Manchester United, having a vacancy in the strikers department after Forlan moved to Villareal, have filled it with Wayne Rooney. It shouldn’t be too difficult for Rooney to exceed Forlan’s sorry United record. Forlan was mainly notable for having a preternatural ability to miss the target and he took 27 matches before scoring his first goal for United. (Exasperatingly, Forlan managed to score in his first match for Villareal.)
So Ferguson, having got rid of the Beckham media circus, now finds himself saddled with Roomania. If the media attention focused on the transfer saga is any indication, the Rooney show could easily surpass anything the manager had to live with during Beckham’s time at United.
The media weren’t the only ones excited. I’ll admit to frequently checking the BBC, Soccernet and Guardian web sites over the past two days to get the latest updates on the situation. Rooney is an exciting player and I think he’ll add a lot to United’s attack. He’s quick, talented, strong and like Cantona, the Scouser is confident bordering on arrogant when he’s on the field.
United’s strikeforce of van Nistelrooy, Rooney, Smith and Saha are going to put the fear in God in defenders yet the club still has deficiencies. As Phil McNulty writes, the midfield unit needs shoring up.
The problem now is the Rooney deal — United paid 10 million pounds with another 10 million pounds due in August 2005 — has scuppered any chance of procuring a big-money replacement for Keane until 2006 at the earliest.
I was hoping Ferguson would make an irresistible offer to Liverpool for the increasingly unsettled Gerrard but that’s unlikely now and Kleberson, Djemba-Djemba and Fletcher don’t seem to have what it takes to replace Captain Marvel 2.0.
But here’s a thought: Real Madrid eye van Nistelrooy as a prospective galactico next season and United sell the Dutch Master in order to get Gerrard.
Bye-bye, good knight
And what of Newcastle United? It was their shock bid for Rooney that spurred Ferguson and Gill into making a last-minute and ultimately successful bid for the player. That wasn’t the only Newcastle loss.
ESPN’s Football Focus showed how Bobby Robson was driven out of a club he supported as a youngster and I cannot believe how shabbily he was treated by Freddy Shepherd. The former England manager first heard his contract wouldn’t be renewed in an interview with the media and you just had to feel sorry for him as he had to digest that fact in front of the camera. Woodgate, Newcastle’s most impressive defender, was then sold off against the manager’s wishes.
Now Newcastle do not have Rooney.
They do not have a manager.
They do not have a dependable central defender.
They cannot buy anyone before January.
Situations like this make you appreciate how sensible the decision-makers at Manchester United are.
