Terrace Talk

On May 30th, 2007, the Manchester United website confirmed that the club had agreed in principle to sign Anderson from FC Porto for an undisclosed fee, reported to be approximately £18m. On June 29, 2007, he was granted the move was completed on July 2nd, with Anderson signing a five-year contract. The youngster was friends with Portuguese speaking team mates, Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani, prior to joining the club so it was easier for him to adapt and understand what was going on during the first training sessions.

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“Everything suggests he is going to be a superstar, a prodigy, as he has undisputable quality,”

said Mario Zagallo, the legendary Brazilian World Cup winning player and manager, when asked about his country’s latest sensation Anderson Luis de Abreu Oliveira.

The similarities between Anderson and Ronaldihno are not limited to both player’s long hair, silky skills and dazzling footwork. The two stars started their careers as professional footballers at Gremio, and ever since bursting onto the scene Anderson has been compared to Ronaldinho. With Gremio spending the 2005 season in the Brazilian second division, Anderson became famous for his achievements with Brazil’s youth team at international youth tournaments. After helping his national team to the final of the South American U-17 Championships in April 2005, Anderson won the “Adidas Golden Ball” award for his performances at the FIFA U-17 World Cup later in the year.

His career at Gremio was brief, with few first team appearances to his name and all of them coming before his 18th birthday. However, he is remembered for scoring one of the most important goals in the club’s recent history, getting a spectacular solo winner helping his team to promotion back to the top flight with a 1-0 win over Nautico in November 2005.

Word of Anderson’s talent soon reached Europe, and FC Porto beat off stiff competition to bring him to Portugal in January 2006. He made his debut two months later, giving him enough time to make his mark during Porto’s title triumph, and he became one of the Dragons’ most important players in the opening months of the 2006/07 season.

After he was signed by United, there was talk about him being loaned back to a Portuguese side to continue his development, but it didn’t happen and I am sure the staff, as well as the fans, are happy Anderson has been given a chance to prove his worth and shine. His early displays were below expected standards because of an injury he had been carrying and losing summer rest to the Copa America. He also had to face adapting to the Premier League when coming from an inferior league. A good example would be United’s striker Carlos Tevez who scored only one goal during his first season in the Premiership.

Sir Alex Ferguson said that he signed Anderson because he was afraid that, if the kid was able to play for an injury-free season, his price would double. Well done Fergie! I think we would have paid triple if we wouldn’t have signed him last summer considering Anderson tremendous progress this season.

“We’ve been delighted with him and he has proven himself to be a true central midfield player,” Ferguson added, saying “There was an urgency to get him once we’d scouted him, even though he’d broken his leg and had been out for four or five months.”

The fans and the club weren’t the only ones delighted by Anderson’s move from Portugal.

“It was amazing, not just for me but for my family as well,” Anderson said. “As a young boy it was always my dream to play for a big European club. I was lucky enough to do it with Porto and now I am at United. I feel proud to be here and I want to do my best.”
Anderson, though, admits he took his time before joining United because he wanted to continue to build experience at Porto before making the move.

“I heard about United some time ago through my agent but we thought it would be better for me to wait a little bit longer,” he added. “I was doing well at Porto and knew that joining a club like United would bring its own pressure. But when they expressed an interest in me again in the summer I felt it was the right time. Joining United is a dream come true for any footballer in the world.”

Anderson made his competitive debut for Manchester United against Sunderland on September 1, 2007. He was substituted at half time and replaced by Louis Saha. Anderson later went on to make his Champions League debut against Sporting, coming on as a substitute for Ryan Giggs in the 76th minute. He played the full 90 minutes in the Carling Cup match against Coventry City on September 26th, 2007, in a team consisting almost entirely of youth and reserve team players.

Anderson was quick to win the fans over at Old Trafford through his hard working nature and great ability. After bossing around some of the best midfield’s in Europe when playing against Liverpool and Arsenal, he has filled us with great hope of what he will achieve in the future.

However, despite having several powerful shots on target this season, he didn’t manage to find the back of the net, something must be getting on Anderson’s nerves. The fans are also frustrated that Anderson is the only new signing who hasn’t managed to score. But we expect lots of goals and fireworks from him in the future.

On October 6, 2007, Anderson came on for Nemanja Vidić who had suffered a concussion in Manchester United’s home win against Wigan, and put in what was described as his best performance of the season so far. Carlos Queiroz was delighted with the Anderson’s performance. He then made his first Champions League start on October 23, 2007 as he put in a man of the match performance to help United to a 4-2 win over Dynamo Kiev, during which he came very close to scoring his first goal for the club, only to see his second half shot rebound off a post. After Paul Scholes’ recent injury, Ferguson opted for Anderson to fill his boots in the midfield area. He made starts in matches versus Arsenal and Liverpool and was praised by pundits for his performance against Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas and Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard.

Despite his age, Anderson is a remarkably complete footballer. With all the skills and flair of the finest Brazilian footballers, he is also quick, powerful and possesses incredibly high energy levels and a tireless work rate. Also he is very robust, a physical quality you don’t often see at Brazilian players. He has expressed a preference for playing in a wide left position, but is becoming increasingly impressive in central midfield, where he has excelled for Porto in the Champions League and, now, for United.

Brazilian World Cup winner and former FIFA World Player of the Year Rivaldo is of a very good opinion towards Anderson’s skills.

“He’s very good, a huge talent, but you need to be patient with him. His development should be controlled, giving him encouragement, but everything done calmly. We’re talking about a youngster who has the qualities to be a great player.”

When looking at his squad and making plans for the future Fergie states:

“I expect Anderson/Possebon to be the favored combination in a couple of years. Possebon looks fantastic, poised, and accomplished - a lot like Michael Carrick but with a much, much higher ceiling. And we know that the sky’s the limit for Anderson. Happy days for our club.”

Indeed it is. With the new signings made last summer United looks like a more complete team than it was last season.

So, I have to say that Anderson has progressed a lot this season, more that any of us expected (well, except Ferguson, maybe) and the future is bright for the young lad. His awesome performances this season were somehow spoiled by the absence of goals, but I’m sure Anderson will work hard on his scoring abilities during this summer preparation. I’m hoping to see him play more next season and follow in Paul Scholes’ footsteps.