The "Freeola Customer Forum" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
How did you feel when David Beckham finally completed his £25m move to Spanish superstars Real Madrid, last summer? If you're a United fan, there's a good chance you still don't understand `why´. Or, you could be like myself, where I remain quite pleased to see the back of that money-grabbing male tart. Whatever you feel about it, some 6-months-on now, you cannot deny the fact that the man did have great (if a little "limited") ability, and that he is deservedly one of the finest players to have pulled on an England shirt in history. He MAKES the No.7 shirt his own.
Since he left Old Trafford for the sun-drenched Spanish lifestyle and the chance to take his place as a star amongst a team of the world's elite, Manchester United have looked a very different team. Some would say they are better off without him. Nobody can cross or strike a dead-ball quite as accurately as he does. But, even with such a unique talent, the United side often looked quite 'restricted', at times, to playing most-of and almost ALL of their game down that right-hand side.
Why have David Beckham when you could have Cristiano Ronaldo; a younger, quicker player who can run with the ball and also has the foreign-edge about him?
Sir Alex Ferguson's side may have started the season very well, with Ole Solskjaer doing a creditable job in filling Becks' boots; but, recently, things have taken a non-too-familiar (for this club) slide for the worse. Yes, it happens to all clubs... But very rarely does it happen so-suddenly and hard-hitting to a club of United's size.
Now, with his much-publicized 8-month ban having already begun, many have begun to point the finger at Rio Ferdinand for the sudden change-of-direction. And, while it must be said, any team would hate to lose their £29m centre-back, you cannot solely place the blame upon the test-dodging England international for his "forgetfulness". At the end of the day, it's a TEAM-effort; no matter what. Thierry Henry may appear to "carry" Arsenal, single-handedly, but, in truth, we all know it isn't really like that.
When a team fails - for whatever reason - it must also be the team that accepts the blame for its mistakes. Not the manager, not even a butter-fingered goalkeeper; it is all down to the XI-men who, on the day, did not perform. So, both Roy Keane and Ferguson are right to critisize the team as a whole for the recent muck-ups - NOT Rio Ferdinand's suspension.
Another theory, however, which has recently risen to the headlines, is that the Red Devils are missing their old "Goldenballs" himself; David Beckham. However, unlike the whole Ferdinand affair, I see a lot more reason to this assumption.
Yes, Ruud van Nistelrooy is still topping the scoring charts and breaking records wherever he can - without the assistance of David Beckham...
Yes, young "Dancing" Ronaldo is proving he can bend it like Beckham, also...
And of course, with players like Darren Fletcher and David Bellion coming through, we now have wide-players with a bit of pace to their game, too....
But, if we DON'T miss David Beckham so-badly, then why are we still struggling to replace him for all those hidden-qualities he had that made our team so-strong?
Ryan Giggs; Paul Scholes; Roy Keane.... Kleberson?! That doesn't quite sound right, now, does it, somehow. Like the old Arsenal backline of Winterburn, Keown, Bould/Adams and Dixon, with Seaman in-goal, our midfield really was one-of-a-kind.
No matter how much Roman Abramovich may have in his back-pocket, he could not BUY the kind of midfield we once had - the one which won us The Treble.
Sir Alex has certainly put in a fair-bit of hard-work and money into lining-up a number of potential 'replacements' for Beckham. But, after all this time, and the ability some of these lads do and will posess, the job still hasn't been done - we do not have an all-worthy, fully-suitable replacemnt for David Beckham; just another bunch of over-pressured, still-learning kids.
Ronaldo LOOKS good, but he's still young and learning. As is Darren Fletcher.
Kleberson, for all the Brazillian he is, is NOT a wide-player.
Paul Scholes is best-suited to a more centralised role - and we've all seen it!
And, as good a job as Solskjaer's done... Well, he's suffered with injury all-season.
When the team's a goal-down, but the game's so-close it could quite possibly go either-way, who'll be there to spur us on with one-last-attack, and a strong and persistent fight for that all-important equalising (or winning) goal, now thatr Roy Keane's age appears to be getting the better of him?
