I don't know, mind games in the transfer market? Seems like the same thing was said last year, as we were "done" after signing Smith and Heinze.
What is even more astonishing than your question is that there hasn't been a flood of replies answering in the positive
if we simply wanted someone to hold, ala Makalele/Mascherano then fine... he probably would, but Rio has always been a read and react player... Keane and Smith are the type of guys who try to stop an attack before it starts and are driving forces in midfield... Rio would certainly add an air of composure to the team in midfield but he's still one of the best CB's in the world and helping us to remain a top team at least defensively and there is no point changing that.
One question I think people have to ask about this long drawn out discussion about a 'Keane replacement' is what type of Keane? The box to box Keane at his best or the DM Keane we have now. For example two popular suggestions for replacements have been Essien & Mascherano one is box to box, the other is DM. Me? I have always been a fan of the box to box type, to me it is like having 12 men on the pitch. More energy in the middle of the park with the threat of goals aswell as the abillity to break down play & control the tempo of the match. Sitting midfielders like Makalele for example do a job defensively & you could say allow players infront of them more freedom. I do believe that it is too defensive for us and again we would struggle to score goals we need a more offensive approach. I have to admit I have never been a fan of Smith but he was great against HK on Sat (Quality of opposition taken into consideration)... He tackled well broke up play, passed well, won every ball in the air (opposition ave height taken into consideration) lol & don't forget he can. I would still love Ballack at the club I think he would add so much to our team technically, physically & mentally. If Smith continues to improve I think that a rotating four of Ballack, Keane, Smith & Scholes would forge the foundation of a title winning team. Imagine all those personality's, the physical power, goal threat, creativity, aggression & strength in the air again (we may even be able to threaten goals from corners again) Sounds like perfection to me aswell as a genuine possibillity.
I like the idea of having Alan Smith play that defensive midfield role. I think he has the range to cover a lot of ground, he's good in the air, and he can dish out and take a lot of punishment. Plus it's a logjam at forward with Ruud, Rooney, and occasionally Saha.
Smith wouldn't exaactly be a holding midfielder like Makalele, nor would he be a Keane type midfielder. One bad thing about having him as a Keane replacement is that he'll still have striking instincts and may go up too much for the team's own good, but knowing Smith's character he would always trek back to intercept the ball but either way its a risk, he may have to be molded completely out of the type of player he grew up to be. More importantly, I think Smith would be the Pirlo type defensive midfielder, he doesn't stay back to hold the ball, nor does he constantly go forward, but he'll be an amalgam of both. Knowing Smith's tendancy to create plays he would stay back, make tackles, intercept balls, and immediately create plays, a la Pirlo. He would be like Keane but a playmaker.
The quality that I like about Smith is his ability to win aerial battles. I think most will agree with me. Given the time and the experience in a defensive midfield role, I think Smith will become adept at reading the game and shut down the opponents' attacking options before they happen. As a forward, I observed Smith tends to play well when he would attack from a deeper role. Having had that experience from an offensive perspective, and given time, he should be able to read and shut down opponents' attacking options. I think Smith has the skill and athleticism to play such a role, and I think SAF will give him the time and the experience needed to excel in the Prem and in the European stage.
Alright folks, just until he actually plays that position in a competitive match, let's hold off on the comparisons of Alan Smith to Pirlo, Makalele, et al. Just for a little while.
We must stop thinking of Smithy as a possible DM at all like Makalele or Pirlo. We have to look at playing him as a box to box CM which makes the most of all his attributes. We cannot talk of Smith as a Keane replacement (Keane the DM) that is. If Keane was not on his last legs he would still be a box 2 box CM and the best player of his type in the world. The last thing we need is a DM in my humble opinion. It will continue to ensure we are more defensively minded and play at a slower tempo. It will restrict our abillity to adapt and change shape which will again mean few 'effective' counter attacks and the inability to make fast offensive breaks. We are at our best when we are in control and dictating things therefore we need drive coming from CM. I think Smith also has the versatillity to hold which means his type would have the ability to adapt depending on the situation. Always able to break up play well, a good natural tackler, great in the air and in midfield can retain possession well by giving & going and driving forward with his strength. It does sound great but it is all potential when it comes to EPL & Champions League. He is not ready made which is why we need Ballack who would be a great influence. I have to agree with 'Achtung' though, comparisons should not be made with Smithy & world class established players in CM. As i've said b4 CM is the only position I believe Smith has the potential to be world class (I think he is crap upfront). But look at 'Henry' for example, began as a decent winger with pace.... then became a superb striker. I just can't see the potential in Fletcher but then again he can't dissapoint me he can only make me seem stupid and prove me wrong.
