Fight or Flight

Every season, is a big season, for every Man Utd player. At the top you always have to perform at your personal personal best or you will fall down the pecking order at the club. Barring Rooney who seemed to be allowed the opportunity to play through his slump (and gain forgiveness) in the first half of last season....but he is Wayne Rooney after all. There are a few players though which when brought in carry high hopes but ultimately fail to deliver, e.g. Kleberson, Tosic, Manucho and he who shall not be named (Eric Djemba-Djemba). The list can go on, maybe some of them never received the same opportunity as others but regardless, there are a few players at the club atm who could are in danger of falling into this list. This season coming (if they aren't sold before then) will be a big one for Darron Gibson, Gabriel Obertan and Mame Biram Diouf. It will challenge them with the choice we all face in tough situations; Fight or Flight!?

Darron Gibson

In Darron we have a player who has all the attributes to be our commander in midfield and at times he has shown this ability but unfortunately he hasn't always been able to consistently make the grade. Already been entangled in a transfer situation this summer, turning down a move to Sunderland, apparently because they messed him about a bit with contract negotiations. Darron has had a meeting with Sir Alex and they decided he should stay home from the USA tour to make a decision on his future. He is not being forced out though and it seems SAF has left it in Gibsons own hands, if he decides to stay and gives it one last go at United (and I hope he does) he may gain an attitude in which he gives 100% for every minute on the pitch, and if this happens, he could become very successful.


Gabriel Obertan

Gabriel has been limited to mainly substitute appearances in his time at Old Trafford as far as the first team goes. He seems to be a force to be wreckoned with in the reserves scoring 9 goals in 19appearences, but he cannot perform at this level when he is brought up to 1st team level. He can be very frustrating to watch at times because he gets so close but then takes a heavy touch and loses the ball, runs into trouble when he had a simple pass earlier in the play or beats 2 defenders and then fails to deliver a decent cross. Seems to be he does all the hard work but never quite gets the end result. If he can begin to find this final ball right he could have an impact and join Nani, Young and Valencia as one of our top-class wingers.

Mame Biram Diouf 


Diouf faces the toughest challenge of the three players I have mentioned so far, he has had very limited first team appearances, which is unfortunate. He was on loan last year with Backburn so gained valuable 1st team premier league experience, although he only scored 6 goals in 26 appearances so he did not light the goalscoring charts alight. Maybe this is harsh though because it is nearly 1 goal in 4 apps, at a team who where struggling at the wrong end of the table all season, maybe at Man Utd where more chances will be created and more freedom afforded to their strikers he would have much more success. I was actually very impressed with the goal he scored in the recent friendly against the Seattle Sounders, he showed great space and movement to recieve the pass, the composure to steady himself and ensure the ball found the back of the net. The reason I a fear his task is the toughest is because of the sheer competition he faces from other strikers in the club. Behind the first choice strikers of Rooney, Berbatov, Hernandez and even Owen he will have to compete with Danny Welbeck and Frderico Macheda. This will make it tough to even get a start in the League cup. This competition is most likely why Blackpool have taken an interest in buying Diouf in recent weeks.

I'd like to point out at this stage that I hate 'fans' who just shit on the fringe players, that they are not good enough and never give them a chance. I always try to be realistic and of course accept that not everyone will make it as a 1st team regular at the Theatre of Dreams but I will always try to give the benefit of the doubt and try to defend any Man Utd players. 

It's also going to be a big season for Welbeck, Cleverly, Macheda but I have a feeling these three, returning from loans, will be given a little more slack before they looked at to be sold on. Especially because United have invested so much time and effort into their development over the years.

P.S. Rooney eventually did gain forgiveness from the fans...

P.p.s. I was there, just behind the goal and had just finished slagging Wayne off before he done this.

