James wrote:
They're Manchester United though Ricky. Individuals leaving the club won't effect them. Their finances may not be too great, but they'll never go bankrupt. They're the worlds biggest club.
This whole situation reminds me of the Roy Keane outburst. He was quick to come out with similar comments when United went through a barren spell, and pretty much the same spine of the team he slagged off, went on to win the double.
I really couldn't give a shit about Rooney though, or where he ends up. Only thing i've taken out of this, is that it's made me really appreciate how Cesc and the club dealt with the entire summer.
No one's saying they will go bankrupt, mate. It only takes a 5% decrease in your level, or even just staying at the same level you were at the season before, to go backwards in this ever evolving game of ours.
United are in a poor position, a poor position now, and looking at their squad, their financial commitment to said squad, there in a poor position moving forward. Rooney has as good as said that himself, whether you choose to believe him or not is another thing - personally, I do.
Of the team that featured in the Champions League final against Chelsea in 2008, these players are now either gone, or very likely, going by the end of the season.
van der Sar
G. Neville
Hargreaves
Scholes
Giggs
Ronaldo
Tevez
Rooney
That's without mentioning the serious decline of Rio Ferdinand, who hasn't been near a top class player for 2 seasons now. And then there's Wes Brown, Evra, Vidic, O'Shea, Carrick, Park Ji Sung, Owen and Berbatov, who are all reaching the decline phase of their careers - and one or two, the ones with real quality, will be getting itchy feet no doubt after recent events.
Do you see the required talent in the likes of Kuszczak, Rafael, Fabio, Evans, Smalling, Gibson, Cleverly, Fletcher, Gibson, Anderson, Nani, Obertan, Valencia, Wellbeck, Macheda, Bebe, Hernandez - to go on and win the big trophies over the next 5 years, minus the guidance of Ferguson?
I don't, and neither does Rooney - and that's what United and Fergie are banking on. The amount of money they have invested in first recruiting those players, and secondly pinning them down in long-term contracts, where they are paid more for their potential than their current ability, is a massive financial undertaking - similar to what we've seen at Arsenal in the last several years. Basically I'm saying additional serious investment is going to be difficult and would render all of the huge investment in those players futile.
They're in a very precarious position, there's no doubt about it.
