MANCHESTER United have scored more league goals this season than at any time since 2001-02 - and yet they go into the summer break in desperate need of a new striker.And it is difficult not to wonder what would have happened had Ruud van Nistelrooy not had the training-ground bust-up with Cristiano Ronaldo that led to manager Sir Alex Ferguson cashing in to the tune of a reported £10.3m.
Van Nistelrooy's goals have fired Madrid to the verge of the La Liga title in his first season at the Bernabeu. If they win their last three games, Madrid will pip arch-rivals Barcelona after a remarkable revival from the depths of a cold winter.
And it is bizarre, at the end of a season in which United scored 83 goals, their best return since van Nistelrooy's first season of 2001-02, that there should be such an evident need of a man who can hit the back of the net (150 goals in 219 United appearances) with the unerring monotony which the Dutchman has managed.Young guns Wayne Rooney and Ronaldo weighed in with 23 goals apiece as the Reds raced to the Premiership title, to the FA Cup final and to the Champions League semi-final.
There were also the contributions of Louis Saha (13 in 25 starts) until injury wrecked his season and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's typical addition of 11 from the bench or after coming in from the cold.
And with midfielders and defenders also chipping in - Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs scored six apiece, Paul Scholes seven, and Nemanja Vidic four - it was enough to keep United's noses in front of ultra-cautious Chelsea.
Such a sharing of the workload may be the plus side of the departure of van Nistelrooy.For four seasons, United's basic plan was to get the ball wide to David Beckham, Ronaldo or Ryan Giggs and hope they could plonk it in an area where van Nistelrooy lurked.
But van Nistelrooy was not a great workhorse, and was not the best striker at holding the ball and bringing others into play, a frequent source of irritation to teammates and management alike.But he has flourished in Spain, where they don't care how many miles you cover, as long as you keep hitting the back of the net.
Van Nistelrooy has already bagged 38 goals in 56 games for Madrid, to make this his second-best season since leaving PSV Eindhoven in 2001.
And team-mate David Beckham, who supplied so many of his United goals, believes he has become a better player since moving to Spain.
"It is hard to better what he did and what he achieved at Manchester United but he is a great player who will move on and will get better, and he has proved that at Real Madrid," said Beckham.
"His main strength is scoring goals. That's what he does, that is what he is paid to do. But he also works hard for the team."
quite an interesting article.
