Players of the past #2: Louis Saha

golden_blunder

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Signed from Fulham for around £12.4 million midway through the 2003–04 season.

Spent 4 years at United

United were looking a bit one dimensional with a Ruud led forward line and with rumours he wanted out, Fergie promoted Saha to play alongside Rooney, with Rooney later describing Saha as one of his best ever playing partners.

Good on either foot, decent in the air, United instantly became a more flexible unit. Whist Ruud was clearly a better finisher, Saha made United a team.

Such a shame that his bones are made of balsa wood because he was an exciting player to watch

 
Absolutely quality player who could genuinely score all sorts of goals. Real shame about the injuries because he was such a good footballer.
 
A player I always found to be remarkably overrated on here. The original Anthony Martial. Though he’d be comfortably our best striker if he was around now. Until he got injured getting out of bed.
 
I was a huge fan of him when he was at Fulham. He had everything. Left foot, Right foot, Heading, Physicality, Speed.

Sadly dogged by his knees which gave away seemingly so easily. He had an ability to miss easy chances and score hard as feck chances.

I have friends from University who were regular matchgoers for WBA, Villa and Spurs, who all said he was one of the best strikers they’d seen live back in those Fulham/United days.

My 06/07 white/gold/black away shirt is branded ‘Saha 9’ on the back, to show how much I liked him.
 
Chairman Steve said:
I was a huge fan of him when he was at Fulham. He had everything. Left foot, Right foot, Heading, Physicality, Speed.

Sadly dogged by his knees which gave away seemingly so easily. He had an ability to miss easy chances and score hard as feck chances.

I have friends from University who were regular matchgoers for WBA, Villa and Spurs, who all said he was one of the best strikers they’d seen live back in those Fulham/United days.

My 06/07 white/gold/black away shirt is branded ‘Saha 9’ on the back, to show how much I liked him.
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That was the season, 2006/07, where I have the fondest memories of him. He started so well.
 
Saha was a complete striker. Left foot, right foot, good in the air, strong, fast, intelligent, brought others in to play.

No surprise to hear Ferdinand name drop him when discussing the best strikers he’s faced.

As others have said…such a shame his injuries prevented us really seeing what he could become if/when played regularly in a successful ManUtd team.

Him and Forlan are two strikers, who in a parallel universe, could have been unbelievable for us…and I was so desperate for it to work out for them both. Sad times
 
acnumber9 said:
A player I always found to be remarkably overrated on here. The original Anthony Martial. Though he’d be comfortably our best striker if he was around now. Until he got injured getting out of bed.
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I didn't rate Saha as much as many did but there's a huge difference in terms of quality between the two.
 
Far, far too many injuries. Most league games he played for us in a season was 24. On song, he was very good, not world class but a very good player.

I forgot he was here when we won the 2008 Champions League. Was he on the bench?
 
I think we could have done more damage in Europe and the FA Cup if he'd stayed fit that 2006/07 season. Started off electric that season and free-flowing with Rooney and Ronaldo. Ended up with Alan Smith and Larsson (briefly) up front, and then eventually at the business end it was Rooney up front on his own, which was never his best position.
 
He was brilliant on PES.

In real life injuries took their toll on him, quality striker when he was fit and on form, sadly it was too infrequent.

Still holds rhe record for the fastest FA cup final goal.
 
So many great things happened or came together in the 06-07 season, the proof of which is that we had eight players in the PFA team of the year, but Saha was a big part of our early season form before he got injured. The attacking play was so dynamic with him, Rooney, Giggs and Ronaldo. He was the perfect forward for that team in a lot of ways.

Such a shame about the injuries.
 
The end of 05/06 was very good. Apart from that he never lived up to his Fulham days, where he was a beast.
 
We should’ve signed a like for like replacement for him rather than Berbatov. Was a very good player when fit, but sadly a crock.
 
Lay said:
Far, far too many injuries. Most league games he played for us in a season was 24. On song, he was very good, not world class but a very good player.

I forgot he was here when we won the 2008 Champions League. Was he on the bench?
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Injured I think
 
Lay said:
Far, far too many injuries. Most league games he played for us in a season was 24. On song, he was very good, not world class but a very good player.

I forgot he was here when we won the 2008 Champions League. Was he on the bench?
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Was in the travelling squad but not matchday.

He was easily the most frustrating player pre-Nani given his constant injury issues. By Xmas 2005 Id him written off and wanted him gone but then Sir Alex went a different way for the Carling Cup final and him Rooney/Ronaldo and Giggs just clicked. He was brilliant during 06/07 until injuries struck again.

The opening 20 minutes of that season vs Fulham is still one of my fondest United memories.
 
I was going to ask in the other thread for him to be the next one!

I still think the best football I’ve seen at OT came with Saha in the side.
 
KeanoMagicHat said:
I think we could have done more damage in Europe and the FA Cup if he'd stayed fit that 2006/07 season. Started off electric that season and free-flowing with Rooney and Ronaldo. Ended up with Alan Smith and Larsson (briefly) up front, and then eventually at the business end it was Rooney up front on his own, which was never his best position.
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That season we got to the FA Cup final and fatigue killed us in the CL semi finals against Milan... I doubt he would have changed much.

