The Economist today published a brief analysis of the Manchester United IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. The gist is in the headline above.
“Compared with this IPO, Malcolm Glazer’s facial hair seems attractive”
Posted by hakanrylander on August 10, 2012
Posted in Financial, Manchester United | Tagged: Glazer, Manchester United, The Economist | Leave a Comment »
A brief note on Fabio’s principles
Posted by hakanrylander on February 9, 2012
Fabo Capello yesterday resigned as England manager on a matter of principle. He couldn’t accept that the FA board demoted John Terry as England captain. Capello strongly believes that the manager should decide who is the captain. So why then did he sign a contract stipulating that it is up to the FA board to decide who is captain? Maybe it was the money.
Posted in Non-United | Tagged: Fabio Capello | 1 Comment »
Nigel de Jong and central cohesive sources of stability
Posted by hakanrylander on February 6, 2012
It has been reported that Nigel de Jong has rejected a contract extension at Manchester City that would have given him a raise from £75,000 to £100,000 per week. Apparently de Jong and his agent believe he is worth more. A poor decision I would think. I can’t see any other club paying him more. De Jong is a decent player, but I certainly wouldn’t place him in the select group of players that are so central to their teams’ success that they are worthy of extraordinary salaries. But he set me thinking about which players in the PL at the moment really belong in this group.
In the case of United my list includes just two names; Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidic (out for the season). Nani is too inconsistent, Ferdinand somewhat past it and Jones not there yet (but he will be). In the other top-six clubs there are also two players in each team who stand out.
Arsenal: Van Persie, Wilshere (out for the season?)
Spurs: Modric, Bale
Chelsea: Terry, Essien (when back to full fitness)
Liverpool: Gerrard, Suarez
But there is one exception. I have to admit that I put four Manchester City players in this category: Hart, Kompany, Yaya and Silva. All of them have been consistent sources of skill and stability this season. So at least in this particular respect I give City an edge over their main rivals. Enough to win them the title?
Posted in Manchester United, Player Analysis | Tagged: David Silva, Jack Wilshere, Joe Hart, John Terry, Luis Suarez, Manchester United, Michael Essien, Nemanja Vidic, Nigel de Jong, Robin van Persie, Steven Gerrard, Vincent Kompany, Wayne Rooney, Yaya Toure | Leave a Comment »
Pavane for a Departed Prince
Posted by hakanrylander on February 1, 2012
Yesterday brought an awful lot of good news. A comfortable win over Stoke City, including a Paul Scholes masterclass and a sensational Paul Pogba PL debut. Darron Gibson scoring a cracker to help Everton beat City. And us snatching a great(?) young defender from our noisy neighbours.
It was almost enough to make me forget Ravel Morrison. Almost.
Ravel is by all accounts one of the most talented footballers of his generation. Top journalist Henry Winter has described him as “a wonderfully skilful youngster who could grace England’s midfield for years to come” and “better than Jack Wilshere“. Others have called him the new Paul Gascoigne or the new Paul Scholes.
But talent alone is never enough to reach the pinnacles of sport. The long and successful careers of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are certainly based on great talent, but also on dedication, discipline and hard work. Morrison apparently lacked in all three of these departments.
A move to London and a new environment might help, particularly if he can loose his gangster entourage. With some first team opportunities he might just rise quickly to star status at West Ham. I will certainly try to follow his progress (or lack of) at West Ham. Time will tell whether he will be remembered as an England great or a talent sadly gone to waste.
Good luck, Ravel.
Posted in Manchester United, Player Analysis | Tagged: Manchester United, Maurice Ravel, Ravel Morrison, West Ham | Leave a Comment »
Answered prayers
Posted by hakanrylander on February 1, 2012
That’s central midfield sorted then.
OK, I realise that I’m in serious danger of getting overexcited, but Paul Pogba’s first 20 minutes of PL football were nothing short of sensational. In those 20 minutes he managed to convince me that he is (or at least soon will be) the box-to-box midfielder we are all longing for. Skillful, athletic, creative, confident.
His pass completion rate was 100%. This was partly because he played a lot of short safe passes to Scholes and Carrick, but he also tried some more adventurous, most notably a long perfectly weighted ball to Valencia. He almost scored as well. And played with a big smile on his face.
Bloody brilliant.
Posted in Manchester United, Match Reports, Player Analysis | Tagged: Manchester United, Paul Pogba, Stoke | 1 Comment »
Sir Alex should go Dutch in January
Posted by hakanrylander on January 1, 2012
Sir Alex Ferguson claims that there is no need for a panic-signing in January. He is just stating the obvious. Is there ever a need for a panic-signing? There is, however, a need for a sound long-term signing that will also alleviate our short-term problems. A top international player, not too expensive and available in January. This might sound a tall order, but I think such a solution exists.
The key is to look away from central midfield. I would love a world-class midfielder like Modric, Schweinsteiger or Sneijder, but such a player is unlikely to be available in January. Instead we should keep Phil Jones in midfield. With Carrick in great form and Anderson and Cleverly returning to fitness we should be sorted until the summer.
With Vidic out for the season and Rio playing every other match at the most, we need to give Chris Smalling a run in central defence. But using Smalling and Jones in central areas will leave us short of cover at right back, particularly as the twins are very injury prone. Thus we need to bring in a top right back. My suggestion is Gregory van der Wiel of Ajax who is also the established firtst choice for Holland, the third best national side in Europe. Ajax recently turned down an offer from Valencia believed to be £8m, but an offfer of, say, £15m would almost certainly be accepted. Van der Wiel’s attacking style would fit perfectly at Old Trafford.
Posted in Manchester United, Player Analysis, Transfer Gossip | Tagged: Ajax, Alex Ferguson, Chris Smalling, Gregory van der Wiel, Manchester United, Phil Jones | 2 Comments »
A Star is Born
Posted by hakanrylander on October 26, 2011
I know this was only 20 minutes with the game already won against Aldershot Town who are fighting for survival in League Two. But in those twenty minutes the game changed from a satisfying but routine dismissal of Carling Cup fodder to an electrifying glimpse of the future. All because of the introduction of Ravel Morrison.
You have to wonder what the coaches told him before he came on. As he replaced Diouf I expected him to stick to the left side of midfield. Instead he roamed all over the pitch and was involved in virtually every attacking move, mainly from a central attacking midfield position. This was not a shy youngster finding his feet, but a star intent on running the show. My favourite moment was when he tried to convince Berbatov to step away from a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area.
Morrison strikes me as the kind of player who would benefit from playing alongside and against top class players, much like Rooney or Wilshere. Sir Alex, however, does not seem to plan a fast track for him to the first team. Possibly because his confidence/arrogance tends to get him into trouble off the field.
Unusually for a player who has featured so rarely in the first team, Morrison has a national cheer-leader in top journalist Henry Winter. Winter has praised Ravel on numerous ooccasions rating him as “better than Wilshere and Rodwell” and he’s at it again in The Telegraph this morning writing that Morrison “flowed across the ground all smooth, confident movement“. I suspect that Mr Winter has been right all along.
I would put him (Morrison) on the bench against Everton.
Posted in Manchester United, Match Reports, Player Analysis | Tagged: Aldershot, Alex Ferguson, Dimitar Berbatov, Henry Winter, Manchester United, Ravel Morrison | 1 Comment »
Always look on the bright side of life
Posted by hakanrylander on October 24, 2011
I have to admit that it’s not easy to see the bright side this particular Monday morning. But after a desperate search I’ve been able to find some positives. One of which might even be important.
1. The Glazers were present at Old Trafford. Hopefully they were as shocked as the rest of us. The result is an indication that in the long run it makes a difference if you pour lots of money into a club or take lots of money out. If this became clearer to our esteemed owners, something good might actually come out of yesterday’s defeat. It’s conceivable that they could speed up efforts to reduce debt by listing the club on the Singapore Stock Exchange, or think twice before taking another £100 million or so out of the club.
2. Mark Clattenburg had an excellent game. Referees often get less credit then they deserve, especially when your own team has been heavily beaten. Full marks to Mr Clattenburg. I couldn’t spot a single serious mistake.
3. Coleen looked colourful at Wayne’s 26th birthday bash at Wings Chinese restaurant last night. City stars Gareth Barry and Joe Hart were also attending. Wayne looked less than cheerful.
4. Chelsea lost to QPR, which reminds me of this gem.
Posted in Manchester United, Match Reports | Tagged: Andre Villas Boas, Chelsea, Coleen Rooney, Glazer, Manchester City, Manchester United, QPR, Wayne Rooney | Leave a Comment »