Where are we to find that helping-hand of leadership, when the team needs it most?
Who is there (on a regular basis) to show others the way through this treachourous time when our defence is in a state and Arsenal are running-away with OUR trophy?
Why does the true `heart´ and desire of MUFC appear to have faded so-badly with the arrival of each and every new foreign signing?
We DO miss David Beckham, don't we.
But, is it really "too-little, too-late"?
Can anything really be done to save our sinking season? Better yet, what better COULD Fergie have done to try and cover for such a loss in the first-place - or, even, to have stopped the sale, altogether?
No matter how big he was becoming and how out-of-hand it was all so-quickly becoming, I think that, now, it is becoming hard to deny the strong possibility that we really ARE missing David Beckham after all that's gone on, and what's happening now. Don't you agree?
Since he left Old Trafford for the sun-drenched Spanish lifestyle and the chance to take his place as a star amongst a team of the world's elite, Manchester United have looked a very different team. Some would say they are better off without him. Nobody can cross or strike a dead-ball quite as accurately as he does. But, even with such a unique talent, the United side often looked quite 'restricted', at times, to playing most-of and almost ALL of their game down that right-hand side.
Why have David Beckham when you could have Cristiano Ronaldo; a younger, quicker player who can run with the ball and also has the foreign-edge about him?
Sir Alex Ferguson's side may have started the season very well, with Ole Solskjaer doing a creditable job in filling Becks' boots; but, recently, things have taken a non-too-familiar (for this club) slide for the worse. Yes, it happens to all clubs... But very rarely does it happen so-suddenly and hard-hitting to a club of United's size.
Now, with his much-publicized 8-month ban having already begun, many have begun to point the finger at Rio Ferdinand for the sudden change-of-direction. And, while it must be said, any team would hate to lose their £29m centre-back, you cannot solely place the blame upon the test-dodging England international for his "forgetfulness". At the end of the day, it's a TEAM-effort; no matter what. Thierry Henry may appear to "carry" Arsenal, single-handedly, but, in truth, we all know it isn't really like that.
When a team fails - for whatever reason - it must also be the team that accepts the blame for its mistakes. Not the manager, not even a butter-fingered goalkeeper; it is all down to the XI-men who, on the day, did not perform. So, both Roy Keane and Ferguson are right to critisize the team as a whole for the recent muck-ups - NOT Rio Ferdinand's suspension.
Another theory, however, which has recently risen to the headlines, is that the Red Devils are missing their old "Goldenballs" himself; David Beckham. However, unlike the whole Ferdinand affair, I see a lot more reason to this assumption.
Yes, Ruud van Nistelrooy is still topping the scoring charts and breaking records wherever he can - without the assistance of David Beckham...
Yes, young "Dancing" Ronaldo is proving he can bend it like Beckham, also...
And of course, with players like Darren Fletcher and David Bellion coming through, we now have wide-players with a bit of pace to their game, too....
But, if we DON'T miss David Beckham so-badly, then why are we still struggling to replace him for all those hidden-qualities he had that made our team so-strong?
Ryan Giggs; Paul Scholes; Roy Keane.... Kleberson?! That doesn't quite sound right, now, does it, somehow. Like the old Arsenal backline of Winterburn, Keown, Bould/Adams and Dixon, with Seaman in-goal, our midfield really was one-of-a-kind.
No matter how much Roman Abramovich may have in his back-pocket, he could not BUY the kind of midfield we once had - the one which won us The Treble.
Sir Alex has certainly put in a fair-bit of hard-work and money into lining-up a number of potential 'replacements' for Beckham. But, after all this time, and the ability some of these lads do and will posess, the job still hasn't been done - we do not have an all-worthy, fully-suitable replacemnt for David Beckham; just another bunch of over-pressured, still-learning kids.
Ronaldo LOOKS good, but he's still young and learning. As is Darren Fletcher.
Kleberson, for all the Brazillian he is, is NOT a wide-player.
Paul Scholes is best-suited to a more centralised role - and we've all seen it!
