“I’d like to get one player in during the transfer window,” said Sir Alex Ferguson last week, although the Manchester United manager conceded that navigating the winter transfer market is notoriously difficult due to player availability. Caveats notwithstanding, Sir Alex hasn’t shown this great an interest signings since Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure.
It is likely that the player coming in, if indeed it happens, is a playmaker. The Scot’s recent tactical experiments have a unifying theme of compensating for the lack of decent attacking central midfielders in United’s squad.
As the recent FA Cup tie against Liverpool suggests, United struggles to string together passes amidst intense opposition pressure. With Wayne Rooney and Anderson ideally suited for roles other than the central playmaker and Paul Scholes struggling to cope with pressing game when fit, a creative midfielder is desperately needed.
Kaká
There has been a lot of tabloid speculation about a possible loan move for the Brazilian midfielder. Kaká, like Mesut Ozil, is very athletic and plays the classic trequartista role with a punch. But in Kaká’s prolonged injury absence, Ozil has firmly established himself as the main playmaker in the Real Madrid side. With young Sergio Canales as an able understudy to the German, Kaká is in a perilous situation at Bernebeu.
The move appears unlikely, however. Prone to running the channels, the former Milan player will struggle to play in any 4-4-2 based system. Ferguson has always deployed systems that feature wingers or wide midfielders and shied away from central systems such as 4-4-2 diamond and 4-3-1-2.
With many strikers and wide men in United’s squad, Kaká may find first team opportunities just as hard to come by in Manchester as they now are in Madrid. The Real player has just come off a debilitating injury and the repercussions remain to be seen. It is a move that has more than a hint of Michael Owen about it.
Paulo Henrique ‘Ganso’
The young Brazilian is very much an outside candidate for a transfer to United. The 21-year-old has to date only played in the Brazilian league, where tactics are geared for playmakers to excel. With only one senior cap, a UK work visa is also very much an issue. In addition, the midfielder is just coming off a very serious knee injury – although similar injuries haven’t prevented Ferguson from signing Ruud Van Nisterlooy and Owen Hargreaves in the past.
Ganso appears a very talented player, at least compared to the standards of Brazil’s domestic football. Neymar, the striker who almost moved to Chelsea this year, considers Ganso “a left-footed Zidane.”
However, the transition from South American to Europe is notoriously difficult – United fans need not look further than Anderson – and Ganso represents a huge gamble. The player may be young but it is worth noting that Anderson is only a year older than the Santos midfielder. Furthermore, there is a South American playmaker of the same age in Serie A called…
Javier Pastore
Sir Alex is supposedly very keen on the young playmaker and had a €10 million move turned down in 2009. “I’m very proud that a club like United were interested in me,” said Pastore at the time. “The thing is that at clubs like Manchester United there are a lot of great players, and they are all internationals. I know that if I moved to a club like that, I’d have to wait to get my chance to play.”
Instead, the Argentinean signed for Palermo and has done very well in the Serie A side. Pastore has added goal-scoring to his bow and became a more versatile player tactically. Capable of playing with his back to goal in the mould of classic trequartisti, Pastore is also more than comfortable facing the goal as an attacking midfielder or a little deeper as a central midfielder. The midfielder can play as one of the two central midfielders in 4-4-2 or as a playmaker in 4-2-3-1/4-5-1/4-3-3.
The young playmaker has also added five kilos to his 6’2” frame since his move to Italy, preparing the 21-year-old for the rigours of the Premier League.
However, Palermo want to hold on to the Argentinean as they have a genuine chance at a Champions League spot in Italy. The player’s work visa is also a concern but, unlike Adem Ljajić, Pastore should qualify as an “exceptional talent” considering he made Argentina’s World Cup squad and has six caps. Perhaps the biggest stumbling block is cost but, all things considered, Pastore is the ideal candidate to take over from Scholes.
Shinji Kagawa
Perhaps it is too early to hype up the player who played second flight football in Japan before the current season. But the 21-year-old has made a seamless transition to the big leagues and already scored twelve goals for table topping Dortmund.
As with all young playmakers, Kagawa is blessed with quick feet and great control. What distinguishes the Japanese from other ‘prodigies’ is his vision. The Dortmund player instinctively knows the right thing to do in any given situation, rarely loses possession, plays fine through balls and looks use his wingers.
Kagawa’s trademark move is to pick up the ball deep, run at the defense before playing a perfectly weighted dink to the onrushing winger. As his goal count suggests, the Japan international is a genuine goal threat, with good movements about the box, in addition to being able to shoot from distance.
Stereotypically Japanese in his work ethic, the former Cerezo Osaka player doesn’t shirk his defensive duties either. He is slight at 5’8” but Kagawa;s tenacity and mental strength more than makes up for the lack of height.
Dortmund has only recently signed the gifted Japanese player and perhaps the current transfer window is too soon for any approach for the playmaker. On the other hand, with Dortmund leading the table by ten points and already missing Kagawa due to the AFC Asian Cup, the German side might be willing to listen to offers.
I’ll have a wank if we ever get linked with Ganso.
Would love to see any of those players at Old Trafford but seems unlikely any will come, certainly in January. Other possible playmakers include Christian Ericksen http://equaliserfootball.com/2010/04/30/eriksen/ , still very young looks a great talent. Nuri Sahin seems to be an excellent option for replacing Scholes as well http://upper90magazine.wordpress.com/2011/01/06/nuri-sahin-dortmunds-new-star/
Kaka is NOT leaving Real.
He doesn’t want to leave, and Mourinho doesn’t want him to leave.
End of.
Whats up Alfonso? Not nice is it? 🙂
Footballing Brain, I defer any judgment on Ericksen for I haven’t even seen him once. Nuri Sahin is a great talent although I don’t think he is suited to a more advanced role than the one he plays at Dortmund. If he does come in, it would be at the expense of Carrick.
Alfonso Bedoya, Kaka probably won’t but I talked about him because I think the reason for him being a poor match for United tactically also applies to why we didn’t seriously pursue Ozil during the summer – in addition to the supposed mess of agents that surround the player. Mind you it isn’t Mourinho who call the shots at Madrid – it’s Perez the president and the noise coming from the Madrid camp is that Kaka is very much available if there is a buyer willing to match a good chunk of the fee that they paid for him
At the expense of Carrick? Do it then!!!
Pastore is a great talent.
I’m sure SAF is looking at him on you tube right now.
I’m not sure about some of these names. The epl is a tough league and they will need time so if we’re going to sign we should be prepared to have patience as fans and not criticize every bad pass like we did with Anderson.
As much as I’d love United to sign a central midfield attacking player, I don’t see it happening. I think SAF is more likely to get a box-to-box player (i.e. replace Hargo) and focus the creativity in wide areas perhaps bringing in Alexis Sanchez (although a natural left footer would be preferable) – just my view.
But as I say, I’d love to see United get more creative centrally and buy a linking player. My preference would be Modric (which could only happen if Spurs come 5th) or Mario Götze (who plays with Kagawa), although Ganso looks like the real deal to me too.
If United sign anyone in January though I think it will be a young relatively unknown player in preparation for next season, rather than some of these big names.
Oh, and we spell defense – defence!
I’ve heard rumours that we have agreed a fee for Ninis from Panathinaikos who will move to old trafford in the summer.
Can’t see us getting any of these players unfortunately. Ninis ticks quite a few boxes though, so could be signed in the summer along with another keeper and defender.
It might be possible one never knows. we could have A Nani a Nini and a Nuffin.
The last was one is the most likely signing in the Winter!
I watch with amusement, clubs like Liverpool, Chelsea and now Man City spending all these millions on players as these clubs look for instant success. What happens when after spending all these millions, these clubs end up winning nothing and the owners decide there is no more money to spend on players. Look how much money Liverpool (Benitez)spent and where are Liverpool now?
Whats great about United is the wonderful youth program and the time and energy spent there bringing the youngsters through. Chelsea and Man City will fall in the end just like Liverpool because they do not focus on their youth programs as is at Man Utd. We develop or players and give them first choice opportunities to progress to the premier team and thats why we are a special and great club. In the future, in order to keep this tradition, once Sir Alex Ferguson retires, we must look to replace him with either an English, Scottish, Irish or Welsh manager. Italians, Spanish, Germans or a Portugese manager will not keep with the tradition and history of the club as they will only bring their style and culture to Old Trafford and putting us in a similar postion as our rival clubs. They will ruin our youth program. Right now there is a lot of quality young English players out there and you may juat see one or two more at Old Trafford in the near future. When you look at the whole picture, SAF is wise in that he is not following his rivals, but keeping faith in his present squad which is at the top and still undefeated. This present team, without spending any further millions on players are making a statement in the division and other teams should learn from us that the key to success is not about spending millions of pounds. Its about harmony and believing in yourself. Working for each other, your team mates, standing firm in those United colors. SAF will do all his spending in the summer as looks to replace the outstanding players that are about to retire.
