Tuesday, 3 September 2013

Deadline Day: Manchester United

If ever you wanted to compare football to theatre, then look no further than the deadline day. Yesterday was no different as fans of the Premier League were blessed with a day filled with footballing drama, shock and debates. Some clubs finish the transfer window highly satisfied; whilst others are have been highly let down.

I can’t help but feel that the let-down team – both to themselves and their supporters – is the team I follow so passionately. I understand that it’s a new era at Old Trafford and that as a United fan, I should be giving nothing but complete support and backing to our new manager. However, when you look at how United have gone about business in the last few weeks you’ll understand just why it’s become so frustrating to give that backing to David Moyes and – perhaps more importantly – Ed Woodward. The pointless pursuit of Fabregas who was neither for sale nor interested in considering offers from clubs; the senseless double bid for Fellaini and Baines considering both players have a respected value of their own; the childish deadline day chasing of Ander Herrera which was ultimately dismissed as “an unofficial bid”. A failed attempt to bring in Coentrao on a loan deal seems desperate, needy and lazy. Firstly, since when do United look to bring in s
taken from manutd.theoffside.com
tar players on loan? The last loaned in player I remember is Henrik Larsson. Secondly, showing such a heightened interest to bring in Baines and Coentrao will do nothing but harm Patrice Evra’s morale. Evra – voted as United’s Man of the Match on the weekend – has to sit back and watch his place potentially in threat when it simply doesn’t have to be; a complete lack of respect for one of United’s noble servants of the last decade. To claim that the current squad are strong enough to compete and yet chase down players right up to the wire – the way I like to do on Football Manager 2013 – is a worrying contrast. Daniel Taylor rightly stated that Moyes was fooling no one when he was adamant that Man Utd had played great football in the 1-0 defeat to Liverpool. I’m very glad that we’ve bought in Fellaini who will add a great sense of physicality to an otherwise lacklustre centre midfield. His combination with Carrick and link up play with Van Persie is something I’m looking forward to greatly. However, why wait right until the deadline to offer the price that Everton were after? If Moyes and Ed were adamant on him, which they were, why not meet the release clause and get a better deal? Perhaps the addition of Marouane would have bolstered United’s chances against both Chelsea and Liverpool.
Taken from manutd.com

I’m still a huge supporter of the Moyes regime and I’m not going to jump on the #MoyesOut bandwagon so soon. I’m fully convinced that our team ethic is a huge bonus that both Chelsea and Man City may struggle with in the latter stages of the season. You can’t forget that we still have RVP, Rooney up top followed by an in form Danny Welbeck and a consistently dangerous Javier Hernandez. Furthermore, the experience of Giggs, Carrick, Ferdinand, Vidic and luckily, Evra will prove decisive when the time comes to put in that extra foot to achieve results. My personal hope is that Nani finds his feet again to become a handful for defences and keepers alike. I can’t see much happening with Tom Cleverley and as much as I love his story, I think that he’s been given an opportunity too much to prove himself on a technical level. In all honestly, I think we’ll beat City to reach 2nd place but would do very, very well to beat Chelsea to retain our title.


Not only United, but Arsenal and Everton were victims of the deadline day drama and it just makes you wonder why. Why leave it so late to bring in a player like Ozil to your team? Why pile on that extra load of work upon yourselves and waste three key opening Premier League matches? There’s only so much I can say with the knowledge that I have but common sense prevails, it really does Here’s hoping that the sole signing of Fellaini is enough to outshine the likes of Jesus Navas, Fernandinho, Negredo, Willian, Eto’o, Soldado, Erikson, Lamela, Ozil and all the other top signings from top teams in the Premier League.

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My theatrical version of Stan

My theatrical version of Stan