Summer 2009 - What were we thinking?

[Paxi]

Just looking back at it now... How bizarre was it - letting Ronaldo and Tevez go and essentially replacing them with Valencia, Obertan and Owen?

I know Valencia is a great servant of the club and was a great player at times for us. It's just, it's still difficult to understand our reasoning behind the fact that there were quality players available that summer, namely Robben and Wesley Sneijder.

I know, Owen was saying we were in for Benzema, but he chose Real. Surely we could have tried to make some sort of a deal with Real allowing us Benzema if let Ronaldo go? Or am I just being naive?

And Tevez? What happened there? If we knew Ronaldo was going for that whole year, why did we let such a crucial player join City? It's quite bizarre dealings by the club imo! Were we stopped by the Glazer's to reinvest that 80 million?

Horrible fecking summer, indeed.

 

[roonster09]

Worst thing about summer 2009 was we could have signed Sneijder and Robben from Madrid when we sold Ronaldo, somehow we didn't.

 

[Mr Smith]

Pretty sure we were in very bad debt around this time, and most if not all of the Ronaldo money went to paying that off.

 

[Paxi]

Worst thing about summer 2009 was we could have signed Sneijder and Robben from Madrid when we sold Ronaldo, somehow we didn't.

Robinho as well. We could have had all 3 and then some.

Kaka went to Real as well.

 

[Paxi]

Pretty sure we were in very bad debt around this time, and most if not all of the Ronaldo money went to paying that off.

It wasn't that bad? I mean, from my memory it was just a lot of scare mongering and you'd expect a club who were arguably the best team in Europe over past 2 previous season to reinvest heavily after losing their best player. To stay the best.

 

[roonster09]

Robinho as well. We could have had all 3 and then some.

Kaka went to Real as well.

IIRC Robinho went to City in 2008. We sold Ronaldo in 2009.

 

[Paxi]

IIRC Robinho went to City in 2008. We sold Ronaldo in 2009.

Sorry. Yes, you're right! He didn't last long though did he?

 

[Treble]

The start of the decline.

 

[VanGaalEra]

Why we didn't get Robben and Wesley, I'll never know.

 

[2cents]

Even worse when you remember that Robben and Sneijder were both crucial in getting their new teams to the CL final that season, with Robben knocking us out along the way.

We might have had a front 6 of Carrick - Scholes/Fletcher - Sneijder - Nani - Rooney (at his peak) - Robben

 

[Red_Aaron]

we didn't let Tev...
d'ya know what forget it

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Wasn't this when we started being frugal?

It was a big mistake in hindsight. We leant on the fact that we had Sir Alex who could deliver regardless.

 

[Robindinho]

We didn’t really have a choice with Tevez, his loan had come to an end. With him being only a squad player that second season, he’d obviously decided to leave. We tried to save face though and when the rumours broke about him on the verge of signing for city, it leaked we’d had a £35m bid rejected from the third party what owned him.

Agree about the Ronaldo deal - no idea why we didn’t just ask for half the money and Sneijder/Robben.

 

[Amar__]

We had around 3 good transfers from last 20, so I have no idea why people always look back to just that year. After 2009. we won couple of PL titles, were in CL final twice, so I would say Ferhlgie's planning was pretty much good, it's the incompetence of the board and other managers after him that is costing us.

 

[VorZakone]

We had around 3 good transfers from last 20, so I have no idea why people always look back to just that year. After 2009. we won couple of PL titles, were in CL final twice, so I would say Ferhlgie's planning was pretty much good, it's the incompetence of the board and other managers after him that is costing us.

After 2009 United reached 1 CL final, not 2.

 

[Paxi]

After 2009 United reached 1 CL final, not 2.

I thought I must have been really pissed that second final since I totally don’t remember it ever happening!

 

[drdoityourself]

In 2009 Real signed Ronaldo, Benzema, Kaká, Arbeloa, Alonso and Albiol.
United signed Valencia, Owen, Diouf and Obertan whilst letting go of Ronaldo and Tevez.

It's proven to be a pivotal year. Cementing Real as an elite force for the last decade and left United playing catch up ever since.

