Re: Keane Replacement I suspect there will be no "replacement" in the sense of a single player doing the job Keane has done for us over the years. It isn't essential that a team has a dominating box to box player of Keane's style. After all, Chelsea didn't do too badly last year and who in the Chelsea team would you compare with Keane? Makalele and Lampard formed a partnership that produced the midfield dominance needed. I suspect that we will see a Utd midfield in which responsibilities are similarly shared. I guess this is the reason why we now play a 3 man midfield - when you have a player like Keane of old you can get away with two but need three to fulfill all duties when using regular mortals.
Re: Keane Replacement I've said it before, I'll say it again... Alan Smith. Fierce competitor, great mobilty, sees the game well. Admittedly, he's not there yet, but he could be. He's got the raw qualities.
Re: Keane Replacement How does he do in midfield then? Can he tackle the way a defensive (minded) CM needs to tackle, hard AND consistent? Can he transition the possession from Defense to offense? And can he be the leader in the center of the park that Keano is for us? I know he can yell and get enraged and whatnot... I agree he is a mean bastard but dunno if he has what it takes.
Re: Keane Replacement He's already been tried out there in one or two games, and he didn't look too comfortable. Maybe if he got a regular run of games in central midfield he might become a decent central midfielder, but if we're looking to hit the ground running I don't think its too good an idea.
Re: Keane Replacement Surely, we won't hit the ground running (if your referring to a successor) with David Jones who hasn't played much first-team at all. Maybe Fletcher, but that would be more like jogging at the moment.
Re: Keane Replacement He's a very interesting player... Until we play him consistently in the middle of the park we wont know if he makes tackles consistently. However we do know he will work his behind off as well as tackle hard and be a disruptive force in midfield... whether it will be enough is the question. The major question will be his distribution. He's a good passer, not creative but not horrid and if he can work on his speed of thought, he might be worth a shot. He certainly has the fire and the passion and from a fan's stand point I want to see him on the field as often as possible - but we wont know until we try. I think its worth a shot playing him at CM a few games this year in Carling Cup and possibly once or twice for the reserves and against some of the weaker sides in the prem.
Re: Keane Replacement True, we won't know. And we really have nothing to lose trying him out to rest Keano; actually I think he might do just as well as the other options we have currently (except maybe Fletcher who may be a little further ahead in positional development from experiance).
Re: Keane Replacement I hate the idea of Alan Smith in midfield. While its not impossible for professional players to change their games and adapt to new roles, I just don't see Smith being a success as an all-around midfielder. The idea, to me, seems to be an attempt to fit a square peg in a round hole, just because we have, right now, too many forwards and not enough (quality) midfielders. But it's not like if Smith were still at Leeds that we would be saying lets buy Smith to solve our midfield problems. At this point I have no reason to believe that Smith would be better, all-around, than Jones and he is definitely not as good as Fletcher in midfield. In my opinion, keep Smith up front. If SAF decides that we really need another all action midfielder, then buy one.
Re: Keane Replacement I agree - I have yet to be impressed by Smith's ability to set any pace for plays, or direct any part of a game. Generally, he drifts forward and gets into bad positions. His passion is there, but that's not enough, obviously. Smith should stay up front, where he naturally goes.
Re: Keane Replacement Personally I like Alan Smith far more as a potential success to Solskjaer than to Keane. He certainly has the grit, but not the creativity needed in the middle of the pitch. It's clear he has an eye for goal, and we should take advantage of that, especially late in matches.
Re: Keane Replacement The only reason that anyone even discusses Smith in the midfield is because of his heart & grit. I think his place is foward ... but, how sweet would it be to find a CM with his determination coupled with the necessary pace and creativity?
Re: Keane Replacement back to possible transfer targets... I wonder if we'd give Modeste M'Bami of PSG a shot. He's physical but I've only seen him once or twice. He looked good, w/ decent technique but I'd need to see more of him to be sure... He'd be cheap for sure...
Re: Keane Replacement I've also seen M'Bami many times...he would be a project at best. I'd like to see him excell more at PSG before he gets that kind of look. I'll say this for him though... he is a better prospect than Djemba-Djemba ever was.
Re: Keane Replacement Primarily I think we should all stop looking at a new midfielder as a 'Keane replacement' there will never be a new 'Keane' he is an individual and football is a team game. Just as Arsenal will now have to move on without Viera, just as we had to move on without Cantona and Becks we will have to move on from Keane and the quicker we do this the better for the club's future. My personal preference would be two signings #1 Michael Ballack at £10+mil approx, and next season when hopefully Fergie has finally taken off his rose coloured glasses and realised that Fletcher cannot cut it as a dominant midfielder and does not offer enough creatively going forward for an EPL or Champions League winning team our #2 signing should be for 'Michael Carrick' young, talented, british, from up north and the real potential to be a 'world class' holding midfielder with creativity as a bonus. Those two would be the perfect combo of extreme potential and a world class proven winner and leader to drive the team. We need someone with the arrogonce and the abillity to back it up with actions of Ballack back in the team e.g G Nevil & R Keane have that arrogance and winning mentallity but no longer are in their prime to be able to back it up physically on the pitch. These two would be a dream midfield partnership with Scholes and Park battling for places to increase performance levels. I think in approx 3-4yrs when Ballack & Scholes are clearly past their best that Park & Carrick would be a midfield of pace creativity & experience. I must say that I do not have much confidence in Fletcher, Miller, Kleberson, Jones etc. I do keep hearing that they are improving & will be the future but please we have to face it look at Arsenal... Fabregas, Flamini, Gilberto. Chelsea,... Lampard, Tiago, Essien soon have much better potential & quality in central midfield. Our preformentioned players who are 'improving' extremely slowly at that cannot & will not compete with that quality and it is raising our standards above theirs that is the goal.... we need to begin winning things again 'NOW'. Don't forget that we have finished not 1st or 2nd but 3rd in the last two seasons and what is more worrying is the way in which we are falling back and the way that other teams like Liverpool are catching up with a new & wise manager. Why does Fergie seem so complacent? We clearly need Quality youth & potential with world class experience in CM and we also need a good enough partner for Rio, Silvestre is a calamity waiting to happen & Brown is clumsy, not aggressive, unsure of himself i'm sick of people saying that "Oh he's just been injured alot he will improve" don't they see that him being injury prone is just another negative thing about him? However we do have john O'shea which I refuse to believe after his 1st season does not have the abillity to be world class... he was fantastic at Left back,... skill, touch, strength, pace can he adapt to CM (I don't know) will he regain his form (I don't know) but sure do hope so..... Anyway what do you guys think about my comments???????????
