Sunday, 5 January 2014

Republik Of Mancunia

Republik Of Mancunia

Suck it up, Wazza

Posted: 04 Jan 2014 07:26 AM PST

In October 2010, Wayne Rooney claimed that he would not be staying at the club because he feared that it didn’t match his ambition. Having just missed out on the title by one point the season before, following three successive Premier League crowns, he sounded more than a little foolish.

By the end of the season, United were champions again and Rooney even scored a goal in the Champions League final, again illustrating how premature he had been to write the club off.

He now has just 18 months remaining on the contract he signed after his U-turn, again claiming that he would stay at United for as long as they wanted him, but is reportedly stalling over signing a new deal.

With United currently 7th in the league and having lost 6 games by the turn of the year, Rooney’s reservations about the club’s ability to compete are actually valid this time. He is one of the best players in the league and no one could really begrudge him wanting to leave for a better side, particularly if we don’t manage to claim that vital 4th place to ensure us Champions League football next season.

However, what Rooney wants is fairly irrelevant at this point, because there is no way the club will be selling him this summer… unless it is made worth our while. In terms of financial reward, the compensation for letting Rooney join a rival would not be worth it. With two years remaining on his deal and the manager confirming he wanted to leave, the most any team was prepared to offer for him was £25m. Chelsea were the only club interested, and we should use that term lightly, because their bid was derisory. By the summer he’ll be another year older and have a year less remaining on his deal, so we would be able to demand £20m for him, if we were lucky.

Some people have looked at the £24m we paid for Robin van Persie at the same stage in his career as Rooney would be. The difference there is that Van Persie was the league’s top scorer and had just been named the Football Writers and PFA Player of the Year. To compare him with Rooney is meaningless.

Whilst people can rightly slate the Glazers, for all their faults they’re not stupid, and there’s no way they are going to let Rooney leave for Chelsea, ensuring their success and our demise, for a pitiful £15m-£20m. The only way you can see a deal being done there is if Juan Mata, who Mourinho has claimed is free to leave Chelsea, came the other way. Mata is an incredible talent, winning Chelsea’s Player of the Year for the past two years on the trot, and at 25-years-old, that would be a fantastic deal for us. However, with PSG sniffing around, it would be more difficult than it sounds to get Mata to Old Trafford.

So, without Chelsea being able to make it worth our while, it looks as though Rooney will be staying put. People may argue he would be a disruptive element behind the scenes, but the players have known he’s wanted to leave for three years, yet we still managed to win the title twice and miss out once on goal difference. Despite wanting to leave, he’s not been that disruptive.

Along the way, being forced to stay at United, Rooney will likely become the club’s highest ever goal scorer, beating Sir Bobby Charlton’s record. This is a feat he clearly is not all too bothered about, and something most United fans would rather didn’t happen, but this is the predicament we find ourselves in.

By the time Rooney was allowed to leave the club, June 2015, he would be just a few months shy of his 30th birthday. Given the way he batters his body at the end of the season, with booze, fags and unhealthy food, sensible clubs wouldn’t be offering him a lengthy deal. The chances of Rooney being a star player in to his 30s are fairly slim.

So that leaves him with an alternative option. Despite wanting to leave, he could sign a new five-year-deal with the club. He would still be on top dollar and the club would be more willing to let him go, if the timing was right, as they wouldn’t get fleeced on the transfer fee as he had more time on his contract. But then he also then runs the risk of being forced to stay here for a further five years, which doesn’t seem to appeal to him too much.

Rooney is stuck between a rock and a hard place now, and as much as I would like to say I have sympathy for him, I really don’t. Fantastic player, our most important this season by a mile, and here’s to his great form continuing! Chin up, Wazza.

 

Evra: It’s an honour to captain United

Posted: 04 Jan 2014 07:08 AM PST

article-2313188-196F6364000005DC-931_964x746Patrice Evra’s form has been hit and miss for some time, which would usually lead fans to get on a player’s back and discuss their exit from the club. It’s different with Evra though because of how he has taken the club to his heart. Like Eric before him, he’s a Frenchman who really understands what it means to play for United.