Thank you Herbie a great Red. Youth and the heritage of this club.
What a briliant post!!!! you are not Giles Oakley that posts on ROM are you? Inspirational.
As usual, absolute bollocks from Mr Simms. This time regarding foreign managers not respecting heritage, not encouraging youth development. Msr Wenger might disagree, you see. Rafa implemented a fine youth programme which is starting to show, plus he was totally ensconced in the finest traditions of the club.
This shit you post is ridiculous, it really is.
THINK > PAUSE > THINK AGAIN > POST
In that order.
Spot on Herbie but with Americans being the owners who knows who they will hire as manager to replace Fergie? I think Solskjaer would have gained enough managerial experience at FC Molde to come back when Fergie retires to carry on the wonderful work of the great man. If not Ole, then Giggs or Steve Bruce
So if Ole (after serious success with the youth team) and a couple of seasons at Molde, doesn’t have enough experience, then Giggsy or Bruce?
Read that back to yourself ;o)
Then realise what agreeing with Simms is doing to your mind!!
You’re all barking up the wrong tree. Mike Phelan is being groomed to succeed Fergie….so we’ll be fine.
If we sign anyone of note in this window i’ll bear my bollocks in the stretford end before every home game for the rest of the season.
Phelan? Kin hell I hope not!
Skysports reports we are in battle with Liverpool to sign £10m rated Olaxade Chamberlain from Southampton. From his physique he is very much like Alexis Sanchez imo.
No way on this earth will Ole Gunner Solskjaer gain enough experience to manage United at FC Molde, same goes for Ryan Giggs neither has the experience, Steve Bruce possibly as he is doing rather well with Sunderland at the moment but more than likely a known name will be chosen.
That southampton player is tipped to be a big star. Let’s get him in before he ends up costing 30 million in 5 years time.
I think there are two different issues here. “The Hernandez Scenario”, if a very promising young player has been identified anywhere in the world, at reasonable price, & there is a danger of another club picking him up -like Bale & Walcott- then SAF will attempt to sign him. Oxlade-Chamberlain could well fall into this category. I get the impression that SAF -with Hargreaves shot at & Scholes more fragile- is also looking for an established player who will make a difference this season. Unless you are in the know, this is a lottery. My ticket says Javi Martinez, wished it read Sergio Busquets.
Very good point regarding Ferguson’s recruitment policy, Ian.
Javi Martinez and Sergio Busquets aren’t players to buy if the goal is to replace Scholes. Martinez is very much a classic box-to-box player and there are already Anderson and Fletcher at the club who can play that role. Fletcher and Anderson are also more experienced and able players than Martinez in my opinion.
Busquets plays as a defensive midfielder and I guess he could directly replace Hargreaves. he’s a fine player in possession so I guess he could step up to the plate creatively, especially without Xavi and Iniesta in front of him, but seems too wishful a thinking. Besides he is too Barcelona too move. He’s also one of Guardiola’s favorites.
You need to maintain the English style of entertaining and attacking football at United. Must utilize the English talent and good English managers. For example, look at the great job Owen Coyle is doing at Bolton.
Iam sure that Fergie would prefer to buy Gareth Bale, Ashley Young, Jordon Henderson and Jack Rodwell. Why waste millions on foreigners when the talent is among your own English players.
By English, you mean Scottish, obviously 😉
And Welsh.
Is there any way to block Herbie Simm’s comments? They make little baby Jeeeebus cry 🙁
Jay
Watch out for citeh new signing, if he struts his stuff here (if he can cope with the PL), then we all would be calling for Fergie as in why he missed out again.
best citeh signing so far imo. (if he can cope in the PL)
Dzeko is a great player. What’s ironic though is that he doesn’t like being a target man or lone striker – he’s on record as preferring being a second striker. The partnership with Tevez or Balotelli could be very interesting though…
Ferguson hasn’t said anything about it so we will never know but supposedly he discounted Dzeko because he is too slow… an opinion that I disagree with.
I do understand why we didn’t go for him though. We have enough second striker types here and we play proactive enough football that we really don’t need someone upfront tall and strong to hoof the ball up to and relieve pressure every now and then.
Ian I cannot believe you mentioned Busquets as a possible signing. His Role as a Barca player in as minimal as it gets. The guy has no pace, no strength, doesn’t score, and by no means as good as Fletcher so what’s the point? The only thing he does is pass the ball on the ground 5 yards to Xavi, Inesta, or Messi when the come back for it. Surely you’ve watched Barca play!
Busquets is great. I’d love him at United but there is very little chance of that deal happening. He has shown enough flashes of techniques and creativity that I believe that he can become something more than a mere anchor (albeit a very good one) – become more of a deep lying playmaker. But I suspect he will have to move to another club where there aren’t Xavi and Iniesta.
He would form a great partnership with Fletcher or Anderson a la Schweinsteiger + Khedira. But I must stress that he is too much of a Barcelona fan and Guardiola likes him too much for any move to materialize
You keep mentioning these overseas players but I can tell you now that Fergie’s targets are talented English players. Why do you think he is offering Southampton 10 million pounds for 17 year old English player Oxlade Chamberlain? He is in a dog fight with other clubs for this same player.
Let’s not get xenophobic aye?
There are many more foreigners than the English therefore there are more talented foreign players – assuming more or less normal distribution of talent.
To Herbie: Fergie knows exactly what he’s doing mate. I can guarantee you that.
waits for the bang….ffs
Thought Eden Hazard is also a target, right?
Jay & Red4ever. Yes I do watch Barca. I only mentioned Busquets since he seems to be in quite a long running contract dispute with Barca. I thought of Makelele & Real; undervalued. I think he will become one of the best defensive midfielders in the world; he is only 22; ask Del Bosque & Guardiola. I agree it’s probably pie in the sky.
“When Fergie retires he must be replaced with an Englishm Irish, Scottish or Welsh manager to help carry on with the traditions of this club”.
And Herbs, it was all going so well?……………then “BUMP”.
I’m not sure what you regard as the clubs “traditions” Herb’s, but as far as i’m aware, our traditions were always founded on the basis of flowing attacking football, playing for the paying spectators, players enjoying playing their football with a smile on their faces, a “we’ll score more than you” mentality. I remember not long before the inception of the premiere league, it was of common consensue that United invariably always played the better football, and it was just in the fabric of the club that playing entertaining football should come first, and actually winning anything was a bonus. Many a pundit back in those days would be of the opinion that whilst we played the better football, it was’nt good football that wins trophies, its results!
Well Manchester United were the first team to break this common conception beginning in the early 1990’s. Though they said it could’nt happen, we did it! Out went the back pass rule, in came the premiership. Manchester United were on a mission. Russians, Danes, Frenchman, we cared not a jot! United were proving them all wrong, season after season, and boy did they not like it. And they still don’t like it, even when we’re not playing well. But we”ll get back to our old ways sooner rather than later, and we’ll do it the United way, because thats our tradition…..”The United way”.
It does’nt matter where they’ve come from, and it does’nt matter where they’ve been, if they can play the way this club demands, thats good enough for me. Winning something has always been a bonus and thats the way it should be.
I agree 100% that SAF knows whats best for United. But my point is, with so many young quality English players coming through the leagues now, I’m sure SAF will prefer to buy them at what he sees as appropiate prices than to spend unnecessary money on so many over-priced foreign players. Do you think Gareth Bale is worth 35 million? I would buy this player because he is a world class British player. But in the meantime, lets put our support behind the present team and hope they can wrap up the league title.
I agree with the comment above that United is capable of buying any player any transfer window, especially younger players, if they become available and Fergie is afraid that they’ll go elsewhere. His comments though “want to get someone in” suggests a more deliberate buy to fill an immediate need for this current season, which indicates a fairly established player and probably in midfield or defence. Defence seems sorted, except perhaps for a backup for Rafael at left back, so I would think someone like Lassana Diara (spelling?) as an experienced solid midfielder is the most likely option. Certainly we could do with some creativity in midfield and on the left flank, but I don’t know if a more creative or attacking player can slot into the side in the middle of the season.
