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From an outsider’s point of view, it would seem to have been a horror summer for Manchester United. The best player in the world out the door, a fan’s favourite turning to the dark-side and the signing of an ageing, injury prone forward whose previous includes spending the best part of a decade at a club from the other end of East Lancs. Hmmm.
I’ll be honest, it was still a shock to the system to read that morning as the text messages poured in, that Cristiano Ronaldo would be wearing the white of Real Madrid next season, even after three years of transfer speculation.
You may be thinking I was slightly deluded, but lets be honest, if Madrid had sealed the deal for Ronaldo the amount of times it was reported, he’d have put pen to paper a hundred times before. However as many people have said, it was inevitable. Personally, to quote the popular tagline used by my parents oh so often, “I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed”.
First things first, Cristiano Ronaldo is a footballing genius. He is quite possibly the greatest player I will ever see play in red, which is something I hold quite dear. He has an attacking arsenal unlike any other player on the planet. For many Reds, he would walk into United all time XI’s alongside Best, Edwards and Charlton. £80m? For a player yet to reach his peak, seems like a steal.
To be honest, to me the fee is rather meaningless. It is just a figure. Can you put a price on such a unique player? I myself don’t think you can. What about £50m? 100m? 200m? Eighty million pounds seems to be a price picked from the heavens, would £70m be really considered cheap? Would 90m be deemed a rip-off?
Many in Manchester will be glad to see the back of him. His antics and attitude did sit uncomfortably with some Reds, his “I have a dream” moment from last summer even led to some fans boycotting the Ronaldo songs from the Old Trafford hymnbook. Personally, I’ve always had a soft spot for him (if you can’t tell), so I prefer just to say thank you for the memories, move on and wish him all the best. Unless he returns to OT of course.
Next. Carlos Tevez. The “Fan’s Favourite”. Not no more methinks. He wouldn’t join Liverpool “out of respect” for Manchester United, however he has no qualms about joining Manchester City. Without doubt success has elevated the level of rivalry between United and Liverpool. History, Geography and pure hatred have always been evident when it comes to the Mancunian war. Obviously Carlos didn’t brush up on his local knowledge.
Later he reveals the signing of Dimitar Berbatov from Spurs was the time he knew he was going to leave. He had decided to leave because his club had signed another player who played in his position (taking United’s tally at the time to three recognised strikers), possibly the worst statement I’ve heard from a professional footballer.
Jesus, did he score some crucial goals though. Blackburn away, Lyon away, Liverpool away just to name a few. As a player (and this is going to sound sour) technically he was never the greatest. His first touch was constantly heavy, his shooting poor and sometimes he couldn’t pass the ball five yards. Instinctively he was fantastic, he was the perfect impact player and his well-documented work rate was phenomenal, which was his main connection with the fans, because well God loves a trier.
None of this however, will help him the next time he visits OT and he’ll quite rightly get it with both barrels. So £25m? Thanks but no thanks. In hindsight, I think not signing Carlos Tevez will be the right decision but only time will tell. He’ll probably score on his debut and get the City fans all giddy, but then they’ll see the bits you don’t see on MOTD and realise they could’ve had half a Kaka for that amount of oil.
Moving quickly away from the wrong side of the tracks to our own summer investments. With a £100m+ transfer kitty in our pockets and every world-class player being linked to Manchester United, who did we end up with? Antonio Valencia, Gabriel Obertan, Michael Owen and Mame Biram Diouf. All the big names then.
Valencia obviously has talent, I’m not going to slate or praise him wildly because I just don’t know that much about him apart from seeing the odd highlight. Gabriel Obertan (the new Thierry Henry) has David Bellion (the old new Thierry Henry) written all over him and is already injured and out for 3 months. Brilliant. Mame Biram Diouf looks good on YouTube, but then so did new Real Valladolid forward Manucho.
Which leaves Michael Owen. Michael ruddy Owen. I’m going to happily get splinters in my backside with this one and sit right on the fence. I’ve found myself in funny situations these last couple of weeks with Owen; one minute I’ve been defending him and the next slagging him right off. IF he stays fit, (and that's one hell of an IF) he will score goals. IF he scores at Anfield and doesn’t celebrate he won’t leave the pitch alive. Once again only time will tell, and as we all know Fergie loves a flutter and this may prove to be one of his subtle best.
So with over £80m left in spare change, Fergie declares he’s done in the transfer market for the summer. Personally I don’t blame him. We all know he wanted Benzema and to put it simply he wanted to play for Madrid instead. Hard to take yes, but United fans do have experience in this field. But right now with my hand on heart I don’t think there is a single player available who would still improve our side. To quote a popular line doing the rounds on the forums, “We don’t buy superstars, we make them”. We still have an unbelievably strong squad with youth, versatility, power, speed and potential brimming out of every position and the best manager in the business still going strong. Not a bad combination.
Finally, I’m going to mention a player who’s had a bit of press attention already this summer as many see this season as being his time to shine. To quote the lovely Clive Tyldesley, “Remember the name, Wayne Rooney.” Now coming up to 24, the 2009/10 season could see this man take centre stage.
With Ronaldo gone, Rooney will surely have more responsibility on the pitch then ever before while the veterans Giggs, Scholes and Neville will be looking to pass the torch to the likes of Carrick, Rooney and Ferdinand to make and lead the next great Manchester United side.
To be honest, the list of players who need to deliver their very best this season is huge. Nani needs to impress, as does Anderson who only showed glimpses of his undoubted class last season. Players like Welback and Macheda, Fabio and Rafael Da Silva will all have chances to show their talent. Others such as Owen Hargreaves and Ben Foster need to get match fit and also the new boys such as Valencia and Owen need to fit in.
As we look for our fourth consecutive league title, a feat that has never been achieved before in the history of the English game (something that does not sit comfortably with many including myself) we just keep our fingers crossed that this season will be as fruitful as many in our recent history. Horror Summer? You clearly can’t remember the Summer of 2005 then…
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1. Sanjay, Exeter
wrote...
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I thought this was an excellent article. Very honest and very thought-provoking. I feel the exact same way about our summer signings. I'm not thrilled but I'm not devastated. Incidentally I've been saying the same thing about Obertan following in Bellion's footsteps. Sometimes you can just see these things coming. I'd like to think Fergie was using his usual tactics in declaring "no more signings". I'm holding out for one more midfielder - David Silva or Douglas Costa would do nicely. |
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