Giggs: Wayne Rooney Will End Goal Drought
Wayne Rooney
Manchester United veteran Ryan Giggs is in no doubt Wayne Rooney will recapture his goalscoring form from last season after the England striker netted his first of the current campaign against West Ham United on Saturday.
Rooney ended a lengthy goal drought, that had stretched into the end of the last campaign, with his effort from the penalty spot. Giggs feels that getting a goal early on this season will help him settle any lingering anxieties he may have had over his form.
“It’s only the third game of the season, and he’s only played in two of them,” the Welshman told United’s official website.
“But a goalscorer is a goalscorer and, especially with the season he had last year, he was keen to get off the mark.
“I’m sure he’ll start putting the ball away quite regularly now.”
However, Giggs insists that the burden of finding the net cannot only be left to Wayne Rooney, and he was encouraged by Dimitar Berbatov and Nani’s goals on Saturday against West Ham United.
“We can’t just rely on Wayne like we did last season,” he told MUTV.
“Berba has started on fire – in the games so far, he’s had a lot of chances and he’s putting them away.
“But everyone needs to chip in, midfielders, defenders, everyone. As a team, we need to score a lot more goals from different areas on the pitch.”
Giggs has been pleased with the way in which the Red Devils have begun this campaign, although he admits that there is room for improvement after the draw with Fulham.
“We’d have liked nine points out of nine, but it’s not to be,” he added.
“In our two homes games, we’ve played some really good stuff which is pleasing.
“We know we could be in a better position, but the last two years we’ve lost at Fulham, so maybe we should look at that as a point gained.”
Giggs has also hailed the form of blossoming winger Nani after his man of the match performance against West Ham.
He said: “It was a really good performance from Nani.
“His positional play was good. He was staying out wide and getting the crosses in.
“He scored a goal and made one. He could have had a few more.
“I was really pleased for him. He deserved man of the match.”
Courtesy of The Bleacher Report
The Pass Master Paul Scholes
Paul Scholes
Season 17 could not have started much better for Paul Scholes.
Here was a player who had predicted his own retirement last summer turning in back-to-back man-of-the-match performances in his first two games, wins over Chelsea in the Community Shield and Newcastle in the Premier League.
No other player made more passes on the opening weekend (104) – that’s the thing about Scholes, he plays in partnership with every other Manchester United player.
Sir Alex Ferguson has taken something of a risk on Scholes this season. Many Manchester United supporters wanted to see the club sign a passing midfielder of elite class this summer – a Luka Modric, a Wesley Sniejder, a Mesut Özil – but Ferguson has placed his faith in Scholes being able to consistently deliver in his deep-lying playmaker’s role, relying on his immaculate range of passes, from the edge-of-the-box sand wedge to the cross field five-wood.
Scholes is 36 in November and two years ago, having suffered knee injuries after recovering from an eye problem that had forced him out of football for six months, it appeared the gifts of this footballers’ footballer (it means something when Zinedine Zidane is one of your biggest fans) was on the wane.
He even said that last season would “probably be my last”. Yet having moved into a deeper position, and regained consistent fitness, Scholes was revivified. No Premier League player had a better pass-completion ratio last term.
“He must be backing some winners!” said Ferguson on Scholes’ new-season freshness. “You can’t see any deterioration in him can you? I can’t. I can’t see any. The benefit he’s had is that he hasn’t had any long-term injuries in the last couple of years, he’s done well.
He normally gets an injury and has had plenty down the years which have kept him out three or four months but his fitness was great last year and as the season went on he got better and better.
He’s taken up the mantle again this pre season. He’s not missed a training session, him nor Ryan Giggs – they’ve almost done 40 season training sessions so far since coming back.”
It was his failure to play more than a game “every two or three weeks” that had begun to sap Scholes’ morale. He wasn’t able to keep playing the way he was used to, arriving late into the box to score.
With the energetic Darren Fletcher by his side, though, Scholes has learnt to let go of that urge to scurry from box to box. This is Scholes’ late style, an approach similar to that of Milan’s Andrea Pirlo.
It would be too easy to buy into the Scholes stereotype and suggest this evolution in his game is down to his off-field humility.
If anything, Scholes has always been an impulsive performer on the pitch, especially in his tackling (Arsène Wenger Vader-ishly called it his “dark side”), so the imposition of tactical self-discipline suggests Scholes is working more cerebrally and less instinctively.
That would certainly tally with his coaching studies and his professed ambition to become a manager.
Scholes was raised on the Langley council estate in Middleton, which Ken Loach used as the backdrop to his 1993 film Raining Stones.
That was the year Scholes turned professional with Manchester United, the club he had supported as a boy (his father used to take him to watch Oldham). Brian Kidd, also from Middleton, had spotted Scholes and said that “he had never seen a kid with a better football brain”.
