Quote:
Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky
Agreed but as with Fletcher and Ronnie nani cannot expect a long run in the side until he plays well, both were squad players 'til recently.
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I'm not so sure. There were long spells during the early part of Fletcher's career when he played far too regularly for a lot of people's liking. You could argue that it's only over the last year or two that he's become a genuinely useful player for United, but he's already got 200 first-team appearances to his name. Ronaldo's talent and potential to be what he is was always obvious to most, but if he'd faced the type of competition Nani is currently up against, he'd have struggled to play anywhere near the amount of football he did. Not on his merits as a consistent, reliable performer, anyway. In both cases Fergie sold other players and resisted the urge to spend big on alternatives in order to provide both with the experience needed to give them the best chance to develop into the players he felt they could be.