Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was given a fond farewell from the Old Trafford crowd yesterday, as United beat Espanyol 1-0 in Ole’s testimonial. With some lovely link up play, as well as a blinding shot from the edge of the box, which required a brilliant save in front of the Stretford End to keep it out, fans were questioning whether Solskjaer really had to retire! He was on top form.
As time began to run out, it waas Frazier Campbell who ensured Solskjaer was seen off with a victory, controlling a ball from Ryan Giggs perfectly, before lifting it over the goalkeeper.
With all things going quiet on the Dimitar Berbatov front, I can only assume because we’re not prepared to pay Spurs off with dodgy donations like the dippers did, are we now looking at bringing Campbell through as our first team striker?
“Fraizer’s future is here,” said Sir Alex Ferguson, following the match. “We do not have any strikers apart from Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez and Frazier plays in that area. He is a progressive young player. He is quick and determined and he can do very well in the game.”
If the lad isn’t given a proper chance, then we’ll never know if he’s good enough. We got by without an out-and-out striker last season, thanks to Louis Saha’s sicknote, so what do we have to lose by giving Campbell a go? It certainly did do any harm with the likes of Scholes, Nevilles, Butt and Beckham.
Or, do we have to consider that football isn’t the same as it was in 1995 and there is too much pressure to be excellent to allow there time for a player who is a long way off being experienced and capable for first team matches?
Would you be happy to see Campbell being introduced to the first team next season?
Man Utd News 24/7
How come everyone forgets about Manucho…
I would LOVE to see Campbell given a shot. He’s been strong in the pre-season matches and looks a comfortable part of our squad. Personally, I’d prefer him over Berb bc as a young player from our youth league, he’s determined to prove his worth more than berb would ever be. Plus, having one of our young lads break into the first team has a positive effect on the whole club IMO.
let the lad show his stuff!
As much as I’d love to see the likes of campbell being given a prolonged run in the team we have to agree the PRESSURE and STANDARD has improved STEEPLY from the 90′s.
But IF Campbell comes through given a chance to perform then it will speak volumes for our Academy/youths and his own talent.
Personally I believe having seen Manucho play he would be IDEAL for Rooney and Tevez/Ronaldo to playe off.
Yes give the lad a chance we haven’t really giving any of the youngsters a chance since the class of 99 now is the time to be blooding the youth of tomorrow or we’ll end up like the gunners cherry picking from the rest of Europe manucho will be good given a chance too
having campbell and manchuo as our third and fourth strikers is ideal, they’ll get plenty experience in the cup as well as valuable 1st team starts against the likes of Hull haha
i’m not aware of Campbell’s areial abilities as i haven’t seen much of him, but pace and composure in front of goal are two assets that are essential to fitting in to this team, and from what i have seen of him, well. . he’s got the pace; the composure should come with experience, and i’d like to see him get that experience at United
i guess part of this is the selfish fan in me who is sick and tired of hearing about arsenals youth academy and i want someone to point to as a success story at united without having to point back to 95. it was a shame we had to let Rossi go as i felt he was real United quality.
on a housekeeping note, i love being actually able to read what i’m bloody typing without having to highlight the text, good change.
on the subject of youth and arsenal, what do you guys think about arsenal becoming a rare breed of club: a top four feeder?
i mean they will continually have enough talent to be in the top four, but if recent sales over the last few years become a trend, and the older players want to leave and have to be replaced by younger players, who are in turn replaced by even younger signings, then arsenal might just fit that bill.
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=iMUECS1mqBs
this goal shows composure, for sure
I’m delighted that Campbell is going to get his chance. Why should we spend close to £30m on a player to break up the Rooney-Tevez partnership that looked so solid before Wazza (sadly) started picking up his customary injuries? This team are Champions of England and Europe and can be so again they only need back up to keep things fresh and Campbell can give us that in the final third.
