2007 saw United sign 2 promising youngsters for quite a lot of money. Nani from Sporting Lisbon and Anderson from FC Porto were bought for a combines sum of close to 30 million pounds, continuing with their sudden spurt of signings from Portugal, probably the effect of Carlos Quieroz being around. This was the same year the Owen Hargreaves saga finally ended with the player finally being allowed to join United after a long battle with Bayern.
Of course us United fans were thrilled with the signings, a Portugese winger promising as much as his predecessor who was already lighting up the league with his showmanship, a Brazilian (they are always welcome!) and Hargreaves, the ideal long term replacement for Roy Keane.
It has been strange how their United careers have panned out over these 3 years. With just 2 appearances last year and none this year, Hargreaves has been a frustrating buy, not because his performances havent justified his price tag or hype, but because these appearances have been so few. Thankfully, the growth of Darren Fletcher (from a player who many felt didn't deserve to be at United to a player somone who is so vital that his suspension was seen as the main reason behind United losing out to Barcelona in the 2009 Champion's League final) has meant that United havent missed Hargreaves' presence so much.
Anderson and Nani were seen by many as Man United's long term replacements to the soon to retire members long serving illustrious members of the school of 94, Giggs and Scholes. Carrick has been good at times, but too inconsistent to be the automatic choice to replace the legendary Scholes. Anderson has again, been too inconsistent, with brilliant performances often followed by mediocre ones. It hasn't helped that Sir Alex's rotation policy has meant that Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Fletcher, Hargreaves (when fit), Anderson have been fighting for the 2 places in the centre of midfield. Only a consistent run in the team would help us really judge if Anderson is up to it, we hope for the best, he has after all shown that he has the right spirit.
Nani has been an enigma right from the start. A decent first season that saw him play 41 games for United and although he scored 4 goals, there was enough to suggest he could be a star in the future. However, since then, the next 2 years have seen him only play 48 games in all, with the current campaign being the worst. Of course it must have been really difficult living in the shadows of probably the best player in the world, competing for the same position, but Nani was not able to make the most of his opportunities whenever asked to play on the opposite wing with Ronaldo, or replace him. His performances meant that he became the laughing stock among fans. This must have not done anything to boost his confidence, which was at an all-time low, with constant comparisons to Ronaldo when he was at United and the expectations of filling the void once he left for Madrid. I personally have always felt that Nani deserved a continous run in the team and a vote of confidence, after all, he is still only 23! At the start of the 2009-10 season, again United had Valencia brought in to fill in the void left by Ronaldo, suggesting again that they didn't trust Nani to step up. In fact, in the off season, many a United fan were "ROFL" when he suggested that he was ready to wear Ronaldo's boots. All this negative press and derogatory, discouraging remarks with a lack of support from his club wouldn't have helped the youngster (HE IS ONLY 23!!), and the burden of expectations got to him and as expected, he was relegated to the bench after a few unconvincing performances at the start of the season. An outburst against the boss didn't help matters, usually such action has always been met with a finger (boot / dryer??) pointing towards the exit door (Beckham, Keane, Stam and Nistelrooy remember?). However, what has transpired in the last couple of weeks has been astonishing and quite pleasing as a United fan. Sir Alex has shocked all of us by giving him a second chance, when he thought he was to be shipped on the next boat to whoever was ready to buy him. All it has required is a few encouraging words and support from the team and performances against Hull, Man City and Arsenal have made United fans stand up (spring up) from their seats and take notice. It might be too early to blow the trumpet, but his bursting runs, accurate crosses (a rarity in the past), his awareness of fellow players and willingness to help out at the other end have meant that there is a new ray of hope. When he skipped past 3 Arsenal defenders for the first goal and kept his cool to assist on the 2nd goal after a bull run from Rooney, we finally believed that persisting with Nani has not been a waste after all. I only hope this amazing run of amazing performances continues and we can beat Chelsea to the title and do well in Europe as well.
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