Yet another club strengthen their squad… (Bellamy joins Liverpool)
Admittedly, Liverpool have suffered, selling one striker and losing another to a terrible injury, but the sight of 3 out of the top 4 (4 out of top 5 if you count Berbatov’s move to Spurs) improving their squads and adding young talent makes you more and more worried about the direction United are headed in the transfer market.
United have been linked with Carrick, with Torres, with Mascherano, with Diarra, with Marcos Senna, with Armando Petit…the list goes on (and right now I’ve only mentioned credible links). Still, apart from an official bid on Carrick (not the ideal replacement for Keano), nothing else has materialised.
Do you realise that 42 days have passed since Ruud van Nistelrooy was given his marching orders from the team hotel prior to the Charlton game on May 7th? After the game, Ferguson spoke of Ruud being a disruptive element within the squad and said that he and Gill would decide on the issue within 48 hours – apparently, after Keano’s testimonial at Old Trafford – an event Nistelrooy was not invited to.
No word from United, Ferguson or Gill since then. If the team knows, they’re not talking. Nistelrooy does not know – in fact, the striker has not heard from Ferguson or United since 7th May.
Is this how you treat a striker who scored 150 goals for you in 200 matches?
For a striker that had scored 15+ goals before the Carling Cup final, benching him for one game is understandable, but when you bench your lead striker for the rest of the season and then send on Rossi instead of him, you’re pushing your player into revolt.
Nistelrooy is not in the best of form – he couldn’t be, considering how less he’s played this year. And attempts to compare him to Henry and Saha are unfair – Ruud is a target man, not a ‘creator’ per se.
But this is not about Nistelrooy. The whole ‘Ruud episode’ is just one element of how things have gone horribly wrong for United after the season ended.
We need to add to our ranks, and fast. Carrick is just one part of the puzzle – Ruud needs to be brought back and United need another midfielder. Stephen Appiah, anyone? He’s cheaper than Mascherano, and knowing Ferguson, he’s the sort of obscure midfielder that just might be bought and turned into a superstar (or a super-dud – with United you can’t tell).
Whatever the case, please, please, do something. Make a statement. Buy or sell someone.
The silence, the inactivity…It’s killing the fans.
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