Hoof the ball
Full Member
The common analysis on the Caf back in the day was that Wes was a potentially great CB who just had issues with concentration. You couldn't have a Wes thread back then without routine mentions of his concentration level.
Which was unusual.He was exceptional in both legs at CB against European champions Barcelona in 2008. Reasonably high pressure situation…
I mean fair enough, I probably agree with you that I don't think Brown could have reached Ferdinand's levels, but why dismiss what Sir Alex said about Brown, while at the same time take Harry Redknapp's word on Rio? Yes we know how their careers played out, but obviously Brown got a bad injury at a key point in his young career.Nah Wes was good but no way near as good Fergie was describing him in those early days like "best young defender in the country".
Rio Ferdinand at around 17/18 was levels above Wes. Harry Redknapp and the London sports press were labelling him the new Bobby Moore he was that good.
He was brilliant in the 2008 season, assisted Ronaldo in the CL final [b/] and had a great season all around. Really good player in his prime, injuries held him back.
For the 8 seasons from 2000 he played 41/24/35/25/37/31/37/52 games. That’s comparable to Rio’s appearance record for the most part. I think his brother died the year after he won the Champions League and he didn’t feature much. He picked up a few injuries But he wasn’t a crock and can’t fairly be compared to King.Wes brown was a natural aggressive defender similar in style to Vidic but had a career more similar to Ledley King with the injuries. When fit he actually did surprisingly well at RB after Gary Neville declined and before Rafael/valencia broke into the team.
He played 34 games that year. 5 games in the next 3 years. Shocking.Left foot cross from the RB spot I think? Also one of the rare games Hargreaves played for us in his injury plagued time here lol
He started 48 of our 55 games that year, more than anyone except Rio, and we kept 26 clean sheets in those games. He wasn’t amazing going forward (didn’t exactly need to be with who was in front of him) but he was a huge part of what made that defence one of the best in the history of English football.2008 season he was unreal. Best RB in the league and it wasn't even his natural position.
Massive performance , he seemed to be everywhere in that match.Brown v Barca in CL Semi-final at OT was one of the best defensive performances.
Scholes, Giggs, Gary Neville.Wes was a monster in 2008, in that Barca match he was evrawhere. In others years as others have commented, he was often on the cusp of great form only to be continually pegged back by injury.
One of the few to have won 2 Champions Leagues at United though. Pop quiz, who were the others ??
How can anyone dislike him is beyond me. There were other bigger scapegoats around at the time anyways, like Silvestre, Fletcher, OShea, and then later Park2008 stand out season for Wes, my dearly departed friend slated him everytime he played. But even he had to admit 2008 was his best season, threw away another treble that year, Pompy in FA cup.
Scholes, Giggs, G. Neville.Wes was a monster in 2008, in that Barca match he was evrawhere. In others years as others have commented, he was often on the cusp of great form only to be continually pegged back by injury.
One of the few to have won 2 Champions Leagues at United though. Pop quiz, who were the others ??
Wasnt just Redknapp though. Everyone was raving about himI mean fair enough, I probably agree with you that I don't think Brown could have reached Ferdinand's levels, but why dismiss what Sir Alex said about Brown, while at the same time take Harry Redknapp's word on Rio? Yes we know how their careers played out, but obviously Brown got a bad injury at a key point in his young career.
not sure...Wes Brown was really good the moment he started getting game time as a youngster. Not sure if i've dreamt this but have a memory of him hitting the bar with a long range shot against Leeds at Old Trafford - does anyone remember that happening (might have been his league debut?)
He had bad luck with injuries but still had a great career at United.
Yes that must be it!not sure...
I do remember later that year October 1998 against Wimbledon at home he hit a fantastic long range shot with his left foot after a foraging run from right back only for it to be tipped over the bar by Neil Sullivan.
He’s there only occasionally and I doubt MUTV pay that well.That is a shame, I know he has an MUTV gig so he probably won't hurt for money going forward but still sad to see one of my favourites go through some hard times.
I reckon a lot of them just get used to living a certain way, and then it doesn’t take them too long to blow through the cash they had left.Quite a few of his era have recently. I wonder if they were all involved in similar investment schemes that have gone tits up.
Quite possibly but there is a bit of a theme because Bellamy was declared bankrupt earlier this month too - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65152140I reckon a lot of them just get used to living a certain way, and then it doesn’t take them too long to blow through the cash they had left.
Basically just thick rich people who get taken advantage of as they're prime targets. Why the hell would you hand over all your wealth to someone who isn't evdn regulated?Quite possibly but there is a bit of a theme because Bellamy was declared bankrupt earlier this month too - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65152140
Because they only earn loads of money for a short time, unless they "invest" it doesn't last, once you've driven a Bentley you ain't gonna drive a Civic or a CorollaI don’t get why footballers use investment schemes when they’ve already got loads of money.
Yep that's what Bellamy alluded to. He basically said he was told to trust people with his money and it all went tits up.Basically just thick rich people who get taken advantage of as they're prime targets. Why the hell would you hand over all your wealth to someone who isn't evdn regulated?
Wouldn't be surprised if there's some blackmail involved somewhere.
It does last if you can control yourself and not live beyond your means.Because they only earn loads of money for a short time, unless they "invest" it doesn't last, once you've driven a Bentley you ain't gonna drive a Civic or a Corolla