Tag Futebol

On the surface, an error-prone defender is the last thing Arsenal need. Arsene Wenger takes great pride in the fact the Gunners have recovered the second-most points from losing positions of any Premier League side this season, but there is a very good reason for that – the Gunners have a habit of conceding cheap goals.

So bringing David Luiz, a centre-back famed for complacency in defensive situations even at the age of 30, into a team that already lacks the consistent organisation you’d expect of a top six Premier League side seems somewhat counter-intuitive. But when his qualities are put into the right context, Luiz can transform from recurring liability into one of the best in the business at what he does.

Only since returning to Chelsea and working under Antonio Conte, a manager now who appears to have lost faith in him, has this truly come to light. While Luiz’s technical and physical qualities have always been clear to see it was the introduction of a back three at Stamford Bridge, with the Brazilian playing the central sweeper role, that highlighted his weaknesses and covered up his flaws.

As Ruud Gullit discussed amid Chelsea’s 13-game winning run last season, the three-man set-up actually leaves Luiz in one of the freest roles on the pitch, both with and without the ball.

“When Luiz plays in a four-man defence and he needs to mark, that can be a problem for him. In this 3-4-3 system, however, he is more of a sweeper and makes fewer challenges than Chelsea’s other defenders.

“That suits him more, firstly because he rarely finds himself in trouble so is not in danger of making a mistake, and also because he is the player with the most freedom in that Chelsea team.Luiz can bring the ball out or play it forward and he uses it very well, which is so important when Chelsea look to break quickly.”

The errors become less prevalent because Luiz isn’t marking a direct opposite number – his primary task is to cover the space behind the other two centre-backs or step into midfield when necessary – and his well-established ability in possession becomes more evident because he’s in a deep-lying, central role that allows him time on the ball and copious options to find.

Nobody has ever doubted Luiz’s ability to spread a pass, or whether he has the athleticism needed to (theoretically, at least) cover for his defensive partners.

Seemingly surplus to requirements in west London, although Wenger has denied an approach for the 56-cap international, that makes Luiz a shrewd potential January target – the perfect man to anchor Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny and complete what would be a rather formidable Gunners back three.

The consequential question, however, is Wenger’s level of commitment to playing 3-4-2-1 long-term. While Luiz has shown remarkable improvements in terms of reliability and consistency since becoming Chelsea’s sweeper, all of the current evidence suggests he’s still something of a liability in a back four – when he isn’t licensed the same defensive and offensive freedom.

On the most-part this term, Wenger has shown a commitment to a system which Conte directly inspired, using it 18 times from a possible 21 Premier League fixtures, so it makes sense to acquire what was previously one of the Italian’s most important cogs in making it work, especially one with the vast experience of Luiz.

But it always had the feeling of a temporary arrangement at Arsenal to resolve a bout of poor form and some would argue its run its course – there are still square pegs in round holes and Arsenal have conceded more than one goal per game using the formation this season.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

In theory, signing Luiz – who Transfermarkt value at £27million – would address that, improving defensive performance and subsequently results by putting something of a three-at-the-back specialist at the base of the team.

But should Wenger revert back to a four-man defence as his primary setup, which certainly isn’t implausible, Arsenal will end up having the old, error-prone, ever-exposed Luiz on their hands.

Liverpool’s Luis Suarez will always be one of the most controversial footballers the Premier League has ever seen. His rap sheet to date contains a series of incidents that have broken almost every footballing taboo.

The striker burst onto the scene at the 2010 World Cup, but blemished his rave reviews by handballing on his own goal line for Uruguay against Ghana and subsequently celebrated in no humble fashion when Asamoah Gyan missed the following penalty, essentially ending the biggest chance an African team has had in the international tournament throughout my life time, as well as making himself a pantomime villain throughout the continent.

Then, a year later, he arrived at Anfield with a preceding reputation from his 81 goals in the Eredivisie. Suarez’s talent from the offset was impossible to deny, despite his low output during his first two campaigns with the Reds, but it wasn’t long before the Uruguayan was once again in the media for the wrong reasons.

In October 2011, he was accused of racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra, and subsequently punished by the FA. The eight-match ban still remains a controversial issue for many reasons; Suarez himself claimed cultural ignorance, whilst Liverpool drew criticism for avidly supporting a player, t-shirts and posters to boot, that had openly admitted to using a racial slur, albeit with a different understanding of the word in comparison to the British public.

