Other Korean NT players who are good moving without the ball: Park Chu Young - has that football brain. He moves fantastic without the ball. Now can he do something with that? ugh Ahn - Call him lazy, old, not tall enough or whatever, but he can really move without the ball. He might not win headers (not counting those major goals in 2002) consistently like some other forwards in KNT, but he can open things up ground level. Baek Ji Hoon - He has the eye, and he can place those sharp passes right through you. Too young to tell, but if he developes right, he can be pretty effective. He's too immature right now, and he doesnt have the confidence yet. Lee Chun Soo - Everyone thinks that he gets those break aways because he's fast, but he's not "that" fast. He just moves really effectively without the ball. He tricks a lot of defenders on a given day. Now if he can develope some dribble skills so he can get past defenders on 1-on-1 situations, he can be really effective.
According to Daily Mirror UK (8-11-06), Ferguson admitted that his next target for transfer is, as I have always predicted, Owen Hargreaves of Bayern Munich (speculated at 7 mill). Owen Hargreaves is a great player. I think he'll fit in great in that midfield. Why he dumped that insane amount of money into Carrick if he was going to get Owen Hargreaves into that midfield - I don't know. Where does this leave Park Ji Sung? I don't know.
Man U's signings of these central midfielders won't do anything to Park's playing time this year. It's not like Ferguson ever used him as a CM before. I'll admit that Park will get limited minutes of Man U decides to play 4-3-3 but that's simply because he'll be in for a competition with guys like Giggs, Ronaldo and etc. BTW, I think they're trying to land Senna of Villareal more than Hargreaves right now which I personally think is an excellent signing.
I think you are highly underrating Carrick's ability. This guy has a great passing range and can make all types of passes. If Carrick learns to be more physical and develops a positioning skill needed as DM/CM role, which I believe he will, the price tag of 18M will look like a steal.
Maybe he will, maybe he won't .. my comments weren't in any way denigrating his potential. I just feel that Riquelme, who's definitely proven as a playmaker, would be obtainable for the same price tag and would make Park more effective on the offensive end. TBH, I'm not sure if ManU could fit someone like Riquelme into their system though .. they've never really been the playmaker-type team, more of a flank play team.
I guess we are looking at this in two different perspectives. Riquelme will never get a guaranteed starting job as an AM as long as Scholes is playing effectively. I suppose that's where you and I see it differently. If Riquelme is to get a starting spot in Man United, it'd be next to Scholes as a DM/CM just like Sir Alex is trying to employ his new signing of Carrick. I believe that Carrick has a better chance of becoming that of which United needs than Requelme, purely based on their playing styles. Requelme needs space to be effective - which is hard to do in Premeirship, while Carrick has really excelled in his playmaking last season in Tottenham. Nontherless, both Carrick and Requelme has the passing skills to spot the man on the run AND get the ball where it needs to be (aka, Park). I just believe that Carrick was a better choice over Requelme as a DM/CM role. Is 18M for Requelme a good deal? I suppose so if Scholes is not to play. But that's not the dilema we are dealing with. United was looking for a player who can fill in next to Scholes, and they found a player in the name of Carrick. I don't think I could say the same about Requelme.
