30 Sept 2013

'Fail': Hansen blasts struggling £23m trio & makes surprising LFC-Man Utd claim.

After their worst league start in 24 years, Manchester United are in dire straits at the moment, and Liverpool legend Alan Hansen has singled out three players he believes have contributed to the club's early-season demise under David Moyes.

With only 3 wins in their first six Premier League games, Man United are currently floundering in mid-table obscurity, and according to Hansen, the ongoing failure of three of the club's main British players is the principal reason for United's ineffectiveness. He told The Telegraph today:

"The likes of Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Tom Cleverley had been billed as the future not so long ago, but none of them has progressed as expected. If the younger players fail to replace the older ones, and the club cannot find the top-quality additions that are required, sooner or later you will hit a brick wall".

Smalling (£7m), Cleverley and, especially, Jones (£16m), are massively overrated British players IMO, and if United plan to build their future on those three then they can expect to be flailing in obscurity for a few years yet. Hansen also made the following comparison between Liverpool and Man United:

"United have more depth and quality than the 1990 Liverpool side. Both could be described as ageing teams that needed breaking up, but with issues over those brought in as younger replacements".

With respect to Hansen, I totally and utterly disagree with this. The 1990 league-winning side was light-years ahead of the current Man United team, and I'm surprised that Hansen would think otherwise:

* Th 1990 LFC team contained, amongst others, the following players: John Barnes, Peter Beardsley, John Aldridge, Ian Rush, Steve Nicol, Steve McMahon, Ray Houghton, Jan Molby, Alan Hansen and Ronnie Whelan. In what universe does the currently Man Utd squad have 'more quality' than that? The only players in Moyes' team that compare are RVP, and, at a stretch, Wayne Rooney.

* The 1990 LFC team may have been ageing, but it kicked off the 1990-91 season with EIGHT straight wins in the league (including a 4-0 thrashing of Man Utd). Overall, the team managed 11 wins in the first 13 league games; lost only 1 of the first 18 games (all competitions), and ultimately finished the season in second place. How can a team with this kind of record have lesser quality that a Man Utd team that's just had its worst league start in 24 years?

* After their league triumph last season, United have collapsed under Moyes, and many of their regulars are much younger than the players who helped LFC to that amazing 8-game winning streak. United may recover, but I doubt they'll finish second in the league this season. Moyes already has an 8-point gap to make up, and that is going to be difficult.






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60 comments:

  1. I always thought they would miss out on the league this season, and I think a lot of Utd fans had maybe expected this too. But at this rate they could struggle for a CL place.
    I think they actually lack quite a lot of strength in depth. Butner doesn't look up to it, and was out of position quite a lot against West Brom.
    Smalling looking very shaky against Liverpool mid week.
    Evans is an ok player, but nothing brilliant.
    Anderson is pure mediocrity.
    Ferdinand is aging.
    Giggs doesn't seem the same player this season.
    They really don't look like a Championship team at the moment, and if RVP doesn't get his regular 20 odd goals, they could be in trouble.
    I think they only good thing for them at the moment is that Rooney seems to be hitting a bit of form.

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  2. what a great feeling watching them struggle and us rising!!!!!!

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  3. slow start is Man Utd traditional dont forget that !

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  4. True, but they aren't usually this slow.

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  5. I disagree, I think they look every inch a Championship team. But I think QPR might have something to say about that! :)

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  6. hahahaaa let them know what is all about changing mgnt

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  7. Hopefully we can gather as many points as we can with the lower tier teams as much and then lock horns with those in the contention for top 4. I don't think ManUre are going to flourish under Moo-yeah. But, I do feel Everton might just come as come good under Martinez.

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  8. Haha, obviously I meant championship winning as in the PL... :-P

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  9. at this moment i do feel this is the best ever BPL...all team had they chance...and not just 2-3 horse race
    i hope the race will run until day38

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  10. It's not tradition without Fergie. Man Utd probably had the worst title winning squad in recent memory last season. Because Fergie was a genius. I'm sorry but David Moyes just cannot emulate that kind of stuff again, not at least in the foreseeable future.

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  11. if it weren't for Rooney they'd be at the bottom of the table. Their last 3 goals in their last 3 games have resulted from Rooney set pieces.

