Manchester United’s old guard must be changed
The older players have played a massive hand in helping Manchester United to their 9th Premiership, but it’s time that they are phased out.
Gary Neville
Gary Neville is a very good defender and he brings a lot more to the team than just football – his mental strength and desire to win has a positive effect in the dressing room as well, and as much as you’d want a younger, stronger, faster right-back playing for United you can’t imagine the team without him.
However, I think that while he can play another season (and he should play till 2008 at least), Ferguson must start blooding the successor now.
My pick for that post is Wes Brown and while Bardsley and Simpson are also in the wings, Brown wins through on experience (if not sheer quality).
Gary’s a good player but we have to prepare for the future – once you start resting / rotating a player to keep him fit for the big games, you’ve got to realise that it’s time to move on.
Edwin Van der Sar
Whatever I just said for EVDS, ditto for Gary. He’s dead-set to be United’s keeper for the next season, but after that it’s anyone’s guess. The media is putting pressure on him needlessly (and so are some United fans), but he has done quite well apart from that alarming tendency to punch the ball out back to the opposition.
Hopefully next season he’ll have purged that out of his system. He is an excellent keeper and Manchester United should look at retaining him beyond his playing years. His positioning and judgement are almost perfect.
Foster and Kuszczak will learn a lot from him.
Blood a new keeper? Yes, definitely, but more likely send K out on loan and keep Foster around. I’d be surprised to see K hang around along with Foster AND see EVDS play first-choice.
Paul Scholes
What a season from a thorough professional. He’s one of the main reasons behind United’s successful title hunt.
However, if Ferguson does not plan – and blood players – for Scholesy’s departure we’ll be left in a situation similar to that of Roy Keane’s.
However, Ferguson is not likely to make the same mistake again and again (although he does kick out the good players), and next season you’ll see Scholes play a deeper role, leaving the play-making to Carrick.
That could also mean that Ferguson goes to a 4-5-1 to protect his star midfielder – Hargreaves and Carrick flanking Scholes, Ronaldo and Giggs on the wings cutting in and Rooney up front.
With Hargreaves coming in, it will be interesting to see how Ferguson plays his 3 midfielders. Scholes is fading (yes, he is fading, even if you consider that he’s turned in some stellar performances this season), Carrick will improve and so will Hargreaves.
Will Scholes stay/play beyond 2008?
Ryan Giggs
Ferguson thinks that Scholes, Giggs and Neville can play for another two years, and I’m inclined to agree with him. The same goes for Ole and EVDS.
The problem is, Giggs included, you’re not likely to see the best of them after next season (and in some cases, next season isn’t going to be too hot either).
Giggsy is the case in point. He is immensely talented and you would be a fool not to have him in your team, no matter what club you are. As he gets older he’ll have to play further infield, which means that either we should persist with Evra at left-back or play someone else at left-wing and push Giggs in a central role.
And this is the time when the question arises – why are we changing tactics to accomodate ageing players? Hell, why are we changing a winning strategy to accomodate players? Let’s not do an England all over again.
Giggs will do great next season, I’m sure of it, and he, more than anyone else, deserves the title this season. He’s been fantastic.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
With due respect to what Ole’s done for the club, I think it’s time he moved to management – and I think that’s the main reason why Ferguson is keeping Ole around. He’s lost his pace and while he’s still got the brains he’s not suited to the Premiership anymore.
I’d like to see Ole stay at the club, but he probably wants to play more than next year. If he doesn’t, he would make a great coach.
Planning for the Future
We have players in all departments to cover for this lot, but I’m not sure we have the players with the quality of Scholes and Giggs yet. And while Hargreaves and Carrick (coupled with Ronaldo and Rooney) can soften the loss of Scholes, we need a successor to Giggs, and we need him this summer.
Up Next
Next, I’ll review our star players and update their status at the club – unlike this lot, our star players are there to stay.
This article is Part 2 of our 7-part Manchester United 2006/2007 season review coverage at Soccerlens.
Topics: Manchester United
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Alot of good points made there… I have my own thoughts on where fergie is looking to go with this team though..
For starters, 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 is clearly what fergie sees as the way forward formation wise. We have never had a great amount of joy with 4-4-2 in the prem and with the addition of hargreaves, 3 in central midfield seems inevitable.
Soooo.. hargreaves and carrick play deep, a la pirlo gattuso.. scholes will be able to drift in front with 2 wingforwards and a central striker. I have heard fergie talk of rooney as a similar player to gazza and whilst i think he’ll sign a lone striker to challenge saha next year and see rooney playing more from the left, i think fergie sees him as adopting the kaka like floating second striker in front of hargreaves and carrick. This will mean that we desperately need someone to take over from giggs on the left and a dependable center forward.
The next few big signings could well make or break this side and i hope he makes the right ones. we all hear the same rumours, eto’o torres etc.. but lets be realistic at the moment, it looks like huntelaar up top with nani or more likely bale bread into the left wing spot. Theres alot of talk about 1 of our left backs leaving if bale arrives but i dont think left back is where fergie sees him playing..
Watcha think???
