08 May 2015 15:56:18
12 years ago, SAF bought an exciting, pacey winger who very little people knew about. We spent approximately 13 Million. 12 years ago. It completely befuddles me when I hear people complaining about 22 Million being spent on yet another exciting pacey winger, with all the attributes to become a top player. Now before the (overly) obsessed CR7 worshipers (I am one of his biggest fans by the way) start telling me how ridiculous I am to compare Depay to Ronaldo, I am not. I am simply alluding to the fact that, like Depay, Ronaldo was young, pacey, exciting and came with a nice little price tag. It was a risk then (as no one could have know Ronaldo would have been the beast he has become) as it is a risk now with depay, since he will have to get his head down and work hard to achieve his full potential. Given how money is these days in football, that fee is consistent, and his current stats justifies it.
I won't ask anyone to stop being silly about the fee, cause. well it's darn hard to convert a nit picker. PSG was willing to sign him for more, among others. If we had lost out to them, there would be a meltdown and the same nit pickers would be the loudest. There are just those persons who can't sleep well at night unless they complain about something. So yes, I understand.
I look forward to watching this young lad play for us.
{Ed025's Note - good post that bernidre..
08 May 2015 16:05:18
Also note ronaldo was an unknown 17 yr old. Depay is an established 21 yr old and top scorer. 22 is a very good deal!
08 May 2015 16:06:31
Thanks Ed025
{Ed025's Note - your welcome mate..
08 May 2015 16:09:55
Not to mention world cup scorer and young player of the tournament nominee
08 May 2015 16:59:58
I've had a hard travel day so thought I would pass on some of my usual positivity (I'm a little grumpier than usual today).
Messi won the World Cup player of the tournament, so why do we give credit to Depay being simply nominated for a young player award? It means jack, just like any stats coming out of the Dutch league (or anywhere pretty much), and for those of you saying his goals ratio is good, what about his assists (arguably the major role of a winger)?
Did he do well in the World Cup really? He was pretty much anonymous in the games I watched, the Dutch were generally awful going forward aside from the 5-1 (Depay didn't feature in that one by the way).
He should be good, but is he a missing piece to the jigsaw now or will we have to wait a few years like we always seem to? Is he much better than Januzaj who can't get a kick?
I think the money and hype is not justified, more chance of him being a Nani than a Ronaldo in my view, but I hope to be proven wrong.
08 May 2015 17:44:13
Beast, who would you get then that you wouldn't moan about?
08 May 2015 18:02:37
Beast is just raging because signing Depay means it looks like Van Gaal is here to stay for another while and Beast hates Van Gaal and all his works
08 May 2015 18:19:01
Beast, Laughable. How many world cups have messi had? He hasn't exactly set the tournament on fire. Even he would tell you that he really didn't deserve the player of the tournament award (there are at least two players who did far better).
With that said, Depay's stats don't mean jack to you simply because you don't want them to. That's ok, you are entitled to your opinion. However, stats are what players are judged on, because it's their performances that will generate those stats. Also, goals wins games. whether you are scoring or assisting them. If he scores 21 in 28 lg games and assts 4, then it is consistent with the fact that he is the top scorer. Not rocket science to be fair.
Will he be better than Adnan (who can't get a kick)? Will he develop like Ronaldo (who did get a kick) or will he be frustrating like Nani? You want a now answer? Want to know what will happen in three seasons? How about we watch and see? Since there is nothing (for me) to suggest he will be as good as Ronaldo or (for you) as frustrating as Nani. Either that or we can just be Gods and dtermine what he will be able to achieve and what level he will never be. thus rendering his price tag unjustified.
08 May 2015 18:16:57
You usually are
08 May 2015 18:25:50
Bilko - It definitely is a major thing to do with my current rage. The Klippity Klop noises I was hearing are now almost vanished, there is no way this deal would be sanctioned if my suspicions and hopes were going to be true, probable Janmaat and Dejong next followed by Strootman after he has a few games. Gutted.
I am pleased we signed Depay as we need pace, but this overspending on players is going to come back to haunt us. There will be a gem that we miss out on because of FFP and then we will start moaning about all these extra millions we have spent needlessly.
Fresh - I find it hard to get excited about any signing when it won't make a difference to the way we play, but I will stop banging my head against a brick wall now as I think it's time to face the truth that we are stuck with clowndog for a few more years or until somebody with power at the club see's sense.
