"You'll never win anything with kids". These words loomed in the heads of the Manchester United fans and players alike, as United crashed to a 3-1 away defeat to Aston Villa on the opening day of the 1995-96 season. The season started with the indomitable trio of Mark Hughes, Paul Parker and Andrei Kanchelskis leaving Old Trafford and throwing the club in doom and gloom.
With a serious void to be filled in the squad, Sir Alex stiffened the sinews and brought in some youthful exuberance in the form of David Beckham, Paul Scholes and the Neville brothers. Doubts were answered as Ferguson and the 'kids' went on to win the Premier League and the FA Cup later that season.
Sixteen seasons on, Sir Alex has again chosen revolution, rather than evolution, as the forte for his summer rebuilding programme. The bunch of youngsters, or 'Fergie's Fledglings' as many would call them, formed the backbone of the United squad for the next decade. But the final fading light of that golden generation, with Paul Scholes and Gary Neville making the 2010-11 campaign their last, has sparked Ferguson's most radical overhaul of his United squad since the summer of '96.
United opened their cheque-book to sign Blackburn Rovers' 19 year old defender Phil Jones for a fee of 16.5 million pounds and soon followed up with the signings of winger Ashley Young from Aston Villa (17m pounds) and goalkeeper David de Gea from Atletico Madrid (18m pounds). The trio has injected some much-needed youth and ambition in the squad after the departures of Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Owen Hargreaves, Wes Brown, John O'Shea and Edwin van der Sar.
Returning loanees, Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck have been given their chance to stake a claim to emulate the golden generation, while next season is expected to see the emergence of the teenage stars of the FA Youth Cup success of last season - Ryan Tunnicliffe, Ravel Morrison and Paul Pogba.
United fell to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Barcelona in the Champions League Finals in May and some argue that Ferguson has had the summer reshaping with an ulterior motive that United avenge their Barcelona loss this season. But clearly, Sir Alex has delved into the transfer market with an eye on the years to come.
The team of 2015 is taking shape. Phil Jones, a future captain for both club and country, and Chris Smalling have the flare and potential to emulate the Steve Bruce - Gary Pallister nexus of the early-1990s. David de Gea has the ability to play for a decade and more, as could the Da Silva twins at full-back. And in the midfield, Anderson now had the opportunity to live up to the hype, four years after joining from Porto.
Figures like Rooney, Hernandez, Fletcher and Valencia still have their best years ahead and with the leadership of Vidic, Sir Alex can now visualize a team he will be passing on to his successor.
Sir Alex Ferguson, who turns 70 at the turn of the year, has already built three great teams at Old Trafford. He might have left the stage by the time his fourth emulates its glorious predecessors, but the legacy of the Red Devils appears to have been secured and sealed.
Sixteen seasons on, Sir Alex has again chosen revolution, rather than evolution, as the forte for his summer rebuilding programme. The bunch of youngsters, or 'Fergie's Fledglings' as many would call them, formed the backbone of the United squad for the next decade. But the final fading light of that golden generation, with Paul Scholes and Gary Neville making the 2010-11 campaign their last, has sparked Ferguson's most radical overhaul of his United squad since the summer of '96.
United opened their cheque-book to sign Blackburn Rovers' 19 year old defender Phil Jones for a fee of 16.5 million pounds and soon followed up with the signings of winger Ashley Young from Aston Villa (17m pounds) and goalkeeper David de Gea from Atletico Madrid (18m pounds). The trio has injected some much-needed youth and ambition in the squad after the departures of Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Owen Hargreaves, Wes Brown, John O'Shea and Edwin van der Sar.
Returning loanees, Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck have been given their chance to stake a claim to emulate the golden generation, while next season is expected to see the emergence of the teenage stars of the FA Youth Cup success of last season - Ryan Tunnicliffe, Ravel Morrison and Paul Pogba.
United fell to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Barcelona in the Champions League Finals in May and some argue that Ferguson has had the summer reshaping with an ulterior motive that United avenge their Barcelona loss this season. But clearly, Sir Alex has delved into the transfer market with an eye on the years to come.
The team of 2015 is taking shape. Phil Jones, a future captain for both club and country, and Chris Smalling have the flare and potential to emulate the Steve Bruce - Gary Pallister nexus of the early-1990s. David de Gea has the ability to play for a decade and more, as could the Da Silva twins at full-back. And in the midfield, Anderson now had the opportunity to live up to the hype, four years after joining from Porto.
Figures like Rooney, Hernandez, Fletcher and Valencia still have their best years ahead and with the leadership of Vidic, Sir Alex can now visualize a team he will be passing on to his successor.
Sir Alex Ferguson, who turns 70 at the turn of the year, has already built three great teams at Old Trafford. He might have left the stage by the time his fourth emulates its glorious predecessors, but the legacy of the Red Devils appears to have been secured and sealed.
Annujj Palaye
FYBMM
Roll number 30
awesome..!respect..!Glory glory man utd..!
ReplyDeleteFrom a Chelsea fan - Whatever dude! :(
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