[cat_link cat=”liverpool” type=”tower”]

Some gave Suarez the benefit of the doubt, especially as his form picked up momentum last term. The Reds forward finished up with 23 goals and eight assists in 33 Premier League appearances, and throughout the 2012/2013 campaign won over many of his critics with his talismanic, all round displays. It wasn’t just his output, it was his quality on the ball, his ability to dribble past any opponent, his confidence to take on whole defences on his own, and his undying work-rate and passion to succeed.

Just as the footballing world were debating whether or not such a controversial figure, who had once admitted he’d sell his own grandmother for a goal, and once celebrated a goal by performing a dive in front of David Moyes’ dugout during a Merseyside derby, should be considered for the PFA Player of the Year award, Suarez nipped any hope of winning the individual accolade in the bud by biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic in the arm, witnessed by a packed Anfield crowd and the millions watching at home. What’s more, it wasn’t even the first time in the 26 year old’s career he’d bitten someone – in Holland, he’s referred to as ‘The Cannibal of Ajax’ for taking a chunk out of Otman Bakkal with his teeth in 2010.

But for me, it’s Suarez’s actions this summer that will cement his place in the annals of Premier League history as the master of controversy. Throughout his villain role at the 2010 World Cup, his tribunal with the FA and the Ivanovic incident, the Liverpool forward could at least claim that it was the lust for victory, propelled by the loyalty he feels towards his club and international side, that caused him to commit such on-pitch atrocities. That saving grace however, has now gone out the window this summer, as Suarez plots a move to Arsenal.

Even a matter of months ago, the striker’s views were understandable. He insisted that he wanted to leave England behind him due to the intense pressure and scrutiny the British media put on him, and there’s little doubt the claim was true; no newspaper article discussing Suarez could leave out his checkered past, and no facebook feed could be complete without a Suarez meme poking fun at the Uruguayan. At the same time, his hot form made it quite clear that he’d outgrown the Reds, with consistently exceptional displays and prolific end product for a club who had struggled to make it into the top half of the Premier League for the most part of last season.

But the fact Suarez waited until he was about as far away from Merseyside as possible, in Brazil to be precise, to condemn the club for a lack of loyalty and the British press for their bully mentality, suggested that there was far more opportunism to his decision to leave Anfield that met the eye.

Now we are edging into August, and rather than leaving England to take up the opportunity of a life time at Real Madrid, leaving not too many hard feelings behind at Liverpool, Suarez’s priority location is North London, to join up with the Gunners, citing a need to play Champions League football.

But will playing Champions League football, for a side who’ve made it past the quarter-finals just twice since 2000, actually benefit the Uruguayan’s status, or career? He’s already regarded as one of the most talented single entities in Europe, and is already liked with every major club on the continent. Similarly, on the domestic front, the Reds have claimed more silverware than Arsenal in the last eight years, with the Gunners’ trophy cabinet alarmingly bare since their last triumph in 2006, whilst both clubs are still miles away from the Premier League title race with their current rosters.

Overall, Suarez is causing Liverpool a lot of problems for very little personal gain. Arsenal are just about the most insignificant Champions League club out there – constantly rewarding themselves for qualification, but rarely impacting on the competition itself – and in the Premier League they’re amid an almost decade long malaise. Moving to the Emirates won’t give Suarez the opportunity to play with a particularly better or more star-studded cast, and Arsene Wenger is hardly likely to offer the striker a lucrative wage package considering Theo Walcott had to let his contract wind down and play bluff to secure a not particularly competitive £100k per week deal.

What’s more, it shows a disgraceful lack of loyalty towards his current club. Liverpool have constantly stood by Suarez throughout his lust for controversy, and their ‘Support Suarez’ campaign during his eight-match ban for racial abuse undoubtedly contributed to Kenny Dalglish’s decision to step down at the end of the 2011/2012 season.

The Uruguayan’s claim that the Reds haven’t stuck by him enough during the recent biting incident smacks of hypocrisy and delusion – Brendan Rodgers could hardly give him a pat on the back after such a shocking episode, and was right to condemn the striker in public regardless of his status as Liverpool’s only current world-class talent; anything else would have put the club’s integrity into serious disrepute.

