I hear Rossi's name all the time. It's mentioned here, mentioned there, la la la. I was having a conversation with a fellow football fan and he was telling me how we were foolish to let Rossi go. I told him that Rossi wanted to go because he didn't feel he would get the time he felt he deserved, even though Fergie told him he'd get plenty of time. Rossi should have fought it out and if he'd had that attitude, I'd probably be bitching and crying with the rest of them. He said that getting Tevez was a waste and that Rossi is of equal or greater quality. When all is said and done, Rossi will be talked about for years to come while Tevez will just be Kia's toy. I told him that Tevez was world class and he laughed. He said that Tevez cannot even start for Argentina and Rossi would have excelled at West Ham. While I don't care too much for the points dude and I were trying to make to each other, I would like to know this. If you could go back in time, what would you do? Would you appease Rossi, not sign Tevez, and be content with our line-up that way? Would you still sign Tevez? In this instance, there is no signing Tevez and keeping Rossi, as that seems to be one of the sticking points as to why Rossi decided on leaving. Would you trade Tevez for Rossi today? Is there a better question to be raised here?
I don't think it comes as a surprise to know I'd have chosen Rossi before and after. It was tempered at the time that he left by knowing he wanted to leave, which made any feeling of discontent irrelevant and redundant. It's not really a case of 'told you so' with Rossi, but more of 'well what're gonna do?' He, as a kid could not possibly expect a club of this stature to not start him on the bottom rung - as long as he was part of a solid rotation that's more than an excellent chance to rise through the ranks. His hunger for the Azzurri hastened his decision allayed to Tevez being courted, it meant he was off. Hindsight is a bitch, but 1. If people thought Rossi was going to flop, they were without a clue in the first place 2. Tevez was and probably still is better than Rossi 2a. he's also proven 2b Rossi wasn't 2c. Tevez's build was far superior to Rossi's, which suggested he'd fare better as a smaller player than Rossi. 3. Tevez is not at his best (not 100% fit) and yet his contribution here has been solid. If the club had to re-do the summer window knowing what it does now, i doubt anything would change. Rossi would still be offered the rotation and I think that's fair. What would probably change, however, if Rossi knew of how the striker situation would pan out, is that he would opt to stay because he would get a ton of games and we'd all happy with our tiny strikeforce. I have a utopian dream that we buy him back, but reality says he's gone and that's that. I will be gutted when he hits a giant that isn't us and goes on to a great career. Happy for him, but never comfortable with the 'what could've been' element of it all.
Rossi is gone. Let it go. The most we can hope for is that Inter or whoever have to pay us big money to buy our first option on him. Hindsight is a bitch, but unfortunately Rossi's most recent experience of English football was at Newcastle. Is it any wonder he wanted guaranteed first team football in another country? We could not force him to stay or go out on another loan deal. Since when have United kept players against their will? The guy wants to play in Italy. That's where he will end up.
Rossi was alwaysa great player but he moved because he didnt want to wait too much. In these times when younger players are playing more regularly he wanted more time, and he had a right to want it, but not demand it. In hindsight I'd go the same way as we have. Tevez has contributed very well this year and we can never be sure whether Rossi would have done the same. The move to Villareal has given him a lease of life as well as a shot at the big time. I'm happy with what we've got and happy with how he's doing....
I thinjk you can honestly say that there a pro's and cons for each. Rossi has the Price idea in his corner in that he would have cost us nothing, while tevez will cost more than what we sold Rossi for. But also (even though i know it doesnt count due to management) Rossi's only real exposure to the PL in his loan resulted in not much at all really, while Tevez has scored for us against Both Chavski and the Scousers, would rossi have had this ability to play week in week out in a somewhat dodgey partnership and give the same results? The thing about losing Rossi that doesnt phase me too much is he was similar in position to Rooney and Tevez so its not like it would have given us different options with him sticking around, if he were more of a 9 and a Saha replacement i'd be pissed.
Rossi then and Rossi now. I know it seems foolish, as Tevez has been our best striker this season. But Rossi is really showing his class, and while Tevez is currently a better player, I'd give up that bit of difference in class from knowing that we "raised" (yes FFS I know he came from Parma) a player through the system. Furthermore, I think Rossi would have done great so far - it's hard to apply La Liga form to the EPL, but the play of his that I've seen has been great. I made some slightly over the top posts when we let Rossi go, proclaiming the death of the youth system, etc. While that was a bit excessive, it's no secret that I was pretty devastated to see him go. JC7, do you have quotes of where Fergie promised Rossi "plenty of time"? Not to have a go at you by any means, but I don't remember hearing that at all. Considering how piss poor our striking situation has been at times this season....Rossi would have been brilliant. I don't have too many issues with him leaving - he did the whole rotation, Reserves, EPL, saving an Italian team from relegation, and he knew he was world class. He may have sold away his future at United in hopes of a spot in the Azzuri at Euro 08 - that we could maybe fault him for, but come on. A player who know he's world class wants to play all the time. We can sit here and say "Yeah, but we're United, everyone wants a shot to play for United, even if it means riding the pine alot." Maybe that's true for some, but Rossi knew he had the skill enough to start in a top 3 league, so he went and made it happen. I'm devastated to see him go, and like DS said I have a quaint hope that he returns to us. But it probably won't happen, even though it makes sense.
this isn't exactly what was asked, since you have to take into account value, and position, etc., but as far as who is and will be the better player, I say tevez> rossi personally. again, they aren't the same player, so not the best comparison, but in a sense i think united got the better player in the end.
I can only make this decision based on what I knew at the time it was made. At the time, Tevez was the logical choice. I'd love for Rossi to still be a United and he would be a key player, but he wanted games and Fergie couldn't promise them to him.
