Was Veron a flop?

Relevated

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So I saw Gary neville compare Brunos performance to what 'Veron used to do for United' , in his words. And it got me curious.

I was a little young during those days but I've seen highlights and some talk highly of him. But then you see a lot say he was underwhelming or constantly attacked by media.

So, what's the reality of the man? How was he?
 

RedSky

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Came with a huge reputation but struggled to find his place in the team. The frustrating part was I remember watching pre season the year Beckham left and Veron looked unbelievable for us. A few days later he was sold. Probably the right decision ultimately but a shame as he seemed to want to rise from Beckhams shadow somewhat only to be flung out.
 

thebelfastboy

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Smashing player, very controlled and measured on the ball.

It just so happened that we had the best midfield in the world at the time and tbh he was a signing that imo we didn't need to make. Our play at the time just didn't suit his style.

If he played for us now he'd be head and shoulders the best player in the team.

Be unfair to label him as a flop.
 

DVG7

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He didn’t live up to expectations, but showed touches of genius at times. When we signed him, I was sure he would go on to become one of our best ever midfielders.
 

FootballHQ

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Completely flopped at Chelsea.

When he came to Man. United it was a very settled 4-4-2 with Keane and Scholes as the central two. To fit him in played Scholes as second striker and the shap wasn't right. Veron had odd good game, a few more in CL then picked up a few injuries as WC approached.

It reminds me of Pogba in a way and trying to fit him into a central part of Man. United and it simply hasn't quite worked out for a number of reasons.

I actually think at the time he was one of the few WC players in their prime the premier league actually attracted from other major leagues as he was a brilliant player for Parma and Lazio.
 

izec

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Not a flop, but wasn't great either. He did ok, but didn't perform as hoped or to the price tag. He was not needed that much, we had our settled midfield. He was a great player in Italy

He had some terrific games/moments though, i loved him and the swagger he had. He would be one of the best midfielders in the game today as well
 

FrankDrebin

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Came with a huge reputation but struggled to find his place in the team. The frustrating part was I remember watching pre season the year Beckham left and Veron looked unbelievable for us. A few days later he was sold. Probably the right decision ultimately but a shame as he seemed to want to rise from Beckhams shadow somewhat only to be flung out.
SAF gave Veron assurances that he would be a major part of a new team without Beckham and in doing so Veron and his agent dismissed SAF promises and started to search out new takers for his services. Basically,they went behind SAF back and the Scotsman got royally pissed off.
 

The Boy

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I don't think he was a flop exactly, but it certainly didn't work out.

He was bought as SAF was experimenting with moving away from his tried and tested 442. You'd been knocked out of Europe the previous two years by Madrid and Bayern respectively both playing 433 and passing through Utd's 2 man midfield.

Ferguson switched his formation that year at the beginning of the season to 451 to fit Veron in and at first it worked really well and Veron scored a few as well, but after a shock loss to Bolton you went on a losing run and 442 was eventually reintroduced, Veron struggled in that, there were also rumours of senior players taking him to one side to explain what playing for Man Utd really meant and how he wasn't trying hard enough, believe what you will.

Personally I think he never adapted properly to the premiership, his time at Chelsea was even worse than his time at Utd, the league wasn't technical enough for a player with his skill set in those days.

I do remember SAF saying to the press something like "He's a fecking great player and you're bunch of fecking idiots" and then walking out of the presser though!
 

Jeffthered

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No. He just could not fit into what was an outstanding team. His arrival resulted in moving the team around, and we had a case of 'square pegs, round holes.' with Scholes moving further upfield, sometimes playing off a lone striker. It did not really bring the best out of either Scholes or Veron. But he wasn't a 'flop', not at all, and as a big club, we should be trying to sign great talented players and working them into the sqaud. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but that is not neccesarily a bad thing.

But what a talent... check out his performance away at Juventus (Giggs also scored another fabulous goal btw.... ). That's the sense of ambition I want to see in our team (and what we have lacked for a few seasons now....).. of course we (nor many other clubs...) have those talented players at their disposal, but we should retain that sense of theatre, expression, ambition, and desire to win by making things happen.
 
