The rumours linking Leighton Baines with a move to Manchester United have become more common over recent weeks.
Before the Euros kicked off, Baines was asked whether he would find it hard to turn down United if an offer came in.
“The United link is flattering,” he said. “There is no harm in people talking about it because it is a great club. But I’m at a great club as well, a club that I love. Would it be hard to turn United down? I’m not letting my focus shift to that while I am in camp.”
The price being quoted in today’s papers is a massive £17m. If Andy Carroll cost £35m because he was English, then £17m is a bargain, but when you look at the wider market, it’s a bit of a joke.
Valencia have just agreed to sell the Spanish left-back, Jordi Alba, to Barcelona for £11m. He played in every game for Spain in Euro 2012 on the way to them booking their place in the final and assisted Xabi Alonso’s goal against France in the quarter-final.
Alba had just one year remaining on his deal with Valencia whilst Baines has a further three on his deal with Everton.
Of course, the £17m fee for Baines is just paper talk, and even though the deal looks likely to happen, it might not be for the price quoted. It’s also silly to suggest that we should have got in there first for Alba, because it’s obvious his preference would always be to play for Barcelona. However, if you can get Spain’s first choice left-back for £11m, can we argue England’s second choice left-back is worth £17m?
Man Utd News 24/7
Was this post inspired by my comment five minutes ago on the other thread?
I guess the english market is inflated and largely driven by the largesse of certain clubs (you know who you are!)
More of a seller oriented market vis-a-vis buyer during negotiations. Hurts no one but themselves.
Fred – definitely. Or did you get some wind of StR’s new post and then quickly made a similar point in a diff post?
Before the Euros I suggested Pirlo was one of many midfielders who represented value in the market at £0 but people wanted more top class talent. Real bargains. World class players at cheap prices. I think I’m gonna stay out of this conversation less my brain gets frazzled again.
If there’s 17 mil at Fergie’s disposal right now, then a gaping hole in our midfield is begging to be filled with it.
Forget Jordi Alba, £17m for Baines isn’t good value in ANY context!
Atin – LOL not at all. Just a case of great minds thinking alike, I’m sure.
ahjs – Pirlo wasn’t available for free before the Euros, he signed a three year contract with Juventus last year.
@ahjs: But precisely… the point is if he doesn’t go for 50 mil, he CANNOT be “world class”, didn’t you know that?
Fred aka Glory hunter
think what you like
Spain or Italy – who are you rooting for ?
Jeet – wasn’t that 35 mil and above?
updated since Jan 2011.
Ha, I hadn’t seen the discussion, but the comment about contract length certainly inspired an edit
if alba is worth 11mil then baines certainly isnt worth 17mil, but if we do get him for said high price , you can only judge the worth after the season performances.
Costas – I aint going to go on like a broken record, but it is frustrating how very little we seem to be spending on the midfield, and fergie wonders why united have had so very few european cups. Did he not see how average CL sides were picking united apart
LOL nice one Scott. Good to see you posting on here.
Im just gonna take advantage of your presence here StR and thank you for this platform for so many reds across the globe to connect and share their love for all things Red and United. Cheers mate!
manchester united is considering a move for Wolvesburg midfielder Diego Costa who spent last season on a season long loan in Atletico Madrid
You’re welcome Scott.
@FITB
It’s the root of most of our problems. And Kagawa isn’t exactly the answer since he’s not a 4-4-2 CM. If we are looking at Euro teams at the moment, United are covered in terms of a Pirlo type midfielder. But not in terms of a De Rossi type of CM. Not as long as Fletch is a doubt.
Where’s sir cedara
Maybe we wud get a second thought on that.
£17m for a defender???
When we are crying out for a proper mid-fielder
I bet a bid has already been made
If so that would really stink…..
Can see this happening. Not for that fee, though. Also shows the lack of top quality LB’s around atm. Alba wanted Barcelona. We might end up with Baines. At least he can a good free kick and CK. Something our lads clearly can’t do. This will be Ashley Young part 2. Some not sure, others will happy. There’s a crazy premium on English players. Bent 24mill. Carroll 35mill. Chelsea probably done the best when signing an English player. They got Cole 5mill and Gallas going the other way? We always seem to pay over the odds…..
Atin – I really don’t have a preference. I don’t hate Spain as much as most people seem to and I’ve loved watching Pirlo throughout the tournament – the man is sublime. I just hope for a good game. I think Spain will bore Italy to death and comfortably win 1-0, put hopefully Italy can take the fight to them the way they did in their first encounter. A 3-3 thriller ending in a penalty shoot-out would suit me!
Baines is better.
I forgot the best one! Arsenal paid Everton 10mill for Fanny Jeffers!
Nice to see StR down this side of town……
I think Italy are gonna draw Spain into that false sense of security and then hit them real hard with pirlo, de rossi and marchisio leading the midfield advance.
All because Italy are the “pasta-masters”
+ madcap Balo is just too unpredictable. Might draw fouls aplenty from the spaniards.
Er…. you’re in cloud cuckoo land if you think £17m is bad value for Baines…
You cannot define a players price by how/if they play for their country…. Jordi Alba is a completely different type of player to Baines and was holding Valencia to ransom… if they did not sell him now they would’ve got 6 for him in january or nothing next summer. He had stated he wanted to go back to Barca where he started off.
As far as Baines goes there is no need to use the fact that he is second choice for england as a derogatory statement. It is widely believed, and I agree, that Baines is THE best LB in the Premiership and has been the top assisting defender in all european league for 3 consecutive years. If Everton told me tomorrow that we could have him for £25m then that would still be good business.
As an aside, unless Baines asks to leave which I doubt he will Everton will want extrotionate money for him and for that reason we will be priced out. Over the last number of seasons anytime Everton have sold a player that they did not want to sell they’ve made a fortune… with the exception of Arteta last year… Look what our noisey neighbours spent on Lescott and Baines was the one who displaced him at LB for Everton.
The good side to this if it’s true Utd must have money to spend.Utd are either broke one day,next overpaying,club can’t win
Simple fact that it’s Utd will in most cases jack the price
If we do get baines it will be interesting to see what happens Fabio also our linup for the first three pre season matches could surprise a few any ideas fellow ROM’ers?
WillieRedNut @ 14:42: “This will be Ashley Young part 2.”
Exactly – paying too much for an over-valued player for a role that is already well-manned.
Fred – I maybe wrong, but I find Spain one the most boring sides I have ever seen, along with barcelona these days. Yea I love sides who like to pass the ball, but show variety. But they are trying to pass it so much, it takes all the feud out of the game. And win 1 or 2 0. Watching spain , is not fun to watch. Its a frustrating process, they are no different to sides who park the bus, only difference is? spain try and do it by taking all the fun out of the game
I’ll have a go, Imran:
Lindegaard
Smalling Vidic Ferdinand Fabio
Carrick Scholes
Valencia Kagawa Giggs
Chicharito
Oh, I forgot that Giggs is going to the Olympics. Stick Park in his place.
FITB – I agree with all that, I just said I don’t hate them as much as other people do (which is a lot!)
Surely Fergie is extracting the urine if this goes through at £17m?
@Fred,
that will be the strongest possible one but i’m hoping we can get a glimpse of the future in the form of tunncliffe and powell too
I just can’t understand how could we spend a massive 17£ on Baines?! 1).there is a more important area,clearly midfield,which should be our top priority. 2)Clearly he should not be our first choice left back,even for the half price.
Ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaa!!!!
17m that a fuckin classic.
He reminds me of Denis Irwin. Apart from Denis was 17m times better!
VIVA EVRA!!!
World Class –
FITB – I’ve seen it from the other side of the fence though; I had a little vBet on Spain to beat France, so I was delighted to watch them strangle the life out of the game with their annoying little triangles after they went 1-0 up. Their “tiki taka” was fun to watch that night, let me assure you!
well 17 million for baines, even though I think we could use the cash has part of getting a midfielder, I still feel 17 million for baines is a cheap price. There is not many good LB’s about, so I would have NP signing baines, evra is 31 now, so he is not getting any younger, so why not sign a ready made LB to replace evra in the long term
World Class – Fergie has extracted the urine many times before, so it should come as no surprise!