Along the way, Suarez’s demeanour has been ungentlemenly to say the least. At one end, he’s refused to make a formal transfer request, in fear of losing out on his contractually tied loyalty bonus, whilst on the other hand and in public, he’s regularly insisted that Brendan Rodgers should adhere to his demands and sell him. He couldn’t even do his club the good grace of keeping the issue behind closed doors, and has used the public domain and the British media to do his bidding, despite insisting they are the ones who conspire against him.

It’s bound to have an effect on the striker’s selling value, despite Liverpool adamantly maintaining that they hold all the cards around the negotiating table. And whilst at one point this summer, it seemed he would at least spare Liverpool some embarrassment by switching to La Liga, he will now be plying his future trade for one of the Reds’ closest divisional rivals, and one of the few teams that stands in their way of Champions League qualification – Rodgers’ ultimate aim that his Anfield tenure will eventually be judged upon.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Suarez is and will always be the epitome of controversy; fans will always feel divided over whether to judge an exceptional player on his footballing ability, or his questionable morality. But for me, the Emirates move is the final straw for a player who people have constantly found excuses for. His lack of loyalty is disturbing, his demeanour this summer despicable, and his careerist mentality is a shocking condemnation of the culture of the modern footballer.

All that fuss, all those bridges burned at Anfield, betraying Brendan Rodgers and the Liverpool faithful along the way, for the sake of finishing three places higher in the Premier League, and regular elimination in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The king of controversy strikes again.

Should Suarez be condemned for seeking a move to Arsenal?

Join the debate below!

[opinion-widget op width=”full”]

Newcastle new-boy Gael Bigirimana admits to having not yet decided which nation he wants to represent at international level.

The Journal report that the 18 year old is already on Stuart Pearce’s radar after an impressive Premier League debut on Tyneside.

Previously the young midfielder has been called up to the England under 19s squad, but could yet choose his country of birth, Burundi.

Bigirimana discussed the situation with the publication, “International football is a privilege and I would be honoured to play it. As long as I’m playing for one and moving forward I don’t mind what nationality I will play for.”

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

“England is like a second home but it is difficult for me because I have two homes. England has grown in me and I have met many fantastic people and mentors who are English. That does not mean I don’t like Burundi. That is where I was born, where I saw my first sunset.”

Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez has made two changes to the side that was beaten 1-0 by West Bromwich Albion at St James’ Park last weekend for the trip to Watford on Saturday, and Magpies fans have been quick to react.

Javier Manquillo and Jacob Murphy come in on the right-hand side in place of DeAndre Yedlin and Matt Ritchie, who both drop to the substitutes’ bench alongside Joselu and Mikel Merino, while Dwight Gayle, whom Toon fans on Twitter want to be sold, also starts.

The Tyneside outfit won’t want to let their Premier League season peter out following successive defeats against Everton and the Baggies, with them still needing points to ensure that they end what has been a successful season in the top-half of the table.

Newcastle supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on Benitez’s selection, and while one said “not great”, another said “not sure about this… hopefully I’m wrong”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

[ad_pod ]

After what seemed like an age, Petr Cech finally completed his move across London when he signed for Arsenal earlier this week. The Chelsea legend cost the Gunners around £11m and brings a wealth of experience gained during a trophy-laden spell at Stamford Bridge.

Signing Cech is exactly the short-term ruthlessness Arsenal have been craving for so long. No longer worried about the development of Wojciech Szczesny, or how David Ospina might fare having settled in for a year, Wenger has paid over ten million pounds for a 33-year-old. The mentality behind it is what winners are made of, as proved by Sir Alex Ferguson.

Ten years ago, Fergie took Edwin van der Sar from Fulham for what now seems a steal, with a reported fee of £2m putting the Dutchman between the sticks at Old Trafford. Perhaps not the most sound financial business for a ‘keeper then well into his 30s, but the player himself proved that age is just a number time and time again.

The purchase of Van der Sar finally put an end to the desperate attempts to replace the Great Dane, Peter Schmeichel. Already a Champions League winner from his time with Ajax, Sir Alex knew he was buying success. And success is what he got.

Four Premier League titles followed, with the stopper breaking the Premier League record for consecutive clean sheets along the way. The success story hit its highest peak when Van der Sar saved Nicolas Anelka’s penalty in the famous 2008 Champions League final, winning the trophy for the Red Devils.