Well, I would've loved for Rossi to stay but he didn't want to. He wanted to take full charge of his career and start regularly, so the best of luck to him. I'm not gonna shed a tear about it. I hope he ends up at one of the giant Italian clubs so he could fullfill his dreams, but in the end I think we got the superior player in Carlos Tevez. We haven't seen anything resembling Tevez' best, yet he's still contributing well to our team. Even though they're both very different players, Tevez is still superior in my eyes, and I think we'll need to wait until he gets the summer off and has a full preseason with us to see his true form.
with Ole retired, Saha disappeared once again, and Rooney injury/suspension prone, we could have used both Tevez and Rossi. Each of them will still play plenty of games...
The purpose of this thread is to keep in mind how Rossi fares at Villareal and knowing how much further he can progress. As much as I like Tevez and he has been one of our better payers this season, albeit in patches I probably would have preferred to keep Rossi. It's always fantastic when one of our youth setup prospects comes up and succeeds and I have no reason to believe he would have flopped. He would have taken a bit longer to settle, comapred to Tevez and because of our clear lack of #9 we would have had more scoring problems, however I think with the big picture in mind, and I wouldn't have cared if we forego success, especially when the cost means having a settled and ready to go Rossi. I still think we drove him out with all the rumors of getting another striker and eventually courting Tevez. If we wanted to keep him we would have done so I believe.
Exactly. While I know it's not Fergie's job to try and persuade people to stay at the club, the things I remember hearing over the summer, etc weren't voices of support. Fergie almost seemed ambivalent towards whether he'd want Rossi around or not. That simply wasn't enough for a young player who knew he was class and wanted to get on with it.
sdotsom- http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/01082007/3/football-villarreal-complete-signing-rossi.html This is the article after Rossi's sale. It has some comments from Fergie at the bottom, one which states that he told Rossi that he'd get plenty of time. As for the comment about getting over Rossi, that is not my point. A lot of fans have not gotten over that and that is why I brought it up. He seems to be having a successful run in Spain as well. I hope not to see a comment from you in the Rossi Tabwatch thread.
Thanks for the article. I think it's just my desire to have a "homegrown" kid in our side (why I'm arguing Rossi). It's hard to argue when Tevez has been our best forward this season.
What does everyone else think about resigning Rossi? At the moment it seems an impossibility, especially if we sign a #9 this summer but do people want him back?
With Manucho possibly coming in the summer, I'd sign back Giuseppe in a heartbeat. Besides from being my favourite youth product, a front line on Tevez, Rossi, Manucho and Rooney would stand us in good stead for the future while being effective immediately. Sadly, I think even if we did bid for him, there's a high possibility of him rejecting us anyways as I know he's set on eventually playing in Italy and he probably wouldn't want to come back to England.
I like this, and I guess I'll take it a bit farther. Hypothetically speaking, if we had the money to sign just one, say at the end of the season, would you pay Kia for Carlitos or buy Rossi back?
The whole idea of buying Rossi back seems a bit silly to me because: A)He doesn't want to be there in the first place. I mean, he left of his own accord. Hello? B)He probably won't be a regular starter if he comes back, so from his viewpoint what would be the point of coming back? It's kinda like sulking about your ex girlfriend leaving you, and wanting to have her back. It's a bit sad, move on. I'd spend the money to keep Tevez here, someone who wants to be here and someone who's probably a superior player.
You should use an example that SirManc understands. How about when the woman you're stalking puts a restraining order on you.
He isnt our product.. I remember someone mentioning this before with some valid points .. Edit : It had something about arsenal fans thinking that its there academy that is producing their talent..
Easy easy decision for me. Rossi. Tevez is a better player now. However, I'm not sure he's a better player for United. His impact has been great, but he's completely unsuited to playing ahead of Rooney at any time. Rossi is far from a 9, but his finishing, movement, instincts and finishing would have made him an excellent foil for Rooney. I think his utterly unselfish style along with his positioning would have been key to Rooney having the type of season we'd expect from him. Even if some don't agree that Tevez isn't a better fit. I think Rossi staying and keeping the money or spending it on another player would have been better.
That was funny to me... I pictured you telling DS that in my head and DS' lip quivering, and eyes watering. Then walking away with his head down... I would have to keep it the same. Everything happens for a reason.
I would love to have him back. When you look at his records for our reserves you simply have to wonder what he could do with our first team as he would have better players around him. He met big players in the reserves as well and he did fine (Micah Richards said Rossi was the most technical player he had ever faced). If he can do fine against Richards you would think he could handle the PL after a while as well. It's all about the beauty of bringing up players from your own reserves. We haven't brought up a forward since Hughes and with the way Rossi was playing you would at least hope he would get a chance. I guess he chose it himself, but I hoped he at least could have gone to Villareal on a loan deal for the whole year and then maybe come back if Saha still was the sicknote he is. If we should resign him I don't know. We are all wanting to sign a true nr. 9 and if we keep Tevez it would simply be to much young talent in the holding role. How are you going to rotate Tevez, Rooney and Rossi? Rossi has now proven both in Parma and at Villareal that he can play well and score against the best on a regular basis. Resigning him would mean he would be considered a starter. In that case you have to chose between him and then not sign Tevez at the end of the loan deal. Tevez has done well for us so far and probably have more left in him. In that case it's all preference of style of football. I like them both, but I do think I like Rossi's style of play better. They are both clever footballers, but I think Rossi is even sharper then Tevez. He doesn't have to rely as much on physics as Tevez because he can faint his marker easely to the wrong side. I think he is a better dribler and probably also a better passer in terms of playing people through. But Tevez is of course fantastic as well. The nice thing would be bringing him back in his prime when Tevez decides to go back to Boca. But by that time he'll be the star of AC Milan and regularly making fools of us in the CL