...and he has set his targets high this season for himself,

"Messi is a great player and rightly World Player of the Year. I think, not just for me, but for every footballer out there, that's the target you want to try to get to and hopefully I can do that." - Wayne Rooney uses Messi as a target to reach for

So hopefully we will see the return of Wayne from 09/10 and with no scandals or contact issues this season there is no reason why we shouldn't.

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The Future is Bright....

Towards the end of last season there was once more chat of Sir Alex hanging up his managerial boots. However, slowly and right under our noses, quite the opposite was happening. Fergie has been setting up a brand new generation on Man Utd players and is laughing off reports that he is ready to retire. 

As Fergies first generation of players reach their twilight with only Ryan Giggs remaining, the current now squad has a strong backbone of youth within it. Disregarding Rooney (25), Nani (24), Valencia (25), Fletcher (27), Young (26), who all have a great deal of experience in first team football (although Young's was at Villa). These five players can all be considered senior players and still all have many, many years ahead of them in their career. In this post I want to focus on the mainly on the players who are just breaking through, gaining first team experience and clearly showing the potential to become the future on Man Utd. 


The most obvious and exciting area to start is with our potential future back five;

1

de Gea

                21                                  4                                            12                                       20

             Rafael                            Jones                                      Smalling                               Fábio

Clearly with Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra still at the club these players we may only see this formation in the Carling cup this season but a few years down the line as each of them learns from those around them, and gains priceless first team experience this could be the leagues most formidable back-line for season after season. The da Silva twins (21), Smalling (21), de Gea (20) and Jones (19) have the potential to be together in this Man Utd squad for more than the next decade together. Obviously I am making a large assumption that they will all continue with Utd for this time but if they all fulfil their potential, each of them has the opportunity to be one of the top players in the world in each of their positions.

In midfield we have Anderson (23), who many feared would never make the grade. In the second half of last season where Fletcher's illness allowed him the opportunity to get into the first team again. He seemed to take the opportunity well and impressed enough to earn a new 3-year contract extension. The new season will be a massive one for Anderson, especially if we don't bring in Nasri, Sneijder or another central midfielder. He will be expected by many to step up and continue his good form and attempt to fill the boots of the mighty Paul Scholes.

Tom Cleverly (21) has also returned to the squad after spending two and a half seasons on loan and along with Danny Welbeck (20) who spent last season on loan with Sunderland. Both of these young reds will be hoping to have a number of chances to make their mark this season. With a hint from Sir Alex that this may be the case as he stated, while announcing that neither of them would go on loan again this season

"Going on loan only serves one purpose; keeping them happy by playing all the time. At their ages, it wouldn't do us any good because other clubs would be benefiting from what we could be benefiting from" - Sir Alex Ferguson on Cleverley and Welbeck

Another player who returns from loan with high hopes of making an impact at United in the future is 'Kiko' Macheda (19). Never one to lack confidence but 'Kiko' admits he struggled on loan last season and that he now knows that Manchester United is the greatest club in the world, and it is where he hopes to stay.

"I really wanted to have an experience in Italy, but I now hope to stay in the Premier League." - Federico Macheda on his future

With the players I have highlighted in this post, I think it is fair to say Sir Alex has built a squad with the potential for greatness around a nucleus of top quality players....and I think he will want to hang around to see the outcome of his endeavours. 

One thing is for sure at Old Trafford, The future is bright......the future is Orange Red!

Edit: Cannot believe I posted this to my blog without even mentioning Chícharito. Hernandez only 23 and after his first season with the Reds has proven himself to be more than capable of finding the back of the net on a regular basis. Something which Kiko and Welbeck will have to prove when they are awarded chances this year, if they are to knock the 'Little Pea' down the pecking order. Nevermind contending with Berbatov who was top goal scorer in the premier league last year and looking to prove a point after his heartbreak of being left out of the champions league final squad. Hernandez has the speed and brains to make sure he will be in the right place at the right time and I just hope he improves the number of times he gets caught offside. Although I do accept no matter how frustrating it may be at times, this is the risk he has take when he plays off the back four as he does.