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  12. rammyPELLEGRINIsheikh5:09 pm, September 30, 2013

    livapul 4 de ligue baby!!! CANTONA IS OUR HERO W R LIVERPUL


    I LOVE DIS TEAM SO MAY TIMES< i remmeber wen ronny johsen got de hat trik in chaminons lge finalz!!!!!!!

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  13. David Moyes has finally realised his ambition this season in making Everton a better team than Man U .

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  14. Ferguson won the League with these players? I am no fan of Ferguson but with him throwing tea cups at his players and showing his authority made them perform. The Utd job is far to big for Moyes and long may their demise continue.

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  15. United's start to this season is the biggest proponent for SAF's legacy.

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  16. There is only person to blame for United's current predicament and that's Moyes. He took over the champions. The same players who are underperforming now are the same players that lifted the title last year. They didn't become rubbish overnight. Not Smalling, Jones nor Cleverley either. I totaly agree that like most English players they are severely overrated but Ferguson managed to get more out of them. He's failed to make his own impression on the team. In style as well as the players in the squad.

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  17. Happy for Sakho that he's happy. Not that he had anything to do with it the ball dodger. Lucas, again, stupid fouls in delicate positions and picking up another stupid yellow card. It's a miracle we are this well of considering how many stupid mistakes Rodgers made in the summer window.

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  18. Hanson isnt talking like for like, he is comparing two good but aging teams, and the young players bought in as replacements for excellent ones not being of the same quality.
    When he says United squad had more quality what he meant was they have 30 or 40 players on the books for the first team where Liverpool would have had around 16-18
    The players that brought the glory years back to United Giggs Scholls Ferdinand Vidich Evere Neville Rooney Ronaldo RVP Etc in this case have either been replaced by inferior players or need replacing now or next season or two.
    They are no longer the first choice club for players coming in to the Prem so they will struggle no matter who gets the job
    It comes to all clubs its a cycle how far you fall from the top is what matters now if United fail to get CL then there top players are all pray to the teams that are in it and so the downward spiral begins

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  19. You're guessing.

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  20. I hate Man U, but I have to be serious. After six games you cannot say much about us or others. In 32 games many things can happen. Everyone can see that MU having some difficult times but it is premature to say that they cannot hit back. But of course LFC of 1990 was double the team. Mancs of 2013 - 14 aren't anything really special...

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  21. An 8 point gap at this stage of the season is nothing, it's premature to write of any team at this point, and apart from small-minded gloaters and bandwagon jumpers any fan wouldn't be shouting our 'triumph' over United just yet. That said it is refreshing to see them doing badly, but they'll likely improve, we've just got to ensure we are still ahead of them when they do!

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  22. No more sarcasm here. Be fair, Man Utd is obviously in transition, losing 3 in 6 league games. To me, a manager plays a very important role in producing positive
    results on pitch. With the same set of players and a different manager,
    results can differ greatly. There's no way Man Utd could lose 3 in 6
    games under Alex Ferguson. I did not twist any of my views about Man Utd in my last 2 posts. It was a good result against Man Utd due to the rivalry between the 2 clubs but I don't regard that game as a true top-4 test for this season, despite it being the league champion for many years including the last. That's my personal view that you may not accept.

    I've also stated very clearly my wish is top 4 this season. Therefore a test against Arsenal, a consistent top 4 team, make sense to me. You may not rate Arsenal but I seriously do. Our head-to-head record against Arsenal since 2003 is 5 wins 9 draws 12 losses. I also cannot ignore the fact that Arsenal placed higher than LFC in the league for 8 of the past 10 seasons.

    Why did I mention injured players. Where do you think Sebastián Coates will end up if he is not injured? I don't even think he will make the bench for LFC. Borini was bought for 11.5 mil pounds. Given our present financial status, without a cash-rich owner and no Champions League, this move indicates a waste of limited resources. You quoted a player from Chelsea but I'm sure you know Chelsea and Man City are in a world of their own financially. Even then, Romelu Lukaku cost 10 mil pounds, slightly less than our Borini. Yes, there's nothing wrong with players going out on loan. But simply, do you think Borini, Assaidi, Joe Allen and Sebastian Coates has a future at LFC? For me, I don't think so. Will Luis Alberto joins this group of players? Highly likely if you ask me.

    Lastly, I prefer not to dwell on past successes and have respect for rival teams, especially those that achieved better results with less resources. Everton has a negative spending of 27 mil pounds in player transfer activities for the past 3 seasons including this season whereas LFC spent 91 mil pounds during the same period. Yet, Everton placed above us in the past 2 seasons. It is either LFC has overspent unnecessarily, which is why I blasted over Luis Alberto's deal, or the managers are/were inept despite being given huge resources, which is truly laughable to me.

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  23. Biggest mistake the made was lack of signings, same thing happened with manc also last season..but with their change in management, it made the situation worse..
    they havent score from open play since their 1st game..i'm starting to like new season even more.

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  24. 100,000,001

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  25. To kill off any of such speculation, LFC must qualify for the Champions League this season. No disrespect but In terms of reputation and popularity worldwide, AM is gulf wide from LFC. Though LFC has shot itself in the foot for not being in the Champions League for 4 consecutive seasons.

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  26. What are they smoking at Atletico? They need to see a mental specialist

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  27. This rumor = total BS

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  28. I hate Man U but have learned painfully not to write them off too soon or ever! Some of that was Ferguson but they still have good players. Who cares what an ex player says about another team?

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  29. Ed Stockton,

    Totally agree. Don't like fergie, but he was the best, period!

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  30. I NEED to do this. Brilliant my friend brilliant

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  31. it may be premature but t it is the present and the present is the only thing that exists so revel in there failings i know i am with the mancs i work with it

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  32. the definitive word is was...hes yesterdays news....what i advise you to do is rub the noses in shit of every manc you meet

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  33. You seem to have completely missed the point. I probably should have tried harder to keep it simple.

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  34. Indeed, he can win with almost any squad. Legend in true sense.

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  35. Ferdinand is making too many mistakes and I think Ozil was perfect for Man utd.

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  36. Lukaku is beast.

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  37. That actually worked?? seriously??

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  38. That wouldn't make any sense, they can still finish above us. No point in dancing after 6 games.

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  39. The Dark Joe Allen8:42 am, October 01, 2013

    Whatever FSG is distributing at the moment.

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  40. He said 'the Liverpool squad had less depth', which is 100% true. Back then we were only allowed two subs, so the 'first team squad' comprised of a maximum of 13-15 top class player and when injuries occurred, we used unknown reserves. Also, that squad threw the title away that season - we were top and clear when Kenny 'retired' and in the weeks leading up to then we were leaking goals. Besides the players you listed (Aldridge had gone by the end of September, by the way), we had a few that weren't good enough, as well - David Burrows, Glenn Hysen, Gary Ablett, Bruce Grobellaar, David Speedie, Ronny Rosenthal - and a few of the seniors had taken their foot off the gas something previous managers would never have tolerated, Alan Hansen spent the majority of the season sidelined with a recurring injury AND there was no transfer window, then either, so there was no excuse for the drop-off. People are quick to blame Souness for the decline, but the truth is the rot set in before he was even considered for the job.

    By the way, in September 1990, "all competitions" meant the league and the league cup... we were banned from Europe, so apart from Arsenal and/or Notts Forest, we didn't play anyone with anything about them.

    The Man U situation ... they are just repeating the mistakes they made when Sir Matt Busby retired and Moyes has made the same mistakes that Souness made - changed too much too quickly - he's essentially replaced the successful Man U coaching staff with the Everton staff. If they/he'd had any sense they would have followed the same path that we did when Shankly and Paisley retired. They SHOULD have had a replacement on staff five years ago and promoted from within - evolution, not revolution. I can see one of two things happening at OT sometime during this season. Either SAF washing his hands of Man U altogether, resigning from the board and shuffling off to his horses or Moyes getting the push by January and him running the team for the rest of the season, possibly the following one, until they feel Giggs is ready to take the hotseat.
    As Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish proved, you don't need a manager who's 'been there and done it'. Just one who's smart enough to not try and fix what isn't broken.

    If things pan out well with Rodgers, I hope FSG and he recognise that they NEED to be getting the same kind of structure in place ready fro the day he finally leaves.

