How Man United could compensate for the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo
A player like Wesley Sneijder could really improve the United squad
Dale Johnson of ESPN Soccernet reckoned that Man United need the trio of Franck Ribery, Karim Benzema and Antonio Valencia to compensate for the creativity and goal-scoring that was earlier single-handedly provided by Cristiano Ronaldo. The 80 million pounds that United got from the Ronaldo sale wouldn’t have been enough to get all three, though. And, now with Benzema gone to Real and Bayern refusing to budge on Ribery, Johnson’s hypothesis is irrelevant.
So what should Man United do?
Man United should not lose sight of their other squad requirements in trying to find a suitable replacement for the Portuguese. There will definitely be a downgrade at his position – something which will adversely affect the over-all composition of the side and its performance on the pitch. After all we are talking of the most expensive player in the world here. But his loss can be compensated handsomely by upgrading a number of other positions which need attention. United need to upgrade at the right-back position where Rafael da Silva is promising but not fully equipped for the big games; atleast not yet. They also need to find suitable replacements for Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, who made huge contributions last season but might not able to deliver at the same level for too long.
Man United are quite capable of attracting top talent having both the money and the pedigree to do so. Real Madrid are mostly done with their signings and save for Man City, which few players want to join, nobody has the cash to dole out.
There is a fire sale happening at Real Madrid with a truckload of Dutch internationals being made available by the club which happens to have 10 squad players too many.
Amongst the lot, Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben and Klas Jan Huntelaar make a lot of sense for United. Sneijder is the goal scoring, powerful driving midfielder that Paul Scholes was and Michael Carrick will never be. Robben is injury prone but has proven to be devastatingly effective in the premiership with Chelsea. Huntelaar has been coveted by United previously and will be a long term solution.
And then there are others. Brazilian Maicon is a world class right-back whose overlapping forays will seamlessly blend into the United attack. He is looking out but doesn’t seem to have a lot of suitors.
Even if United fail to get these players, there are others who Fergie can go after and who will still be a substantial improvement over the current lot.
The argument is simple.
The downgrade at one key position is inevitable but if that happens in tandem with improvements in other areas of the pitch, than it should ensure that the sum of United’s squad will continue to be as whole as before.
