We need more match-winners at Manchester United
Manchester United, in my view, have 5 big stars that will stay on for the next 2-10 years and greatly help the squad.
In Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, we have two of the best young players ever seen in the Premiership. In Rio Ferdinand we have a top centre-back and in Michael Carrick a very capable central midfielder who can play the defensive role or the creative role depending on requirements. In Heinze, we have an experienced left-back who didn’t have a chance to shine this season but next year he will be pivotal to our Champions League and Premiership hopes.
Giggs and Scholes were also instrumental in this season’s success, as were van der Sar and Vidic. However, Manchester United were found lacking at times and you can only attribute that to the lack of match-winners.
United don’t need to just replace Giggs and Scholes, they need to find players who can come off the bench and win games.
If Hargreaves / Carrick will provide United a new midfield and Nani is there to take over from Giggs on the left flank, then we’re still three players short - one striker to partner Rooney, one quality striker / winger on the bench and one winger / central midfielder on the bench as backup.
Rossi can be that striking partner (hopefully) and Anderson can be that bench option, which leaves United one player short. In the short run, Giggs and Scholes are enough, and with the current acquisitions United have what it needs to defend their title.
But Ferguson needs one more central midfielder in this squad, and Fletcher isn’t the answer.
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Man Utd need one more striker, if this is what you mean. with Carrick, Scholes and Hragreaves they have 3 very good central midfielders, and Fletcher and O’shea will be here to bridge gaps and cover for any injury crisis. Its up front that Rooney doesnt have a strong partner who can lead the line, run defences and make the likes of John Terry and Carrager work harder when they play United. A strong and mobile Anelka can be a short term answer if he stays fit and remains a good boy! If Nani and Anderson adapt well then we do have match winners from the bench. You know Ferguson cannot buy 6/7 players at one go coz this can unsettle the side and do more harm than good in the short term. Over the next few years the old guard will gradually retire then Man u will need to buy a few more covers.
Completely agree with Dave. It was very clear that we missed RVN (or a striker with similar characteristics) this season in matches that we needed 1-0 score in the end. I also believe Anelka could match this description even though he is not a player that you can count on for many years as he is nearing career-end days.
i think that united need to buy a cover up full back (leighton baines anyone?!) should Gaby heinze leave..as for the striking department i dont United need one for this season…i’d keep rossi,smith and saha and use them as cover for rooney…because from all indications united are going to use the 4-2-3-1 formation with rooney up top…but if you really want a reliable striker then why not bid for freddie kanoute..(a reasonable 9-10 million pound bid)..or what about saviola..the little argentine has both pace to burn and skill…i think he could be a really good aquisition..
I agree with dave and belive we need a striker up top someone of villa/etoo’s ilk. Not too sure we can afford them but we really need to push the boat out. If we but one of these strikers and dont let anyone go, you would have to say that it would be our strongest squad since the treble season.
i am nick name rooney all are plkayers livein united i am happy
totally agree wit sidharth.. if we really do need a striker y not saviola or kanoute.. altho rite now.. i dont think we need more players for this season.. it would unsettle the team 2 much.. the only deal we shud go 4 is either kanoute or saviola or anelka.. or a swap move 4 berbatov wit saha or smith.. i dont think we can afford berbatov witout offloadin any players..
It looks to me like Heinze really wants out. Not just the tabloids, but also a gut feeling..he isnt getting the first team football he should, and is no where near as good as his first season..and after a couple of high profile blunders, i think hes off for good. And hes not young mind you, we should offload silvestre and get baines. Up front we have reliable quality in Saha and Rooney. But if one of them goes down, who covers? Rossi or Anderson? Not proven. If they really are as good as I hope, then our problem is solved. But i doubt it. They lack premiership experience. Smith? Puleaze. Dong? Hes crap. Ole? Too old, just camping and waiting for a good cross to finish off. So why dont SAF just get Saviola???!? Vidukas gone to Newcastle, Anelkas a bad boy, Kanoute is kinda old aint he? But that leaves us with Defoe, Darren Bent, Andy Johnson, and Owen. Any of these four will be enough cover or even be able to push Saha out of the first team. 10 Mil will be more than enough for each player — money United should still have left. In midfield we are SUPER STRONG. Everyone knows that. Defence as I said about Heinze, and keeping, very very strong as well. So one more striker and quadruple next season thank you very much!