Yeah, I thought the same as Denton as soon as I saw the Ashley Young 2 bit. It’s not like we don’t have another left back at the club ffs.
@Willie Chelsea have been the biggest victim after Liverpool (Johnson, Cole, Henderson, Carroll, and Downing haha). Mostly because £17 mil for SWP almost makes Carroll look like a bargain the other English players didn’t work out well either: Parker, Sidwell, Bridge, J.Cole, and Johnson.
Compared to Glenn Johnson £17 mil fee, Baines is worth £20+ mil. I’m a Evertonian and personally think £14 mil would be a fair price. Comparing him to Alba is silly, how many had even heard of him before 4 weeks ago? Even then being Spain’s first choice means nothing when comparing a player for another nation. Cole is the best left back in the world, Baines is the next best. United need a right, and a left sided full-back, would you rather pay 17 for Baines on the left or Johnson for the right?
FITB – long term? Baines turns 28 in December, he’s catching Evra up fast!
Costas and Denton – his penalties are better than Ashley Young’s, I’ll say that much for him.
extracting the urine is classic !
@Fred
Ah, don’t worry about that. Taking into account how quickly Young’s set piece quality deteriorated last season, I expect the same to happen to Baines.
I say go for the fluteplayer from holland instead. The young left back who played at the euros. We’ve got Rene as the 1st team coach and we have to utilize that resource to the fullest!
Aqualung!
the thing is there are’nt many top class LB’s around the one i would like to get is marcelo hes playing second fiddle to the best in his position at the moment he will be available at around 17mil but i doubt Real will sell to us any time soon
Fred – 28? thought he was atleast 26, well that signing if he is 28, does not really make a whole lot of sense, when there is only a 3 year gap. But perhaps fergie is thinking a shortage of good LB’s about, the only logic is? baines is the stop gap before fabio becomes the long term replacement for baines if united do sign him
Fact of the matter is…
everton dont want ot sell baines…
baines is in no rush to leave everton…..
if you want to get them to sell you will have to put a bid in they cannot turn down….
you can’t just say hes worth X amount so thats all we are paying because they would much rather just keep him and tell old whiskey nose where to go
not sure what divine right you have got to take any player you want for the price you want to pay for them
Dec 11th 1984 his wiki page
Evra May 15th 1981 about a 3/12 yr difference
Not sure about the signing of baines. I will love if fryers and fabio are given chance to play at LB rather than splashing 17 million.
Shocking news. After a disastrous season and two dubious signings, I find it hard to believe we’re even remotely considering buying this player.
Costas
I agree with you. It would have been great if a united player was playing in the final. Our players hardly do a impressive job in International tournament. Remember international tournament creates new fans of football so it would be great if united players do well.
For ex- If someone watched football for the first time yesterday would have but naturally become a fan of balotelli and could be starting to support city. I just hope in 2014 WC Atleast one player of us plays in the final
Two dubious signings? I don;t think kagawa is dubious and neither is powell. I agree we need to sign a midfielder
Anti Scouser = Moscow
Just spent the last half hour watching United playing in Europe against Juventus and Roma.
That team with Rooney, Ronaldo, (with Tevez at its peak) was awesome.
That is the United I miss so much…!
Dubious = of doubtful promise or outcome.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dubious
I’ve said nothing derogatory about the lads in my comment, but they’ve not proven themselves, at this stage, yet.
“Doubtful of promise” is derogatory.
AlphaRS – that team lives on through the power of YouTube.
AlphaRS – I don’t encourage living in the past but this one’s for you:
http://www.football-wallpapers.com/wallpapers4/champions_league_2008_8_1600x1200.jpg
And to think Jordi Alba is going for £12 million.
I gotta say. Baines is NOT WORTH 17million. He is a 27year old left back for goodness sakes and is not even going to walk into the starting 11.
This is a massive joke of a fee.
WitchKing – he has that “hobbit” look too, doesn’t he? He’s not for me. Send him back to Mordor!
We should have dominated the world football with the squad that won the champions league but unfortunately it didn’t happen because of certain factors
1) Ronaldo decides to leave
2) Tevez showed his true colour and he also left
3)Heargreaves spent his rest of career WITH medical staff
4) Carlos queiroz also left
5) We have not replaced any one of the individual that left
But I am confident we will again win the champions league and Rule the world of football.
Antiscouser – exactly what is dubious about signing the bundesliga player of the year?
You don’t seriously think Alba would have cost £11m if he hadn’t been in the last year of his contract do you? My bet is he would have cost over £20m so there is no such thing as getting a good player on the cheap nowadays. Baines has 3 years left on his contract so it’s only right that Everton value him at £17m so pay up or shut up i say.
AntiScouser does exactly what it says on the tin.
Transfer market madness going on here. 17million for a decent left back is not what FERGIE would call “Value in the market”. Baines is a good player but he wouldn’t be an improvement on patrice evra and united have fabio who i feel has more repertoire to his game and is more talented. The brazilian only needs more experience in order to be first choice and it would be interesting if he’s given the chance to do so next season or sent out on loan.
On baines, i don’t see FERGIE squandering money away. The cash would be best invested into another quality midfield player or a striker to replace berba. I just don’t understand how full-backs end up being worth above 10million? ridiculous.
On jordi alba, he’s quality player but i always thought he’d end up as a winger. If united wanted him then he should have been bought before his stock rose.
@ Ash
there is’nt much wrong with the current squad, last season would have been better if even half the players who were injured were fit it was a wierd season overall taking into account we lost the league by the margin of one kick of the ball
Im sorry mate we’re not here to give Fergie or anybody else value why should we? Your a global money making machine, so if Fergie want’s Baines that badly he will pay the going rate. Baines wouldn’t hack it at OT anyway to mentally weak and would go into his shell.
I will be seriously pissed off if we spunk £17 million on Baines. A good player but his fee does not match his current ability.
This happens every year since the Ronaldo sale.
Young at £18 million – 1 year left on his deal worth £12 million maximum. With 2 years left on his deal worth £15 million. Only worth £18 million if 3 years or more left on his contract.
Smalling £12 million? Really £12 million – again only a handful of games and yet we pay over the odds for him.
Jones at £16-£20 million, had done fuck all before he joined United why he was commanding a £16 miliion fee which we then paid £4 million more on top? Fleeced. £8 million at the most.
Valencia at £20 million. Remember what he was and not how he turned out, was never worth the £20 million at that time although will admit it was a gamble that has paid off.
It has nothing to do with “Value in the market” and all to do with whoever our negotiation team is. When it comes to buying and selling players and handling player contracts both youth level and senior, its crystal clear to me that the people working in that department are simply very fucking bad at their job.
I’m looking forward to powell and kagawa running out for united. These two players have class, they’ll bring flexibility, interchanging, creativity and a goal threat to the team, united have lacked that in the past seasons.
Might need a couple of more midfield players to step up from the reserves though. I’m hoping petrucci and tunnicliffe will be given significant chances and hopefully they grab it. robbie brady and josh king will apparently get a chance to impress the manager and if they do then it will only strengthen the team. John cofie might get a chance if he’s taken on tour and maybe macheda if he will stop living on the goal he scored against villa, needs to step up even though his chances are diminishing gradually.
Evra at left back isn’t really performing at the top level anymore. I would say $17 is a bargain for an English player. He is also good at free-kicks. We would need cover until Fabio is back at the club.
Playing Smalling/Jones at LB is going to be detrimental to their development.
NRD – English or british players are always over-priced and that’s the problem. I agree jones, as talented as he is shouldn’t have worth that much but english team will drain every last penny out of a big team, you’ll never get a bargain.
The biggest joke was carroll being worth more than david villa. 35million for a mammoth eating cave-man, how’s this possible?. Something has to be done to stem the flow. I can assure you that FERGIE won’t spend 17million on baines, he won’t see value in it and rightly so because baines’s ability doesn’t match such a transfer fee and i don’t think he’s what united need.
NotoriousRedDevil you can throw in the fee’s we also paid for Carrick, Anderson, Berb etc etc, it does seem that the club likes to be bent over and shafted at times!