well Park played against Sevilla today, and even though i missed the match (which i regret, stupid nunas), in the United forums, the posters said he had a fantastic game heres a torrent for the people that couldnt watch the game http://tracker.denness.net:6969/stats.html?info_hash=6af3f8e20b1b33d478fd6ef63adda2b8933137ce (thanks to brian26 of ********)
its not a direct link open the page look for the words download and you should download or if your too lazy to do that heres the link http://tracker.denness.net:6969/torrents/6af3f8e20b1b33d478fd6ef63adda2b8933137ce.torrent
I know that Ferguson favours his class of '92 .. but how long can Scholes play at a high level? ManU are so thin on the AMC spot that they had to use a converted winger (Giggs) to cover for Scholes when he was out. If I'd recommend Riquelme, it's as a long term replacement for Scholes .. you can play the two on a rotational basis until Riquelme gets more acclimatised with the EPL and have a gradual changeover. IMHO ManU need to change their style anyway, as they were built around Keane. Because Keane was a complete midfielder, ie. he could play DMC as well as contribute offensively with passing and getting into the box, that allowed Scholes to purely act offensively, which is what hid his lack of playmaking and defense. He is/was an outstanding scorer, but he's not a playmaker. Mind you, neither Scholes nor Keane were players with outstanding vision, which is why the ManU offense went through the flanks. The problem with Keane leaving means that there's absolutely no playmaking through the middle in the offensive third. The addition of Carrick will improve the central playmaking from deeper positions, eg. on the break, but I don't think it'll improve their ability to thread balls through tight defenses. The former, ie long passing, is seen in england as playmaking (as per the Gazza, Beckham, Lampard type), but there's also the ability to thread balls through tight defences. The latter is not really given recognition in england, which is why Park (who's surprisingly good at this) isn't seen as a playmaker at ManU. IMHO Park would be the best current successor to Scholes, but that's off-topic and merits its own discussion .. The problem is that only a complete midfielder complements Scholes well (eg. Scholes didn't do too well for england). Ballack would've been ideal for this role, but he went to Chelsea and there's no other suitable complete midfielders available. So ManU will have to change their style, at least on the offensive end, because Carrick will not be as effective offensively as Keane was (and if he is, then his defensive duties will suffer). As for Riquelme and his suitability to the EPL, I remeber that game against Real Madrid when he continuously held off 3 guys while keeping controlled possession and putting teammates through. The only question that comes to mind is the difference in refereeing .. in england they're far more lenient with sliding tackles than elsewhere, so that might be a factor. But in terms of size (180+ cm), strength, and close control there's no better player to keep possession under physical pressure. To bring Riquelme in would be to build the team around him, not a bad idea imho, but if the assumption is made that the team/style will stay the same, then Carrick is a more suitable player. If you permit a change of style then Riquelme is a better candidate .. especially if those rumours of Hargreaves or Senna are true, they can play purely DMC and Riquelme can go nuts on the offensive end.
You speak as if United is lacking quality playmakers on offensive side. United has Rooney, Rossi, Ronaldo, Scholes, Giggs, Carrick, Jones, Richardson, Park, they can all play in the central as a point of attack. So I'm not exactly sure why you would need to spend 18M pounds on a player who is limited to play only as AM (Requelme) when you can spend just as much money and bring in someone who can be more versatile (Carrick). Even if Scholes is not to play, and as far as I can tell he does not have a guaranteed starting spot in every match, United now has options in the central in their 4-4-2 formation (and no, they will not be going to 4-3-3 as long as Sir Alex or Rooney is there). Sure, Requele would have been a good choice to succeed Scholes, but Carrick is also a good choice. United is a team being built around two players - Rooney and Ronaldo, and, in my mind, Carrick is a better player to complement those two.
Riquelme needs a very solid DM behind him, because he can't share the playmaking with a partner, and he's the laziest midfielder in the world when it comes to defending. If ManU were looking at bringing him in, they'd also need to bring in someone to cover him - and write off all their attacking midfielders who can't play out wide.
He's a slow ********er too, I like his set pieces and passing and vision, but not really anything else. He also doesn't seem to enjoy his football, if you ever seen his facial expressions, I hate that type of player.
Like I said, different definitions of playmaker .. None of the above would be seen as playmakers outside of the english system. Even within the english system Rooney and Rossi are finishers, not playmakers .. obviously our definitions of playmaker differ by a lot .. As to why you'd want Riquelme, as a long term replacement for Scholes .. he's probably the best playmaker available outside the big clubs right now. Like I said, if you assume that the current ManU system, ie. flank offense, is unchangeable and current personel then Carrick is the better choice. I'm not saying that Carrick's worthless or that the purchase was a waste of money .. you don't need to defend him.
He's a playmaker .. you don't expect Ronaldinho to come back and defend do you? Of course he needs to have a solid DMC behind him .. he takes care of the offense and the DMC takes care of the defense. The same thing happens in practice with two MCs (NB: MCs being different to AMC/DMC) .. when one goes forward, the other becomes drops back and plays DMC, and viceversa. The difference when Keane was there was that Scholes could be solely an AMC because Keane was good enough to do the DMC and some AMC work by himself, freeing up Scholes to make those runs into the box and not exposing his defensive weaknesses .. The same problem exists with Scholes .. he needs someone who'll do the defensive work in midfield, no different to Riquelme. Yes, bringing in Riquelme doesn't fill the DMC hole left by Keane .. that's obvious really. But DMCs are easier to find than complete midfielders (ala Keane, Ballack), so it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a specialist AMC and a specialist DMC.
