Nani: Cover or replacement?

[Beckhamania]

I was just reading an article about Nani on the Manchester United website, and I got to thinking... Nani is going to be an amazing talent, no doubt about it. However, I am wondering whether Fergie went out and bought Nani in order to help cover the midfield when Ronaldo isn't playing, or whether he went and got Nani because he's afraid of losing Ronaldo to Spain in the next few years.

I know that Ronaldo has signed an extension paying him enormous amounts of money per week, but it's no secret he wants to play in Spain at some point. In answer to my own question, I've come to believe it's a little bit of both with Nani and possibly with Anderson too. I mean, why not be a little bit of both? Both players can contribute in their own way, and if Ronnie leaves in a few years, then Nani and Anderson can step in and take up the slack since they'll both have a few years of Premiership experience.

I'm sorry if this has been talked about already, but what does everyone think? Cover or future replacement? Comments?

[zippy85]

nani is a replacement for giggs/ronaldo. giggs will lose form and retire and ronaldo will go to spain :(

[israbeckham]

You could have put this in the Nani thread, but anyway... Nani and Anderson were brought in to add more depth to out squad this season, and to eventually groom them to take over from Giggs and Scholes. It doesn't have much to do with Ronaldo going to Spain in the future because that will be in a LONG time if he does end up going.
If Nani being brought in is somehow related to Ronaldo its because their are both Portuguese and Ronaldo could help Nani settle in, and Fergie is trying to find another "Ronaldo" just like he has success in Lisbon before.

by the way I love your user name:)

[zippy85]

nani does not have the potential ronaldo did, he is also nearly as old as ronaldo

[israbeckham]

is 21 the new 30?:confused:

[zippy85]

is 21 the new 30?:confused:
i do not understand :confused:
Footballers are always better when they are young because they have no fear and they confidence is not dented like say lampard

[israbeckham]

Nani is only 21 and he is much better then Ronaldo was at 17 when he came here. Perhaps he wont reach the heights Ronaldo will reach, but he has all the tools to come up to the level that Ronaldo is in now.

[zippy85]

Nani is only 21 and he is much better then Ronaldo was at 17 when he came here. Perhaps he wont reach the heights Ronaldo will reach, but he has all the tools to come up to the level that Ronaldo is in now.

His does not have tricks like ronaldo

[israbeckham]

His does not have tricks like ronaldo

You are right, surely he must fail now

[zippy85]

You are right, surely he must fail now
Yes, sometimes i am right you know

[israbeckham]

Yes, sometimes i am right you know

Girls are never right online:cool:

[zippy85]

Girls are never right online:cool:
why :confused:

[israbeckham]

why :confused:

Its a joke...
I see you find it funny

[zippy85]

oh,.... o.k, ha ha :)

[sdotsom]

I think Nani is more Prem-ready than Ronaldo was when he got here. And he is only 21, he will grow as a player. I see him as a Giggs replacement, with Park as his backup. We're going to have such an interchangeable set of wingers - Ronaldo, Park, and Nani can all play both sides, can they not? Hell, even Giggsy played on the right in the CL Final.

[SirManchester]

Nani was brought in to be the long term replacement of that putrid old fossil Ryan Giggs.

[zippy85]

Nani was brought in to be the long term replacement of that putrid old fossil Ryan Giggs.
Dont tell this to that holytedo guy, he will have your head ;)

[Beckhamania]

See, I originally thought that him and Anderson were brought in as replacements for Scholes/Giggs, but I'm sure that you could view their purchase on several different levels.

I guess after thinking more on the matter I really don't care why they were bought to be honest, I'm just glad they're in Manchester. :)

[Charleysurf]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=471916&in_page_id=1779&ct=5

As Querioz explains, N & A will not start too often this year. He expects them to come into their own next year:
They are both incredibly talented, but nobody should expect too much too soon. For now, they are not in our plans for the basis of the team. If you are talking about the starting line-up, don't expect them to figure too much this coming season.

"Perhaps in the 2008-09 season they will start coming into their own. Owen Hargreaves is different. He is more experienced and was a necessity for a particular role in midfield.

"But these two are young and we are happy to give them time to grow up in their new surroundings and develop an understanding of Manchester United's culture and mentality. That won't happen overnight.

"We are steadily collecting a group of players who can serve this club and keep it successful for the next 10 years."

[jpick]

Footballers are always better when they are young because they have no fear and they confidence is not dented like say lampard

:confused:
I haven't followed united long enough to tell you if the 21 year-old version of scholes and giggs were better than the 29 year old versions, though i suspect they weren't, but for your second team I do know more about and are you saying that you would rather have 21 yo versions of oddo, kaka, gattuso, and pirlo than the current versions? kaka had no fear, true, but then he would dribble into four players and lose possession. in some ways, he was too confident in some of his abilities and played "stupid."
about the only player who is better at 21/22 than last year (and wasn't ancient like costacurta, maldini, or cafu) is nesta, and that was strictly for health reasons, if fit, he would be better now than then, and he was a prodigy.

even your lampard example, he had his best year at 27. most defenders don't hit their prime until mid-late 20's, and look at henry, you think he was his best as a 21 year old kid in italy? (yeah he was played out wide then, but even so he wasn't as good a player then as say two years ago) they are not always better, in fact, most of the time, they are worse, unless health or various other reasons stunt their growth.
what about grosso (in serie c2 at 24 iirc), materazzi (by far his best year at 33), toni (at 25 was a frustratingly mediocre serie b striker), ronaldinho (you'd rather have the psg version than the 2005-2006 version?), drogba, sheva (not counting his abysmal year last year) et al.
for every adriano, cassano, ronaldo, raul (sort of), etc. there are 5 guys who have the opposite trajectory.

I suspect health-permitting, ronaldo, nani and others can and will get better than they currently are now

See, I gave a serious football-related response to your post :).