Wayne Rooney has revealed that the reason he wants to quit is because the club doesn't share his ambitions and that he wants to win more trophies. He also feels that they are struggling to attract top players to the club? Well, it is very difficult to disagree with Rooney. United's squad is the worst it's been in a long time. Even if you look back at the 1999 Champion's League winning team, it's much stronger than this current team. The central midfield of United is of mid-table quality (with the exception of Paul Scholes). Carrick, Anderson and Gibson would struggle to get into the Newcastle team. Berbatov, Hernandez, Bebe and Macheda are certainly not a feared strike force and Van der Sar is almost 40 and starting to make ridiculous blunders.
In the last few years they have attracted nobody of great quality with Berbatov (19 goals in 53 appearances) the last big signing in 2008. They've lost Ronaldo, Van Nistelrooy, Carlos Tevez and the fact that Roy Keane hasn't been replaced despite leaving in 2005 points to big problems. You would have to wonder how much the Glazer debts has influenced this lack of spending. Despite this, the fact that Manchester City (if Rooney decides to go there) are throwing money at players does not point to success. Mancini needs to do the balancing act of his life to keep all of his players happy. There have already been rumblings with Tevez behind the scenes. Everyone is immediately pointing at a Rooney-Tevez strikeforce. What about Balotelli, Santa Cruz, Adebayor and Jo? I don't think Rooney will stroll into that team and the possibility of City self destructing is massive. So the grass may not be greener, the money may be.
It must be a worry for United fans that star players continue to leave with the arrival of no one. Ferguson's assertion that it's a young squad with great potential is not as realistic as Arsene Wenger's. A horrendous game against Bursaspor and a 2-2 draw at West Brom, both at home, seem to point to cracks in this team. Is it possible to find a world class player in United's team without Rooney? No!
On a seperate note, it's great to see Robbie Fowler still has his sense of humour. He jokingly told Sky Sports that he has convinced Rooney to join Perth Glory. Good to see some players don't take themselves so seriously. Fair play Robbie
They are definitely a team in decline as your ins and outs demonstrate. But despite the net player movement resulting in a massive decline in the quality of player at the club, you have to question some of the players they got recently too. They could've bought Rafael van der Vaart in the transfer window for £8m, yet they chose to sign Chris Smalling and Bebe for almost that price each. Yes, those players do have potential, but as several Arsenal players have demonstrated in the past, potential doesn't always get realised. Those might be incredibly expensive gambles, surely a team in their position should instead target players that represents value for money...? The air of invincibility at the club is gone. Previously they were renowned as a team that would close out a 1-0 lead, this season they seem very brittle and often let leads slip. I think it will be a struggle for them to finish in the top 4 this season.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with your points about the money spent. I would seriously doubt that they were offered Van Der Vaart for £8 million though. I'd say Madrid let him go to a team that they don't view as rivals in the Champions League. The day before, an £18 million deal collapsed with Bayern Munich and they were desperate to get rid of him. The deal for Bebe is scandalous and makes absolutely no sense.
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