While still at school (the same one as Steve Coogan incidentally) he wanted to emulate Bryan Robson and Mark Hughes. Within a few years he was pushing them out of the United team. Hughes, who manages United’s opponents Fulham on Sunday, remembers that his ability was immediately evident.
“Could we tell his qualities then?” he said. “Yes very much so, I think he hastened my exit to be perfectly honest. Paul and Ryan [Giggs] were the future and I was the past. Sir Alex was always very good – and still is – at making key decisions at the right time, and he got that one right.” Ferguson clearly does not believe the time has come for Scholes.
Despite his strong performances in the opening games though, it will be interesting to see how carefully the United manager uses Scholes when the Champions League group stages start and the workload increases. Also Scholes can be bypassed against quick-passing opponents and that central midfield lacks balance if Fletcher is not there beside him.
There is no apparent heir to Scholes at Old Trafford – Ferguson went so far as to say it was “probably impossible” to replace him. Michael Carrick has the range of passing but lacks Scholes’ mental toughness.
Anderson, who was envisioned as the long-term replacement, lacks both.
However challenging, it is not a problem that can be endlessly deferred. Scholes’ new contract lasts for this season. He would play on for season 18 if he felt Ferguson needed him but by then there must surely be a player signed who can first share the creative responsibilities before taking over, leaving Scholes to spend some time on the cricket pitch he misses so much.
Until then, Scholes will keep circulating the ball, probing for space and prompting his team-mates. He will be doing that against Fulham on Sunday, just as he has done so many times for United before. In fact 645 times.
Courtesy of The Telegraph
The Best Of Ryan Giggs
Ryan Giggs
Manchester United veteran Ryan Giggs has spoken about his changing relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson, from trying to avoid him as a youngster to now being sought for advice.
Giggs is quoted in The Sun saying,”My relationship with him is different.
“When I first met him, I was 13. For the next 10 years you try to keep out of the way.
“That’s particularly the case when you’ve had a bad game.
“But he asks your advice more now than when you were a younger player.
“You have that experience, you’re in the changing room day in, day out.”
Giggs holds the all-time record for the most appearances for Manchester United and is beginning his twenty first season at Old Trafford. By getting on the scoresheet against Newcastle United on Sunday, Giggs ensured he has scored in every one of those campaigns.
Giggs also revealed that Sir Alex is as hungry as ever for success at Manchester United , commenting,
“Don’t go thinking the desire and the hunger are no longer there.
“He still wants to win and still hates losing.”
While we are down memory lane, we thought we would take a look at the best of Ryan Giggs.
Courtesy of The Bleacher Report
Ferguson Fears Kamikaze Spending In Clubs
Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United.
The Manchester United manager, who officially unveiled summer recruits Javier Hernández, Chris Smalling and Bébé – acquired for a total of £24.4 million, was careful not to identify by name those clubs he believes have drained the transfer market of value.
But with Manchester City due to take their summer spending close to the £130 million mark on Wednesday by completing the £24 million signing of Aston Villa midfielder James Milner, the Abu Dhabi-funded acquisition strategy at Eastlands would appear to be the prime focus of Ferguson’s remarks.
With United and Chelsea each having spent just under £25 million, City have far outstripped their rivals. Almost £350 million has been spent at Eastlands since Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan acquired the club in 2008.
And while City manager Roberto Mancini has lavished £28 million on Yaya Toure and £24 million on David Silva, Ferguson has opted instead to shop at the lower end of the market, concentrating on youthful promise.
The Scot admits, however, that the mammoth spending elsewhere is unlikely to cease in the near future. He said: “It doesn’t seem to abate, that is for sure. Over the last two or three years we have seen very wealthy owners become part of football clubs and therefore go on this kamikaze effort to spend their money.
“It is amazing the amounts of money that are being bandied about in the present day game. You may think it could be dangerous, but you think they have that kind of money and, if they have it, they are certainly using it. I don’t see it abating.
“I think the kind of spending we are seeing at the moment will be here for two or three years, until such time as they understand you can’t necessarily achieve all the time by spending.”
United have stood by as their European rivals have battled to secure the services of the likes of David Villa and Mesut Özil this summer, prompting claims from supporters that the club’s £716.5 million debt has led to spending restrictions being imposed by United’s owners, the Glazer family.
Ferguson insists United remain capable of competing at the top end of the market, despite his belief that there is little value there. “We could have bought one or two players for a lot of money in the summer, but I didn’t necessarily see that they were going to make the difference that makes us really so much better.
“Take away the money, the issue is that the actual players we looked at maybe would not have done what [Eric] Cantona did for us, for instance, or [Wayne] Rooney or [Cristiano] Ronaldo. That is what I am talking about – to make that quantum leap to another level.