17m for Baines does seem rather excessive to me and flies in the face of the ‘no value in the market’ bollocks, for the alleged richest/biggest club in the world its disgusting that we can’t compete for the top players but then we go and spunk huge amounts of money on good, but not great, players who are doing nothing to improve the quality of the squad.
I totally agree with everybody who says that we still need to get that CM in, why Fergie can’t see it is beyond me – can’t see the wood for the trees perhaps?
Imran
I agree our current squad is no way bad. But my point is if our 07-08 squad stayed at united we could have won another champions league by now. Thats Why I always feel Barca are lucky that messi does not want to leave them. Imagine barca without messi and Xavi, they would be struggling. I honestly believe we need to buy a hargreaves type player. Thats why I miss Fletcher. I really hope he returns fully fit.
What Leighton Baines does with a football, Fabio can do with an orange.
@NRD – We usually pay for potential though. As an example – was Ronaldo worth £12m when we signed him? Course not.
I’m not the biggest fan of Baines tbh – BUT, he’s a damn sight better than Evra right now. Midfield is obviously a priority, but just as important is finding a left back who can defend.
we need a midfielder end of…or we wont win anything next year
powell cannot be expected to work wonders in his first season,i think he will play alot in the reserves and a few cC games and the odd league game on the bench..
What Fred can do with an apple, I can do with a ping pong ball.
FFS,keep Fabio, slap the 17 on top of another 15 or so, and get the best fucking engine driver you can find this side of casey jones
Looks Modric to chelsie is a done deal.
I read an article wondering if kagawa’s signing would be detriment to tom cleverly. I don’t think it does because cleverly is clearly a central midfielder. he links up play in the middle with sharp short passing, he could learn from scholes in terms of long range passing but i feel cleverly can excel in the team with kagawa. Kagawa is more a number 10 playmaker, he’s a creative force in the final third, he won’t really control the tempo of a game as much as carrick or a pirlo would.
I hope just like sneijder to united last season?
What Willie can do with a ping pong ball, I can do with a marble.
Fred –
Powell didn’t agree to join united in order to sit in the reserves. the manager sees him as part of the first team next season and i’m sure he’ll be eased in gradually. No one is expecting wonders and of course pressure should not be placed on him but i think he’s it in him to challenge for a first team spot. I think he already possesses maturity rarely seen from younger players of his age. With that mentality alongside ability, that will hopefully make him fulfill his potential.
@Samuel – If Kagawa’s gonna be playing more as a number 10….I’m assuming that means Rooney will be pushed up to a more up front position……..which means Welbeck will be the one missing out? I’d be kinda disappointed if that was the case tbh.
I’d like to see Kagawa operating from the flank actually, like he does for Japan, and like he did before Goetze got injured for Borussia. Not as an out and out winger….but coming in off the flank to cause havoc (like Silva does)
Cracking good read on Denis Law “The Lawman”! For history buffs!
http://www.byfarthegreatestteam.com/posts/the-first-time-i-saw-denis-law-play/
samuel – united WE stand – kagwa is like a frank lampard, he is not someone that would control games like alonzo scholes xavi and pirlo woild do, that is why I feel we need to change formations and get away from 442. I think we should be moving towards a 433/4231, with carrick and who ever plays alongside him, and have valencia rooney and young upfront, and have kagwa be the tip of the the 3 man diamond.
Sparkz – I would rather united play 433, and have united set up like this
DDG
rafeal ferdinand vidic evra
carrick ???
kagwa
valencia rooney young
I think that is the way forward for united
I hope we don’t see Kagawa out wide. Fergie has supposedly promised him a central role. Young, Nani and Valencia are the more natural wingers anyway. To stick him on the wing would be a complete waste imho. He’s comfortable playing off the main striker. It’s a long season. Rooney might start up front, but Danny is breathing down his neck. That’s not fogetting Hernandez. Big season coming up for the little pea.
@Fred
I like it.
Thanks for that one mate…! That website ent bad
That team we had was awesome and it just seems like we have deteriorated since then but then how do you go about replacing Ronaldo and Queiroz? It’s just not possible.
With that team United could have dominated world football for a few years
@Fred
And £17 million on Baines?! That is a complete joke no way is he worth that much.
Just keep Fabio and give him a chance to shine…!
@ samuel – Hello mate. Yeah you’re right British players over inflated, I’d definitely go along with that but have to say detest it. How any English player can be worth over £15 million after these sets of Euros (with the exception of a couple of players) is beyond me.
@ Sparkz – The potential argument is a good one but for example how much potential does Ashley Young have left? He has attributes that he couldn’t use at Villa because they are a shit football team and he can use them at United. Not that much potential there. Ditto Tony V, what Valencia does he does to an excellent level but there is no potential for him to use his left foot more than twice a season.
£17 million for a 27 year old is not value for money doesn’t matter how you spin it. The Kagawa transfer was a great deal but even then we got succumbed by add ons much like the Carrick transfer, we more than likely paid the full £18.5 million on him with the success that followed once he joined. We’re in debt but aren’t exactly smart about it when we’re buying and selling players,
Still pissed off that we sold Ruud for £10 million! Even I could have negotiated a better deal than that and that with a club who has their own money printing service through the Spanish banks. We’re going to be selling one of our strikers allegedly, with our financial team we’ll be lucky to get £6 million but then allow ourselves to be fleeced when in the opposite position.
£17m isn’t the worst deal when you consider he has 3 years left on his deal, and is coming into his primer years. I have to admith that the Young deal was a tad inflated IMO, because he had only a year left (same thing happened to City, when they paid £25m for Nasri despite him only having a year left).
I’m a big fan of including add ons when buying a player. Coz it means you don’t pay as much….and if those add on clauses are met….well then, doesn’t that mean the player was worth it? For example Carrick was an inital £14m – about right I’d say. The remaining £4m or so was if he helped us win the Champions League etc. He did, so therefore he was very much worth that amount.
Evening dip shits…..
Great seeing STR posting here, been ages! So what’s the topic at hand?
Sparkz – i don’t want welbeck out of the team either but it’s a long season and welbeck would hopefully play a big part. I think the likes of danny, hernandez and any other potential striker united buy or bring through from the reserves would put pressure on Rooney to step up his game. On kagawa, i think playing him from the flanks wouldn’t be wise, he’s a pure number 10 playmaker, his ability need to be used to link up play in the final and carve teams open. Playing on the wing is difficult and you get marked out easily. only those that specialise in it will excel (nani, valencia e.t.c).+d
F.I.T.B – Totally agree but i think if kagawa settles and hopefully fulfills his potential, he’s more talented than frank lampard. He’s skillful, very intelligent with and without the ball, he’s very mobile and delivers that final pass that strikers will feed on but like you said, he’ll never control the tempo of a game, you need an all round central midfielder for that, we have scholes and carrick but someone younger would be welcomed, maybe tunni and petrucci will step up or maybe FERGIE will buy that central midfielder.
Willie
Spot on about Kagawa, I doubt he will be played on the wings……More of an advanced midfield role me thinks
NRD – I think that’s what football in england especially needs to be worked on. common sense has to come to the fore. Over inflating players price-tags doesn’t really help the players if they don’t possess the ability to match it or are too young. That’s why teams will go scouring the continent for cheaper and actually better players. As you say, the euro debacle should be a reason to cut down these ridiculous fees.
Cedars – Agreed. No messing this lad around, by putting him on the wing! We’ve got players for those positions.
i wonder how much united will pay for evertons right back tony hibbert, maybe they will tell everton to stump up £2 mil and they will take him off their books
Willie
To be honest I can even see Kagawa doing well in a 4 4 2 along side Carrick…..Welbz and/or Hernandez along side Rooney up front
A scouser with a sense of humour? Never thought it was possible
Erm, didn’t the scousers pay around 20 million for Jordan Henderson? He might be younger but he’s shite and probably always will be.
In comparison, 17 million (if it comes to that) seems reasonable for Baines who has been one of the League’s top left-backs over the last couple of years. Even if he stays until he’s 34 (Rio’s age now) that’s a good six years at United.