Could Arsenal’s capture of Cech lead to similar success? The glove seems to fit. The parallels in this signing and Sir Alex’s stroke of genius are striking. Like Manchester United a decade ago, it seems Arsenal are finally addressing their ‘keeping conundrum. Just as Schmeichel proved nigh on impossible to replace, the Gunners have found it notoriously difficult to replace their own iconic shot stopper, David Seaman. Jens Lehmann might argue with that, though.

Arsenal are also buying a proven winner. Cech’s stoic performances in West London rightly earned him the right to call himself the best ‘keeper in the world. Though ageing, his heroics in the 2012 Champions League final can’t be so quickly forgotten.  Only the emergence of Thibaut Courtios, an exceptional ‘keeper with age on his side, could keep Cech from being the undisputed No. 1 at Stamford Bridge for many more years to come.

Wenger himself may have looked to the Van der Sar deal as a precedent. Signing a European Cup winner the wrong side of 30 to improve your squad in the (relative) short-term is the complete opposite to his entire philosophy during the eight barren years spanning from the 2005 FA Cup win to the 2014 repeat.

The Arsenal boss is now buying success rather than potential, an approach the Gunners have desperately needed for many a year now. The Cech signing has the potential to replicate the van der Sar deal near enough a decade its previous. Whilst Wenger before may have recruited an obscure teenager from God knows where, he has pulled off perhaps the biggest transfer coup in ten years.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

This ‘keeper holds the key to success.

[ad_pod id=’ffc-video’ align=’center’]

Arsenal and Manchester City could reignite their interest in Paraguayan striker Lucas Barrios, who has admitted that he is keen to make a summer move, according to reports from talkSPORT.

The 28-year-old moved to Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande last year, but is already considering his options after failing to settle in the Far East.

It is believed that he is currently embroiled in a contract dispute with his employers, which is similar to that suffered by Didier Drogba.

The Ivorian was eventually allowed to move on for free, and now plays for Galatasaray.

Barrios admitted recently that he is far from happy with the situation and is looking to leave in a bid to get his career back on track.

Prior to his switch to Guangzhou Evergrande, the South American hot-shot impressed with Borussia Dortmund, averaging a goalscoring record of almost one in every two games.

This alerted both City and Arsenal, although they were unable to match the financial lure of Chinese football.

But now they could rekindle their interest and offer Barrios a European lifeline.

The duo are both in the market for attacking reinforcements, with City particularly short on forward threats having sold Carlos Tevez.

Arsenal are reportedly closing in on Gonzalo Higuain, but could turn to Barrios if the deal collapses.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Would Lucas Barrios be a Premier League hit?

Tell us what you think below!

[cat_link cat=”arsenal” type=”grid”]

Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew has ruled out a move for former Toon striker Andy Carroll as he appears to be looking for young, fresh targets before the window slams shut.

Newcastle have been linked with a move for Liverpool’s out of favour striker all summer but the shrewd mover of the transfer market, Pardew, appears to be looking elsewhere to bolster his European Newcastle outfit.

Pardew made it clear that he is looking to add youth to his experienced set up at the Sports Direct Arena ahead of Friday’s transfer deadline and he didn’t seem interested in talking about Andy Carroll at all.

“I don’t think so,” Pardew told talkSPORT. “We’re talking more of a younger player who could perhaps take the club forward.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

“We’ve taken two or three younger players this season who have done very well for us. It depends if the price is right and everything fits the bill.”

 [ad_pod id=’writer-1′ align=’right’]

Tottenham Hotspur suffered a shock defeat away to relegation candidates West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, conceding a goal in the last moments of the game to lose 1-0.

It was former Spurs man Jake Livermore who found the winning goal, giving the Baggies a slither of hope in their battle to beat the drop to the English Championship.

From Spurs’ perspective it was a damaging defeat, given they are still not guaranteed a top four finish. A Chelsea victory on Sunday against Liverpool would put them two points behind Mauricio Pochettino’s side with two games to play.

Fans were left fuming with the performance and had particular criticism for midfielder Victor Wanyama, whose style of play was not suited to breaking down a packed and organised West Brom defence.

Some believe he hasn’t been good enough for a while though and they’re looking for him to be sold this summer. Is that a harsh assessment?

Supporters took to Twitter to share their thoughts…

[ad_pod ]

If Harry Kane’s Hurrikane were powered by the ridiculous hype he receives in the media, the Tottenham striker’s swirling winds would have decimated the whole of London by now – and probably bordering parts of Kent.