Its not Saviola because Rossi is similar to Saviola and has to be allowed to develop. Saviola doesnt have the height. But Kanoute, yes.
i have heard SAF is looking at Nikola Zigic because Saviola wants to stay in spain, Torres and Villa will cost too much money and Huntelaar seems like he wants another year at Ajax. Plus Berbatov won’t come to united, especially not this summer. Zigic would be class and i think Vidic would help him settle in. £12 mill should do it
[...]Any of these four will be enough cover or even be able to push Saha out of the first team.[...]
Except that it seems that Saha will not be a first team member. It seems that Ferguson is going to use 4-2-3-1 in the next season, making Saha a backup to Rooney.
And it would be a huge mistake to use Anderson as a striker. He is meant to be the replacement of Scholes as Nani is to Giggs.
Your season review is taking forever!!!
C’mon come up with your 7 posts a day frequency and finish it off. (7 part review! Sounds more like the Harry Potter series)
Other than that last season, while we were well stocked in defence, there was little in attack we could do when things weren’t going our way (especially in crunch European games), but call players like Ole or Smith or O’Shea from the bench. Clearly not ‘game changers’ by a mile.
So yes, having options (like what Chelsea have had over the past 3 seasons) is necessary.
Saviola might be good enough if he comes and put in some extra-training in finishing, then he would move closer to world-class and might have finishing skills of a World-class as the season goes on!
What is a big star? What is a match winner? O’Shea was a match winner at Anfield, but is no big star. You need unity at the club. We have that. Ferdinand and Vidic were outstanding. Hargreaves will add quality. Rooney and Ronaldo are young world class players. Giggs, Solskjaer, Neville and Scholes are old world class players. We definitely need a stronger bench with better options. Rossi, Anderson, Hargreaves, Nani, Pique, Evans will all add quality as options.
However, we still need Berbatov. It really is as simple as that. Everything else can be covered and covered well.
hi
Kanoute? Are you off your head? The guy is done in the Premiership. Yes he has had a good season in Spain but he is not good enough for United and never was. Next you will be calling for Forlan to come back…
All they need is a striker the midfield is god enough! possible strikers we need a strong player like 30 goals a season like drogbas bin doin at chelsea zigic would be good. Ronaldo is another possible striker he can header and has a good shot on im
Kanoute?
Dont joke. Just because he’s doing reasonably well in la liga doent mean he’ll do well for us. Hell, he couldnt even do it for spurs. That would be a ridiculous more. Better off with Smith
Wow, that’s not far off the worst article I’ve EVER ever read, congratulations. Ronaldo, Rooney, Scholes, Giggs, Saha, with Nani and Anderson now added to the mix and Rossi returning, and we’re lacking in match-winners? How on earth have you come to that nonsensical conclusion?
We’re lacking a clinical goalscorer to replace the injury-prone Saha and little else right now. A huge part of our success last season was the fact that we had so MANY match-winners. Quite how we’d fit even more into the team is beyond me.
1)ok…la liga is as tough a league as any…for me kanoute is a decent enough finisher and can hold the ball up well enough..for me he would be a decent short term solution…
2)if sir alex feels he needs a guy with pace then saviola is the guy for him…plus he’s free so even if he’s screws up…he wont be a financial loss..
3)here’s another guy who has both technical ability and pace but maybe too expensive..torres..but i think that this one aint gonna happen..
Isnt Saviola more of an attacking midfielder anyway? Surely we need someone with the skill of playing with their back to goal
We definitely need another striker to start when we do play 4-4-2, and when Rooney needs a rest in 4-2-3-1
Smith and Saha arent the answer and neither is Anelka imo, and I dont really see why Huntlaar would cost too much (but I can believe he might want to wait another year before wanting to move)
Berbatov wont move for at least one or two more seasons, and options are running out fast (Tevez, but he WOULD cost too much I think)
United scored goals when it mattered domestically but struggled in games against Chelsea and Arsenal , and failed badly in Milan.
