The Central Midfield!!!!

Good afternoon to all. First of all sorry about the lateness of this post but i can finally write it up. Anyway, I have been thinking about this for a few weeks now and figured that with all the talk going on in the press about our midfield that i would add my two pence in. United have had so many great midfields in the pass but have never had one with this much depth and strength in my opinion. So lets look at the options we have starting with the central midfielders……

   First of all there is Paul Scholes, one of the most naturally talented midfielders in the world. He was part of the youth setup with us and famously came up through the ranks with the likes of David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Gary and Phil Neville and of course Ryan Giggs. Last season Scholesy came back from a potential career threating eye injury and helped United to yet another Premier League title. In my opinion he was probably the main reason we were able to bring back the title to OT as his influence on a game can be second to none. As a midfielder he very close to perfection, apart from the fact he has no idea to tackle, but his passing (long and short) is impeccable, his runs into the box are like no other and positional sense is brilliant, not to mention his finishing (the goal away to Villa last season) is pure class. From what i have noticed this season however from Paul is that although his passing ability and ability to influence a game is still there, he seems to have dropped deep in matches rather than making the ghosting forward runs he used to. This has meant that he has had less chance to show off his shooting abilities and in turn scored less goals. Now this could be due to different reasons such as his age, being 33 now, or due to the type of midfielder he has been paired with. Either way Scholes is a United legend and i feel there is plenty more to come for him in the latter parts of the season as United are still in contention for the treble and aslo for our futher drive for success in the future.

    Next we have Michael Carrick whom United signed from Spurs 2 seasons ago for around £18. When this signing was made i was the first to say ‘is he really worth that much money’ but in my opinion he has proved his worth to the team and the United cause. Last season he was an integral part of the United squad that took how the Premiership and reached both the FA Cup final and Champions League Semi-Final. In my opinion Carrick has been one of the best central midfielders in our team and has played well no matter who he has started alongside. His long and short passing ability with either foot is class like the pass he made for Rooney’s first goal against Newcastle last weekend. I dont think that he can be classed as either an attacking or defensive midfielder as he can do both but neither better that the other. His defensive skills are good but not like Keane and his attacking skills are good but not like Scholes. In fact he is just a complete player who can do everything that you ask for from a central midfielder such as tackle, track back, pass and shoot (goals against Roma)and do them at a high standard. He would probably be a starter if i had to pick a United midfield right now! In a recent interview with Carrick, he talks about how pleased he is with his form and the fact that he knows he is not guaranteed a starting place. For the full interview go to www.manutd.com

     Now we come to Owen Hargreaves who joined us from Bayern this season for a reported £18million. Again this was a slight head scratcher for me when we first go him cos i was like is he worth that much and do we really need him. We had bought Carrick a season earlier and he had a great season and the question in my head was- is hargreaves one signing too far. Well its been answered this season already in my eyes that no he wasn’t. The reason i say this is because of the fact that we are in so many competitions and each game is different and calls for a different team. For example when United are away in Europe it is handy to have a player who can sit in front of the back four and clean up any mess around that area, which i think the likes of Carrick or Fletcher cannot do. He also has a great deal of stamina which allows him to be on the move all game and the fact that he has not been sent off once in over 200 appearences is a testament to his temperament.

       Now we come to the little Brazilian with a lot of heart. We signed Anderson from Porto at the beggining of the season for around £17.5million with the intetion that he would be a player for the future and that he would be eased into the United first team. However this process was speeded up due to injuries to Carrick and Hargreaves. Since getting his chance in the first team Anderson (dubbed the new Ronaldinho by the media) has not looked back. Although he was originally thought to be a winger/striker, Anderson has found his home in the heart of the United midfield alonside….well whoever he plays with and has flourished there. His pace, strength and pure determination have endeared him to the OT faithful, not to mention his ability to keep the ball and his box to box play. I would have him starting alongside Carrick in the centre of midfield at the moment just because both are on top form and make a great partnership. He is actually becoming one of my favourite players at the club, just behind Rooney, and i hope that he gets the first goal of his United career as he really does deserve it.