No point bursting everyones bubble, so I will jump back on the Fonzy bus.
{Ed025's Note - you are a bundle of fun beast.. :)
08 May 2015 18:37:21
Bernidre - Maybe I didn't make my point about Messi too clear as you got the wrong end of the stick mate.
I was saying for Messi to have won that award it shows the awards mean nothing. Everyone knows Messi didn't deserve it so the people picking were either clueless or God knows what, hence we can't with the other hand praise Depay on account of him being nominated for a young player award as arguably even less qualified judges were making that decision - the whole award thing during the WC was a joke!
Stats are pointless. How has Di Maria played this season, yet he has great assist stats? How many strikers have scored more than ours, but would you have them over ours? It's a team game mate, stats mean next to nothing - the game is free flowing and far more important things happen than who's backside it hit before dropping at a strikers foot to score.
{Ed025's Note - beast...do you actually enjoy footy mate?...it seems to make you awfully grumpy fella...on your gravestone it will probably say..."who the f*** are you looking at!"..
08 May 2015 19:02:27
Beast,
You are like a caracature of yourself, hilarious.
08 May 2015 19:05:42
Beast, the lad is 21 years of age and has scored the highest number of goals in the Dutch league playing off the wing.
He was wanted by a number of top clubs because he is an exciting young player player who has a lot of talent. If we never paid the money, someone else would of, and we would have lost out on a player who could be world class in a few years.
08 May 2015 19:06:29
"here lies beast, had a heart attack screaming at the tv during uniteds match "
{Ed025's Note - watched over by an angel..di maria.. :)
08 May 2015 19:18:57
Oh sorry mate I think I completely misunderstood the messi point, and I now see the bigger point you were making. Point taken, stats can be iffy, but I can't agree that they are pointless.
In any event, I'm very well pleased at the moment with our first signing, and look forward to some awesome stats for the new season. :)
08 May 2015 19:30:07
Haha Ed25 - quality line. Mr's Beast agrees with you whole heartedly!
I'm just really frustrated with football at the minute for a few reasons:
1 - I can't stand our manager for the first time, it's a horrible position to be in and new for me, (I actually liked Moyes as his heart was in the right place, this guy doesn't seem to have one).
2 - I spend a lot of time traveling and bend over backwards trying to watch games, I end up mightily disappointed afterwards 99% of the time.
3 - A player can have 10 bad performances on the spin, play well the 11th game and they are the best thing since sliced bread. It does my nut in how fickle people are, just because somebody in the media says something that becomes almost law to a lot of fans.
4 - Players, Players, Players - for the most part they are treated like Gods and act like children on the pitch, diving, spitting, screaming about tackles that barely touch them. Many of them spend far too long on the treatment table and after a few good games they expect to have their wages doubled!
5 - Refs, a lot of them are more bothered about getting on camera and building their profile than reffing a game - especially Dowd.
6 - Managers, liars and try too many mind games treating the supporters as though we are stupid. This election campaign was so frustrating because they couldn't answer simple questions, it was like watching interviews with managers, we listen to robots.
7 - Too many teams are setting out not to get beat, I find it so difficult to get excited as I know 9/10 times how the flow of the game will go, the sport is losing it's passion.
Aside from that I love football and especially our club. I just don't like what is happening and the direction everything is heading. I just want to give it a big shake and change the trajectory.
I'm actually a really happy person and lucky not to have too many troubles. I suppose that's why the one major thing irking me in life (Utd turning into something I don't like because of LVG) is really exaggerated.
Sorry if I'm being a bit of a downer guys. I just feel like the guy in a mental asylum that shouldn't be there at times, and nobody will listen, I read 1984 the other day and it feels a bit like that.
{Ed025's Note - very good explanation there beast, i know it can be very frustrating mate but you have to learn to ride with it, you dont want to turn into a victor meldrew clone...or do you?.. :)
08 May 2015 19:44:18
Nice one Bernidre. I hope we get all our business done early so the gaffer can spend as much time a possible getting his message across pre-season, I get the impression just one player not in synch corrupts the whole plan.
08 May 2015 19:49:48
beast
thats my favourite post of the year
08 May 2015 19:50:55
Sure don't Ed and cheers, but "I don't believe it" will happen. I'll get my coat!
{Ed025's Note - love it beast..
08 May 2015 21:23:53
I agree with jred, that is probably the best post I've read all year Beast. Agreed with everything!