Threads of Knowledge

August 19, 2009. Turf Moor Stadium. Burnley 1, Manchester United 0.

Crisis time at Old Trafford? This blogger believes so, but not for the reasons you may think. The newspaper headlines all point to the  loss of Ronaldo and Tevez, but for me, that’s not where United’s problems lie.

As far as I’m concerned, ‘losing’ Ronaldo to Real Madrid and Tevez to the ‘Dark Side of Manchester’ provided Sir Alex with an opportunity to free Rooney from his left wing duties to be the striker he is destined to be and to revert to a dedicated wing-based structure (on both sides) – Ronaldo tended to stray from being a right wing and often we didn’t have any one to supply from that side. This structure would no doubt bring the best out of Berbatov in the centre, too.

Let’s face it, United got £80 million for Ronaldo. Let’s put that in perspective… United earned a total of £90 million in the 2008-09 season OVERALL. This includes ALL gate receipts and ALL prize money! So, by selling a single player, they’ve added almost an entire season’s earnings into their coffers. That’s got to be good business! And Sir Alex has gone on to spend well to replace Ronaldo’s winger capabilities with Luis Antonio Valencia and Tevez’s goal-scoring with the proven skills of Michael Owen.

So, what’s the problem then? Losing to teams like Burnley is the problem and I don’t believe it’s a blip.

United’s real problem lies in an aging core. Let’s analyse this in detail:

• In goals, Edwin van der Sar has been a legend, but will he get through another season at the age of 38? Is Foster good enough to take over?
  

  Manuel Neuer in action for Schalke 04

  I’m not convinced… we’ve been linked with Schalke’s Manuel Neuer (right, 23) and CSKA’s Igor Akinfeev (23) in the past, both of whom could be the answer – I think Foster must perform before January or we should turn to one of these options.

• Defence – Neville is past it. Face it, Sir Alex. Vidic and Ferdinand are fantastic when they’re both fit, but that seems to be less and less often. Is Evans a strong enough deputy? And don’t even get me started on Brown and O’Shea! I’ve always cringed at their inclusion and although, like a number of the United ‘fringe’ players, they are honest, hard-working players, for me they’re not good enough to represent United. Rafael and Fabio are very promising going forward but their defending is not up to scratch as yet. Again, not much money needs to be spent to shore up this area – Mamadou Sakho (19) from PSG looks like a good option, as does Christian Zapata (22) from Udinese or Domenico Criscito (22) from Juventus. Glen Johnson is looking like a really good buy for Liverpool – we need a similar 27/28yo player to be a transition between the Neville era and Rafael. Fabio up the left is of a perfect age to naturally take over from Evra in 2-3 years time.
• Central midfield – this is the area of most concern for me. Scholes and Giggs are starting to look old now. Anderson is not up to the job yet. Hargreaves is horribly injury-prone. Carrick looks inadequate and inconfident without a powerful midfielder alongside him. Fletcher is a good player, but has never really been good enough. Weakness in midfield exposes an ailing defence and isn’t providing enough to the attackers, which means the attackers tend to drop back to assist and reduce their effectiveness as a goalscoring force. Our midfield lacks the creativity that would spark
  

  Hamsik to swap Napoli for United?

  the attacking promise of our forwards, as was demonstrated by Barcelona in the Champions League final. We need the likes of a Iniesta, Xavi, Gerrard or Fabregas to fill that gap, as well as the presence of a Keane or a Robson to boss the midfield. The options are players like Napoli’s Marek Hamsik (right, 20), Sevilla’s Federico Fazio (21) or Atletico Madrid’s Ignacio Camacho (18) – these are all ‘holding’ midfielders whose presence could free up Carrick / Anderson to be more creative.

• Wide midfield – Valencia looks like a good signing up the right. The left is a concern – Nani is inconsistent and often doesn’t contribute to the team effort. Park is an outstanding replacement, but I can’t see him ever being first choice. Obertan ‘might’ be the solution, but he is still young… Speaking of ‘young’, Ashley Young (24)  is one of the obvious contenders for the problematic left. Valencia’s David Silva (23) has been linked with United often enough and for good reason – the only stumbling block might be the cost at an estimated £25 million. Stephane Sessegnon (25) from PSG is a very creative, left midfielder, who plays well up the wing. Must say I got excited about the mention of Douglas Costa (18), too – but realistically, one for the future and not really an answer to the immediate problem.
• Strikers – no problems here, provided the other areas are sorted out. Owen should more than make up for Tevez, and Macheda and Welbeck look to be realistic first team options this term. Obviously, Rooney and Berbatov will carry the bulk of the responsibility, but there’s enough depth to cover them.

So, the problems are age, injuries, inconsistency and inexperience. There’s a gap between those going out and those coming through, and it’s not being adequetly covered by the ‘middle-aged’ fringe players. Sir Alex DOES need to spend, but not excessively – perhaps two, maybe three players should do it… Centre back, central middle powerhouse and a left winger. My vote – Sakho, Hamsik and Sessegnon. Realistically, we should be able to snap all three up for less than £40 million combined.

Food for thought, Sir Alex… I hope so! Please save us from mediocrity! We can’t finish below City!