Yeah it's bizarre. Let's go back further shall we and see if at can find something else to blame.
Replacing Ronaldo & Tevez with Valencia & Owen
- Thread starter Schmeichel's Cartwheel
- Start date
We have never replaced Sir Bobby Charlton properly, he wasn't just one of the very best players in the world, he was also a leader, a role model and the embodiment of Manchester United but also English football in the 60s. In my opinion, United has never seen his equivalent since his retirement, captain Marvel being the closest thing to him.
Actually the club said they were willing to pay the fee in a statement but Tevez did not want to come.
Also people forgetting we made a go for Benzema and even Owen himself said that Fergie told him if Benzema does not come then he will be coming. The stupid thing we did that summer was not tell Madrid to stay away from Benzema if they want Ronaldo.
We didn't replace Robbo either. We got raging Roy Keane on board instead which was a clear mistake. The Irish stamper who ruined our chance of signing Alf's son in 2020.
B.....b....b....but he was The One.
The one that got awayEveryone's forgotten Mame Diouf.
I don't really get that logic. Surely it was all the more important that we bring in top quality to make sure the team's level doesn't drop too much?
Can we really argue that there was another C Ronaldo on the market? We could have got some quality midfielders but no one could really replace him. And it really had nothing to do with Valencia either.
Again, this makes no sense. I'm not suggesting we should have got another Ronaldo - I'm saying we should have invested the money we got for him in better players than Valencia, Owen and Obertan.
Midfielders and another goalscorer so we weren't so reliant on Rooney's fitness would have been nice.
Doesn't work like that
Definitely we have never got back to that point. Ergo decline
Valencia did pretty good but the general consensus on this topic amongst all of us is that we should have bought a midfielder (probably an amf) and I agree. What I don't agree with is the point that that transfer window was some kind of turning point where things went to shite because we still had some 3 seasons of SAF after that without signing a midfielder.
Must be noted at the time Robben and Sneijder were viewed as rejects so United fans wouldn’t have been thrilled. Robinho was probs rated higher at Madrid back then. He had a great 6 months where people said he’d win the Ballon D’Or in the near future but then fell off a cliff.
Tevez I wanted to stay but the fee was huge for what he actually delivered. Berbatov we signed the summer before too.
I thought the Owen deal could be a steal at the time but the loss of Ronaldo and the final made that a weird summer.
Tevez I wanted to stay but the fee was huge for what he actually delivered. Berbatov we signed the summer before too.
I thought the Owen deal could be a steal at the time but the loss of Ronaldo and the final made that a weird summer.
Roy Keane wants to know your location.
Ronaldo was the big loss, not so much Tevez, especially as you could argue he was already replaced by Berbatov - iirc. (Getting old so the memory isn’t as great 
).
SAF was a big admirer of Valencia & tbf, he was great for us. It was always going to be mission impossible to replace Ronaldo, as no one was close to that quality, that was available. We all knew about Robben, but wasn’t he quite injury plagued at Madrid? Again, memory is hazy and I’m sure we were all fans of him from his time at Chelsea - I’m just not 100% what his reputation was like at/after Madrid.
Hazard a couple of years later was the bigger loss imo. Over €4m in agent fees or summin. Not sure if that really was the difference (Chelsea just won the UCL iirc?). But yeah, those were the “no value in the market days”.
).SAF was a big admirer of Valencia & tbf, he was great for us. It was always going to be mission impossible to replace Ronaldo, as no one was close to that quality, that was available. We all knew about Robben, but wasn’t he quite injury plagued at Madrid? Again, memory is hazy and I’m sure we were all fans of him from his time at Chelsea - I’m just not 100% what his reputation was like at/after Madrid.
Hazard a couple of years later was the bigger loss imo. Over €4m in agent fees or summin. Not sure if that really was the difference (Chelsea just won the UCL iirc?). But yeah, those were the “no value in the market days”.
I’m pretty sure that had we tried to sign Robben as Ronaldo’s replacement, Real would have demanded £40m... which back then, and with his injury record... he just wasn’t worth.
Whenever I think of the trio, I always find it sad that they never played together during each of their respective peaks as players. Still, what we got wasn't half bad!
He was obviously much better at City, but I think he was very good here, too. Albeit not the best, but still a key player in one of the clubs best ever seasons.
I disagree with that. Tevez was very important. The difference between having him up front compared to Berbatov (who I was also a fan of) was huge. He complemented Rooney and Ronaldo perfectly. The way he'd rotate with Rooney where one would stay forward and one would track back to help accomadate the two man midfield was very important in us not only not getting overrun in midfield, but allowing Ronaldo more freedom to attack (though he still provided defensive support to Brown and Evra).
He was obviously much better at City, but I think he was very good here, too. Albeit not the best, but still a key player in one of the clubs best ever seasons.
Tevez was a money grabbing ****. But yeah, the general premise of the thread is ridiculous. 2013 - present is what got us where we are.
No, there really is something in it. Who was signed post 2009 who went on to be a top notch United signing? In Fergie’s last years the heavy lifting was almost entirely done by Fergie stalwarts.
No, there isn’t. If we didn’t sack off half the coaching staff and f*** up the rebuild so badly after Fergie left, no one would be here whining about 2009.
Both can be contributing factors, it is not an either/or situation.
Tevez was done at United the moment he turned his shirt around in Moscow. Ferguson ney like that shit.
I think he'd have gone that summer if the Berbatov deal didn't go to the deadline.
Not bringing in some top quality after Ronaldo left was devastating.
But United never really replaced Rio, Vidic, Giggs, Scholes, Rooney, Berbatov, Carrick etc.
The whole team was going and it's been so badly handled by the club - they needed an overarching strategy of rebuilding that happened at Woodward's level, not leaving individual managers just freesytling it and hoping for the best.
Some issues began late in Fergie's day - but really the club has been run appallingly since Gill left.
But United never really replaced Rio, Vidic, Giggs, Scholes, Rooney, Berbatov, Carrick etc.
The whole team was going and it's been so badly handled by the club - they needed an overarching strategy of rebuilding that happened at Woodward's level, not leaving individual managers just freesytling it and hoping for the best.
Some issues began late in Fergie's day - but really the club has been run appallingly since Gill left.
I agree, the squad level dipped towards the end of Fergie's tenure, and while that transfer window is pretty eye-catching it was more of a gradual process and the team he left in 2013 was ageing but still a very good starting point for the next guy. We should have been on the front foot adding to the squad and creating the next great United team. We didn't do that, which was a bad mistake, then we hired Moyes which was worse still.
He went for a reported 42m to City.
Fergie got a whopping big pay increase so kept his mouth shut about bargain basement stuff