UnitedNorge – En Manchester United-blogg

Årets utgave av Man Utd har prestert langt under det de fleste av oss forventer seg av laget.  De avgir oftere poeng, de taper oftere, spiller mindre underholdende, skaper færre sjanser, og de makter heller ikke å spille ut motstanderne slik de gjorde før.  Selv ikke Old Trafford er en fryktinngytende stadion lengre.

Spørsmålet er om vi kun i en overgangsperiode opplever en svakere Manchester United utgave, eller om Man Utd rett og slett er en falmende storhet.  Flere sentrale skikkelser tilknyttet engelsk fotball har påstått dette i den senere tid, deriblant landslagssjef Fabio Capello.  Robbie savage er den seneste som stiller seg sterkt kritisk til årets MU utgave.

Where are the stars at Man United?, spør Robbie Savage, på MirrorFotball.

I wasn’t good enough to play for Manchester United. I wonder if you could say the same thing about some of their current squad.  Years ago, before my Birmingham side went to Old Trafford, I got into trouble with Steve Bruce for suggesting that the likes of Kleberson didn’t have enough quality to pull on the famous red shirt.

After watching United outplayed by League One Leeds last weekend, I got the same feeling. Is Sir Alex Ferguson building another great side or are some the new Eric Djemba-Djembas? Every member of the team United put out against Leeds is a better player than me and yet I looked at that side and thought “where are the show stoppers?”

As I found out to my cost, just being an honest, reasonably talented pro isn’t enough to make you a Manchester United player. Their team should be stuffed with superheroes, as it has been for the last two decades. The fans and the manager demand it.

But United have lost Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, whose eight goals in the last eight games for Manchester City show what a great player he is. And sooner or later they will lose four legends in Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and Edwin van der Sar.

They still have the unplayable, unbelievable Wayne Rooney. Dimitar Berbatov can be a world beater on his day and I love the energy and drive of Darren Fletcher.  But the likes of Nani have not justified Sir Alex’s faith and I also wonder whether the talented Anderson will fulfill his enormous potential.

Antonio Valencia has done well, but he is playing in one hell of a shadow. He’s a great Premier Lreague player, but is he a Ronaldo?  The fact is that there are very few Ronaldos out there, and very few Keanes and Beckhams too – especially when United are suddenly struggling to outspend not just Chelsea but Manchester City too.

Have United got the money to bring in those show stoppers? Only the Glazers know the answer.  But the current Chelsea squad is full of them and that is why they are still my favourites for the title.