[South_Melbourne]

Sir Alex Ferguson spending his millions on the cream of football talent. I recall various times people have bagged him at the time. However, in hindsite what do we think?

Lets have a look.


Wayne Rooney.
The 19 year old sensation. 20 million pounds, up to a potential 27millon seems far too much for a teenager. However, its hard to disagree that the lad is one of the most exciting and precocious talents in the world. Still not 20 and being English the lad potentialy has a half a dozen years before he reaches his peak for an looks like being a Utd player for at least the next decade. Already one of the better players in the EPL the lad could be anything. Already a hero to the club he could be anything and already a bloody good player.

Rio Ferdinand
Just under 30 million pounds (potentially £33.3million) for a central back, surly too much? Rio, whilst having a perfect footballing body is also supremely elegant who defends with intelligence and guile, but also uses the ball when possession is gained. A truly World Class defender Utd defence falls apart without his presence, Ferdinand was the main reason United lost their Premiership crown to Arsenal in 2003/04 according to the Utd manager. With Rio (having Heinze in the back 4 also doesnt hurt either) there they are rock tight and one of the better in club football. Again, English and still very young for a center back with several years left at the at his best one of arguable his sides most important player.

Ruud van Nistelrooy
A tad under 20 million pounds for a unproven striker outside Holland many thought Ruud was too much of a gamble. One of the greatest strikers in the modern era the lad has been a consistant source of goals for modern Manchester United. Putting away 20 goals every year for Utd (2001/02 23, 2002/03 25 & 2003/04, 20) and countless goals in Europe Ruud is one of the games elite strikers.

 

[Vagabondo]

didn't he spend more on :star:Veron:star: than any of these players you've mentioned?

 

[South_Melbourne]

didn't he spend more on :star:Veron:star: than any of these players you've mentioned?

No.

I beleive Veron was 28.1 Million. He did play some decent football for Utd (mostly in Europe) but never took off. Chelsea bought Veron for 12.5 Million.

Ronaldo was 12.24 million

 

[Vagabondo]

No.

I beleive Veron was 28.1 Million. He did play some decent football for Utd (mostly in Europe) but never took off. Chelsea bought Veron for 12.5 Million.

Ronaldo was 12.24 million

Veron still worked out alright anyway, mostly because Chelski was prepared to pay any amount for a half decent player. still it wouldn't have been as bad a mistake as some of the gems that Moratti/Perez/Abramovich have come up with even if they would have had to hold on to him.

he forked out a tidy some of money for Saha as well, didn't he?

 

[Vagabondo]

he forked out a tidy some of money for Saha as well, didn't he?

i'll answer my own question

13m pounds apparently. that's definitely too much. he could have probably even bought Makaay and set sail for the Carribean with the change

 

[South_Melbourne]

i'll answer my own question

Sorry I didnt reply within 30 secounds :eekani:

Saha was 12.82 million pounds.

13m pounds apparently. that's definitely too much. he could have probably even bought Makaay and set sail for the Carribean with the change

Alot of money, of course.Fergi did first big 8, then 10 million pounds. However Saha was ripping apart the EPL and doing very well with Fulham. I thought the chances he got he did quite well.

If he bought a Eto'o of Maakay would they be happy to hang around and not get a game?

Very good striker, seven goals in nine Premiership starts for United before the end of the 2003/04 campaign . Kind of player you want in the squad.

 

[Jern Lizardhous]

Ruud was the best deal, i think they should cash in on him now though as they can do without him and need cash for other areas of the squad.

Rooney was a given, anyone he had to buy him or risk either us or Chelsea getting him this summer.

Rio was well overpriced for what you get.

 

[South_Melbourne]

Ruud was the best deal, i think they should cash in on him now though as they can do without him and need cash for other areas of the squad.

Ruud was indeed a brillant buy. I dont understand why they would want to sell him? They can do without him yes, but in the worlds of Wenger whats money if you are going to lose you gun player?

World Class striker, id keep him.

Rooney was a given, anyone he had to buy him or risk either us or Chelsea getting him this summer.