So I think a midfield battler is the most likely choice, and the solid rumours we’ve heard in that regard are Diarra at Real, or maybe even Defour? He’s young but he’s well established at his club.
We’ll almost certainly get some young lad too, we always do.
Edit: I meant Rafael at right back, obviously.
Don’t know about Diarra. He can’t play in Europe for one… really no point in ten million pounds + for a player who can only be used domestically.
He also has a history of attitude problem. Most importantly, he hasn’t done so well in the Premiere League.
The French player has been touted around since this Summer. If Ferguson wanted the midfielder, he probably would have gone for him then… surely the Scot wasn’t so optimistic as to assume that Hargreaves would make a full and complete recovery…
Defour isn’t a midfield battler really… more a Carrick type. Crap load of experience for a 22 experience though… Fergie certainly has monitored him in the past and I think the Belgian is earmarked to replace Carrick.
why would he get cover for rafael? hes young and fit and we have neville and john o shea.
u dont know what ur talking about i hate people who just say random things without thinking.
man united have backup 3 times over in every single position INCLUDING on the wings with giggs, nani, valencia coming back from injury, and even rooney and hernandez when fergie plays his 4 5 1.
what we need is JAVIER PASTORE, he has everything, youth, strength, speed, passing ability etc.
I’m not particularly enthused about Diarra either, but I think that’s the type of player Fergie has in mind, or a Carrick type.
if its a choice between a top young foreigner and a top young brit you pick the brit obviously, this is utd ffs
I’m sorry but I’m going to disagree. There are so many talented young British players in the game now. If you have been keeping up with the news you will see that the top clubs are chasing British players. This is good news for England when they again compete in the World Cup. And if these young players can break into the top six clubs in England, this will only benefit the national team in the future. There are so many quality young English players right now, just watch all sorts of names being targeted by big clubs, players you have never heard of. SAF went to Oldham to have a look at Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Liverpool and Chelsea scouts where also there to checkout the same player. SAF is also looking at two players from Aston Villa. Clubs in the lower divisions have so many quality youngsters quite capable of making a name for themselves in the premier division. The only foreign player I would like to see at United is Douglas Costa. He would be my attacking midfield playmaker. But if Evra does leave in the summer, then we will have to look around for a quality left back. Diarra sits on the sub bench at Real Madrid and Defour, too many injury problems. Bring in Gareth Bale and Douglas Costa.
bale? you have no idea.
his price tag would be huge, why would he move to united and who would he replace in the starting 11? nani? valencia? giggs?
his ego is also starting to piss me off.
English players tend to be overpriced, overhyped, overexposed and underperforming.
I think Fergie might just have made the “get one player in” comment to give the papers a little boost, because they’re going gangbusters now. We’re linked to Petrovic, Gourcouff, Bastos, Varane (who?), Oxlade-Chamberlain etc.
Petrovic would be good actually.
Maybe Josip Ilicic? Promising young playmaker, plays with Pastore at Palermo. http://footballingbrain.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/the-rapid-rise-of-josip-ilicic/
All these people who have to learn our league all over again. Why not Charlie Adam down at Blackpool? Eh? His manager just last night asked our manager to come and make a bid for him. His passing is better than Anderson, Fletcher and Gibson put together! For some strange reasons he seems more mobile Carrick certainly more than Scholes. Nothing to lose at all.
Calvino. Just beat me to it. He is s..l..o..w, slower than Pat Crerand; not Paddy in his pomp, but Paddy today, but as we used to say, “When Crerrand plays well, United play well”. He has a got a brain & he has not been found out in the EPL, rather the opposite; he plays further up the field than Scholes does nowadays. I don’t think that Xavi would win many sprints. As you say it wouldn’t cost us.
he tries to sscore from halfway at least once evry game
Youth system? – What Gibson Evans O’shea and Fletcher… Hardly names that will strike fear across Europes Elite !!
With the youth system, you just don’t bring in youngsters that have potential. Have you ever heard of 14 year old world class youngsters? Thats what you look for or else you just end up with a whole lot of average teenagers and you will be wasting your time trying to turn them into superstars. Like you said, Gibson, Evans , O’Shea and others who will never be good enough. For instance, I have a ten year old playing in my under 14 year old team because he is just too good for the under 10 team. He is a little George Best, he tears up all the under 14 teams in the league. He is already destined to be a superstar.
herbie simms Jr. ?
Becks is back
http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/clips/p00d849d/spout_beckham_and_spurs_the_leaked_texts/
And I hate morons. It seems that we have an impasse.
We’ve been linked to the Portuguese left back Coentrao quite a few times over the past few months, the suggestion being that Evra would leave. I think Coentrao could play on the wing though, he’s so good going forward. I thought he was brilliant in the World Cup, one of the few players who really stood out for me.
Fair amount of talk about this lad Petrovic. I quite like the look of him: big strong defensive midfielder who still has quite a bit of skill and passing ability. He could be Carrick with testicles, which I think we all agree we are looking for.
I think Sir Alex has earned the right for fans to reserve judgment on his signings before they have had a fair crack at the first team.
We’ve taken down some of the biggest sides in the world and won a lot of silverware with O’Shea and Fletcher on the pitch, therefore by definition they’re good enough for our squad. Could we find better first-choice players, yeah sure, but they are clearly pretty useful to have in your squad competing for the top trophies.
And that is a negative Knobby?
Am serious here. Why not the fella? We just might give him the platform he really needs and certainly would not cost more than £5m and would not mind the odd rotation. PLUS, he is a fantastic passer of a football. Really good. His brain is ALWAYS ticking faster than his opponents’.
United boss happy with both squad size and age range.
http://msnsport.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6661328,00.html
What a surprise.
I saw Holloway’s post match interview. I’m pretty sure he was alluding to United when he talked about recommending that Adam join a particular club in a fantastic situation [or words to that effect]. He is waiting for a top club to come in for his player. I reckon Holloway wants United to put in a bid.
Fergie has certainly raved about the player in the media.
They may not strike fear in anyone individually but they’ve won it all and knows how to contribute to the team’s success. Real Madrid have been packing their team with Every potential young superstar they can get their hands on and how has that worked out for them eh?
This is just a test…
Do not adjust your set…
If you can read this…
Then you are a cunt, and nothing more needs to be done.
If you can’t read this, then how did you know, that I’ve just asked if you can read it or not?
Therefore you’re a lying cunt!
You may now return to your regularly scheduled Ranting.
Problem is the British player will be massively expensive. Then he’ll be overhyped before he’s done anything, leading him to act like a dickhead, demand more money, fail to deliver on expectations, and go into rapid decline.
To Ian: being in a team which has the ball 70% of the time in almost every game doesn’t really test your craft as a defensive midfielder. Have you seen Essien lately? He was once the best around. If you believe Busquets can be a successful defensive midfielder in the Epl, you may as well believe the cow really did jump over the moon.
Herbie: Spurs won’t sell Bale to another English Club at the moment but if they don’t qualify for the Champions league I can see Bale wanting to move to a bigger club after getting his first taste of the CL. We definitely won’t pay £35m for him because he’s not worth it.
He’s definitely on his way to becming world class but not there yet. It seems a lot of us united fans have already given up on Obertan and Bebe but I’ll tell you this, both of them have more raw talent than Bale. The problem with them is they just haven’t figured out how to put it all together yet but trust me, they will. Sir Alex will see to it they do. A lot of people may disagree but I have seen it too often to doubt Sir Alex now.
Not sure how much I know about football but I hear the Epl is the toughest leahe around. I also heard that Wellbeck, Hernandez, Berbatov, and Rooney are all Man United strikers. Imo its not a bad quartet to have at your disposal is it? I think we should stop concerning ourselves with striker who don’t play for us and see the contribution of our own.
What the fuck are you on about?
His dream is to play for Barcelona… Ronaldo all over again.
Fuck that.
yeah god forbid we get another one of them ronaldos
ffs
We need somebody to come in this window and offer some spark.
Don’t be a peckerwood Knobby…
We were lucky to get Ronaldo at all… and even then, we got 2 years more than he would have liked… that includes his WPotY season.
Anyway… let’s not get ridiculous, and put Pastore in Ronaldos class.
“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.”
Not going to happen…
Well to be fair, there’s not much value. I just hope we buy at least one really promising 18-year-old for no less than £7M. It’s the United way.
We won’t be getting anyone in Jan.
The Summer?
