Fulham
Youth
Leeds
Spartak Moscow
Monaco
Bayern
Youth
Spurs
Sporting Lisbon
Everton
West Ham
Brondby
Youth
PSV Eindhoven
Besiktas
Oldham
Youth
Youth
Youth
Parma
Newcastle
Aston Villa
You may wonder what I am babbling about here but I would hope that most would spot what the above signifies.
The point I am trying to make is that not all signings have to be from ‘elite’ clubs.
I would of course love to see us sign Benatia, Di Maria and Vidal in the next couple of weeks but of course we should also have a look to see if we can see similar players at what people would consider ‘smaller’ clubs.
I mention this as there does seem to be some people questioning the Rojo signing (haven’t seen much of him myself) as not being a signing from a top club. My argument is that we don’t always have to go down that route and that players are available at less heralded clubs.
Do you think we should be questioning the scouting team at United? Surely the three named players would have been interested in joining us when they joined their current clubs or would we have looked down then at signings from Udinese, Benfica and Leverkusen? Or, is it a case of the players improving under better coaching and with better players. If this is the case then we should be giving signings like Rojo a chance.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that with good scouting it is possible to find good players no matter who they play for. I refuse to believe that there are no players who would improve us that don't play for Real, Bayern, Barca etc.
One final point is that the main cause of concern is the midfield and the best two midfield signing in my lifetime came from West Brom and Forest.
Be kind guys as I don't write articles ofter.
Underwhelming?
posted on 20/8/14
comment by Stretty - VidalsBarnet (U3123)
posted 26 seconds ago
Leeds were a great side when rio was there. Cl semis. We should of bought him 2 years earlier tbh.
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I agree that we should have bought him two years earlier to partner Stam.
However, going back to the original point I made, that would mean sign him from West Ham who, with all due respect, would not be classed an 'elite' club.
posted on 20/8/14
Maybe not, but it was obvious what bracket of player rio was.
There were no question marks there. It was clear cut. Not the best example to make your point.
posted on 20/8/14
I don't think people have an issue with where the players are from, what matters is their quality.
Possible targets are being mentioned that don't play for elite clubs, even the 2 players we bought at the start of the window aren't from lesser clubs and most people were very happy with them being signed.
Also factor is how football has changed over the years with clubs now having far larger squads so the better players are more than before hoarded by the top teams meaning it is harder to get quality from the teams below. Also many of the players in both our CL winning sides were from very strong youth sides, something we currently don't have, especially not compared to the youth players we were able to get before.
posted on 20/8/14
comment by Stretty - VidalsBarnet (U3123)
posted 36 seconds ago
Maybe not, but it was obvious what bracket of player rio was.
There were no question marks there. It was clear cut. Not the best example to make your point.
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At the time Rio was showing tremendous promise I would agree but surely there would have been more well known players that United could have gone for if we are to follow the 'top names' logic all the way through?
I've stated that I'd love United to sign a genuine world class star but the point I'm making is that we should not restrict the pool from which we choose.
posted on 20/8/14
Mata and RVP must fall into that category?
............................................
Yes.....
But, neither were exactly what was needed at the time IMO. Mata felt somewhat like a panic/convenient signing. Great player don't get me wrong but not necessarily what we needed, just what was available...
Probably the same goes for RVP without the panic part.
We bought quality central attacking players and that is where we were already strongest... Centre backs, wingers, central midfield all could have used world class additions much more than those positions...
With RVP as well his contract was running down. It wasn't quite the same chucking in a bid they can't refuse for a class player like it was with Rio or Rooney for example...
So yes but not in such an effective manner...
posted on 21/8/14
http://www.ja606.co.uk/articles/viewArticle/280734
Not a bad list of players who would likely improve us and not all of them play for the elite clubs. All that matters is whether they are good enough, their club is irrelevant.
posted on 21/8/14
I'm pretty suprised we haven't signed blond tbh.
posted on 21/8/14
At the time Rio was showing tremendous promise I would agree but surely there would have been more well known players that United could have gone for if we are to follow the 'top names' logic all the way through?
I disagree. I was desperate for utd to sign him. The only CB close to his level even in his Leeds days was sol campbell.
posted on 21/8/14
In the PL of course.
posted on 21/8/14
comment by Stretty - VidalsBarnet (U3123)
posted 10 hours, 7 minutes ago
At the time Rio was showing tremendous promise I would agree but surely there would have been more well known players that United could have gone for if we are to follow the 'top names' logic all the way through?
I disagree. I was desperate for utd to sign him. The only CB close to his level even in his Leeds days was sol campbell.
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We should really have bought him in 2000 when we still had Stam.