      Lastly we have Darren Fletcher who joined United as a trainee in 2000 and signed a proffesional contract in 2001. In my opinion he is not the best midfielder we have in our squad but for some reason always performs against the bigger teams such as Chelsea when he scored the winning goal to end their 40 match unbeaten run and Arsenal in the cup a few weeks ago. He is in good form at the moment but i still believe that he is best used a squad player, especially with all the games we have coming up, he will be very useful.

So thats my roundup of all the central midfielders and it works out that we have potentially 10 combinations in that area. In fact on www.manutd.com their is a fans poll about who the ideal pairing would be, with Anderson and Carrick winning at the moment. I personally would agree with that but i’m sure others would beg to differ. Either way United seem to be blessed with talent in that area of the pitch and I could not be happier. The  prospect of Anderson excites me as he is only 19 and if he is doing what he is doing at this age imagine what he will be like in 5 years or so under Fergie’s guidance. Happy Days!!!!!

 In other news Gaz Neville made a comeback against Liverpool Reserves last night playing 60 minutes. I’m glad to see that he is making recovery from his ankle injury and only hope that there is not another setback. The only thing is that United lost 2-0 and that kinda put a downer on his comeback. In my eyes any loss to the scousers is horrible whether it be the full squad, reserves, youth or even the under 5’s.  lol. Anyways for a full match report on Neville’s comeback go to…..

http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=535802

Just a quick mention about Arsenal’s Eduardo before i go. He has been told that he should make a full recovery in about 9 months or so. As per usual www.worldofarsenal.co.uk has all the latest info on him and his injury. 

Hope you enjoyed today’s post,

Thats my piece for today (unless i feel creative tonight)…….i’m out!!!!!

Transfer Speculation!

Good afternoon all. I heard news today that United are still being linked with a £25million move for Karim Benzema. Now dont get me wrong, i would be the first one to welcome Benzema with open arms but my question is…..is he REALLY neccessary????? I’m sure all United fans would look at me now and think i’m mad for asking this question but there is logic to my madness.

This is how i see it! Say we do buy Benzema in the summer for a large sum of money- who would be starting upfront for us? Can we really drop Rooney or Tevez?? Yes both players may pick up an injury or two during the season but can we really buy someone of Benzema’s undoubted quality and for that much money, only to put him on the bench? I am sure most United fans or just general football lovers would say there would be squad rotation but in my eyes there is no way that would work with these three players! Another alternative is possibly to play 3 upfront but then that poses another problem with our midfield. We have five different class centre midfielders and four class wingers. Who would be dropped and can we adjust to 3 in midfield……in my opinion no! Another option is to play Rooney in midfield which Sir Alex seems to have done during games this season but that has only been when we are leading. In my eyes why spoil something that works, with Rooney and Tevez complimenting each other brilliantly. Also you have to remember we have Louis Saha (if he is ever fit or can be bothered) who can be very effective, as he showed against Newcastle when coming off the bench and we also signed 24 year old Manucho in January. Manucho, who is now on loan with Greek side Panathinaikos, had a brilliant African Cup of Nations with four goals in as many games and could possibly turn into a very good backup striker for our team, that is if we are able to gain a work permit for him. People also seem to forget that United have a rich history in bringing in players from their youth system to the first team. This season we seemed to have a gem of a player in Danny Wellbeck. Having only seen him on a handleful of occasions this season, i believe he has the talent to break into our first team sooner rather then later. As the old saying goes- if they are good enough, they are old enough and with Wellbeck only being 17 he has plenty of time to prove to Fergie he is good enough.  It would be brilliant if he managed to make the step p from promising youngster to pushing Roo and Carlos for their spots upfront!

The same arguement above also applies to the speculation about us buying Berbatov, as much as i would love to see him in a united shirt, i just dont think it will work. If we were to then go for a striker in the summer i believe it should be for someone young and talented like Benzema, but with less of a reputation and a lot less of a price tag, like maybe Huntelaar.