Anyone from:
Ganso
Hazard
Sanchez
we will get fuck all – Taggart is a cunt and now that Fletch is back to his pre-2007 levesl of utter gashness, we are doomed
bring back Park – fucking hell, it’s that bad
yep – agree with the Sheesh Man on this – defo testing the market and fergal
That could be an attempt by Holloway to simply drive up the price. If you are resigned to losing a player – I imagine Adams will leave Blackpool soon – driving the price up is a good idea.
The simple fact is that United need a catalyst to spruce up the attack at this minute. Be that promoting one of the fine young things from the academy to first team action, or buying in some talent, remains to be seen.
No one can doubt that there have been two significant problems throughout this season that have caused real problems going forwards:
(1) A lack of quality on the final ball
This is self explanatory and self evident. Not enough crosses reaching their mark. Not enough quality along the floor. Not enough appropriately played balls to the feet of strikers in dangerous positions. The root cause of this can be traced back to the fact we have one winger fit who has real penetrative quality – Nani, who is sadly inconsistent – and one experienced full back – Evra – who delivers quality. We are missing Antonio Valencia more than most United fans would like to admit. Sure, he’s a bit of a cling to the touchline merchant, but who cares when he puts in quality like he did last season?
(2) Balls lost in midfield
This is somewhat trickier to pin down an exact root cause to. Immediately obvious – Carrick and Fletcher are WOEFULLY out of form. Anderson’s lack of nouse when it comes to playing the ball, and Scholes’ dying legs certainly don’t help either. I think the problems with these lads come from the rotation policy. Not playing regularly doesn’t allow you to play your way into form. Anderson’s inability to pick a pass is a lack of experience, not a lack of ability. Experience can give players the ability to pick passes.
Further to that, there’s a lack of “out” balls. With our restricted width – usually, we’re playing with one attack minded winger (Nani) and one other winger (Giggs is not arguably a traditional winger anymore and is certainly less pacy, same with Park).
Before, in 4-3-3, we had movement and pace ahead of our midfield which we could play into on the counter.
So, bottom line / TL;DR
– Get an aggressively minded forward. One of Alexis Sanchez, Keisuke Honda, Hazard, would be useful. In the summer, one of Defour / Rodwell to improve the midfield.
Charlie Adam. By the weekend. He will provide the spark we are looking for. Suddenly Carrick and Fletcher will realise that they have to up their levels to get a game and we will certainly pass it and move around better with him. Best of all: no calling on the dead limbs of Paul Scholes again.
It’s quite sad that we are even thinking about Adam. Sure he is better than what we have, but is he Utd quality?
1997 again…
Brian Kidd: Hey boss! Let’s sign John Hartson!!
Sir Alex: Really? Do you really think Hartson is United quality?
What exactly is “United quality”?? The same thinking that led us waste two years and then have to pay 18m or so for MichaeL Carrick when we could have gotten him far cheaper at West Ham. Get Adam and see if he can handle the pressure of playing for Manchester United. If he does then we have a hell of a passer on our books; if he doesnt then we get rid cos he will not cost more than 6m quid. Nothing to lose really and he will play like hell and work damn hard cos by the time he left Rangers he probably thinks he will not get a chance at big club again.
Is he a good footballer? Does he have the mental attitude needed for a big side? All those who thought that Modric could not cut in the PL have egg on their faces now. We can’t go wrong with the scotsman. Except ofcourse Sir Alex knows a whole lot more than we do about the guy’s background.
Good post Cal.
And to back up Cal, who’s talking a lot of sense, we’ve spent an awful lot more money than £6m on players who have essentially been a punt – ref Bébé, Anderson – who have not quite come good just yet.
Adams is playing pretty well at the minute for Blackpool.
Although, for me, we need someone in the middle who can go past a man and then play the ball.
dj campbell is having a good season too, so why don’t we go for him whilst we are at it….
ffs…pass me some smack, a shotgun, and let me end it all now
ffs
Cal, I will tell you what is not United quality – somebody who will come in and simply ‘do a job for us’.
We are better than that. We are Manchester United, not some tinpot outfit. We’re a club that is aspiring to win every competition going, including the Premier League and Champions League, and doing so playing a brand of attractive attacking football.
To that end, we should be signing players who can add something different, not relying on one-dimensional dross who can barely pass the ball or shoot.
the d in dj stands for dudley
a must signing imo
new earnshaw
lkhf
Petrovic ffs, now. He’s a solid defensive midfielder who also has some nice skill and good passing ability. Carrick with testicles, ideal.
Sheesh, in my view Charlie Adam has the lot. Infact he has much more than we can get from ANYONE in our midfield currently so he is not coming to “do a job” like you put it. Can you people stop pretending like it takes two heads and three legs to play for Manchester United. Who in our team can pass better than this fella? Over the hill Scholes? Anderson who acts like he can not kick a football properly? Carrick can but we are still waiting for the Carrick of ’08 season. And you are talking about someone not being “United quality”. What a load of rubbish.
And that comment about DJ Campbell is just stupid. We do not have problems in the striking department.
Earnshaw is coming!!
“Who in our team can pass better than this fella? Over the hill Scholes?”
Every fuckin day of the week!
Yes! Sue me. Rubbish.
LOL..CAL……LOL
Cal… when ever the Scholes issue comes up, you and I bang heads about it.
The thing that pisses me off is the way you slag him off… he’s a genuine United legend, and you treat him as if he was malignant tumour that needs to be cut away from the main body… and then everything will be well.
Scholes is a proper old school footballer… he’s one of those players that would have played for pie and chips… he’s still got the skills, he’s still got the brains… but he’s gotten old… you know it… I know it… we all know it… but he is still the best we’ve got at what he does.
Instead of pissing all over a United legend… why not vent your anger at Ferguson and the Glazers for not bringing in the quality player that would make him obsolete… Carrick is a myth, Gibson is a bollard, Anderson is a mystery, and Fletcher is pissing me off.
Adam is 25… he’s been around a while and not really been amazing anyone… he’s a decent enough player, and well suited to Blackpool… he’s NOT United quality… and I don’t want to bring in another “jobbie”, we’ve got plenty of those already.
When will Ferguson quit trying to squeeze yet more years out of Scholes and Giggs, until one of his £3/5million cheapos turns into the next big thing? Spend the money necessary to get the player necessary.
That’s what you should be demanding, instead of bashing Scholes every chance you get.
“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.”
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Alf! Can i spawn your seed? You deserve a big fat havanah rolled on the thighs of a virging mate. It’s beyond all reasonable comprehension that any cunt could ever have a go at the Ginger Prince that is Scholes. “Cant pass?” never have i heard such fuckin drivel. And then follows it up with “The Carrick of 08 season”. What fuckin Carrick? The guy is fuckin dog shit……seriously, what the fuck has he ever done for us? That shithouse has been getting good dollar for passing sideways and backwards since he arrived. No fucker wanted him. He was a spare part at West Ham and Spurs, and for some inexplicable reason, though obviously they are in the minority, some fans seem to think he’s our anchor man, and that everything goes through him. The only thing thats ever gone through Carrick is fuckin Gerrard. Though i’m no big fan of Fletcher, at least he’s not frightened to give some cunt a kick now and then, but Carrick? fook my old boots! How dare a so called fellow red call Scholesy, then praise the none entity that is Carrick is borderline a ban.
Carrick is a fergie yes man and always has been, and that suits fergie down to the ground. There’s too many of them at the club, far too many.
Ted,
you can come kiss my backside if you like you are a gimp!! I never said Scholes could not pass. Go read my post about him and stop being silly.
Carrick was very good in ’08 and when on his game he is fantastic passer of a football. He only lacks testicles when it matters.
Anyway Alfie, I do not think Adam will be a jobbie at all. I really think he will add a lot to our team IF he does not freeze.
Now for the last time: Paul Scholes WAS a fantastic player in his prime. The man is a legend and I consider myself honoured to have seen him in his prime. HOWEVER, I will NOT be browbeaten by you lot who want to live in the past. He is so past it and the only reason he is not exposed as brazenly as Neville – another fantastic servant and as much a legend by the way – is because Gaz plays RB and that is a position that fleetfootedness is far more important than experience. If he never plays one more game for United – Scholes and Neville – I will not be sad. You guys think differently? Not a problem.
========================================================================================
Iv’e read your post Cal. Scholes should have played at Spurs. Reason? Because he is still a country mile better than negative Carrick, every day of the week. Thats not Scholesy’s fault, thats the fuckin managers fault for not off loading no marks like Carrick, who clearly would’nt get a sniff at Arsenal, Tottenham, City, Chelsea, and why he never gets a sniff at international level, “BECAUSE NO CUNT RATES HIM”.
