Should Manchester United stick with Rossi?
Brian Lomax over at redrants.com asks if it would be a better idea to try Rossi as a starting option at Manchester United next season (at the very least he should start the first game against Reading (see the Man Utd 07/08 fixture list)) instead of splashing the cash on Huntelaar or Torres or whoever takes your fancy.
Brian says:
Wayne Rooney has the talent to score 30+ goals a season for Manchester United. But because he is forced to stay back to play defense and create in the midfield, he misses out on many scoring opportunities. Because Giuseppe Rossi possesses excellent technical and passing skills, as well as a mind for both passing and goal, he can feed Rooney and if he needs to, create his own shot.
With Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, and Nani playing on the wings, and Hagreaves, Carrick, Anderson, and Scholes providing great passing while holding down the midfield, the combination of Rooney and Rossi could provide Manchester United a top goal scoring tandem for years to come.
So what do you guys think? Should Manchester United stick with Rossi, or should we jump for a new striker?
I definitely think, Rossi should be given a chance. SAF and a big part of the fans have been praising him for a long time, and he had a good run at Parma. Just because we seem to have money to spend, we shouldn’t necessarily spend them.
Rossi should be kept, but even so, we should buy a new striker as well.
If we keep Rossi, we’ll have Saha, Rooney, Rossi and Smith for strikers (don’t think we should count too much on Ole next season – he will get 15 matches tops), which doesn’t look too bad on paper…problem is Saha is injured, and Smith doesn’t score enough goals.
But I agree with Brian Lomax that Rossi could be lethal with his passing, perception and finishing.
i think he will only get better. keep him
I think that Rossi should get the chance, he has been showing that he can score goals in italy, but the big question is, can he make the goals in england? my opinion is that, he is the right player for it.. he is young.. and he got the ability and talent to become a great top-player.
i am sure rossi can cut it in the premiership…. but not YET!!!its just that i think he needs to be a starter at a premiership club for an entire season…. in any case united MUST sell saha and smith!! i love smith but he just doesnt score enough plus Dong seems about appropriate… to take up the role of a striker on the bench!!! even though i was impressed by saha this season i just think he has had horrid luck wid united and MUST be sold!!
we should have a attack lineup of these players next season…
Rooney
NEW PLAYER (whom so ever fits the bill)
Ole
Dong/Smith (if he isn’t sold)
and the following season ole is gone wid rossi coming in….
but this is what i feel ppl may agree or disagree…
Keep him, wouldn’t want to be kicking ourselves if we let him go and he did the job for another club. Still need to buy another striker though, somebody cheap who won’t ‘mind’ sharing pitch time with Rossi. That way we’re covered if Rossi doesn’t work out, Saha has more injury problems or Smithy gets sold.
He should get the chance, and I agree that Rossi should get his chance, it’s just a matter of injury streaks with strikers we are getting. Saha and Ole are not trusted to be fit for an entire season, and Smith is just not an option to offer us goals. Rossi and Rooney is still just young and very much inexperienced. They might hit it off but during the course of the season, they will go through slumps(trust me).
If the worst happens like what happened near the end of our title winning season (losing the entire first team defense plus Saha, Giggs and Ole) we might rue the day we didn’t bring in cover. And when all the other departments have been stocked up, all that is left is the striking department. If we don’t bring in a striker, we might rue the day we dint bring in a striker. There is always a chance both Saha and Ole getting injured at the same time AGAIN, and with Smith amd co, we might lose out in the CL to Milan or other sides again.
That is why, for the sake of the CL, Fergie will be dipping into the market again. It’s not like we need an expensive striker, but he is always looking for the quality, and hence the link with all the big name strikers. If we could get another Larsson, by all means I’ll be happy.
Redevils: Dong is crap, i wouldn’t be happy counting on him to come off the bench and score us a goal, rossi is better , and even though rssi hardly ever gets a game for utd, all utd fans love him, and im sure othes must know that he is good now, and will become great some day…we could buy a striker, and i’m always happy with a newplayer(that guy quagliera who is being linked with us looks good like…) but I think we should wait a season and see if saha can prove himself, or smith can score more goals, if not…buy someone good=]
Rossi will be given a chance. Regardless of whether we buy a striker or not. Because Smith is certainly leaving. And we all know Fergie loves having 4 strikers.
Redevils – Let me tell you something about Dong: he’s not good enough. I know this is going to sound synical, but he’s a merchandise stunt. It’s just a way of exploiting the chinese market. He’ll be kept and get the occasional game (CC, some FA games and games like the one against Chelsea last season) to keep the interest in him going over there.
Rossi is miles better already. And I’m afraid your scouting skills aren’t quite up there when evaluating Saha as lucky last season. He’s an excellent striker, and he’s more than good enough to lead the line at United when fit. Obviously fitness is his problem, and since it doesn’t appear to be improving, we should invest in someone more reliable to accompany him, Rooney and Rossi. Smith should be sold, and Ole should be kept as 5th choice.
An option could be keeping Smith and just letting Rossi come back in a support role letting day to day form decide whether he or Smith should be on the bench (or start when Saha is injured).
The question for SAF is if he wants to rely on either Smith or Rossi as second striker, if Saha is again long term injured…if he doesn’t, he should bring in someone. Another problem is that having Saha in the squad forces you to have 5 strikers, where most clubs only have 4. Having 5 strikers leaves less room for a youngster like Rossi to get time on the pitch.
yeh dong is nothing special, rossi is better. only problem is that rooney and rossi are both relatively short. probably not that important, but makes a difference. tevez wud have been great (also short)
i think we have space for the four strikers. rooney saha smith and solksjaer, substitutions and for cover etc. and for one more, rossi who shud be given a chance to prove himself. probably replace saha in future. if dong doesnt prove himself then shud be sold.
According to this guy Quagliarella’s (is it possible to get his name right every time) agent, we bid £10 mil for him last month…interesting. Especially interesting why nothing further has happened in the matter. Apparently he’s rated at £10-13 mil, so if the offer stands, we could sign him (which would mean Smith or Rossi is certainly leaving.
People are forgetting that Rossi still has barely any premiership experience and I think that a loan spell at a newly promoted club (Sunderland maybe) where he will be guaranteed to get games would be beneficial and United should sign Saviola on a free.
We shouldn’t get rid of Rossi, (but a season long loan in the Premiership might be right).
Don’t see Rooney and Saha/Rossi as a strong enough front pairing for the whole season if we’re serious about Champs league and it seems like the writing is on the wall for Alan Smith – doesn’t score enough, don’t need his energy in midfield as a backup anymore and probably need the money to fund a new striker to partner Rooney in the first team.
The big question is ‘Who?’ Tevez seems a great player but has played half of a good season in England, is too similar to Rooney and is too short for us (considering the price). Torres is possible but other clubs needing a young, classy striker may well be able to outbid us right now (having spent £40m already). Gudjohnsen? He is a class player, no doubt, would add good experience to a young forward line and has strong credentials in both European and English football.
Wouldn’t bet against it.