Thursday, July 02, 2009

Fergie's transfer plans in tatters: United looking at secondary targets...

When news of Ronaldo's transfer to Real Madrid broke it soon became clear the player was going to be sold, even at the expense of the manager being unable to find a suitable goal-scoring replacement. The rationale behind the club's decision to sell Ronaldo was simple; grab Real Madrid's £80m now because we might not be able to find anyone. As inevitable as Ronaldo's move surely was, that scenario is one the fans' need to grasp, because there is no other plausible conclusion.

As things have turned out, United look to have lost out to Madrid again with the news that Fergie's "number one" summer transfer target Karim Benzema is expected to sign for the Spanish club, it's a bitter blow, but only the deluded and those who believe tabloid hype will be surprised because all along it was known the French striker fancied a move to either Spain or Italy.

On a personal note, I don't know about other United fans, but I don't want to sign a player who doesn't have his heart set on playing for the club, in this instance it would surely only have been a matter of time before the French striker plotted a move to Spain.

As things stand now United's planning, or lack of it, looks awful, the club stands accused of failing to make preparations for the exits of Ronaldo and Tevez. It's as if these moves have come out of the blue this summer, in point of fact the manager and fans alike have been aware for some time that Tevez might move on and there's been much debate about Fergie giving Ronaldo the option of leaving.

The fact is United have rarely been able to attract the world's top talent to Old Trafford, rather than chasing fool’s gold, perhaps Ferguson should be concentrating on finding and developing the next Ronaldo. United should continue to blood young players like the Da Silva brothers and Macheda - that is the future...and we have to remember the bedrock of the solid back four is still in place.

It might well take United two to three seasons to get over the events of this summer - possibly even longer than that given Fergie will retire sooner rather than later. Antonio Valencia has been signed from Wigan, but he's not going to score the goals next season, added to which the manager can no longer rely on the experience of players like Scholes and Neville who are both a year older.

Fergie has relied on Ronaldo a lot during his time at Old Trafford - who could blame him? However, now he's gone it's fair to ask if the manager has a plan B? The challenge is to become more of a team - one that relies less on one player and one that collectively scores more goals. It's a very big ask given the current squad, it is hard to see where those goals will come from.

It would be ridiculous to completely write-off United before a ball has been kicked, but at this juncture it isn't looking good, but we know the club will bounce back, they always do and having followed the club since the late 60s I know that as well as anyone.

7 comments:

  1. Fergie knows what he is doing he will have somebody lined up as a replacement. Just because we have not signed anybody as yet dose no mean we wont .There is plenty of time for united to do this and there are also plenty of quality players out there jus itching to play for united.

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  2. It is a worry to be honest. I was hoping to see Benzema come in but when Real didn't get Villa i thought they might turn their attentions towards him. Shame. I would personally like to see us go for Alexis Sanchez. A gamble no doubt due to his size but he really does look like he could become one of the worlds best. What i don't want us to do is over spend in desperation. If the right players aren't available then don't bother spending. Next season will be difficult with or without new signings. A team always takes time to gel and we are sure to have a few players different to last seasons regular line up whatever happens. Personally i don't know who we should buy up front, there seems to be a distinct lack of options out there. Lets not waste money though.

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  3. Larry, I agree with most of that. According to one report this morning Fergie isn't going to sign a new striker!

    TO my mind they must sign at least one quality striker. As things stand I can honestly see United finishing outside of the top four this season.

    Over the last few weeks I've been saying how important it was to keep Tevez because I could see this coming, the real mistake was made last summer when United signed Berbatov instead of making the Tevez deal permanent.

    I fear United will sign Huntelaar and for big money too - he's not what they need right now IMO, they need someone with pace up front who can score.

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  4. James,
    I agree with the Huntelaar comment. We really could do with a tall, pacey front man but who? I have heard about us going for Pato...i think that would possibly be even better than Benzema but i can't imagine us getting him ahead of Chelsea if Milan decide to sell (maybe our Brazilians can help there though?). He looks top quality and is only young. Tough season ahead maybe as i doubt both Rooney and Berbatov can get 20+ goals in the league, let alone Welback and Macheda. Campbell may be needed!

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  5. There's more chance of getting Pluto of Popeye fame than Pato...

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  6. I am glad we've had a clear out of players who don't want to play for us: Ronaldo was/is a (maybe potentially) great player who behaved like a completely brat this season - and team cohesion and morale will surely improve with him gone; as for tevez he was deluded by his impressive effort into thinking he was better than he actually performed - and many united fans were party to that delusion.
    I am disappointed to lose out on the chance of United signing Benzema, but maybe Berbatov and Rooney as main strikers, with the youngsters as back up will be sufficient - if we can buttress/strengthen midfield....

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  7. I am absolutely gutted we missed out on Benzema. In the past iv given Gill the benefit of the doubt but come on, we could have had a clear lane if we tried to purchase while Real were on Villa case.

    The exact same thing happened with Torres, we flirted with him from a young age only for another club to get there before us. The negotiations by Real this summer has also showed a weakness in our method. As soon as those comments from Benzema team mate came out, Real done the deal in a matter of hours. With Utd it takes forever to get a deal together.

    We have to get a striker in because if Wayne gets injured we will be in serious trouble. I really hope the speculation of owen is just speculation otherwise we will be going downhill. We need a pato, eto'o, someone with pace, capable of playing on the last defender, as much as i like augero he would not fit in, because the last thing we need is another striker who drops deep into midfield to collect the ball.

    fergie will regret missing out on benzema because i don't think most fans realize how good the lad is.

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