Fernando Torres - Liverpool to Chelsea (£50 mn)
Andy Carroll - Newcastle to Liverpool (£35 mn)
Edin Dzeko - Wolfsburg to Man City (£27 mn)
David Luiz - Benfica to Chelsea (£26.5 mn)
Darren Bent - Sunderland to Aston Villa (£24 mn)
Luiz Suarez - Ajax to Liverpool (£22 mn)
The above six players, as you very well must know, were part of the most lucrative deals of the just concluded January transfer window, also among the biggest in Premier League history. Except for Bent & Dzeko, rest of the deals were undoubtedly eleventh-hour deals, done with on the final day. So what was it that we witnessed? Gradual team rebuilding? Or absolute panic signings in a desperate attempt to get their seasons back on track??? Only time will tell...
A friend of mine (who's a United fan), like many of my fellow United fans, keeps moaning & groaning about United's lack of activity in the transfer market when it comes to marquee signings. In the run-up to the winter transfer window, he always used to pester me for all the transfer gossip involving us with some big name & everytime Sir Alex refuted such rumours, he exclaimed - ''Till the time Sir Alex's in charge, there's never gonna be any value in the market, eh?!?!'' I, of course, tried quoting history in the defense of the gaffer but in vain...!!!
So as we all know, United's only acquisition happened to be Danish goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard, signed from Norwegian club FK Aalesunds for a reported sum of £3.5 million. Even that didn't happen exactly in January, given the fact that the Dane started training with the squad as early as the first week of December. The possible recalls of the in-form loanees Danny Welbeck & Tom Cleverley didn't materialise, and the only other notable incident was the departure of Federico Macheda to Italian Serie A club Sampdoria on loan for the remainder of the season.
On what happened during the last month, was all the money splashed actually worth it? Do the team managements of, say Chelsea & Liverpool really think that those big money signings are gonna make an immediate impact on the fortunes of the clubs? Don't players need time to gel with their new teammates? In my opinion, they do.
Chelsea obviously have the look of an aging squad, a team in decline after the English Double last season. Signing David Luiz may not be such a bad acquisition given their lack of options in central defence, but Torres? He's been out of form, jagged since the World Cup & completely uninspiring this season for the Merseyside Reds. No doubt he has immense talent, but is he as good as before? Plus £50 million for him? That looks to be more of a statement from Roman Abramovich to other clubs (obviously Man City!) that they still can compete in the transfer market. As for Liverpool, the less said the better...
Look at what Manchester United did instead with Lindegaard. With a view to finding the successor of Van der Sar in the long term, Lindegaard was brought into the team in late November so that he has enough time to get into the mix of things at Old Trafford. Result? He was ready to play for the first team as soon as he was eligible to don the Red shirt!
Sir Alex also knows that his side are currently on an if-not-spectacular, a commendable unbeaten run in the Premier League, Champions League & the FA Cup. Bringing any significant changes could've easily upset the balance of the current squad, which I guess no United fan would like to occur! Without a doubt, United do lack the cutting edge in some departments, but this isn't really the time to splash the cash... Hopefully, you all will agree with me when we will lift our record-breaking 19th league title come May!!!
What d'you think of this guys??? Do you agree that Manchester United were right not to bring in any sort of reinforcements atleast for the time being? Feel free to leave your comments below or drop me a line on Twitter @AbhinavCJ & I'll get back to you right away!
On an ending note, I'd like to pay a tribute to our beloved living legend & one of the finest right-backs England has ever seen - Gary Neville - who retired from all forms of football on Wednesday. The 36-year-old veteran made 602 appearances for Manchester United & was one of the youth batch of 1992, famously known as ''Fergie's Fledglings''. I, like all my fellow Red Devils, would like to say that Gary will always occupy a special place in our hearts, and we'll remember him as the player who symbolised everything that was Manchester United! We are gonna miss you so damn much Gary...
Gary Neville Is A Red, He Hates Scousers!!!
That's all Folks!
Yours,
CJ
Amazing Deals on Amazon.com - get the Manchester United album 'Lift It High' dedicated to the Treble-winning squad of 1999 for a best buy price of $2.67 only!!!
