How good was Louis Saha?

siw2007

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Very good player in his day. His injury problems were always an issue and in the end o think it took its toll. It’s a shame because as a centre forward he had it all, pace, strength, skill, strong left foot, I did feel he was a bit prone to missing a few easy chances so perhaps wasn’t the strongest finisher which stopped him becoming a world class player.

But he deserves enormous credit for his contribution in the 2006/2007 season. He provided a bridge between the Van Nistelrooy era and the Ronaldo era. His role did start to diminish in the back end of the year (mainly injury issues) but his goals were extremely important at the start of the season, I especially remember the opener against Chelsea and the belter against Benfica. IMO was a bit of an unsung hero in that team.
 

TheReligion

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How was he ahead of his time exactly?
His all round game was above anything of the period. Pace, strength, movement, two good feet and a fantastic leap. His off the ball movement made him a pleasure to play with and opened up space for others. Wayne Rooney stated he was his favourite strike partner for that reason.
 

Red Devil 26

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Think he was hugely important in the upturn in our play from the latter end of 05/06 and the first half 06/07. Such a shame he couldn't stay fit in that 06/07 season in particular. Really looked like it was all coming together for him at that time.
 

rotherham_red

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I don't care what anyone says, we played the best footy an SAF team has ever played when he was fit and firing in the first half of 06/07, with the Bolton away game which we won 4-0 being the pinnacle.
 

Robertd0803

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He had a great run at the start until he got injured. He was unreal in the first half of 2006/2007. His goals, movement and general link up with Ronaldo and Rooney was immense. The opening game vs Fulham remains one of my all time favourites, we were just unstoppable.

I honestly couldnt remember anything he did in 2007/2008 besides being in a suit for the celebrations in Moscow. Even after checking I was surprised to see he scored via Chelsea at Old Trafford.

Injuries ruined his career. Think there was a few stories/rumours about his injuries as well, asking for time off after being injured for a few months if I remember rightly.

I was only watching the Carling Cup final from 2006 recently and remember the whole craziness over Ruud being dropped in favour of Saha.
 

amolbhatia50k

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His all round game was above anything of the period. Pace, strength, movement, two good feet and a fantastic leap. His off the ball movement made him a pleasure to play with and opened up space for others. Wayne Rooney stated he was his favourite strike partner for that reason.
I mean, Henry came before him and his all round game was pretty much miles ahead. Rooney himself was twice the player Saha ever was.

Saha was really good during one brief spell for us but come on now. People are going well overboard in this thread.
 

Woodzy

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Didn’t him and Ole score a few between them in the first 10 minutes of an FA cup game once?

I’m going to say against Fulham actually. I think we only narrowly that game as well
 

Bondi77

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His all round game was above anything of the period. Pace, strength, movement, two good feet and a fantastic leap. His off the ball movement made him a pleasure to play with and opened up space for others. Wayne Rooney stated he was his favourite strike partner for that reason.
I take it you never saw Mark Hughes play then as he had all the above attributes and was better than Saha in every category.
 

Zen86

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I loved Saha. We were unreal in 06/07 when he was in the side. I remember us being not quite as potent once his injuries started kicking in.
 

red thru&thru

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He was very good. Had speed. Could hold the ball up. Average heading ability.

He just couldn't develop to his full potential because of injuries.
 

Nikelesh Reddy

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Quick, strong, two footed, good technique, on paper he pretty much had everything you'd want from a striker. How good was he in your opinion? And what do you think he could have done for us without all the injury problems?

Personally I think he's one of the more underrated players of our recent history. The fact that Fergie chose to go with him and not replace RVN shows just how highly he thought of him too. Such a shame injuries derailed his career.
Fantastic player.Had all the attributes to be a great performer,but he unfortunately was very very unlucky with injuries.He still played an important part in our 2007 title triumph though,so he definitely left his mark on the club,even he obviously didn’t fulfill his potential...
 

IRELANDUNITED

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Saha is one of my favorite players ever for us, I'm not quite sure why but I've always had that little bit extra love for him, Berbatov and Yorke.
 

groovyalbert

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I think he gets lost in the memory due to the excellent strikers/attackers we had alongside him and because his career here was ruined by injury. But he was outstanding.

Whenever he was fit, up until his last season with us, I thought we were significantly better with him in the side than not.
 

MancunianAngels

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Think he was hugely important in the upturn in our play from the latter end of 05/06 and the first half 06/07. Such a shame he couldn't stay fit in that 06/07 season in particular. Really looked like it was all coming together for him at that time.
Yep. He played a pivotal role in the club re discovering its mojo in 2006.
 

OrcaFat

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He often showed, in fits and starts, what a brilliant player he could have become without the injuries.

The injuries didn’t just interrupt his contributions they hampered his development. They’re the reason he never found a rhythm and never really built a base for his own self confidence. His weaknesses were mainly psychological and the type that, with luck, often fall away as a player hits 27-28. Fabio Capello said that a lot of strikers he worked with developed cool heads around late 20s and suddenly started scoring a lot more. Saha never hit that tipping point - just got injured too often.

Who can say how good he might have been? I reckon top drawer. As it is, he was a bit of a disappointment (in view of his natural ability and potential).
 

Foxbatt

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I thought when he doesn't have time to think on the ball then he was brilliant. When he had time, he was not that good.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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Apparently according to Gary, Sir Alex asked our defenders about the idea of signing Louis Saha right after the game they played against him in Fulham.