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Web of Bissaka

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Not a flop. There are plenty more players worth labeling as flops before him.

IMHO, Veron is similar to Berbatov in a sense they don't really quite fit well with the United team and its system of playing when they joined, but they still helped the team to win competitions and did showed enough class performances albeit inconsistent.
 

FrankDrebin

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I don't think he was a flop exactly, but it certainly didn't work out.

He was bought as SAF was experimenting with moving away from his tried and tested 442. You'd been knocked out of Europe the previous two years by Madrid and Bayern respectively both playing 433 and passing through Utd's 2 man midfield.

Ferguson switched his formation that year at the beginning of the season to 451 to fit Veron in and at first it worked really well and Veron scored a few as well, but after a shock loss to Bolton you went on a losing run and 442 was eventually reintroduced, Veron struggled in that, there were also rumours of senior players taking him to one side to explain what playing for Man Utd really meant and how he wasn't trying hard enough, believe what you will.

Personally I think he never adapted properly to the premiership, his time at Chelsea was even worse than his time at Utd, the league wasn't technical enough for a player with his skill set in those days.

I do remember SAF saying to the press something like "He's a fecking great player and you're bunch of fecking idiots" and then walking out of the presser though!
Disagree about this. The PL had amazing technical players performing consistently in the league.
What did it for Veron was the pace and the fact he didn't really want to be here after his move to Inter broke down due to fake documents.
 

Denis79

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He didn't meet the expectations of a player of his calibre but he wasn't a flop. I remember I was over the moon when we bought him.
 

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He was a flop. Doesn't mean he wasn't a good player. It just didn't work out.
 

mav_9me

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Depends on your expectations. He was world class when he joined us. Never showed that form, but did fine in general.

One of his highlights was outside of foot through pass to Ole for a goal against Deportivo in CL knockout stages.
 

Dr. Dwayne

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Incredible player. The things he could do with the ball were amazing.

But he was a flop at United. I always thought Fergie bought him just so no one else could have him because we sure as hell didn't need him.
 
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So I saw Gary neville compare Brunos performance to what 'Veron used to do for United' , in his words. And it got me curious.

I was a little young during those days but I've seen highlights and some talk highly of him. But then you see a lot say he was underwhelming or constantly attacked by media.

So, what's the reality of the man? How was he?
he as good for United. Not as great as he could have been. He was never a flop
 

Snow

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Relatively he was a flop. He was a star back then and broke the English transfer fee record. United had a great team and he didn't live up to the expectations to the manager or fans.
 

RedRonaldo

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He wasn’t bad at all. But it was unnecessary signing, as we already had perfectly balance midfield back then with Scholes, Keane, Beckham and Giggs in 442, Veron just couldn’t fit in.
 

Jibbs

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He was a flamboyant player and United were used to of playing in a very structured formation. Every ball had to go through Keane, while Veron was accustomed to being protected and trying his long balls. Over at United, it was Keane passing it either to Beckham and Giggs as soon as he collected the ball, there was no room for a deep lying play-maker.
Now when I think back, we could have used Beckham and Veron like Madrid used Kroos and Modric but our football wasn't really evolved at that time. Tbh emergence of Mourinho and then bringing-in Carlos Quiroz really changed the way United used to play.
 

SNes

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From what I can remember he was great in European games when SAF started playing 4-5-1 but he didn't like the SAF 4-4-2 in the league games.
 

Nickelodeon

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The right player at the wrong time, if he'd joined after Beckham had left I think he'd have done a lot better, flop? Nah
Why is that? Didn't they play different positions? I'm curious because I was young at the time and saw him play without fully comprehending if or why he wasn't successful.
 

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Definitely a flop. He played at the level of a decent Premier League midfielder. But every now and then you would see a flash of how utterly, ridiculously talented he was, and wonder why he wasn’t dominating
 

Sky1981

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He was a flop

Great player, but somehow isn't suited for the EPL

His style of play means we have to alter our trusted 442 to accomodate him.

With a midfield of Giggs - Scholes - Keane - Beckham, and the way we play he was a misfits.

can we build the team around him? Perhaps. But is it worth to destroy the treble winning team (which pretty much intact at that time) for him?
 

