiring , suddenly buy a player who is a price range way beyond what we seem to be able to afford (just under 40 million) and on his debut he looks as if he could set the Premiership alight.
Is Aguero worth just short of 40 million: not from a Glazer perspective: but if this man tips things decisively towards City, then he was a steal at twice the price.
you can understand why fergie would be nervous about signing a midfielder, his record since signing keane is pathetic and a who’s who of utd flops
luckily sneijders not a midfielder
Again with the “Alfonoso”?
How bout just Alf?
Ed, just call him cunt.
In what way was our poor away form down almost entirely to our midfield? That’s very reductive. We didn’t score as many goals away either, Berbatov wasn’t great away from home and we conceded sloppy goals. It’s not all about the midfield.
I think the aim of our club should be to be the best team in England, and able to challenge in Europe. We have done that comfortably recently. We won’t match or surpass Barca unless we get lucky with a crop of youth players – the same way Barca did. The idea we can beat them with money is absurd. You can’t buy 20 years+ experience of world class players playing together since the age of 12. You can’t buy that kind of unity and total understanding with your teammates.
Unless you were to buy the entire Barcelona team obviously.
Hopefully with academy products Welbeck, Cleverley, Morrison, Pogba, Tunnicliffe and young acquisitions Rooney, Anderson, Rafael, Fabio, Smalling, Jones and De Gea we will one day have a core of a team which knows each other inside out.
I’d settle for that.
the idea of buying no one and giving it all the homegrown bollocks is obviously ridiculous
that aint the utd way, the utd way is homegrown + BOLLOCKSY SIGNINGS + BRITISH IRISH + TEMPO + XFACTORY WINGERS + 442
ffs our midfields currently being led by quinton fortunes lard arse jamaican hair down syndrome sister
MAKE SIGNINGS + PLAY JONES AND OTHER BOLLOCKSY PLAYERS
I did actually LOL as I read this; good one.
EDIT: Unfortunately, it is also true.
agreed
I mean ffs if schweinsieger or gerrard became available are we not supposed to bid because of this paul pogbastard cunt who’s not even made his debut yet
I watched the first half of Arsenal v United Reserves on Monday before switching to the City v Swansea match. Darren Fletcher didn’t distinguish himself at all, but Darron Gibson, who captained the side, did very well at one point to turn almost 360º while being hounded by two defenders before releasing a pass that caught Pogba in full stride running up the right flank; Pogba then made an even better pass through the penalty area that only Diouf could reach, and he cooly slotted it back across the keeper and just inside the post for a goal. Pogba isn’t ready yet, but he does look very promising.
Beside the obvious, Pogba does remind me of Viera in the way that he more often than not comes away from attempted tackles and 50/50 balls in possession.
EDIT: I’d still buy Schweinsteiger, though.
Two of the players that I wish had come good for united were Veron and Forlan. Unfortunately, things didn’t really work out for them(well, they were never given a proper shot). In Veron’s case, it was maybe Keane’s ego that prevented him from establishing himself. And in Forlan’s case, it was a combination of RVN’s ego, Fergies lack of faith and tactics of RVN playing alone upfront.
Both were world class players, but didn’t fulfill their potential. The same can be considered for any new established stars coming in. I would rather see the academy players being given a chance. It is nice to see the understanding between Welbeck and Cleverly, who were both youth products. Give it a year or two and Pogba and Morrison will step up.