First up, I'd like to wish you all a very Happy Easter. Remember the main message behind it all, yada yada yada. Enjoy your chocolate.
Next, a quick update on Late Lent. It seems to be going quite well - I can avoid swearing if I really try. Its quite nice too, because mainly my swearing kicked in at school - and there is no school!
Finally, before we start, I'd like to apologise to all women, and anyone not interested in football. But read this - it will be good to see if I can keep you captivated till the end!
So, as you can guess by the title and picture, today's blog is CHANGE. Primarily, Manchester United.
As we speak, Dad and I are sitting through half time on the 1999 Champions League Final video. As we all know, United won 2-1, and catapulted themselves to one of the greatest achievements of all time - The Treble. Making it probably the best squad the club has ever seen.
Compare this to yesterday. 11 years later, and we're a year on from the last attempt at winning all three. Lost the FA Cup quarters, lost in the CL Final to Barca, but won the League and Carling Cup. We had to rebuild in the summer, but we obviously didn't do a great job. We've become a one-man team, in Wayne Rooney. Take him out of the equation, and we're a shambles. We didn't deserve a single thing against Chelsea yesterday, and we've probably thrown away the season by buying Berbatov.
I would never have bought Berbatov, if it were up to me. I was pro-Berba before we bought him, but the minute we got up to £20m + I thought we should have gone for Tevez. But no, we spend £31m on a lump of lard who broke a sweat for the first time in his United career yesterday. When he fell over.
It showed what a poor team we currently have. It's filled with world-class players, who don't necessarily work together. So, I drew up a plan. Sorta.
First off, I want to compare what we had in '99 to what we have now. Look at the United squad that won the Treble in '99.
During the summer of 1998, we signed Jaap Stam for £10.75m, Jesper Blomqvist for £4.4m, and Dwight Yorke for £12.6m. We signed players that strengthened an already strong team. First XI's included Schmeichel (probably one of the world's greatest keepers), Gary Neville (in his prime, one of the quickest and best right backs in the world), Beckham (STILL an England international - which proves how good he STILL is), Stam (one of the best signings Fergie has ever made), Andy Cole (a goalscorer who could make chances as well as put them in), Giggsy (one of the best providers of the ball Europe has ever seen), Dwight Yorke (who formed one of the greatest strike partnerships in the history of United with Cole), Scholesy (who is still one of the best passers of the ball in the world), plus two super-subs in Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (who won us the Treble...), and a captain in the form of Roy Keane (who knew exactly what to do when the team was in trouble).
Now compare that to the summer of 2009. We signed Luis Antonio Valencia, for a fee of about £17m. Proving to be worth that. Then we signed Owen and Obertan, both of whom are strikers, and both havn't shown ANY reason why they should have a Red Devil on their chest. We lost Ronaldo and Tevez in one summer, and didn't replace them with anyone. So lets look at the team and squad now.
We've still got the stalwarts of Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs. A sturdy keeper in teh shape of Edwin van der Sar. A lethal striker with Wayne Rooney, and a runaround midfield in Darren Fletcher. Valencia and Nani on the wings. A sub for them with Park. A quick left back in Evra, and a strong defence with Rio and Vidic too.
But thats where it goes downhill. Big money was spent on the likes of Owen Hargreaves, Anderson and Berbatov. Nearly £75m, to be precise. These were players who were meant to make us Treble winners again. They've become lazy, lethargic and very injury-prone.
Then we have the players who were good. Emphasise on the word 'were'. Michael Carrick, Wesley Brown, Ben Foster, Tomasz Kusczcak, Jonny Evans and Federico Macheda all fall into that bracket. We want players who are willing to play for teh best club in the world, not the players who will stay for a bit just to lengthen their international career, or to get a ticket home, or just sit there collecting £60,000 a week.
So, here's my fore-mentioned plan. We won the Treble with a team that was young, attacking and incredibly enthusiastic. We're losing everything currently because we have a team made up of lazy, money-hungry players. So, lets compare again. I've built a new team, using the Treble XI. If that makes any sense...