Ronaldo scored some important goals but Rooney was patchy. Rooney seems to benefit from playing behind a striker. Early in the season Saha fulfilled that role. When Saha went down Larsson was brought in and did the job well. Later in the season there were times when Smith was effective in that role.
I just wish SAF had decided to give Smith a chance against Milan and against Chelsea. He could have created the holes for Rooney to run into.
Next season, if SAF isn’t looking for Smith to play that role then he should pick up Darren Bent, who seems to be the only available alternative.
cheers
Well i actually never even thought of Darren Bent, he’s obviously not gona cost a massive amonut of money, and is comfortable playing up fromt on his own, he has speed, fairly good at headers, and can finish, so he seems to be the perfect option. I see no reason why Sir Alex wouldn’t want to buy him. Saviola would be a good, cheap option, but if we are planning on playing a 4-2-3-1 i can’t think of where he would fit in as he wouldn’t suit playing right up top, as I noticed for barcelona he likes to run for the ball, rather than waiting for other players to make the runs past him.
And kanouté either just isn’t suited to the premiship(s im sure spurs fans will tell you) or that he just had one good season, which leads me to think he would be a panic buy and would do little more than warm the bench for us, but i hope he proves me wrong and plays consistently well for sevilla next season=]. And i would also like to poin out that berbatov outlines his admiration for united’s attacking talent, which may be a hint, in my opinion i would choose him more than anyone in the world to play as our to[ striker, as he is great at linking up and would most likely keep the fluidity in the team(while scoring a few goals obviously=]) and he says “it coincides with my own style of playing football.” so he would be brilliant, although i find it highly unlikely he will leave after one season, and his price will most likely rise after another season of his high scoring exploits, which could intentionally lead sprs to the champions league next season.
Darren bent=£15 million!
We don’t want Darren Bent, he is unproven in Champions League! And if you didn’t realise it yet, REALISE THIS: Darren Bent is the same type of player as Tevez and Rooney, they all show up in the nig events, but a clinical scorer Bent??? Are you joking me, if he were a clinical scorer, he’d save Charlton alone, like Tevez did for West Ham, the truth is Bent+one notch=World Class (IOW Tevez!)
Forget them! I’d rather wait untill winter or until next summer to get ONLY Torres or Berbatov, Huntelaar might get tired of staying at Ajax, and even though he scores a lot of goals for Ajax, he sucks at bringing the team up with him, if he is like Van Nistelrooy, I’d chose to say: NO THANKS! Remember??? How many throphys did we really win with Nistelrooy??? He is a world-class striker but not one who brings the team up with him (at least not in the Premier League)!
If I want somebody, I can wait untill next year! And I wouldn’t mind waiting another year for Berbatov or Torres (Berbatov being the more proven, the more experienced and the one who is also about five years older than Torres!).
Honestly, my point is, anyone but Torres or Berbatov would be a panic-buy! Huntelaar we tried to bid on after Berbatov, and after Torres. The only thing Huntelaar will do is keep us in the top two in England, nothing else. I want a player who brings us championship after championship after championship like Cole did, year after year! Maybe we should look into McCarthey (if we ever were to look into any short-term-solution), he who is like Saha and Cole and Yorke and is almost never injured (although he might end up like Saha, that’s injured all the time, not good!)!
Darren bent=£15 million!!
We don’t want Darren Bent, he is unproven in Champions League! And if you didn’t realise it yet, REALISE THIS: Darren Bent is the same type of player as Tevez and Rooney, they all show up in the nig events, but a clinical scorer Bent??? Are you joking me, if he were a clinical scorer, he’d save Charlton alone, like Tevez did for West Ham, the truth is Bent+one notch=World Class (IOW Tevez!)
Forget them! I’d rather wait untill winter or until next summer to get ONLY Torres or Berbatov, Huntelaar might get tired of staying at Ajax, and even though he scores a lot of goals for Ajax, he sucks at bringing the team up with him, if he is like Van Nistelrooy, I’d chose to say: NO THANKS! Remember??? How many throphys did we really win with Nistelrooy??? He is a world-class striker but not one who brings the team up with him (at least not in the Premier League)!
If I want somebody, I can wait untill next year! And I wouldn’t mind waiting another year for Berbatov or Torres (Berbatov being the more proven, the more experienced and the one who is also about five years older than Torres!).