I think Utd wanted to wait 12-18 months but when Newcastle started bidding for him and Chelsea looked Keane they had to make their move.

Rio was well overpriced for what you get.

Of course. 30 million pounds is a huge amount of money. However who would have been a better option?

Rio has been quite frankly sensational at his time at Utd. He is english, very young fot a center back, World Class, calm, elegant, good passes, always has time etc, etc.

Without Rio Uniteds back 4 look average and unstable. With him there they are so much more calm and rock hard, the stats back this up.

Alot of money but a class player. The best option for mine.

 

[Vagabondo]

Of course. 30 million pounds is a huge amount of money. However who would have been a better option?

Rio has been quite frankly sensational at his time at Utd. He is english, very young fot a center back, World Class, calm, elegant, good passes, always has time etc, etc.

Without Rio Uniteds back 4 look average and unstable. With him there they are so much more calm and rock hard, the stats back this up.

Alot of money but a class player. The best option for mine.

Ferdinand is a good defender, no doubt, maybe even one of the best. but Nesta owns him in basically any way you could possibly think of. i would hope you won't bother to argue with this point.

And yes Milan bought him during the same transfer window as when Ferguson bought Rio (Summer 2002)

And yes Milan paid significantly less for him too.

 

[Vagabondo]

Sorry I didnt reply within 30 secounds :eekani:

If he bought a Eto'o of Maakay would they be happy to hang around and not get a game?

Very good striker, seven goals in nine Premiership starts for United before the end of the 2003/04 campaign . Kind of player you want in the squad.

RvN is a great striker and Saha is a good, if incredibly overpriced squad player, but i think Makaay would have found his way into the side somehow in much the same fashion as Rooney is doing so now. Ferguson has shown that he is willing to play with his formation to get a lot of attacking quality in the side.

In any case as Makaay scores about as much RvN does (and on less service) it's also possible that he would have knocked Ruud out of the side altogether (and taken his starting place for the Netherlands too).

if you had got him, then you could also have exercised Jern's option of selling RvN to Chelski and brought in a stack of money in the process. as it is though Rooney, for now, on his own isn't up to scoring half the goals you'd need by half.

 

[Vagabondo]

Sorry I didnt reply within 30 secounds :eekani:

it wasn't a rhetorical question anyway man, i genuinely didn't know so i went and found out myself.

i didn't really expect you to supply an answer. certainly not straight away by any means

 

[Jern Lizardhous]

Of course. 30 million pounds is a huge amount of money. However who would have been a better option?

Rio has been quite frankly sensational at his time at Utd. He is english, very young fot a center back, World Class, calm, elegant, good passes, always has time etc, etc.

Without Rio Uniteds back 4 look average and unstable. With him there they are so much more calm and rock hard, the stats back this up.

Alot of money but a class player. The best option for mine.

the better option would have been to keep Stam and spend the difference on a great midfield player. p

Rio is flawed, that he makes the defence more stable is more down to the fact that Wes Brown and Silvestre are two of the doziest CB's around.

also the thing about Rio is that Alex should have had the foresight to see the financial collapse of Leeds, if he had, he could have waited a year and paid Leeds around £10m for him, he wasn't very smart there.

 

[South_Melbourne]

the better option would have been to keep Stam and spend the difference on a great midfield player. p

Rio is flawed, that he makes the defence more stable is more down to the fact that Wes Brown and Silvestre are two of the doziest CB's around.

Stam should have been keept, yes.

However Rio is more than an good replacment. One of the best central defenders in the world. Simply world class.

How is Rio flawed?

If you look at the stats when Rio is playing with Utd they are a very good side side and conside very few goals. In 30 games United have only coped 17 goals, whilst most of them while Rio and Heinze out.

 

[Jern Lizardhous]

Rio has bad starting positions because he watches the ball, he is great 1 0n 1 but he is often marking fresh air when crosses come over, also he is very much a girl when it comes to sticking his head in where it hurts, he simply won't do it, god knows why because he doesn't have any looks to lose.

against the very top opposition he will always be exposed, good defender but not great.

