Portuguese Sam’s Club
By: Greg | May 31st, 2007
Manchester United went to Portugal and bought in bulk yesterday. However, instead of useless packs of 64 ounce steaks, they ended up with two Portuguese Liga starlets.
Now you can get your news from anywhere, hell, Uncle Bob has already front-paged this story. But you come to the Portuguese section (the “Ironbound” of the Offside, if you will), for the commentary and angles. So here it is:
Nani - Winger - Sporting CP – While Nani is an excellent talent, I honestly don’t see where he fits in United’s scheme. He’s slight, unlike Cristiano Ronaldo (whom he’s been compared to), and can get into a frustrating funk of plunking his ass on the ground if he has trouble cracking the defense. I saw Nani more on a team like Arsenal where play is wider open or even with a Spanish league team which tends to favor finesse over strength. He has a great deal of maturing to do, but if he can keep off the diving board, maybe Sir Alex can work him in as a change-of-pace wrinkle later on in the game, a-la Arjen Robben or Shaun Wright-Phillips. This smells a bit like a Chelsea move, where the immediate need doesn’t seem to be there, but the allure of the talent is the justification for the price paid.
Anderson - Forward / Winger - Porto – This makes more sense. The nature of his game is more suited to the Premier League than Nani’s. Anderson is extremely versatile and will allow Sir Alex a great deal of flexibility if any of his players in the middle of the field or up front go down to injury. I see Anderson as an almost immediate impact player, where Nani may take a bit of time to develop and adapt to the speed of the English game. I get a little nervous when players are touted as the “next” someone and to call Anderson the next Ronaldinho really isn’t fair to Anderson since he actually defends. He plays with a wide-eyed, youthful exuberance and will be thoroughly eager to impress. He’s humble, talented, and on the cusp of being someone truly special if he can adapt his game.
ManUre have gone out and pulled the trigger on these two and Owen Hargreaves is now on the books as well. Now where in the hell is the Chels?!
Category: 
Subscribe
|
Print
|
Share
      |
Comments
-
Thanks for your take — but you couldn’t help yourself with the tired manure dig eh?
Posted from
United States
-
Nope, poop jokes are always going to stand the test of time. Much like dick and fart jokes, they’re immortal.
Posted from
United States -
Interesting thoughts on Nani. He seemed to be the more sought after of the two by the Premiership teams. Perhaps they are banking on him growing stronger or growing into a more physical player since he is still a young one.
Posted from
United States -
Anderson is brazillian. Plays more central, but for all intensive purposes, can be both a playmaker or a “meia-ponta”.
Nani is an attacking midfielder, plays naturally wider than Anderson and doesn’t usually distribute or “orchestrates” things. Although, not in the true and classic tradition of “The PT Winger” (great dribbler, crosser, etc, but not particularly a great goal-scorer: Futre, Figo, Quaresma, Simao Sabrosa, Cristiano Ronaldo, all of them former Sporting’s boys…). Curiously, this trend is changing and we see today’s PT wingers going for it and scoring more and more.
Nani will have to adjust to the english game. Which is a lot about pace and to “grow a body”… In any case, Man Utd will always feel Gigg’s’s absence, no matter what. Great player. I’m a great fan of Gigg’s.
CR had already a lot of speed, when he arrived at MU. Which is more usefull in England (and appreaciated) than technique. Although, truth be said, Man Utd has always invested in technical players…
Man Utd is the right place for him/them to grow and, if everything goes according to plan (in Man Utd + youths, it usually does), Nani might mature into a top player. But he’s still young. Don’t expect another CR just yet, and in any case, nani’s style is a lot more like Figo: “come here and I’ll sit you on the floor” than CR: “look at me coming at you, …, good-bye”.
Anyway, opposition be carefull with these two. With the right guidance Man Utd is known for, concerning young players, I foresee difficult times ahead for Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal…
BTW, CR was skinny before going to Man Utd (metaphorically speaking) and you don’t even remember what Figo looked like, :-), before the Barcelona years… Curiously, nobody also seems to remember those two or three years, back in the 90’s, when Barca was just Figo + Ronaldo…
Posted from
Netherlands
Comments are closed
Home 
