Juan Sebastian Veron

TheReligion

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The more I think of Veron the more I think he was actually much better at United than people would have you believe.

Arguably wasn’t a good fit given the players we had at the time, but a really fantastic footballer who I feel would be well suited to the modern game and actually really useful to the club right now.

So what thoughts do you have when you think of Veron and how do you view his time at United?

 
Absolutely loved him

My dad took me to Old Trafford loads during that time and I remember watching him ping balls 50 yards with pinpoint accuracy in warm up.

I also think he seemed better watching him live than he came across on TV if that makes sense. I’d have a 26 year old Veron back now in a heartbeat
 
I was so excited by his signing but was so incredibly underwhelmed at the time and it was a huge relief when he moved to Chelsea.
 
He had the same problem with Sancho. World class in other league but too slow for PL. He was ill suited to Man Utd/PL.
 
I think he and Scholes should have switched their positions.

Veron behind Ruud and Scholes behind Veron + next to Keane.
 
I was absolutely thrilled when we signed him.
I was watching a lot of Italian football in the 90’s, early 00’s and he was probably the best midfielder in the league outside Zidane at the time.
Also played for my beloved Parma for a couple of years.

I think our issue in his first season was the defense, replacing Jaap Stam with an over the hill Blanc was like going from SAF to Moyes, it was a disaster.
Barthez didn’t help either, Brown / Blanc Silvestre at CB with Barthez behind them still give me nightmares, to this day.

We actually scored more goals in the league that season (01-02) than we did in the treble season, and finished with only two points less.

I think Veron never managed to make a role his own in the team, sometimes we played 4-4-2, sometimes 4-5-1, sometimes he played CM, sometimes he played on the right.
I think the idea behind the signing made a lot of sense, but for many reasons it didn’t really work out.

Still, loved him as a player and glad he’s won a PL title as a United player.
 
Brilliant player who failed at United, probably because his style of football wasn't a good fit for how the English game was played back then.

But it's interesting to think about how he'd do now, in era when deep lying playmakers are so highly valued. We talk about how we can't dictate play from deep at the moment. He was one of the best at doing that.
 
TheReligion said:
The more I think of Veron the more I think he was actually much better at United than people would have you believe.

Arguably wasn’t a good fit given the players we had at the time, but a really fantastic footballer who I feel would be well suited to the modern game and actually really useful to the club right now.

So what thoughts do you have when you think of Veron and how do you view his time at United?

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I have always held the opinion that he was more impactful than given credit for. He got hate for two reasons. 1. Big money signing during a comparatively lean time for the club in terms of trophies and 2. Because of what he did at Lazio. The hate he gets is similar to the hate Nani used to get and then with the benefit of hindsight he starts to be appreciated. Yeah he wasn't Lazio Veron but he was still good and he was a Premier League Champion.
 
I was only a kid during the Veron years but my recollection was that he often wanted too many touches of the ball, which would cause us to slow down our high tempo attacks. Similar to Berbatov in a way.

One frustrating consequence of Veron was that it seemed to put Fergie off signing big-money players from abroad. In another universe, we didn't sign Veron but we signed the likes of Benzema and Vidal a few years later.
 
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Loved him as a player, loved pinging a 40 yrd pass with outside of his boot. That assist to Diego Forlan against Chelsea many moons ago was amazing
 
Gabriel Djemba-Bebe said:
I was only a kid during the Veron years but my recollection was that he often wanted too many touches of the ball, which would cause us to slow down our high tempo attacks. Similar to Berbatov in a way.

One frustrating consequence of Veron was that it seemed to put Fergie off signing big-money players from abroad. In other universe, we didn't sign Veron but we signed the likes of Benzema and Vidal a few years later.
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Think that was the problem. Scholes did everything Veron could and did it faster.

He was fun to watch at times though and was probably getting to grips with English football just as we sold him.
 
Lots of players like Veron, Berbatov, Forlan who weren’t considered successes in their day but given the shite we’ve had since and the ability to access YouTube highlights now don’t seem too bad.
 