Speaking with United Review, Evra has spoken about how he feels to captain United, as he always does in Nemanja Vidic’s absence.

“It's a great feeling,” he said. “I remember when Sir Alex told me I would be captain for the first time before our win in Wolfsburg [December 2009]. He said, 'Pat, tomorrow you are the captain.' I said, 'Okay, I'll let you know [if that's okay] tomorrow!' [Laughs]. I am always so proud whenever I captain the team, it's a fantastic honour, but there are many captains here.”

James Wilson – United’s striking hope for the future

Posted: 04 Jan 2014 01:30 AM PST

Although Manchester United have, by far, the best record for playing home grown talent since the last World War, the 2 positions we have struggled to make a breakthrough in the last 25 years has been Goalkeeper and a Striker. Why that is I really cannot figure out as we have done really well in every other position on the pitch. It could be argued that Welbeck will one day turn into a prolific striker but at the moment that isn’t the case

Hopefully that barren run for a home produced striker will soon come to an end in the shape of current U-18 player James Wilson.

We have had several very good young goalscorers at the club over the last decade, players like Rossi. Ebanks-Blake, Campbell and so on but I never felt any of those would make a long term career at United, with Wilson, I have genuine high hopes that he will eventually make the grade.

I’m not one for getting too worked up about long term prospects for good young players as the step up is huge and its getting harder to fit youngsters into a team, although as we have seen with Januzaj, if you’re good enough then a good manager will find a spot for them.

Wilson hails from Biddulph and was born in December ’95 (wow, that makes me feel ancient), and has been connected to United from the age of 7!

He made his United U-18 debut at the tender age of 15, and scored, against Everton in the 2011-2012 season and has been finding the net ever since. Later that same season he hit the headlines by scoring the winning goal, 7 minutes into injury time, in an FA Youth Cup game v Charlton Athletic at Old Trafford, whilst still only 16, surely the dream of every schoolboy playing in that competition.

A broken ankle kept him out of the game for a considerable period but once he had regained full fitness he has gone from strength to strength

Last season, despite his long term injury, he still managed 14 goals at U-18 level, including a 5 goal haul away at Newcastle United in a 7-1 win. He was in devastating form that day, scoring 4 in the first half and 3 in a 4 minute spell!

What really stood out for me that day was his coolness when under pressure, When players are one on one with a keeper to beat, some players seem to have too long to think about what to do and end up panicking, not this lad. More often that not, he simply rounds the keeper like they are not there to score. In over 40 years watching United, I have never seen a player of any age round a keeper as often as this kid does, what makes it even better is he often does it at blistering pace. When he has the ball at his feet and sets off on a run, he is simply unstoppable and its a true joy to watch a boy with so much skill and confidence.

For an example of the power, pace and ice in his veins take the goal he scored in the recent FA Youth Cup game away at Burnley. Wilson had been a constant threat to the Burnley back line all night with his runs and his ability to hold the ball up and bring others into play. In the second half, he received the ball with his back to goal a few yards inside his own half. He had 2 defenders directly on him and a further 2 players covering those defenders. He took the ball, turned in an instant and he was off, with all 4 defenders in his wake and he raced towards the Burnley area. He took the ball up to the Burnley keeper, went round with embarrassing ease and tucked the ball away with his preferred left foot. Anyone who saw the goal must have marvelled at the ease at which he executed it all and the pure mastery of his profession.

As I say, he is left footed but he scores just as many goals with his right foot and his fair share with his head. Although I have mentioned his power when on the ball, he is a very slight lad right now but will no doubt get some muscle on his bones as he gets older and hopefully that extra bit of bulk wont affect his speed nor excellent balance.

Of course it is very early days for the boy and he is yet to claim a regular U-21 spot, never mind making the ultimate step up. Currently, he is still mainly with the U-18s but has played a few Reserve games and has scored a couple of goals at that level this season. With Will Keane and Nick Powell out on loan, I’m hoping he will get more Reserve games under his belt for the second half of this season and cement a spot there next season.

Like all young players, he has it all to do to shift one of the established squad players out of his way but I firmly believe that Wilson will one day be leading the line, and scoring goals, at Manchester United.
at

No comments:

Post a Comment