Re: Keane Replacement Man, paragraph PLEASE! It's a real strain to read all that. Good comments, though. But to be fair to Wes he's improved dramatically over the years despite the injuries, and was fit for much of last season. His spell at RB was also very impressive, I honestly picture him and O'Shea as our next fullbacks. As for Silvestre, 1 poor season has erased everyone's long-term memory of him. Deep down in there there's a classy and calm yet physically powerfull (quite strong, very fast) defender. Our defence is just fine IMO, as last season proved, and with Van the Man between the sticks, surely it's only going to be better. We really just need to rejuvinate our midfield, and Park is a step in that direction. The key position IMO is DM, where we've been weak since Butt left and Keane slipped to half the player he used to be (still, that half's better than most). Essien was ideal for me and I've been campaigning for him for months. But now that it's not happening, I'm hoping Phil can step up, Klebs can stay and impress, and David Jones can shock.
Re: Keane Replacement I wanted him to be in the centre from the start. With his "lack" of offensive quality, one would imagine he would eventually be moved inside.
Sir Alex drops hint over potential Ballack move news available on manutd.com http://www.manutd.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=200137&itype=466&icategoryid=365 Fergie said that he is looking for an experienced player to carry the youth players like Fletcher, Ronaldo...etc. Given that we already have Keane as that "experienced player" in the field, Fergie clearly does not think Keane can stay around long enough to help nurture these youth players. He is probably looking for someone in the late-20's to replace Keane as a leader in the midfield for the next few years. I think Ballack would be the ideal player for us. We only have Scholes as the only good attacking midfield, someone who can make those killer passes. Ballack can rotate with Scholes or they can play together in a 3 man midfield.
Re: Keane Replacement LOL yep, I hope your eye's weren't strained that much i'll address my grammar & stick in paragraphs in the future LOL Nevertheless, regarding your comments about Brown & Silvestre perhaps I did jump the gun a bit and attribute exaggerated negative comments about them in my earlier post. Our defence is ok and is not in need of urgent meddling but it could be better. I agree that Wes could be an eventual replacement for G Nevil but he has a lot of improving to do with his offensive abillity and mentallity. When he initially broke into the first team he played at RB & was a revalation for me just like O'shea in his 1st season was at LB but since then he has never really impressed me and I repeat has not got the calm mentallity, aggressiveness or leadership qualities for a DM. Yes he is fast and mobile but is not great in the air or dominant and can be very clumsy. I think if O'shea regained his form he would be better at LB than heinze. Now I know alot of peeps here will be saying 'he was our player of the season last year'. Ok, he probably was... but it wasn't a good season and I think O'shea has better attributes..... he's taller, stronger, better touch, pacier better distribution and an excellent threat offensively (remember at times he was doing fancier skills than Giggs on the left side of attack). Ok perhaps he does not have the aggression & determination but that can come. Anyway I have to admit he does have to regain his form again then I believe he can become one of the best if not the best LB in the world seriously!!!
Re: Keane Replacement I agree with you on O'Shea. On his debut season at LB he was amazing! Nutmegging Figo, hitting the post in our 6-2 win at Newcastle, he was brilliant. I have no doubt that he can regain that form.
Re: Keane Replacement I agree on most of your points but you have to remember that aggression and determination can't be taught. Those two ingredients signify the heart of a champion...Heinze has an abundance of that to his pedigree. He's the perfect fullback for us...he's what we need out there. Plus he is a clattering tackler and from my own experience, I can tell you that wingers often think twice about running at fullbacks when they are clattered to the ground. Do not overrate O'Shea's skills either...Heinze is a very skilled player. Fancy tricks won't win you anything as a defender. While O'shea has the potential to be world class defender...Gabriel Heinze is already a world class defender. BTW...Heinze is the pacier of the two...hehe, had to get that in.
Re: Keane Replacement Hey, trust me i'm not saying Heinze is not good enough i'm just saying that O'shea with more experience & regained form can only be better. The only thing to discuss once hopefully his form comes back is where to put him? Imagine a player with his talents on form in CM, the one attribute he would really need would be that self confidence & arrogance to mix it in midfield & take a game by the scruff of the neck (but then again that is a bloody important attribute that he does not have naturally) shame really as he could be a young Ballack in the making, never know though Anyway if not CM there is always CD alongside Rio. Although I think that was his supposed primary position I don't think it is his best at all.