For all we know there might already be some sort of agreement in place anyway, since we sold them Gibson for an ‘undisclosed fee’. For example, 10 million plus Gibson doesn’t seem so bad…
That said, I’d rather sign Fellaini if he’s available. Or Strooty of course.
If we are going to spend 17million, then by God that money should be on a CDM, not on a 27yr old 2nd choice left back. This seems so simple it would be quite annoying if the transfer did go through and we didn’t sign a CDM. I wonder why some of us would think that 17mil is a fair amount for Baines. He would improve our first 11, just our squad. His signing at that price would be a complete waste.
Wouldn’t improve our first 11
samuel – united WE stand – fergie is just going to have to change tactics, if he wants to get the best out of kagwa. I think kagwa playing as the more advanced midfielder of the 3, with valencia rooney and young roaming is still a good thing, we will have plenty of attacking threats. I think rooney has not been great playing the no10 role anyway, he is our best goalscorer play him upfront. I think an attacking 4 of kagwa valencia rooney and young could really serve us well in europe
Cyril
But Carroll at 35M was a steal mate
Whenever I need a laugh I remind myself that Liverpool dished out 55 million on Carroll and Henderson.
Thank you Liverpool.
Cedars- Absolutely! yuo have to hand it to the scouse, they know how to get a good deal (usually the old ‘five-finger discount’). Bagging the second-best striker in the world (after Crouchy) for 35 million is a bargain.
ididnotzeeit
They’re always good for a laugh mate, pity that KKK left though
Cedars – Wouldn’t want to see that either mate. Cleverley can play there with Carrick. Kagawa’s best position according to himself is off the forward. Be that Rooney, Danny, or Hernandez. As it’s a long season, I’m sure he’ll play with all 3!
Willie
Fair enough mate, I just hope that Wee Thomas has a full injury free season……….I really rate the lad
Talking of absolute steals:
Downing – Absolute steal with 100 goals and 100 assists
Henderson – Absolute steal for such a “marquee” midfielder
Torres – What a bargain at 50 mn and some “performance” add-ons from the fur-blonde princess, an absolute steal, a “marquee” signing, scored some 150 goals for the blues including a UCL hat-trick!
Andy Carroll – What were Newcastle thinking when they let him off just 35 fucking cents? It’ll be this year that he will indeed win the Ballon ‘D’ Or, score 200 goals but with no assists, as he loves sleeping near the goal during the match at times!
I feel it is definitely going to be Liverpool’s year, after the year of the cunts we already have had!
Good afternoon guys!!!
Good Evening guys!!!!
Is Chiko living in 2 timezones? I get it, his bananas are reserved for Lebanon as Cedars is jumping on it since all day long, and the rest is in Africa! Right chiko my friend? Heard the daddy played real naughty!
Spending 17mil or anything over Five would only prove we have more money than sense.Give someone else the opportunity to sign him.
Some astonishingly ill-informed opinions on here.
Baines has been in better form than Ashley Cole for the last 2 or 3 years.
I’d say if we get him for £17m it’d be a steal, but can’t see Everton letting him for for less than £20m.
And to whoever said he’s like irwin, you’ve clearly never seen one or both of them play.
How bout Coentrao? Probably wouldn’t join us and also way too expensive but the best left back in the world atm imho. Great going forward, would be great support to young, but can also defend very well, and has the pace to come back from the opponents half…
@ Cedars
Yeah mate. I was always fonder tbh of one Fat Spanish Waiter. But the two combined have provided infinite comedic gold with their transfers. Sell Meirelles buy Charlie Adam. Sell Torres buy Andy Carroll. Just buying Henderson and Downing is a fucking laugh. God bless those Scouse cunts for making my days brighter
I sense a KKK/FSW world tour forthcoming, rivaling only that of the blue collar comedy quartet.
Speaking of a pity with regards to comedy…..I miss studs-up
Hope it’s back up and running for next season.
Prasan you don’t change
Guys today you opted for new topics
Topics that really symbolize this blog
I hated it when we spent time and space chatting about euros n balotelli.
Blah, blah, blah. Let’s stop ignoring the elephant in the room, lads. How is the divorce going to affect little Suri Cruise?
Keep yo head up!
The Baines rumours have all died down. He’s happy at Everton, isn’t the type to ask for a transfer, has 3 years left on his contract, and crucially, is 27. Utd very rarely buy 27 year olds or over, and certainly not full backs for £17m+, which is what Everton want for him. Can’t see him going at all.
Webles wobble. But they wont fall down.
Paranoia will destroyYYAAA.
If your penis has a second job as a but plug for boy scouts you might need help.
Go get em Zibbie!
SAF gets shit for speculation by so called fans, wow WHAT THE FUCK HE CAN NOT WIN FOR LOSING !!
For 2 maybe 4 years people bitch and moan we need an old type Scholes of 99. SAF gets 2 of the best AMF players out there. British brightest young star of the year. And if you who comment with such condescension. Kagawa stepped into the Goetze role after his injury and played better then a 35 mill prospect. I saw 10 German games live last year of his 3 Nat games and replays on Gol TV this summer. He was the best player on the field 6 of 10 games.
17 mill ?
My lunch today was 12 fucking bucks! 8 years ago 7 1/2 bucks. With this imposed # of British players per 25 how many top flight players to go around? Powell a steal, Smalling healthy would have made the Euos, Jones last years best of the young British. Hard to please a hard on. Lil Pea 12 mill offered 40 by Real, just fuck off some. Club worth 2 billion dollars, 100 million LBS turn over last year. New TV $$$$$$$$ wow if 1/3 of FFP gets going the next gaffer will rule the Footballing WORLD!!!!!! one of 10 best world academy’s in the world, some 8% of all British players in the PL come through United. Shit may 12.987102%!!!!!!!!
Hello Willie, so good to see your type here.
Zibbie
Let it all out my friend, do not hold back! Well said
By the way, 12 matches into the Norwegian season and Molde are in the second place just 1 point behind……Come ON Ole, make it twice in a row you fucking beauty
Federer you fucking beauty.
Wow, spooky coincidence. I didn’t even see Cedars’s message about Ole.
Fred
Ha ha! We’ve had a few of these on here mate
@ costas gaping hole??? Your talking bollocks mate!!! Only once Giggs and Scholes retire which will prob be at the end of this season then we will have a gaping hole. But for now we are fine in my opinion. GIggs can still put in a decent shift when called upon, Scholes is playing like a 26 year old, Carrick is still bossing things, Cleverley is looking to bulid on his performances from last season and establish himself, Park in my opinion is still a quality squad player and always does well when he plays, Kagawa has just been added to the squad so he’ll play an important role behind the striker in the middle, Powell looks quite promising as well and it looks as if Ando and Fletch might be on their way back so we good for now and I won’t be surprised to see Fergie not sign a central midfielder to be honest…
@ Bob – Coentrao is absolute quality! Been really impressed with the lad in the Euros. No chance we’d be able to get him from Real though.
I wouldn’t be disappointed to get Baines to be honest. He’s a quality player and will def improve our squad + give Patrice some competition and it’ll be good to rotate the 2 as Patrice is def getting on a bit now so let’s see what happens. 17 million for Baines?? Hmm I’m not suire Fergie would be willing to splash that much on the lad. 13 million sounds right to me…
Thanks Cedars Mr. Tree. Felt great. RoM has so many good to great dudes your type out number and out do the twats and trolls or wurms.
Yeah, you’re talking bollox Costas!
All this talk of bollocks and gaping holes is making me very uncomfortable. I just want you to know that.
Just thinking about it, I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE KAGAWA PLAY FOR UNITED THIS SEASON! Exciting times ahead lads. He’ll add a different dimension to our game tactically. Roll on pre season.
VIVA KAGAWA
VIVA KAGAWA
HE COMES FROM JAPAN
HE IS THE FUCKING MAN
VIVA KAGAWA
This is my rifle, this is my gun!
One is for fighting one is for FUN!!!
How I grew to love the bomb, and camel toe.
Singing in the rain, Just singing in the Rain.
There is no fighting in the war room.
Peace sign, Born to kill.