We are top of the league, and fuck knows how, but if we’d have had a Keane’esque, or younger Scholes, we’d be even further ahead, absolutely no doubt about it. Its our bollockless and negative midfield that is holding us back this season. The defence is holding its own and looks quite solid, but because we have nothing in the middle of the park that can create or compete and generally lacks any imagination, our strikers and chances created are few and far between. And the biggest culprit is Carrick. Too negative, no goals, can;t shoot, tackle, head. Imagine what the likes of Xavi, busquettes, Villa, Iniesta would do to him.
Only cockheads attempt to defend the defenceless.
Exactly. You can say it’s testament to the guy that he can still perform at all at his age OR you can say it’s a sad indictment on our current midfield that he stands out.
Whatever position one takes (and I take the latter), it goes without saying that there isn’t a better passer in the current United side than Scholes. There isn’t a more consistent midfielder in the current United side than Scholes (I’d argue he’s more consistent than Giggs, although that’s up for debate, I admit).
While I’ve not been an advocate of Carrick this, and last, season, I think you are all being very critical of a player who doesn’t fit into our current system.
4 – 4 – 2 isn’t very good for Carrick, because as you’ve pointed out he’s not one to go crunching into tackles, and probably needs someone next to him to do just that.
Back when we played 4 – 3 – 3, however, he was superb. Having the range of options in front of him – as he sat in front of the defence, playing the ball out – meant that he could distribute the ball effectively. Moreover, in a 4 – 3 – 3, there’s some reliance on full backs getting forward, in the truest United style, to support the front men and create more space for them to operate in. Carrick’s role was to drop back into the spaces left behind by fullbacks disappearing off up pitch and keeping our backline stable.
He performed that role admirably.
I’m keen to hear who you all believe is (a) United class AND (b) Affordable AND (c) Available.
Cal’s put forward someone who probably meets (b) and (c), not necessarily (a).
Also Ted – please don’t mention international level. No one gives a fuck and it is a shit standard anyway. It’s a test of mentality more than anything else, and that, along with completely shite technique, is why England won’t get anywhere. Too many cunts in that team think they are better than they actually are.
…… Anyway, who needs winter signings. Hargreaves might come back. That’d be nice.
Ted,
I am one Carrrick’s fierce critics on here but for anyone to say he is not good or does not possess enough good qualities to play for United is just plain daft. The reason most of us are frustrated with him is because we know how good he CAN be. The man can pass the ball ten times better than Lampard and his range is exquisite. What we wished he had was the bollocks to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and dictate it. However, we fail to understand or appreciate that these days we do not have two flanks properly manned by appropriate players. If we had Nani on the left and Valencia on the right with a Fletcher on form and Adam/Anderson alongside him in a midfield trio the man will paint a masterpiece.
This is also were our manager is culpable. He does not try to play or deploy the players in a way that will bring out the best of their abilities. Am sure if we had Xabi Alonso we would also have misused him.
All of you Scholes advocates I ask you to tell me ONE big game he has not been found out. Just one in the last three seasons. People say he can still pick a pass. Maybe. However, those are usually in matches against minnows at Old Trafford where the opposition are content not to get beaten. Last season, Sunderland and Cattermole came to old trafford and proved it so overwhelmingly that the gingerman was subbed at half-time!! For me, he should not even be considered again as we have to move on as a football club.
Ben, there is no such thing as United Class. At least in my view. What happens is that the club is so huge and the expectations immense that some really amazing players wilt. What do we want from a midfielder? To pass the ball, keep possession and make a tackle. Move and be as athletic as is required in the PL these days. Do I think Charlie Adam has these qualities? I think so. Until we buy him we can never know if he can handle the expectations of being a Manchester United footballer.
Am sure many of you will never have thought Cantona “United quality” if it was these days he was available. How many of you knew or expected Hernandez to make this type of impact? Or Ole? Many of you thought Valencia was beneath us when it was suggestted wewould buy him yet now we know he is comfortable in a United shirt.
Ted we are top of the league due to our defence and in no small part due to rivals dropping really silly points.
he was great at arsenal last year and fucking fantastic at city even beside the goal
I simply don’t agree Cal. There are oddles of players that could do what Carrick does for United, absolutely loads. We simply don’t need him. There should be a class act in there, not Carrick.
I’d have to agree with Ted on this one. Scholesy is still class and remains one of, if not the most accomplished passer of a ball in the premiership. He’s had to adapt his style over the last 4-5 years to allow for his fading legs, but he’s still an important asset. For me, having a player like Scholesy in the squad (at his present age) should be a luxury, not the massive dependency that it currently is. We simply don’t play when he’s not in the side, away from home in particular.
The problem isn’t solely Carrick though. The quality of those around him in an attacking sense has diminished significantly over the last 2 years and he’s now just one of a number in midfield that either lack just enough quality, experience or presence to demonstrate that we have a midfield of real quality. We lack balance – too many that are either too young or too old, or in the case of Gibson, just shite. Fergie would have been planning on the basis that one or more of Fletcher, Anderson and Carrick would really step up to the plate this season, but it hasn’t happened.
You are joking right? At Arsenal Carrick, Nani and Rooney ran the show. Infact it was when Scholes was moved ahead of Carrick in that match that United started to dominate.
Scored a fantastic goal at City that made me almost lose my mind in the joy of it all. Again, that was another game where Carrick was excellent.
i’d go further – top because of Rio!
well if you’re gonna start acting a cock and pretending scholes weren’t great in them big games why ask for examples of him being great in big games
it wasn’t until fergie put scholes into his proper position and moved him from dm that we looked a threat going forward, we were being battered up to then until scholes moved forward then we dominated
carricks crap at everything other than one thing, he’s got good positioning in front of the defence, so what, let’s stick a tree in front of the defence then, oshea can do exactly that job with no noticeable difference such is carricks general pointlessness
but his good positioning means he’s still a step ahead of fletcher who offers nothing
Van der Vaart (before joining Tottenham) would have been none of these, would he? Even Pienaar would have been something of an improvement even if he is hardly a spring chicken in terms of his age.
Those are just names you read about in the papers. You mean to tell me that there is not a single player in world football who meets your criteria? Rubbish.
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Absolutely sir. Its so plain to see its incredible. Part of the problem Rooney has is that his instructions are to “marshall” whats going on behind him, and thats because every cunt and his dog knows we are vulnerable in the middle of the park. He’s having to feed on scraps until we are in a position to get Evra forward more, and get Nani motivated more often (which is obviously not very easy). And its because we are bolockless in the middle, Berbatov, Chicken Tikka and Rooney will have to eat shit, they ai’nt going to get reliable service any time soon. Its our defence thats going to win us anything. We should be hot on the heels of Schweinstieger for next season. Now there’s a guy with spacehoppers, who can tackle, shoot, pass, and a tremendous will to win. All the credentials Fletch and Carrick don’t have. And he’s a born leader,
“BONUS”.
he’s a proper fucking bollocksy box to box scoring passing tackling all action no faffing shitehouse, we’ll get henderson for welbeck and 20m, and when rooney goes we’ll get rodalega for clev and 10m, nani ill then spend the next year saying ‘in the future only god knows, its polemic, I am confidence’
Good shout.
If we’ve got money, spend it FFS.
Now we’re getting into a discussion about names! Good. That’s important.
For me, I still wouldn’t mind a punt on Keisuke Honda. I was really impressed with him in the World Cup, he plays in Russia so I imagine – or would hope – that he’d be interested in a move to United. He has pace, control, can go past a man and his ability to play a pass is flawless.
Schweinsteiger is a great shout, I’m with that, not too sure how much he’d cost though – Bayern would not want to sell. I also agree with VDV but I don’t believe we would have gotten him for £8m, more like the £18m he was rumoured to be going to Bayern for, before the deal fell through.
Ashley Young isn’t the answer, and if you’re going to spend £10m – £15m on that cunt, save it instead, put another £10 to it, and get the significantly more talented Alexis Sanchez.
@ Sheesh / Ted – I do believe there are many players that meet those criteria, the reason I posed the question was because I didn’t believe the debate was going anywhere as everyone seemed to have gotten into a ‘Bash Cal!’ kind of place, instead of suggesting names!
Seems to have worked.