May 24th, 2007 @ 20:23lol.. meant to put, never had much joy with 4-4-2 in EUROPE… sorry bout that… school boy…!
May 24th, 2007 @ 20:25meant to say that we’ve never had much joy with 4-4-2 in EUROPE… apologies.. school boy!!
May 24th, 2007 @ 20:27Would love to see Alan Smith get more of a chance as well in the starting lineup. He has alot to offer and is a very good finisher too.
May 24th, 2007 @ 20:49WES BROWNNNN???? Come on… he is a mug! He couldnt pace up with an injured Robben nor could he cross good balls in the opposite box… I think if you guys still want Wes Brown around, then say bye bye to all trophies next season. You will never win against tough opposition if Brown, OShea, Richardson and Fletcher are still around!!! They are clearly the weakest links in the team. By the way, if somebody told me that OShea won the match for us against Liverpool, then I would say –> LIVERPOOL is NOT a TOUGH opposition!!! hahaha…
May 24th, 2007 @ 22:12i have to stay that the chnage between old and new will be avery easy has ferguson has invested in players before hand if you look at the reserves of united you see the replacements for the old gaurd i’d say we would only need to buy a player to replace scholes.
Bardesly for Neville
May 24th, 2007 @ 23:05Lee Martin for Giggs
Foster for Van der Sar
Rossi for Solskjaer
New player (Bently) for Scholes
You lot are smoking something. Gary Neville is hailed by some as the best right-back in world football – tell me who is ‘better.’ Not as good as him, but actually ‘better?’ How old is Paolo Maldini having just lifted ECL trophy? Most clubs try to rush their best players back for big games…it’s not exclusive to Gary Neville.
May 25th, 2007 @ 00:23Scholesy’ is pure quality. Why do you think successive England managers have tried to bring him out of international retirement? He’s never been the quickest, but he has always been the smartest passer.
Giggs is a different issue, but if you remember Chris Waddle at 36 taking the p**s out of the rest of the league, then why can’t Ryan? He is extremely fit and healthy, so I see no reason why he can’t play on.
You make it sound like we are the Chelsea pensioners. Makelele is 34 and he isn’t exactly struggling is he? We’ve made dodgy signings before in Veron, & to a lesser extent Forlan. We’ve just won the bloody league against a hugely expensive CFC squad.
Carrick and Hargreaves will be the backbone of the England team for a good few years once Mclaren realises how good they are.
Yes, I would hate to be turning 32 in a team with you lot about – I’d be terrified everytime I saw you with a sharp impliment.
SMARTEN UP!!!
As for Bentley for Paul Scholes??? I don’t even know where to begin with that one…
May 25th, 2007 @ 00:24Lee – fuckin’ hilarious
I have no doubts that these players can do the job, and will continue to do so.
However, I don’t want the team to be at a stage when we have to replace 3 players immediately.
Nev’s great, but he’s not going to play the full season. Ditto with Giggsy and Scholesy.
The challenge is not to replace them outright but to phase them out slowly, in the next couple of years.
Doing the job and doing it well at United’s expectations are two very different things.
I thought Makelele was slowing down at the start of the season, and by the end of it Mourinho thinks the same
May 25th, 2007 @ 00:42It will be very hard to replace Scholes, but it will be even harder to replace Gary. The problem is that there are simply too few really good right backs in the world, and Gary happens to be one of them. And when you look at it, who is better than him AND available? I can’t really picture many players, maybe ALVES (but I’m becoming bored with all the talk about him, while someone already buy him or kill him or whatever), MIGUEL(and here’s a player-sheer quality and stamina-perfect EPL material), there’s RICHARDS(but he’s not available for United) and maybe a few others, but the great majority of right backs are more-less average players, like Salgado, Ferreira, Belletti, Finnan and such. There aren’t so many really good ones, and it will be very hard to find a long-term successor for G Neville, who is one of the best RBs in the world simply because there are few who are better.
May 25th, 2007 @ 03:54I agree that G Neville has 3 maybe 4 seasons left in him at least look at the age of maldini and even lee dixon and nigel winterburn were still playing at the top level until around 35.
Scholes is not fading, he’s been superb this season for us.
Giggs, I think has finished on the left wing he’s lost that yard of pace which left him middle of the season, he’s still a valued midfielder but we need a pacy left winger i.e ribery or nani.
Van Der Saar is coming to the end of his career we need to start finding a replacement, if we havent already.
Solskjaer has said this next season is going to be his last, he already has a job in the backroom as being an embassador for the club and runs football courses and scouts for us in scandanavia i.e Eikrem was one of his findings.
May 25th, 2007 @ 12:22remember all good things come to an end.giggs scholes and neville have been legends but its time to move on just like when robbo hughsie brucie etc moved to lower clubs its progression.
May 25th, 2007 @ 12:31i would love to see evans and simpson back from sunderland and rossi at least on the bench next season.
first and foremost we need a top quality striker like berbatov who we probably wont get, i cant believe we got away with not having a decent target man all season.
