Torres is now officially the best striker

Tevez has looked good in his lat 3 games. He scored an excellent goal on Sunday. He's getting better yet some still question his ability.

Originally Posted by MUFC One Love

Phil, imo we just couldn't afford him, why chase him for so long? Berbatov seems like a recent target. If some accounts are to be believed we didn't even want Tevez originally.

Don't believe the comments about Tevez at all. Especailly since the player and Fergie have said interest was registered right at the end of last season.

As for Torres, you can track a player for x number of years and then decide he might not be good enough. Don't think it's the money at all. Utd also tried at the 11th hour to sign Berbatov from under Spurs noses - well documented - so he isn't a recent target IMO.

You can also look at this way, Utd still haven't replaced Ruud so need a striker to compete with Saha 'leading the line' so to speak. Smith and Rossi made way for Tevez. So as per with Utd these days we needed two players for a key area and until Fergie gets his man we're having to make do with one - and pray that Saha doesn't pick up a predictable injury. Like I said see the Hargreaves scenario last Summer. Just my opinion like but I don't think money's got anything to do with it.

Originally Posted by wiganste

Torres' goals this season

1 v Chelsea (fair enough)
2 v Derby - £#%&!ing hell, any decent striker should score a couple past that lot
3 v Reading reserves. Magic

He does look good, probably too good for that lot. But I'm still not sure about him. I like Tevez. He gets stuck in and he's got a fat arse like Hughesie. Always good for sticking it into a defender and holding the ball up.

I bet anyone on here that Tevez ends up with more medals than Torres this season.

The Chelsea goal was one on one with Ben Haim

Also didn't Arsenal track Torres for ages but Wenger decided he wasn't consistant enough? Anyway, lets see what the situation is at the end of the season. He may have scored 30 goals but will he have won a Premier League title?

Originally Posted by MUFC One Love

Phil, imo we just couldn't afford him, why chase him for so long? Berbatov seems like a recent target. If some accounts are to be believed we didn't even want Tevez originally.

Gill stated around the middle of last season that Tevez and Mashedpotatoe were both offered to us the summer before last but we turned them down because we weren't sure about the validity of the 'deal' that West Sham signed

I know, but we was going for other strikers reports suggested then when Tevez became available suddenly he was the one we have wanted for ages. Doesn't matter anyway I'm sure targets change weekly etc.

Originally Posted by Whalefish

Also didn't Arsenal track Torres for ages but Wenger decided he wasn't consistant enough? Anyway, lets see what the situation is at the end of the season. He may have scored 30 goals but will he have won a Premier League title?

Arsenal tried to sign Torres back in '02 on the back of his performances at the Euro under-19s. As far as I'm aware they haven't moved for him since then.

We've been watching him for years too and and I understand we looked at him again very heavily towards the back-end of last season - I believe just as heavily as the dippers.

As you say, I think the primary reason more clubs didn't move for him was his inconsistency. For the £25-30m-ish the dippers reportedly ended up paying for him, most teams would be wanting someone who has proven that they can do it week-in and week-out. Torres never really did that at Atletico.

Originally Posted by Tiberian

The hype around Tevez seems entirely based on his performances in South America, which can be unreliable or the likes of Martin Palermo. D'Alessandro, etc would be the leading players in the world game these days.

I'm sorry, but this is a blatant straw man. I don't think anyone has ever suggested that Martin Palermo would become one of the leading players in the world. Similarly, the consensus on D'Alessandro, a view I shared, has always been that he most likely wasn't physically up to playing at the very highest level in Europe.

Obviously the differences in playing style and standard between English and South American competition, not to mention the general cultural differences, make judging a player's suitability more difficult (this higher level of variance is generally reflected in the transfer fees involved), but that doesn't mean that you can't form a reasonable opinion of a player's technical, physical and pscyhological qualities.

This situation isn't exclusive to Latin American to European transfers either, history would seem to suggest that it applies - albeit generally to a lesser degree - to intra-European transactions as well.

Teves still has an awful lot to prove, You may think that Saha is unreliable, but in the Premier League his is a proven quality.

Saha started 18 league matches last season, playing 1631 total minutes, and scored 8 goals and managed 7 (penultimate pass included) assists. Tevez started 19 matches, playing 1700 total minutes, and managed 7 goals and 6 assists.

United finished top and scored 83 goals in total, West Ham finished 15th and scored 35 goals in total. I think Tevez's record last season compares quite favourably, especially when you take the relative quality of the teams they played for, the experience levels of the two players, and conditions that Tevez played under in the first half of the season into account.

I'm certainly not saying Tevez is as proven a quantity in England as Saha, he's only been here for one season after all, and he obviously still has it all to prove at United, but it seems a little strange to me to write-off Tevez's heroics last season entirely.

Originally Posted by Serenity Now

it seems a little strange to me to write-off Tevez's heroics last season entirely.

Which will be completely down to Tevez' sluggish start at Wham I guess.


But hasn't Tevez historically been sluggish as such when joining a new club ?

Originally Posted by Rhodzy

We fired blanks against them though

Did Reading play 10 men behind the ball last night?

At the end of last season I desperately wanted United to Sell Smith and sign Tevez to replace him and to Sell Saha and replace him with Torres, either retaining Rossi or adding another young striker to complete the 4. I only wanted rid of Saha due to doubts about his fitness and his forever fragile confidence.

I was and am shocked and highly delighted with our summer transfer business, but as big a fan as I am of Saha, I can't help but wish we had Torres instead, he would complete the set and sort us for the next few years.

C'est La Vie...

Statistics only tell part of the story.

Any team needs a focus, a player to lead the line.

Utd have one and ferie doesn't like to play him.

If we didn't have Rooney, Tevez would have been a good signing, but we do have Rooney, and he's better.

Torres looks quality, but the £#%&!fests are way OTT.

Anelka or Huntelaar would have been ideal for United.

Well, for the last 3 or 4 summer's I've been whining on about how Torres should be our number one target.
It never happened & with delicious irony he ended up at that shit hole.

I always thought he was made to wear the shirt..was potentially a perfect partner for Rooney & a great link man to the likes of Ronaldo.
I don't know how or why we didn't go in for him, but it was a mistake in my opinion.

However, now that he plays for Liverpool he can go & £#%&! himself & I hope he breaks his bastard legs.