Talented striker to be world class for potential but made of glass unfortunately.
 

RUCK4444

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Injuries were the only thing stopping him from becoming world class.

Excellent player, pace, ability, finishing, great link up play. Such a shame about the injuries.
 

Moiraine

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I remember him scoring for fun for Fulham in the championship before we signed him but honestly whilst he was probably the best foil for Rooney, he was never anything more than a good striker.


He was absolutely dog shit when through on goal one on one against the keeper. I vividly remember how awful he was at keeping his head in those situations.
Rooney behind Saha was Rooney’s best position.
Absolutely wrong assessment
He was class.
 

Bondi77

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Not as good as Cole or Yorke but better than Martial (at this current time).
 

Canuckred64

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Very talented, very skilled player. Just wished he would have played through injury. Always got the impression if he wasn't 100%, he would sit out.
 

devilish

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Rooney > RVP > Yorke > Saha > Cole > Tevez > Ole > Berbatov

I didn’t added RvN cause he was a goal poacher and such players can only be judged on one metric alone ie goals

Saha was a complete striker. He was decent in everything (pace, workrate, technique, eye for goal, football brains). He somehow lacked that va va voom to be considered at par to the likes of Rooney or Henry but he was very close to it
 

Darkhorsez

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Rooney > RVP > Yorke > Saha > Cole > Tevez > Ole > Berbatov

I didn’t added RvN cause he was a goal poacher and such players can only be judged on one metric alone ie goals

Saha was a complete striker. He was decent in everything (pace, workrate, technique, eye for goal, football brains). He somehow lacked that va va voom to be considered at par to the likes of Rooney or Henry but he was very close to it
A couple of odd things with above equation. Where is Hughes? Coles is so underrated.
 
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Rooney > RVP > Yorke > Saha > Cole > Tevez > Ole > Berbatov

I didn’t added RvN cause he was a goal poacher and such players can only be judged on one metric alone ie goals

Saha was a complete striker. He was decent in everything (pace, workrate, technique, eye for goal, football brains). He somehow lacked that va va voom to be considered at par to the likes of Rooney or Henry but he was very close to it
I loved watching Saha, when he was fit and on form. He was fantastic for about 12 months for Utd. He clearly lacked mental strength and didn’t have the ability to push through the pain barrier - he couldn’t be relied upon to be in the pitch when we needed him.

He was a top striker for such a short period of time and there is no way he was better than Cole.

When you look back as Saha, it’s all about what he could have been? How good would he have been if he stayed fit and had a full career at United without the injuries?

the reality is these players get overrated, as you fill in the blanks and assume they could have been knocking out great performances instead of being injured.

I find your criteria of RVN very strange as well, he was a great goal scorer, but just to say that’s all he could do is completely disingenuous.

to compile a list of strikers at Man Utd and leave off RVN is beyond ridiculous.
 

devilish

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A couple of odd things with above equation. Where is Hughes? Coles is so underrated.
Hughes played at a time when the EPL was a bit shit tbh. United were a decent side but the gap between us and the rest was huge. Cole was ahead of his time. He didn't fit in the typical 90s goal poacher or mezza punta. However he was inferior to both Yorke and Saha in terms of strength, technique and eye to goal.
 

devilish

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I loved watching Saha, when he was fit and on form. He was fantastic for about 12 months for Utd. He clearly lacked mental strength and didn’t have the ability to push through the pain barrier - he couldn’t be relied upon to be in the pitch when we needed him.

He was a top striker for such a short period of time and there is no way he was better than Cole.

When you look back as Saha, it’s all about what he could have been? How good would he have been if he stayed fit and had a full career at United without the injuries?

the reality is these players get overrated, as you fill in the blanks and assume they could have been knocking out great performances instead of being injured.

I find your criteria of RVN very strange as well, he was a great goal scorer, but just to say that’s all he could do is completely disingenuous.

to compile a list of strikers at Man Utd and leave off RVN is beyond ridiculous.
Let's tackle one by one shall we? First of all we're talking about fine margins here. It's not as if Saha = prime Cristiano Ronaldo and Cole = Nile Ranger. Secondly I was referring about overrall talent. In their prime both Yorke and Saha were better players when compared to Coley. Unfortunately Saha's career was ruined by injuries which ended up hurting his psyche while Yorke wasn't really a professional player to start with. There's no doubt that Cole beat them in terms of what he contributed to the club. Cole is in fact an undisputed club legend . But talent wise he was inferior to both. Let's not forget that Cole wasn't Sir Alex first option and he spent his time here trying to replace him (Batistuta, Shearer) until he did (RVN).

RVN was a specialist player. If you take his finishing from him there's really little left. That's not a sign of disrespect as there were many specialist players around who did extremely well for club and country. Gattuso (workrate) and Inzaghi (finisher) are prime examples of specialist players. Having said that, I find it unfair to compare them to all rounders as its very easy to underestimate what specialists give to the squad while bashing them on what they don't. Alternatively one can overrate that particular skill so much that you risk ignoring the rest.
 
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charlenefan

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Loved Saha, he was the absolute perfect partner for Rooney

A damn shame injuries ruined his time here because IIIRC he got over them come his time with Everton. Only criticism I would have of Saha is that I'm not sure he quite had the mentality to play here
 

Acole9

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A real pity that his time with us was wrecked by injury. Difficult to say how good he could've been.