25 Jul 2012

Man City And Chelsea Are Shopping At Harrods Whilst Man Utd Shop At Primark

An Abu Dhabi and Russian Billionaire are both in a swanky store named Harrods sipping champagne and looking to purchase the new Aguero and Hazard range respectively, whilst a Scottish man is searching frantically through the bargain basket of his local Primark establishment looking for value, he ends up purchasing a Kleberson suite complete with a Djemba-Djemba shirt and Bebe shoes.

Its a sign of how the financial power has changed in the top league of English football, the Scottish man once shopped at Harrods himself indulging in such well known labels as Rio, Veron and van Nistelrooy. Following a stop to the Scottish mans spending by his American owners he is now left to shop for a bargain, or something he sees potential in.

Dont get me wrong, the Scottish mans Cantona silk suite, Schmeichel shirt and Solskjear shoes, still look very impressive to this day, I doubt that they will ever go out of fashion.

Wealthy people prefer to spend their money on things that make them happy, if that means spending money on expensive high street designer labels like Silva, Mata or the latest pair of Yaya Toure shoes, then whats wrong with that? If you have got the money to buy top quality clobber you would buy it wouldn't you?

Why spend time shopping for bargains if you have the cash sat about to purchase the finished article? Manchester United as things stand will never be able to shop in Harrods along side Chelsea and Manchester City, they are at the stage where they are trying to out do their Manchester and London rivals by taking a chance on buying cheaper clothes and hoping they look better on the catwalk.

Money makes a huge difference in football as Blackburn, Chelsea and Manchester City have proved. They have all been crowned king of the catwalk in the Premier League era helped hugely by financial power, but in previous years Manchester United were too.

Recently Eden Hazard chose to join Chelsea for £34million after Manchester United showed an interest in him, Sir Alex commented on the transfer by saying "There is a borderline in terms of what you would think is a good signing for United", that borderline unfortunately for United supporters is a family named the Glazers, who purchased the historic Manchester club with money they did not have.

Sir Alex followed up by saying, "It's all about what you think is value for a player. I am not envious of those deals at all. We placed a value on Hazard which was well below what they were talking about." Which again can be interpreted into saying, "If I had the financial backing from my American bosses I would have been able to compete with Chelsea for the transfer of Eden Hazard"

Manchester Uniteds biggest summer capture has been Shinji Kagawa, what fee did they pay for his services? Its hard to confirm the exact fee as most websites say it was an "undisclosed fee", its a running trend with a lot of players United have signed, which basically means they have purchased the player but his previous club will be rewarded if the Japanese lad is successful at United, by that I mean trophies. This means United are not taking a big risk on signing the player as they only have to pay instalments if the reds are successful.

Is is something that is happening a lot at Old Trafford now with new players arriving, they sign for an "undisclosed fee", but their previous club will be rewarded if the player is part of a successful team, or it could be on a personal level, based on appearances or goals.

This sadly, is the pond that Manchester United are now swimming in, there are other fish in the water with them who are powerful, but it remains unclear if they can continue to overlook investing in established talent rather than shopping for value and a bargain.

9 Jul 2012

Anderson Is Sir Alex's Biggest Ever Transfer Flop

Many debates go on regarding football and maybe the biggest one when talking about Manchester United would be who is the reds best player of all time? Equally as interesting is trying to come to a conclusion on who is the worst player ever to play for the club.

Since I started following United I have not seen any other manager in charge of the club other than Sir Alex Ferguson who has been at the helm for 25 years, so I thought I would try and come to a conclusion on who I think has been his biggest ever transfer flop during his time in charge at Old Trafford.

Most supporters will already be reeling names off the top of their heads now, names such as Ralph Milne, Liam Miller, David Bellion, Eric Djemba-Djemba, Kleberson, Massimo Taibi, Diego Forlan, Juan Sebastian Veron & Bebe, one name I surprisingly never hear in that list is Uniteds Brazilian midfielder Anderson, surly he tops the list if you look at the bigger picture?

Financially most supporters would probably agree that Juan Sebastian Veron is Sir Alex's biggest ever transfer flop. The Argentinian arrived at Old Trafford for a fee of £28.1million back in the summer of 2001 which was a British transfer record at that time. It never really happened for Veron at United, so much was expected of him but he struggled to stamp his authority in a midfield that already had United legends Paul Scholes and Roy Keane in that central position.

There is also the theory that back in 2001 when United signed Veron they didn't actually require his services at that time, although it is believed Sir Alex signed him to try and take them to another level in European football.

The thing about Veron was that every supporter knew he was a special talent who unfortunately joined the club at the wrong time, eleven years after he signed we are now crying out for that exact same type of player.

