Article: the 12 players that Ferguson should sell ASAP

[pc4th]

The 12 players that Ferguson should sell ASAP
Antony Melvin
31/10/2005 Squarefootball

http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20693

Tim Howard
A decent number two - but he is blocking the progress of two keepers of great potential in Luke Steele and Ben Foster.


John O'Shea
John O'Shea has been struggling to recapture his early promise for two years now - and his inability to hold down a regular position could mean he is too flexible - or not good enough.


Cristiano Ronaldo
The most contentious choice - Cristiano Ronaldo is in here because, in the final analysis, his style of play may not suit the Premiership. There is little doubt that he is talented - but how many goals does he score, and how many assists does he make? The answer is clearly far too few. In a 4-3-3 he plays too narrow, and in a 4-4-2 he lacks discipline. There is time to become a conventional number 10 or right winger, but he is not a good enough inside forward - and he may find he needs a change of club and league to achieve his potential. No doubt he would be a godsend for Real Madrid or Barcelona due to the ease with which he would win free-kicks.


Louis Saha
It is difficult for Saha, he is genuinely talented and a good goalscorer. But you can't score from the treatment room - and Guiseppe Rossi is another with pace and a decent long-range shot. On the list to raise revenue.


Rio Ferdinand
Rio Ferdinand seems to have gone backwards since his contract renewal. Perhaps he is in a comfort zone, but regardless Ferguson should drop him immediately and see if he rediscovers his form in the reserves.


Mikael Silvestre
Nearing his 30's, and when his pace starts to fade his poor positional play will be exposed. May have two or three seasons left at the top level.


Roy Keane
Keane is too good a person to let people remember him as a faded star who hung on too long. Time to leave with dignity.


Liam Miller
Eighteen months and what? May not get another chance in any event.


Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
The injury he picked up celebrating his goal in Barcelona meant that the high point of his career has destroyed what should have been the second half. For the sentimental (which, I guess, covers all football fans) if he could get a short run in the first team to say goodbye it would be nice.


Paul Scholes
What happened?


Quinton Fortune
Closing fast on 30 and is rarely fit for half a season - perhaps he needs a less intense league. Qatar?


David Bellion
Fast. Err, that's it.

If a team is to be rebuilt then there has to be some cash generated, because there are no guarantees from the Glazers that there is any transfer budget. Admittedly there have been some vague references to £20m/£25m per season - which you can believe if you are a very trusting person. So to generate cash sell on Saha (£6m), Ronaldo (£20m), Ferdinand (£10m) and O'Shea (£4m). Anything that the other six bring in would be a bonus, to yield a transfer pot of around £45m. If the Glazers then made this up to £50m-£60m

[Teso Dos Bichos]

To be perfectly honest, I agree with all of it.

Ferdinand has pissed me off far too much and I'm not sure if he will ever regain his form. I think we can get more than that amount for him, but it might be best in the long-term. Ditch the idiot to somewhere foreign and start again.

Ronaldo obviously has the talent, but he has rarely shown it for us and has never managed to replicate his form for Portugal. It all depends on how we want to play in the future. He isn't really a winger and with Rooney/Rossi for the centre, where will he play? We could make a mint from selling him and it might be a required sacrifice. The only way I can see him being effective is if we try to revert back to the 4-2-3-1 of a few seasons ago, with Ronaldo/Rooney/Rossi all having a free role behind a lone striker. That means ditching some of our central midfielders, as we would need a very solid pairing for that to work.

[StrikerCW]

Don't agree with some, some though are obvious. I still think Cron is simply not being utilized (as are many of our players) and he is unable to regain proper form, aka that which he does for Portugal. If we were to switch to a more ground oriented passing play, ala continental, then post-Ruud. We could play

------Rossi-----------Ronaldo
---------------Rooney

Tell, me that is not a good attacking midfield/forward combination for Europe. Rooney is NOT Scholes, he CAN track back and get stuck in much better than Paul. As well as the general greatness he normally provides to the offense. The two up top, if they could link up properly could both.
a) Dribble any defense in Europe.
b) Pass (if Cron got un-selfish), linking with Rooney straight through any defense.
c) As well as shots from the outside.

[Teso Dos Bichos]

Again, that depends on the future role of Rossi and Ronaldo. It could work, but we would need a traditional striker for when plan A doesn't work. Smith could be that man.

[Achtung]

Knee-jerk reactionary bullsh1t. Nothing more. Poorly researched and doesn't even try to do the math properly. You're not going to be able to replace all those players with £60m anyways.