That’s no disrespect to the 21 year-old, who fully deserves the PFA Young Player of the Year award for emerging from the peripheries of the Lilywhites squad to finish the season as the Premier League’s top scoring Englishman – not to mention netting just seconds into his England debut against Lithuania.

But comparisons with German World Cup winner Thomas Muller? An apparent crossbreed of the Premier League’s all-time top scorer Alan Shearer and the thinking man’s preferred England centre-forward Teddy Sheringham? A £40million target for Manchester United? The Hurrikane is spinning out of control.

You have to wonder whether the whimsical nature of Kane’s sudden rise to the top – the accompanying soundtrack of ‘He’s one of our own’ chants, the intoxicating fairytale of local boy comes good in Roy of the Rovers style, mythological fables of him being born with the Spurs badge birthmarked on his buttocks and raised by a gang of feral cockerels on the mean streets of Chingford – have sensationalised opinions on the young striker.

The meme-a-minute world of social media and the realm of Premier League punditry appear to have overlapped, a disturbance in the footy-opinion-continuum making Kane the heir apparent to Shearer, Wayne Rooney and possibly even Bobby Charlton.

[ffc-gal cat=”manchester-united” no=”5″]

Of course, there are some logic to the comparisons. Like Muller, Kane’s energy and enthusiasm is infectious, whilst he echoes the Bayern Munich forward’s manner of finding the net in simple-yet-clinical style. Like Sheringham, he’s a shrewd link-up player, crafty and technical with his back to goal and like Shearer, he’s imperious in the air with an obvious passion for his local club.

Overall, the Three Lions starlet is already a very well-rounded centre-forward; but after just two caps and single season in Tottenham’s first team, he’s still yet to prove himself truly worthy of association with some of England’s all time greats.

One-season wonders are hardly unheard of in the Premier League. In fact, they’re pretty common. Marcus Stewart was the Premier League’s second-top scorer during the 2000/01 campaign with 19 goals but bagged just seven more in his next 47 top flight appearances, succumbing both Ipswich and Sunderland to relegation.

Likewise, Michu, once an apparent target of Arsenal and Manchester United after netting 18 times during his debut Premier League campaign, has managed just two goals and 20 league appearances since. After spending the season rotting in Napoli’s reserves – representing them in Serie A only thrice – Swansea now face the improbable task of getting the Spaniard off their wage bill this summer.

Michael Ricketts, Roque Santa Cruz, Michael Bridges, Mikael Forssell, Benjani and Tottenham’s very own Mido all accompany Michu and Stewart in the Premier League’s one-season wonder Hall of Fame. As big a chance Kane has of producing another twenty-goal season during the 2015/16 campaign, at this point he’s equally likely to become the Hall of Fame’s next inductee. Lets not forget, two seasons ago he was struggling to score in the Championship for Millwall and Leicester City.

Indeed, the continuous hype says far more about the footballing world surrounding Kane than the striker himself; the media’s lust for hyperbole and sensational price-tags;  the manner in which every home-grown player now costs three or four times as much as their foreign counterparts; the lack of hope invested in the current national team, to such an extent any young, promising player is billed as the next Three Lions legend.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

To give credit where it’s due, the 21 year-old seems to have taken it all in his stride, batting away rumours of a summer move to Old Trafford, netting against Lithuania with emphatic ease, yet to involve himself in the fag-puffing, hippy-crack-toking world of some of his England team-mates.

But if there’s one thing young players don’t need, it’s added pressure.The lingering concern of Kane not fulfilling his ultimate potential simply because everybody keeps talking about it so much verges upon Shakespearean irony.

[ad_pod id=’ricco’ align=’center’]

Although Radamel Falcao’s elite set of striking gifts ensure that the Atletico Madrid striker is likely to have the cream of Europe’s biggest clubs queuing up to fight for his signature this summer, you would have thought that Manchester United might be a notable absentee from such a shortlist.

With Sir Alex Ferguson already boasting arguably the most fearsome strikeforce in the Premier League in the quartet of Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck, while the chance to sign Falcao must be a source of real temptation for the Scot, the money that it would take to prise the Colombian away from the Vicente Calderon has generally been thought of as being better spent elsewhere.