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  41. Fair points, I still don't agree with some of them . Allen and even Borini should still have an LFC future, Assaidi was peanuts, relatively, and will lose little if any money in a transfer, and Coates was young player of the tournament in South America, and looked a good prospect, he just didn't translate to the PL it happens, look at Pique at Man U / Barca, we will take a 2-3m loss, not a huge gamble.
    Show me ONE overseas player who grew up thinking his dream is to play for Everton.
    They remind me of the old Bolton side under Allardyce. Yes, hard to beat and very hard working. Successful too, up to a point. But never won anything, they were up there every year though. Don't want us to be that kind of club, selling their best players most years to survive hoping for a sugar daddy to rescue them. Do you?
    And yes, Arsenal have finished above us mostly. But that is still a come down from the PL winning team they used to be, they are in decline by definition, scraping top 4 every year but winning nothing but a big bonus for their shareholders whilst the fans pay the highest price in the PL for everything from season tickets to tea.
    City and Chelsea are better indicators.

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  42. They are a fairly thick crowd they are

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  43. Rising? Let's not get too carried away...

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  44. We can't sell Coutinho, if we keep our current players and buy a couple then we could have a serious chance of top 4 this season. We desperately need a central defensive midfielder and another experienced attacker.
    Ideally I would like M'Vila or Matuidi (his contract expires this summer) for the DM role, Pastore and one young Right back like Montoya or Danilo. Fernando Reges from Porto is also an option he would be great as well. This would give us real strength in depth and tactical flexibility.
    We can play 3-4-3,3-5-2,4-3-3,4-2-1-3 etc based on the opposition.
    I would like us to play 4-3-3 with :
    Mignolet
    Gj/Montoya Toure/Skrtel Agger/Sakho Enrique/Cisokko

    M'vila/Lucas/Allen

    Allen/Hendo/Gerrard

    Coutinho/Pastore/Alberto

    Suarez/Aspas Moses/Coutinho
    Sturridge/Aspas/Suarez


    We will still have players like Ilori,Sterling,Ibe,Kelly, Wisdom who can come in if someone is missing.

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  45. Alberto also can play like Coutinho.

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  46. Not likely to happen.

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  47. Very pleased with the win. Though I am worried about our midfielders. They seemed to be losing some sparks probably by playing too many games already.

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  48. AndWithSuchSimplicity2:49 pm, October 01, 2013

    To be honest, they were on the wane last season. They got away with it due to never-say-die attitude, a lot of luck and the "Fergie factor" ie. his final season so perhaps it was just fate they won it.
    Maybe he saw the writing on the wall and realised it would be a heck of a task to build ANOTHER title-winning team. And does anyone honestly think that Ferguson's ego would allow him to recommend a successor who was capable of equalling or bettering his achievements???? No chance...
    Football is about cycle's. Time to climb back on our perch......

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  49. AndWithSuchSimplicity2:51 pm, October 01, 2013

    No, they didn't become rubbish overnight. But they were losing at least TEN games last season and got away with it. They can't forever.

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  50. live for the moment thats what i say

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  51. i got your point i just didnt agree

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  52. David Moyes was always cited as a manager under whom Everton over achieved. In the light of Everton's performances this season and especially the first half last night, could it be said that Moyes's style and tactics actually held Everton back? Something for MU fans to ponder.

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  53. i havent seen pastore so cant say. enrique perhaps has had confidence knocked with the signing of sissoko - he isnt the same as he was since january. perhaps he has missed not being able to play with coutinho and suarez.



    Getting mata would be as big a coup for us as ozil is for arsenal - i doubt though chelsea will let him go.



    i am missing those wonderful 4-0, 5-0 and 6-0 scorelines!

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  54. What are you smoking over there, eh?

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  55. but what would have happened if we didn't have sturridge by your sentiments?

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  56. mate, at least we score goals from open play. They've relied on his free kicks.

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  57. So my sentiment would be different if they were scoring goals because Rooney was on the end of great build up player by the midfielders. But no, in recent games, he did everything for them.

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  58. rammyPELLEGRINIsheikh3:44 pm, January 13, 2014

    clearly BULLSHIT

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