When we signed Bebe we knew we were taking a risk. For a player with his background we were always leaving ourselves open to scrutiny and the fee didn’t help. When Sir Alex confessed he hadn’t even seen the 20 year old play that was all the ammunition the papers needed, Bebe had a target on his back.
Last week there were rumblings from a well known Guardian journo that the Portuguese player had looked less than impressive in training. Now where this journalist got this info from is still up in the air and whilst I doubt it’s validity let’s assume it’s true. Aged 20 at a new club and in a new country unable to speak the language, he could be forgiven for being slightly over awed by the new and unfamiliar situation he faced but this didn’t seem to matter to whoever made these discouraging comments.
The fact he joined with Smalling and Hernandez was also going to count against him as both appeared to fit seamlessly into the team and thus the same standard would be expected of him, despite the fact that all 3 came from different backgrounds and this probably wasn’t be taken into account by those who were quick to slate him.
Well without bothering to check the legitimacy of this, it appears other news sources are running with this story too and today The Daily Mail stated:
And it now appears that the former Vitoria Guimaraes player is taking so much time to settle that United reserve team boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer decided not to include him in the 16-man squad to face local rivals Manchester City in Hyde last night.
Whilst the Irish Times, although offering a little more, followed stating,
The Guardian has established that the first impressions of Bebe have been below expectations. In particular, his touch and control has not been of the standard the club demands.
The problem with both is that they set up the opposition in themselves. In the Daily Mail quote they talk about him taking so much time to settle in. Do they not realise this is a player who was signed just 14 DAYS AGO!? Even worse the Irish Times unashamedly confirm that their piece is based off the hear-say of this Guardian journalist.
I will confess I had heard he would play against City last night but this too was hear say and there are a number of reasons as to why he didn’t, saying that he has been unimpressive in training just seems like the easiest way to get reads or shift a couple of copies.
It was known that Bebe was not anywhere near the complete article when we signed him but his attributes meant that he would definitely be one for the future. It’s just a shame that for some his future appears to have come 14 days after it was announced that he would be joining the club. He hasn’t even kicked a ball in anger in United’s colours yet so here is an idea, lets judge him after he plays rather than before?
Sounds reasonable right?
Thank you Danny for smacking some senses in to these folks
Thank you Danny for smacking some senses in to these folks. Have confidence in our team. personally I thought our midfield has looked fine as of late. Our defense is another thing though.
Chudi Onwuazor – the Irish Times article is by the same journo who wrote the original in the Guardian. In fact, it’s the same article except the Irish Times used a different headline.
These hacks are absolutely pathetic. Daniel Taylor, who started the “Bebe has been unimpressive” rumour, is the same clown who claimed Anderson had unimpressed during his first two months at United and was going to be loaned back to Porto in January ’08. Of course he was, Daniel. He only turned out to be one of our stars of that double winning season, memorably dominating his battles with Gerrard and Fabregas and capping it off by scoring a crucial penalty in Moscow.
Don’t put any stock in the likes of Daniel Taylor and James Ducker, their opinions are worthless.
On a related note, notice how some sections of the press reported that Fergie was “fuming” and “furious” after the draw with Fulham. Er, WTF? He was completely calm and magnanimous in his post match interview.
Meanwhile on Sky’s “Sunday Supplement” programme, the assembled hacks were playing down Scholes’s masterclass against the Geordies “it was only Newcastle” but lauding Theo Walcott’s performance against the mighty Blackpool, which apparently proved what a top player he is!
British journalists are a dispicable bunch.
must have been a slow news day if bebe not making the reserves gets a story. total nonsense well done for highlighting the fact
Fredster – spot on pal. Daniel Taylor was also telling anyone who’d listen that Vidic was certain to join Real Madrid this summer. Makes me cringe when I see people on Twitter asking these numpties for inside info on United’s transfer dealings.
Thanks for all the comments people just going to clear something up that camr from Robson, I’m aware that Daniel Taylor wrote the Irish Times piece, my gripe is that the paper itself decided to run the story also.
They/he has attempted to make it more legitimate by saying ‘The Guardian has established’ instead of actually saying ‘I have established’
Though I have limited knowledge of British press, it is certainly one of extremes (i.e. some is world class, other press has less value than used toilet paper).
This case would certainly be the latter; but ultimately has no bearing as to whether or not Bebe is a good signing. I’m personally not an apologist for all things United and it’s foolish to assume he’ll be a star; on the other hand, to write off that possibility is just as stupid.
Let’s give Bebe time (and by that I mean more than a few months) and see what develops.
Finally, would people stop bringing up failed signings as if they were uniquely a United phenomenon? This happens with every club, and there are no guarentees when working with young talent. If you are going to bring up the failed signings, at least be honest and bring up the numerous success too.
Bebe will be a true player, a quality addition once he’s found his feet at United, learnt the language and addapted to the United way of life. Dont people get it, the media only likes to publish bad doomy news on our club to cause fiction between fans alike, it sells papers. Fact is we will be right up there challenging if not winning all the major honour’s and there not a person alive that change that.
Chudi Onwuazor. articles from the Guardian are regularly reprinted in the Irish Times for some reason or another. It’s nothing out of the ordinary. the same thing also happens with articles from the Independent, which are reprinted in some other Irish paper. It’s just something i’ve noticed with usually the only difference being a change of headline or the article will be written slightly differently by the same author. The bit where it says “the Guardian has established” is also in the original version (here – http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/aug/25/bebe-manchester-united-alex-ferguson) It’s quite normal practice on the grand scale of things in the sense the original article was written by the journo in the employment / on behalf of the Guardian. the problem i find is its far too early to read anything into the fact he wasn’t selected for the reserves yet, best to just wait and see how things go with the lad, no rush.