Quote:
Originally Posted by ukhotstove
Good deal of that had to do with Chelsea and Roman the cashcow and not just losing one player.
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That just points up how thin the margin of error is for the top teams. Chelsea and Arsenal were close enough to Manchester United at the time that the loss of one major player was significant enough for them to close the gap. Chelsea and Liverpool are that close right now, and Chelsea's cash cow looks to be just as willing to spend now as he did four years ago.
The big problem for Manchester United is that Ronaldo was a relatively rare player -- a goalscorer who is also a winger. They need to replace his position on the field as well as his goals, which means they need two players (unless Berbatov or Rooney really step up their strike rates). If they sign Ribery or Valencia or someone like that, they'll do great and give them terrific width and playmaking, but they aren't going to score 25 goals. Likewise, if they pick up Benzema or Eto'o or some other top-level striker, they'll replace his goals, but they won't replace his width. If they get both, someone's going to lose playing time, whether that's Berbatov, Giggs, Park, or Rooney.
I'm sure Man U is going to have an excellent team next season, but there isn't really any way that Ferguson is going to get away with the luxury of having three strikers who look to be playmakers rather than scorers again.