He signed Ronaldo for a massive fee, in a similar process to hoovering up youngsters you criticise in this thread.
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He saw the raw talent and bought him with the intention of integrating him into his team, while developing him along the way. He certainly wasn't thinking about sticking him on a production line of future saleable assets. BTW he was bought for £12.24 million, and then sold for £80 million. Ferguson was a genius.
Yeah, but it wasn't a speculative buy, he was already 18 and playing in the Champions League. Ferguson saw the raw talent and thought he could improve him, which he did. We are comparing apples with oranges here, clubs like Chelsea are doing an entirely different thing.
He practically signed no players in 3 years at Napoli and turned them from also rans into genuine title contenders. He turned Mertens from an average winger into a world class striker. But never mind, you think he's a mug so I bow down to your greater knowledge.
I said that if you look at how Chelsea have done over a period of seasons then I think it's realistic to think that they would be in a similar position to where they are now if they had looked to integrate a young player or two into their first team every year.
I disagree with you about City, since about 2010 we have become a sign club, but not a sell club - we've signed a lot of players in recent years who we've released once their contracts have run down and there have even been those that we ended up having to pay other clubs to take off our hands.
After Ole left, the club experienced a period where money was tight. That should have been a time when the Academy came into it's own, but instead it became even harder for youngsters to break into the team.
If you had told me back in 2004 when the Academy first opened that in fifteen years time it would have not produced a first team regular at Cardiff for eight years and that it had barely made the club any money in transfer fees during that time, I would have asked so why do we still have one?
There was a message on here about how much Manchester City had made by selling youngsters in the last few years and so, although it grates with me that it so rare to see a young player in their team, they can at least point to their Academy making money for the club which might make the difference between them meeting FFP rules or not. Yes, I know Manchester City are on a different plane than us and so it's a harsh comparison, but we are in the same division as them and yet we have an Academy that does not produce first team players and doesn't make the club any money through sales and hasn't done so for years - something's got to be wrong somewhere when that is happening.
It’s his first season ffs at a club that is known to be deluded was you expecting him to go undefeated all season? He’s completely changing the style of play and culture of the club this doesn’t just happen over night and I’m sure the bad eggs and players he doesn’t want will be gone in the summer as for Ampadu I’m not sure what you’re expecting
Well it's true, the conditions at Napoli and Chelsea are entirely different. Sarriball is now being viewed by some pundits as a somewhat failing system. It's no longer the all conquering new way forward that it once was, and the players are not happy. Chelsea are dropping down the table if you hadn't noticed, and they got shredded by Bournmouth! Now try to put yourself in Abramovich's position, as he watches the wheels coming off. Champions League football is no longer guaranteed for next season, so if he thinks Sarriball isn't working, what is he going to do? I know what I would do :biggrin:
Yet they all forgot to sign one of the greatest players in the history of football, what an oversight that was!
Or maybe it's because he wasn't such a standout player at Sporting, and it wasn't obvious how great he was going to be. I remember when he first played for Man Utd, he was a little bit frustrating to watch, too many stepovers and not enough end product, but SAF soon knocked him into shape being the great manager that he is.
3 goals in 25 games at Sporting certainly didn't suggest a superstar in the making.
What is this "Sarriball" thing? I haven't seen it anywhere but in your posts.
But then, I am not as expert as you and am probably just trying to derail the thread.
In which case just have a word, if we disagree I'm sure you can get it deleted.
But seriously? Sarriball? Is this like tikki takka?
Chelsea at their absolute worst as 'Sarriball' obliterated by Bournemouth in humiliating 4-0 thrashing
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football...urizio-sarris/