Most supporters will base Veron being the worst signing because of the transfer fee, but if you are going off the financial aspect of a players career with the club why would you not consider Anderson as the worst? If you try to research the fee United paid Porto for Anderson it proves a difficult task as most websites have contradicting fees, United announced that he joined the club for an "undisclosed fee", the transfer fee Porto announced was €30 million, which was equivalent to around £25.6 million in May 2007, if that information is correct it means that Anderson cost only £2.5million less than Veron and the Brazilian has been a constant disappointment at United.

Veron could pick a pass, tackle, dictate the pace of a game, he had the odd goal in him, Anderson is the complete opposite of all them attributes I just mentioned, what is Anderson actually good at? Putting on weight? Pulling daft faces at goalkeepers when United have set pieces to try and put them off? Seriously though, what are Anderson's stand out attributes? Passing? Tackling? Scoring goals? Creating chances for others? Heading? Crossing? Defending? Attacking? Could any supporter confidently say yes to him being competent at any of them parts of a midfielders game I have just mentioned? I cant.

I would put Anderson at the top of the list as Sir Alex's worst ever signing in front of Ralph Milne, Liam Miller, David Bellion, Eric Djemba-Djemba, Kleberson, Massimo Taibi, Diego Forlan, and Bebe. My reason being that all the others I mentioned joined the club when we knew relatively little about them, so we did not expect big thing from them, Anderson on the other hand was touted as the "new Ronaldinho" and watching clips of the player in his Porto days it was easy to see why supporters set their expectations for him so high.

United legend Paul Scholes trained with Veron everyday when he was at the club and said the Argentine was one of the best players he ever played with, Sir Alex also defended any criticism of Veron from the media claiming the player was world class, has a player or the manager ever said similar things about Anderson?

Anderson had a fantastic first season with the club, but the seasons that have followed that have been hugely disappointing. Five years on from when the Brazilian first joined the club and you will still hear some supporters keeping the faith and producing comments like "this will be Anderson's year" or "give the lad time". Personally I just cant see him ever establishing himself at United and that is why when you look at the Anderson transfer as a whole against that of Verons, its a no-brainer that the Brazilian is the worst signing that Sir Alex has ever made.



Do you agree with @kevinashford7 that Anderson has been Sir Alex's biggest transfer flop?
Please leave us your comments and thoughts on who you think is the biggest flop below.

4 Jul 2012

Could Van Persie Sign For Man Utd?

So the worst kept secret in current football transfer speculation has finally come to boiling point as Arsenal captain Robin van Persie released an official statement on his personal website confirming that he will not be signing a new contract with Arsenal.

The players decision leaves Arsenal in a weak position as they are now not in a strong bargaining position when it comes to clubs approaching them with an offer for the player, they could dig their heels in and keep the Dutchman but would then risk losing him for free next summer, surly it makes financial sense to sell him immediately and move on?

So with one of the hottest strikers now putting himself in the shop window, who will be interested in taking van Persie? Stupid question really, who wouldn't want him?

Following a sensational season last year which seen van Persie claim the two big individual honours, he has now stated his desire to win trophies and feels that Arsenal are not the club to help him fulfil his ambition at the age of 28.

Over the years following knock backs by some superstar names, Manchester United supporters take any transfer speculation as exactly what it is, speculation.

As I ride me flying Unicorn whilst eating my way through the Candy-floss clouds please allow me to dream for one minute, van Persie in a Manchester United shirt next season? Please don't roll your eyes or tut or groan, why not?

Granted, I can hear the argument against this saying we need to strengthen in other areas like central midfield and left back, but players like Van Persie do not come along very often, and if United can convince the Dutchman that Old Trafford is the place for him to win silverware, then they could probably pick him up for around £15million as Arsenal will not be able to command a fee for him.

Sir Alex will surly be an admirer of a player of the calibre of van Persie, and with Michael Owen released, Dimitar Berbatov's future still uncertain, Javier Hernandez having a disappointing second season with the club, it leaves Wayne Rooney who is the first name on the team sheet and Danny Welbeck who United cannot put too much pressure on at his age as the clubs recognised strikers.

van Persie and Rooney would have probably been the most common fantasy football strike force last year, pairing the two up at Manchester United could be truly devastating for teams playing against them, don't totally dismiss the idea that van Persie could actually see Old Trafford as the place for him to end his career.