Yet while the noise coming out of Old Trafford directly appears to be toeing the general consensus of supporters, a steady slew of reports suggesting to the contrary have reared their heads in recent days.

And in the most illuminating report yet, we’ve been led to believe that not only have United sent their chief scout Jim Lawlor to run the rule over the 27-year-old during Madrid’s recent 5-0 thumping over Granada, but that the club are ready to broker a £47million deal for the forward, with Javier Hernandez going the other way as a £20million-rated makeweight.

Ferguson was, as you would expect, sneeringly dismissive of such a prospect, simply asking reporters whether they “honestly believed” that the club were likely to swoop for the former-Porto man. Considering renowned rumour-stirrers Marca and The Daily Mail are the two publications championing the story, understandably, few are particularly convinced over the credentials of such a deal.

[post_link url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/premiership/arsenal/getting-carried-away-by-talk-of-a-transfer-to-arsenal,https://www.footballfancast.com/football-news/leonardo-denies-wayne-rooney-deal,https://www.footballfancast.com/premiership/tottenham/kombouare-claims-tottenham-talks” target=”_blank” type=”tower”]

Yet putting the shoe on the other foot, this isn’t the first time this season we’ve seen United linked with a swoop for another elite hitman, following reported interest in Borussia Dortmund’s Robert Lewandowski and for as little credibility as the tabloid media may possess, it’s hardly as if Ferguson has enjoyed an unnervingly truthful rapport with the press over the years.

What’s made this element of transfer speculation resoundingly different from some of the other reports we’ve seen this season, however, has been the indifferent reaction Falcao’s name seems to have sat with supporters. Because although his talent is one that no fan would begrudge seeing grace the Theatre of Dreams, it would be the overlooking of a midfield that remains in desperate need of an upgrade that would particularly resonate with the wider public in the red half of Manchester.

And that applies to not just a mooted deal for Falcao, but one for Lewandowski, Burak Yilmaz or any other top European striker for that matter.

With United already looking somewhat top-heavy as a squad as it is, while players like Falcao only come along once in a while, there is surely only so many more goals that can be added to this side.

In van Persie and Rooney, Ferguson already possesses arguably the two finest goalscorers in the Premier League and considering the acquisition of the former has pushed the latter – along with the 27 league goals he scored last season – into a deeper midfield position, it’s difficult to even comprehend the acquisition of another out and out striker.

Furthermore, that’s not even taking into account the mere seven starts that Hernandez, another of the league’s most natural goalscorers, has been consigned to this campaign.

It would be naïve to try and second-guess a manager that bestows the acumen of Ferguson’s class, although if Rooney’s midfield deployment during the recent 2-0 win over Stoke City was something of a dress-rehearsal for a long term stint in the role, then perhaps reports linking United with another frontman aren’t quite as far-fetched as some may believe.

The Englishman enjoyed a superb showing from deep, albeit against futile opposition given Tony Pulis’ side’s recent woes and there has been a school of thought that a long-term midfield berth could prove just the solution that both club and player have been looking for.

Although to wheel out the aged out cliché of the best players not always necessarily making the best team, forcing Rooney deeper within this team to accommodate yet another gifted forward player feels like an incredibly awkward way of solving a midfield issue that requires a long term blueprint – not just a fantasy stop gap.

Because regardless of Rooney’s merits as a would-be midfielder, it’s his credentials as a frontman, that should lay waste to another deal for a forward at Old Trafford.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

During his deployment as an out-and-out striker at United over the last three seasons before van Persie’s arrival, Rooney scored a staggering 84 goals in all competitions. That’s a record that leaves him very few peers in the European game, let alone simply in English football, but still, the 27-year-old has had to make way for the Dutchman as the preferred striker at the club.

The quality, depth and versatility that Ferguson has managed to accumulate and develop at the club has rendered Manchester United as one of the few clubs in Europe that would have little to gain by signing Radamel Falcao.

Had they not possessed such a pressing need to address other areas of the team, maybe the Colombian’s talent might well justify the upheaval of both current personnel and ebbing away of transfer funds needed to bring him to the club.

But for all his box-office glamour and unworldly striking ability, Falcao’s arrival cannot come ahead of the acquisition of another truly world-class midfielder. And given the price it will cost in order to find that man, there’s no way his potential arrival could be framed as anything less than a luxury.

[opinion-widget op width=”full”]