Opinion on Manchester United signing in the off season

In the off season, Manchester United was the first team among the top four teams in the EPL to have made some very significant signings. To summarise they have signed Nani from Sporting, Anderson from Porto, Owen Hargreaves from Bayern Munich and confirmed the signing of the on-loan keeper from West Brom Tomasz Kuszczak. Currently they are trying to pursue the signing of Carlos Tevez from West Ham.

With regard to Tomasz Kuszczak, from the few occasions that I have seen him play when he was on loan last season as well as during his time at West Brom, he looks a good shot stopper. One of his potential weakness is that he does not seem to be able to handle crosses very well. In addition, he is not that dominating in the air when he comes to collect crosses. Overall, I think he is ok as a deputy.

With regard to the long awaited signing of Owen Hargreaves, I think that it is a good move in general. Ever since Roy Keane left Manu, Manu has lost a key focal point in the centre of the midfield. There has been no one one has been able to perform consistently as the covering person for the back four.

The purpose of such a position is to be the holding midfielder to protect the back four and to distribute the ball to the more flair players in the attacking portion of the field. Fergi has tried so many players in that position. Alan Smith, Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes to name a few of the players who have tried to fill up this position. It seem that Paul Scholes was the closest to filling this role as he was mainly used in this position last season. However there are two main downsides to using him in that position. Firstly his timing of tackle is quite bad to be honest. ( The only skill he seem to be unable to really improve) Secondly, playing him in the withdrawn role will mean that you will lose his attacking foray around the penalty box which is one of his better ability.

With the signing of Owen Hargreaves who has been playing in this withdrawn role for both Bayern Munich and as well as for England, it will free Paul Scholes to go back to his more favoured attacking position. It will allow Manu to have someone who can compete in the centre of the midfield in terms of control of the centre of midfield as last season, there were a few games in Manu were overpowered in the centre of the midfield. The best example was against AC milan where Gattuso dominated the midfield and was one of the key reason why Milan was able to beat Manu. In addition, all the top teams in European football have a dominating ball winner in the centre of the park. For example, Gilberto for Arsenal, Essien or Claude Makelele for Chelsea, Gattuso for AC Milan, Mohamed Sissoko for Liverpool and Mahamadou Diarra for Real Madrid.

For the signing of Nani, to be honest I have only watched him in action once or twice in the Portugal international games. From the few matches, it is noticeable that his style of play is very similar to Cristiano Ronaldo. Like his compatriot, he is a player who likes to hug the touchline and to take on defenders and then to cut in to take a shot or pass. I believe that Fergi will use him as an impact player for his first season in Manu while he tried to help him to cope to the physical nature of the English game. In the long term, he should be the replacement for Giggs on the left of the mid-field. Hence this signing is more in mind of the future and should be a good move in general.

The last of the confirmed signing is the signing of Anderson from Porto. According to the news report he is supposed to be the next Ronaldinho but to be honest he has not been that high profile last season due to a broken leg suffered last season. He is a bit of the unknown quality and hopefully he is able to adapt to the English game as actually there has been quite a few South American who has not been able to adapt to the English game. A few high profile names come to mind. Players like Veron, Forlan, Silvinho formerlt from Arsenal and even Gilberto Silva took more than a season to adapt to the English game. He is someone who can be a big success or become another high profile failure. Like Nani, he will only be used sparingly as Paul Scholes and Carrick are currently playing the attacking midfield position

The last potential signing could be Carlos Tevez. As of now, West ham has not agreed to sell him to Manu and FIFA is going to be called in to push through the transfer. It is qute a messy affair at the moment and the end does not seem to be in sight. However from his last season performance for West Ham, he will be a valuable signing for Manu. However whether he is what Manu require for a striker is something that needs further examining.