And, as good a job as Solskjaer's done... Well, he's suffered with injury all-season.
When the team's a goal-down, but the game's so-close it could quite possibly go either-way, who'll be there to spur us on with one-last-attack, and a strong and persistent fight for that all-important equalising (or winning) goal, now thatr Roy Keane's age appears to be getting the better of him?
Where are we to find that helping-hand of leadership, when the team needs it most?
Who is there (on a regular basis) to show others the way through this treachourous time when our defence is in a state and Arsenal are running-away with OUR trophy?
Why does the true `heart´ and desire of MUFC appear to have faded so-badly with the arrival of each and every new foreign signing?
We DO miss David Beckham, don't we.
But, is it really "too-little, too-late"?
Can anything really be done to save our sinking season? Better yet, what better COULD Fergie have done to try and cover for such a loss in the first-place - or, even, to have stopped the sale, altogether?
No matter how big he was becoming and how out-of-hand it was all so-quickly becoming, I think that, now, it is becoming hard to deny the strong possibility that we really ARE missing David Beckham after all that's gone on, and what's happening now. Don't you agree?
Page:
I'm a Man U fan and I think that Alex Ferguson has lost his touch. For starters, David Beckham should never have left during the summer. But because of all of the 'good' summer signings I put faith back into him at the start of the season. But the question is: Were the signings in the summer worth the money? Eric Djemba Djemba for 3 million. How many appearances has he made? Cristaino Ronaldo for 12 million. Do we really need 12 million pounds worth of step-overs? I agree that these players are for the future but what we need is someone who can fill David Beckham's boots right now. Someone like Ronaldinho. The only signings for Man U in the last two seasons that were worth the money were Tim Howard and possibly Louis Saha.
WòókieeMøn§†€® wrote:
> The general concencus seems to be that United have been turning in
> sub-standard performances pretty much all season, bar the odd quality
> game here and there.
I would definitly agree with that. This years United has been nothing what i expected. The performances for the majority have been really poor and i don't have a clue how we're actually still in contention for the title
> The general concencus seems to be that United have been turning in
> sub-standard performances pretty much all season, bar the odd quality
> game here and there.
I would definitly agree with that. This years United has been nothing what i expected. The performances for the majority have been really poor and i don't have a clue how we're actually still in contention for the title
WòókieeMøn§†€® wrote:
> The general concencus seems to be that United have been turning in
> sub-standard performances pretty much all season, bar the odd quality
> game here and there.
I wouldn't say we have been sub standard and if we have, then being 2nd in the league at this moment in time is a major achievement.
There's no doubt in my mind that if those things I described below weren't there we would be better off regardless of Beckham not being there. With Rio and Mickey in the centre we were a rock and much of the time we couldn't score goals and that where our problems were - now we have the goal threat and no defence :/
People need to realise where our problems lie rather than just blaming the the easiest thing possible - like Beckham not being there. Hardworking he may have been but he couldn't tackle so how would he have helped out current problem of leaking goals?
I wish he was never sold but he has so we have to get on with life and solve the problem we have which is in that central defence/midfield area not on the wings.
> The general concencus seems to be that United have been turning in
> sub-standard performances pretty much all season, bar the odd quality
> game here and there.
I wouldn't say we have been sub standard and if we have, then being 2nd in the league at this moment in time is a major achievement.
There's no doubt in my mind that if those things I described below weren't there we would be better off regardless of Beckham not being there. With Rio and Mickey in the centre we were a rock and much of the time we couldn't score goals and that where our problems were - now we have the goal threat and no defence :/
People need to realise where our problems lie rather than just blaming the the easiest thing possible - like Beckham not being there. Hardworking he may have been but he couldn't tackle so how would he have helped out current problem of leaking goals?
I wish he was never sold but he has so we have to get on with life and solve the problem we have which is in that central defence/midfield area not on the wings.
Absolu† Neó wrote:
> Don't forget that we were looking pretty damn good before Before the
> Rio thing/Magnier/Racehorse/Suspensions/Injuries all seem to happen
> together causing major disruptions.