[Achtung]

Tim Howard
A decent number two - but he is blocking the progress of two keepers of great potential in Luke Steele and Ben Foster.

How is he blocking the progress of a player who is on loan?




Cristiano Ronaldo
The most contentious choice - Cristiano Ronaldo is in here because, in the final analysis, his style of play may not suit the Premiership. There is little doubt that he is talented - but how many goals does he score, and how many assists does he make? The answer is clearly far too few. In a 4-3-3 he plays too narrow, and in a 4-4-2 he lacks discipline. There is time to become a conventional number 10 or right winger...

Has the writer even seen Ronaldo play prior to this season?






Rio Ferdinand
Rio Ferdinand seems to have gone backwards since his contract renewal. Perhaps he is in a comfort zone, but regardless Ferguson should drop him immediately and see if he rediscovers his form in the reserves.

Nice to see that a two-month dropoff in form means a player should be sold. I don't think even Chelsea uses that sort of transfer policy.






Roy Keane
Keane is too good a person to let people remember him as a faded star who hung on too long. Time to leave with dignity.

Uh, which is why he's stated he's leaving at the end of the season...





Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
The injury he picked up celebrating his goal in Barcelona meant that the high point of his career has destroyed what should have been the second half. For the sentimental (which, I guess, covers all football fans) if he could get a short run in the first team to say goodbye it would be nice.

I'm guessing a team that buys him might, y'know, wanna wait and see if he can ever play football again. Plus he's scored more than his share of goals post-Barcelona.





Saha (£6m)

Would Newcastle even be dumb enough to splash that out for a guy who hasn't been consistently healthy in over a year?






O'Shea (£4m).

Would Newcastle even be dumb enough to splash that out for a guy who has done almost nothing of value in two seasons?

[StrikerCW]

Newcastle needs naught of Saha now, they have Owen. IMO

[SirManchester]

I would be all for selling Ronaldo for pretty much the same reasons as all of you have mentioned, but I firmly believe that the team he will eventually go to will utilize him better and that would just be like handing our opponents a gift. I say hold onto him, because he's still young, still can develop his game and its just a matter of time until we get through this transition. who knows maybe he will fit in after all.

As for Ferdinand, I say give him more time to get his form back, we know on top form he can be regarded as the best CB in England and we definitely don't want to lose that. We have to get rid of older players most importantly and those who just don't look like they'l fit in anywhere; Miller, Bellion, Saha, and maybe O'Shea.

[Teso Dos Bichos]

How is he blocking the progress of a player who is on loan?

If Howard had been sold, then they would be fighting it out for a place on the bench. They would also therefore be at OT and learning from VDS. The current situation means neither will be given a chance to impress, because Howard is blocking their route to the first team.

Has the writer even seen Ronaldo play prior to this season?

Some good points are still made. Read my reaction in my initial post.

Nice to see that a two-month dropoff in form means a player should be sold. I don't think even Chelsea uses that sort of transfer policy.

That is how bad he has been. There will always be question marks surrounding him because of his attitude and laid back approach. It is worth considering.

Uh, which is why he's stated he's leaving at the end of the season...

There is also talk that he is doing that because we haven't bothered to offer him a new contract yet.

I'm guessing a team that buys him might, y'know, wanna wait and see if he can ever play football again. Plus he's scored more than his share of goals post-Barcelona.

Does he have a future? Replace sell with release...

Would Newcastle even be dumb enough to splash that out for a guy who hasn't been consistently healthy in over a year?

Without a doubt. They need a replacement for Shearer anyway.

Would Newcastle even be dumb enough to splash that out for a guy who has done almost nothing of value in two seasons?

Without a doubt.



EDIT: Apologies for nicephoras style post.

[littleman]

EDIT: Apologies for nicephoras style post.

I cry.

[Achtung]

EDIT: Apologies for nicephoras style post.

:D - I'll try to avoid that


If Howard had been sold, then they would be fighting it out for a place on the bench. They would also therefore be at OT and learning from VDS. The current situation means neither will be given a chance to impress, because Howard is blocking their route to the first team.

Some good points are still made. Read my reaction in my initial post.

That is how bad he has been. There will always be question marks surrounding him because of his attitude and laid back approach. It is worth considering.

Without a doubt. They need a replacement for Shearer anyway.

I'll say the following; saying Howard is "blocking" one of the other guys assumes that one of them is better than he is. That may or may not be the case, but SAF seems to think Howard is better, for now. If that changes, expect to see either one of them playing the Carling Cup games.