I was hoping we'd add Robben, Sneijder or even van der Vaart as a part of the Ronaldo transfer but the club obviously didn't go that route.

 

[Paxi]

We had around 3 good transfers from last 20, so I have no idea why people always look back to just that year. After 2009. we won couple of PL titles, were in CL final twice, so I would say Ferhlgie's planning was pretty much good, it's the incompetence of the board and other managers after him that is costing us.

I’m not looking at that summer as some watershed moment. We still should have beaten Bayern that year and possibly reached another CL final. So we were still a very good team. It’s just we could and should have really strengthened that summer and arguably became a better team as whole.

 

[RedOldBoy]

The start of the decline.

Agreed, that is what I always say.

 

[Paxi]

In 2009 Real signed Ronaldo, Benzema, Kaká, Arbeloa, Alonso and Albiol.
United signed Valencia, Owen, Diouf and Obertan whilst letting go of Ronaldo and Tevez.

It's proven to be a pivotal year. Cementing Real as an elite force for the last decade and left United playing catch up ever since.

I was hoping we'd add Robben, Sneijder or even van der Vaart as a part of the Ronaldo transfer but the club obviously didn't go that route.

You can see why Rooney was moaning about lack of ambition. Obviously it was not the right thing to do - to air the dirt laundry in public. But there is some logic to it.

 

[DanClancy]

Just looking back at it now... How bizarre was it - letting Ronaldo and Tevez go and essentially replacing them with Valencia, Obertan and Owen?

I know Valencia is a great servant of the club and was a great player at times for us. It's just, it's still difficult to understand our reasoning behind the fact that there were quality players available that summer, namely Robben and Wesley Sneijder.

I know, Owen was saying we were in for Benzema, but he chose Real. Surely we could have tried to make some sort of a deal with Real allowing us Benzema if let Ronaldo go? Or am I just being naive?

And Tevez? What happened there? If we knew Ronaldo was going for that whole year, why did we let such a crucial player join City? It's quite bizarre dealings by the club imo! Were we stopped by the Glazer's to reinvest that 80 million?

Horrible fecking summer, indeed.

Come on, surely you're not that naive about our owners. Money wasn't available at it was busy been spent on interest & finance payments.

The summers of 09,10 & 11 are a major reason why we're still playing catchup.

 

[Oooh_aaah_cantona]

In real life, you often see old people complaining “my noodles used to cost only $1, $5 is too expensive”. It’s the same with what happened to Sir Alex. He lost touch with the environment at the time and refused to pay up.

 

[Paxi]

Come on, surely you're not that naive about our owners. Money wasn't available at it was busy been spent on interest & finance payments.

The summers of 09,10 & 11 are a major reason why we're still playing catchup.

Well we’re in for Benzema, Sneijder and Ozil those summers they just chose to go to different clubs. So it’s hard to say. Although, we really wanted them maybe throwing extra cash around would have helped.

 

[DanClancy]

Well we’re in for Benzema, Sneijder and Ozil those summers they just chose to go to different clubs. So it’s hard to say. Although, we really wanted them maybe throwing extra cash around would have helped.

Without success.

Are you aware of how much money the club spent on interest and finance payments during that period?

 

[MiceOnMeth]

In real life, you often see old people complaining “my noodles used to cost only $1, $5 is too expensive”. It’s the same with what happened to Sir Alex. He lost touch with the environment at the time and refused to pay up.

I still don't fully believe that, i mean he's the guy who broke the British record a number of times for Veron, Ferdinand etc.
If the money was available to him im sure Fergie would have spend it.. Although the Hazard and Lucas Moura sagas did happen so idk..

 

[Paxi]

Without success.

Are you aware of how much money the club spent on interest and finance payments during that period?

I was aware at the time. I can’t recall to that. I seem to remember a poster eulogising about Glazers on here. That everything was sweet. GCHQ wait his name? Anyways, I’m sure we could have afforded Robben and co.

 

[Oooh_aaah_cantona]

I still don't fully believe that, i mean he's the guy who broke the British record a number of times for Veron, Ferdinand etc.
If the money was available to him im sure Fergie would have spend it.. Although the Hazard and Lucas Moura sagas did happen so idk..