 

In fact i would not be upset if we didn’t go for a striker at all and instead spend our time looking for a replacement for Gaz Neville at right back. His injury saga seems to be ongoing and that void needs to be replaced. Wes Brown has been brilliant this season but his contract problems are starting to really piss me off! How can he ask for more than the £55,000 a week we have offered him when he has the injury history and inconsistent form he has had throughout his career. I personally blame his agent but thats a whole new and long post. If Wes cannot deal with that much money a week then he knows where the door out of Old Trafford is. We also do have youngster Danny Simpson but i believe that he is not ready to step up to first team football yet, although i do think that maybe he will do after being backup for a few seasons. Hence the reason to find someone to cover that position. We have been linked with a move for a number of right backs lately such as Phillip Lahm (pictured above), Dani Alves and Porto’s Jose Boswinga. I would love it if we bought Phillip Lahm as i personally think he is world class and Bayern Munich would be willing to let him go for around £8.5million. At 24 he is close to reaching his peak and would easily give us atleast 7-8 years of service at the highest level if he stays that long. This would give Simpson enough time to develop into the player Sir Alex hopes he can become, while being under the tutorledge of hopefully Lahm.

Some more good news for all United fans and a possible new dilemma for Fergie is Ben Foster’s near recovery from his injury. Foster had surgery on a cruciate ligament injury on his right knee in July 07.  His recovery has been a long winded one but now that he is nearly back i wonder who will be in United’s number 1 jersey next season. Van Der Sar has been a great servant to the United cause but at 37, i cant see him lasting more than next season at most. With that said i hope Fergie puts his faith in Foster because from what i have seen from him, he seems like a solid keeper and a sure contender for England’s Goalkeeping spot. Lets just hope this is the end of his injury problems and the start of what good potentially be a fantastic career with the Devils! For more info on Foster’s recovery go to:

http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid=%7BB4CEE8FA%2D9A47%2D47BC%2DB069%2D3F7A2F35DB70%7D&newsid=535066

Thats my piece for today……i’m out!!!

United 5, Magpies 1

It was a great weekend for United as we romped to a 5-1 victory over the Toon at St. James’ Park, with Rooney and Ronnie bagging a brace each and Saha rounding off the scoring. If you watched the match then you will agree that their was only gonna be one winner as we dominated the match from start to finish. This victory was made even sweeter as Arsenal dropped two points away to brum which leaves us only 3 points behind. I’m not worried about this minor gap due to the fact that we have overcome bigger leads than this in the premiership before (just ask Newcastle and Arsenal). Anyway back to the weekend game, i was again very impressed with Nani who seems to finally be adapting well, with the help of Mr Queiroz and Ronaldo, to the United way of playing and the pace of the Premier League. Oh and Wayne Rooney seems to slowly have found his shooting boots again as he has scored 3 in the last 3 but i hope he can keep it up cos their is no doubting his exceptional talent but his finishing can let him down……come on Wayne!!!!!! I was also thinking to myself, i have to say some thing about Ronaldo but what can u say about someone who’s talent cannot be put into words. He is without question the best player in the world at the moment in my eyes. To be fair to Newcastle however they were never really in with a shot of beating us, especially with their goal scoring record this season and our defensive record this season! Newcastle are only 6 points away from the relegation positions now and i would not be to suprised now if they were stuck in that battle come April but something tells me they have just about enough talent and should just about stay in the premiership. With this victory for United we go into our next game against Fulham away with confidence high and in my eyes another 3 points to add pressure to the gunners!

On another note i feel is should congratulate Spurs for achieving something not many teams have been able to do- defeat Chelsea and at Wembley in the Carling Cup Final so well done to them. Also although i loved the way this weekend panned out for United results wise, i have to say a quick word about the horrific injury incurred by Arsenal’s Eduardo. Now as you can obviously tell i have no love for Arsenal but i would never wish something like this to happen to anyone. Although it is not known whether the injury will end his career, we do know that he will miss the rest of this season along with the Euro’s. So with that said i wish Eduardo a speedy recovery and hope everything works out for him! For more info on Eduardo’s injury and updates on his condition go to www.worldofarsenal.co.uk

That’s my piece for today…….i’m out!!!

Welcome to my blog

I have decided to start my blog about the best football team (in my opinion) in the world, the glorious Manchester United. I have supported them for my whole life and always seem to have an opinion on them so this gives me a chance to express my views. I hope you enjoy my views.

Amar Popat