"Have a bit of that you scouse c*nt!"
Securing the signature of Robin Van Persie proves a number of things to the footballing world:
Firstly, it sends a message to the rest of the country that there is still sense in football.
Money isn’t the be all and end all to every player – and this world class forward, in his own words, made his choice because “Manchester United breathes football”.
Yes, I accept he may be on a good wage at Old Trafford, but ask any Arsenal fan and they will tell you, he was on a good screw at the Emirates. Ask any gloating City fan and they will happily tell you in no uncertain terms, whatever United could offer in wages, City could, and would, easily double it. Sense and passion over finance with Mr Van Persie.
Secondly, this transfer, I believe, will force the end of a Premier League giant. Arsenal have been a major threat to United since the Premier League began in 92. A club with rich history, tradition and a solid foundation bringing players through from youth level, season after season. However, over the past eight years, too many superstars have walked through the exit door.
Every great team goes through a transition period, every great team loses a superstar – but this Arsenal side have lost their very best player, to a United side which was already head and shoulders above them in terms of quality. Unfortunately for Arsenal, a club I respect, I believe this is the end. I only hope for their sake they do not become the new Liverpool.
Finally, the importance of this transfer is, fundamentally, the player. Robin Van Persie is a world class striker. A game changer. A leader. A winner. Granted, there is the niggle of injury problems, but what more can a man do than keep himself fit for a whole season to prove his worth?
Moving away from Van Persie, and on to the section of United fans who were unhappy with this deal – the fundamental problem is apparent: “We do not need a striker, we need a central midfielder.”
Why hasn’t Sir Alex invested in a world class central midfielder?
The simple answer is, there isn’t a world class central midfielder out there who is available.
Many of you will challenge this answer by rolling off the names of 10-15 central midfielders playing in the Premier League, in Europe, and around the world. But, thinking seriously and logically for a moment, ask yourself, would they actually improve our squad?
Obviously there are players like Ozil, Schweinsteiger, Xavi, Iniesta and Yaya Toure who are all outstanding footballers – but not one of them would join our club. There is more chance of Gary Neville coming out of retirement to play for Liverpool, than any of these players leaving their clubs. So on to a more realistic list of targets.
This week we have seen a talented young Englishman in Jack Rodwell join the noisy neighbours. Have we missed out? I do not think so. £15m for a player who couldn’t force his way into the Everton side most weeks.
The Newcastle pair of Cabaye and Tiote. Industrious, strong, creative. Would you pick either player ahead of Cleverley or Anderson? If this is even a debate, then the answer to signing them is a firm no. I do not want big bucks spent on a player who ‘might’ get in the side. It is either a signing in which they are the first name on the team sheet, or it is a young player who we can develop.
Luka Modric – an exceptional talent who rarely loses the ball – but £35m? Is he that much better at keeping the ball than Carrick or Scholes? He certainly doesn’t possess the hard work of a fit Darren Fletcher. Where exactly would Modric fit in and who would lose their place to him?
More names in the mix are Sahin, M’Vila, Moutinho and Lucas Moura. We have all played Football Manager, we have all won the league with Huddersfield. It isn’t real. Just because a player turns out great in the game, and had a good season last year in France or Portugal, doesn’t mean it will work in real life.
We have seen some very poor central players try and fail over the years at Old Trafford. Liam Miller, Kleberson, Djemba Djemba, Darron Gibson – need I go on?
I do not for one moment argue that, sooner or later, Scholes and Giggs will need replacing. I fully understand Fletcher may not return as the tenacious player he once was.
I accept Kagawa and Powell may take time to get used to the rigours of the Premier League.
What I cannot and will not accept is that the Robin Van Persie transfer money should have been spent on a ‘world class’ central midfielder.
The vision of Scholes, the skill of Ronaldo, the leadership qualities of Roy Keane, the fight of Bryan Robson… this player simply does not exist.