I feel this could turn out like the failed Shearer bid back in ’96. Rather than bringing in a big name we banked on a youngster our scouts had unearthed and he went on to become 2Olegend. Campbell’s got pace to burn, he’s a battler not a bottler, and the way he’s taken his goals in pre-season shows he’s ready. Give him his chance. Football is a squad game these days with all the matches we play and guys like Campbell, Evans, Simpson et co. should be kept around cos they can contribute a lot by allowing the boss to rotate and keep key faces fresh.
Yes give the lad a chance we’ve not brought through anyone since the class of 99 if we’re gonna do it now is the time or we’ll end up like arsenals European 11 cherry picking from euros youth teams
United’s history is built on youth & frazier has completed his apprenticeship in our reserves & at Hull with great effect.He has EARNED his right to challenge for a place in the team,we don’t want too lose him like Rossi.
unless we get Berba,it`s gonna be a very difficult start to the season…..As much i would like to see some of the young lads make it to the first team,i dont think Campell has what it takes to make it….we need Berba and we need him now.GGMU
Arsene Wanker, I agree with you completely. I am all for blooding youngsters, giving them games in the 1st team, but Campbell is still not ready to be relied upon on a regular basis. Course it all depends on whether we want to keep hold of CL and PL trophies. We are still not sure of Ronaldo staying, and even if he stays, we have needed another very prolific striker for like forever. Putting that kind of responsibility and demand on Campbell is farcical.
Can anybody else feel Saha’s pain?
I’m surprised that no one else has noticed that SAF explicitly did NOT mention LouisLouisHaHa (or Cristiano Ronaldo) when he spoke about two strikers at the club and the opportunity for Campbell to be given a good chance of making the squad.
The question is: is SAF’s statement meant to be part of the bargaining with Spurs for Berbatov or is it a statement of intent ? My guess would be the former because it’s going to be a long, long season and the only place that this team is thin in manpower is up-front.
Craig Mc,you are right.we cant put this responsibility on Campbell`s shoulders…..hopefully Berba will end wearing our shirt in few days.
and_all_naked – no one’s forgotten about manucho, but he did a rooney and broke his metatarsal, so won’t be fit for the start of the season. i do believe however, if we do manage to sort his work permit out (or has this already been done?), he’ll be a quality addition to our squad and could be the surprise package of the season. check out his goals for panathinaikos last season (the header is fucking quality), can’t wait to see him play for us.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-8c9BoeaOI8
quality tune too.
There is no need to put any pressure on Campbell’s shoulders! As a third choice striker he need only make sub appearances and fill in when we have injuries or cup games. If we had taken the view that we always need to buy £30M superstars then we would never have had an Ole or a Scholes (who started life as a striker due to Andy Cole’s stuttering start to his Uniterd carreer). I say that we should let Daniel Levy play hard ball with himself and let Spurs keep the Berbster. We should promote Manucho and Campbell to 3rd and 4th choices. We always have the option of using Ronaldo up front or playing with a lone sriker with Anderson or Scholes or even Giggs behind as other options. At the money Spurs are asking I just think it makes Berbatov too high-maintainance. Pay £32M for a 27yo to spend half his season sat on the bench? I don’t think so. Promote our youth, show some faith in our up and coming players and then we can have the pride at having developed our own stars insted of doing what the Rent boys and those tw*ts at Madrid do, try to just buy trophies
If Campbell is the player to fill Berbatov’s void, that i have to say, that void is faaar from being filled. I really can’t believe anyone would say we should put most of our striking options on Campbell, we can only judge him by a few reserve games, some games for Hull City(nowhere near topflight) and pre- season games(which is just as silly as judging a player based on youtube videos), we still need a clinical finisher, something Tevez and Rooney are not, Manucho has no experience in England and i don’t think the Angolan league is anywhere close to EPL quality. I’d feel better if we got Berbatov with Campbell and the 4th striker(Rooney won’t be fit all season, so he’ll get his play time), but if Spurs and idiot Levy still insist on that ridiculous asking price, then I guess i’d be ok with us sticking with Campbell, but only as the last resort.
campbell is good but we need berbatov he is the man for sure physically and experienced he is the man we all need campbell we play but we need more experience and dont forget manucho he is getting work permit so strikers every where lovemanutd. ronny pls stay we love u here in nigeria.
jimmy the weed,are you certain CR7 is going to stay????without a proper no9 we`ll suffer,just like last year.
