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Tuesday Kickoff: Keane hits out at Man United transfer policy; Messi nearing record; and more

RooneyVidicUpsetManUnited1-Fulham (Getty)

By DAN KARELL

Roy Keane has called out the Manchester United front office as an explanation for their recent struggles.

The former Man United midfielder revealed his thoughts on the team’s struggles and has hit out at the club for “cutting corners” in the transfer market over the last few seasons. Keane called for Man United to sign at least five or six players this summer.

“They’ve kind of cut corners in terms of transfers in the last few years, they’ve not gone out and got the big players, and it’s just caught up with them this year,” Keane told ITV, where he is a pundit in addition to being Ireland National Team assistant coach.

Keane however did back under-fire manager David Moyes, saying that the manager was in the middle of a “rebuilding” phase. Man United tied Fulham, 2-2 last Sunday after a last-gasp equalizer from the London side gave them a point.

Here are some more stories to kick off your Tuesday:

MESSI APPROACHES LA LIGA SCORING MILESTONE

It was only a matter of time before Lionel Messi passed Spanish league legends Alfredo Di Stefano and Raul in the scoring charts, but now it could come as soon as Saturday.

Following his two-goal performance last Sunday, Messi took his tally to 225 goals in La Liga, two behind Di Stefano and three behind Raul. Once Messi passes the Real Madrid legends, he’ll move into third place behind Hugo Sanchez (234 goals) and Telmo Zarra (251 goals).

Despite suffering multiple injuries in the first half of the season, Messi has still racked up 11 La Liga goals, and 21 in all competitions. Barcelona’s next La Liga match is on Saturday against Rayo Vallecano.

QUICK KICKS

Borussia Dortmund are reportedly set to sign Adrian Ramos this summer from Hertha Berlin to replace Robert Lewandowski. (REPORT)

Atletico Madrid midfielder Tiago had a screw placed in his left wrist after breaking it during Atleti’s last match against Almeria. (REPORT)

Boca Juniors playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme is back in full training after missing more than two and a half months with a thigh injury and is expected to make his return on Sunday against Belgrano. (REPORT)

The proposed London Underground strike has been called off, allowing games to proceed at Fulham, Arsenal, and West Ham United. (REPORT)

Argentina defender Nicolas Otamendi has moved on-loan to Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro. (REPORT)

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What do you think of these reports? Agree with Keane’s comments? Do you see Messi moving into third place this weekend? Think Adrian Ramos would be a smart signing for Borussia?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Roy Keane’s transfer policy was buying Man U underperformers. Pity he doesn’t have a club to manage now — he’d could go on a real buying binge

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  2. I personally love the fact that ManU is in a bit of a free fall, and hope it continues for a few seasons. ManU defense has under performed and been racked with injuries, so they bleed goals. Their attack centers around RVP & Rooney, one has been injured and the other is a troll with hair plugs (tallented, but I can’t stand him). Without Championship money, appeal, and Fergie ManU is going to find it hard to attract & keep top tallent in the transfer window.
    Here’s to hoping they stay in the 6-8 range for 2-3 yrs.

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  3. I agree with TIV. For once, lol. Keen is right but there is so much more to it. Fact is under Fergie there would be the same struggles. Vidic is a shell of himself. Did you see him get smoked on the second goal? He and Rio were great last season and this year they are older and injured and no one has stepped up..

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    • If you watch that, Rooney follows the runner to the top of the box but then just… stops and lets him go. But yes the center backs also should have been paying attention and were not. Basically Rafael is the only established defender under the age of the 30.
      Moyes hasn’t been doing that great but the player situation isn’t helping.

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  4. http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/manchester-uniteds-696m-bill-glazers-spend-more-on-debt-than-players-as-moyes-struggles-29997003.html

    The numbers are mindboggling, but the article says ManU’s owners spent 696 million pounds on debt service and interest in the 9 years since their purchase, compared to 382 million pounds on players.

    The thrust of the article seems to be an apologia, that Moyes is not getting the same player expenditures as other Big Clubs. But Fergie managed to win with most of the same people last season.

    I think the debt versus payroll discussion is, however, the answer to Keane’s complaints. Teams are being bought as LBOs sometimes now, and basically the “owners can’t afford the house.” The Houston Astros are the most dramatic version, slashing payroll to pay $200-300 million in purchase debt. But Man U apparently has to play on something of a budget and perhaps Moyes can’t win with an overdog type team without a bunch more money spent.

    Expenditures are part of the problem, yes, Keane, but so is the fact that the current manager is no Fergie in terms of elevating a team beyond the sum of its parts.