Honestly, my point is, anyone but Torres or Berbatov would be a panic-buy! Huntelaar we tried to bid on after Berbatov, and after Torres. The only thing Huntelaar will do is keep us in the top two in England, nothing else. I want a player who brings us championship after championship after championship like Cole did, year after year! Maybe we should look into McCarthey (if we ever were to look into any short-term-solution), he who is like Saha and Cole and Yorke and is almost never injured (although he might end up like Saha, that’s injured all the time, not good!)!
I’ve got to agree with Nick. I was incredulous when I first read this article, I mean it seems as if people need to have Ronahldinio, KaKa, Ronaldo and Eto’o in the same team to have enough match winners! Last week we were all having a party about the new signings and now we lack three? Tbh, most people were not even thinking of a new striker until the link with Anelka came up. Does anyone remember that we are in debt and have just spent £50mil? If Berbatov would come to United for £27mil I think it would be a waste of money after the signings we have made. I also think that Anderson can develop along with Ronaldo to be the greatest match winner in the team he is miles better than Nani and imo has more natural talent than Rooney and far greater potential.
I think we should all keep our feet on the ground here we don’t want to turn into Chel$ki and throw money about like water. If we do get a striker tbh I think Anelka would have been perfect (although that seems over now). Real class, pacy, strong, big game player and we could get him for next to nothing in part exchange. Other than him, Klose or a free signing I don’t think we should sign a striker in the summer.
We have not had a lack of goals this season they have come from everywhere and I think the new signings will contribute more along with Carrick or Scholes with the security of OH behind them.
I think what Ahmed is trying to say is that while our first team remains the best in business we do not have enough quality on the bench . if we play 4-2-3-1 then we have enough cover everywhere except the top 1. And when a game is going against us, we need a player who can come off the bench possibly changing how the front 4 operate and score a goal. I wouldn’t like to see Rooney or Rossi operating there so that leaves Saha/Smith/Ole as the only options. TO be just sure I would add another name to that mix.
is all you ever do fuss? ffs we won the prem and now weve strengthened with three new players, 2 who are attacking talents and can score goals. and plsu what do you call o sheas goal against pool, ronaldos against fulham etc? were they not match winners?
lighten up
OUR TEAM IS JUST FINE!!!
I personally won’t mind Tevez, Saviola, Eto, or Berba to be added, but if no one comes…so what?
I get the impression that us ManU supporters are ungratefull shits. For the past few months all I read was Nani, Nani, Nani, Nani…Nani this, and Nani that. Now that SAF got him and OH, and even surprised us with Anderson, we’re still not happy. I suppose thats the problem with “early acquisitions”. I think the current team is more than capable. If you don’t believeit, just think how much we acheived with the team without the current aquisitions. Maybe we should stop aplying Fifa2007 and Football manager and rather send messages of well-wishes to the guys. I’d hate to think how someone like Silvestre must feel if he should ever end up on this site?
A (fit) SAHA + (mature) ROSSI will be much better than 20 mil++ Etoo.
You can’t trust the head of samuel Etoo. It can go crazy in the middle of the season and we surely can’t afford to have instability. Don’t forget we have our priority set this season and THaT is UCL 07-08. Damn! we are still stuck on two trophies.
And SAF knows that very well. And that is why owen is coming. All that fuss about NANI and ANDERSON put aside, it is the curly dude who will be our LIFELINE in EUROPE in years to come.
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Big redlyon for his remarkable observation,we as man u fans never get satisfied,we got a get team next season,these are our guyz,dont get me wrong,streagthening the squad is important but what about lookin at what we’ve got,working with what we’ve got,nand building a team thats the envy of all the world.I dont see why we need Berbatov Torres Anelka,when we’ve got rooney ronaldo anderson and rossi,rossi may be young but i’ve watched him play n there’s anoher potential match winner for united,we have a squad thats the envy of most of britain, and if we never fully appreciate what we have, we will never quiet acknoledge what this players do for us,and someting tells me nuno will be an amazing player for united,
Last season we came second playing O’Shea and Giggs as our central midfield for part of the season.
Then we bought Carrick and got Scholes back and we won the premiership.
