Are You Xavin' A Laugh?

Why there are still gossip columns while the transfer window is shut I do not know, but there are, and even worse, I read them. Today's purveyors of lies ran quite an intriguing little story, claiming that Xavi Hernandez might be on his way to Old Trafford for 20m. First of all, I don't believe thid deal will ever take place. I mean why on earth would Barcelona sell the best central midfielder in the world - a player in his absolute prime - to Manchester United for the same amount of money that brought Robbie Keane to Liverpool? It would possibly be the dumbest sale ever to take place, so I can only conceive that Xavi's agent wants more money, ergo he's stirring up some rumours to try and get Barca to cough it up.

But while I don't believe there to be any real possibility of this move happening, it does raise an interesting discussion - something I talked about at the start of the season in an earlier post I think. One obviously can't blame Fergie for being interested in a player of the calibre of Xavi, but it does highlight the fact that he may well see a weakness in United's midifeld, a diagnosis which I wholeheartedly agree with. To spell out the situation in dire terms, Darren Fletcher has easily been Man Utd's best central midfielder this season. Need I say more?

I've said it before and I'll say it again - Anderson is not a replacement for Paul Scholes, nor is he ever going to be United's answer to Fabregas. He has important qualities, but he's just not creative enough, seeming more determined to stick his bulky posterior into the oppostion than make a clever pass. Then there's Carrick, who quite simply has very little quality in my opinion. His passing is average at best (when he's under absolutely no pressure) and he just runs and hides behind games when the going gets tough (see last Saturday, and almost every other big game he has played in). Hargreaves is a useful squad player, but he's basically the midfield version of Saha - decent when fit, but never fit. However, even when he is fit, he's an average holding midfielder at best, and certainly not worth the 18m United paid for him.

With Scholes absent (and even when he's not absent, he's still old), United's distinct lack of quality in midfield is being ruthlessly exposed. They have the players up front and behind to make amends in most games, but when the big games come around it's very hard to see United being dominant in the middle of the park. Even though they enjoyed more possession than Arsenal last Saturday, this was in spite of, as opposed to because of, the likes of Carrick and Anderson. For all the space on the pitch, neither player ventured forward and seized the opportunity to really cut holes through a lightweight Arsenal midfield. And in the dying moments, when midfielders should be getting the ball and feeding it into the box, it was telling that Arsenal were the ones with all the possession, while Michael Carrick was nowehere to be seen.

One may argue that United where shorn of three of their central midfielders against Arsenal, which is true. However, even with a fully fit midfield, the problems do not go away. Fletcher can only offer you so much, and Scholes is on his last legs at this stage (something which Ferguson seemingly understands, having hauled him off early against both Liverpool and Chelsea). In my opinion, if you want a good midfield then you need to go foreign. Generally speaking, English players just don't seem to have the passing range nor the ability to read the game that Spanish and Italian players have. Ferguson invested heavily in two of these English players, and I think he's suffering as a consequence (Yes yes, I'm aware that United won the double last season, but I'll be damned if that wasn't because of Ronaldo's 965 goals and United's almost impregnable backline).

If by some incredibly bizarre turn of events Xavi does end up in Manchester, then United will be maybe one player short of having a seriously good team (that one player being a left midfielder of course). But while I just can't for the life of me see Xavi heading north, it should be positive news for all followers of United that they're looking for a player of Xavi's ilk, because that is exactly what they need if they're going to remain dominant in the years to come.

Ginger Ail

"Paul Scholes was the best player on the pitch before he went off" - Graham Souness - Premier Soccer Sunday

How someone can make such a claim is beyond me. I'm a big fan of Scholes, but it seems to me like the RTE panel are holding onto memories of yesteryear when analyzing his play. He did precious little in today's game against Chelsea, and he did even less against Liverpool last week. He still has something to offer this United team -- his performance against Portsmouth is proof of that -- but in the big games, I would honestly be more inclined to start Fletcher than Scholes, and that's saying something.

The RTE panel talk about him being the cool head and the guy who will keep hold of the ball when the chips are down. Against Chelsea, Scholes was anything but a cool head, basically wandering around the pitch looking to get sent off as quickly as possible by executing a series of vintage Scholes tackles. In fairness to him, he wasn't giving the ball away cheaply, but that's only because he rarely had the ball. He doesn't have the legs to get around the pitch when faced with a team like Chelsea, so the supply coming to him is extremely limited because he's never in enough space to receive a pass.