My overriding feeling is that we won’t sign anyone in this period, and will stumble in the next couple of months, and end up finishing 3rd, and no cups. The root cause of that will be a lack of attack minded talent with quality in the middle; as much as it pains me to write that, the fact remains unless Rooney, Fletcher, Anderson, and Carrick get back to their best, and Valencia comes back in Feb the same player he was, the midfield is back to looking paper thin in terms of talent and quality.
Schweinsteiger’s contract expires in the summer of next year, so he’ll be available for a reasonable fee at the end of the season. He ticks all of the boxes and is on record as saying he’d be open to a move to United. If we don’t make a move for him (or someone similar) it’ll be proof positive in my eyes that we are indeed potless.
Ahh, I didn’t realise that about Schweinsteiger. In that case we should be bidding this summer to try and tempt Bayern into selling! Does anyone know, off the top of their head, how old he is? He seems to have been around for ages!
He’s 26. At least 5 years of prime service from him. And i’m sure I remember reading him saying how he loved playing at Old Trafford last year and that his brother, who’s a United fan, keeps begging him to come here.
no sell on value
26?
That’s mostly positive, then. He has had injury problems though, right?
After the last slightly injury prone player we purchased from Bayern, I’d be wary of buying another
haha
Bastian will NOT leave German or Bayern. He is their new Beckenbauer/Mathaus/Sammer and the likes. You know those ones who start out as attacking midfielders but end up as sweepers because they are just fantastic footballers but above all incredibly intelligent and can change games. At the world cup he was just sensational as he marshalled Sami and Ozil and the underrated Muller along nicely.
So, yes, he will be good for us but he will not be leaving the Bundesliga nor Bayern even – Hoeness will chase out Van Gaal before he allows Bastian to leave. Add to the fact that the Bundesliga is one the most competitive leagues in Europe with record gates and you might see why we might not be a major attraction.
Ben, I am so used to the bashing as per my take on Scholes. I am unmoved.
We need another left sided player. The Brazilian at Lyon that Dunga criminally used as a full back at the World Cup – Bastos – will not be bad. Very very quick, can cross and has a rocket of a shot on him. He plays in cold and rainy Lyon so Manchester will not be a problem.
so you’re saying he’s gonna spend his whole career at one club, like scholes, and he’s gonna move further and further back in his position the more he gets into his 30s, like scholes, and he can do it because he’s an intelligent footballer, like scholes
Yeah Knobby, but he is physically more athletic than Scholes ever was and he can actually tackle! Even you just criticised SAF for playing Scholes in a DM position so what rubbish are u writing now?
Ah yes, why not young Bojan at Barcelona? That fellow will never get a steady game at Barcelona and not for years. We can try. No harm there at all.
Nobody gives a fuck that Scholes can’t tackle
Nobody has ever given a fuck (except Al Greene)
In fact it’s funny when he goes in hard and gets booked
He doesn’t waste hours on the training pitch learning how to slide in and win the ball – he spends it passing, moving, recyling the ball, hitting 40 yard cross field balls, because that’s his job
We don’t want him to be physical either. What’s the point – if you’re technically great and intelligent enough, you can just knock it ’round 6ft 4 monster midfield cunts no problem, as he has done for years, you tedious bellend
is the wrong answer – real would never have sold VDV to us.
LKHF
if it was cals choice our mids would be carrick cattermole and adam
Not a bad trio to be honest. Lee will tackle everything, Carrick will pass it and recycle it while Charlie Adam can thread the final balls. We certainly will never be overrun in midfield.
Sid, you have no effect on my posts whatsoever and never will. I have never asked and cared about Scholes lack of tackling abilities until now when his legs have gone. It will help you to read my posts well before sprouting rubbish in return. Idiots some of you are who want to live in the past. Why dont we ask Sir Bobby to come back and run our midfield. I was responding to Knobby comparing Scholes and Bastian – two physically different players. But you are too daft to notice that.
Yeah they would have. They’re Real. They are capable of anything. If a player is dispensable to them, they will sell to anyone except Barcelona.
Jesus… this from the guy who says Mourinho is too negative to run United.
Alfie,
what is so negative about that trio? Which of them is a defensive player by trade? Cattermole is proper box-to-box midfielder.
Anyway, not important. I do not flip flop guys.
fairs fair to cal, he’s a fucking cock and a lunatic but he’s a proper ranter, not like these little shitehouses
not with Moany in charge
this is cunt who basically let Cudicini rot on bench for four years showing off that he had the best and second best goaly in the world – made sure Duff and Robben were shitted before he sold them and now Lass Diarra.
as well as paying Real the special United premium – they don’t sell to us but we sell to them
ruud, becks, heinze and ronaldo – esp. after Fergus said he wldn;t sell them a virus
only when its a complete shithouse cast off wld they sell to us – he just fucked up with VDV – but he didn’t fuck up that much because he never sold to any of the top EPL clubs other than Spuds, which just happened to have the season of their life
Moany is fine – so long as top clubs don;t get his players even if they are rotting on bench, he is cool
Absolutely right Knobby…
…
… he is a fuckin lunatic.
am fucking so bored with lack of transfer activity
nothing is going to happen in Jan unless Taggart watches youtube, even then he will buy a 12 year old with fucking dreads and say he’s the new Liam Miller.
Aye, why aren’t we being linked with every cunt under the sun like usual
What’s going on
Those of you who are quite disdainful of the notion of Cattermole I want to ask: Did you ever see Roy Keane before he joined us? Roy Keane is my favourite United player all time. I do not think another will arise in my lifetime to equal our lunatic from Cork. In terms of technique, Paul Scholes pisses all over Keane and then some. Yet, Roy drove ANY united side he was in forward. Everytime I have watched Cattermole he reminds me of Keane. Since the greatman’s heydays we have lacked GRIT in our team. We have also lacked a leader. A player who will rile the opposition and will rail at missing team-mates but who will make demands of himself and I have followed Lee’s career and games closely and I really think he will fit us well. Sir Alex can help him channel his energies the way he did with Keane. He gets sent-off easily some of you crow. If Keane had not played for us he would have gotten sent-off even more!!!
Failing that then we have to go ask for Lass Diara at Real. I have no idea why that lad is wasting away in La Liga. He was made for the Premier League and another in the mould of Keane who wins and gives it and believes he is better or equal to ANYONE in ANY midfield battle. We are way too soft and do not win possession back quickly or early enough in matches. And teams are not even worried about any battles against us. Fletcher is tired of carrying Carrick and Anderson physically and has gone way back to his bad days. I have given up on Anderson.
I AGREE WITH ALL OF THIS…
i’d take cattermole and henderson from sunderland tommorrow
keane was a goalscoring mid at forest, you dunno what you’re talking avbout, cattermole kicks people in the cunt, wed have to buy two more midfielders to cover his suspensions
notwithstanding the fact he’s fucking wank
post of the year from loony Cal!
the point on Fletcher is spot on – been saying it for years, he is now fucked and back to being shit cos Carrick has no gonads and Anderson is a lazy buffoon.
bring on young energetic midfielders who have bollocks and can play in the cold without gloves on and a fucking snoood, ffs
we need some proper cunts in midfield, someone who would club a seal to death
so fletcher keeps giving the ball away cause carrick lacks bollocks?
ffs
fletch has started to give the ball away cos he’s mentally and physically fucked after doing Carrick and Anderson’s job of tackling and tracking back and not sitting like a shit scared baby next to a proper player like Rio
he also gives the ball away cos a fat scouse twat in front of him who gives him shit passes and gets in his way cos he is so desparate for a goal – and because everyone around him other than Scholes, Giggs and Berbs are unable to pass it to him properly
the passing quality of united is at an all time wank
Cal… I notice you got rid of your “signature”… feeling a bit embarrassed by it were you?
I can’t believe it’s gotten so bad in our midfield, that we’re arguing over who’e the “shittest”… and putting Lee “Chopper” Cattermole forth as a decent alternative… if that’s our standard, we’d be better off with Barton… at least he can play a bit.
Get right lost you pillock!! How many goals did Keane score at Forrest before his move? Cattermole scores goals too and is a proper box to box midfielder. At United he will score more and will dominate more with the might of United behind him. And what rubbish was that about what or where he kicks people? And Keane never got kicked people or never got suspended? In terms of technique and skill Keane only progressed at Manchester United. Watch the ’92 League Cup final or even watch him after his first season with us at the US’94 world cup and you would have described him as ‘wank’ too.
Alfie, I do not know what happened to my signature. ED, can you sort that out quickly.