It will be interesting to see if Alex can turn Smith into a midfielder. It's a long shot - not many players make such a significant positional change at this point in their careers. At the risk of overdoing the cliches I suspect it's a case of necessity being the mother of invention and of killing two birds with one stone. Alex has realised that Smith will never get him the bagful of goals he needs from a striker and has not found anyone to introduce into midfield the sort of steel that we've had so long from Keane. But it is a gamble. It takes a lot more than an aggressive tackle to make a defensive midfielder and Smith's experience here is very limited. Still, it'll be an interesting experiment to watch as long as it doesn't cripple the team.
Smith has played in the CM position several times last season near the end of several matches. I can't remember exactly which ones, but I'm sure a lot of people here know about that. Maybe SAF saw anything that I didn't see in those matches. Smith was nothing more than a hard tackling, athletic player in that position. He was a solid player, but he didn't impress me with his distribution or controlling the pace of the match. Playing well against the HK "national team" and that local Chinese league team means very little. Those teams are crap. (I am from Hong Kong, trust me on this Anyway, I thought the board is just too cheap to spend the necessary money in this important CM/DM position. We've gambled with some cheap buys like DjDj and free player like Miller. None of those worked out. And now we want to gamble with a perfectly good backup striker? What the ******** is wrong with them? We need someone like Edgar Davids, Emerson, Gattuso, Pirlo, or even Appiah, Gravenson. Do they seriously think Smith can be as good as anyone of these players? We are just one position short of dominating the league again IMO. And we need to spend big in this problematic CM position.
You never know unless you find out, and I suppose we will find out sometime in August in the EPL.. Attention everyone: there is no board now apparentlly board is a word used in past tense. Now we have Gl***r Hoard.
I also believe that smith is not a strong enough midfielder yet. RK is probably the greatest midfielder of his kind and I havent seen any evidence from smith that he is learning anything from RK whilst hes still here. I am willing to give him a chance but he better learn fast.
you've not seen much of Smith on the preseason tour I'm guessing, but he's looked very good in a holding midfield role, also, he's always had the fire and the passion and the want to go in hard all the time, which is half the battle, the rest is being disciplined enough and having the right judgement. So far, he's not left us too exposed on the counter although its hard to gauge that against this opposition.
Another difference is that, before, Smith was a striker who was told to "go play central midfield for the final few minutes of the game". They've had a chat with him probably, and he's trying to actually learn how to play the position now, which is completely different from the above scenario.
I was thinking the same thing. There is a total difference between those two scenarios. Will the experiment work? Time will tell but I think it has a lot of potential. From Smith's viewpoint if he wants to see significant playing time this is his best option. When fully healthy he is our number four or five (if Ole is healthy) striking option. In midfield I think he is about on a par with O'Shea which would put him at a tie for third option. Also he is still relatively young and athletic enough for this to work. Wspecially with this pre season and then some time in the reserves/ Carling cup learning the position.
He played about 80 minutes in one match, I remember commenting on it. Heinze was injured, P Neville moved back to left back and Smith to DM. Something like that. But he made just one worthwhile tackle in the whole eighty minutes and looked like a fish out of water as play constantly passed him by. Smith's dominant skills and his positional experience just don't match and it will take him a long time to lose the instincts of a striker and learn those of a midfielder. It'll take more than a few words from a coach no matter how wise. Much play at this level requires quick, instinctive reactions and that only comes from experience. But, it's worth a try. He doesn't have a future for Utd as a striker and we don't have an aggressive, dominating midfielder other than Keane. Maybe it'll work out.
Smith essentially finds himself in the position Solskjaer has been for much of his United career. Quality when he gets out there, but behind at least 2 guys in the pecking order. He can either expect to not start most matches, or learn a different position. Ole did a little of each, eventually settling well into that right winger position before his injuries, and it was a position we needed filled. If Smith wants to give CM a shot, the preseason is obviously the best time for such experiments. But we've also always believed that United's bench players would start at any other Premiership club--I see no reason why Alan Smith can't continue that trend and be our new supersub if he's comfortable in that role and if the CM experiment doesn't work out.