I'm not commenting on this personally one way or the other, but if you read the comments of ManYoo fans on the major football sites, most seem to disagree with that sentiment.
The general concencus seems to be that United have been turning in sub-standard performances pretty much all season, bar the odd quality game here and there.
> Don't forget that we were looking pretty damn good before Before the
> Rio thing/Magnier/Racehorse/Suspensions/Injuries all seem to happen
> together causing major disruptions.
I'm not commenting on this personally one way or the other, but if you read the comments of ManYoo fans on the major football sites, most seem to disagree with that sentiment.
The general concencus seems to be that United have been turning in sub-standard performances pretty much all season, bar the odd quality game here and there.
Beckham outside of Keane was United's most hard working player and he did his fair share of tracking back and defending. So indirectly yes he has weakened United defenensively, not as much as letting Stam go but it has still had an impact.
The other major issue is not bringing in anyone good enough to replace the players sold. I remember when they got rid of Johnsen with the excuse that he was too old. Regardless of his age he was a decent defender and one that is better than their current central defensive partnership.
The other major issue is not bringing in anyone good enough to replace the players sold. I remember when they got rid of Johnsen with the excuse that he was too old. Regardless of his age he was a decent defender and one that is better than their current central defensive partnership.
Our current crisis lies mainly with conceding goals and Fergie's strange team selections, not because Beckham isn't playing on the right of our midfield.
Don't forget that we were looking pretty damn good before Before the Rio thing/Magnier/Racehorse/Suspensions/Injuries all seem to happen together causing major disruptions.
Ole is back now (played 90 mins in reserve game on weds) and hopefully will take up that right wing role. The senior player need to take responsibilty now and Fergie needs to play our players in their natural positions ansd refrain from resting anyone at the moment.
Don't forget that we were looking pretty damn good before Before the Rio thing/Magnier/Racehorse/Suspensions/Injuries all seem to happen together causing major disruptions.
Ole is back now (played 90 mins in reserve game on weds) and hopefully will take up that right wing role. The senior player need to take responsibilty now and Fergie needs to play our players in their natural positions ansd refrain from resting anyone at the moment.
That is really part of my point. We have never had such a "crisis" on our hands before, in recent years, and I wonder how different things would be if David Beckham were still around. He could be just the kind of player we need to help us through it; no matter what. For all he's worth in money, he's still one of England's very finest.
We may not be 'missing him', as such, in a general term, but, I certainly feel we could do with someone like him, right now.
If you're going to look towards our future, things are only looking worse. This season has "Arsenal" written all-over it. What do United have left? Summertime cannot come soon-enough, really!
We may not be 'missing him', as such, in a general term, but, I certainly feel we could do with someone like him, right now.
If you're going to look towards our future, things are only looking worse. This season has "Arsenal" written all-over it. What do United have left? Summertime cannot come soon-enough, really!
Yes, but he is gone? What's the point in moaning about someone who is no longer a part of Man Utd and never will.
All 'ifs' & 'buts'
I'd rather talk about whats going on now and how we can get back onto track, not about 11 games in the future and definatly not 2 seasons ago.
When last season came to an end, it was all about whether Beckham could get back into the team let alone whether he will be sold in the summer or not.
All 'ifs' & 'buts'
I'd rather talk about whats going on now and how we can get back onto track, not about 11 games in the future and definatly not 2 seasons ago.
When last season came to an end, it was all about whether Beckham could get back into the team let alone whether he will be sold in the summer or not.
Absolu† Neó wrote:
> I really don't know why we are still going on about this?
No? Well there will be a lot more in 11 games time talking about it.
As for the England situation, Beckham has always performed well and is usually the best player on the pitch, this was at both United and Madrid.
> I really don't know why we are still going on about this?
No? Well there will be a lot more in 11 games time talking about it.
As for the England situation, Beckham has always performed well and is usually the best player on the pitch, this was at both United and Madrid.
He's playing better at Madrid, which is good for England. He's just one man................
Page: