MANCHESTER United have scored more league goals this
season than at any time since 2001-02 - and yet they go into the
summer break in desperate need of a new striker.
And it is difficult not to wonder what would have happened had Ruud
van Nistelrooy not had the training-ground bust-up with Cristiano
Ronaldo that led to manager Sir Alex Ferguson cashing in to the
tune of a reported £10.3m.
Van Nistelrooy's goals have fired Madrid to the verge of the La
Liga title in his first season at the Bernabeu. If they win their
last three games, Madrid will pip arch-rivals Barcelona after a
remarkable revival from the depths of a cold winter.
And it is bizarre, at the end of a season in which United
scored 83 goals, their best return since van Nistelrooy's first
season of 2001-02, that there should be such an evident need of a
man who can hit the back of the net (150 goals in 219 United
appearances) with the unerring monotony which the Dutchman has
managed.
Young guns Wayne Rooney and Ronaldo weighed in with 23 goals apiece
as the Reds raced to the Premiership title, to the FA Cup final and
to the Champions League semi-final.
There were also the contributions of Louis Saha (13 in 25 starts)
until injury wrecked his season and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's typical
addition of 11 from the bench or after coming in from the
cold.
And with midfielders and defenders also chipping in - Michael
Carrick and Ryan Giggs scored six apiece, Paul Scholes seven, and
Nemanja Vidic four - it was enough to keep United's noses in front
of ultra-cautious Chelsea.
Such a sharing of the workload may be the plus side of the
departure of van Nistelrooy.
For four seasons, United's basic plan was to get the ball wide to
David Beckham, Ronaldo or Ryan Giggs and hope they could plonk it
in an area where van Nistelrooy lurked.
But van Nistelrooy was not a great workhorse, and was not
the best striker at holding the ball and bringing others into play,
a frequent source of irritation to teammates and management
alike.
But he has flourished in Spain, where they don't care how many
miles you cover, as long as you keep hitting the back of the
net.
Van Nistelrooy has already bagged 38 goals in 56 games for Madrid,
to make this his second-best season since leaving PSV Eindhoven in
2001.
And team-mate David Beckham, who supplied so many of his United
goals, believes he has become a better player since moving to
Spain.
"It is hard to better what he did and what he achieved at
Manchester United but he is a great player who will move on and
will get better, and he has proved that at Real Madrid," said
Beckham.
"His main strength is scoring goals. That's what he does, that is
what he is paid to do. But he also works hard for the team."
quite an interesting article.
