Comments on: Delusional Manager 2008 – starring: Wenger, Benitez, Grant and Ramos

By: BD Condell

BD Condell — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:24:51 +0000

Will D, I could go on for hours on your ridiculous ramblings but I won’t bother.

Hint 1: If you want to be taken seriously don’t ramble on forever, as people lose interest.

Hint 2: Study Ferguson’s record and make-up in detail. There are many books, articles and independent observations out there.

Follow the above and you’ll stop being an embarassment to yourself (Hopefully).

By: Igor

Igor — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:32:21 +0000

Its really too bad because this site used to be one of my favorites, but now its so convoluted and biased its unreadable. There was a time when I looked forward to Ahmed’s insight on every piece of news. I used to disregard his Man U bias because he didn’t make such a big deal out of it and I could trust him to be somewhat objective. Now it seems as if this site has been overrun with full-of-themselves Man U supporters, and the quality has dropped. A sad day.

By: Igor

Igor — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:21:49 +0000

This is the worst article I’ve read on this site in a while. Is it even an article? It seems like senseless bashing and a complete waste of time. I have no doubt that had United lost the title to Chelsea on the final day we would have heard every excuse in the book from this site. SAF says the exact same things.

By: Liverpool_Fan

Liverpool_Fan — Tue, 27 May 2008 12:30:16 +0000

He is not blaming the actual games he is stating once Liverpool can break that barier and beat United then we will finally have what it takes.

By: harasuke

harasuke — Mon, 26 May 2008 15:41:51 +0000

When I started reading articles here- a little over a year- it was a class blog. Now… it’s not half-decent. Ahmed you should stuff all your manutd bias up your … Or instead change soccerlens to manchestedunitedlens. Thankfully there are still some decent writers here: graham fischer 4 instance.

By: hmm

hmm — Mon, 26 May 2008 14:54:57 +0000

WillD, allow me to make a few more statements; I can’t resist an argument backed by logical reasoning.First, I know you must have had this a myriad of times before, but selling van Nistelrooy was better for the club. Once teams double-teamed on the dutch striker, Utd had no one to funnel to pass the final ball to, and Utd were screwed as a result. A look at the averages reveals that Utd’s average goal per game ratio improved with Nistelrooy’s departure. That said, I really loved watching the guy set up camp in the penalty box and terrorize defences. As for getting a replacement for him, had Saha been fit, Utd would have had one of the finest attack in the whole world. Saha is everything we would have wanted in a striker, bar his injury situation. Ferguson knew this, and that’s why he was so patient with the Frenchman. However, Ferguson has now got to the point where he has to admit that Saha is never going to be that man. This summer, I can almost guarantee that SAF will get a striker as close to Saha (in terms of abilities) as he can. I remain a bit skeptical about Huntelaar, although I must admit he is more mobile and more useful in the build-up play than RVN ever was. Plus do you think Huntelaar will be willing to stay on the bench for about 2/3 of games. (I am of the opinion that even if we get a striker, he will not be a guaranteed starter, just an option to bring in when teams like Middlesbrough and Derby are not giving us any space with their whole team behind the ball).
As for Ferguson not having any tactics, surely you must have realized that Ferguson picks his team to allow ronaldo as much space as he likes to roam the field. Surely you would be very pissed at Ferguson if he constrained Ronaldo to a single position. Making the best use of your players surely does not mean you are tactically inept, does it?
Any fan of Real Madrid would expect that Real would dominate Europe, let alone spain, given the massive talent on their team. I believe that Barca’s situation has meant that they did not really challenge Real for the title. Barca’s off the field problems have allowed Real to hide their troubles very effectively. No one can stand up and claim that Real were the force that they once were. For the fourth straight year Real have failed to make the quarter finals of the champions’ league. Is that acceptable for a team of Real’s caliber? While Chelsea’s plight is more understandable, they still grossly underperformed in the Carling cup final and in the FA cup against Barnsley for instance.
Avram Grant, Carlo Ancelotti and Frank Rijkaard both had the “privilege” of coaching great squads- far superior to United’s squad if you ask me. Were they hard pressed to win games? I will let you answer that. So YES, managers should be given credit for taking great players and making a WINNING team out of them.

By: Peter London

Peter London — Mon, 26 May 2008 08:37:03 +0000

It is not just the cockiness of this article but the delayed cockiness that, amusingly, betrays the reasons why the cockiness couldn’t have been expressed any earlier than this. Since the outcome of the Premiership this season was only decided in the last minutes of the last matches on the very last day, no trumpet-blowing was possible because the eventual outcome was so uncertain. Much the same goes for the European Champions Cup Final, before which hopes for Manchester United had to suffice in the absence of certainty. In the event, that final was only decided in the very last seconds of a penalty shoot-out following extra-time added to the originally intended ninety minutes. Only with these two late achievements, because pushed so close to the wire by a club I don’t support, does this charmless article appear as if 2007-08′s story is of the brilliance of one and the ‘delusion’ of others. What a lousy ambassador for the club you have latched on to, do you turn out to be.

