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Manchester United News

And The New Number Seven Is...

July 13, 2009

Michael Owen.

Scott is the editor of RoM and has a season ticket at Old Trafford. He started The Republik of Mancunia in March 2006. Follow @R_o_M on Twitter or @R_o_M7 on Instagram.

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129 Comments

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Kings July 13, 2009

RedMegleeker - Rooney always wanted the number 10 shirt.

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AlexOfMancunia July 13, 2009

Owen will just be holding it for a couple of years until one of the youngsters grabs it.

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dumb4ss July 13, 2009

@manutdchampions2008

That might be true, bt we should be faithful though. We still hv Berba who has yet to show his full potential and of course the iconic rooney. Fingers crossed that 1-2 more signings will be made so that we can really maintain our crown as well as challenging for at least the semis of the CL cause at this rate the top 2 in Spain has really outdone English teams this year.

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utdforever July 13, 2009

manutdchampions2008... I think you will be swallowing your words whole mate come the end of the season. Michael Owen scores goals. And he will for UTd. Fact. Have a little faith pal, we still have the strongest squad in the league. Besides, Sir Alex always has a trick up his sleeve.

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11reds July 13, 2009

Two amazing Manchester United Videos that will bring tear to your eyes as a fan http://11reds.com/just-for-fun/two-amazing-united-dedicated-videos/418/

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manutdchampions2008 July 13, 2009

utdforever the current squad looks better than what it is when ronaldo was on board. C ronaldo was the ace in the squad the one who made the difference and without him the squad looks weak. valencia and the french winger just adds to the mediocre in the midfield area. and having owen and berbatov does not help.

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Costas July 13, 2009

@theroc:

Personally i can live with the team having a bad season. So i don't care if our only signing of the season is Frank Sinclair. What i would like to know is what has happened to the Ronaldo money. Simple. We are acting as if we never had it. Would i have liked to have seen them splashed out on Ribery and Benzema? No. But how can our only choices be Owen and Obertan? Valencia is a different case because he was part of our annual budget. The Glazers should just say the truth: the money have gone to the debts. The fans will understand. But you can't lie to them all the time. Of course, if United end up spending 80 million in the next summer, i will be the first to apologise. But until then i will remain sceptical.

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Sunny July 13, 2009

Ljajic will get the #7 in the future.At present giving the #7 to any young player will create a huge pressure on the player.So its for the better that Owen will keep it for a few a years and then someone (ljajic hopefully) will get it when they are ready

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manutdchampions2008 July 13, 2009

I got to say but man utd are acting like a small club. but the way real madrid show off their players you got to take your hat off to them. it is also a way to put a seed in small kids minds when they grow up I want to play for that club. the way united show their players off I am sorry no wonder we are not a great attraction anymore, it is so dull.

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bchilds July 13, 2009

Hmm, not keen on that but, there we go, suppose it is 'only' a number!

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Aidan Casserly July 13, 2009

This is interesting news .. going to wind up Liverpool fans .. But I'm much more concerned about the no more signings comments today! WE NEED A MIDFIELD INJECTION BIG TIME!!!!! We were made look like children in the CLF and need to address the issue in Hargreaves isn't coming back ... I believe probably Giggs and certainly Scholes are on the last season(s) home run and this issue is nagging on my mind the last few weeks ... hopefully, I just be over negative (possible) or maybe other fans feel the same. We could do with a banner head signing for sure there ...

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sreelalr July 13, 2009

VDS/Foster

Rafel/Brown Ferdie Vidic Evra/Fabio

Valen/Tosic Hargo/Fletch Ando/Carrick Nani

Berba/Owen Rooney

GGMU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

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MKRed July 13, 2009

@vinay nair

I'll take issue with your arguments about points I made earlier.

Firstly, with regard to the fans. I didn't advocate that United should make the fans feel important - my point is that the club should care enough about their fans so that don't feel marginalised, unimportant or irrelevant.

