Terrace Talk

Though fans of Manchester United can have no major qualms with the progression of our two fresh young talents in Anderson and Nani (after witnessing their rapid development who could complain), looking back I cannot help but think of what could have been during the summer transfer window of 2007. It is a widely held belief that both these young guns will be the eventual successors of the legendary Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, but looking back one has to wonder if the right men from Brazil and Portugal were selected for the task at hand. There were other options.

Of the two, Anderson has shown the most promise to date. This man-child has a sharp eye for playing the elegant ball and has kept his head down and dug in when necessary to fulfill his defensive responsibilities. Stepping in to fill the void of an injured Paul Scholes is no easy task but Anderson has shown he has the qualities to play and play well with the big boys of the Premiership. Considering this is his first year in the Premier League, coming off an injury, and yet to reach his twentieth birthday, you could not ask for much more from this teenage wonderkid (except of course that he starts getting deeper into the opposition half and fire some shots on target). My only real issue with his signing however, is the availability of another young Brazilian talent which Manchester United could have pursued; would Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira have been a better choice than let’s say a 22 year old Diego Ribas Da Cunha?

Werder Bremen purchased Diego from Porto for slightly less than £4.5m in May of 2006 and he has been a monumental figure in German football during the time he has played there, highlighted by him being awarded Bundesliga Player of the Year for the 2006-2007 season. In 33 games during that period he scored 13 goals and provided 13 assists in the centre of midfield. He has followed this by scoring 9 goals and providing 6 assists in 17 games so far during the 2007-2008 Bundesliga campaign. An avid playmaker, he has made playing the impossible pass look routine and when in possession, has stood firm and made his presence felt through his brilliant play no matter who the opposition. Such are his talents that many have mentioned this youngster in the same breath as Kaka time and time again (though I admit only time and continued consistent play will warrant the validity of such a claim). The likes of Tottenham have enquired about his services during the January 2008 window and it is believed that their offer is somewhere in the range on £13-20m (a healthy profit for Bremen if they decided to sell 3 months after the summer window of 2007 has closed). Looking at the £17m or thereabouts spent on Anderson I cannot help but think that an almost identical fee could have landed us with a seasoned and much more polished player who would be more fitting for the role to play in the middle of the park at Old Trafford. At 22 years old he could just as well have potentially provided as many years of service to Manchester United as Anderson. It would be hard for me to let Anderson go now, but at the time when his move to Manchester United was made public, Anderson was an unknown - with a reputation built on heresay and media publicity.

Our boy Nani has also been showing flashes of his potential. His form has been endemic of a young player, full of class, but unfortunately at a more inconsistent rate than Anderson. At times he has failed to maintain the flow of our attacking possessions and in the final third he has not shown he can consistently place a proper cross in the box for our forwards to take advantage of. We could also talk about his skills at taking the corner kick, but to be fair these are all things that can be addressed at Carrington. The talent is obviously there, as is evident by the scorchers he seems to enjoy scoring most, but with Ryan Giggs picking up his form and the return of Ji-Sung Park, we shouldn’t be surprised to see the lad slightly less in the starting eleven. When he begins to get consistent matches under his belt, his confidence should soar sky-high with the experience and the wing partnership that has formed with his Portuguese compatriot Ronaldo. This is a partnership which could give even the best defenders in the world nightmares on the eve of an encounter with the boys from Old Trafford.

I have to ponder, whether spending somewhere around £17m on a young, cocky 20 year old Portuguese hotshot by the name of Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha (Nani) was also a better deal than adding a little more cash, and going after another young hotshot in 23 year old Ricardo Andrade Quaresma Bernardo? As with Anderson and Diego, the difference is also 3 years in age, however with Quaresma you would have a player with massive ability who is proven and also eager to make his name on a larger world stage. He is also adept in fulfilling his role as a winger and this is shown by his name being ever present at the top of the Portuguese domestic league’s assists charts. He has shown he belongs among the elite with solid performances during the UEFA Champions League as well as at the International level. When you consider he is the wing mate of our boy Ronaldo in the Portugese national team setup, then you can only imagine the kind of headaches they could potentially cause opposing defenders as they criss-cross and leave them in their dust. One can only dream of such a duo gliding down the wings of Old Trafford on our way to glory.

So there you have it, in my wildest wet dreams I would have realistically chosen to pursue Diego over Anderson and Quaresma over Nani - Brazilian for Brazilian, Portuguese for Portuguese. With both players better suited at first glance than their younger compatriots, this duo I felt would have been ideal pieces to complete the backbone for the future of Manchester United’s assaults. United may have finally found the replacements for Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs. I’’m still dreaming of them alongside Tevez, Rooney, Ronaldo and a certain Owen Hargreaves, who would be the defensive buffer which allow them to mix and mingle in attack. As it is now, I’m happy with the young lads we have purchased, and I’m excited at their potential. There is really no bad blood coming from my end, but rather I just enjoy a careless dream or two from time to time.