Still, he was brilliant that season when fit.
 
Berbasbullet said:
The goal v Chelsea was brilliant
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Yeah, I love that goal as well.

He was fecking brilliant and classy. A shame that injuries hampered him so much - otherwise he would've gone done as a great rather than "just" a good striker. Would also have had a better international career even though competing with the likes of Henry and Trezeguet and later Benzema wasn't easy.
 
Excellent all round striker, great athletic qualities, but also good technique, could run with the ball, hold it up, pick a pass. Not a great finisher which riled up a portion of the fanbase who were fixated on Ruud but a damm good player with a fragile body.

Would pretty much be the ideal 9 these days with the move towards the wide forwards often being the main scorer.
 
One of the matter stats around him is he played more PL games for Everton than United. Always felt like his Everton stint was just a late career run.
 
Brilliant player, but we only saw him fit for about half a season. Real shame, as he was one of the best all round strikers I’ve seen at United.
 
Amir said:
That season we got to the FA Cup final and fatigue killed us in the CL semi finals against Milan... I doubt he would have changed much.

Still, he was brilliant that season when fit.
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Well we couldn’t score in the FA Cup final and looked stale where an in-form Saha might have been useful, similarly against Milan but the defensive injuries also did the damage in that first leg. Kaka was in form but that defence without Ferdinand or Vidic was unfortunate.
 
Exactly the kind of striker we always need... and we needed one just like him even when he was in the squad, most of the time. Quality footballer. I remember seeing him playing for Newcastle when he was on loan there. He looked high quality then, and I was surprised (no offence) when he ended up signing for Fulham. Really thought he had it in him to go big early.

Devastating on his day, but not enough of them. Without injuries, he maybe could have reached Andy Cole's level, although his game was a bit more rounded.
 
Amir said:
That season we got to the FA Cup final and fatigue killed us in the CL semi finals against Milan... I doubt he would have changed much.

Still, he was brilliant that season when fit.
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But if he'd been fit, Rooney and probably Ronaldo wouldn't have played every game and presumably would have been in better shape for the semi-final against Milan.

On the wider point of the thread, I think Saha's contribution to Fergie's last great team is often overlooked. People forget the pressure that was building during 05/06. There were prominent and well-respecting journalists and fans saying Fergie should retire and that we needed someone younger to compete with Mourinho. Fergie made the incredibly bold decision for the last three months of that season to drop Ruud for Saha and it turned out to be the correct decision. He was then fantastic for most of 06/07 until the injuries came back.
 
He was a great addition to the squad back then. Sir Alex really had a knack for knowing which players would compliment the squad he already had. It’s crazy how much transfer fees have boomed since then too. £12.5m probably wouldn’t even get you a mid table championship player now.
 
golden_blunder said:
Signed from Fulham for around £12.4 million midway through the 2003–04 season.

Spent 4 years at United

United were looking a bit one dimensional with a Ruud led forward line and with rumours he wanted out, Fergie promoted Saha to play alongside Rooney, with Rooney later describing Saha as one of his best ever playing partners.

Good on either foot, decent in the air, United instantly became a more flexible unit. Whist Ruud was clearly a better finisher, Saha made United a team.

Such a shame that his bones are made of balsa wood because he was an exciting player to watch

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47 seconds

What a pass from CR7 and an even more impressive finish from Saha
 
golden_blunder said:
Signed from Fulham for around £12.4 million midway through the 2003–04 season.

Spent 4 years at United

United were looking a bit one dimensional with a Ruud led forward line and with rumours he wanted out, Fergie promoted Saha to play alongside Rooney, with Rooney later describing Saha as one of his best ever playing partners.

Good on either foot, decent in the air, United instantly became a more flexible unit. Whist Ruud was clearly a better finisher, Saha made United a team.

Such a shame that his bones are made of balsa wood because he was an exciting player to watch

Click to expand...

Doing him a massive disservice saying he was decent in the air, what a leap he had.

Genuinely gutted about how it turned out for him. Sensational player when fit.
 
Oufff loved him. Was the first non scholes/giggs jersey I got - electric speed - was heart broken at his non stop injury crises. used to swap him in for Rooney in fifa 2k5 despite him being 8 points less just because how stupidly fast it made my counterattacking
 
IrwinwasbetterthanCarlos said:
We should’ve signed a like for like replacement for him rather than Berbatov. Was a very good player when fit, but sadly a crock.
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That's what everyone thought for a while but now Berbatov seems to be considered some kind of legend and icon of successful Man United. Odd.
 
Offside said:
That's what everyone thought for a while but now Berbatov seems to be considered some kind of legend and icon of successful Man United. Odd.
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Because Berba is incredibly cool and had a hall of fame first touch that makes you coo when you watch it back on YouTube. Nostalgia is a funny thing…

If you watched us play 90 minutes, week in, week out, we were never as good with him in the team as we were with Saha or Tevez. Pace and work rate.
 
He had one great calendar year, 2006, where he managed to stay fit and hit form. We played some great attacking football in that period and he was a big part of it. He had great attributes, I was always impressed with his athleticism especially. You could never rely on him though.
 
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