LOOSING THE BASICS
In English Football, there are current and
historic powerhouse names like Chelsea football club, Arsenal FC, Liverpool of
Arnfield, Tottenham FC, the list goes on from great clubs of the past such as
Leeds United and Charlton Athletic FC
to upcoming favourites for example Everton FC and Southampton FC, the list could go on forever.
However, I have to put my breaks on and ask my readers two important questions,
the first question goes like this: What were the key factors that put these
teams apart from the rest of the league from past to present ? The answer is
consistent balance of home grown and acquired footballer. Chelsea 1999 -2001
had Gianfranco Zola Bought from Parma in 1996. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink bought
from Atletico Madrid in the year 2000. Both, as well as their academy raised
players such as John Terry, Frank Lampard, etc help mould chelsea into becoming
a well known force in english football. Now yes it is true that teams such as
the Chelseas, the Arsenals, the Liverpools and yes even the once mighty Leeds
United became an elite through the goals of top class, purchased goal machines
like Lee Boyer, Gianfranco Zola , Luis
Suarez, Frederick Green, Shola Ameobi,
Graeme Le Saux, Victor Moses e.t.c but these teams were moulded with home grown,
developed, quality players right in the heart of the team. Directing the team
and aiding the club in it’s successful quest of clinching numerous titles.
One such team that was widely popular in
using such methods so successfully is one very famous team that's known by two
popular names Manchester United or Red Devils, as the team is referred to worldwide. Manchester United is currently one
of the richest, most successful and
most fundamentally sound club in history. The Red Devils can be said to owe
most of their success to one legendary scottish manager known as sir Alex
Ferguson who led Manchester United to 49 Trophies in general, 13 Premier League
Title, 5 FA CUP Titles, 10 Community Cup Titles, 4 League Cup, 2 Champions
League Trophies, one World Club cup and One Cup Winners Cup. But was that the only reason Manchester United
became so successful under Sir Alex Ferguson? I don’t think so. See there is
one strategy that I noticed Manchester United deployed in the past that the
club seems to be shifting away from in this present day and age; Mixture and
Balance. Sir Alex Ferguson was so good at injecting youth players into a team
filled with experienced Veterans that
it suddenly became a trademark for the club. From giving a 17 year old Ryan
Giggs his first debut alongside club superstar Eric Cantona to telling the team to change to a different
jersey at halftime in other to change the results of the game. For Sir
Ferguson, it’s all about putting the team's goals over individual goals. However,
Manchester United have strayed away from
these fundamentals.
Manchester
United’s Manager and owners : The Glazers have made a positive move towards
returning to the Old ways of the club by making small necessary signings in
needed positions and reducing the number of players in the roaster to make
room for young players with so much potential to show their ability next
season. Wayne Rooney and Bastian
Schweinsteiger are just some of the players who were let go to make room for
players such as the young Victor Lindloff the young, swedish defender
brought in from Benfica FC for 31 million pounds and of course the big news of
the new addition of Belgian Powerful Goal machine Romelu Lukaku from Everton
FC, it seems that the club owners, the Glazers are ready to invest as much financial aid to help the club build
on it’s recent glory in the Europa League. It’s obvious that the Red Devils
victory in the Europa League made a substantial increase in the clubs stock
market which is why the club has flexed
its financial muscle this summer and with the aiming for Premier League and
UEFA Champions League title success, the future continues to be bright for the
club and i’m sure the fans can’t wait till the start of the season this
September.
The news
that i’m hearing from all football pubs, Football papers and Football analysts
is that Manchester United after bringing the quality strike force of Romelu
Lukaku for $97 million just a few days ago is that Manchester United still need
fast wingers who can deliver good crosses for the striker to finish. Now to be
honest, I saw the highlights of the Manchester United pre-season games this
month and it’s true that Manchester United don’t have a lot of quick, dynamic player who can inject some pace and trickery
into the
team to help get good wins in the team and not just grind out win. However, if
we are to analyze Manchester United on the pace of the personal, is it not
realistic to say that the club already has good, fast players in the team who
can change the game from the wight? Martial, Rashford, Mata, Mikhitarian you
would think that Manchester United have good players in the wing who can win a
game. Look it’s true that Mourinho have given the boss Ed Woodward a list of
players that he would want in team and that is true but has anybody considered
that maybe it’s not that the Chairman ED Woodward is not attempting to do
business to bring in players into the club but that the players just do not
want to the club. However, has anyone ever considered that it’s not that
Manchester United do not want to buy big players but this big players do not
want to come to Manchester United? Let’s be honest, before Pogba, Herrera,
Zlatan, Mikitarian, Mata and De Gea
arrived at Manchester, two to three seasons before this players arrived at the
club or the early parts of some of these players Manchester United career,
Manchester United were seriously declining . The club could not compete, could
not win trophies, nothing. Now, with this players in the picture, Manchester
United have progressed. The club have started to compete and win more games under
Mourinho. Chasing top four in the Premier League, Winning the Community Shield,
EFL Cup, Europa League Title and qualifying for the Uefa Champions League next
Season, all in the first season of Mourinho's Manchester United's Managerial
career. Looking at Manchester United before Mourinho people should be able to
see why players like Antoine Griezmann, Neymar, Renato Sanchez, Alexis Sanchez
and Cristiano Ronaldo are all hesitant to come to rush to Manchester United
because the club has declined and Manchester United will need to take the club
back to winning ways with the players they have now in other to attract the
attention of players from other clubs to come to Manchester United. It`s
never been about the Money because Manchester United recently signed a
new £15 million sleeve sponsorship deal a year for next season and including the
current £53 million deal a year with
Chevrolet that currently runs until 2021, It`s clear to see that the owners are
not afraid to spend the money but rather the reason why Manchester United have
not brought in more players is because
1: Is the targeted players
willing to come to Manchester United
2: Does the position the targeted players Manchester United are rumored to buy really need feeling
Maybe the chairman and board analyzed the situation and decided that the club does not necessarily need to splash unnecessary money this transfer window. Maybe Manchester United have enough players to compete in each competition. I know the fans may not agree with all the board has done heading into next season, I certainly don't agree with all their actions but one thing is for sure If Manchester United board members decided to end the purchase of new players at Victor Lindelof and Romelu Lukaku this transfer window, it definitely leaves the club a little short of players on the wings but i’m guessing the club is planning to balance the lack of place on the wings with the pace and strength of both Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku through the middle with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial doing more damage on the wings. I can’t promise that all Manchester United fans would be satisfied if the owners decides not to bring in extra reinforcements this transfer windows but i will definitely understand their actions.
