Following his recent trend, Manchester United gaffer Sir Alex Ferguson has signed another pair of young starlets for 17 million pounds who were previously in the same league. To be honest, I know next to nothing about Zoran Tosic and/or Adem Ljajic. What I knew previously was mainly from youtube. Yet that said, I knew next to nothing about the last pair of 17 million pound starlets, Mr. Anderson and Mrs. Nani. Since this dynamic duo of a 22 year-old and a 20 year-old are now eating too much Tapioca pudding for Fergie's taste, he has decided to bring in some youth to the team. Given the new regime is about to begin, it seems like as good a time as any to analyze how these two "men," Nani and Anderson, are progressing.
Nani:
Too often have I heard comparisons between Nani and Cron. Imo, they are worlds apart in their play. Nani seems much more conservative than Cron (at least the old Cron that we fell in love with last year), and will frequently let Evra overlap him on the left or pass to the center without beating his man down the wing. He has had a few cracking goals, a couple of which were important, but besides that I haven't seen much that has impressed me from a boy that is only one year younger than Rooney and Cron. He does not have blistering pace, he is not a great dribbler, and he is certainly not a great passer of the ball. Sometimes I feel his only real asset to the team is his vision down the left side, but half the time he does not have the technique to complete the pass that he sees. He still has a long career ahead of him, so there is no rush except if Giggs retires, but that's never going to happen, so I hope he just keeps progressing.
Anderson:
On the other hand, there has been a lot more promise shown by the young Brazilian. To my knowledge, he is yet to tally a senior goal, but at least he makes his presence felt on the field with his physical play, tough tackling, and accurate passing. Whereas Nani fails to convince me that he can replace Giggs, I have confidence in Anderson to fill the massive hole left by Scholes when he decides to call it quits. And to add insult to injury for the Nani defense, Anderson is two years young than Nani (and three than Roon and Cron for those of you that aren't keeping track).
What are your thoughts on these players? Do you think Fergie should stay the course and continually invest in youth?
