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Why Manchester United should steer clear of this latest wonderkid:

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At just 19 years of age, Lucas Moura is far too young, inexperienced, and surrounded by too much hype to succeed at Old Trafford. So why are Manchester United so keen on the youngster? (Source: Daily Mail)

Once again, it seems like Sir Alex has gotten this one wrong. Horror memories of Bebe come flooding back. Talent spotted, paid for on a whim, only to see that talent not live up to any expectations whatsoever.

Sir Alex was quoted earlier this week saying United are keen to ‘bring one more player in’. Frankly, Moura is a bad fit for the club. United are relatively strong in the attacking midfield department with Rooney, Hernandez, Valencia, Nani, Young and new-boy Kagawa all attacking minded. Yes, fans are far more likely to get enthusiastic about a much-hyped Brazilian attacking dynamo coming in – but let’s be honest, the hapless Raphael and even more hapless Fabio have more than proved that not all things Brazilian are worth paying a fortune for.

Signing Moura has warning bells of ‘HE IS NOT GOING TO LIVE UP TO EXPECTIONS’ ringing loud and clear. It’s hard to see what Sir Alex is attempting by bringing him in. Yes he is fast, but he is hardly prolific – managing less than 30 professional goals in over 120 games. Surely the statistics speak for themselves.What Manchester United really need is strength in defence.

Rio Ferdinand is getting to be too old, Evra looks like a shade of the player that he used to be, and with Vidic not 100% fit – Jones, Smalling, Raphael, and Evans all look sub-standard. Bringing in a world class defender or two, perhaps an attacking right-back. Those should be the priorities at Manchester United.

Anderson seems to be back after a lengthy time out. Its about time he justifies his $30 million move. Far too many players are left warming the bench (cue the now disillusioned Dimitar Berbatov), getting used to mediocrity and scraping by while collecting their massive pay cheques.

Get the defence sorted out – that should be the priority at United. Get the fringe players to actually play the way they showed they were capable of when they were first scouted and signed. THAT is the way forward, not signing much-hyped wonder boys who will struggle to live up to expectations.

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Arsenal addict, and general football enthusiast. Follow me on Twitter for more @heshy_de_silva

0 comments

  • Bogside says:

    Wow! What a poor article. Comparing an established international to Bebe in the first paragraph gets this one off to a bad start and it just goes backwards from there.

    So much rubbish in here that it’s hard to know what holes to pick up on. But here’s the most obvious one that springs to mind: we spent £32m in defence last season and haven’t bought a central midfielder for 5 years.

    • Heshan de Silva says:

      Your ‘established international’ has made a total of 15 national appearances for Brazil – 12 of which have been off the bench in the second half, scoring once.

      And as for him being a ‘central midfielder’ – get your facts straight. He is an attacking midfielder / winger. United bought Ashley Young last season. Valencia before that. And now Kagawa. I could include Bebe in the list as well, but you get the point.

      Blind allegiance and trigger happy spending will lead to a sadly average season. Best of luck to you.

  • karan says:

    its stupid to say that bebe has not shown the talent he possesses… how can you how ur talent when you’v never even played in the league before….coming from the Portuguese 4th division….how can you expect a player to become an instant hit…he needs to develop..hes just a 21 yr old kid….you cant compare a homeless kid whose just gotten into the sport full time to 19 yr old sensations like rooney, ronaldo and co……give him time…he’ll come out better than drogba…

    • Heshan de Silva says:

      It’s not ‘stupid to say that bebe has not shown the talent he possesses’ if he truly has NOT. One horribly average season at United, then an injury-ridden loan spell at Besiktas are nothing to write home about. And about being ‘homeless’ – Pele, Robinho, the Brazillian Ronaldo, Henry, Gervinho (who was physically living on the Streets of Ivory Coast) and Laurent Koscielny (who’s rise from TOURS in France League 3 is very similar) ALL came from impoverished and non-experienced backgrounds. And speaking of Drogba, he only got his first professional contract at the age of 21 at Guingamp in France. There are no excuses today for signing underperforming ‘whiz-kids’ and blaming their failures on their age or background.

  • Manchester United Forever says:

    Two names that discredit everything you are trying to say: Rooney and Ronaldo. I think you should research at what age these hyped up wonder-kids joined Manchester United.

    Also, Hernandez was not good enough this past season.

    • Heshan de Silva says:

      Still doesn’t address the fact that paying a fortune for a kid who may well not live up to expectations is horribly ill-advised compared with spending that same money on boosting the defence and midfield. Think about it.

      • Arsenal Sucks says:

        1. He is an attacking MIDFIELDER.
        2. The defense was strong towards the end of the season.
        3. United picked up a defender in January from Manchester City.

        • Heshan de Silva says:

          1. Nice job not highlighting the fact that he is an ATTACKING midfielder. Replacing Scholes should be the aim here, not adding to Valencia, Kagawa, Nani, Rooney, Hernandes and Co.

          2. Baseless argument. Ferdinand is all but done, what with his constant back pains (and 33 years of age), Evra is a shadow of his former self, Raphael is an accident waiting to happen, and Jones and Evans simply aren’t ‘TOP- 4’ material. With other teams bolstering their attacks (Chelsea and Arsenal to name just 2), strength in defence is a must to be able to compete.

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