I loved him. I remember him and keane playing 1-2's around the box and scoring a lot when he first arrived. I think a lot of that team is a bit underrated because the defence wasn't up to it. We lost Schmeichel, Irwin, Johnson and Stam and it took us years to replace them to a similar standard.
 
When you watch matches like the league cup final against Liverpool and see all his misplaced passes and poor play it's very strange how he couldn't adapt. He just seemed to give the ball away a lot.
 
quadrant said:
Brilliant player who failed at United, probably because his style of football wasn't a good fit for how the English game was played back then.

But it's interesting to think about how he'd do now, in era when deep lying playmakers are so highly valued. We talk about how we can't dictate play from deep at the moment. He was one of the best at doing that.
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This, he wasn't a fit for English football in his era, today he would be the first name on the teamsheet
 
Offside said:
Lots of players like Veron, Berbatov, Forlan who weren’t considered successes in their day but given the shite we’ve had since and the ability to access YouTube highlights now don’t seem too bad.
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Highlights tend to show only the good stuff, but players like Forlan, Veron and Berbatov would walk into our current side.
Our standards were so high back then, that any newcomer was under an immense pressure to make a difference. Now we cheer when a defender gets a tackle right.
 
Right player at the wrong time. He came into the best midfield in Europe and we had to change the system for him. At literally any other time he’d have been one of our best players. I’d give my left nut to have a 23/24 year old Veron now. He’d instantly be one of the best players in the league. People forget just how good he was.

People also forget how good he was for United, even if the timing of his arrival didn’t work out. He was particularly good in Europe. He was a complete midfielder. He had steel, but also finesse and a great engine. Could run with the ball, had a hammer of a shot, and had a world class passing range. A midfield three of Ugarte, Veron, and Mainoo is the stuff of wet dreams. Just my idea of a proper, world class midfielder.
 
Outstanding player, but there were two issues for me why it didn't work out:

1. You ended up with a post-peak Veron. Physically the level he produced at Sampdoria, Parma and Lazio was a lot higher than what he showed at United, Chelsea and Inter. He spoke about how he didn't get a proper pre-season when joining United and went into the season under-cooked. Peak Veron wasn't a light-weight playmaker, rather an all-round midfielder who could compete with the likes of Edgar Davids for club and country. He recovered his groove at Inter and Estudiantes, but he was a slightly different player by that point for me.

2. I don't think he was totally compatible with Keane, who by that stage in his career was clearly the main man kick-starting moves in midfield. There are games that Veron played with Phil Neville which he dominated, despite playing with a 'weaker' partner. United didn't really need Veron in the league when Keane already provided that central control. Of course he did shine in the Champions League, where Ferguson wanted a more patient probing approach, rather than the helter skelter that contributed to their defeat to Real the previous year.
 
TheReligion said:
The more I think of Veron the more I think he was actually much better at United than people would have you believe.

Arguably wasn’t a good fit given the players we had at the time, but a really fantastic footballer who I feel would be well suited to the modern game and actually really useful to the club right now.

So what thoughts do you have when you think of Veron and how do you view his time at United?

Click to expand...

One of best passer of longer balls ever. Power and accuracy. Outstanding player.
 
I thought he was great for us. This is probably because I was rarely able to watch Premier League games at the time and was almost exclusively watching us in Champions League and Match of the Day highlights.
 
simonhch said:
Right player at the wrong time. He came into the best midfield in Europe and we had to change the system for him. At literally any other time he’d have been one of our best players. I’d give my left nut to have a 23/24 year old Veron now. He’d instantly be one of the best players in the league. People forget just how good he was.

People also forget how good he was for United, even if the timing of his arrival didn’t work out. He was particularly good in Europe. He was a complete midfielder. He had steel, but also finesse and a great engine. Could run with the ball, had a hammer of a shot, and had a world class passing range. A midfield three of Ugarte, Veron, and Mainoo is the stuff of wet dreams. Just my idea of a proper, world class midfielder.
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I agree with most of this. Came into a very successful side (that was weaker in defence), wih the best midfield partnership in Europe at the time.

Thinkhedid pretty wellthe first few months but he did fade later on and wasnt playing well by the time he left. I wonder if culturally he failed to adapt and fit in as lots did in those days. DIsagree with people saying not suited to ENglish football.