All comments welcome.
i accept that a quality playmaker better than what we have isnt available and if he is might not be ready for the setup (like Eriksen) but we need a defensive/ball winning type and price/availability might be an issue but De Rossi/Javi Martinez would make us better and are worth the fees involved.
tbh i would have no problem with us taking a gamble on a cheap prospect but i think players from the past have scared us off this route.
oh and M’Vila is also the real deal but i accept that he might fail but he is a talented player.
Martinez is going for 40m Euros.. sorry but no way is he worth that.
imo yes he is, his only 23 very talented and although most of the time its not needed he can cover CB (which would be handy at the moment) for me his the missing link and i believe he could be a key player for 10 years(give or take a couple,) so would off value
thank you! i wish every UTD fan would see this. i totally agree and have been preaching this. lets also not forget Cleverley is hugely promising and if anderson can stay fit he can be quality. i had seen people say we should sign Barton 😐 that he would improve us… no he really wouldnt. Parker was talked about too and again he is good but not someone thats world class.
I believe at one point, there was a gap which could have been filled by Parker. However, the emergence of Cleverley and the fact Jones can also play that role does prove Parker would have been a waste of £13m
The evidence of the last few years speaks for itself – simply, that United are utterly bereft of the kind of creative verve and spark to seriously challenge the best teams in Europe and England where the midfield is concerned. All they can rely on is to take advantage of pitch width wherever possible to ply the usual one-dimensional wing play that has made them so predictable in lieu of any drive or real danger through the middle of the pitch. Did you not notice how Valencia’s effectiveness fell away markedly towards the end of last season as teams realized how much of United’s play was being orchestrated down the right sideline? Valencia became a closely marked man, and by shutting him down United basically ran out of ideas.
Is there anyone better than Carrick and Scholes – are you joking? The former is a flat track bully who has only put one good game together against quality European opposition, while for the rest of the time he’s looked pedestrian and overwhelmed. Scholes today is not the man he was 5 – 6 years ago, and only thrives when lesser teams allow him oodles of space and don’t challenge him. Pressed for time and space he is proving far more fallible than in his younger years. And as for Fletcher, even without the illness he is merely a workhorse, a terrier harrying the opposition’s midfielders. Being a first class pest on the pitch doesn’t make a world class midfielder, especially for a player low on skill, passing ability, and shot accuracy.
So in short, yes, just about anyone else would bolster the engine room because whether it’s Van Persie you want to sing praises about, or Pele, or Zico, or Maradona, NONE OF THEM would thrive at United without first class delivery from the midfield, especially from an engine room that doesn’t know the first thing about possession football and frequently concedes an enormous amount of time on the ball to the opposition – particularly when they trundle out Giggs in the middle, who’d be neck and neck with Rooney for being the greatest wastrels of possession in the team.
Far be it for someone like me to question someone so obviously well connected with management at Europe’s major clubs, but a number of the midfielders you mentioned would most certainly have been available for the kind of money that United have spent so far during the off season.
And for all the hoopla about suddenly having a ‘big four’ strike force again reminiscent of the 99 team, United already has a decent quartet of strikers. How insulting to Berbatov is all this commentary, when the guy was the club’s top scorer two years ago, and would have won the golden boot by a country mile had Fergie not suddenly taken a dislike to the Bulgarian’s superlative gifts. He also easily bested Rooney last season when it came to goals per minutes played, even more notable when one takes out all of Rooney’s goals from dead ball situations. A strike force of Rooney, Wellbeck, Chicharito and Berbatov is one that most clubs would salivate over, so don’t try and sell us on the notion that Van Persie is suddenly the second coming of Christ where United is concerned – especially as virtually no one has ever worked well in tandem with Rooney. Added to all this is the insult to Wellbeck, who was essentially anointed as the next big thing last season and has suddenly been dumped to second string while Fergie throws out everything he’s said in the past about signing aging players for large sums in order to try and bolster a legacy that is quickly drawing to a close.
Make no mistake, the signing of Van Persie was nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction by an elderly statesman of the game who has suddenly realized that time is quickly catching up with him, especially given the realization that the late season debacle he presided over a few months ago may have been his last decent shot at the coveted 20th title he wanted to sign off with.