I repeat this again. This is Real Madrid we’re talking about. There’s a story in today’s Telegraph that Mourinho is remaining non-committal about his future at Madrid beyond the current season.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/la-liga/8273348/Jose-Mourinho-my-future-at-Real-Madrid-will-become-clear-at-the-end-of-the-season.html
Link on Red Cafe:
http://www.redcafe.net/f7/mourinho-fed-up-real-madrid-318974/
This story has also been reported in Spain.
Whatever the circumstances are, Jose is not a happy chap. Mourinho is apparently after a striker and Madrid are refusing to sanction the monies to allow him to get one. There are stories of interference with tactics.
Now, is this the same man who you think is being treated as the number one by his club? Is this the same man who you think has total control over the management of the team?
If you think Madrid aren’t stupid enough to let Mourinho walk away, think again.
go and watch him, ffs patronising cunt, I did watch him, he was fucking great as the attacking one next to ince and as a right back
Pick any old dirty cunt and he’s the next Roy Keane. I’ve heard it all now.
I wonder if the plan is to store up a load of cash and give it to Mourinho to spend if he comes in in the summer, since I could see him insisting he wanted a big transfer fund as a condition of taking the job. If we won the league this year, Fergie would finally have eclipsed Liverpool (not that he already hasn’t), and could leave saying that he had officially made United the greatest English club of all time.
i’m telling you now, catermole is a great option, he has bollocks and is young enough to improve…Cal is right re this one, but greatly wrong re scholes
Cattermole is box to box and he has a presence, ffs, just cus he has an edge doesn’t make him a hatchet man…..ffs, we need that as all our midfielders are as sharp as spunk..
The lad can play too…..alot of Sunderlands success thius term is to Steve Bruce and he fought tooth and nail for Cattermole…..says it all imo…..mind you he’s just offered 3 million for Ricardo Fuller….clueless cunt
LKHF
faffing
you’re way off here, whole thing smacks of alan smith in midfield part two
No you are way off, now fuck of this United site. you are a total cunt.Thats from a wee shite house.
You aint got a fucking clue about United.
I said on the earlier part of the post, not the recreated thread for arse lickers like you and Play station managers.United will not, note NOT sign in January 2011 now do yourself a favour and fuck off.
wtf?
wtf?
I always like a thought through and informed debate, dont you? 🙂
toodles
Cattermole is a fuckin beast on Pro Evo.
Err..
this is all nice but has fuck all to do with the fact that Moany wld not have sold VDV to United in his first season in charge as part of his clearout of bad stock on the Real bench – if he could not find a mid-tier club that would take him on, he wld rather have him rot on the bench then sell to any top club in Europe.
when was the last time a top tier club sold a player let alone a shit one to United?
berbs – spuds
rooney – neverton
vida- some random club no one cares about
evra – some random frenchy club
anderson – don’t make me laugh but see nani below
nani – sporting
rio – lids
ruud – psv
twins – some brazilian outfit
VDS – fulham, ffs
get back to reality dude, no way in hell wld a top club sell to us unless we offer crazy money which the tight jock would never do – see today’s comments of Taggart in The Sun Online
people may bang on about the money spent on Dzeko, Silva, Toure, Balotelli and we ain’t spending shit – but none of them cost the 30m that Berbs cost, 27m that Rooney costs and let alone the 29m in 1992 we paid for Rio Ferdinand in 2002 or 26m odd we paid for Veron in 2001
the only one that trumps the above is Robbingho or Shechenko at about 31m and look what happened to those shithouses
no bigs clubs sell to United
I think you’re confusing us going for out and out superstars like Messi with players like Van der Vaart. Van der Vaart was dispensable to Madrid and they would let him happily go for relative peanuts whereas you’re looking at top dollar for the real superstars.
1) Let’s talk about top players.
We never normally do business with clubs like Madrid and Barcelona (purely in terms of buying players from them) simply because we rarely, if ever, go for out and out star players outside of those that have played in the Premier League. Players like RvN were stars in their own countries but at clubs like PSV. Let’s suppose that RVN had been at Real Madrid in the pre-United years, not PSV, and let’s suppose he’d finished top of the Spanish scoring charts. How much would he have cost? Madrid would have told us to fuck off at £40 million. Do you think we would have physically even dreamt of forking out the money for him?
Then there is the Madrid factor. How many times do you read about Madrid rejecting an offer from such and such club for one of their top top players? It never happens – simply because Madrid can offer absolutely everything to the player and, provided he is happy at the club, that’s the end of it. Top players gravitate to Madrid.
2) Van der Vaart situation
Madrid are stupid. They got rid of Sneijder and Robben (both, I might add, went to big clubs in Inter and Bayern) because they failed to realise the true value of these players and/or get the best out of them.
So much for them not selling ‘dispensable players’ to Champions League rivals, eh?
3) United’s own policy on signing players
Now let’s turn to United’s policy on signing players. How many times have United signed a world class superstar (who, let me emphasise, will cost a lot more at a Spanish club than a German or Dutch one) – or even made a formal approach for one – from a club like Barcelona? Can you think of even one time when we have done this? Of course not, because we don’t tend to sign those sorts of players. We tend to make our own stars or sign established players from lesser clubs like PSV or Tottenham as we did with RVN and Berbatov.
In relation to the last paragraph, you admit as much in your own post by going through the United team. Thanks for proving my point.
Conclusion:
So this notion that Madrid would never have sold Van der Vaart to us is nonsense when he was already surplus to requirements at their end.
If we’d bothered making an enquiry and coughed up the cash, he would have been ours. He wanted to come to United, as well. He said so himself.
Real don’t sell to us, Moany would never sell to us – that is why we never bought him, never enquired (do you know that?), never put up the cash (do we know that?).
Even if we enquired and coughed up the cash, you think Monay wld have sold a Dutch internation to United rather than Spuds? Are you serious – Moany selling VDV to United – a club that in the last 3 years had won a UCL and reached the final the year after, so a direct rival to Moany the ultimate prize?
Mate keep dreaming. The fact is he is at Spuds and bar VDV, you still have not named a target that was:
– available
– affordable
– wld want to come to United
And don’t say Ozil since he wanted to play for Moany.
As for VDV “saying” he wanted to come to United, yep that proves that Moany would in fact have sold him to us. Right.
Listen. Real don’t sell to United let alone Moany.
Ronaldo, Kaka and Ozil together SHIT on Snijder, VDV and Robben – hence the latter three were complete surplus; so why was it stupid for Real to sell them – Sneijder and Robben were fucked out by Perez not Moany. In fact Moany as you know bought Snijder and with him wanked on everyone including Bayern in the final.
As for Robben, it’s not that stupid to sell a crock when you have Ronaldo in the bag and who can do everything that Robben can do but actually play 3 games in a row. It was a good strike to knock us out of the UCL mind.
Forget about it, you blame United for not pursuing VDV – I don’t blame Taggart for this because I believe Moany would never have sold him to us in the same way we tried for Cudici and he said fuck off.
We tried for Ozil, he wanted Moany. We tried for Villa, he told us that he wanted to stay in spain and he went to Barca. Again, either not affordable, available or want to come to United.
All indications in the media are that Mourinho is not calling the shots at Real. If he was, we wouldn’t be hearing all these stories about how he is not happy with interference from the President and his cohort.
I am not making this up. Mourinho himself has hinted that all is not well. It’s all over the media both here and in Spain.
You seem to think otherwise, despite these reports, yet cannot offer anything substantive to support your theory.
Repeating the same thing over and over again without any evidence does not make it right.
The simple fact, whether you like it or not, is that Van der Vaart was available, affordable and wanted to come to United.
FYI, according to Harry Redknapp, VdV was only offered to Spurs after a proposed move to Bayern Munich collapsed (why would he make this up?)…again rejecting your theory that Real will not sell to a major European rival.
Let’s face it, you have nothing substantive to support your assertion that Real will not sell to United. You have failed to name a single instance where United have approached Real for a player and we have been knocked back.
I’m not having a go at you, I just think that you’re well wide of the mark on this.
We are going to keep going round in circles so we may as well agree to disagree.
cap I told you about this redscot character, and mongolesti and jayshon
uncle you gimp.
Start watching the game, instead of relying on MOTD and 5Live.
And who the hell does this “Ed” person think he is!?!?!
My HP reckons Rodwell to United in the summer is a done deal. Been mentioned before, but I guess time will tell….
ALEX FERGUSON has made a late bid to hijack Alex Chamberlain’s £10million move to Arsenal.