Also though he didnt settle in the premiership at Chelsea either, disagree with response to anearlier post about walking into most midfields with "not betterthan Fernandes".....he definately was the rest of his career
 
I can only think it was too much of a culture shock for him at the time. He was one of my favourite players in Serie A when we signed him.

Maybe he didn't speak the language which wouldn't have helped matters.
 
A brilliant player, real pity that it just didn't work out for him at OT.

He who would have been amazing if we'd signed him two years later.
 
If he was played as a clear #10, with Scholes and Keane/Carrick playing behind him, he would have been a success here. His range of passing was secondary only to Scholes.
 
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mu4c_20le said:
He isn't better than Bruno
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Not in England he wasn't, but he was in Italy, his style of play would be suited to the way the game is played here now and he wouldn't be playing in the postion Bruno plays anyway
 
Fantastic player! I was so glad when we signed him and Ruud! I remember him as great in the CL but not so great in the PL. I agree with the above that we lost too much of the previous defence and that he came into the ”perfect” midfield almost, wich was hard. Think he should been given a couple of more seasons though. And would have loved him today. To me he was a superior player to Bruno, altough I like Bruno.
 
I really liked Veron, probably because I was too young to know about things like tactics and whether or not someone fit the system. I just remember him scoring against Arsenal and picking the corner flag up, or curling in a free kick against West Ham. He scored a few bangers thinking about it.

I remember being quite surprised when he went to Chelsea for half what we paid.
 
LawCharltonBest said:
Absolutely loved him

My dad took me to Old Trafford loads during that time and I remember watching him ping balls 50 yards with pinpoint accuracy in warm up.

I also think he seemed better watching him live than he came across on TV if that makes sense. I’d have a 26 year old Veron back now in a heartbeat
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I’m too young to have watched Veron (yeah I know), so where’s you think he’d fit in our team? I’m intrigued because the way people describe him reminds me a lot of Pogba, so although it sounds crazy, I don’t think there’s even a place for him in our 11 unless you tell me he was better than Bruno, which I guess I wouldn’t be able to dispel if you were to do so.
 
He was cool as feck wasn't he, when you think about it now. Didn't work out at the time but imagine him in the PL now, with the way the game is played...I think he'd be a superstar. His nickname "la brujita" (the little witch) just added to his aura for me, along with his overall style/ look. It was the sort of signing you always wanted us to make when you were a kid, some South American genius with a bit of mystique about them. It was hard to watch Serie A but you heard these stories about these players and it just made them seem almost mythical when you were a kid.
 
A big part of the problem he had was that he needed to be the player to dictate the flow of the game and that was Keane’s job at United. He would be ideal right now. But then Nicky Butt would walk on to the team and be our best midfielder right now too.
 
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nowhere near as bad as some people made on for a long time. was quite a physical player and fun to watch. his main problem was that scholes just kept getting better and better. we probably ended up selling while we still got an ok fee for him but in retrospect we struggled in the middle until we signed carrick and he'd probably have continued to play frequently. won player of the month in his first season i believe, got a big goal v arsenal and some nice goals in CL. Remember him fondly, if a touch underwhelming in terms of what he might have achieved.
 
simonhch said:
Right player at the wrong time. He came into the best midfield in Europe and we had to change the system for him. At literally any other time he’d have been one of our best players. I’d give my left nut to have a 23/24 year old Veron now. He’d instantly be one of the best players in the league. People forget just how good he was.

People also forget how good he was for United, even if the timing of his arrival didn’t work out. He was particularly good in Europe. He was a complete midfielder. He had steel, but also finesse and a great engine. Could run with the ball, had a hammer of a shot, and had a world class passing range. A midfield three of Ugarte, Veron, and Mainoo is the stuff of wet dreams. Just my idea of a proper, world class midfielder.
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Couldn't put it better myself. I'd give my right nut though.
 
Unfortunately, his incompatibility with Keane means we rarely see him at his best.
Carrick turns out what Veron supposed to be with United.
 
I remember the relief and feeling how much we ripped Chelsea off when they paid 15m pounds to take him off us.
 
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