Date: 9th January 2013 at 11:25am
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Former United defender Ezekiel “Zeki” Fryers has sparked a lot of controversy of late, with his move from Belgian side Standard Liege to Tottenham Hotspur.

 Spurs tried to sign the youngster in the Summer when he was still at United but balked at the Reds £6 million valuation, as Standard Liege only had to pay less than one million, the north Londoners were able to buy him from them for just three million.

Sir Alex Ferguson has criticised the deal noting: “I’m disappointed in Tottenham. I think it’s a blatant manipulation of the situation,”

“I think the league should look into it and I think they should stop his registration until they examine it.”

All of this would almost irrelevant to many Reds, but the real reason a lot of United fans are critical of Fryers’ stems from the left back’s recent comments regarding his treatment at Old Trafford.

The Mail have reported:

Zeki Fryers was left feeling ‘disrespected’ by Manchester United ahead of his summer exit from Old Trafford.

Fryers is said to have no sympathy for Ferguson, having felt undervalued by United after being offered £1,500 a week, despite having a £6m price tag. He is now on £20,000 a week.

Naturally United fans aren’t too impressed by either Fryers’ comments or his actions, after all had the youngster put pen to paper on a new deal in the Summer there’s a good chance he could have been deputising for Patrice Evra this season and staking a claim to be his successor.

However I can’t help feeling just a little bit of sympathy for the Mancunian, after all £1500 a week may seem like a great wage to you or I but by Premier League standards it’s at the very bottom of the food chain and not what you’d expect to be offered at a club like Manchester United. Fryers is now on £20,000 a week which is a hell of a lot more than he was offered by United so can anyone really blame him for not being too keen to sign a new deal with the Reds.

Football can be a short career and Fryers may not even make it at the very top level so who can blame him for expecting a wage which is hardly astronomical. Fryers has played for England under 19s and must be aware of some of the deals his international teammates are signing.

Ask players like Michael Appleton or Ben Thornley just how brief your career can be.

I’m not saying Fryers was right to criticise Ferguson in the press nor am I saying he made the right choice – at least long term- but all this outporing of hatred towards the youngster by a lot of United fans seems a tad harsh.

Am I wrong to defend him or should United have tried harder to keep him? Answers on a brick through the usual window please:
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2258718/Zeki-Fryers-feels-disrespected-Alex-Ferguson.html#ixzz2HOVoO9DP
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2 responses to “In Defence Of Zeki Fryers”

  1. Bohemet says:

    Agree, leave the kid alone – he made his choice to leave, only time will tell if he made the right one

    But, the picture is of Tyler Blackett, not Fryers 😉

  2. Quis says:

    Where the hell do you get 20k a week? He’s not even on the Tottenham bench, you think Levi is going to give an untried kid 20 k a week to sit on the bench? You’re mad, stark raving fritters. He was never going to get into the Man United side, that’s why he left. Ferguson didn’t undervalue him, he overvalued himself. In a couple of years he’ll be in a div 2 side.