First, you need to ditch the deadwood. Make more funds available - including the remaining Ronaldo £50m we have. Berba, Carrick, Brown, Foster and Kusczcak, Hargreaves, Anderson, Tosic, and all the crappy reserve players we have go. I reckon that leaves us with about £130m to play with.
So then you rebuild the squad properly.
GK - Peter Schmeichel
Currently, van der Sar fills this job perfectly. But in two seasons time, he'll be gone, and we'll start the Schmeichel hunt again. So buy now, and train. Manuel Neuer, from Schalke, fits the bill, and does David de Gea, from Atletico Madrid. I reckon we need to spend about £10m on one of those to get the right man.
RB - Gary Neville
Gary Nev stays for as long as it takes. He's on the verge of the World Cup squad, so theres no need to replace yet. Besides, Rafael will come in eventually for him. So we save on that. If not, I'll stick my neck out and say sign Cesar Azpilicueta, from Osasuna. A natural wing back, he has broken into the Spain U21, and seems to be doing well.
CB - Jaap Stam
We have Rio. Now Rio is good, but he's not great anymore. 'He'll do', as the saying goes. We need a Stam. We have that in Vidic - hard tackler who will get the job done. So it's another hunt around I guess. Someone like Gary Cahill, from Bolton, or Jack Rodwell, from Everton. Ideally, though, we go abroad, to keep prices down. I reckon we have a good two years left in Rio, but after one, he'll begin to phase out. Maybe try and get Pique back from Barca.
CB - Ronny Johnsen
Now he was just like Rio, but better. He worked so well with Stam, and that's exactly what Vidic does. Get him signed to a long term deal. Give him what he wants to keep him at the club.
LB - Dennis Irwin
Now he was a man who had the club tattooed to his heart. Dennis was a class act, and currently we have Patrice Evra. Nuff said. Keep him here as well - get him a new contract too.
RW - David Beckham
When we lost Becks, we lost the biggest player we could have done. It was a massive problem, and we still haven't exactly solved it. Nani is good, but not great. So we need to solve that one. I'd get David Silva in, from Valencia. Okay, it may cost upwards of £20m, but it would be totally worth it to get the right man in.
CM - Roy Keane
A captain, a brilliant midfielder, and a dedicated man. Do we have ANY of these in someone like Michael Carrick? No. Sell 'im. Get rid. Bring in someone good. Maybe go for someone like Rene Krhin? A young player that has room for improvement, who plays for Inter Milan. About £13m will get him. Or we go down therisky route, and try and sign Cambiasso.....
CM - Paul Scholes / Nicky Butt
Now here's a key one. Scholesy is the man behind every single pass. He is what keeps us ticking. And Butt was just a runner. He kept going and going and going. So how do you replace that? Well Scholsey will stay for a bit, but then what? We need to act quick. I reckon Javi Martinez. A lot of Spanish players coming out, but then again, they are the best country in the world... Or even Marek Hamsik, from Napoli? He'd be good.
LW - Ryan Giggs / Jesper Blomqvist
We have Nani again, and Valencia. Valencia has proven he is amazingly quick, and also is willing to put himself into palces he won't necessarily get to normally. So build him into a starting role, and swap him with Nani.
ST - Andy Cole
Andy Cole. What can you say? A goal machine. Who else can you compare him to, than Wayne Rooney?!
ST - Dwight Yorke
Dwight and Andy had one of teh greatest partnerships in the history of the club. So did Wayne and Ruud, Wayne and Carlos, Wayne and... Karim Benzema? If we can get him on loan for next season, amazing. If not, then Stevan Jotevic? Play 4-4-1-1, and play him off Wayne? Or do we play Wayne off another striker, like Sergio Aguero? Spend £45m, and egt him. He's a star of the future.
Then you have your key subs, but that's up to Fergie I guess...
Anyway, we need a new backroom team, who know what the club are all about. If Mourinho does decide to come in, then we get Laurent Blanc, Jaap Stam, van der Sar (when he retires), and the King, Eric Cantona. And then when each stalwart retires, we give them a coaching role. Simple.
Build the team around the fans, and the fans will build the team.
CHANGE, you are the Day Dedicatee for Sunday 4th March 2010.
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