Evening United
Been a mixed bag today with the eye and the mind playing tricks together, however still have it under control
Went to school, knocked myself out in year 1 some kids were just so terrible it was incredible, but survived it
Had kebabs earlier, that will make Costas happy!
Tired, think its time to go to bed soon…
See you wonderful folks tomorrow
19
Well after Fletch went down then TC followed by Anderson before Scholes return, Rooney had 5 to 6 average games at MF, then after a tirade of early hat tricks and goals a lot 1-0 wins witch were great in imo. Rooney had to be the MF link to himself. Tuff job for any man. And no Capo Vida for the season and Rio for 6 games early. Most lost games to injury in the last 10 years by any team. We gaped for a prison rape scene and SAF got the lads on the same page got more points then last year wow.
What a team, tied for #1
What a club, goal differential from 20.
What a Gaffer, Clint Eastwood calls him dude.
19 thanks we all have wondered of your progress.
fuck me Mg mate … don’t give up mate,,,
Jesus i got fucking sacked on Tuesday …
done the rest of the week and finished today….
just managed to do a big shit in the ex-bosses shoes before i fucked off last thing…..
Shit in them and let the turds roll up to the toes after i had got me final shillings of course….
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS……
ji sung s – if united were fine in that department, why did we look to open at the start of the season? and how wigan completely dominated the game. So you think its ok to rely on scholes and giggs ages 37 and 39
Tom Cruise is to divorce after his wife, Katie Holmes outed him.
During a public argument he stormed off saying ” I’ve had it with women! ”
To which she shouted back “Oh no you fucking haven’t!”
Fucking hell, is that how old Giggs is now? This is getting beyond a joke.
TonyBee shitting in his boss’s shoes
Get well soon MG.
Fred …the fucking cunt….just had to be done…..
Nice one mate.
TonyBee – that’s the way mate, don’t let The Man grind you down. Just to cheer you up:
“Give it to me!” she screamed. “Give it to me now! I’m so fucking wet!”
Wait for it….
Wait for it….
“Not a chance” I replied, “you should have brought your own umbrella.”
TonyBEE so fucking cool.
MG fight the good fight.
I had a friend after being fired at a bar/eatery. His trained 75lbs pitbull could shit on command for in town living made easy, he backs his ass in a bush no picking up. So he gets wasted takes his dog in and had him shit on dinning tables!!!!!! Epic!!!!!
Could shit on command ha ha ha ha
He can Merle the Blue Pearl is almost 14. Went and Visited him and his master last month in Madison WI. One of the 5 best dogs I have ever known.
Has Xavi looked human? Have all these games caught up to him?
What is with ‘arry redknapp always claiming he almost signed every outstanding player?
Is there the fun of Tornadoes in Europe? Had a great thunderstorm roll though today. A Rock Star lightning storm. Most form at the front of huge supper cells. One rolled through. Saw cupping and some rotation tornado’s SW of me.
Just F”king buy Modric! I don´t care about value anymore. Just get some quality into midfield.As much as I love him, Scholes won´t be around forever.
@Ji Sung
Yeah, we are fine.
- Scholes even at his best last season didn’t look younger than his 06-07 self when he was 32. He couldn’t play at Wigan because 3 games in a week were too much for him. And that leads to his substitute in that game…
- Giggs will be 39 in November. A good solution off the bench? Yes. But when was the last time he played well starting a game as a CM?
- Fletcher is battling a very serious illness that drains him from his energy. And it’s not something that he will be ever rid off. So I don’t know what we can expect from him.
- Anderson? The player that as he reaches his supposed prime plays fewer and fewer games each season and picks up more and more injuries?
- Tom will provide an option. Provided we don’t lose him again for another month that will turn into 4. Because those performances that he will “build on” were 5 games, 10 months ago.
- Don’t expect a lot from Powell from the off. He’s 18-19? Give the kid time to find his feet at the club. As for Kagawa, he’s not a 4-4-2 midfielder.
So tally all that up and you get a nice gaping hole in midfield.
But don’t believe me. Just watch our last 2 Ch.League finals and notice how we cope without a player of Fletcher’s engine and drive.
Forgot to mention Carrick, but there’s no need to. I am willing to bet that barring any serious injuries, he will once again be the midfielder with the most starts…
if we sign Baines for 17 million I will rip all my hair out. 15 million NO MORE. We still have a midfielder to look at.
15mil is too much it’s true, 10mil was the original valuation and much more fair though with the English premium 15 would be the top of the market. That said for anyone saying it’s too much for a second choice left back you’re fooling yourself. I love Evra but surely after 2 years of subpar performances it’s time to find a replacement that can be relied upon and speaking of replacement unfortunately Fabio (though unquestionably talented) has been unable to stay fit for a long enough period to be trusted. Midfield is of course still missing a player as Denton is always so eloquently saying but that doesn’t mean we aren’t in dire need of a reliable LB at the very least to challenge Pat if not replace him as the starter.
that should say “17mil is too much it’s true”…
Fuck that….he’s a bargain.
If true this deal is probably rising to £17m and not the whole amount in full.
Baines Hmm….I wonder….how well would he do in centre midfield ?
Man Utd are cheep Glazzer nomics, fuck now shoot them if the spend 2 million too much????? WTF!!!
LB Leighton Baines left back
£17m is a good price for a defender IF he can defend, dribble, create & take belting free kicks with his left foot. He does it time & time again for everton
It is a big if, but our current left back struggles to do any of those.
Prefer we spent out money on centre mid.
Costas – what he forgets is? there is no ronaldo that powerhouse on the right that could score goals from the wide position, carrick is much older and not has good as he once was in the 06/07 season, fletcher like you have said about him, we look at the back ferdinand vidic and evra are nowhere near at the levels they were in that season. So for that guy to expect more out of giggs and scholes is borderline cruel. Fergie must sort this area out, I do not want to go on and on, but when a debate like this comes up Costas I have to defend you there
SAF will let the lads sort out who stays who goes on loan and who is gone.
Lingard, Petrucci, Cole, Tunni Powell all to get a long look in SA and China, He will look Anderson in the Eye? TC to make a statement as a good top flight MF player. A creative player in Kagawa. SAF called TC the best British MFer last year. 2 more still to come. And young talent when ever.
This new TV contract is the start of world PL domination.
Only is the suborn old Scot would take my calls and buy my favorite targets he would win more stuff.
Zibbie – fergie still needs what I call an insurance policy, that he adds a top quality midfielder, so it takes the load off carrick, preserves scholes and giggs, gives cleverly that less pressure of having to get fit, and fletcher is not forced back. You be surprised how much of an effect one signing in the most crucial of area;s can do to a sides fortunes
SAF can pick for attacking players as of now.
Rooney, Welbeck, Lil Pea, Kiko ( in April Keane)
Young, Nani, Kagawa, TC, Tony V Giggs Park, Anderson, Petrucci, Powell Lindgard and Cole
I love what many call holding MF player. I agree, still SAF might think Jones??!?!
My fav type player, Gatuso Keano Robbo ect.
Fletch my second fav by much. If he was and would be health 20 and 1 more CL as well. Shit maybe 21. Rooney loves him so do people in the know.
all people sayin baines aint worth 17 mill are havin a laugh he is probably the best attacking left back in Europe yes evra was quality and yes you can buy good left backs for cheaper but you have got to be willing to give them time and let them develope where with baines you no how good he is and you now he can produce the goods in the prem if not why did he get voted into the pfa team of the year for the prem at left back voted for by the players and i think they have a better idea what makes a great player than the avarage blogger spouting how hes not worth the money want good players put your money were your mouth is everton dont want to lose him so why should the sell him on the cheap just cause its man u in any other bussiness if someone comes in for you best asset then yes you’ll always ask for over the odds that bussiness and u need to reckonise
We still need 1 more midfielder. What if Carrick gets injured? He has a good record staying clear of injuries, but he is no spring chicken anymore. People forget the defensive work he does.
And yes, I am not counting in Anderson
Morning reds around the world,
i think the deal will be around 10 to 13 Mil with add ons..anything more than that is not worth me thinks?