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New Player Review #3 - David de Gea

David with SAF as he signs for Man Utd - guardian.co.uk

Date of Birth: 07/11/1990 (Age 20)
Place of Birth: Madrid
Professional Debut: 30/09/09 (vs Porto)
Nationality: Spanish
International Caps: 15 @ U17's
                               15 @ U19's
                                 1 @ U20's
                                13@ U21's

Joined Manchester United: 01/07/2011
Signed From: Athlético Madrid
Transfer Fee: Undisclosed (estimated £17-18million)
Squad Number: 1
Position: Goalkeeper

After all the speculation of Rene Adler falling through the next name on the list seemed to be David de Gea and as far as Sir Alex was concerned it was perhaps the only name on the list. There never seemed to be any substance in claims of any other keepers, the next closest name was Pepe Reina from the scousers which was ridiculous altogether. It would not have been worth the aggro and the price would have be insanely inflated.

In the end Ferguson seems to have had a punt on the young Spanish keeper who has be favoured in the national youth sides over the past number of years gaining an impressive 44 caps at this level. Though I fear it could be a while before he earns his first senior cap due to the stranglehold on the positions Iker Casillas has, and only being 30 himself, he may continue to hold the senior Spanish goalkeeper position for many seasons to come. Even if Casillas does lose favour David will then have to contend with Victor Valdes (29) and Pepe Reina (28).

Hopefully coming to a club such as Man Utd can help spring board him towards the senior position though as the experience he would gain would be invaluable, having already won the U17 and U21 European Championships with his country I'm sure his aim will be to continue this pattern into his senior career. But what may be Spain's loss could be Utd's gain as de Gea can focus solely on his club career cementing himself in-between the sticks at Old Trafford for many years to come.

de Gea at his first training session with the squad - manutd.com

One thing we can be thankful for is that after watching the training session @nickcoppack reports

"Just watched #mufc train in Portland. Stuck with the GKs - de Gea showed good handling. He's a catcher not a puncher. Phew."

Already on of the highest rated keepers in Europe and can only improve. If he fills his potential he could challenge records set by Schmeichel and Van der Sar at Man Utd.

Rating: Exciting potential. Good signing.

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New Player Review #2 - Ashley Young

 Debut vs New England Revolution - mirrorfootball.co.uk

Date of Birth: 09/07/1985 (Age 26)
Place of Birth: Stevenage
Professional Debut: 13/09/03 (vs Milwall)
Nationality: English
International Caps: 15

Joined Manchester United: 01/07/2011
Signed From: Aston Villa FC
Transfer Fee: Undisclosed (estimated £16million)
Squad Number: 18
Position: Winger/Attacking Mid (R/L/C)

No hassle, no fuss. That's the best way to describe the capture of Ashley Young from Villa, it appears to have been contact was made between the two clubs and Ashley agent. A price and the move was agreed before the news broke. All there was to do was allow Young to finish his holiday, there never seemed to be any panic or noise about the transfer until he had. Then he returned to completed his medical on the 22nd of June and the transfer was officially announced the next day.

As with Phil Jones, I am glad to have grabbed another English player and at 26, Ashley is only coming into his prime. He is a player that I see as made for United, a proper winger who can run all day. Like Antonio Valencia, who came from a smaller team and never flinched as he stepped onto the right-hand side of the turf at Old Trafford, I can see Ashley having a similar effect on the left. He can beat men, cross the ball and shoot.

He was impressive at Villa over the past few years and that was with a struggling team, when given the opportunity and freedom now to show what he can do, I hope he can step up to the challenge. He has all the tools to be successful and can give United that same steady influence on the left wing as Valencia gives on the right.

Just one piece of advice for Ashley. No snoods at OT.

Snoods Banned at Old Trafford - bleacherreport.com

Rating: Made for Utd. Great Signing.

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