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Since both Andy Cole and now Dwight Yorke left the Theatre of Dreams for Ewood Park Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been left with only 3 recognisable strikers in his First Team Squad - including the young Diego Forlan who is still yet to prove himself to his manager and fans by striking the ball into the back of the net on a more frequent basis, and in the big games that DO matter.
Both Van Nistelrooy and Solskjaer have proven themselves as frequent goalscorers and are currently United's only hopes for real goals this season in Europe and in the Domestic Competitions themselves.
Unless of course Forlan CAN find his feet....
If you know anything about football and football management then you'll know that in order to score goals throughout the course of an entire season you're gunna need at least 4 decent strikers who can stay up there and put the ball away when their time has come.
Forlan has yet to prove he can do this for his new team.
The United team simply won't be able to keep-up with the pressures of today's modern game if their squad remains the same for the next 10 months or so. This could well be Fergie's last year in-charge!
Remember back in the 1998/99 season when The Treble was won??
Not only were Cole and Yorke on fire throughout the season in all competitions, but with both Teddy Sheringham and Ole Solskjaer ready to step-in at anytime, those 3 major trophies were almost guarrenteed to arrive on the Old Trafford door-step come may - all thanks to the security these players gave to the attack. Remember the last few mintues against Bayern Munich....
Even if Rio Ferdinand has been signed for a Record Breaking £30m, Sir Alex obviously has plans to bring in one more big-name to add to United's attack-force and to help restore their dominance on Europe after the no.9 shirt has been left available after the new squad numbers were announced.
With all this in mind, who should that one man be to come-in and take United back up to the top and beyond??
It seems that the DiCanio deal isn't - and wasn't - ever gunna really happen. Reports were linking him with a cheap £1.7m deal after similar speculation last season, but Fergie has denied all these rumours, and I doubt West Ham would be willing to sell such a key-asset when they can barely afford a Division 1 striker right now!
Still, the price would be right for United's board.
Eidur Gudjonsson is another Premiership name to have come to the media's attention recently. He's apparently been experiening a few personal problems with the Chelsea money-men over the request of a new contract he feels he 'deserves'. And he's definitley worth it!
You saw how well he did at Bolton, and how well he's been playing (and scoring) in recent times for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Who's to say that he couldn't work well with another Dutchman in Van Nistelrooy!??
Money could probably be the only obstacle in the way of this young Icelandic striker here. £20m won't go down to well with the United board after one recent-signing, and i'm sure Ken Bates wouldn't just stand-by and let one of his stars join THE Premiership team-to-beat.
The ever-aeging Gabriel Batistuta has recently been linked with an Old Trafford switch also - and maybe for free too! We all know that Fergie is a huge admirer of the ex-Argentine international star after the numorous bids United have made to sign him over the years.
He may be aeging, but as he proved at Roma he CAN still do it upfront! And in style too. He'd definitley liven up the Old Trafford frontline, and there'd surely be no harm in having TWO goal-scorers in the attack!
Not only would he bring a South American inluence of style with him in his play, but he may also be able to help Forlan and the youngsters to adjust to life at the top with his mere pressence in the squad!
If he is released from Roma then he'll still need to be paid by his new club - and the size of his wages are what's causing all the fuss.
I'm sure United would have no problems there though.
Wether it could never happen in a million years or not is not an issue according to a number of recent stories... Inter Milan's World Cup Winner has been linked with a £multi-million move to Old Trafford - along with the usual £100k-per-week or-so to make matters worse after Ferdinand's deal. He may be World Class, and he probably would be able to score 30 goals a-season or so along with Van the Man, but after such a big-money signing, this is simply one deal that's never gunna happen right now!
United are alreadt a MASSIVE club in Europe alone, why would he turn them down?? And to add to that, Sir Alex recently appointed a South American as his no.2 - who may be able to 'pull a few strings' here and there...
If the papers are to be believed, then these are the only real names to have emerged as United's main targets to date. Fergie has denied them all, but there must be more to the situation than what meets the eye - seeing how the no.9 shirt is still available to any un-numbered player.
No matter who does eventually get signed, all we know is that they HAVE to be compatible with Van Nistelrooy in order to lead United onto the success missed-out on from the last campaign.
That is something Diego Forlan has been unable to do and I doubt that Solskjaer could do any better seeing as his best effect comes as a 'Super Sub'.
But after a total of £30m has been spent on Rio Ferdinand alone, United may not be up for any more big-money signings in the near future.
So maybe looking a little closer to home - to the likes of Bojan Djordjic and Danny Webber could lead to the answer and the glory??
