MANCHESTER UNITED know recruitment has not been good enough in recent years. The club are confident they’ve sorted this serious error and a positive summer recruitment window is encouraging, but the problems were not only with who United brought in, but who they let go. Again, the club know there have been errors, decisions made on the whim of a manager. And while it was welcomed by fans at the time, the talent purge under Louis van Gaal was disastrous.
With injuries hitting the team now and the club unable to do little about it because a small squad can’t be added to until January, fans can look at the players who got away through the wonderful lens of hindsight and wonder if they’d help the team right now.
Wilfried Zaha
Though Zaha was paid for with money from David Moyes' budget, he was bought by Sir Alex Ferguson. The transfer was largely lauded, United again buying an emerging English talent.
Zaha, 21, was one of United most impressive players pre-season. Quick and skilful, he provided the only bright spot in Moyes' first game, a friendly in Bangkok, when he came on as a sub and came closer to scoring than any other player. He was a quiet outsider at the start of the trip, who, according to Paddy Crerand, "looked like a little boy lost on the flight to Bangkok". That’s Crerand who thought that ‘Cesc’ from Francesc Fabregas was short for ‘Cecil’.
Europes Top 7 Dribblers as it stands
Average successful dribbles per 90 minutes:
– Wilfried Zaha (5.2)
– Neymar (4.8)
– Angel Di Maria (4.7)
– Nabil Fekir (4.4)
– Frank Ribery (4.3)
– Youcef Atal (4.3)
– Nicolas Pépé (4.0)#TastiestTekkers pic.twitter.com/IQ19wNz5wz— Tasty Tekkers (@TastyTekkers) October 12, 2019
I spoke to Rio Ferdinand in Yokohama and he said: “Wilfried is a great new signing. He’s a nice kid from Croydon who’s fitted in well with the team. He’s young, eager to please and wants to do well. He’s raw, but he has an unbelievable range of skills. I can see potential in him being a really top player if he knits it all together, works hard on the training field and learns from the senior players at the club. If he does that and listens to the coaches then he’ll have a great career.”
It didn’t come close to working out. He started in the Community Shield win over Wigan when Moyes won a trophy in his first game, but started only two league games and came on in two more. The man who came from and returned to Crystal Palace had an awful time in Manchester. False rumours that he’d had an unwise relationship which were passed on by United fans didn’t help.
Zaha, the only player ever with a surname starting with ‘Z’ to play for United, was homesick and returned to London after a year, where his career picked up again.
Daley Blind
So close to being a Champions League finalist with Ajax last season, Blind enjoyed a peerless season back in Holland, playing 57 times including 12 times in the Champions League, usually alongside Mathias de Ligt, as Ajax overcame Real Madrid and Juventus after qualifying from a group with Bayern Munich and Benfica.
He was another player United fans weren’t concerned about seeing leave. Brought in by Van Gaal, Blind was versatile – maybe too versatile – for his own good. He could function as a midfielder, as a centre half or full-back. He could do an excellent man-marking job and kept Romelu Lukaku quiet whenever Everton played United.
Daley Blind’s functional technique is so, so good. pic.twitter.com/LjJZ6zp6O7
— Sjors van Veen (@SjorsvVeen) October 7, 2019
United's current midfield is weak. Blind, 29, would hardly excite fans, but he performed better than the current charges are.
Jonny Evans
United’s defence is looking better this season and Axel Tuanzebe remains a bright hope for the future, but Chris Smalling is thriving in Italy and Jonny Evans, yet another signing most United fans were happy to see go, was a lifelong United fan who’d cost the club nothing and who was in his prime. The long-time Northern Ireland international played 198 games for the club between 2007-15, winning nine major trophies under Sir Alex Ferguson, but he left for peanuts.
Why were so many happy to see him go? Evans had a poor season in 2014-15, but all players have poor seasons. He was a decent United player who was allowed to leave and he began to thrive at West Brom, saw interest from Arsenal and joined Leicester City, where he’s a key player.
35' A block from Jonny Evans keeps the Netherlands at bay! Ten minutes to half time. 0-0. #GAWA pic.twitter.com/40KGBSsH28
— Northern Ireland (@NorthernIreland) October 10, 2019
Evans’ family home remains in Manchester, he speaks well of the club and said that his former defensive partner Harry Maguire was exactly what United needed.
Memphis Depay
A strange one. Excelled at PSV and United did lots of background checks on him. I went to PSV to see Philip Cocu in 2015 and also spoke to lots of people at the club on and off the record. Everyone praised his attitude, his professionalism and his drive. Stories of him staying behind after training abound at PSV’s training ground abounded.
Yet at United, he had a reputation for ostentation. Several senior players had a word with him about the message he was sending out and rolled their eyes when he told them his plans for a weekend in Paris. His teammates were trying to help him, to advise him. Being known for wearing fake gold teeth or having the biggest and flashiest car in the team when you’re not even in the team was not positive.
Van Gaal tried to make things work for Depay, but he let his boss down and his omission from the FA Cup final squad was perceived as the right call from Van Gaal. The way Depay played at Stamford Bridge as a late substitute was highlighted in the press. It proved he didn’t understand the stakes when his team leading 1-0 away from home.
Memphis Depay has scored more goals (5) than any other Netherlands player in their UEFA Euro qualifying campaign.
Coming up clutch once again. pic.twitter.com/OR3LIrGApP
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) October 10, 2019
In Holland, people saw him as another highly talented young player who couldn’t handle fame and money. He did look up to Zlatan Ibrahimovic when he arrived and his behaviour was moderated, but 28 starts and 25 appearances off the bench, with only 7 goals (all of them in his first season), shows how little he did in two years in Manchester.
And yet…look at him now. He plays every week in a decent Lyon side, he’s already scored six in ten games this season. He’s versatile, he plays every week, he scored 12 and set up 16 last season, including the winner at Manchester City away and two against City at home. And he plays in the same team as Rafael, another player allowed to leave too soon.
Josh King
Norwegian striker Joshua King joined United as a 16-year-old youth team player from Oslo side Valarenga in 2008. United then were the reigning English, European and world champions and King shone in youth and reserve teams under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Despite that, seasoned watchers had their doubts. “I didn’t think he’d make it at United,” says his compatriot and former Premier League striker Jan Aage Fjortoft. “The step was too high and the odds went against him, but to be fair to him he had a lot of injuries and football’s about timing. Still, his time at United served him very well as he learned around so many great players.”
Plenty of those great players were in attack. King realistically stood little chance of breaking into a team with, at various times, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez, Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen, Chicharito and Daniel Welbeck ahead of him. Those were the days.
It's a pity former #manutd player Josh King is not current @ManUtd player Josh King. The players that once weren't good enough for United are now better than United #norspa pic.twitter.com/fm8mjkkTO6
— Ginger Assassin (@ginger_assassin) October 12, 2019
King came on twice for United’s first team – in a dead rubber Champions League match against Galatasaray and secondly in a cup match against Wolves…before Wolves were really good.
King went on loan to Preston North End, then Borussia Monchengladbach in 2011. He went to Hull City in 2012 before joining championship side Blackburn Rovers full-time in 2013. He joined Bournemouth in 2015 and he’s thrived under Eddie Howe.
Though hardly prolific, he scored 12 Premier League goals last season, more than any Manchester United player last season, more than Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.