Now we buy Hargreaves, Nani and Anderson and with a few of our youngsters coming closer to the first team I think we should be more than satisfied.
Nick, absolutely agree with you. Hargreaves, Carrick, Scholes and Fletcher are more than able to cover the central midfield, while in the attacking four (regardless of tactics, there will be four players whose job is attacking) we have a number of quality options: Giggs, Ronaldo, Rooney, Saha, Nani, Anderson, Park, Smith, Rossi… I’d welcome Saviola but won’t be depressed if the business is finished for this summer.
To Sab:
Ok yea he myt cost 15m, maybe, although no-one can really know his price, with charlton being in the championship, i think if man utd bid 10m for him i find it hard to beluieve they would reject it. And yes i agree that tevez kept him up single-handedly, but he is completely different to tevez or rooney, tevez is world class, he can go on a run taking it past 3 or 4 players and score, or pick out a wondwerful pass, or score from fre kicks, which is like rooney, neither of them will make a run into the box, they will come looking for the ball, plus darren bent is only like 22. and about darren bent not keeping charlton up, he was injured for about three months so you didn’t remember that obviously. But yes i agree torres or berbatov next season would be worth the wait, but we might not be saying that season if we miss alot of chances and don’t win the premiership….
I meant that darren bent is completely different up there by the way, as he does not go on a run past 3 or 4 defenders, wh goes into the box and scores the goals.
I meant that darren bent is completely different up there by the way, as he does not go on a run past 3 or 4 defenders, he goes into the box and scores the goals.
My main point was that we needed a couple of more match-winners. I think we’ve got that in Nani and Anderson, so either Rossi steps up as the striker we were looking for or we bring in that player.
Long-term, defence and midfield are set - a striker and deciding on the next keeper are the main priorities.
[...] We need more match-winners [...]
IMO TWO things will be taken into accont when and if Man Utd does move for a new striker: availability and reasonable price.It would therefore be interesting to know which players are available at a reasonable price?
- MICHEAL OWEN:
Big Sam recently said he would be helpless to prevent him from leaving if a club triggers his release clause. Negative point is a question mark over his fitness and lack of height and physical power but he a proven goalscorer in the premiership, has loads of experience, has class and is available for only 8million pounds!
- ANELKA:
Is also a proven goalscorer with lots of experience but seems to have a big attitude problem. However is available for around 8 million pounds.
- ETO’O:
Would be a dream come true to see him play for Man Utd however he would be too expensive as he is priced at over 20 million pounds. He seems to be unsettled at Barcelona however there is a question mark regarding his attitude and furthermore he would miss almost a whole month of the coming season because of the african championship.
- TORRES:
This guy is a mystery to me. Does he want to leave Atletico Maderid or not??? No idea. However he is young, is a good goalscorer and has got a good attitude. However he would also be quite expensive as he has been valued at above 20 millon pounds.
- TREZEGUET:
World champion with France. Proven goal scorer both with Juventus and France. Has got loads of experience. Has only got 1 year left with his contract with Juventus and is desperate to move to another club. However he seems to be a bit slow seems to have an attitude problem and is earning a big salary at Juventus even if he would be availaible for below 10 millon pounds.
- KLOSE:
Seems to have made up his mind to join Bayern Munich and doesn’t seem to have the physical presence to become a hit in the premiership.
- QUALIARELLA:
A big favortie of mine. But whether Man Utd would be able to afford him is another matter.
- HUNTELAAR:
He is a player that I like as he is a real goal machine of the type of Ruud. However whether he would fit in the formation of Man Utd is another matter as he seems to be too slow and only a penalty box player.
When taking into account which of the above mentioned striker seem to be available at a reasonable price I would without any hesitation go for Micheal Owen. True it is that there is a big question mark over his fitness. But lets just ask ourselves a simple question: what if he is back to his best? I guess we can trust Man Utd doctors and physios to give an accurate diagnostic on the lads’ fitness. When a player like Micheal Owen, who is a proven goalscorer in the premiership, who has got electric pace, who has got bags of experience and who is only 27 years old, is available at a bargain price of only 8 million pounds then according to me Man Utd should seize the opportunity and go for him!!!
Anelka, because of the height advantage over Owen.