Andy Carroll - Newcastle to Liverpool (£35 mn)
Edin Dzeko - Wolfsburg to Man City (£27 mn)
David Luiz - Benfica to Chelsea (£26.5 mn)
Darren Bent - Sunderland to Aston Villa (£24 mn)
Luiz Suarez - Ajax to Liverpool (£22 mn)
The above six players, as you very well must know, were part of the most lucrative deals of the just concluded January transfer window, also among the biggest in Premier League history. Except for Bent & Dzeko, rest of the deals were undoubtedly eleventh-hour deals, done with on the final day. So what was it that we witnessed? Gradual team rebuilding? Or absolute panic signings in a desperate attempt to get their seasons back on track??? Only time will tell...
A friend of mine (who's a United fan), like many of my fellow United fans, keeps moaning & groaning about United's lack of activity in the transfer market when it comes to marquee signings. In the run-up to the winter transfer window, he always used to pester me for all the transfer gossip involving us with some big name & everytime Sir Alex refuted such rumours, he exclaimed - ''Till the time Sir Alex's in charge, there's never gonna be any value in the market, eh?!?!'' I, of course, tried quoting history in the defense of the gaffer but in vain...!!!
So as we all know, United's only acquisition happened to be Danish goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard, signed from Norwegian club FK Aalesunds for a reported sum of £3.5 million. Even that didn't happen exactly in January, given the fact that the Dane started training with the squad as early as the first week of December. The possible recalls of the in-form loanees Danny Welbeck & Tom Cleverley didn't materialise, and the only other notable incident was the departure of Federico Macheda to Italian Serie A club Sampdoria on loan for the remainder of the season.
On what happened during the last month, was all the money splashed actually worth it? Do the team managements of, say Chelsea & Liverpool really think that those big money signings are gonna make an immediate impact on the fortunes of the clubs? Don't players need time to gel with their new teammates? In my opinion, they do.
Chelsea obviously have the look of an aging squad, a team in decline after the English Double last season. Signing David Luiz may not be such a bad acquisition given their lack of options in central defence, but Torres? He's been out of form, jagged since the World Cup & completely uninspiring this season for the Merseyside Reds. No doubt he has immense talent, but is he as good as before? Plus £50 million for him? That looks to be more of a statement from Roman Abramovich to other clubs (obviously Man City!) that they still can compete in the transfer market. As for Liverpool, the less said the better...
Look at what Manchester United did instead with Lindegaard. With a view to finding the successor of Van der Sar in the long term, Lindegaard was brought into the team in late November so that he has enough time to get into the mix of things at Old Trafford. Result? He was ready to play for the first team as soon as he was eligible to don the Red shirt!
Sir Alex also knows that his side are currently on an if-not-spectacular, a commendable unbeaten run in the Premier League, Champions League & the FA Cup. Bringing any significant changes could've easily upset the balance of the current squad, which I guess no United fan would like to occur! Without a doubt, United do lack the cutting edge in some departments, but this isn't really the time to splash the cash... Hopefully, you all will agree with me when we will lift our record-breaking 19th league title come May!!!
What d'you think of this guys??? Do you agree that Manchester United were right not to bring in any sort of reinforcements atleast for the time being? Feel free to leave your comments below or drop me a line on Twitter @AbhinavCJ & I'll get back to you right away!
On an ending note, I'd like to pay a tribute to our beloved living legend & one of the finest right-backs England has ever seen - Gary Neville - who retired from all forms of football on Wednesday. The 36-year-old veteran made 602 appearances for Manchester United & was one of the youth batch of 1992, famously known as ''Fergie's Fledglings''. I, like all my fellow Red Devils, would like to say that Gary will always occupy a special place in our hearts, and we'll remember him as the player who symbolised everything that was Manchester United! We are gonna miss you so damn much Gary...
Gary Neville Is A Red, He Hates Scousers!!!
That's all Folks!
Yours,
CJ
Amazing Deals on Amazon.com - get the Manchester United album 'Lift It High' dedicated to the Treble-winning squad of 1999 for a best buy price of $2.67 only!!!
Well written article.
ReplyDeleteThis is something that all the United fans must read:
http://kratik1987.blogspot.com/2011/02/dalglish-we-are-back.html