Everton’s financial crisis makes them demand more, at the same time our financial crisis is worse than them
Quite sad what our club and its suportaz have been reduced to. Tbh besides TonyV, DDG, Chicha & to some extent Smalling we haven’t made a decent signing in YEARS!! Obertan, Bebe, Young, Jones(superman), Owen(amazing new no.7), Tosic, Diouf etc have all been substandard let’s face it! We jus end up using our academy grads like Welbz and the twins. But funnily enough we still splashing out over-the-top prices for them, yet: We are supposedly broke AND They clearly don’t help the team in any way, we could have predicted that! How we can let Pogba go and keep Jones is plain ludacris, yet we lookn for a CDM!! Buy Baines and let Fabio go on loan(can’t promise he’l return can u?) Even THINK of letting Nani go & keepin Young(jus imagine)?? All in all the team is steadily getting worse yet we keep spending on shite players that will def nt win us the CL(fergie’s holy graille) & keep heaping the pressure on our legends who should be out enjoying the sun somewhere(they deserve it) jus imagine last season without Scholes, damn!! Truth is any1 supporting this Baines crap fo 17m enjoyd last season’s nonsense and consoles themselves with stories of losing on goal diff, forgettn how we wer anally raped by funny teams like Basel and Bilbao! COME ON people! We ALL know why we are sick and what the cure is. Its a MF enforcer, that’s IT! We’v jus signed Powell and so what?? Don’t think he’s amazin & he probably won’t even play jus like Pogba! We don’t need a Young, Jones or flipn Baines!! They haven’t helped in any way and I doubt they will!! We welcome Kagawa with open arms but still expect more in the MF area! That’s IT! No hide n seek! Its honestly not funny anymore, every new season looks more bleak than the last. God forbid Carrick gets injured….guess we’l jus call upon either Powell, Young, future-captain Jones or Baines to fill in, won’t we?? #God b with us
The only news we want to hear is about a new midfielder!! Not a new lb, rb, ball-boy, assistant kit manager or whatever else!
(And for those hating on Evra: 1. he cost us £3point-somethng mill 2. he still better
Diablored,
what makes you think Young and Jones wont help us?
in my opinion, they already had a very good debut season with us..
we might as well say Sir Alex wont help us because he has just lost us a title to the bitterest rivals..?
i m strongly against our comment that Young and Jones wont help us..they are going to be the key players…
and mind you, Jones is still very young and time will only improve him!!
Zibbie @ 01;05: “Only is the suborn old Scot would take my calls and buy my favorite targets he would win more stuff.”
I know exactly how you feel about that. I wanted him to turn the RonaldoMoney around and buy Daniele De Rossi but when I phoned Old Trafford they told me that SAF was on holiday in France so I left the geezer a message with my suggestion. No reply ! Next time he’s in Toronto visiting his relatives, I’m going to tell him about his mistake – and duck !
I’m “worried” about this media shit-storm regarding Leighton Baines – who is a fine player but massively over-priced and already almost-28. Hopefully, it’s a smoke-screen. He’d be an OK addition but he’s simply not what’s needed.
Off-topic – anyone think that Italy will try the 3-5-2 again in the EuroFootieFinal ? I’d love to see it – it can work against the Spanish who don’t play with width and have no “target man”. Clog the middle and hit ‘em on the break. In De Rossi, Marchisio, Chiaglia, Montolivo, Bonucci, Maggio, and Pirlo, the Italians have a collection of excellent guys to blanket the Spaniards and also with enough guile to feed the ball to Cassano and MadMario. 2-1. Here’s hoping.
diablored @ 03:56: “The only news we want to hear is about a new midfielder!! Not a new lb, rb, ball-boy, assistant kit manager or whatever else!”
Why set your sights so low ? Why not two new midfielders ? How about Veloso and Moutinho – since it would seem that De Rossi is now “ungettable” – he’s the highest-paid player in SerieA and a Roman, too. He ain’t going nowhere. Pity.
Ooops, NOT “Chiaglia” but Chiellini
I don’t want Baines as I don’t think he’s all that great and there is much better value out there.We don’t need a left back as much as people think as Evra will come back to top form next season.I would like to get Thiago Alcantara from Barca though as I watched him in the U21 Euros last year and he looked top class,alas I can’t see it happening.Also I think we might want to consider getting Rooney out while we can still get top dollar for him as I don’t enjoy watching him scowl and look miserable through every United game like he did last season.If he’s not happy to play for us he can fuck off.
Absolutely seething with rage reading this post. And I suppose STR felt the same when posting it.
A CM signing? Very unlikely. Maybe SAF wants to give Anderson another shot. Furthermore with Kawaga assumed to be filling up a more offensive central position if we do play something like 4-2-3-1, maybe Cleverly / Anderson will be asked to take on a deeper role alongside Carrick, occasionally pushing up to support the attack. We still have Giggs and Scholes to call upon in reserve – and I really hope they are used primarily from the bench. As majestic as Scholes was 2nd half of last season, his involvement would again stifle our young players from coming through.
In any case, signing baines for 17m would be a fucking joke. Stop letting other clubs take the mickey of us Fergie!!
emyoueffsee – that’s the same thing we thought about Pat last year, how’d that turn out? I fully respect Evra as a Manchester player and person and undoubtedly his performances have been affected by the racism issue, his brother’s death and his fallout from the French national team but you can only wait so long for someone to come back to their old ability before it’s imperative to find at least a challenger if not a replacement. Also Rooney’s going nowhere, daft statement to even speculate on it, our team’s attacking side is built around and for him. He sure didn’t look miserable to me scoring any of those 27 league goals this past season, get over it.
Baines for 17 million would be a bad buy and Rooney looked miserable to me last year and the year before,ya know when he put in a transfer request.You might think he played fantastic last year and I’ll admit he scored a lot of goals but I felt he was average in a lot of games and Valencia did a lot of his donkey work.I’m not a big fan of Rooney and I know I’m in the minority but I lost respect for him 2 years ago and I certainly will never consider him a United great.I wouldn’t mind getting Fellaini off Everton though as I think he would be a great addition.
Would be nice to have someone who can take a decent set-peice again.
This LB talk better be a smokescreen to get a CM, we are a team in transition atm so if anything we should start by solving the most pressing issue. How many more seasons does SAF need to finally not turn a blind eye to the midfield issue and admits the likes of anderson and semi-retired scholes and giggs isn’t the permanent & current solution. There are so many options out there, M’Vila, Moutinho, Strootman, Martinez, Cabaye who can all defend and attack.
TBH, sometimes I just don’t know about Rooney…
Morning dip shits
Jeet
Rooney, first name Wayne is a United player, signed from Everton, he’s married and has a son…..What else do you not know mate?
Morning everyone.
@FITB
Thanks for the backup.
I’ll do the same for you on the subject, lol. For me it’s a no brainer that a fresh pair of lungs is needed in there. Because as long as Fletcher is out, our midfield is too soft. And that was evident in the amount of goals we conceded. Maybe Sir Alex is relying on Tunni to fill that role, but how ready is he for the first team. And like Marq accurately said, what happens if Carrick gets injured? Many people still haven’t realized, but 11-12 would have been an inconceivable disaster if Carrick didn’t stay fit for the last 6 months of the season. But we can’t keep expecting him (and Evra) to do so at 31.
@MG
Just saw your comment mate. Hope things will get better soon. And maybe the kebabs will help towards that.
Jeet,
and also he handed in a transfer request
Morning pal,
Che Cedara,
morning my friend..hope you are well..
###
Oliver Norwood joins huddersfield..
the lad should have stayed..
##
Sanity restored……..
Sandy Baby
All is well my friend, thanks. We are just over 18 days away to see our lads in action. Cannot wait, been a long summer so far
Costas,
how are you mate?
Long time..
it is clear that Tunni will be in first team, under Sir Paul Scholes for a year before he retires again!!
Tunni, Powell, clevs….
we might sign a DMF and that’s the end of our transfer targets..
The problem with the whole ‘no value in the market’ argument is that we are never in for players when they are great value. Does our scouting network ever identify targets from lower/lesser clubs/leagues?
