Ferdinand replacement - rumoured

I think that Rio's days are limited, if not already drawing towards an end.
His injuries are not healing properly and the team needs someone reliable in such a vital position. Not only that, given his salary level the club needs a more reliable person - harsh but true.

Jonny Evans hasn't developed as we all hoped he would, despite his early promise, and Wesley Brown's best days seem to be behind him. We have to have at least three, prefereably four, top class CB's to handle the fixture list that a top club has. I'm sure that Vidic (as long as he stays, OFC) and Smalling will establish a good partnership as first choice CB's but at least one top class signing is needed in this position in the summer. Otherwise we will end up with an ever-changing back line that has no stability and will always be suspect.
 
Hmm I wonder if this was the foundation of those Ciaran Clarke rumours.

I'd be very surprised if we brought anyone in though.

Ferdinand and Vidic when fit.
Smalling as first choice cover
Evans as second choice
Brown/O'Shea as third and fourth.

We're fine in that area and signing anyone would only stunt the growth of Smalling and Evans.
 
We'll probably go to Bolton for Cahill in the summer. There have been rumours of him leaving them at the end of this season.
 
Ferdinand is irreplaceable. We will not find another defender as good as him for many, many years.

Smalling has done well this season. I don't think any new signing could do better than he has.
 
johnmufc said:
Ferdinand is irreplaceable. We will not find another defender as good as him for many, many years.

Smalling has done well this season. I don't think any new signing could do better than he has.
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Fully concur. There are not many Ferdinands around. I think he is seriously underrated by many on the caf. I dont care how good Vidic is, hes a stopper (an extremely effective one) and hes not in Rio's class as an allround defender/footballer. From what Ive seen Smalling has the potential to be top drawer
 
Buying a Ferdinand replacement doesn't necessarily mean selling Ferdinand or even demoting him necessarily. It does perhaps imply Brown will be replaced to create room for a more viable option.
 
Blair said:
Is he shit?

I have only watched him in the CL this season and he's looked very good.
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Not shit, just not United quality. He's good enough for Lyon, but when it comes to bigger clubs like United he just doesn't have what's needed.
 
I rate Cahill, would be a good team player, not the ideal replacement

Subotic is the better option
 
Mannheim Red said:
Fully concur. There are not many Ferdinands around. I think he is seriously underrated by many on the caf. I dont care how good Vidic is, hes a stopper (an extremely effective one) and hes not in Rio's class as an allround defender/footballer. From what Ive seen Smalling has the potential to be top drawer
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Ferdinand isn't underrated at all on the CAF.

You won't see a Vidic for a long time either, I don't care how many defenders you think are similar to this style, he is a class above.
 
Unless Rio is permanently crocked I don't see the point. Yes, he will suffer injuries from time to time, but we can't just add more and more players to compensate for the ones we have, with the 25-man squad limit. Smalling himself will take up a spot in there in a year or two. We just have to accept we'll have to manage Rio as best as we can and be happy we have such terrific replacements who will use the pitch time they will get to improve.
 
SAF likes to have a settled back four and keeper.
 
Snow said:
Not this season he isn't. Only Zlatan has player more often. Last season he also played more than Rio even though Man Utd played a lot more games.
Rio has 20 games this season and managed 21 games last season. Probably won't play any more this season. And he's got two types of injuries.

I'm afraid he doesn't have much consistent football in him anymore.
Nesta has started all games for Milan but 1 this season. He was an unused substitute in that game. Would be surprising to see Milan not trying to hold onto him.
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According to wiki they have both played 19 matches so far this season.

Everyone is selling Rio a bit short if they dont think back to his best anymore on a consistent basis, hell he is only 32, Scholes looked done do to an injury and came back and in his latter career had one of his best seasons ever, I certainly feel he can come back, hopefully..
 
Alex said:
According to wiki they have both played 19 matches so far this season.

Everyone is selling Rio a bit short if they dont think back to his best anymore on a consistent basis, hell he is only 32, Scholes looked done do to an injury and came back and in his latter career had one of his best seasons ever, I certainly feel he can come back, hopefully..
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Well wiki is wrong. It has to be updated on a constant basis you see. Look at other sites that are dedicated to sports, more explicitly football.

Fact is he's 32 now, going on 33. He's had bad injuries at age 31 and 32. The kind that don't heal completely. In that time he hasn't managed the amount of games considered normal in one season as a Man Utd regular. Therefor I'm gonna allow myself to be doubtful of his future fitness.
 
Snow said:
Well wiki is wrong. It has to be updated on a constant basis you see. Look at other sites that are dedicated to sports, more explicitly football.

Fact is he's 32 now, going on 33. He's had bad injuries at age 31 and 32. The kind that don't heal completely. In that time he hasn't managed the amount of games considered normal in one season as a Man Utd regular. Therefor I'm gonna allow myself to be doubtful of his future fitness.
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I would think it's safe to assume that the only reason Fergie would be considering replacing Rio, is if the medical staff have told him that Rio will not be able to play regularly. Otherwise I see no point in such a move - Smalling looks like the ideal replacement and just needs a couple of seasons to develop before he's relied upon week-in-week-out. If Rio is properly crocked then a Blanc style move would make sense - though who exactly we get is another matter. Saw someone suggest Nesta, but he has the exact same problem - chronic injuries and is considering retiring.
 
golden_blunder said:
he was and he wasn't. By all accounts the defenders learnt a lot from him. So perhaps his long term influence was more important than short term influence.

I still think Blanc got stick because he was perceived as Stams replacement, when in fact he was bought to play alongside Stam
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I still don't buy this statement. Stam was sold on 27 Aug, Blanc was signed 30 Aug. Not exactly sure how Blanc was signed to play alongside a player that was already signed for Lazio.
 
SecondFig said:
I would think it's safe to assume that the only reason Fergie would be considering replacing Rio, is if the medical staff have told him that Rio will not be able to play regularly. Otherwise I see no point in such a move - Smalling looks like the ideal replacement and just needs a couple of seasons to develop before he's relied upon week-in-week-out. If Rio is properly crocked then a Blanc style move would make sense - though who exactly we get is another matter. Saw someone suggest Nesta, but he has the exact same problem - chronic injuries and is considering retiring.
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For a man with chronic injuries he's been playing as regularly as anyone for two years now.

Hasn't Evans been injured quite a lot during his time here since breaking through into the first team? It's worrying to say the least. Brown and Rio are both a wreck, destined to be out for at least 3-4 months. That leaves Vidic and the very unexperienced Smalling and Evans.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
Subotic will be the only other player worth looking at to give Smalling competition when Rio is eventually through.
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Had you heard of Smalling before we were interested in him? He's come from nowhere to where he is now in less than a year - bearing that in mind, there'll be far more equally useful centre halves out there than just Subotic.
 
Snow said:
For a man with chronic injuries he's been playing as regularly as anyone for two years now.

Hasn't Evans been injured quite a lot during his time here since breaking through into the first team? It's worrying to say the least. Brown and Rio are both a wreck, destined to be out for at least 3-4 months. That leaves Vidic and the very unexperienced Smalling and Evans.
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Actually, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Brown was moved on in the summer - so yes, signing another CB wouldn't be crazy. Especially if Evans continues to be injured or play like a leper
 
Rather sign a player with years left versus a stop-gap. Would also provide additional quality to compete with Evans and Smalling.

Cahill
Subotic
Hageland
Chiellini (also provides cover at LB)
Shawcross

All good choices in here.
 
Sultan said:
Ferdinand is not yet dead.

Rodwell would provide good cover both for midfiled and as a centre back.
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Rodwell's unproven at center back I'm afraid, Moyles would play Phil Neville there before him.

At that rate, happy to have Wes Brown and Jonathan Evans.
 
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