Against Liverpool and Chelsea, United regularly had to resort to the wings for attacking threat, and without Ronaldo (and even with him today), their wings aren't very threatening. When the big games come, they're finding it hard to go through the centre, and this is where United are most effective. Gone are the days of Becks whipping crosses into van Nistelrooy. Man Utd need the ball through the middle, and unfortunately Scholes doesn't seem to be able to provide that link when the big games come around. And even more unfortunately for Utd fans, they don't appear to have anyone who can serve that purpose.

Fletcher has been surprisingly competent this season, but he's not the solution. Neither is Carrick or Hargreaves or Anderson, good as they might be at various other things. What Man Utd basically need is Cesc Fabregas. I mean can you imagine their potency if the little Spaniard lined up in their midfield every week? He's exactly the kind of player that they need, because he's basically Paul Scholes minus 10 years or so. Until Ferguson finds a suitable replacement for the Ginger One, he's going to have to hope that Ronaldo scores another truck load of goals this season, otherwise United could be playing catch up to Chelsea for the rest of the campaign.

Before I go, I can't help but pass comment on Ronaldo today. Without wanting to sound biased, his presence cost Man Utd dearly. Fergie took a gamble, and it didn't pay off. Ronaldo left his teammates scratching their heads, with Rooney even coming over to the touchline to ask Ferguson just what they heck they're supposed to be doing in terms of positions. Ronaldo was just running all over the place, and of course doing very little tracking back, which gave Chelsea the chance to build things up from midfield.

And then there was the dive. Just shocking really. But, you know, he did score 42 goals last season so nothing else matters and we must all cherish him and welcome him back with open arms. Just wait until he leaves Man Utd. Then we'll see how much love they have for him and his greasy boots and his greasy hair (I meant to type 'green boots' but 'greasy boots' actually turned out better).

United They Fall

I don't exactly know what it is about Manchester United, but I absolutely love seeing them lose. I have done as far back as I can remember. They were playing Zenit St Petersburg -- a team I have zero affiliation with, and have never even seen before -- in the European Supercup tonight, and I was desperate for Zenit to win. Desperate. Never mind the fact that it's a completely worthless, meaningless cup. Rationality seems to just go out the window when United are involved. Heck, Man Utd could be playing a team made up entirely of former Auschwitz guards in a one-off friendly, and I'd still want the Nazi's to win. In fact I'd be disappointed if they didn't.

Like I said, it's completely irrational, and in the case directly above, even debatably immoral.

Well Zenit did win in the end, so happy days. I only saw the second half, but from what I gather they deserved it, with United only coming to life when they went 2-0 down. After they pulled one back I was like 'Aw man - here we go again', but they failed to convert some half-chances, and in the end it all finished up rather comedically, with Paul Scholes getting sent off for a second bookable offense - his first was a vintage Scholes tackle (read: repeated kick into the opposing players calf muscle) and his second was a very impressive handball which resulted in the ball flying into the top corner. It was one of the most unsublte handballs I've ever come across, with Scholesy making absolutely no attempt to in any way conceal it. He basically just spiked the ball into the net, and received his marching orders as a result. Very funny indeed.

One thing that remains abundantly clear is that United need to buy a striker. If not Berbatov, then someone else. Ronaldo coming back will obviously be a boost, but he can't be relied upon as heavily as he was last year. He just can't. Getting in a good target man is a must, and it may spark Rooney into life, because in all honesty if a new frontman comes in and it's a toss up between Rooney and Tevez to start, then Tevez is way ahead of him on the basis of form over the past year or so. And what's more, Tevez is even showing more of a work ethic than Rooney these days, so a little competition for places might just be the best thing for the former Everton prodigy.

Moving slightly off topic, with United out of action in the Premier League this week, Chelsea have the opportunity to go 5 points clear of them as they play Tottenham at Stamford Bridge, a game I'll hopefully be watching on Sunday lunchtime. The other game I'll be keeping a close eye on is Arsenal v Newcastle at the Emirates. With Newcastle on a bit of a high these days, I'm interested to see how this potentially fragile Arsenal team square up to them. Part of me thinks Arsenal could annihilate them, but I also have that sneaky feeling that Newcastle may just get something from the game. The ambiguity of my feelings is, I suppose, the reason for my intrigue.

There is another big game over the weekend, as Aston Villa take on Liverpool. I honestly don't think I'll watch that one though. I can only take Liverpool in very small doses you see, and having watched them for about 50 minutes in midweek, I feel like that's enough Dirk Kuyt and co. for one month.