As for Rio, I'll agree his form has been appalling, but at the risk of sounding like Billy, with the money we'd make from a potential sale, who could we replace him with who we know would be better long-term? I still think its wait and see on Rio, and its not as if we even could sell him until the summer since he's cup-tied.

Concering Ronaldo, I like his pace and passing just fine on the wing. He is good at making runs into the box and has an eye for goal. And as I've said before, I'm more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt considering his father.

And though Newcastle could use another forward, an Owen-Luque line on paper isn't bad. Saha, if he goes, will almost certainly want to be a starter somewhere so he can get his wish of playing for France.

[listen_up_fergie]

If Howard had been sold, then they would be fighting it out for a place on the bench. They would also therefore be at OT and learning from VDS. The current situation means neither will be given a chance to impress, because Howard is blocking their route to the first team.


I think Steele and Foster are benefiting more from playing regular football than they would have by simply training with Van der Sar. There's a lot they can learn from him, sure...but VdS isn't a coach. Its also a better way to assess their progress if they're playing in front of large crowds rather than in just training matches.


Anyway, I pretty much agree with Achtung when he says that the article is a knee-jerk reaction. It's strange that such articles only appear when things start going wrong with us. I don't disagree that some players need to be cleared out to make way for better players, but selling 12 is going a little overboard. The minute other clubs hear we're having a garage sale at Old Trafford, they'll bargain down the prices and we wouldn't have enough money to bring in the replacements (not that we really need to replace Miller)

[bigtoga]

Knee-jerk reactionary bullsh1t.No kidding... I swear that Teso swings with every single knee-jerk reaction.United should sell Scholes - he sucks now!Absolutely!
Scholes was great - he's really played well latelyAbsolutely!






;)

[Sofabloke]

Well, looks like Keano is off for one last hurrah (and good luck and big thanks to him).

I am not sure that Paul Scholes will be the player he once was, if good hard money came our way then I would consider a decent offer for Paul. Believe me it hurts me to say this.

Ole will not be bought by anyone, we need to honour his contract and let him have some short playing time if at all possible (ie the last five minutes in a home game).

Get rid of Rio? Mad.

Get rid of Ronaldo? Mad.

Howard? Tough call as we don't see him, demonstrated he has potential though.

Miller can go, no question. Bellion doesn't look good enough also.

O'Shea, other than being the new Phil Neville (ie not good enough at any position but a cheap and flexible band-aid) could go if there was a decent offer but although he annoys the hell out of me (as we know he can do better) is a reasonable squad player for a side like ours that can't afford two first teams like Chelsea.

Quinton is a useful squad player and in a team short on left-sided players he gives us options.

Saha is maddening. I rate the guy when fit. Maybe we could extend him on a pay-per-play contract ;)

Most important for me though, in the days of the plc we had all these rules about not buying until we sold and it crucified us in the transfer market. Get the player we want first, then move a player on. For example, don't just sell Paul Scholes, only sell if we manage to buy Ballack first (as an example).

At the risk of annoying a whole load of people, in the unlikely event of us managing to get two or three new central mids I wouldn't be too sad to see Fletcher go. I just don't see him displaying the ability that Scholes, Keane, Lampard, Gerrard etc. did at his age.

[bigtoga]

Ahhh - another fine, well thought out, sofabloke post. Even if you disagree with him you have to admit he makes good points and communicates them effectively. I think that most long-time fans would agree with sofabloke and achtung's points. Thanks, guys, for trying to keep the newbies in line.

[Teso Dos Bichos]

No kidding... I swear that Teso swings with every single knee-jerk reaction.

I have a very short fuse. :mad:

[Achtung]

I have a very short fuse. :mad:

And at the same time, its good to have guys like that on the forum too, especially with Acronym gone. Sometimes its good to vent a little after a loss.

But I have to side more with bigtoga, Sofabloke, and l_u_f here. We can't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

[aloisius]

How many clubs are there who would pay these players the same salary they are getting at United?


Very few if any.



So none of them will be going anywhere until their contracts expire.

[Teso Dos Bichos]

And at the same time, its good to have guys like that on the forum too, especially with Acronym gone. Sometimes its good to vent a little after a loss.

But I have to side more with bigtoga, Sofabloke, and l_u_f here. We can't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

That has been my excuse for several seasons now. Not again. Something has to give, because this situation is completely unacceptable. I have had enough.

[Miles Brasher]

That has been my excuse for several seasons now. Not again. Something has to give, because this situation is completely unacceptable. I have had enough.

My God, it's Zani II :eek: