Given tilts for United

anver

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Manchester United Set to Make Shock Move for Manchester City Star!

Eastlands keeper wants to move to Old Trafford but will Roberto Mancini let him?

Shay Given ‘prepared to reject Arsenal and Celtic for Manchester United’
Manchester City’s Shay Given is attracting interest from a number of clubs ahead of the transfer window re-opening, but he is set to turn down Arsenal and Celtic in the hope of becoming Manchester United’s next first-choice goalkeeper.

In what would be a shock move across the city, Given – who is ready to submit an official transfer request next month – is said to be holding out for a bid from United, who are on the lookout for a new shot-stopper.
Current first-choice Edwin van der Sar turned 40 last month and is widely expected to retire at the end of this season – leaving Sir Alex Ferguson searching for a new number one.
Tomasz Kuszczak has been tipped to take over, but the United boss remains unsure if the Pole is ready to step up as the permanent number one.
And Given, who, at 34, still has at least two or three seasons left at the top level, could be the perfect fit as an experienced head to see the club through such a transitional period.
The Irish international has proven pedigree in the Premier League with both City and previous clubs Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United. (Metro)

It’s a move that makes a great deal of sense to Manchester United but less so for their neighbours City. Shay Given is too good a keeper to spend large spells on the bench and Roberto Mancini has already hinted that he would be willing to allow the Irishman to leave the club but there seems very little chance he would allow the 34 year old to make the move to United.

Given may try to push for such a move but that would seem to have little chance of affecting the decision in much the same way as Ferguson was unwilling to allow Gabriel Heinze to move to Liverpool some years back, the Eastlands boss is perfectly within his rights to prevent a top notch performer from leaving to join a rival.

Fulham, Celtic and Arsenal are all said to be interested but now that the former Newcastle United keeper has stated his preferred destination things could get a little problematic for the County Donegal keeper. Sir Alex Ferguson would surely be very interested in signing such a proven keeper to take over from veteran Edwin Van der Sar.



Agent bollocks no doubt. United should go in for Hart instead.
 
No chance City would sell to a rival, let alone United.

Most importantly though, no thanks. He's not good enough.
 
He's a great shotstopper, but that's going to fade away with age. Most keepers who do well beyond their mid-30s are usually quite tall, using their experience to make up for slightly slower reflexes. Given doesn't have this luxury, and I think his best years are more or less behind him.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
It's not even his quality that is the problem. He is a line keeper. United can't survive with a line keeper.
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I've seen Given come off his line a few times, like all proffesional goalkeepers he knows that you have to close down angles, he has good footwork and possibly has better distrubution than Kuszczak too. :nono:

I didn't see Hart straying off his line on Wednesday too much, and when he did he played rushed balls, so he must also be a "line keeper"
 
I love the way everyone has suddenly changed their opinion on Given because it seems vogue to do so.

He is a great keeper, subject now to myths from fans about his inability to command his area. He won't be coming here but we could do much worse and won't be doing much better.
 
nonononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononono
 
Not good enough for United.

Not good enough on crosses and displays almost no command of his area. His distribution is not great either.

He has great reactions and is an excellent shot stopper, but just not good enough for a top side.
 
He's a better keeper than every single young lad you lot have been salivating over. But he's 34 so he won't be in a few years when they've trained on.
 
Brophs said:
He's a better keeper than every single young lad you lot have been salivating over. But he's 34 so he won't be in a few years when they've trained on.
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I don't know about that - Adler and Neuer look better in the air on crosses imo.
 
Mitch Conor said:
I don't know about that - Adler and Neuer look better in the air on crosses imo.
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Probably, but that's only one element of being a keeper, particularly with the way most of them flap at the ball nowadays. I didn't think Neuer looked any great shakes at the WC (and ditto Stekelenburg) but people raved about him so perhaps I'm wrong.
 
Given is fine on crosses, in the same bracket as Pepe Reina on crosses.
 
That's a great article. It's really actually saying without saying it, that we haven't shown any interest and that he's 'hoping' we do. What the hell is the source anyway?

I don't think he's be a bad option, though.
 
Brophs said:
Probably, but that's only one element of being a keeper, particularly with the way most of them flap at the ball nowadays. I didn't think Neuer looked any great shakes at the WC (and ditto Stekelenburg) but people raved about him so perhaps I'm wrong.
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I wouldn't be mad on Stekenlurg either. Seems a solid enough keeper, but fairly average at the same time.
 
quethenoo said:
we could do a lot worse than given, he not as bad as half you lot are making out.
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I don't think he is a bad keeper, i just think there are better options that we could get and should look at. He is a very good keeper, but not world class and doesn't have the potential to be anymore.

He wouldn't be a terrible signing, I feel he would be a good one, I just think we can do better.
 
Given is a great keeper and could handle the pressure that comes with playing for United,Massimo Taibi came with the right credentials and he couldnt handle it,they shipped him out to Reggina and i saw some matches and he was brilliant ,So keepers are a real problem to find a great one.

I,m not saying that United will get him ,but we could do a lot worse.
 
The word about Lifford, where Given was born and brought up has always been that he would jump at the chance to move to United. Apparently he was a massive United fan as a boy.

It may be that we are interested, as a short term option until a more obvious target emerges. I'd still doubt if City would sell but.
 
He's a decent keeper but he's by no means 'great' and he's not who we should be signing. Nor will we be looking at him. Nor would City sell to us.
 
Decotron said:
disagree completely
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agreed - VDS has shown that keepers can go on to 40 if they go about things the right way.

I'm not against signing a 30-something keeper - who we could get anywhere from 6 to 10 years of service from - as long as they have the right abilities and are thus the right choice. I, personally, don't think Given is the right choice, regardless of age.

I would like to see us go for a younger keeper (again, providing the profile is correct) who would have a long term future at the club - but for me a keeper age is not the first thing I will be thinking about, their abilities in shot stopping and commanding the area are far more important.
 
From the headline, I was thinking Given was tilting his head and eyes to watching United instead of City, secretly wishing United to win.

Fulham or Celtic will sign him cheap, and will be able to flog him to a bigger club in a season or two.
 
Talking Vulture said:
He's a good shot stopper but being a goalkeeper is much more than just doing that.,

He cannot command his area, he's awful on crosses and he hardly comes off his line.
Not what we need
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He would be a great stop gap for 2-3 years.

Its a complete myth about being poor on crosses, and with the way Ferdinand and Vidic are in the air, VDS doesnt exactly come for more crosses than your average keeper as it is.

Wont happen though, but he is proven at the top level and a better choice right now than the younger names people are throwing around.
 
Thing is I didn't really rate him in his prime, but putting that aside I think he was much worse than that last year. On the slide imo, not every keeper keeps the same level into their late 30s, look at players like Ian Walker, Shaka Hislop even David Seaman, all got a lot worse after 35.
 
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