Monday, September 1, 2008

Transfer deadline

The wait is over.

United have finally signed Dmitar Berbatov from Tottenham after a tug-of-war for over a month between the two clubs.

United neighbors City also shocked world football by being bought outright by an Arabian consortium on the final day of the transfer deadline, bidding audaciously for four world-class players and sealing the signature of Brazliian Robinho from Real Madrid.

City gave Chelsea a taste of their own medicine, outbidding on the player highly sought by the London club and smashing the British transfer record for 33 million pounds.

The transfers of Wright-Phillips and Robinho are somewhat ostentacious from City, as they now enjoy a ridiculous surfeit of attacking options, with Elano, Petrov, Robinho and Shaun Wright-Phillips all rightfully vying for starts, none of them being true strikers.

The city of Manchester should be a highlight reel for wingers this season with Ronaldo scheduled to return early from injury later this month.

United did brilliantly to prevent a stale rehash of last year's memorable yet fortunate season by filling a huge void next to Carlos Tevez formerly named Wayne Rooney. Rooney should find himself third and last on the depth chart, with Campbell moving to Tottenham to get top-flight and European experience. I was afraid United would sign Berbatov without loaning Campbell, making him fourth on the depth chart which is a disservice to his potential. This is a great deal for both clubs, Campbell can partner well with Bent or Pavlyuchenko, while Berbatov and Tevez with Ronaldo ablaze and Rooney supporting will be full of class.

I still think Rooney should be slowly getting some time in an attacking midfield position, instead f attempting to strike traditionally, perhaps something similar to the role Scholes did supporting Van Nistelrooy before Rooney arrived. Rooney tries to make up for his lack of flair and confidence by chasing defenders fruitlessly and yelling obscenities at the ref with incredulous looks on his face. 'Wazza' might become more than a nickname if Rooney lets his potential go the way of the dodo like did Gasgiogne. If Rooney doesn't grow this year, and Campbell enjoys a storied year as he did with Hull, scoring more than 15 goals in seven months during their promotion campaign, I could see Rooney being transferred abroad, or to a lesser English side.

Rooney has marketing appeal, being somewhat of a poster boy, video-game famous and on Nike posters, but I don't think many people are truly passionate about the player who showed so much flair when he arrived with Everton and whirled downward since. He's a player you'd like to get behind but generally lets you down. Despite a goal tally which can fluctuate upwards, his form has never matched his potential.

Gotta still root for him though, if he only had more confidence when he was attacking players with the ball, and used more of the body fakes and shoulder-drops that he was growing a legend for in eluding defenders.

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