Berba or anyone ….no matter .
Yeah give the guy a chance, he’s got pace to burn and is suited to our quick counter-attacking style. We was supposed to give Welbeck a chance in the Manchester derby at OT last season but that never happened. ‘We have no strikers apart from Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez’ said Fergie – that sounds ominous especially where Saha is concerned – wasn’t even mentioned in that sentance. Hopefully we will be successful in our application for a work permit for Manucho as well. As much as I rate Berbatov, Spurs can forget about getting 38million from us for him – fuck off Levy you cunt.
how do you lot know campbell or manucho cant fill the void, berbertov is the biggest waste of space and we need a clinical finsher shut up for goodness sake still ruud lovers who cant get over that waste of space to. having rooney and tevez does not get any better and there are still muppets who think rooney and tevez cant play together.
Myles
you nail it right on the head if it was up to these idiots scholes or solkjaer would not come through. and I bet these people wanted fergie out to.
Steve, nobody has said anything about Manucho not being able to fill the void. This thread though was about whether Campbell could do so. Just because some people have a difference of opinion to yours, doesn’t make them muppets, or idiots. Berbatov and especially Ruud (who did great for us), are far from a waste of space, they are bloody good footballers and goalscorers. We will just have to wait and see how good Rooney and Tevez will be playing up front together over a long season. Nobody really knows the answer to that yet, not even YOU maestro. I have my doubts, and I won’t apologise for that. Even if Ronaldo stays, we have no idea how long he is going to be out. Most United fans I know feel it is patently bloody obvious that we need 1 if not 2 really good strikers, plus Manucho and Campbell.
No one is saying they can’t fill it, but do we actually know if they can? Manucho and Campbell unlike Berbatov are unproven in a higher league so we don’t know how they’ll turn out, and this is not the season to take risks if they don’t work out. The Prem has improved from last season and i doubt we can get away playing without a striker like we’ve been doing for 2years, and i really don’t know why Fergie doesn’t see this and get to work on buying a player.
my apologises that post was over the top I am just angered at the prospect of losing a world star like ronaldo and who comes in a moody temper tantrum ageing donkey like berbertov who expects to stand there and players feed him the ball as van nistlerooy done. this is quiet strange before van nistlerooy comes united had just won three straight league titles and a European cup, van nistlerooy arrives united find winning the league as hard as the European cup and united can just about win one league title. Van nistlerooy leaves united not only win the league but win back to back titles and manage to retain the title, not since before van nistlerooy arrives and win the European cup which was strangely before he arrived.
berbertov is the most overrated player going, he is slow moody he is old and paying 12 million for him would be expensive paying 25 million is just insane and he does not fit into our system. We have seen what veron done he upset the balance of the team he will do exactly the same. What a grim prospect we loose ronaldo and what do we gain berbertov wont that suck. Yet know one as asked this question where will he play do we take away the strengths of rooney and tevez just to accommodate this overrated moody donkey.
I wish people would just remember how we have returned to be the best again and what as brought us the recent success players with movement not expecting to be fed chances.
berbatov will be sold by spurs.He has not played a single game in pre-season and i think Ramos is not a man who wants to keep a player against his wishes.I agree with u sometimes scott,but,i think sometimes ur totally wrong!!!how can u even think that Frazier campbell can be a replacement for berbatov i will never know!!!
Steve, no problems mate. I do think your wrong about Berbatov though!. He is moody at Spurs, but I think that is because United have been after him for 2 seasons, and as Martin Jol said, the lad gives his best to Spurs on the field, but problem is, his HEART is at United. So he does his best for Spurs, but he is miserable. He scores a lot of goals though every season, and to be honest, do we need him to be another Rooney, who spends so much time everywhere on the pitch other than the striker position?. Fergie himself said we need a striker to stay further up the field and hold the ball up.
