I completely forgot he played for us. What a disappointment that turned out to be
Any Fergie players shouldn’t have been sold?
- Thread starter Longlivekeano
- Start date
Veron. I would like to him to be given an extra year at least. He was on fire with Ruud on the preseason tour.
Stam & I liked Veron, but he carried on flopping after leaving isn't it.
Lot of wishful thinking on Rafael for me. Overrated as they say, imo.
Lot of wishful thinking on Rafael for me. Overrated as they say, imo.
Still a transfer that bugs me! Before coming to us he looked like the answer to our midfield problems and in a summer of big names felt like the most sensible we made. Who knew he would be scared of the ball!
post fergie: rafael, evra, evans, RvP
Evans was a stupid move to sell from LVG. Welbeck too although his injury record has been crap at Arsenal so it worked out well since we got Rashford instead.
Paul McGrath - won player of the year with Villa soon after leaving us, Gordon Strachan maybe as well - captained Leeds to the title after leaving us. Jaap Stam perhaps too, but then didn't he fail a drugs test a few months after leaving us so maybe not.
Not really for Evans imo. At this time he was becoming injury prone and his performance had dropped massively. He reignited his career after he left and he has been good for an amount of time, but it was the right time to move on from him based on the circumstances at this period.
So many people mention Evans and he is apparently better than Lindelof 
People already forgot how useless he was in his last few years for us, injury prone + mediocre performances. He didn't suddenly become very good either, it's just that he simply plays for a better coached team right now.
People already forgot how useless he was in his last few years for us, injury prone + mediocre performances. He didn't suddenly become very good either, it's just that he simply plays for a better coached team right now.1. Stam - but then years later, we have Rio and Vidic, by far the best CB pair we've ever had.
2. Beckham - but then we have Ronaldo
3. Ruud - but then he had a fight with Ronaldo
4. Kanchelski - But then we have Beckham
5. Hughes - we've bought Andy Cole, and he was very wasteful in his earlier years here. So we shouldn't have sold Hughes. But then Cole was part of our treble winning team years later.
6. Ronaldo - but then we have Valencia. Joking aside, we don't have any choice there, he was determined to leave and he had won everything with us.
2. Beckham - but then we have Ronaldo
3. Ruud - but then he had a fight with Ronaldo
4. Kanchelski - But then we have Beckham
5. Hughes - we've bought Andy Cole, and he was very wasteful in his earlier years here. So we shouldn't have sold Hughes. But then Cole was part of our treble winning team years later.
6. Ronaldo - but then we have Valencia. Joking aside, we don't have any choice there, he was determined to leave and he had won everything with us.
Was disappointed when Saha went. Understood why though. These days he would be worth a fortune if he could be kept fit.
Some of the more borderline/controversial sales or departures under SAF:
Ince (was sold to fund Carrington's refurbishment).
Keane (could have played another year at the top)
Kanchelskis (his "advisers" were playing up but we should have tried harder to keep him as he was worth season ticket costs on his own!)
Sheringham (46 goals, 23 assists in 153 games. Had another good season in him)
Tevez (how did we lose someone that good?!)
Shawcross (could have been a great)
Heinze (see Tevez!)
Forlan (controversial perhaps but we did not get the best out of him)
Strachan (I just posted on the newbie forum that GS was player of the year two years after we sold him).
Pique (left us way too early)
Pogba V.1 (would have saved us a couple of quid)
Ince (was sold to fund Carrington's refurbishment).
Keane (could have played another year at the top)
Kanchelskis (his "advisers" were playing up but we should have tried harder to keep him as he was worth season ticket costs on his own!)
Sheringham (46 goals, 23 assists in 153 games. Had another good season in him)
Tevez (how did we lose someone that good?!)
Shawcross (could have been a great)
Heinze (see Tevez!)
Forlan (controversial perhaps but we did not get the best out of him)
Strachan (I just posted on the newbie forum that GS was player of the year two years after we sold him).
Pique (left us way too early)
Pogba V.1 (would have saved us a couple of quid)
Well he is key defender for a team who is currently at 2nd place in the league, and with best defensive record too.So many people mention Evans and he is apparently better than Lindelof
And he was also in a team that got relegated. So your point is?
If anybody actually bothered watching him would know why we sold him. People saying how LVG put him under pressure is nonsense too. He was supposed to be a ball playing centre back and LVG should have been the perfect coach for him, but he played like a nervous wreck and had a mistake in him every game he played. He was also injury prone.
My point is, he is currently better than the defenders we have here. Actually he was better than Maguire at Leicester last season, who has costed us 80m, and this season so far. So understandably people would think we shouldn't have sold him.
Okay
Nani and Zaha. The rest I can understand why they left when looking at them individually, yet perhaps clearing out so many ‘Fergie mentality’ players at once was a mistake, especially considering Giggs and Scholes retired at this time. We could’ve transitioned a bit more smoothly.
Say what you want about his injury record but he is and was 5 times the player Darmian has been over the last 4 years.