Baines cost Everton £5m in 2007. He hasn’t markedly improved since then and now he’s supposedly £12m more and 5 years older. If he’s good enough now, why wasn’t he then?
Carrick, signed for Tottenham for £3.5m and left for us 2 years later for £14-18m. Chris Smalling cost Fulham £20k and signed for us 1 season later for £12m. Apparently we were in for Berbatov when he signed for Tottenham for £11m but we wait and his value goes up to £30m in 2 years.
Kagawa cost Dortmund c.£300,000 and we sign him for £13m. Still probably a bargain but a huge increase in the 2 seasons he’s been in Germany.
I know we can’t be in for every player, and we have taken ‘risks’ which have paid off in the past, but this way of doing business seems ridiculous. We are famed for our youth academy and yet we are seemingly reluctant to take players with obvious talent and develop them ourselves.
This ‘no value in the market’ nonsense only applies to the really top talent and talent which has been proven at the highest level, and this is entirely fair enough, teams need to get top dollar for top players.
Perhaps our philosophy should be more ‘the right player, no matter the cost’ rather than ‘lets find the value,’ but too often nowadays it seems we have to settle for our 2nd or 3rd choice player rather than the 1st choice, who will always prefer Barca, Madrid, Chelsea or City, which means we have neither the value or the right player.
Costas
Morning pal, why are you concerned about our midfield situation? Worse comes to worse we can always pair Park and Rafa in there…… Problem solved!
I am not a big fan of Rooney he would never go down as one of uniteds greats imo.
think his goals have hidden a lot of poor games that wayne turns out for us.
The euros showed that,
If someone comes with a bid for him I would bite there hands off & take it.
I never understood how come such talented striker like andy cole just featured 15 times only for england and yet players like defoe,crouch has had almost 50 games to their name. F.A have never utilised their players properly and then say we fail to produce top class player.
May be it would cost United $6 million more to teach Alba English
Critisizing Rooney for Englands bad play is just stupid. Englands major problem is Steven Gerrard. With him in the team they never relax with possession. The forwards/wingers are chasing possible assists from the overrated scouser all the time. Too many discuss football at sites like this and they are totally uneducated. In the last groupgame England had to take off Rooney, Welbeck and Milner after 1 hour. They probably should have taken off Young as well. Gerrard ran nothing in the first half, but produced a very good solitary second half. I still cant see him as a modern playmaker. Still it was hailed as his best England performance ever. Ridiculous!
The England team was stretched in every game of this tournament – which is stupid and what you can only do when your team is so much better than your opponents. Hodgson is the wrong man and so is Gerrard – as a playmaker that is. I would use him on the right side since Milner cant cross and also it would take some of the tactical passing off Gerrard shoulders. Liverpool were a great team with Alonso and Mascerano – using Gerrard in the hole. Some of us have actually understood why they struggle so much aftere these players left – can any team counter every time they have the ball?
Che Cedara,
indeed its been a long wait my friend..
July 16th is pre season plane take off
###
Regarding the Rooney saga,
I will support him as long as wears the RED shirt with pride and passion..
I know it was a bloody gross mistake by him..
Having said all this, i wouldnt be surprised if the worst happens, because no one can cross lines with Sir Alex and in such cases he is cent percent right..
club first, then the rest..
@Sandy
Hi mate. Hope you are well. If that’s the plan, then he has to freature in the pre season tour. Honestly, I’d rather see him play at CM instead of Giggs next season. Fergie took the gamble to put his young strikers ahead of Berba and he has to do the same with his midfield. Don’t know if this is his last season or not, but we have to see some kind of improvement on this situation this season. 3 of our CMs are over 30 and the other 3 keep raising questions about their fitness.
@Cedars
Thanks mate. Now I am relaxed!
Not all this Rooney bollocks again for fucks sake………..England failed because of him, he is a scouser, he is ugly as fuck, I will never forgive him blah blah blah…..
Not saying everyone should like him, but to doubt for one second that he has been our most important player is daft…….Of course he will have his off days, which player doesn’t?
ROONEY ROONEY ROONEY
Don the shirt and this fool will always support you
Ash
Any Cole was always and bizarrely excluded from the England set up……It was shameful to be honest when you consider his goal scoring record
#Andy…..
@ costas I know we DO need a centre midfield BUT imo we only need 1 next season when Giggs and Scholes leave. Let Cleverley try and make the position his own this season alongside Carrick. He’s got the ability there’s no doubt about it…he just needs to stay injury free and get given a chance by the Gaffer. Giggs and Scholes prob have a season left at the club and they’ll play their bit that’s for sure. I agree Fletcher most probably won’t ever come back to playing football again. I understand the illness he has. My dad has the same illness and I know its no joke whatsoever! I asked my dad if Fletcher would play for United again and he said “he’s fucked” BUT let’s be honest here he’s fucking Darren Fletcher so I won’t be surprised to see him make a recovery and continue playing for United sometime this coming season. As for Anderson, I hope Fergie doesn’t sell him and gives him 1 more chance as the lad is immensely talented! Just look how well he started last season alongside Cleverley! The 2 were incredible together! If he can stay injury free next season and I know its a tough ask but if he does so, we have a quality centre midfielder in Anderson! It also looks as if maybe 1 or 2 youngsters may well be involved as well like Ryan Tunners, Brady, Petrucci etc as its likely they’ll all be going on pre season tour with the rest of the 1st team squad so who knows lads, maybe a xouple of them will impress and break into the 1st team squad next season. Petruciii for me has the best chance! I’ve never seen a player dominate Reserves football quite like he dud last season. He was a joy to watch and I hope he gets his chance on this pre season tour if he goes! And now with Pogba out of the picture, Petrucci and Tunnicliffe can shine!
I also have to say that if we needed a midfielder so badly, Ferguson would have already signed one to be fair! He knows what he’s doing lads! He’s no mug! We all know he likes to do his business early so I wouldn’t be surprised as I say again – to not see United sign a central midfielder! Were OK for another season and that’s just my opinion and that’s all.
@ lawman 10 first slap yourself a couple times, then go buy the DVD ‘Rooney Legend’ or something like that. Its a dvd with basically every goal the lad has scored for United during his time with the Red Devils! I know people prob think I’m bloody insane when I say this, but I wouldn’t sell Wazza for any player in world football at the moment – not even Messi! Rooney is on his way to achieving greatness at this club and he has a great chance of breaking Charltons and Laws records of goals scored! He’s a real United Legend in the making! He’s an incredible player! He has everything in my opinion! To slate a player of his quality is just ridiculous really! Get a grip fella!
If anyone is uneducated then it’s you for assuming gerrard can play on the wing. It’s no new inventive phenomenon to know that gerrard is a decent but over-hyped player. He’s never going to be an all round central midfielder. His passing and playmaking skills are non-existent, he lacks vision and that ability to find a final crucial pass. I agree that having him and a couple of technically inept players have been and will continue to be detrimental to that squad.
To gain success, the rigid system they play will have to be scrapped. Technically gifted players that can glide acrosshe pitch, comfortable and composed in possession will be required. There’s wilshere, cleverly, leon britton, michael carrick e.t.c, these guys rarely lose the ball, they’re unlikely to look for unnecessary glory as wel with hopeless long hoof up top.
To get the best out of Rooney, england require quality. They need intelligent thinking players, they need mobile interchanging players. Rooney needs to be set free to roam and the pressure eased on his shoulders.
The question is, has hodgson got the tactical knowledge to implement a successful system, has he got the steel to drop the big time charlies, the egotistic fools that run the camp? No, he’s too star-struck. He wants to manage the supposedly great steven gerrard, john terry e.t.c. He still believes 4-4-2 works at the highest level, he still picks work-man like average at best players (parker, henderson, andy carroll, milner) over quality with finesse. He claims there will be a revolution but i can assure anyone that he’d still remain pragmatic as ever, he’d rather have attacking players back defending rather than imposing their ability on the opposition. For me, it will be the same old. The england national team has deeper problems, a change in mentality would be a start.
