Manchester United picked up a late draw away to Lyon in the Champions League last night thanks to a late Carlos Tevez goal. We’d gone a goal behind early on in the second half after Benzema, a target of ours, put the visitors ahead, scoring a “goal out of nothing” according to Ferguson.
Nemanja Vidic was part of the defence that had to deal with the talented young Frenchman all evening and admits they had their hands full trying to keep him at bay.
“Lyon have some good players and Benzema caused us some problems,” Vidic said of the Lyon forward after the match. “But scoring near the end makes it feel a little bit like a victory.”
He also went on to hail the impact of substitutes Carlos Tevez and Nani. It was Nani’s wicked cross in to the box that ended up finding Tevez who scored the goal. United looked like a new team with these two players on the pitch, which suggests maybe Ferguson should be playing both of them from the start. Nani had a fantastic game against Arsenal, ripping their defence to shreds, but the desire for Giggs to get his 100th Champions League appearance almost certainly meant Nani wasn’t going to get a look in against Lyon.
“Nani and Tevez made a big difference when they came on,” Vida added. “We are capable of finishing games strongly because we have so much strength on the bench.”
Were you impressed with Benzema last night?
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Will be the best striker in the world very soon. Fanstastic strike last night.
Think it’s going to be an epic battle in the return leg at OT.
United need to pull out all the stops to try and get him in the summer.
I think he was fantastic, and other than his goal his strength impressed me most- the only other players I’ve seen outmuscle Vidic and Rio like that was Adebayor, and possibly Benjiani.
However, as hattrick says, we will need to pull out all the stops to get him. As Fergie has remarked, a chairman who negotiated 20mil for Mahamadou Diarra, (who would be competing with Darren Fletcher for status as our 5th choice centre mid) is likely to demand a high price for Benzema. You already wrote an article detailing these extortionate price tags.
Still, let’s go for it. He is younger and faster than Berbatov, with a much better attitude, so if people were willing to spend 30mil on the Berb, then let’s at least try for Benzema! (Give them some Frenchies as part of the deal- Saha and Silvestre)
Sam,theres no way lyon would want them two french players.firstly their past it and secondly both injury prone. they would want money.We must break the bank.He is quality.He has that spark you look for.rooney cant be trusted with chances as he misses far too many but karim can finish.He has a fantastic touch.The goal he scored yesterday was crazy.It wasnt even a chance.He had 4 players around him!Fergie knows all this.He is talking alot about benzema.I really hope we sign him.20 years old.WOW.
Men!Benzema is the shizzle for reazzle ma Dogs.Fergie shld do all it takes to get that guy an AIG shirt in the summer.He’s the ideal striker a big team shld have..If Alex succeeds then it’s curtains for all european defenders.The frenchies would be a good deal for starters.
I thought ben arfa was more threatening. Abit like our ronaldo but more effective. Ben arfa simply skip pass our defenders like they were not there. Although we had to thank our lucky stars he didnt get any of his efforts on target. Ronaldo went missing again. this time. It is as if he only have a good game against poor teams. Yes he scored at the emirates but was still largely anonymous. Nani is turning out to be a better winger and supplier for us now.
His goal was a real striker´s goal. I, too, was impressed with his strength – he actually dumped Vidic on his backside in a one-on-one tussle.
Aulas, the guy who owns Olympique Lyonnais (or is the chairman-spokesman) is a tough bargainer so you´d have to expect that he would command (and get) a very, very large price for Benzema, who is on his way to being classed as “the best striker in the world”.
So, I would imagine that he would hold out for at least thirty million quid for this guy, if not more. And he wants cold, hard cash because Lyons need to money to build a new stadium.
We’ve been told that the Glazers would stump up that kind of money for a “world class” player of a quality similar to Rooney or Ronaldo.
Also, I am wondering if geting Benzema would mean that the lend-lease deal for Tevez would be scrapped.
In the game itself, a 1-1 draw is a good away result.
I personally am not getting carried away with the hype already building about signing the guy. He seemed to do well and took his goal perfectly, however I have never seen the guy play before and watching him on TV against United I couldn’t really tell too much about his movement off the ball.
Like Manucho, Sir Alex Ferguson does tend to land players who are not being surrounded by hype and ones that are often unexpected by the fans and media. Nani and Anderson came in right out of the blue.
There are plenty of great forwards in the world and I’m not sure if we were going to spend 30 million he’d be the player to get. The best thing about Benzema apart from his talent is his age, a potential to grow with a young team like United. Or even Arsenal (FRANCE). However, the thing that obviously makes or breaks a player is if he wants to play for a team. Players like Evra, Vidic, Rooney all love United and you can see that passion on the pitch, if Benzema wanted a dream move for around 17-20 million then it would be a great catch and another step in the right direction proving United can attract the brightest young talents in Europe.
I just learned from TheTImes that Benzema’s price tag is an astonishing 42 million quid !
For that amount of money, you{d have to think that he{s being lined up for Real Madrid (to replace Van Nistelrooy or Raul).
Brillant Manchester United,A job well done.Benzema was fantastic and amezing,Great player to be brought to Old Traffort if possible and that l think will complete the squard.He is talented with lots of qualities and has the potential to grow and be a good seed now and future. Carlos Tevez and Nani made the day end well with out sleepless night.They did well,l love it.We should prepare greatly and wait for the return leg at Old Traffort due we are ever ready and hope we WIN.
Yes, Karim Benzema looks a fantastic player, and quite possibly the final piece of the puzzle to ensure european and domestic success for the next decade or so…but at what cost?
Lyon have recently slapped a $45 million tag on him which would shatter the previously paid price for a striker. Now, you can well argue that Benzema is worth 2, or possibly 3 Sheva’s…but can we honestly pour that much into a player who has repeatedly said he doesn’t have the desire to play for Utd ?
Things might change in the summer, and I’m glad that we are looking at this kid as Berba isn’t what Utd need (too old, too much of a primadonna). Neither is Huntaleer who is ponderous and slow and scores in a league where the likes of Kezmen and Kujt were considered successes.
Benzema has the physical stature and the skills that would perfectly complement our attacking options. He seems fearless when he runs at defenders and fits the ball cleanly and with purpose. I’m sure there will be a host of clubs vying for his signature and we could possibly face the likes of Arsenal, Real and AC Milan to land him.
Personally, I would put Saha and 20 million up for the lad, but anything more is just lunacy. Yes, he’s a good buy…but 3 times the price we paid for Ronaldo good? Hmm…I dunno bout that.
“however I have never seen the guy play before”
I’ve seen him play a couple of times and I can tell you he’s regularly at this level (ask Rangers !)
Just has a class of its own. Strong, quick, technically gifted, real scorer attitude, loves pressure. Can score from close or far, left or right, hard or softly. Can pass. Scored some free kicks (though he usually doesn’t have them when Juninho is there).
Simply the most exciting striker since young Ronaldo… with real knees.