In so many ways, with the double standards and kid glove treatment involving Rooney, and in the way he’s thrown out the future in pursuit of short term personal glory, Fergie is beginning to mirror Sir Matt Busby’s last years at the helm. Let’s just hope the present team doesn’t suffer the same catastrophic price Busby’s team suffered when his short-sighted actions ended up gutting the team to a point where it sank to the old second division soon after his departure. Make no mistake, unless some Arab or Russian sugar daddy comes along United will feel the financial pinch from the Van Persie signing in the next few years because the outlay represented a very poor investment for the future.
Not every signing has to be a major investment for the future with a sell on fee. If a player is good enough, he shouldn’t even be re-sold. No manager should buy a player with a future sale in mind.
Surely the amount we do invest into young players gives us the right to go out and purchase one established superstar? Its not like we throw money around like City or Chelsea. This has been proven by pulling out of the Hazard and Moura deals. Too much money for unproven players.
To call the Van Persie signing a knee jerk reaction is laughable. Knee jerk was Bebe – ‘raw’ talent that nobody had seen. Van Persie was the best player in the Premier League last season. Nothing knee jerk about that.
If he had gone to City, I imagine 99% of the fan base would be moaning that we did not open our wallet. It seems a no win situation with a lot of you.
If we spend, we apparently spend stupidly, if we don’t spend, we will be left behind.
Agree with most most of your views esp regarding Berbatov. He is a brilliant player but he also likes to score in bursts and is kind of a flat track bully himself. If given a chance he could work well with welbeck.
Coming to our midfield problem- hell i’m sincerely pissed of with us trying to copy barca with their tiki-taka crap. we just pass sideways and stand still, there’s no forward movement from midfield. we pass sideways-back-side again until we get bored then scholes pings one out to the wing to nani/valencia who then either give the ball away or cross str8 to the opponents head.
Then the major problem in the team and that is our “Best Player” Rooney. god u must be kidding me if u seriously think he is our best player. He just scores goals and that too most of them penalties or tap ins. he loses possession so easily, has a poor touch, poor short passing game and just cannot play with another striker. Plus him and Nani dont really see eye to eye. he gets fed up way to easy with him.
please, don’t give us the same old shit about carrick being pedestrian. you may have an issue with the role he plays in the team, and thats probably cause your a dickhead, but to say that carrick as a player is “overwhelmed” is quite astonishing.
what do you want him to do, ping 50 yard balls out of play like gerrard? want him to push higher up the field and leave our centre backs exposed? or would you like him to take players out like keane?
i just realised you complain about carrick and scholes and then wrote this :
“especially from an engine room that doesn’t know the first thing about possession football”.
good lord your a wank
I personally agree with quite a lot of your article especially when Nathon states that Tiote or Cabaye wouldn’t get in our side, I’m sorry but i beg ta differ, Anderson has threatened to be a top player on no more than 5 occasions, Carrick looks class then next minute a sh*th*use, Scholes possibly the greatest ever but unfortunately coming to the end, Giggs is past it for me, loses possession too easily with flicks here and flicks there and young Tom Cleverley has got it all ta do but i really, really hope he does it
Its a difficult argument if I’m being honest. I don’t subscribe to the theory of only wanting world class names. Its stupid to believe the fans wanted a big name and that’s it. Its correct in that we can all offer names, but I think they are names that can be better than what we have.
In my opinion I would pick Cabaye or Tiote above Anderson I am given the choice. I like Tom Cleverley and believe potentially he can be a top player. It is a massive season for him at 23 but I feel he is hungry and will work hard.
I believe Carrick, Cleverley, Scholes and Giggs are quality and they can help us win. However I don’t believe we can go into next season relying on Fletcher like we did for so long on Hargreaves. I also don’t have much confidence in Anderson any more. I would have preferred him to have been sold and a new player arrive. I do feel Cheick Tiote or Moussa Dembele would be better options for our midfield.
Dembele name being mentioned might surprise some people. However his stats are up there with the the top midfielder’s. He was the second most successful tackler in the league. He has great passing and dribbling stats as well. He would do well in a better team and playing alongside Carrick or Cleverley.