The no.9 shirt needs to go to the right player!
Both Van Nistelrooy and Solskjaer have proven themselves as frequent goalscorers and are currently United's only hopes for real goals this season in Europe and in the Domestic Competitions themselves.
Unless of course Forlan CAN find his feet....
If you know anything about football and football management then you'll know that in order to score goals throughout the course of an entire season you're gunna need at least 4 decent strikers who can stay up there and put the ball away when their time has come.
Forlan has yet to prove he can do this for his new team.
The United team simply won't be able to keep-up with the pressures of today's modern game if their squad remains the same for the next 10 months or so. This could well be Fergie's last year in-charge!
Remember back in the 1998/99 season when The Treble was won??
Not only were Cole and Yorke on fire throughout the season in all competitions, but with both Teddy Sheringham and Ole Solskjaer ready to step-in at anytime, those 3 major trophies were almost guarrenteed to arrive on the Old Trafford door-step come may - all thanks to the security these players gave to the attack. Remember the last few mintues against Bayern Munich....
Even if Rio Ferdinand has been signed for a Record Breaking £30m, Sir Alex obviously has plans to bring in one more big-name to add to United's attack-force and to help restore their dominance on Europe after the no.9 shirt has been left available after the new squad numbers were announced.
With all this in mind, who should that one man be to come-in and take United back up to the top and beyond??
It seems that the DiCanio deal isn't - and wasn't - ever gunna really happen. Reports were linking him with a cheap £1.7m deal after similar speculation last season, but Fergie has denied all these rumours, and I doubt West Ham would be willing to sell such a key-asset when they can barely afford a Division 1 striker right now!
Still, the price would be right for United's board.
Eidur Gudjonsson is another Premiership name to have come to the media's attention recently. He's apparently been experiening a few personal problems with the Chelsea money-men over the request of a new contract he feels he 'deserves'. And he's definitley worth it!
You saw how well he did at Bolton, and how well he's been playing (and scoring) in recent times for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Who's to say that he couldn't work well with another Dutchman in Van Nistelrooy!??
Money could probably be the only obstacle in the way of this young Icelandic striker here. £20m won't go down to well with the United board after one recent-signing, and i'm sure Ken Bates wouldn't just stand-by and let one of his stars join THE Premiership team-to-beat.
The ever-aeging Gabriel Batistuta has recently been linked with an Old Trafford switch also - and maybe for free too! We all know that Fergie is a huge admirer of the ex-Argentine international star after the numorous bids United have made to sign him over the years.
He may be aeging, but as he proved at Roma he CAN still do it upfront! And in style too. He'd definitley liven up the Old Trafford frontline, and there'd surely be no harm in having TWO goal-scorers in the attack!
Not only would he bring a South American inluence of style with him in his play, but he may also be able to help Forlan and the youngsters to adjust to life at the top with his mere pressence in the squad!
If he is released from Roma then he'll still need to be paid by his new club - and the size of his wages are what's causing all the fuss.
I'm sure United would have no problems there though.
Wether it could never happen in a million years or not is not an issue according to a number of recent stories... Inter Milan's World Cup Winner has been linked with a £multi-million move to Old Trafford - along with the usual £100k-per-week or-so to make matters worse after Ferdinand's deal. He may be World Class, and he probably would be able to score 30 goals a-season or so along with Van the Man, but after such a big-money signing, this is simply one deal that's never gunna happen right now!
United are alreadt a MASSIVE club in Europe alone, why would he turn them down?? And to add to that, Sir Alex recently appointed a South American as his no.2 - who may be able to 'pull a few strings' here and there...
If the papers are to be believed, then these are the only real names to have emerged as United's main targets to date. Fergie has denied them all, but there must be more to the situation than what meets the eye - seeing how the no.9 shirt is still available to any un-numbered player.
No matter who does eventually get signed, all we know is that they HAVE to be compatible with Van Nistelrooy in order to lead United onto the success missed-out on from the last campaign.
That is something Diego Forlan has been unable to do and I doubt that Solskjaer could do any better seeing as his best effect comes as a 'Super Sub'.
But after a total of £30m has been spent on Rio Ferdinand alone, United may not be up for any more big-money signings in the near future.
So maybe looking a little closer to home - to the likes of Bojan Djordjic and Danny Webber could lead to the answer and the glory??
The no.9 shirt needs to go to the right player!
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Silvestre said at the end of last season that he would consider a move away from Man Utd if he didnt get to play in the middle.
He said to chance to play in the centre of defence was one of the reasons he moved away from Inter.
