Join Now
Reading the Premier League's big four in 09/10: Manchester United
Posted 16 Aug 2009 at 07:44 AM by Ollie Irish
MANCHESTER UNITED
Manager: Sir Alex Ferguson
Last season in the Premier League: 1st, 90 points (28 wins, 6 draws, 4 defeats)
Summer moves
In: Antonio Valencia (Wigan, £16m), Michael Owen (Newcastle Utd, free), Gabriel Obertan (Bordeaux, undisclosed).
Out: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, £80m), Fraizer Campbell (Sunderland, £3.5m), Carlos Tevez (Man City, contract expired), Manucho (Real Valladolid, undisclosed), Lee Martin (Ipswich, undisclosed), Richard Eckersley (Burnley, undisclosed), Rodrigo Possebon (Braga, loan).
Verdict: Plenty of experts have written of United before their first league game has kicked off – by written off, I refer to the many predictions that they won't retain their title. If you look only at the champions' ins and outs over the summer, it's easy to see where the scepticism comes from. Without Cristiano Ronaldo, United's squad looks workmanlike, almost mundane.
No one can replace C-Ron but then United have ditched star players before without skipping a beat. The difference this time is that Fergie desperately wanted to keep Ronaldo – even the one-eyed Scot, who is loyal to United above any of its players, wouldn't deny that the Portuguese winker is a ridiculously good footballer. Ronaldo is irreplaceable in as much as there is no other non-striker in the world who can score more than 30 goals in a season, but it's illogical to then conclude that United won't succeed without him; no other Prem teams have a Ronaldo. Anyway, enough about Ron. United still have the most talented squad in England. Look at the personnel:
Optimal starting XI (in a classic 4-4-2 formation):
Edwin van der Sar
Rafael, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra
Antonio Valencia, Owen Hargreaves, Michael Carrick, Nani
Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov
Alternative starting XI (4-4-2):
Ben Foster/Tomasz Kuszczak
John O'Shea, Wes Brown, Jonny Evans, Fabio
Park Ji-Sung, Darren Fletcher, Anderson, Ryan Giggs
Federico Macheda, Michael Owen
Pretty, pretttty, prettttttttty good. And there's still no place for club captain Gary Neville or a certain Paul Scholes, not to mention talented youngsters like Danny Welbeck, Zoran Tosic, Darron Gibson and new signing Gabriel Obertan. So yeah, I'd say United are in decent shape. It's not all rosy-red, of course. Looking closer, I sense that United's new guard (Anderson, Nani, the Brazilian full-backs, Macheda, Welbeck etc.) is still one season away from being ready to take the place of the old guard (Neville, Giggs, Scholes, Van der Sar). In goal, for example, I'm not convinced that either Foster or Kuszczak is good enough to replace Van der Sar. And injury might rob United of their best centre-midfield pairing (Hargreaves and Carrick. Hell, Hargreaves and anyone would be great).
Still, if any manager has the smarts to mould a winning team from a bunch of disparate egos, it's Ferguson – he's like a one-man A Team, rummaging around in the workshop where he's held captive, before suddenly emerging at the wheel of a kickass machine. And to stretch the analogy to breaking point, Fergie will use everything in the workshop to get the job done. So he does find a place for a used part like Michael Owen. Lesser managers saw no value in Owen, a player who clearly hasn't felt like part of a team in a very long time (since he was at Liverpool, in fact) and left him in the corner to rot. Not Fergie. He thought, "What can this fella do for my team?" But that's Fergie for you. He's from the Vince Lombardi school: "Confidence is contagious, but so is a lack of confidence." Sums Owen's career up to me.
Anyway, Owen is just a cog. The engine is Wayne Rooney. Rooney and Ronaldo had such a wonderful understanding of each other's game, so I wonder how much Wazza will miss his preening chum. Not much, I think. Rooney is not the sentimental kind. He's already moved on and I think he knows it's on him to fire United to their fourth title in a row. With Ronaldo gone, Rooney will move to his preferred centre-forward position (he was a more-than-decent left wing, but was wasted there), where he can link up with the crafty Berbatov. The Bulgarian needs to start looking like the Spurs version that Fergie paid for. If he does that, United will not want for goals - and Rooney and Berbatov are excellent at bringing other players into the game. But there is no safety net now, no Ronaldo to pull the rabbit from the hat. That doesn't mean United won't end up on top of the heap again – I see too many flaws in their rivals.
Prediction: Prem champions, just. I don't see them having a strong Champions League campaign though. Quarter finals at best.
Share
Post a Comment
Total Comments 8
Comments
-
Not relevant, but I do like those kits way better than I thought I would.
Go Burnley.Posted 16 Aug 2009 at 08:38 AM by Nacional Tijuana 
-
I respectfully disagree. Wayne Rooney is the most overrated footballer in England. Man U and its fans place way too much faith in him.
Posted 16 Aug 2009 at 10:27 AM by Cujo1126 
-
HAH! Have you EVER watched a United game? Today he scored and looked brilliant because he was playing in his peferred position. Oh, and add to that that he is the top scorer in European World Cup qualifying...Quote:Originally Posted by Cujo1126
I respectfully disagree. Wayne Rooney is the most overrated footballer in England. Man U and its fans place way too much faith in him.Posted 16 Aug 2009 at 03:18 PM by RobTheFool
-
After seeing those kits I have to ask, where is Dr. Spock & the Enterprise?
Really though, it is a sweet photo what with the hand on the hip & all.
COYWPosted 16 Aug 2009 at 03:30 PM by jsimm
-
Cujo apparently has never even watched Rooney play if he thinks he is the most overrated player in England. Ridiculous comment.
Posted 16 Aug 2009 at 09:24 PM by rep21
-
You have lost the plot...Quote:Originally Posted by Cujo1126
I respectfully disagree. Wayne Rooney is the most overrated footballer in England. Man U and its fans place way too much faith in him.Posted 16 Aug 2009 at 09:24 PM by busbyboy74
-
So Man U players are secretly the DC superhero Nightwing?
Posted 16 Aug 2009 at 11:25 PM by Pass-n-Go
-
all good guys leaving MU
Posted 26 Aug 2009 at 04:23 AM by mifutbolfan
|
Post a Comment
|
Total Trackbacks 0
