Sanchez Coming? – But Will Nani Be Sir Alex’s Sacrificial Lamb?

So the gun has fired and Manchester United’s transfer business is well and truly out of the blocks…and like celebrity fan and fastest man on the planet Usain Bolt, United’s activity is racing ahead at gold medal pace with David Gill and a club delegation meeting yesterday with Udinese over the possible transfer of Chilean firecracker Alexis Sanchez.

With Phil Jones and Ashley Young as good as in the bag, the buzz around who United will nab next is like a bumble bee in your ear. It seems to change daily. One day Sanchez loves Man Utd. Next day he wants to stay in Italy. One day Wesley Sneijder is going to California to discuss with his WAG whether she fancies the hot and tropical weather of Manchester. The next day he’s staying at the San Siro. In many ways…..its all very very…………….dull.

But whether all this transfer jamboree turns you on or not it is almost impossible to not have your favourites for Sir Alex to sign, and with Twitter and the like..you are completely unable to avoid the voices of a million paid up members of The Faithful. All of this is totally cool. It’s just opinion. But the debate gets a bit more heated when you start to discuss who Sir Alex might well sell.

Nani has just had the best season of his career. With a good goal tally, and around 200 assists (or something bout that) he truly was the United player who carried the team in the early part of the season. He fed Berbatov like a dog begging for scraps from off the table…finally allowing the Bulgarian to revel in the adulation as the club’s top goalscorer. He made full back after full back look stupid as he would alternate in skinning them down the line, only to next time cut in on his left foot like a dart, and smashing one towards goal like an Exocet missile. He finally showed the promise that we had all been dying for him to show.

So why is he now thought of as a possible outgoing from the club??

As we all know, Nani didn’t have a great end to the season. Many will claim (as I did in true partisan fashion) that his season was ruined by the barbarian that is Jamie Carragher. Yes it was a bad tackle and yes Nani got stretchered off. But he was training and playing only days later…so we will consign that one to football folklore and conveniently remember it as yet another Scouse atrocity and attack on our blessed club. Nani’s form went down the toilet due to one factor. And that is the fitness of Antonio Valencia, who with no thought of what had been going on that season healed his broken bones, stuck two fingers up at his competition, and claimed the right-wing spot for his own…as if he had never been away.

This of course meant that Nani played wide left. “Great” we all though. “Nani AND Valencia! This what we all wanna see. 4-4-2. ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK”

However, Ji Sung Park had something to say about that. And Nani…like Berbatov…found his backside well and truly planted on the bench. The two MUFC players of the season…not able to get hardly a sniff. So much so that in the biggest game of the season at Wembley versus the Mighty Midgets of Dutch Total Football, all Nani could get was a last throw of the dice run out..that ended in Michael Carrick kicking the ball against a backtracking Nani’s shins and it all ending in a sumptuous David Villa curly wurly top corner job. Not really a great way to go on your summer holidays really. But also..no real reason to justify possibly being bombed out of the club either.

Personally, I like Nani. In his early days he used to annoy the hell out of me with his Ronaldo-lite tactics and impressions. He very much was a winner of my ‘Hinderance of the Year’ award..given to the player that would make me swear profanities the most from my Old Trafford seat. (Previous winners have been Keiran Richardson, the young and non-accurate passing Darren Fletcher, and ‘The French Grobbelaar’..Mr Barthez) But one magical day at The Emirates he pulled off an epic trick of all proportions killing two Arsenal defenders and chipped (or miss hit..who cares) the keeper from an acute angle to score a wondrous goal….and in the process filling his tank with liquid nitrogen and sending his career into orbit. Nani had finally arrived.

I think he fully deserved his player of the year award this season..but one fact remains. When Sir Alex needed to find a team to beat Barcelona, dear Luis Nani wasn’t in it. Yes this was a tactical decision. But I think the manager showed his hand as to the players he emotionally relies on to win him the biggest matches. The really top top players – you find a place for them in the starting line up. You find a formation that you can incorporate them in. So as Ferguson believed that Ronaldo wasn’t good enough defensively wide for the Champions League final in Rome…he made sure he played him up front. You have to play your match winners….dont you?

If United somehow overcome the megabucks of Manchester City and the allure of Barcelona for the services of Alexi Sanchez, it creates what we call in the game as ‘the headache all managers love to have’..that being the one of selection when you have a lot of very good players. No doubt with the emergence of Chico, the form of Rooney, and the imminent signing of Ashley Young, United are well stocked in the attacking positions. It is almost guaranteed that Fergie will have to sacrifice one of his big names to incorporate a signing such as Sanchez. Berbatov is an option to be sold, but the thinking man’s money is definitely on Nani as it stands. Berbatov would not raise the funds that United would need to continue spending. Nani on the other hand would. And with Inter, Juve and Madrid all making very positive noises in wanting the player, it is not surprising at all that Sir Alex is looking at attacking options over that of a central midfielder. Without Nani’s assists last year….we win nothing. That would need to be addressed immediately if he was to leave the club.

Trust is a huge thing for Ferguson. I question whether he truly trusts Nani. The manager has sat on his hands and his cash since his last £30 million signing, adding excellent value signings (albeit for big money compared to many club’s budgets) But once in a while he likes to push the boat out. Veron, Ferdinand, Rooney and Berbatov. Huge deals that take your breath away. Sanchez falls into this bracket…as would a Modric or a Sneijder. But the fact remains that whilst squad depth is the key to a successful season, you simply can’t fit a square in to a circle.

And If Sanchez is indeed that circle, the square of Nani may well find himself surplus to requirements.