I guess that could be why Escude may be bought in to cover.
I still hope the blonde and orange of Rio and Wes will be the future though :)
He said to chance to play in the centre of defence was one of the reasons he moved away from Inter.
I guess that could be why Escude may be bought in to cover.
I still hope the blonde and orange of Rio and Wes will be the future though :)
John O'Shea & Rio Ferdi have looked solid at the back in Pre Season, I wont be
surprised if they are both the future of Utd's central defence.
surprised if they are both the future of Utd's central defence.
Solskjær wrote:
> Escude could be a good addittion to our squad.
> But just like with Forlan, what do we really know about him except for
> the fact that he playes in defence??
>
> Sure, he could be a good addittion there, but with Silvestre doing the
> job at left-back, would he really be better alongside Rio than the
> experienced Laurent Blanc?? At least he'd give us more depth in our
> defence though.
I've seen escude and he is v solid. You can get away with it as a def as you are judged by peoples opinions of you matches rather than (statistics).
Silvestre with ferdinand in the centre would be very good as blanc is far too weak for potential champions league champions. Blanc was the weakest part of the world cup winning team defence.
> Escude could be a good addittion to our squad.
> But just like with Forlan, what do we really know about him except for
> the fact that he playes in defence??
>
> Sure, he could be a good addittion there, but with Silvestre doing the
> job at left-back, would he really be better alongside Rio than the
> experienced Laurent Blanc?? At least he'd give us more depth in our
> defence though.
I've seen escude and he is v solid. You can get away with it as a def as you are judged by peoples opinions of you matches rather than (statistics).
Silvestre with ferdinand in the centre would be very good as blanc is far too weak for potential champions league champions. Blanc was the weakest part of the world cup winning team defence.
bit confused, thought we were after a striker than a defender, but anyway Escude would be a decent addition and provide more cover at the back. The thing that confuses me, Fergie said there was no money to buy anyone and so did Kenyon, where are they get the 5/6 mil to fund the transfer of Escude, and if the transfer takes place will they buy a striker or stick to the Giggs as fourth striker idea?
Escude could be a good addittion to our squad.
But just like with Forlan, what do we really know about him except for the fact that he playes in defence??
Sure, he could be a good addittion there, but with Silvestre doing the job at left-back, would he really be better alongside Rio than the experienced Laurent Blanc?? At least he'd give us more depth in our defence though.
But just like with Forlan, what do we really know about him except for the fact that he playes in defence??
Sure, he could be a good addittion there, but with Silvestre doing the job at left-back, would he really be better alongside Rio than the experienced Laurent Blanc?? At least he'd give us more depth in our defence though.
escude is a very shrewd signing, would be very good as well. either can be put as the left back and then blanc can be dropped and silvestre partner ferdinand in the centre. this could be fergie losing his madness which has haunted him for 2 years
Solskjær wrote:
> I seriously doubt we're going to get any Instant Cash deals anytime
> soon seeing as £30m's already gone on Ferdinand
Aye, but £15M of it isnt going to be paid till July 2003.
Apparently someone from United will be flying down to France before the end of the week to open talks on signing U21 French left back Julien Escude for £5M
Morientes to Spurs for £15M. Apparently that might actually happen if Real sign Ronaldo...I just laughed. Came from Hoddle's mouth as well...
> I seriously doubt we're going to get any Instant Cash deals anytime
> soon seeing as £30m's already gone on Ferdinand
Aye, but £15M of it isnt going to be paid till July 2003.
Apparently someone from United will be flying down to France before the end of the week to open talks on signing U21 French left back Julien Escude for £5M
Morientes to Spurs for £15M. Apparently that might actually happen if Real sign Ronaldo...I just laughed. Came from Hoddle's mouth as well...
It seems to me that Fergie is concentrating more on bumping up the defence, hoping to achieve more by conceding fewer goals. Looking at some of the results from last season, this is a wise move.
But it certainly can be said that while this will help avoid LOSING games, it's not going to help WIN any...
But it certainly can be said that while this will help avoid LOSING games, it's not going to help WIN any...
I seriously doubt we're going to get any Instant Cash deals anytime soon seeing as £30m's already gone on Ferdinand and that Kenyon has warned Fergie and the fans about this - even if we are the richest club in the world. Unless of course we sell someone first.
crespo is the most likely target with the veron swap deal. Ronaldinho is the most likely straight cash deal as 20mill would land him and you would have a class player. Gudjohnsen would probably be the best on for united as he is a better and younger verion of solskjaer.
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