I’m not sure United really need Baines. I admit Evra had an average season but he’s still pretty consistent and relatively less injury-prone. If anything United need a more experienced and settled right-back. Having signed Kagawa I don’t think Fergie is going to sign another ‘playmaker’ now, especially with Scholes agreeing to play one more year. One player that United could do with is Miguel Veloso. I’m not convinced Carrick is a big-game player. He is alright for most games in the EPL but when it comes to rubbing shoulders with the big boys he hardly makes an impact. Veloso could be a great addition for the defensive midfield position and a ball winner. He can also play at left back so that’s a huge plus. The fee might even suit the Glazers.
Morning you pussy whipped fuck bags.
Gopher – Seriosly? Ronaldo? Da Silvas, Pique, Rossi, Powell…. I could go on!
Pussy whipped fuck bags!! ha ha ha ha
And I thought it could not get better
I blame Rooney for events in Syria, seems Milner tried his best there and was awarded with a bumper new deal at city and a guaranteed starting place for England
Mike
Was Seriously a player we ever had? Surely you cannot be serious
rooneys fault again, call the press lol. in all fairness it does seem like rooney has lost his drive.i used to love th fella and his passionate performances but recently he dont seem to give a shit.lost all his confidence or drive or summit. his touch has become terrible.i reckon its karma for holdin our club to ransom.i will always support anyone who pulls on the red shirt but i got no respect for the man and i couldnt give a shit if he left.mite even be quite happy bout it if he did lol. united>money!!
@Ji Sung
I know pal. Different opinions are what make the world interesting.
Wasn’t trying to be smart about Fletcher’s illness. Sorry to hear your father has it too. Don’t know what to expect on this matter. Other folks who also suffer from this condition have said the same thing. It’s doubtful he will ever be the Fletcher of old again. Maybe he will have a roll in a 3 man midfield where he won’t have to go box to box. Maybe we will stick him in a Makelele role. Whatever the case, I hope the lad has a healthy life first and foremost.
As for Ando, believe it or not, I was one of his biggest supporters. King Eric can attest! But he’s frustrated me. Not by his form. I also defended him here last season when fans were having a go at him. I just don’t know how reliable he is anymore. At 24, he should be healthy as a horse. Instead, he still seems to battle that weight issue and can’t seem to stay injury free. On paper, he was (and could still be) the solution to our midfield problem. But will it ever happen? It’s now been 5 years since his first season where he impressed everyone.
Anyway, we will see. Like I said, the midfield needs something fresh. From somewhere. Whether it’s a fit Tom, Tunni, Petrucci (who I’ve waited for 3 years to see in the first team) or a new midfielder. We just can’t rely on the same people anymore. And I am not sure Carrick can withstand another grueling season.
@ ji sung………………….its all about opinions and I cannot see why there is such fuss about rooney
I just dont rate him and yes he could go on beat Sir Bobbys goal scoring record but does that make him a better player? no sir it does not.
lawman – have you heard anything about a medical booked for a certain North West based left-back?
@lawman – ever since Ronaldo went to Madrid the player that’s stepped up the most for me is Wayne Rooney!
personally i think we should offload some deadwood and go for balotelli…………..i like his style and theres no doubt the boy can play!
while rooney has done well. i still feel his first touch has gone terrible!. he cant seen to control a ball anymore
FUCK OFF AND DIE SLOW
SELL ROONEY!!!!!
JUNE 30, 2012 AT 06:03
emyoueffsee says:
Baines for 17 million would be a bad buy and Rooney looked miserable to me last year and the year before,ya know when he put in a transfer request.You might think he played fantastic last year and I’ll admit he scored a lot of goals but I felt he was average in a lot of games and Valencia did a lot of his donkey work.I’m not a big fan of Rooney and I know I’m in the minority but I lost respect for him 2 years ago and I certainly will never consider him a United great.I wouldn’t mind getting Fellaini off Everton though as I think he would be a great addition.
WOW FOR FUCKING REAL AS READ SOME SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!
I HATE KNOCKING A MAN UTD MAN TO SUPPORT ANOTHER BUT!!!!!!!!!!
PADDY SAID WHERE IS THE CLUBS AMBITION!!!!!!
CAUSED A MUTINY FOR HIS NATION AT THE WORLD CUP, AS WE SHOULD WE SUPPORT HIM!!!!!!!!
FOR ALL ROONEY HATERS !!!!
FUCK OFF!!!!
FUCK OFF!!!!
FUCK OFF!!!!
FUCK OFF!!!!
FUCK OFF!!!!
FUCK OFF!!!!
FUCK OFF!!!!
FUCK OFF!!!!
dasilvatwins says:
while rooney has done well. i still feel his first touch has gone terrible!. he cant seen to control a ball anymore
dO YOU WATCH THE GAMES OF mAN UTD?????????
AFTER A LAYOFF OF ONE GAME IT TAKES HIM 2 GAMES TO GET HIS TOUCH BACK!!!!!!!!!!
BLIND FUCKS REPEATING A KEEN OBSERVATION BY A REG. JUST LIKE THE UK RAGS!!!!!!!!!!
holy fucking smokes 17 millon really ???? baines is a decent full back but the premium on epl players is fucking shocking given Alba whos looked quality went 4 less and is younger and better in my humble view
if were chasing a left back thats where we should have tried to go no matter how slim a chance with we had with barca involved
Don’t want Baines. Haven’t seen anything yet in Zeki Fryers that makes me think he couldn’t handle 30+ games a season if called upon.
well,maybe because england first choice left back is the best LB in the world? :@ LOL
for me only good value in the market is Eriksen…he will cost 30 mils, and we won t have a chance to buy him, becuase big clubs will try to get him…same happend with Modric…now we have to spent big…Sneijder also…
I just think that we recognize too late good players on the market…We buy one good player like Hernandez, then miss 3….
i dont know what, but my opinion is that something is wrong…a lot of good young players didnt want to sign…
Baines is a £5 million player. No more.
To pay any more for a player of his limited talent is madness.
If Fergie pays the reported £15 million then he can’t really complain if other clubs load up their selling price simply because its UTD wanting one of their players.
Fergie would be better off paying Fryers what he wants rather than waste money on players of Baines’ standard.
The same goes for Fellini – another player far below UTD’s standard.
Eriksen? He was shocking at the Euros. Safely say, he’s over hyped. Kagawa is a better player. We need something different in CM. Maybe Moutinho is worth a gamble. He has impressed this Euros. Seen him win a few tackles as well. I think he’s developed into an all round midfielder. Gonna be costly, though. Quality usually does….
Fergie is stupid. fuck off.
Willierednut
Absolutely agree with you, Eriksen is overrated in my opinion. Has great potential of course, but don’t think he is world class. On the other hand, I think Moutinho is one of the best all out midfielders around as they are becoming more and more rare. If you look at teams throughout Europe, I would say there are about 10 quality all out midfielders, and in those 10 I would put in Moutinho. Great player, and would defo fit into the United squad, but as you said, Porto always have a knack of making there players bloody expensive!
I think we really need to look at the bigger picture – fair enough Alba cost Barca £11m, but we need to stop thinking about them so much and focus on ourselves – if we were able to get Baines for £15m and his contribution helped us to win the prem back then I think that’d represent good value. After all, I think most people on here would agree with me that Evra was a liability last year and was definitely a weak link in a defence that was already struggling without the influence of Vidic. There are other options – Aly Cissokho, Bryan Oviedo…maybe they might be worth a look and may cost less than Baines, but I think my main concern is getting someone to give Evra some competition at left back, and hopefully get him out of the team!
In terms of Moutinho, I’m not sure he’s a necessity in the same way as a new left back is. We’ve got Giggs, Scholes, Anderson, Powell, Carrick, Cleverley, Kagawa, possibly Fletcher if he ever comes back to play in midfield, whereas at left back we literally have nobody to cover Evra, especially as Fabio has definitely gone to QPR now and Fryers doesn’t seem to be signing a new contract. When Giggs and Scholes retire next season, I think that’ll be the time Fergie goes into the market for a solid new midfielder…I don’t fully agree with that because we were weak in midfield last year, but I was more worried about our defensive frailties and we clearly don’t have a bottomless pit of cash to be playing with.