Carrick, Anderson and Fletcher are good players in the Premier League against the majority of teams. However come up against Europe’s top teams or even the likes of Benfica and Basel as was the case last season and they are exposed and fail to provide enough protection to the back four. Every other top team now plays with a Makelele-esk holding midfielder- alonso, song/busquets, toure etc. Tiote would be my first choice signing for that position and would easily start before Anderson and certainly Carrick. Anderson is injury prone and yet to prove himself and Carrick is over rated; not good enough going forward to be Scholes’ replacement (which kagawa may potentially be) and not good enough defensively to play in the CDM role. Ive watched Tiote for the last two seasons and he is as comfortable on the ball as our alternatives and ten times the player breaking up the oppositions’ play. He is the missing piece in us challenging on all fronts this season in my opinion. Not suggesting Van Persie wont be amazing for us but I think we have better alternatives up front than in central defensive midfield and that would have been my first priority
The point I am making is how much better is T
The point I am making is how much better is Tiote than Anderson? Is he worth £20m or would that be money spent on another player who is merely in the mix for a place.
If we are going to invest big, it needs to be for a player who will without question, be first name on the team sheet.
Spending £20-£30m on a player who is slightly better than what we have simply doesn’t work for me.
Tiote isn’t slightly better, he may only be slightly better on the ball than Anderson but in terms of tackling, breaking up play, and protecting the back four Tiote is far superior and would be the first name on the team sheet for me seeing as we don’t have another quality defensive midfielder. Yes 20 million is a bit steep and I felt he did enough in his first premier league season to justify us going for him then for under 10 mil. However we didn’t and if filling the holding midfield void does prove to be the missing piece in a challenge on all fronts then 20 million would be worth every penny.
M’Villa or Wanyama of Celtic are two other options for that position and would be cheaper than Tiote. I haven’t seen as much of them in action but from the little I have both look to be good options. My point is not that we must buy Tiote in particular he is just the best I have seen but we undoubtedly need a good holding midfielder to protect the back four and allow the flair players more freedom (which will be particularly important if we are playing rvp and rooney up front and kagawa is pushed back into central midfield).
This guy knows his stuff
Also yes Cleverly could be great and another potential Scholes replacement but not the Defensive mid me need.
Totally agree with you mate. In addition to ando n clev, we also have tunniclife, lingaard n petrucci coming through and they all need to be given 1st team opportunities SOON (otherwise will leave like pogba). Having said that, nevertheless, de rossi would be a perfect signing for MU, especially if we want to play 4-2-3-1 formation (de rossi n carrick play as the 2 deep lying midfielders). Another “overaged” player who will have no sell on value, but I believe he’d be worth it. But, then again, would roma let him go? Not sure abt that
While I do not dispute about the points as mentioned in the article, I do have the following concerns over our midfiled:
1. Anderson has been given a few years to prove he is the right midfielder that Man U wants, but it is still unsure whether this is the case.
2. Carrick is aging and there has been just too many occasions that he has lost pocession in dangerous area leading to goals against us.
3. Powell has yet to prove himself in the Premier League
4. Fletcher – is he fully recovered?
so, what have we got left? Kagawa just joined and it will take time for him to adjust to the EPL.
At the moment, I agree that those midfielders that Man U needs are not in the market right now, however, it is also true that our mid-field needs strengthening…..
Meh. If I could have signed one player this off-season, it would have been Javi Martinez. I think Kagawa and Powell are excellent players, but I would have rather seen the money spent on van Persie go towards the player who is probably the closest thing to Sergio Busquets outside of Sergio Busquets, which is something we desperately need. Honestly, a midfielder in that mold might create a better offense than signing van Persie, strange as that might sound. But a Martinez or M’Vila type would allow Kagawa, Cleverley, Rooney, to worry less about keeping possession and allow them to take more risks.
The only player I would have tried for is Martinez. He is a similar player to Carrick but I think he has a better eye for a ‘killer’ pass than Carrick. Also he could be cover for CB and again I think he is technically better than Jones, Smalling and Evans.
This is a player I would have got in along with RVP not instead of.