Like I said, United is a team being rebuilt around two younsters - Rooney and Ronaldo. There is no room for a player like Requelme whom requires a DM to perform well behind him. Times of United relying heavily on a player like Keane is long gone now. Look at the second half of last season. Why were they so good with Giggs (converted winger) + O'shea (converted CB) in the central? United look to fortify their central this season to complement Rooney and Ronaldo, and they brought in a player (Carrick) to do just that. Ballack would have been a better choice as he can play next to Scholes or behind Scholes or without Scholes, but not Requelme. As I mentioned, why go for a player who is limited in his role when Carrick offers the same thing that Requelme does and more? To take over Scholes when he retires? That makes no sense to me seeing United already has several key players who can fill that hole (ie. Rossi or Carrick).
http://news.naver.com/hotissue/rank...216&article_id=0000000763&date=20060814&seq=1 Great to hear from RVN about Park. Hope he has a great season with Real Madrid even though I hated him when Arsenal was playing Man Utd. I don't follow Man Utd much as I'm a Gooner but why is everyone discussing Riquelme when he clearly stated that his going to remain with Villareal. Like someone stated, Man Utd don't need playmaker when they have Rooney(playing behind Saha), Ronaldo, Giggs, Scholes all in midfield. Anyway, it seems to me that Marcos Senna (from Villareal) will come to Man Utd for cheap this week. Also either Tevez or Adriano (though the price is 42mil?!!) is in discussion though I doubt whether there is truth in this. Someone mentioned Owen Hargreaves. The Bayern Munich first team midfield last season consist Ballack alongside Demichelis in the centre, not Hargreaves. So he rarely plays first-team football with Bayern Munich. So I don't know how he is Man United quality. He also rarely came on as a Sub. It was Scholl most of the times. He started 14 games for Bayern in the Bundesliga out of 36 with 3 substitute appearences and 2 more starts in the Champions League. People only started recognizing Hargreaves after the World Cup. Yes, he had a great World Cup but great WC doesn't make you a great player. Just ask Kleberson.
I just downloaded the Man vs. Seville match torrent and watched it. Things I've noticed: Rooney wasn't there, so they really were having problems scoring. The score was 3-0 but it really wasn't a 3-0 match. The opposition goalie was awful. Ronaldo seemed really rusty at times. Had a goal and an assist so he looked good on paper, but if you watch the game, he seemed really out of touch. It seemed at times that maybe he wasn't putting all his effort into plays because maybe it's the last game before the season started. On the other hand, Park looked fantastic (man of the match if you know anything about football). It was probably best I've seen him play as a Man United player. He was everywhere on the pitch, making some tackles and causing a lot of threat and problems for the defenders. Everytime he got the ball, something threating got created from it. He still didn't have a goal though, but he'll defintely have more than what he had last year this season. Can't go much lower. I think he's pretty safe on the wing. He'll be playing there as a starter. Van Der S looked good as usual. Only played first half, but you can tell he hasn't changed a thing. Heinze and Bardsley looked akward at times. Some mistakes were made in the back that made you wonder what the hell they were doing. Heinze really does makes some good tackles though. Saha seemed good enough. Had a goal and came out in the second half. He'll be good there with Rooney if Man U fails to get anyone. Seville Goalie - probably one of the worst performance by a goalie that I've seen in a long time. I was kind of laughing. He started out okay in the first half and then he started to fall apart. There was a goalie that played for Ghana in the World Cup that was just awful, but this Seville goalie's performance really takes the cake.
Sheeesh.. i just got some time to check out the highlights btw Manu and Sevilla... and Park was everywhere. He was getting into positions where his teammates could easily find him. He knows how to position himself, he's open EVERYWHERE... He was all over the pitch never stopped running. He never gave up.. and stripped the opponents continously.. He's priceless at ManU, even money can't buy him, and I confirm this to any Manager at any league, he can play left, right, and even on D!! I really enjoyed this 9 minute highlight clip, and I definitely think there's more to come this season. Hope you guys like it http://dory.mncast.com/mncHMovie.swf?movieID=10001633120060813135214 He was named MOTM BTW
good highlight koreano, included everything that Park was involved with during the Sevilla game. if Saha is given a first team start this season we could see him ending up with double digit goal figures. i was REALLY impressed with Evra in this game. not only did he make some good tackles, he ran with the ball a couple of times as well. Silvestre was REALLY terrible for this game. made a big major mistake around the goal area where he tried to pass the ball back to the keeper but passed it with little strength. Sevilla near scored there.
woah, park was everywhere in that game... haha my favorite was when that Seville player was just waiting for the ball and Park surprised the sh!t out of him by comin up behind hiim