Obviously as I step off my flying unicorn with a belly full of candy-floss, the reality soon dawns on me that them spoilt kids in the blue neighbourhood will also be ready to declare an interest in van Persie and will be able to offer him riches beyond his wildest dreams to secure his services, throw into the mix the fact Real Madrid have also been mentioned as a possible destination and it seems that I was happier when sat on my unicorn thinking about the Dutchman in the red of Manchester United.

van Persie and Arsenal both have big decisions to make in the next few weeks, I fully expect Uniteds name to be mentioned along side that of the blue side of Manchester and Real Madrid's, I just hope that if Sir Alex does want him, he can convince van Persie that Old Trafford is the place to be for football reasons as we will not be able to compete financially in a transfer market that Manchester City and Chelsea dominate and boss.

Valencia Rewarded With Iconic No.7 Shirt As Sir Alex Hints At More New Arrivals

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has rewarded Antonio Valencia for his superb performances last season when he won the players and fans player of the season, by handing him the iconic no.7 shirt previously worn by United legends George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo.

It's the shirt that Valencia was reluctant to accept back in 2009 when he joined United the same summer legend Cristiano Ronaldo left for Real Madrid in a world record £80million transfer.

“I take the shirt with pride, but also with humility,” said Valencia. “The number 7 is very special. In recent years, few players have worn it. When I received the call [to wear no.7] I did not hesitate to say yes, I wanted the shirt. I just want to keep playing and keep giving joy to the people of Ecuador and Manchester.”

Valencia also took to twitter to confirm the news by tweeting: “I humbly accept the historic #7. Will do my best. Thanks to God, my family, ManUtd and all the fans for believing in me!”

The no.7 shirt had been left vacant by the departed Michael Owen who's contract was not renewed by the reds this summer following a spell at the club constantly interrupted by injuries.

Japanese midfielder Kagawa, who was signed from Borussia Dortmund for £17m, will wear the vacant 26 shirt, while teenage play maker Powell, who was brought in from Crewe, has taken Valencia’s former number 25 jersey.

When speaking about Uniteds work in the transfer market this summer Sir Alex hinted at more new arrivals this summer saying:

“There’s a possibility (there could be more signings). We’re working on one or two things,” revealed Sir Alex.

“We always try to get our work done at the end of the season – we spent a good deal of time sorting the deal with Shinji and we’d agreed a deal with Nick Powell before the play-offs, which was a good move by us because the boy had an outstanding final at Wembley.

“When you don’t get deals done immediately and you’re negotiating with a club over a long period then you can’t expect to just snap your fingers and get it done.

“It’s a matter of gradually getting to a point where both clubs are satisfied and then having the opportunity, hopefully, to speak to the player.”

It would appear that Sir Alex is currently casting his eye over possible transfer targets to add to his squad, but only expect further arrivals if the club sees "value in the market"

3 Jul 2012

Some Bloggers Need To Climb Down Off Their High Horse

It's easy to do and does not cost anything to set up, everybody probably knows somebody who has set up a blog on the Internet. Blog's can be about any subject, the majority that I come across on twitter are by football supporters.

It's only recently that I have discovered that some people seem to think that setting up a blog about the team they support, gives them some kind of status and sense of importance.

Some Manchester United bloggers suddenly believe they are actually working for that football club and have inside information on the club they follow, they are so far up on their high horse that there views become distorted and I actually believe that some of them think they have a chance of being the next manager of the club they support.

Most worrying to me is the fact that some of these so called bloggers are quick to climb above their high horse where they are content to look down and challenge other supporters about their views and opinions.

Being a blogger gives you no divine right to think you are better than anybody else. It should also not make you think that you support and care for the team you support more than any other supporter.

Football is all about opinions and it's what makes the sport so interesting, we have so many things to discuss and not everybody agrees with your point of view all the time.

Certain bloggers seem to think that their opinions are unquestionable or unchallengeable and this is where the problem arises.

I have no problem with anybody making a point, if I don't agree I will simply argue the point, but some bloggers seem to think that questioning their options is offencive and will go as far as blocking you on twitter or deleting your comments from their blog?

I run my own blog and I can say 100% that any criticism of what I write is looked on as constructive criticism, I would never dismiss some body's point of view without fully hearing that person out first, if I didn't agree I would not condemn that person for their views.

I am sure to some football supporters this will sound familiar, only recently I was blocked on twitter by two, shall we say "top reds" on twitter, my crime was to question and debate the points of view they were expressing, seems petty to block me considering I was not abusive in any way and never would be when discussing football sensibly.

I am not taring all bloggers with the same brush, the majority that I follow are run by people who I communicate with through twitter and are polite and willing to listen to your point of view, but it seems that there are some who need to climb down off their high horse and realise that not everbody will agree with the points you make, we all have our own opinions that should be respected.