Foxbatt

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He murdered the European teams we played in the pre season in the USA. Next week he was sold. Veron was very good in Europe too. He has everything in his locker. But in the team we had he didn't fit in. He certainly was no flop. He would have got into most our teams after Keane retired.
 
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He was a flop.

one of the best players in the world when we bought him, rarely showed it. Massive transfer fee at the time. We’re lucky to sell him for half what we paid for him 2 years later.

Definitely a flop.
 

thepolice123

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He was a flamboyant player and United were used to of playing in a very structured formation. Every ball had to go through Keane, while Veron was accustomed to being protected and trying his long balls. Over at United, it was Keane passing it either to Beckham and Giggs as soon as he collected the ball, there was no room for a deep lying play-maker.
Now when I think back, we could have used Beckham and Veron like Madrid used Kroos and Modric but our football wasn't really evolved at that time. Tbh emergence of Mourinho and then bringing-in Carlos Quiroz really changed the way United used to play.
Was he really a deep-lying playmaker? If my memory serves me correct, he was similar player to Pogba. He plays best as the LCM/RCM in a 3 man midfield. He needs a mobile frontline so that he can play his passes and a water carrier to balance the midfield.

We are making the same mistakes with Pogba as we did with Veron. Playing him in a double-pivot, demanding higher work rate and defensive responsibilities, lesser ball hogging etc bascially asking him to perform miracles in a less than ideal set up. Even Keane who was one of Veron's biggest critics are saying the exact same shite about Pogba now. We never learn.
 

fps

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Smashing player, very controlled and measured on the ball.

It just so happened that we had the best midfield in the world at the time and tbh he was a signing that imo we didn't need to make. Our play at the time just didn't suit his style.

If he played for us now he'd be head and shoulders the best player in the team.

Be unfair to label him as a flop.
This, mostly. Should point out that he then went to Chelsea and also didn’t excel. I’m not sure he had the puff for the premier league.

Now, I wonder if he’d be a bit like Pogba in one specific sense - gloriously talented, but you have to build a team to accommodate them, and I’m not sure they’re quite right for pl.
 

UnitedChampionsAgain

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Rated by some to be in the top 3 in the world before we got him, then flopped badly. Left most of his skills behind him in Lazio, also had a Pogbaesque lazy side to him. Don't think he ever really wanted to come to United and could never handle the pressure.
 

thepolice123

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This, mostly. Should point out that he then went to Chelsea and also didn’t excel. I’m not sure he had the puff for the premier league.

Now, I wonder if he’d be a bit like Pogba in one specific sense - gloriously talented, but you have to build a team to accommodate them, and I’m not sure they’re quite right for pl.
Pogba is an even more talented player than Veron, it is entirely our inability to fit him in our dysfunctional team than him being too specialised.

Every team in the top 5 have a midfielder of similar ilk, some teams like Leicester and Mancity play two in the same starting XI. Saying that they don't fit the PL is just inaccurate.
 

Pexbo

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I read an interview with SAF or one of the Co92 years ago and they were quite candid about Veron.

I can’t find the article now but from what I can recall the jist of it was that he was an unbelievable talent and used to do ridiculous things on the training ground and always had everyone’s respect at the club but they just couldn’t find the role for him in the side because he had absolutely no positional or tactical discipline. He just wanted to roam around midfield as he pleased getting on the ball and picking forward passes if they were on and half the trouble was the fact we already had Beckham in the side who was one of the few players in the world better than Veron at picking a forward pass. So you essentially just had a luxury player who’s best attribute wasn’t needed.
 

fps

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Pogba is an even more talented player than Veron, it is entirely our inability to fit him in our dysfunctional team than him being too specialised.

Every team in the top 5 have a midfielder of similar ilk, some teams like Leicester and Mancity play two in the same starting XI. Saying that they don't fit the PL is just inaccurate.
Which players in those teams are you suggesting are like Pogba? Veron was a far better playmaker certainly, but not in a pl suited style.
 

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Wouldn't say he flopped but he didn't reach his Lazio level either.