A United insider said: “The boss has made his move and now it’s down to the lad and his family to decide – but United are a massive club to turn down.”
The Southampton midfielder, 17, is currently the hottest property in English football.
He looked set to sign for the Gunners this week and follow in the footsteps of Theo Walcott.
Chamberlain’s dad, Mark, who won eight England caps in the 1980s, said: “Alex is technically better than Walcott and can play in a more central role.
“He is not the most robust but he has been working on strengthening since he was 10.”
yeah bollocks Taggart
Arsenal deal done and dusted. Smacks of PR this does.
didn’t Taggart try to do the same with Ramsey and Bale – after they were being bummed up by Arsenal and Spuds for about 6 months, we put in a cheeky expression of interest and then said, not worth the cash, so they can fuck off.
I think we were interested in Bale for a very long time, even before Spurs were interested, but he didn’t want to play second fiddle to Evra.
As for Ramsey didn’t SAF send Neville to show him around Old Trafford or something.
lol – yes – i remember that, ffs, Gaz Neville – lololol
spanish cunt off sky says madrid wanna sell benzema in the summer to fund a deal for some other spanish cunt
We won’t buy him now Knobby… he’d cost £30 million +, to begin with, and he’s on stupid wages… up there with Kaka and Adebeyor.
that cunt eric steele says vds definately going in june and we’re bringing in a keeper
Sky says Scholes is thinking about this being his last year.
The Kiddy Fiddling French cunt had the chance he didn’t want to come then so why should he now.
Can’t see us buying any cunt to be honest. Not that fussed about that cunt Benzema any road. We’ve got enough stocking filling cunts to see us through for now. Plan now, and buy some quality cunts in the summer.
Ted – big fan of cunts, aren’t you Ted?!
ive said before benzemas made for the prem hes a fucking bollocksy never mind the bollocks bulldozer prem player, dont give a cunt what the cunts doing in the soft shite fancy dan league, get the cunt over here, and them other cunts schweinsteiger and reina
smells fishy here
That’ll be the Mrs…
TORRES AVAILABLE FOR 20 MILLION,I THINK UTD SHOULD CONSIDER BUYING HIM AS I KNOW SAF WILL GET THE BEST OUT OF HIM.UTD COULD DO WITH ONE CENTRE BACK {SUBOTIC OR THIAGO SILVA} AND TWO MIDFIIELDERS {GAITAN&GARCIA}.
It will never happen but I’ll say it.
Torres for 20m is worth a gamble. If he turns out good, then we have a proper world class striker worth 40m. If he’s as bad as he is now then we still can sell him for 15m+. We all know that he’s got the quality and skills to be a top player again. Class is supposed to be permanent after all.
I think he’ll do well with the way we play. We currently have only 2 match-winning players – Nani and Rooney (Hernandez has potential to be be one too). Torres will be more useful in a 4-3-3 formation when comparted to Hernandez (who seems to struggle as the lone striker) and Rooney (who’s better off playing deeper)
Torres will be more effectively used when comparted to the classy Berbatov anyway, why not use the money from the Diouf, Macheda and Berbatov sale? I’m assuming that these three will be sold regardless considering the way they’re being used at the moment.
Sir Ryan Giggs? No no no. Sir Paul Scholes say.
Fuck me, if the useless shite can’t even get a game from the sub’s then he’s clearly not good enough.
At £2m perhaps, but £20m????
Fuck that!
Have you got a cock stuck up your arse or what?
Torres is well worth £20 Million, but we won’t go for him.
Fuck me. Have you seen Torres in the last two years? Not only is he crap, but he’s not even acting like a professional. I will be very surprised if he ever gets his 2008/2009 form back again.
Plus it’s not just £20M, it’s circa £150k a week as well.
If we have £20M to spend this winter, we all know where it should be spent.
Incontinence Pads for Fletch? poor sod!
will £20M be enough?
Depends, if he eats the same as Cap….then… NO.
hernandez will never be a matchwinner
You’re wrong.
Brian/Knob – he scored four match winning goals post the derby
He is a match winner all day, if Knobby fails to see that then he’s not only fucking inbred but he’s a SCOUSE!
TXTL8RLKHF xx
pisstake ed, you know what type of player the term matchwinner suggests, hernandez aint it
It’s a £20m gamble you leeky bell end!!
Racist. Reported.
Hernandez will WIN you a match with a finish out of nothing in the last few mins, ergo match winner.
never out of nothing, requires a chance to be created be someone else, ergo not a matchwinner
rooney, nani, match winners
welbeck, potential matchwinner
hernandez, owen, goalscorers
berbatov young valencia carrick fetcher anderson park gibson diouf macheda, cunts
He would finish a chance that 99% of players wouldn’t and therefore win you a match with his amazing finishing ability. I think we’re going to just have to agree that your wrong this time and move on, it’s for the better for everyone involved.
Agreed.
Berbatov was proven to be the most consistent matchwinner in the PL last year, so this is utter balls.
MEN reckons we’re after Sneijder in the Jan window.
And in a badly lit attic room somewhere, Sidney ejaculates
if arsenal don’t finish top four we have to bid for wilshere
or if spurs don’t then bale
Wilshire hasn’t played this season with a more sinister reason to his supposed ankle injury. He is top class though.
Wilshire hasn’t played all season, no one knows what he is going to be like.
And you need someone to stick it in the net. Welbeck doesn’t do enough of it, Hernandez by comparison only needs one chance to score and as Ed points out he has scored 4 late winners already.
We have to go for De Rossi in Jan, it would be criminally stupid not to. He’s exactly what we need: experience, leadership, defensive bollocks combined with real technical quality. He’ll be a real bargain — someone is going to get him for £5-10M. Carrick and Cleverly would be liberated beside him — we might get to see Carrick play to his strengths for a prolonger period of time, finally
We also should get Christian Eriksen in the summer at the latest, although I don’t see why we can’t get him in January if Liverpool could get that scrot Suarez from Ajax last January — Ajax is a selling club after all. To me Eriksen is the real Scholes replacement: bags of creativity and attacking talent, but he’s a real midfielder who can play in a central midfield two. Talented as players like Ozil and Gotze are, they’re more in the hybrid attacker-midfielder mold to my mind, who either need to be at the top of a midfield three or coming in from the flank like Nani and Young already do for us. We don’t need any more players looking to shirk defensive duties.
Berbs contract extended. One year option picked up.
He has to agree to it though
It’d be fucking hilarious if he told them to fuck off
G’won, Knob. Unleash
Cahill has agreed terms with Chelsea. £7m apparently
Apparently the Sneijder move is on again, and the Mirror reckon it will happen.
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/blogs/mirror-football-blog/Transfer-gossip-Wesley-Sneijder-to-Manchester-United-Rory-Donnelly-to-Liverpool-10-moves-we-expect-to-happen-in-the-window-article846816.html
I don’t want him now. Why aren’t we linked with the (presumably younger) replacements that Inter would be after instead of a 28 year old who would command an enormous salary?
Because we have younger replacements in Pogba and Cleverley – although the latter is a crock
We need a fix now
I agree… never mind spending a bomb on Sneijder… spend the money on Gotze instead.
I wanted Sneijder… still wouldn’t mind… but it didn’t happen in the summer, and I can’t see what’s changed… except that Gotze has become more expensive.
This will depress you. Fergie on buying a midfielder
He said: “Why should you put a sticking plaster on something? We’re quite happy with what we’ve got at the moment.
“The form of Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick has been outstanding.
“I’m lucky I’ve got versatile players like Ji-sung Park, Antonio Valencia and Giggs who can play in a variety of positions and give me options.
“The crucial thing, though, is to get our centre-backs back. That’s the only caution I have about my team. Forward-wise and in midfield, we’re OK.”
IN MIDFIELD WE’RE OK
Err Sid, what will you have the manager of Manchester United say? That he is desperate for midfielders so that all the clubs we ring will triple the fees on their players?
He is playing it quite cool and I have a dreadful fear that he will plunge for someone this January and it will not be Sandro from Spurs.
I hope he’s bullshitting again… Part of me believes he will absolutely sign a midfielder, part of me believes he absolutely won’t
Fergie’s been saying this shit for ages.
he has also said words to the effect that if you don’t like what he does regarding the club, go fucking support chelsea
i doubt he means that too
don’t trust the gobshite but Cal is right, the deal (if any) will be done before no fucker knows about it like BeBongo.
as in they drink it in the congo?
Barcelona and PSG eyeing up Morrison:
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/7409034/?