The Next Generation

So that was another easy 3 points at St James park last Sunday...yawnnn! Well not quite,...for those of us who had watched the match,..it was pretty obvious our midfield struggled especially in the first half when Newcastle's trio of Parker, Emre and Bowyer had the measure of Keano and company. It was thus very unfortunate (for Newcastle that is) when Emre , and later Bowyer had to hobble off due to injuries. The Turk especially was probbaly their greatest menace creatively... and to say i was delighted to see his back before the first half was over would be an understatement.

So in the end, we relied on a couple of Rooney inspired moments to win the game...and that's exactly what our problem has been thus far this season..which is our reliance on individual brilliance from the likes of ruud, Rooney and Ronaldo to get the results. I may sound like a doom mongering pessimistic moaner with no real claim of justfication espcially since we have won 5 games out of 5 in all competitions on the trot with clean sheets. But i find it disturbing, when i flip the fuckin New paper and notice that everything is glossed over by the brilliance of the 3 Rs. Are the fuckin journalists all spotting red tinted glasses now that they have chose to completely ignore our shortcomings in midfield?!!With the defence looking solid as ever(especially now with Van der SAAAAAAAAAAar taking charge of things at the back) and our forwards unquestionably brilliant, our weakest link is quite clearly our midfield (Scholes, Keane and Fletcher).

Keane is past it...no doubt about that. He is no longer the box to box player of 2 or 3 seasons ago..His dodgy hip has crippled his ability to dominate midfield as he had for close to a decade. Scholes too, now past 30 has looked the shadow of his former self..which is a pity.At his best, he is one of the best attacking midfielders on the planet.As for Fletcher,..i have been one of his most vocal supporters. But having watched his displays in midfield this seaon, i am not convinced he has what it takes. I would love him to make me eat my words...but that isn't looking very evident. It says alot that i would have Scott Parker over him any day on current form. Ferguson, for heaven knows what reason, has not gone out seraching for a replacement for Keane which ought to have beeenhis first priority. Perhaps there is no one ot there capable...or perhaps he no longer possesses the ruthlessness to cast aside loyalties and get rid of a player when he is past his sell by date. When you look at all the bargain purchases that have been made ..from Parker, Emre to Carrick,..one has to wonder just what exactly Fergsuon has in mind.W ell,..i'll be the first to admit that no one can be another Keano....not Essien, not Gerrad,..and certainly not Patrick 'Moaning Cunt' Viera! But i am absoutely certain there is talent out there that we could bring in to play his role and be far more effective than he is on present form . Ballack seems the most likely solution,..but that is a pipe dream for now. Then there is that Obi Milel saga in which we're currently wrangling with Chelsea over the player. Perhaps United are confident that we'd be able to land him. But surely the youngster isn't the immediate answer to our problems at only 19 and having never ever played in the english top flight.. Experience is key,...and players like Mascherano as suggested by some seem like able replacements. But once again..no one knows exactly what's going on in Ferguson's frustrating Scottish gulliver.

Well,..enough talk about our sluggish midfield. The original point of this post was to bring to attention tothe young United talent that are set to makes waves over the next couple of seasons. I recall posting about the prodigous talent of Rossi about a year ago. A post which was met with much derison from ABU fuckwits whose hatred for united blinds their footballing common sense....haw haw! anyways, along with Rossi, there are are a handful of others as well that have shown great promise to break into the first team. These are the likes of Lee Martin, Jones, Pique, Spector and Ngugula. By the looks of it,..these look like the best bunch to come through the youth system since the class of 92. These youngsters obviously aren't the answer to our immediate problems..Frankly arsene wenger's experimentation with his little foreign pansies smacks of desperation due to lack of depth more than anything else...and with the central midfield pairing, i see their challenge for the premiership faltering at the latter stages of the competition... But then again, United did it with a relatively young squad back in 95-96...so i suppose I'll reserve my judgement till the end of the season.

Rossi is undeniably the most highly rated and promising of the lot, and comparisons with Zola ,due to his small frame and spellbinding skills, have been made right from the start. The physical nature of the English game maybe a tad daunting to overcome...but Zola managed it,..so there is no reason why this lad can't. Lee Martin is someone i've completely forgotten about till recently !! Another player who has received great plaudits for his reserve team performances... In a reserve league game against liverpool, he repeatedly tore through Josemi creating hell for the spaniard! i suppose Benitez wasn't too impressed himself judging by his reluctance to field the defender regularly anymore..haw haw! John spector is one player who i really hope would become a regular in the united first XI in the near future... the lad is a dynamite defender and i can envison him partnering Rio at centerback. Maybe not quite as pacy Silvestre,..but looks far more solid and reliable. As for Gerad Pique, the fact that Barca were fuming at the player's refusal to commit to their club speaks volumes of how highly he's regarded by the Catalans. Hopefully he'll get the chance to impress in the "Worthless Cup" ties later in the season. Ngulua is arguably the least known of the lot. But he's been praised for his performances in the holding role... It's too early to tell,..but he could very well make that position his own in the first team a couple of seasons down the road. The progress of promisng young players is never an easy task to judge. The step up from youth level to the premiership is huge, and only a handful prove themselves capable of taking that big step. It's never easy to predict whether one goes the way of Ryan Giggs who is the most successful player in premier league history,...or Ben thornley,once rated as the next Ryan giggs(haw haw!), but whose career never took off due to injuries and errr.. weight issues (Rooney anybody?)..and now has disappeared into obscurity. i guess we'll just have to wait and see..