Manchester United chief executive David Gill has indicated the Red Devils' triple transfer swoop could mark the end of their summer spending.United have confirmed England international Owen Hargreaves will join them from Bayern Munich on July 1, with only the 25-year-old's signature required to complete a £17million deal.
On that note, time for a bit of the old blog roundtable:Neither Anderson nor Nani can expect to play as many games as their fellow new arrival, although if either man shows the type of form Ronaldo produced when he first landed at Old Trafford four years ago, it will not be long before they are providing stiff competition for the likes of Ryan Giggs, who has quit international football in order to prolong his United career.
Queiroz said: "It is really worth stopping to imagine what an attack formed by Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani and Anderson could do.
Jeremy: anderson won't get a work permit and will be loaned back to porto
Jeremy: at least that's my baseless speculation
Neal: don't know how much he's played with the BNT
Neal: will probably be more after Copa this summer
Jeremy: i think he just got his first senior call up
Neal: hard to believe that SAF would spend huge for someone who isn't going to contribute this year
Neal: wonder if he has a Euro passport from his time in Portugal
Neal: regardless of Anderson status - ManYoo looking pretty strong
Neal: Giggs replacement
Neal: done
Neal: Scholes replacement
Neal: done
Neal: two holding midfielders
Neal: done
Jeremy: just a matter of aligning the pieces
Neal: one striker left
Jeremy: no room on the pitch for that striker
Neal: no?
Jeremy: if you figure scholes, carrick, and owen in the center
Neal: Nani the 2nd striker for now?
Jeremy: giggs, probably
Jeremy: nani and cron on the wings
Jeremy: SAF creating his version of AC Milan
Neal: I'd be surprised if Scholes keeps his spot
Neal: he's done
Jeremy: for pirlo/gattuso read carrick/hargreaves
Neal: w/ Giggs playing the Kaka role?
Jeremy: seedorf/kaka read giggs/cron
Neal: so, essentially 4-5-1?
Jeremy: scholes as ambrosini?
Jeremy: basically
Jeremy: keep saha and smith as rooney's cover
Neal: I'm guessing Saha is gone to Lyon based on the rumor mill
Neal: sell him for 6-8M and then pay out for Huntelaar
Jeremy: probably
Jeremy: rossi ;-)
Neal: hasn't rossi already been sold?
Neal: or is he on loan?
Jeremy: loan to parma
Neal: got it
Being a football novice, I need a further explanation from the round table. What's the advantage to playing with two holding midfielders (in the case of ManYoo, Carrick and Hargreaves) on the pitch at the same time? Would ManYoo play them simultaneously because Rooney/CRon/generic other winger provide all the offense they need? And at some point, one of you said that Carrick and Hargreaves aren't quite the same player. I'm curious as to what makes them different - or what each brings to the table for SAF. Finally, you briefly mentioned Rossi. Am I missing something? Why doesn't this guy figure more prominently in the discussion with the future of ManYoo. He's what, 18? First, they loan him to Newcastle and Roeder never used him. Then, he gets time with Parma and scores 9 goals in 19 games to help them escape the drop. Yet, it's a given that ManYoo needs to sell Saha and bring in someone like Huntelaar. Is it just a matter of Rossi's youth working against him?
ReplyDeleteThink of Hargreaves as a tackler, and Carrick as a passer. The former's job is to disrupt the opposition and win the ball for his team. The latter's role is to get the ball and move it up the pitch into dangerous positions.
ReplyDeleteThink Pirlo and Gattusso for AC Milan for how this works in practice.
As for Rossi, I'm not sure it's his age as much as his stature that's holding him back. But honestly that's not based on much. I'll defer to someone (anyone) with more insight into this.
Tackler vs. Passer. That makes sense to me. Thanks for a prompt, efficient explanation....
ReplyDelete