Clearly it’s open season on Manchester United. Even regular, middle of the road journalists and pundits are taking this opportunity to get in touch with their inner ABUs. United, Ed Woordward and Van Gaal can do no right at this point. Occasional pot shots at Moyes and Fergie are also fair game. It’s almost like when Ferguson retired, it allowed people to feed old grudges without fear of reprisal from the godfather.
A number of broad accusations are raised on a daily basis in the papers and on punditry panels. They are broadly, that Manchester United:
– have lost their soul by jettisoning home grown players for foreign ones
– resorted to panic buying and paying way over the odds
– have a CEO who is clueless in the transfer market
– have a manager whose much vaunted philosophy is not working
– bought players they don’t need, while neglecting the gaps in the current squad.
Let’s look at the first one. Many, many writers and pundits have shared this view, most recently, Paul Wilson in the Guardian. But also ex-coaches (Phelan) and ex-players (Ferdinand). United have clearly lost their souls. Look at the sale of Danny Welbeck and Cleverly, in favour of Falcao and Di Maria, they say. Let’s first kill the footballing argument here. Which club in it’s right mind, if it could afford them would eschew the talents of Falcao and Di Maria, and keep Welbeck and Cleverley on grounds of sentimentality and club tradition? Please put your hands up so we can spot you.
We get it, most United fans do. Danny Welbeck is a gem of a guy. One of the nicest footballers to have come through in the past decade. Athletic, strong, a team player, very good on the ball, and with a great work ethic to boot. But for a striker, terribly goal shy. 20 goals in 90 appearances tells its own tale. A terrific squad player but Van Gaal probably explained to him that he wasn’t going to be first choice or even second or third, as a striker. Against Bayern, when picked to play, he was denied by Neuer as he tried to chip the keeper when through on goal. This although, apparently the coaching team had instructed him to shoot low against Neuer because of the way the keeper spreads himself off the ground. That was the moment for a cool finish which may have taken Welbeck’s career in a different trajectory. Welbeck is, for all his good qualities is not a striker who finishes coolly. I hope being the main striker at Arsenal will convert him into one. I really do.
As for Cleverley, I have myself on a number of occasions, sung his praises and suggested that he could be the great pass and move footballer that United (and England) need. But he too is a case of arrested development. He, along with a host of others, represents the classic English problem of promising 18 year olds turning into average 24 year old players. But that’s a whole other story.
Strangely, amidst all the talk about Welbeck and Cleverley, there are no mentions of James Wilson, another local talent who is now the 4th striker. Nor about Jonny Evans, who, despite a number of high profile errors, is still a first choice defender. Of course, there, all the talk is about the lack of acquisitions at the back. This article in ESPN Soccernet lists quite a few homegrown players more who continue to play at United, starting with Jesse Lingard.
Among clubs that have sold promising young local talent are Barcelona who have sold Alacantara and many others. They even preferred to sell Fabregas and, and buy Rakitic. Where’s the soul in that? And how many homegrown players even turn out for Liverpool nowadays, forget Chelsea or Man City!
Next, the issue of ‘panic buying’. Apparently, United have lost their heads and are buying in a panic. Much of this is opinion and can’t really be proven. But Jonathan Liew’s great piece in the Telegraph outlines the moneyball approach – and specifically carries the list generated by CIES on transfer value. The fact that Di Maria was overpriced has been carried by a number of papers. But the overpriced list also includes Lallana, Chambers, Lovren, Moreno, Rakitic and Sanchez.
What exactly is ‘panic buying’? After all, any purchase for a team which has had it’s lowest league finish since the premiership began, and by a whopping margin, would qualify as a panic buy. Arguably, paying over the odds on deadline day for Fellaini when you could have had him for cheaper a few weeks ago would also qualify as a panic buy. But I doubt if a move for a striker that almost any team in the land would dearly love to have on their books can hardly be called a panic buy. And what is the right price for a man whose previous club have inserted a clause for additional payments in case he wins the Ballon D’Or?
What about Ed Woodward then? Gormless idiot? Or the Yoda of transfer windows? The very likely reality is that he’s a smart chap who had a rough baptism last year and is learning every day. He has brought some of the best possible names to Man United while keeping the commercial ship sailing successfully, managing to sell more than enough sponsorships to allow the Glazers to recoup their investment and yet have enough money left over for a £150 million splurge. Give the man a break.
Which brings us to Van Gaal and his philosophy. Clearly the pre-season had me dreaming, just like everybody else. But he has, to be fair, said exactly this from the start. That it would be months before things fell into place. Nobody can say they weren’t given a fair chance to impress. And very few clubs can manage to shine when short of up to 10 first team players, most of them in midfield and defence. Even Man City with their depth of squad would struggle if their first choice defence and their preferred starting midfielders were all out of action.
Finally, there is this recurring theme fed by the incessant articles about Vidal and company. United are buying players that they don’t need while ignoring their key requirements. Right, let’s consider the evidence. United bought a defender who played the world cup finals. And a midfielder, who was the Dutch Eredivisie player of the year, while playing as a defensive midfielder for Ajax (yes, Daley Blind isn’t really a wing back, that was just a World Cup role and a testimony to his versatility). Also, one of the most promising young Spanish midfielders and the man who effectively won the Champions League final with the famous extra time zig-zag run. I would think that’s the midfield and a chunk of the defence sorted, wouldn’t you? This is the same midfield everybody said was United’s priority over the past few years, remember? Falcao is a bonus, but given Rooney’s form, RVP’s potential knee knack, and the lack of goals from Chicharito and Welbeck, who in their right minds wouldn’t consider a move for Falcao? Which of these players, exactly, does United ‘not need’?
And there are those including the Guardian podcast crew who argue that failing to sign Vidal is a massive goof up for United. This is the same Vidal who’s long term fitness is still very much in balance, who over the international break had faced allegations of a recurrence of a knee problem, and who would cost the club upwards of £ 30 million.
But hey, why let facts spoil a good rant eh? It’s far more convenient to point to the end of the dynasty and laugh while it all falls apart for United. It may still take a long time for United to get back to league winning ways, but let’s not shoot from the hip folks. After all, the same pundits and journalists will be queuing up to anoint LVG should things fall into place come Saturday!