Chicha
Evans
Zaha
Januzaj (mainly because we had no right winger for about 5 years)
I'd argue there aren't many glaringly obvious mistakes that cost us big time as far as post Fergie departures go
Evans
Zaha
Januzaj (mainly because we had no right winger for about 5 years)
I'd argue there aren't many glaringly obvious mistakes that cost us big time as far as post Fergie departures go
I'd have kept Fletcher for another season at least.
McGrath was part of the drinking culture and that Fergie needed to resolve. He had to go for the greater good i am afraid
Tevez is the only one for me and i know he wasn't sold but Fergie still messed it up .
He preferred Berbatov despite anyone knowing Berbatov was always going to be too lazy something Fergie soon found out dropping him .
.too late then tbough
He preferred Berbatov despite anyone knowing Berbatov was always going to be too lazy something Fergie soon found out dropping him .
.too late then tbough
I never really saw what people seen in Rafael, he’s a very likeable character and loved playing for United so I think fans really warmed to him, as did I.
But I was never particularly impressed with him, from memory he could be a bit of a liability and I always had a little worry about him being in the starting 11.
very hard not to like the lad though.
Better than what we have had up until AWB though.
Another one Fergie deeply regretted being too ruthless with. He normally got it right though....
Jaap Stam, Fergie let his emotions get the better of him on this one. A superb player whom we struggled defensively with after he left.
Stam was basically dividing the dressing room. If Fergie didn't dismissed him he would loose the control of the squad sooner than later.
nonsense, he wrote a book and fergie didn't like it, the book itself wasn't even controversial. Fergie himself has actually admitted in later yrs he made a mistake. It happens, all top mangers have regrets. Stam was class, to say he was dividing the dressing room is bogus
What was the story with Stam's failed drug test? Did we dodge a bullet there?
I've got the unpopular opinion that I was happy when Ruud left.
Great striker,no doubt, but I disliked how the team became so reliant on him plus I could never quite warm to him.
His agent was shopping him around Europe when we were on tour in the US which pissed SAF off to no end,especially as Veron was looking brilliant.
Great striker,no doubt, but I disliked how the team became so reliant on him plus I could never quite warm to him.
SAF would've given him a third year but Veron wanted out .
His agent was shopping him around Europe when we were on tour in the US which pissed SAF off to no end,especially as Veron was looking brilliant.
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In post SAF era;
Zaha is by far biggest mistake, Evra and Rafael maybe. Nani probably. Selling Evans before Jones or Smalling is also debatable.
During Fergie reign;
Stam
Becks
Ronaldo
Tevez
Forlan
Zaha is by far biggest mistake, Evra and Rafael maybe. Nani probably. Selling Evans before Jones or Smalling is also debatable.
During Fergie reign;
Stam
Becks
Ronaldo
Tevez
Forlan
It was definitely the right decision to move Ruud on at the time, I felt he held us back and didnt like our style of play with him towards the end of his time. I was surprised Real came in for him.
Would kill to have him in the side now though
He sounded like an absolute d*ck in his last year so it was the right time to move on the goalscoring Dutchman.It was definitely the right decision to move Ruud on at the time, I felt he held us back and didnt like our style of play with him towards the end of his time. I was surprised Real came in for him.
Would kill to have him in the side now though
Concerning his next destination from what I remember it was a transfer tussle between Bayern and Madrid.
Much like Beckham before him I never felt Ruud was a Madrid type player,even though he was a success.
More so in his peak years as he was hardly the most pleasing forward on the eye and his game had regressed to being rather one dimensional at that point,it being one of the many reasons we rightly got rid.
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In my opinion he could have played him in every match in 08-09 and he'd still have left. I think City got to him and his owner early on with the Oil money.
Their rumoured offer of £280k and £47m fee dwarfs the £120k and £25m we'd agreed.
If you're talking about post Sir Alez, then Zaha.
If we had him, he'd probably be starting on the right or just behind Martial. He's still a bit raw but makes things happen almost everytime he gets the ball and is a threat.
If we had him, he'd probably be starting on the right or just behind Martial. He's still a bit raw but makes things happen almost everytime he gets the ball and is a threat.
Thread comes up every year
Plenty of players did play like crap under LVG. We should just have fired him rather than sell great players. I am sure that Di Maria would have worked out well under another manager.
We seem to get much more injuries than other teams. Need to change our medical department.
Di Maria is a different case though. Evans was getting very injury prone and struggling to regain his form and fitness after each match. I doubt any manager wouldn't have sold him back then.
Post SAF:
Zaha - a two year loan would have been a smarter choice. We could then bring him back or sell him for (a lot) more.
Zaha - a two year loan would have been a smarter choice. We could then bring him back or sell him for (a lot) more.
I didn’t regret us selling Stam until Milan beat us home and away in the 2005 Champions league knockouts. He was immense, and clearly better than whoever we had partnering Rio at that time. Still, it was this that made Sir Alex go in for Vidic, so you have to say it worked out in the end.