That time of the year is upon us when the transfer window is open and silly season begins. Now, we all do the same dance every year or at least I do in trying to avoid any sagas over players coming in, but I last just a few days then I am sucked back in.
So, I am going to list a couple of players who I was really excited about that didn’t work out and a couple I didn’t think would work but was massively wrong about.
Karel Poborsky – Miss
The summer of 96 just seemed to be a better time, it was my first tournament and seeing a lot of new players was an education. But alas being young and naive means we make mistakes, and I got this one wrong, I learned a long time later never to get excited about buying a player who does well in the Euros or World Cup.
Poborsky was a standout player for a superb Czech Republic team that lost narrowly in extra time of the final to Germany. His stunning scoop finish against Portugal made everyone take notice of this player and there was still a novelty about a player coming out of nowhere that there just isn’t today.
I mean this guy gave Paolo Maldini a chasing in the groups stages as the Czech Republic beat Italy, no need to see any more that is good enough for me. But a few weeks after Euro 96 finished and he signed there was a moment that changed the trajectory of his life and of Manchester United forever.
David Beckham would be Poborsky’s competition for the right-hand side of the United team but after that Beckham goal against Wimbledon things changed. Becks became the man that we all know him to be now and Poborsky lasted 18 months before he left.
A wonderful player but it just didn’t work out, no matter how much I wanted it too.
Juan Sebastien Veron – Miss
There are some players that you see from afar and you just can’t help but love and as a youngster growing up watching James Richardson and Gazzetta Football Italia was like a different universe.
So when the news came through that United had signed an Argentinean superstar then you can imagine the excitement when United paid £28.1million for him, my dad came home from a business trip the same time in Manchester Airport, and he was the most excited I have seen him for any player we have signed.
This transfer might be one that if it had happened a decade later would have been perfect, but the English game was still coming out of the 4-4-2 age. Veron had a great start but faded after, a conductor of matches in Europe, but the pace of the league wouldn’t grant him the time he needed to cast his spell over a game. The older you get the more cynical you get and now I just keep my feelings to myself and try not to get too hyped up as I have been hurt before and this one definitely hurt.
United’s midfield had been set for years and was not going to change unless there was a tactical change which wouldn’t happen until Jose Mourinho came into the league. Veron was the guy who ran the game but so much of United’s play went through Beckham and Giggs, so it was only in Europe that we saw his class but when we did, he was magic and even though he didn’t work out I was still so glad I got to see him.
Michael Carrick – Hit
Remember before I said about the tactical change that Jose Mourinho brought about when he won the league title with Chelsea? Well, this was the transfer that signified Sir Alex Ferguson’s next evolution as a manager.
I had grown up watching Roy Keane be the most dominant midfielder of his generation so when Keane left in 2005 it was an impossible task for anyone to fit that mantle. But when Ferguson bought Carrick in 2006 as his only purchase there was a collective the lad from Spurs? To replace Keane?
A tactical change we all couldn’t see but Ferguson revolutionised this United side and helped them win their first title in 5 years. Carrick was less blood and thunder and more continental in his way of playing.
His impact on the team was beyond compare as he was the final piece in the jigsaw United needed to compete again at the top level, I didn’t think we should have bought him, but I am so happy I was wrong.
For me he is the great litmus test of a person’s football knowledge, if they don’t rate him then you don’t know what you are talking about.
Dwight Yorke – Hit
Coming off France 98, United were linked with Patrick Kluivert, Ariel Ortega, and Gabriel Batitstuta so when United decided to plump for Dwight Yorke it seemed a little bit of an anticlimax.
Don’t get me wrong, he was a great player at Villa, but would he take the team on to the next level like the others would? Well yes as it turns out.
He came for big money but immediately you could see what he brought to the team, not only goals but his link up play, and aerial ability were second to none. His partnership with Andy Cole blossomed into one of Europe’s best and deadliest during the 98/99 season, leading the scoring charts as United completed the Treble.
Yorke only lasted four seasons before he left but when he was here, he was brilliant, he wasn’t the best guy most fans would have chosen but he was the perfect guy for what the club wanted.
With no real resources back in the days before everyone had internet access, we all still got it wrong, even with access and any match available we still get it wrong. So, the point of this is just a reminder to not judge players too harshly or build them up too much, we all do it but sometimes we just need to look to the past to reassure we are just fans.
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