Ferguson hunts for new gem
Monday, 22 June 09, 03:05 PM · Comments(0)
By Michael Sinnerton
41 goals and 61 goals. That's the total number of goals contributed by Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez to Manchester United over the last two seasons. It's not the newest of debates, but how the hell do you replace that? Benzema and Ribery are all very well but goal tallys of 23 and 14 respectively, whilst more than respectable, are perhaps not enough to convince fans and pundits just yet. Given that their 37 (and 50) goals match neither seasons tally from Ronaldo and Tevez, this despite being up against supposedly weaker defences in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 (this argument of course doesn't take into the account how much better the players are they would be playing with at United).
Ribery and Benzema's scoring exploits are more than credible though, and whilst Ribery is already a world-class player, Benzema certainly has the potential. Perhaps the short-term problem for United then is the pace of the Premiership which seems to cause adaptability problems for more than half its newcomers. Both Tevez and Ronaldo, for instance, took time to acclimatise to the league and reach something approaching their best. United have of course been linked with Antonio Valencia, a player with Premier League experience but one who scored just 3 goals this season.
A switch to 4-4-2 with Rooney and Berbatov up front could solve the problem of goals with both players likely to notch more than last season, but more goals would still be needed from midfield/out-wide. Anderson in particular has the quality to score more than just from the penalty spot, perhaps his attacking ability is compromised in United's current system? There still must be concern though that Macheda and Welbeck aren't good enough back-ups should Rooney or Berbatov suffer a long-term injury. A striker like Jermaine Defoe, Robin Van Persie or dare I say it Michael Owen, all of whom are proven in the Premier League might be a better bet (although of course 2 of the 3 are injury prone). If only they hadn't got rid of a striker who has 58 goals in his last two seasons in Europe's best league. Diego who?
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Freddy said:Also never bet on a match involving your own side. Too messy!
obaino said:i love ibra and i think he's better than eto'o, for now cos eto'o have realy pl...
Freddy said:I'm curious to see if English sides maintain their domination. But some pretty ...
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