One of the key components to Manchester United’s success is the strength we have in depth.
Whilst we largely have a good, strong squad there are some players some fans feel aren’t even deserving of gracing the bench, whilst there are others who do not match the quality that is portrayed weekly on the pitch but are valuable when called upon.
This summer United have moved to rearrange our house by getting new faces in ASAP, with 3 new signings made before the transfer window actually opened. But with new faces coming in there will inevitably be some going/linked with moves so here is my look at some of these players.
Dimitar Berbatov
He has effectively become a squad player since the emergence of Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez.
Some have argued that they he has been treated unfairly by Ferguson but his inconsistent scoring sees him on the verge of leaving Manchester United. For two seasons with the Red Devils, he scored 14 and 12 goals respectively having 43 games to score them in.
Many could vouch, myself included, that many of those wouldn’t have been starts so this statistic has been some what tainted however him not being selected for Champions League Final shows what the other strikers bring that he doesn’t have: A consistent goal threat.
He showed absolute class against Liverpool and Blackburn but not many people remember that between those games, where collectively he scored 8 goals, and a spell of 10 games where he failed to find the back of the net.
That typifies Berbatov, on his day he looks like a world beater but when he is having a bad day he cannot grind anything out for himself and sometimes not even the team.
Because of his new found squad status, I would like to see him moved on for the simple fact that Welbeck & Macheda will be coming back and the former has deserved his chance after successful loan spell at Sunderland.
As I completed this article, it was being rumoured that both PSG and Valencia are considering a move for Berbatov, so if a bid is accepted it may appear that Sir Alex has a similar pattern of thinking about the Bulgarian.
Darron Gibson
After Essien scored that swirling effort against Arsenal to save a point for Chelsea, whenever he gets within range, Chelsea fans can be heard shouting “Shoot!!!!”
One does wonder whether Gibson has this effect on constant replay in his head.
He has scored some great goals for Manchester United but at least other players who too have scored great goals like Rooney and Nani can back it up with quality approach play whereas what I have seen of him leaves me unconvinced.
He can play a killer final ball but he has the same problem with a lot of the squad players I am going to discuss: consistency.
I may appear harsh but he is a player I held in high esteem following his spell in the reserve so I feel like he has thrown it back in our faces by producing constant poor or average performances.
Even though he doesn’t show it, his passing range is good but his timid play doesn’t bring anything to the table. Rio Ferdinand said that in his first training session that he had a chance to play it forward but played it safe and sideways. Immediately on his back, Roy Keane shouted at him that this is the top level and that playing it safe isn’t go to be good enough here.
It appears Gibson may be on his way to Sunderland and I for one won’t be too sad at seeing him go.
Wes Brown
He used to have braids.
He used to be a prominent member of our defence.
And it seems that he used to be a United player.
Several clubs have been circling him despite his performances having dipped dramatically since the highs of 2008 and to coincide with this he has fallen out favour massively at Old Trafford.
I do not have anything to complain about Brown concerning his ability as he has shown that he is quality but it just seems to be on the wane.
He used to be United’s best right-back but now he seems to be on the way out with Rafael and Fabio Da Silva coming and taking the top two places and I feel his departure is best for both parties.
Click here for our look at the rest of the players on my list
manu manuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu for life