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Crane
Agreed. Glad I don't have to lay eyes on the people of Stoke.
Just need to ban Jim White now.
Chera
Hope it works out but can't see it ending well, such a waste of talent unfortunately.
Carroll.
How dare you
Sam
Yes please.
EDIT: Others reporting he's a free agent and Inter are just signing him for free. Gremio wanted him but couldn't afford his wages.
Chera
K3V0
Franck
K3V0
Yeah he showed a lot of potential in that first year.
Sam
I can't see it. But that'd be amazing.
K3V0
Ninja
Sam
Cuadrado to Chelsea then?
Tommo.
A deal is apparently already agreed. $33 million and Salah on loan. Waiting on the Schurrle deal to go through before this does. Apparently hoping for him to play Sunday so must be registered by midday tomorrow
bluemoon.
And almost as big.
Jonas
Ninja
To be fair, he definitely had the tools to be a box-to-box midfielder. I don't think that was responsible for why he never made it, and its easy to see when he did have good games for us what Ferguson saw there.
There's a video from a game against Chelsea a couple of years ago (in the Capital One Cup I think) where Anderson absolutely bosses the midfield, wins basically every tackle and 50/50 and carries the ball with energy and strength, passing incisively and creatively.
It was the sort of game that even after 5 years of dross you watched and thought he still might make it, which of course he never has.
K3V0
When you think about it we've had rotten luck with midfielders lately.
Anderson, Hargreaves and Fletcher being woefully ill during arguably his peak years.
.verse
Crane
bmg033
He will be replacing Destro who has gone to AC Milan.
Chera
I agree though that Fergies stubborness never to buy a dominating centre mid (we've still never replaced keane) made him try and convert Anderson into one when I'd rather he be used as a creative attacking midfielder.
Ninja
He'd have had the injuries and the attitude problems regardless of where he played.
K3V0
I think the latter pretty much ensured he never reached his potential, not Ferguson.
Slashman X
K3V0
bmg033
Matt Smith has played for 3 clubs this season. Leeds, Fulham and Bristol City. Are the rules different for lower league teams?
Slashman X
.verse
Maybe so. But had he played his more natural role he could have turned in more consistent performances. Fergie basically took everything that made Anderson an exciting player (directness, flair, etc) and put a dampener on it. Even with his injuries, playing in a more advanced role would have still allowed him to utilise some of his skill sets, instead he was asked to be this tough tackling midfield general, everything he wasn't. Similar to how Fergie tried to turn Alan Smith into Roy Keane.
Ninja
It's all a bit pointless. You seem to be arguing that playing him further forward would be a magic wand.
He had an absolutely shocking attitude for someone at that level of the game, which manifested itself in him being fat as fuck for a professional footballer, because he did nothing but eat burgers (seriously, I don't know if he still has it, but he used to have instagram and just post pictures of all the ridiculously unhealthy meals he was eating).
I suspect the fact that he was carrying extra timber probably did lead to some of his injuries, too, but that may be unfair. The footballers that have made it at the top of the game despite being constantly injured and having a poor attitude are few and far between.
His best two seasons, probably in the entirety of his professional career, seeing as he spent half his time at Porto injured and managed only about half a season, were those first two for us. Playing deeper, providing an engine and drive from midfield, it was something he was very naturally suited to and was precisely why Ferguson placed a huge amount of faith in him as a teenager. It didn't pay off, but I don't think where he fit into the team was any bearing on that. He just wasn't fit in everysense of the word.
Jason
Any reason, or did he only play in pre season?