Fergie doesn’t give United fans much intelectual credit either. Him saying we fans don’t understand that we can’t always get the players we would like. Chelsea, Spurs, L’Pool, Arsenal etc don’t seem to have trouble getting the players they want – so why are we lagging behind. Apart from last season, we’re always so darned slow at doing business. Fergie doesn’t need to tell us the patently bloody obvious, that we only have two dependable strikers, DOH!. I agree with OT Red, United need to move their arses and bring one in. How many of you believe we can retain the PL & CL with present strikeforce possible minus Ronaldo?????
GET ME KLASS JAN HUNTELAAR why do people insist berba is worth that kind of money only he and levy thinks so klass has the lot age time is on his side if not stick with campbell from what ive seen the boy can cut it at the top
nikelesh: Berbatov has played in pre season games for Spurs. He played against Celtic on Friday night. It looks very unlikely we will get Berbatov, unless Spurs can secure the signing of Pavlyuchenko then they wont let Berbatov go.
What is wrong with you United fans? The season hasnt started and yet some of you are already panicking? Since when did we have such little faith in Fergie or the players already there? What the other clubs spend is none of our business, and if your worried by Liverpool splashing a possible 40 million on Keane and Barry then I pity you. I would rather keep 40 million pounds then spend it on them. Benitez will be under massive pressure to produce if he splashes that kind of money on decent (not world class) players in there late 20′s. Give Campbell a chance he deserves a chance at least. He wont be thrown straight in at the deep end, hel be played sparingly and not rushed into the set up. So stop panicking and get behind the boys that did it for us last year!!!!
Gary, you call it panicking, I call it being realistic. I have always felt we need another striker, even when Ronaldo was scoring most of our goals. Sorry if that upsets you!.
It doesnt upset me. You say your being realistic yet we were far and away the top scorers last season with 2 strikers. You look over the pitch theres still goals from all angles and im sure Nani is going to chip in with even more this season. Anderson has got the world at his feet and can go onto become one of the best players in the world, and even tho he wont score huge amounts even he will start chipping in, trust me. If Berbatov doesnt sign its no reason to hit the panic button. I bet you United finish top scorers come the end of the season with or without Berbatov. Yes I would like to see another striker come in aswel, im just saying I am not slightly worried about who the others have been buying this summer. Campbell isnt going to be leading the line is he! He will get games tho and when he does its important for us to give him our full support, I am delighted hes getting a chance now.
Can someone tell me why Welbeck hasn’t been mentioned after getting injured? There has been no story bout him or what kind of injury he has suffered (atleast, i haven’t heard anythin!). Last season, we were hearing bout Welbeck is a superb player and he is good enuff to get a chance, but suddenly, nothin is comin from him. All i heard is that he was suppose to go to the U19s with England, but got injured.
So does anyone have any updates from him to where would he be next season and what role he has? Is he gonna be loaned out or has he had a very serious injury?
Gary, I agree about last season mate. We had Ronaldo on fire, and if he stays, that will give us more goals. However he won’t be avaiable until end of October. Rooney because of the ROBUST all out action of his game, picks up injuries, although he seems to get over them more quickly than others. If we lose him or Tev, and Ronaldo has gone, then I see problems, but hey that’s just me. I do agree with you about Nani though, I love that lad, I think he is potent with his deadly balls into the area. I wish his name was chanted a bit more from the terraces, he would really respond to that.
craig that is a good point about nani who is more of a goal threat then anderson. but look at barca in 2006 what if ronaldino eto’o and messi were injured you cant look at those outcomes every top club needs their best players.
I know Steve mate, but it would be good if we had 4 really top class strikers, not counting Ronaldo. I know Tev and Roon are, and Manucho has looked good from what I have seen of him, but with Saha always unavailable who else is there. We need another top class striker, who isn’t injury prone. But is there many of those Steve, I don’t know lol!.