Imo Giggs has played too many games this season – he looked tired at the end of it. That’s why a left winger is so important for us to sign, and he better be quick and skillful (and by that – expensive). Having said that, Giggs has been outstanding in many games, and I believe that if he played fewer games, his quality will be there for at least one more season.
Scholes can play for at least 2 more seasons, and possibly 3, simply because of the type of player he is – as someone wrote, he relies on his passing and not the physical aspect of the game (strength and pace) – he never has. I’m not sure, we’ll ever find a player with Scholes’ vision and passing ability, so SAF might as well start finding out what type of player he wants in stead.
Neville I’m a little concerned about, because he has this re-occuring calf problem – I hope he has 2 more seasons left in him, but we’ll definitely see more of Brown on that right full back next season, which I’m fine with.
VDS can play at least one more season, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in 2009 either. He’s fit and makes very few mistakes. Of course – as with all keepers – he breaks at some point because of age, and it’s for SAF to see it coming.
Ole should be replaced next season. He did provide 11 goals this campaign, which is pretty remarkable, but I think it’s time we bring in Rossi, if we truly want to keep him around (which I hope).
May 25th, 2007 @ 12:41Lots of good comments and some interesting difference of opinions (thats not including eviltwin?? im not even gonna start on ur comment!)
I think unfortunately our youth set up isnt providing the kind of quality that it previously has but there are 3 or 4 who definately have a chance. Foster is obviously a great prospect and should take over as VDS’ no 2 next year. Rossi IS FANTASTIC.. ive never been let down by that boy, everytime i see him, whether he scores or not he always looks bright, has great footwork and is a superb finisher. Some issues with his stature but dont forget that scholes started out as a striker in similar style as rossi…. Then there’s pique which i think we may struggle to hold onto. I had the chance to watch him at the nou camp and he looked well beyond his years, he’s been a regular in an over performing zaragoza side this year and i would happily see him come back, whilst remembering he can also come in at right back.. AND finally, Evans.. Who i can admitt i have seen the least of but from the reviews u hear.. one for the future.
I personally think Fergie has to be more ruthless with players at either end of their development, some certainly do and potentially can add something to the squad: Foster, Pique, Evans, Fletcher (underrated), Rossi. And some who just arent going to make it: Eagles, Richardson, Martin, Bardsley DONG?? and i have to say it, solkjaer may start to hold us back if giving him playing opportunities prevents rossi from getting games….
May 25th, 2007 @ 13:15From the look of things, it does’t seem like United need to buy anyone (even though I would love to see Tevez signed).
May 25th, 2007 @ 15:27Can the reason why SAF is giving Richardson so many chances not perhaps be because he eyes Richardson as Scholes’ successor? (Remember, he is essentially a CM).
I have a feeling that SAF is going to try to mould Richardson, Rooney or Rossi for Scholes’ role.
I also have a feeling that a winger is no longer a priority. SAF is looking at playing narrower next season, therefore, versatile goalscoring forwards are being looked at.
beardsley must come in for nevile his time is long over.I would think carrick will spend most of his time on the bench once hargraves arrives he was money poorly spent.
May 26th, 2007 @ 03:40I would like to see hargraves and scholes in the holding role with rooney or giggs playing the kaka type role.Giggs vision and passing game has improved greatly with time but if you are going to play a lone striker then rooney would be the better choice as you will get more goals out of him.expect sahah to still be there next season one season of injuries and people forget what he can do he will challenge drogba and theirry for the golden boot next season
spot on mate united will be back next year to spend 20 million on bale history shows it.
May 26th, 2007 @ 12:50anyway what about the glazers possibly selling up (i wish)
and i am already on the compulsory cup ticket scheme it works for me because i want to go to every match ,but it is a piss take forcing fans to do it .whatever happened to freedom of choice ,this is one the club will lose and alienate even more hardcore reds
I don’t like Rooney up front on his own – such a waste. Couldn’t believe what I was watching in the cup final when we kept launching long balls up to him – he’s only little! Smith’s a better target man.
For the next couple of years I think we are heading towards 4-2-3-1 (with Giggs and Scholes playing about half the games each).. Evra, Brown, O’Shea cuold all get a look in too.
VDS
Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Heinze
Hargreaves, Carrick
Ronaldo, Giggs/Scholes, Rooney
Smith
I reckon this could work pretty well, with the 3 behind Smith causing general mayhem. I really don’t fancy Scholes in a deep lying role when we’re under the cosh – the boy just can’t tackle.
May 26th, 2007 @ 16:37Considering the signings we’ve made, as well as rumblings from Old Trafford that some players will leave, there’s a chance that one of the old guard could go.
Giggsy, Scholesy and Gary are not going. That leaves EVDS and Ole.
I doubt EVDS will be moved on, especially with Foster’s knee injury, and regardless, he’s our best keeper.
Ole could be moved on though.
Another thing to note – the players mentioned in this article are still good enough to play football. That much is not in doubt.
The real question is whether they are the best players in their positions for representing Manchester United next season in the Premiership and Champions League?
Apart from Ole, I’d say yes to the rest. But only for one more season – after that we must re-evaluate.
June 8th, 2007 @ 21:13