Secondly, the Glazers didn't buy United because of their love of the red shirt or the fact that they are great 'soccerball' fans. They bought United as a vehicle to earn their family even more money. To that end they have options: one is to asset-strip; another is to let the product - for that is what United is to them - slowly slim down with existing income streams servicing the debt, then sell at a profit the potential of the club; a third option is to invest/re-invest in the belief that existing profits can be improved. It's all right being idealistic, but the fact remains that today's football is among the most capitalist businesses around, and anyone who still believes it's all about Corinthian spirit is deluding himself.

With regard to shirt sales, United's deal with Nike - as I understand it - earns them as much money whether they sell one shirt or one million. However, the major clubs are continually looking at fresh markets, hence the assaults on the sub-continent, the United States and Asia. The clubs want new fans - fans, after all, spend money - and if someone has discovered or is developing a love for football before making a commitment to any one club, he may well want a club shirt to show he is a football supporter. Which was the point I was making with regard to Ronaldo-Kaka-Benzema vis-a-vis United's Owen-Valencia-Obertan axis. I was not inferring that United fans might transfer their allegiances to Real Madrid because of a shirt: what I said was that a football fan, not yet committed to any one club, might find Real more attractive with the players they have signed this summer.

There is another point. Like it or not, United are a glamour club, and their players have traditionally been among the most glamorous, football-wise, in the game. Think Law, Best, Charlton, Robson, Cantona, Giggs, Beckham, RVN, etc. With this summer's departure of Ronaldo and Tevez we have lost two of our most glamorous players, and I'd argue we only have Rooney left of that genre. Wellbeck, Macheda, Ljajic, Petrucci, the Da Silva twins, Anderson, may one day enter that upper echelon - but they're not there yet. That's one of the reasons I believe it would have been better, for the reasons I have cited above, to land a marquee name to compensate for the loss of Tevez and Ronaldo.

Signing Owen is a shot to nothing, while the fear among fans is that Obertan may be another Bellion (lots of potential but no end product). Two seasons ago Valencia looked a decent player in a middling team, but his serious dip in form last season must raise doubts whether he is up to the much higher standards that are essential at United. Berbatov was, in my opinion, a bad buy: not only did he fail to deliver what we expected, he also unsettled the attack by squeezing out Tevez.

My fear is that Fergie's statement today sends out all the wrong signals to fans, not just of United but other clubs like City, Chelsea and Liverpool, who are gloating. To be honest, you wouldn't think United have just won three in a row, so low is the morale among the fans after our pathetic show in Rome followed by the loss of Tevez and Ronaldo and then the absence of any thrilling signings. Surely that must be of concern to the United hierarchy.

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9jmac July 13, 2009

only fucking retards would have believed ljajic would have got it

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theyalwaysscore July 13, 2009

wtf is up with that? i would have rather seen obertan wear the 7 shirt (because he's french, just like the king) or another winger. BUt to be honest i expected Nani to get really cocky and take the seven shirt.

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KJ July 13, 2009

Best is rolling in his grave

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Trevor July 13, 2009

To be honest lads?

If fergie thinks giving Ownen the Number 7 to give him more Motivation to live up to his potential then i accept it!

I also think its another ploy to also increase our transfer chances this summer. Fergie has also openly said that he expects no one else in!!! This both takes away the desparation that we need another player! So instead of clubs trying to rip us off we can pay the true market value!!

ANyway, i trust in fergie! I trust in Owen - He is a united player, i support united so i support Owen!

If he plays poor then i will dislike him but he still will get my support!

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Red.Shanks July 14, 2009

@MKRed

Well said...

Btw im from Malaysia and going to watch MANUTD 1st Asia Tour here...

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mancunian soldier July 14, 2009

GET OVER IT PEOPLE,ITS JUST A NUMBER!!!!!!!

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Sash Sylvarre July 14, 2009

As much faith as I have in Sir Alex, this is a bit disappointing. Let's hope he proves himself a good fit for the number.