Well, I’m not saying he is a frugal dealer in the transfer market (like Wenger). But more like he lost touch with what is value in the transfer market, as a result of all the inflation.

We won’t know, but I’d guess it’s a combination of Sir Alex and tighter finance from Glazers.

 

[DanClancy]

I was aware at the time. I can’t recall to that. I seem to remember a poster eulogising about Glazers on here. That everything was sweet. GCHQ wait his name? Anyways, I’m sure we could have afforded Robben and co.

Comical Ali spings to mind.

 

[MJJ]

Worst thing about summer 2009 was we could have signed Sneijder and Robben from Madrid when we sold Ronaldo, somehow we didn't.

Sign sneijder and robben from madrid and make a deal where they will not pursue benzema. Oh well.

 

[MJJ]

I still don't fully believe that, i mean he's the guy who broke the British record a number of times for Veron, Ferdinand etc.
If the money was available to him im sure Fergie would have spend it.. Although the Hazard and Lucas Moura sagas did happen so idk..

Hiis issue was with agent fees imo

 

[DanClancy]

Well, I’m not saying he is a frugal dealer in the transfer market (like Wenger). But more like he lost touch with what is value in the transfer market, as a result of all the inflation.

We won’t know, but I’d guess it’s a combination of Sir Alex and tighter finance from Glazers.

He didn't seem to have any problems spending a lot of money on RVP when the clubs financial problems eased, far too coincidental.

Fergie always spent big from the day he arrived at OT, breaking transfer records every other year.

 

[Massive Spanner]

We had around 3 good transfers from last 20, so I have no idea why people always look back to just that year. After 2009. we won couple of PL titles, were in CL final twice, so I would say Ferhlgie's planning was pretty much good, it's the incompetence of the board and other managers after him that is costing us.

Let's be real though, we won the titles under Fergie because... well... it was Fergie! I'm pretty sure the man would've found a way to win the league with 11 John O Shea's on the field. His tranfers in that period were absolutely shocking, though, and we missed out on some absolutely quality player's because of his 'value' principal (Hazard being probably the most frustrating).

 

[Paxi]

Sign sneijder and robben from madrid and make a deal where they will not pursue benzema. Oh well.

And keep Tevez. Would have had some squad. Robben, Valencia, Nani, Rooney, Benzema, Tevez and Berbatov. Sneijder would have had a field day.

 

[2 man midfield]

2009-2013 is the biggest factor in creating the black hole that we're only just crawling out of nigh on 5 years later. We just didn't improve the side enough and it took its toll once Fergie left.

In the 2007 window we invested heavily to improve a youthful side already growing from strength to strength. Nani, Anderson, Tevez and Hargreaves went into an already excellent team that had beaten Jose's Chelsea to the league. We didn't allow ourselves to be caught, and improved further.

With the 2009 window, it became clear that more was needed. Ronaldo and Tevez out, and we turned our nose up at buying Madrid's rejects. Probably because at that time we could legitimately say we were their equal, why would we take their cast offs? By the time we signed Di Maria out of desperation it wasn't even a consideration. It was still a great side from memory, Rafael looked every bit like Neville's successor, Rio and Vidic were still as strong as ever, Scholes and Giggs weren't slowing down, Anderson had a great first season and looked somewhat arsed, while Nani hadn't yet made everyone wonder whether he'd been swapped for a lookalike in about 2012.

But it was still lacking something. Goals, namely. Ronaldo scored 42 in 2007/08 and 26 the following year, while Tevez got 19 and 15 respectively. That's a big hit to take, especially when you plan on replacing these players with a hard working but goal shy winger and Michael Owen. This persisted during the 2011 window where we only sought to improve the team by buying another hard working but goal shy winger and a promising centre half. De Gea was to replace the outgoing Van Der Sar. So already it becomes clear we haven't really improved the first team since 2008 with the Berbatov signing.

2012 we again refused to buy a midfielder, relying on Carrick and Cleverley in midfield, with the same hard working wingers and the same ageing defence. We even brought Scholes out of retirement. The brilliance of Sir Alex got us over the line each time, if not it got us fecking close. We only finished a point behind the top team once from 2007-2013. The man was a genius. He papered over the cracks of a team that hadn't been improved for 5 years, and when that genius was no longer there we suddenly found a team that needed vast investment to even bring it up to scratch. Things are looking promising again, but I can't help but feel the value mantra cost us big time when looking at the last 4 years.