“There will be a time when we have to buy a more mature player, but at the moment it is a young player’s club. Those young players will grow old too, though, and in 10 years’ time, we will be looking to replace them.
“But hopefully they will be there in 10 years’ time – that is the object of having a long-term vision for the club.
“Having young players does introduce a loyalty and a spirit that will serve us well. You see that with Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville.
“Young players develop if you are looking after them properly. How we treat players is important. Maybe the difference is that other clubs don’t have the consistency in manager and staff that Manchester United has.”
Ferguson refused to rule out spending more before the Aug 31 transfer deadline, but said that the quality already within his squad dictates recruitment. “When I take away all the young players, I have that squad of experienced players. That is a good bit of experience for me to rely on. They are my back up.”
Courtesy of The Telegraph
HAVE YOUR SAY: Do you think clubs are spending too much?
Top 10 Premiership Transfer Flops
Diego Forlan found life difficult at Old Trafford.
With the Premier League kicking off this weekend let’s take a look at the top 10 transfer flops – as voted by the football tranfer tavern website.
10. Marco Materazzi (Everton)
Serie A winner, Champions League winner, World Cup winner, Everton yard-dog. Materazzi signed for Everton from Perugia in 1998 and played just twenty-seven games, managing to get sent off four times.
9. Mario Jardel (Bolton Wanderers)
He came to Bolton Wanderers in 2003 at the age of thirty with an absolutely staggering goal scoring record behind him. For Vasco da Gama, Gremio, Porto, Galatasaray and Sporting Lisbon he scored two-hundred-and-sixty-two goals in two-hundred-and-ninety games. He played seven games for Bolton, looking like he’d never seen a football in his life.
8. Afonso Alves (Middlesbrough)
Having a goal scoring record in the Dutch league that betters those of Van Nistelrooy and Ronaldo meant Alves was expected to light up the Premiership. He didn’t, and also caused massive problems for national newspapers, who couldn’t contemplate that his name wasn’t ALfonso.
7. Massimo Taibi (Manchester United)
The first of three United flops on our list (there could have been plenty more). Signed for only £4.4m, it was the spectacularly hilarious that gets Taibi the number seven slot. Letting in that weak-as-piss shot from Le Tissier and blaming his studs for the gaffe. Then having five put past him as Chelsea beat United 5-0. Four games played then shipped back to Italy.
6. Tomas Brolin (Leeds United)
Having helped Parma win the Coppa Italia and qualify for Europe for the first time in their history, Brolin joined Leeds in 1995 with a good reputation. A number of injuries meant he arrived at Leeds unfit (i.e. a porker). He played just twenty games, scoring four goals before he was loaned out for the next two seasons then finally given the boot.
5. Diego Forlan (Manchester United)
Having come from South America with an exceptional record, no-one could have imagined the hilarity that Forlan would cause over the next two years. It took him eight months and twenty-seven games to score his first goal, and even that was a penalty. Seventeen goals in ninety five games was all Forlan could muster before being sold to Villarreal.
4. Fernando Morientes (Liverpool)
A quality striker who had never been given a real chance at Madrid, always being behind the superstars. Despite that, he scored seventy-two goals for Real, then helped Monaco reach the Champions League final whilst on loan there for the 2003/2004 season. Morientes, being first choice, was expected to finally prove himself a top-class forward at Liverpool. The form that saw him take Monaco to the European final had seemed to have disappeared over the summer. He scored an average of one goal every five games and was sold to Valencia after one season.
3. Robinho (Manchester City)
The Premiership’s most expensive man, £32.5m to be precise. Despite a good start to his City career, the second season was horrendous for him. Missing three months through injury and falling down the pecking order seemed to irk him. Anonymous for most the game, uninterested in tracking back and never going to get involved in a physical battle he ushered a move away from the club in January 2010. He is currently at Santos, where he’s made it clear he wishes to stay and be a big fish in a small pond.
2. Juan Sebastian Veron (Mancheter United)
£28m was paid by United to sign an exciting, classy, technically brilliant midfielder form Lazio in 2001. Sadly they got nothing of the sort. There’s no doubt Veron was a gifted footballer, but he didn’t suit the Premiership at all. Less time and space on the ball and a much more physical game meant Veron never really showed what he was all about. He was flogged to Chelsea in 2003, a year later they wanted rid of him.
1. Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea)
Not quite as expensive as Robinho to City, but Shevchenko was probably the best out-and-out goalscorer on the planet at the time. Having won everything there was to win at AC Milan, he came to Chelsea for a new challenge (and plenty £££). While some foreign stars have always been questionable for their size or willingness to get stuck in, Shevchenko was as tough and mean as he was potent. Why it never worked for him is anyone’s guess. He scored just nine goals in forty-eight games over three years. Has there ever been such an exceptional player to disappoint the Premiership as much?
Courtesy of FootballTransferTavern.com
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