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christoff July 14, 2009

Even though I have doubted Fergie throughout the years, he keeps proving me and everyone wrong time and time again.

However, this summer has been a big disappointment - losing the best player in the World and not replacing him with an established name is quite de-motivating.

There was talk of Benzema, etc etc etc - we need a central midfielder who has pace and can run the show.

This is the guy we need: Yoann Gourcuff - outstanding and one for the future :)

Anyway, Fergie did say spending was over but then said there is 2 months of the transfer window and anything can happen - he will wait a few weeks till the prices come down (when Real & Man Shitty stop spending) and then pounce :)

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gingerprince July 14, 2009

I don't see any problem with it....if SAF thinks that he's the man to wear that number then fine by me.....

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Mannings July 14, 2009

Best, Robson, Cantona, Beckham, Ronaldo.

All United heroes.

Owen is a dirty scouse bastard, it's bad enough he's even wearing a United shirt, never mind our most prestigious one.

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Altonian July 14, 2009

My god the amount of whining about a number and how we aren't spending £80m is pathetic. I'm not sure what people expect us to do, the only people we could realistically replace Ronaldo with is either Messi or Kaka, obviously neither of these are going to happen though. Yea we could bid for Ribery but for £60m? Not a chance, if Kaka is worth £56m then Ribery is no where close to that, they can't even be considered in the same class of player. Owen has replaced Tevez and I fully expect him to do better than Tevez did (let's face it, it won't be hard). We have Valencia, Park, Tosic, Nani, Macheda & Wellbeck, I think between them and an increase in goals from Rooney & Berbatov (which I think will happen now Ronaldo has gone) we've got nothing to worry about.

Just because one player has left it doesn't mean goals are going to suddenly stop, lets face it Rooney, Berba etc had as many shots, free kicks and penalties as Ronnie they'd of scored more. Ronaldo wasn't a team player, he'd played for himself, he did well by doing so but in turn this effected other players. By bringing in Valencia it gives us balance and a better structure, with two wingers who are prepared to track back and cross rather than shoot only, it's going to create a lot more chances for the attacking players in the side.

I agree with what other people have mentioned, although Fergie's claimed to have stopped spending I think we can still expect one or maybe even two players to come in. If everything goes wrong we can always look to reinforce in January.

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RedUnderTheBed July 14, 2009

I think SAF is protecting Valencia from undue high expectations. Let's face it Valencia, however talented he may be and will become, will never be in the same league as Ronaldo. Oberton is too much of an unknown risk right now. Who knows how he will develop.

Giving it to Owen seems the only option available as it might be an SAF calculation to give Owen the confidence to step up his game. Besides, he's only around another 2 years (contract wise) and by that time, Utd may well have found a real young talented starlet to give it to. Maybe Gremio's Costa? Hmmm.

My initial thoughts were to give it to Rooney but other posters here pointed out correctly that No.10 is a historical number in its own right.

Overall, I'm okay with owen with the No.7 shirt.

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RedMist July 14, 2009

Wrong wrong wrong.
Owen, number 7?

Thats not right.

Is he going to play every week then? Hope not. But number 7's don't bench warm.
He should have been given a squad number, not a first XI number and certainly not number 7.

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azza July 14, 2009

maybe SAF has a hidden reason behind it. i can think of 2 possible ones:
1. give it to owen for a year or 2 in which case SAF has someone else in mind to give it to once they become regulars, eg:macheda or possibly a new signing he has his eyes on already
2. to make sure owen is united at heart now and show him that SAF has faith in him. getting the number 7 jersy would be a great honour and this might make owen want to play for united more.

and btw im sick of everyone bagging out man utd and SAFs decisions of late. before you all write a post sit back take 2mins and think why did SAF make that decision. he always has a reason and 99% of the time he is right. have faith

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Devilton July 16, 2009

Shocking to be honest...to give him that number. I dunno. I want to believe it will make him worthy, but i dunno. I think SAF might have made a mistake...hope not, but it sickens me that Owen will wear the number 7.