 

[Paxi]

2009-2013 is the biggest factor in creating the black hole that we're only just crawling out of nigh on 5 years later. We just didn't improve the side enough and it took its toll once Fergie left.

In the 2007 window we invested heavily to improve a youthful side already growing from strength to strength. Nani, Anderson, Tevez and Hargreaves went into an already excellent team that had beaten Jose's Chelsea to the league. We didn't allow ourselves to be caught, and improved further.

With the 2009 window, it became clear that more was needed. Ronaldo and Tevez out, and we turned our nose up at buying Madrid's rejects. Probably because at that time we could legitimately say we were their equal, why would we take their cast offs? By the time we signed Di Maria out of desperation it wasn't even a consideration. It was still a great side from memory, Rafael looked every bit like Neville's successor, Rio and Vidic were still as strong as ever, Scholes and Giggs weren't slowing down, Anderson had a great first season and looked somewhat arsed, while Nani hadn't yet made everyone wonder whether he'd been swapped for a lookalike in about 2012.

But it was still lacking something. Goals, namely. Ronaldo scored 42 in 2007/08 and 26 the following year, while Tevez got 19 and 15 respectively. That's a big hit to take, especially when you plan on replacing these players with a hard working but goal shy winger and Michael Owen. This persisted during the 2011 window where we only sought to improve the team by buying another hard working but goal shy winger and a promising centre half. De Gea was to replace the outgoing Van Der Sar. So already it becomes clear we haven't really improved the first team since 2008 with the Berbatov signing.

2012 we again refused to buy a midfielder, relying on Carrick and Cleverley in midfield, with the same hard working wingers and the same ageing defence. We even brought Scholes out of retirement. The brilliance of Sir Alex got us over the line each time, if not it got us fecking close. We only finished a point behind the top team once from 2007-2013. The man was a genius. He papered over the cracks of a team that hadn't been improved for 5 years, and when that genius was no longer there we suddenly found a team that needed vast investment to even bring it up to scratch. Things are looking promising again, but I can't help but feel the value mantra cost us big time when looking at the last 4 years.

good post.

 

[T A]

I think we had already been so wrong since summer 2008.

We bought Berbatov, the guy who was not a positive reinforcement. His languid style had nothing to do with our attacking system based all on the basis of pace. His arrival directly put Tevez on the bench for no reason, the first cracks started to appear at that time, slowly step by step eating up our unstoppable trio R-R-T.

Letting Pique go wasnt a good decision too. He immediately became a main factor in Barca 08-09 team winning every trophy possible. It lately cost us everything in Champions League final at Rome when Pique had an outstanding performance, putting Ronaldo - our key trigger that night to silence

 

[IAmAWinner]

Robben, Sneijder, Özil, Agüero, Silva, Toure, Benzema, Villa, Hazard, Alexis - the value era sucked so hard
Also, I think Berbatov was an unnecessary signing, we should have kept Tevez.

 

[Paxi]

I think we had already been so wrong since summer 2008.

We bought Berbatov, the guy who was not a positive reinforcement. His languid style had nothing to do with our attacking system based all on the basis of pace. His arrival directly put Tevez on the bench for no reason, the first cracks started to appear at that time, slowly step by step eating up our unstoppable trio R-R-T.

Letting Pique go wasnt a good decision too. He immediately becam main factor in Barca 08-09 team winning every trophy possible. It lately cost us everything in Champions League final at Rome when Pique had an outstanding performance, putting Ronaldo - our key trigger that night to silence

Pique situation couldn't have been handled differently. He was ready for first team football but had two better defenders in front of him. So when his boyhood club came in for him he was always going to go.

I agree on the first part though. Signing Berbatov didn't make sense in hindsight.

 

[Bojan11]

We should have gone for Aguero/Villa and Silva that summer.

 

[Paxi]

We should have gone for Aguero/Villa and Silva that summer.

Didn't we go for Villa next summer? He just chose to go to Barca iicr.