About Steve Ferguson 886 Articles
Steve Ferguson had taken over & re-branded The Faithful MUFC website back in the summer of 2014 and is now the owner and editor of the site. Steve, from Ashton-Under-Lyne in Greater Manchester, is a 35-year-old life long Manchester United fan, travelling over the globe to see the Reds play. Steve has been lucky enough to be at both the 1999 and 2008 Champions League finals, seeing Manchester United lift the biggest trophy in the World, none more exciting than that faithful night in Barcelona in 99. The website is a blog, but also hopes to deliver the latest Manchester United news from around the internet too, linked up with our growing twitter account which is @TheFaithfulMUFC, give it a follow as we will follow you back as soon as we can.

10 Comments

  1. im DESPERATELY trying to not get my hopes up about Sanchez but the signs are looking good.
    I think he’s as much a central attacking midfielder as much as a winger though, and poses no threat to Nani or Valencia. #fergiefergiesignhimup

  2. I can see Nani going. Even without the Sanchez transfer.
    This isn’t because “I want him to go” but I was surprised that he stayed last season and there’s something that makes me think he might go and be with Cris. I hope he doesn’t.
    But…. Sanchez… WOW!

  3. Ild sell Berba and swicth Park to CM ala Giggs. Ppl forget that Park is getting to that age where he can’t be running the full length of the pitch regardless hiss energy. Anyway I think Nani has a bigger future in the game than Valencia. So ill have Nani o’er Valencia

  4. I confess to not having seen lots of Sanchez – although I suspect a few clamouring for his arrival are in a similar position. My thoughts are close to Rob’s on the issue of Fergie’s trust; the fact he did not envisage Nani as a certain starter despite his performance earlier in the season is revealing. As we found with Berbatov individual success does not necessarily equate to a greater team and this is where Nani appeared to (somewhat unfairly) fall out of favour. Hernandez playing on the shoulder requires rapid, direct service so he can anticipate the cross. Nani’s approach makes this difficult. It is an interesting quirk that Nani and Berbatov had an excellent understanding whereas the same could never be said of either player with Rooney or Hernandez. It would be a shame to see Nani go but if the manager does not envisage him as a central figure in our progress then it would be best to sell now whilst his stock is high. I certainly don’t feel Nani will feel any great loyalty to United – nor should he – so a lucrative move to Inter would interest him I’m sure.

    It is a strange quirk though that if we were to spend £30m on Sanchez, and he achieved precisely the same level of goals and assists as Nani, we would be declaring him a success.

  5. My two cents.
    Nani is a certainty to go, and don’t be surprised if Berbatov does too. Ferguson seems to be nudging the team towards a more fluid shape, with multi-positional players and very few specialists – save Chicharito and he works his backside off harassing the opponent’s back four.
    Phil Jones could be Hargreaves, he has the pace and tenacity. Plus he can play at right back or centre half.
    It’s Welbeck or Berbatov for the 4th striker’s role.
    We need an out and out left winger.
    Nani is a coward – harsh word but you can kick him out of the game.
    The missing piece is the Modric or even Nasri type who provides that flair or Giggs like ability to create a pass. True Scholes is gone, but Giggs was the artist last season.
    Interesting times. Different team photo. Hopefully the same results, plus one more win when it counts.

  6. Nani will be an even better player next season.

    I’d be very surprised if Fergie would let him go.

  7. @Kevin – Interesting theory, especially given the hard lesson taught by Barça. Whether it’s Barça or the Spanish national team, a “fluid shape, with multi-positional players and very few specialists” seems to beat down the English model.

  8. I think if they landed Sanchez he goes
    But they still need a left sided player cos Sanchez is all right foot from what I’ve seen of him on video
    Young plays there but he is a natural right footer though he has played wide left as we all know
    it also remains to be see what kind of appetite for football Giggs has after all the off field activities, plus another year on the calendar
    My guess is that we are not done yet and again as we know Fergie is more than capable of springing surprises

    Defenders; The twins, Vidic, Ferdinand, Smalling, Jones, Evra, still a question mark for me about Evans but he does provide cover at left back
    Midfield: Carrick, Fletcher, Anderson, Valencia, Young, Park, Giggs, (Sanchez/Schneider/Modric – one from that grouo)
    Forwards: Rooney, Hernandez, Owen – Welbeck/Berbatov

    I’d even go as far as suggesting that if Fergie can package Berbatov and Ferdinand in a deal for Modric he will do it.

    Ah the fun of speculation
    http://www.manutd.com/en/Players-And-Staff/First-Team.aspx

  9. Barcelona seem to play “swarm” football. They never stop until they get the ball back if they lose it. Then they “rest” by passing the ball around, but always aware of the quick pass to strike at the heart of the opponent and picking up the pace and rhythm whenever they perceive the opportunity. Incredible, fantastic stuff.

  10. I confess to not having seen lots of Sanchez – although I suspect a few clamouring for his arrival are in a similar position. My thoughts are close to Rob’s on the issue of Fergie’s trust; the fact he did not envisage Nani as a certain starter despite his performance earlier in the season is revealing. As we found with Berbatov individual success does not necessarily equate to a greater team and this is where Nani appeared to (somewhat unfairly) fall out of favour. Hernandez playing on the shoulder requires rapid, direct service so he can anticipate the cross. Nani’s approach makes this difficult. It is an interesting quirk that Nani and Berbatov had an excellent understanding whereas the same could never be said of either player with Rooney or Hernandez. It would be a shame to see Nani go but if the manager does not envisage him as a central figure in our progress then it would be best to sell now whilst his stock is high. I certainly don’t feel Nani will feel any great loyalty to United – nor should he – so a lucrative move to Inter would interest him I’m sure.
    +1

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