We missed Gerrard and Alonso desperately today. Slag Lucas off all you want - but who else did we have available to play in that position today? Plessis or Aurelio?
But then you comeup a perverse Hobson's choice - if you buy quality, and make them wait until Gerrard is injured and Alonso is suspended, how do you convince that player to stay? Look at our CBs - Dagger is dying for a game, and there are 4 players vying for 2 spots. I like Aurelio - I think he'd not be out of place in a title-winning side - but when he goes down is when someone like Insua is perfect. If you had Evra playing there, you've got 2 world class players for one position. So there has to be a natural sliding scale in skill from the starters to the bench.
Simple fact is that we don’t have the strength in depth that Man U have.
Today, we put on Aurelio, Babel and El Zhar in an attempt to change things. Yesterday, against Blackburn, Man U put on Vidic, Tevez and Giggs.
Vidic is a starter, and was benched with the CL in mind. His replacement was hardly stuff of legend, and got caught out of position when defensive communication broke down and resulted in Santa Cruz scoring. I'm pretty sure we have much better depth at that position. Dagger can't get a game!
Tevez is a prime example of my original point. He is on loan, and doesn't want to sit. He thinks he's good enough to start, and unless Ferguson pays 30 million for him to pick splinters out his arse, he's off.
Giggs is a bench player because he's older, and can no longer put in a 90 minute shift 65 times a year. While he's certainly quality coming off the bench, he's at United still because he's a loyal servant. We have Hyypia who plays that exact role of aging but cagey veteran who can do a job when asked.
But, put aside who they were playing, their result and who we played today and our crushing result – it’s irrelevant in that sense. The only thing relevant is the overall picture and the difference in squad depth.
Had we been able to bring on the likes of Rooney, Tevez, Giggs or Ronaldo then we’d have won today, wouldn’t we? Sadly, our best players of the season, of any season, Gerrard and Alonso – significant game changing players – were not available to us. We couldn’t afford Gareth Barry and so Lucas is our only alternative in midfield.
But Timbo - with all due respect - you're comparing apples and oranges. You're looking at wingers and attacking players and comparing United's depth in that area to our depth in the middle of the park. The example here is Gerrard and Alonso being out, and us dropping to Lucas. That's the beating heart of our attack, our free-role musketeer, and the shining beacon of our midfield, He Who Sprays Hollywood Passes Around. The relevant example for United would be this - in yesterday's game, Ronaldo and Scholes could play no part, and therefore, Anderson would have to start next to Carrick.
Now I ask you - is there that much of a drop-off between Carrick/Anderson and Mascherano/Lucas? And would Gareth Barry have come to sit on the bench until needed? Would it make better sense to buy the young Brazilian player of the year for a few million, or Barry for 20 million, to fill a bit role?
Not to mention that all of United's key players were fit, and could be called upon from the bench, while our key guys were injured or suspended.
So, open to you – is it all about money? Deep down, once you consider the whole picture – it surely is, no?
Certainly money plays a role. But it's hard to buy quality and stick them on the bench. The traditional way of doing it is to buy quality for your starting XI and fill in the bench with younger (or older) players that don't cost so much.
The squad deoth is thinner this year than in years past, and unfortunately concentrated in a few positions, but the quality of the squad is better as a whole, and I feel that the system is more versatile. Pennant can play in one position. Kuyt can play three. Le Tallec could play no position, while Yossi can play in two. Aurelio is versatile, so is Gerrard, Agger, and even Carra can slide across the back line.
Personally, I think dreaming of an ideal world-beating striker isn't as important as getting some better bit players for cheaper - rather than going for example say David Silva, if we could nick say for example Thierry Henry and have him play a McCallister role, you'd come out ahead in the chequebook, and avoid problems like we're having with Agger at the moment.
