Did the girl watch us at all last season?
RIO CANNOT CURE ALL UNITED'S PROBLEMS
Tuesday July 23 2002
By Sarah Winterburn
OTHER STORIES
Desailly - Chelsea's Captain Insensible
'This New Everton Dawn May Not Be A False One'
The simple answer to the question of why Manchester United failed to win any trophies last season is ‘the defence’. So the simple solution seems to be buying one of the best young defenders in the country.
That’s it. Job’s a good ‘un. The championship is reclaimed, Reds fans can rest easy in their beds and the natural order of things is resumed.
That certainly seems to be the theory being expounded by Old Trafford, with chief executive Peter Kenyon saying that Rio Ferdinand is - with all due respect to £500,000 Peterborough keeper Luke Steele - the first and the last of the club’s summer signings.
All hail the saviour, long live the King of Peckham and all that.
Except it isn't really enough, is it?
Because the lack of one more world-class centre-back was not the sole reason that Manchester United won nothing last season, was it?
Ferdinand cannot solve the problem of finding a consistent partner for Ruud van Nistelrooy in attack, cannot replace the Dutchman if he is injured, cannot provide quality cover on the wings, cannot ensure the midfielders are not forced into playing out of position and cannot plug holes on the defensive flanks if he is busy being Laurent Blanc’s legs in the middle.
He is a pretty good player. But he’s no miracle worker.
He can help to solve the biggest problem with Manchester United’s current side - that of defensive frailty - but there was more than one problem last season and he cannot solve them all.
Back in May, the major reason cited by United fans writing into F365 for their team’s failure was not the defence (that was a given) but the way that Paul Scholes, Juan Veron and Ryan Giggs were continually shoe-horned into playing in the role of second striker because Dwight Yorke was out of favour, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was rarely trusted but from the bench and Diego Forlan was clearly not ready for Premiership football.
And soon Yorke will be gone. And then there were three strikers, and an even bigger problem with a lack of personnel up front.
Yet Ferdinand is apparently the only player Manchester United reckon they need.
Because of course they don’t need to replace Denis Irwin as a utility full-back, definitely don’t need more than five quality midfielders because the likes of Quinton Fortune and Phil Neville are fine as back-up and the accepted rule of needing four strikers to challenge for major silverware does not apply to Manchester United.
All they need is one central defender.
Thirty million eggs in one basket? Who’s going to bet that the handle will take the strain?
RIO CANNOT CURE ALL UNITED'S PROBLEMS
Tuesday July 23 2002
By Sarah Winterburn
OTHER STORIES
Desailly - Chelsea's Captain Insensible
'This New Everton Dawn May Not Be A False One'
The simple answer to the question of why Manchester United failed to win any trophies last season is ‘the defence’. So the simple solution seems to be buying one of the best young defenders in the country.
That’s it. Job’s a good ‘un. The championship is reclaimed, Reds fans can rest easy in their beds and the natural order of things is resumed.
That certainly seems to be the theory being expounded by Old Trafford, with chief executive Peter Kenyon saying that Rio Ferdinand is - with all due respect to £500,000 Peterborough keeper Luke Steele - the first and the last of the club’s summer signings.
All hail the saviour, long live the King of Peckham and all that.
Except it isn't really enough, is it?
Because the lack of one more world-class centre-back was not the sole reason that Manchester United won nothing last season, was it?
Ferdinand cannot solve the problem of finding a consistent partner for Ruud van Nistelrooy in attack, cannot replace the Dutchman if he is injured, cannot provide quality cover on the wings, cannot ensure the midfielders are not forced into playing out of position and cannot plug holes on the defensive flanks if he is busy being Laurent Blanc’s legs in the middle.
He is a pretty good player. But he’s no miracle worker.
He can help to solve the biggest problem with Manchester United’s current side - that of defensive frailty - but there was more than one problem last season and he cannot solve them all.
Back in May, the major reason cited by United fans writing into F365 for their team’s failure was not the defence (that was a given) but the way that Paul Scholes, Juan Veron and Ryan Giggs were continually shoe-horned into playing in the role of second striker because Dwight Yorke was out of favour, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was rarely trusted but from the bench and Diego Forlan was clearly not ready for Premiership football.
And soon Yorke will be gone. And then there were three strikers, and an even bigger problem with a lack of personnel up front.
Yet Ferdinand is apparently the only player Manchester United reckon they need.
Because of course they don’t need to replace Denis Irwin as a utility full-back, definitely don’t need more than five quality midfielders because the likes of Quinton Fortune and Phil Neville are fine as back-up and the accepted rule of needing four strikers to challenge for major silverware does not apply to Manchester United.
All they need is one central defender.
Thirty million eggs in one basket? Who’s going to bet that the handle will take the strain?