    Reply
    • That’s over a billion in USA. Crazy town. They won’t be able to continue that with Fergie gone. I blame the FA for not having strong enough rules. I think an Italian fellow who has been convicted for Fraud is going to be allowed to by a Championship team. I gotta say though that in many ways it is Fergie’s fault. Some of his choices had little to do with money. Keeping Giggs around and short changing Pogba on game time had nothing to do with money. Fergie may have not truely needed Pogba but with Mourinho

      Reply
    • That’s over a billion in USA. Crazy town. They won’t be able to continue that with Fergie gone. I blame the FA for not having strong enough rules. I think an Italian fellow who has been convicted for Fraud is going to be allowed to by a Championship team. I gotta say though that in many ways it is Fergie’s fault. Some of his choices had little to do with money. Keeping Giggs around and short changing Pogba on game time had nothing to do with money. Fergie may have not truely needed Pogba but hey Mourinho is around now. That’s gotta be fun.

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    • The owners, the managers, and directors have all said that money is available so I don’t believe that they are being cheap out of necessity.

      Fergie went through a big money spend on players like Forlan and Veron who all busted in the mid 2000s. Since then, he mostly bought cheap. Plus, United always favored developing their players either through their academy or bringing them in as youths – Raphael, Januzaj, Jones, Smalling, Evans, Welbeck, Cleverly, etc.

      Wenger gets the same criticism targeted at him: “Why not buy the big names?” Both teams have since gone out and gotten Ozil and Mata so that mentality could be changing.

      Fergie was the best in the world at getting a group of average players playing like world class talent in the league. In the Champions League we’d often get caught out, but it worked domestically.

      Moyes does not have that magic. He should never have gotten the job. Moyes came into the job thinking that everyone would sign for United because it’s United. Look at the names the team was linked with. He faced a hard truth: there are 20 clubs in the world at the same stature as United, and today’s players are mostly mercenaries.

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      • Phil Jones De Gea and Ashley Young all costs 18 million and higher. United may have bought youth they didnt buy cheap though.

    • “Fergie managed to win with most of the same people last season.”

      i keep hearing this, and i’m surprised it’s getting so much play (maybe due to simplicity?).

      a lot can change in a season, even with the ‘same people’. players get older, injured, out of form; a lot of that, the manager himself has no control over. (technically, no manager ever has the ‘same people’.)

      add to that, with a new manager comes new relationships; when you rely on man-management and personality like fergie did, it is understandable that a new manager may not immediately (or ever) have everybody playing like they did before.

      and lastly, man u was not that good last year. they were certainly good–good enough to win the league title–but the competition is much better this year than last, and i don’t think even fergie *gasp* could get them to win this year.

      in conclusion, please please please keep moyes.

      signed,
      f— man u

      Reply
      • Heresy! You don’t think that Sir Alex could manage them to a Leauge title this year? Sir Alex (not “fergie”) could come in with only three games left in the season, with the club down 15 points in the table, and still find a way to pull it out on the final Sunday.

      • Fergie is a pickled Muppet who in a moment of clarity realize the ship was sinking and set up Moyes to fail. RvP back to The Gunners and Europa League for ManUre!

    • The Astros have been stockpiling talent both in the minors and in management. It will start to show this season, and they will probably be .500+ in 2015.

      Reply
  5. Could it be that Clint was left off the roster Sunday against Man U to be fresh for Liverpool on Wednesday? I like Liverpool, but Clint more and would love to see Clint score a goal or two.

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    • This is what makes ManU’s tie that much more embarrassing. Fulham didn’t even have their ‘A’ squad out there!

      Clint will be in the line-up tomorrow.

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      • That is not necessarily true. Several of the starters from the Man U game are actually starters for Fulham. The rest of the starters, from what I remember were on the bench. I think the problem has to do more with form. Since the move to Tottenham, Clint has seem to lose a bit of that gritty fight and determination he use to have. Just my observation.

    • Dempsey was left off because he hasn’t performed. Now that his loan is coming to an end, the club is ensuring that the players who’ll be there for the remainder of the season get time.

      He wouldn’t have missed an entire game to be rested. He would have just been benched. Plus, on form, Liverpool is a lot tougher than United.

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    • Haven’t you read all the posters on this site lately? They have concluded that at 30 Dempsey is washed up and he was never that good anyway.

      Reply
    • I know Ramos has been doing rather well himself. I checked and he has 14 goals this season. Berlin will suffer losing him. From what I can tell, Ramos is center forward whereas Aubameyang is something of a speed merchant/winger.

      Reply

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