 

[South_Melbourne]

Rio has bad starting positions because he watches the ball, he is great 1 0n 1 but he is often marking fresh air when crosses come over, also he is very much a girl when it comes to sticking his head in where it hurts, he simply won't do it, god knows why because he doesn't have any looks to lose.

against the very top opposition he will always be exposed, good defender but not great.

Wrong.

Not good, great.

Utterly world class.

 

[ASR83]

i gotta agree with SM, Rio would probably be my first pick if i could bring a defender to my own team...Him or Nesta lol...

 

[South_Melbourne]

i gotta agree with SM, Rio would probably be my first pick if i could bring a defender to my own team...Him or Nesta lol...

Nesta is a better player. For mine the outstanding defender in world football.

However for Manchester United Rio was the best choice.

 

[Vagabondo]

Nesta is a better player. For mine the outstanding defender in world football.

However for Manchester United Rio was the best choice.

As i mentioned above i can't imagine how this can be the case when Nesta;

a) Was available for purchase and sold at exactly the same time as Rio was purchased

b) Sold to Milan for considerably less than what Man Utd paid for Ferdinand.

 

[South_Melbourne]

Ferdinand is a good defender, no doubt, maybe even one of the best. but Nesta owns him in basically any way you could possibly think of. i would hope you won't bother to argue with this point.

And yes Milan bought him during the same transfer window as when Ferguson bought Rio (Summer 2002)

And yes Milan paid significantly less for him too.

RvN is a great striker and Saha is a good, if incredibly overpriced squad player, but i think Makaay would have found his way into the side somehow in much the same fashion as Rooney is doing so now. Ferguson has shown that he is willing to play with his formation to get a lot of attacking quality in the side.

In any case as Makaay scores about as much RvN does (and on less service) it's also possible that he would have knocked Ruud out of the side altogether (and taken his starting place for the Netherlands too).

if you had got him, then you could also have exercised Jern's option of selling RvN to Chelski and brought in a stack of money in the process. as it is though Rooney, for now, on his own isn't up to scoring half the goals you'd need by half.

First off, with Utd is there really that much difference between 6 million pounds and 12? Wont the profits go to the shareholders?

Was 13m really that stiff for Saha. He was sensational at Fulham. He did kick seven goals in nine Premiership starts for United before the end of the 2003/04 campaign and was only behind Henry and Shearer leading the EPL for scoring. At 23 he has alot of inproment left in him and is a great player to slot in behind a VNR or Rooney.

I dont know why you harp on Maakay and Nesta. They might have been good, yes. But Rio and Ruud are good. Well done Fergi :thumbsup:

Maakay while a good player I dont rate in the league of Ruud. For mind Ruud is in the top tier of striker along with Adriano, Sheva & Henry. Maakay would have scored goals, yes. But VNR goals have been record braking.

This season he has scored 12 from 20 starts. In 04/04 he is leading champions league scoring with 8 thus far. He also was Europes best striker in this sence in 03/02 leading the CL with 14 goals, and again in 02/01 with 10 goals. In the EPL: 04/03 20 goals (3rd most), 03/02 25 goals (leader), 02/01, 23 goals (2nd most).

Simply breathtaking.

And VNR isnt being forced out of the Dutch side.

Once again - I agree with Wenger. Why sell a world class player (Henry/VNR) for cash? Its better to keep a player of this quaity.

Rooney does score goals. VNR does and does it very well. With Scholes its a potent partnership Fergie has put together.

You can put together maybes about Maakey and selling Ruud but id assume Utd are very happy with the way Utd have spent there money.

 

[South_Melbourne]

As i mentioned above i can't imagine how this can be the case when Nesta;

a) Was available for purchase and sold at exactly the same time as Rio was purchased

b) Sold to Milan for considerably less than what Man Utd paid for Ferdinand.

Realisclty I dont think Nesta would ever go to England. Dont you think Utd would have attemped to get Nesta if they could?

Nesta has no pear but Rio wouldnt be far behind. Being English is an advatange also.