There was a time i used to read articles on Mirror Football. Matter of fact I still do from time to time but nowadays I take my time to look through the URL whether it’s news or opinion blogs. I think it’s time people looked at what they read and reviewed it before taking it serious.
Case in Point – David McDonnell http://tinyurl.com/373oycc
Is Mr McDonnell supposed to be a football analyst or what? He’s more like Piers Morgan in this article. Articles are meant to sell papers alright and journalists write what will sell. But isn’t it common sense that only the very best journos and analysts get recognition.
Mr McDonnell talks about Manchester United signing a quality midfielder. United have restrictions alright but some ridiculous money is been spent nowadays and looking around, one would really struggle to find a midfielder around who can replace Paul Scholes. All potential replacements are either unavailable, revealed for the not so quality players that they are and Mr McDonnell would do good to note that Paul Scholes is still available and willing to play and there are a host of other midfielders at the club. As long as Paul Scholes is available, it would be folly to bring in another top quality player considering there are only two slots on midfield at United (Scholes and Fletcher). A long term replacement would be more ideal but no one comes about that kind of player everyday.
He talks about playing O’shea in midfield against. I didn’t have to read Michael Cox’s (twitter.com/zonal_Marking) analysis of the game to know that O’shea (United’s tallest outfield player) was there as an anchorman to track Fellaini and not allow him the space to head the ball freely. Believe me, Owen Hargreaves (one of the best players in the dm position) for all his qualities can’t deny Fellaini the space to nod the ball. And by the way, O’shea was at left back when United conceeded both goals because Fellaini was now withdrawn into midfield and this left Arteta, the new man in the hole space to score the winner.
“A midfielder of real stature this summer, the likes of Ozil, Sami Khedira or Wesley Sneijder,” Is this madness, for one Ozil is not a midfielder and though he was a good player, the question of where he would play will arise and the tactical shift playing with Ozil would relegate one of our strikers to the bench and even with hindsight, that would not be good (With Berba in scintillating form and Rooney being Fergie’s golden boy). Sneijder had no intention of moving and even if he moved with only a year into his contract, the price would have been ridiculous. Common sense should also tell Mr McDonnell that Spain is a more favourable destination (salary/tax-wise and physical demand wise) for any player so even if United or Chelsea tried to sign Khedira, Madrid would always be his most likely destination as long as they are in the mix. If Khedira to were to be signed, it would mean:
1. Mean a 3-man midfield. Khedira + Fletcher can not work at United.
2. A 1 striker formation – which brought a 30 million pound striker to the brink of mediocrity last season
“The meagre summer acquisitions of Chris Smalling (10m), Javier Hernandez (7m) and unheard-of-striker Bebe (7m)” all in pounds. Mr McDonnell would probably have added Hernandez to his list if United had not signed him. Is this guy seriously meant to be a Manchester correspondent. The player who Ferguson wanted to sign was Villa and with Barcelona, he could earn more (salary/tax-wise), with less physical demand and less problem of adaptability. By the way, if Mr McDonnell had followed the Ozil story closely, Mr Ozil was clearly not on his way to Madrid when Fergie watched Bremen-Fulham.
I could go on and on but this is my first post and I don’t want it to spill into hatred, utter disgust and sheer contempt.
It’s really a pity Mirror Football host some of the most ignorant writers in football at the moment. The people behind the Mirror would do well to launch a search into the blogosphere for brilliant footballing minds instead of relying on the halfwits, for lack of a better term, they play host to.
It's alright but it's not the real thing 