By: Will D

Will D — Mon, 26 May 2008 07:46:34 +0000

I agree that Ferguson has done some great things in the past, and I don’t dislike him, I just think that he may be a bit overrated as a coach. In a game like soccer, there’s only so much that a coach can do, and holding the coach responsible for failures or praising the coach for success is a bit pragmatic. The players on the field should be held accountable for their own play, not the coach. And for that reason, I’m not a big fan of Ferguson, although it’s mostly just bitterness about him ostracizing Van Nistelrooy and removing one of my favorite players from my favorite team.

It’s also a bit of frustration about having to wait this long to see the kind of fast-paced and high-scoring offensive play I’ve know our front line has been capable of for some time. I think, also, that this is due more to Ronaldo blossoming and taking control of games than Ferguson’s schemes and formations, which I don’t see as particularly innovative or effective. I also believe that he has been too passive as of late in player acquisitions, despite his virtually limitless funds. Upon Van Nistelrooy’s departure, I was sure that Ferguson would immediately begin shopping for an adequate replacement, but for the past 2 seasons we have sufficed with the likes of Giggs and Tevez to fill the front line void left by one of the world’s best strikers. Recently, several more high-priced, high-talent potential replacements have been mentioned in transfer rumors, though no attempt has been made to secure a long-term, legitimate front line scoring threat. I was overjoyed to see that Huntelaar has been rumored a potential near future acquisition, but once again disappointed that no bid has been made for other stars and potential replacements (that Ferguson can scarcely ill afford) such as Samuel Eto’o of Barcelona, Robinho of Real, or (a personal favorite and admittedly a stretch) Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Inter Milan. All would be outstanding fits with the new up-tempo style of offensive play, and would provide fantastic compliments to our young (and dare I say overburdened?) stars, and yet none have been linked to Old Trafford, but have been linked on numerous occasions to Tottenham, Chelsea, and other rival premiership clubs.

As for Stars not meaning automatic success. Maybe Rooney and Ronaldo don’t mean automatic success, but this year it seemed to me like they were doing quite a bit on their own. I didn’t see a tremendous amount of formation-specific moves or shifts this past season – just Rooney and Ronaldo doing their own thing and scoring at will. When you have two young stars like them, and you can cut them loose with as much success as we have witnessed this year, you’d be hard-pressed to find a manager that couldn’t win games. All I’m saying is that you shouldn’t brake your arm patting Ferguson on the back, and you should “give credit where credit is due;” to the players (namely Ronaldo and Rooney).

Also, to say that spending and having great players doesn’t translate to success, and citing Chelsea and Real Madrid as examples… didn’t Chelsea finish second in the Premiership and make it the the Champions League final, and didn’t Real Madrid win the Spanish league title this year? Looks like spending the most money and having the best players does kinda translate to success.

I’ll admit my disdain for Ferguson is a bit unwarranted, and he has been good for the club. All I’m saying is that the great players he has ha the privilege of coaching have been the reason for his success as of late, and I’m sick of people criticizing Rooney and Ronaldo for their on and of field exploits while touting Ferguson as a saint.

By: jj

jj — Mon, 26 May 2008 04:55:28 +0000

Being a spurs fan im just glad we got mentioned with the top 4! Thanks for the compliment!

By: hmm

hmm — Mon, 26 May 2008 04:02:32 +0000

@ WillD (no. 37)
As regards Man Utd’s spending (when compared to other big clubs), I agree with you in the most part. However, your statement: “For all his accolades and league title, the pockets of his club’s owner being as deep as they are can hardly be considered less than the primary reason for that success” is really not giving Ferguson credit where credit is due. Have a look at his career at Aberdeen for instance. He took charge of a team of relative nobodys and, with them, broke the stranglehold that Celtic and Rangers had on the league and Scottish cup. Ask yourself how many managers could take an Aberdeen side and beat the likes of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid to win the European cup. How many? Ferguson did.
When he came to Old Trafford, he found players who had well known fitness issues, not to mention the drinking culture at Old Trafford. It took him some time and player movement but he turned Man Utd into a world beating outfit.
Also, for anyone that assumes that having a Rooney or Ronaldo (or equivalently talented players) in your team translates to automatic success, I only ask you to look in the direction of Chelsea, Real Madrid and the other such clubs…
Do I even need to mention the 10 Premier League titles, numerous FA cups, League Cups and (now) two champions’ league titles? Yes, he has been given as much money as he likes to buy players as he pleases, but it takes top-level man management to create a new team and pass on the values and winning culture that define Man Utd. I’m not at all suggesting that Ferguson is a saint, WillD, but to say that the club owner’s pockets are the reasons for Fergie’s success is being a tad mean, to say the least.