Teddy Sheringham has never been short of an opinion when it comes to Manchester United , and his conversation with BOYLE Sports produced some of his most detailed thinking yet on what the club needs to do this summer to give Michael Carrick the tools to compete at the top. Central to that plan is bringing in Elliot Anderson and Adam Wharton , though Sheringham was under no illusions about the cost involved.
Sheringham also gave his verdict on Bruno Fernandes record-breaking season at the club, argues he still falls short of Paul Scholes and tackles Roy Keane's latest comments on the current Manchester United captain comparing him with the leadership styles of Tony Adams , John Terry , Roy Keane , and Steve Bruce as his benchmarks.
Away from Old Trafford , Sheringham also gave a colourful verdict on the Southampton spygate saga and the Football League's decision to remove them from the Championship play-off final. He had a strong alternative view on how the punishment should have been handled, and he did not shy away from saying so.
Bruno Fernandes
Better Than Scholes?
Is Bruno Fernandes the greatest playmaker of the Premier League era? Better than Paul Scholes ? I think he still has a little way to go before he is better than Scholes , but I do like him. He finds that killer pass, and he can score a goal, and he is very confident in what he can do with a football. What has really been great about Bruno is how he has kept performing in so many struggling teams over the last few years, so yes, he is very good, but still a touch behind Paul Scholes for me.
Keane's Criticism
Is Bruno Fernandes a Manchester United captain? I do not like flitty players as captains. I never have done. I like captains who are strong players, strong with will and desire, like Tony Adams , John Terry , Roy Keane , and Steve Bruce . The guys who are ever-present. They are a hundred per cent every single day. You know what you are going to get, and they can tell other people what to be doing as well.
When things were not going so well for United , some of the antics from Fernandes left a little bit to be desired for me. It was not how you would want the captain of Manchester United to respond, but he seems to have got his head around it now, and maybe the right people have had the right chats with him about what he needs to show in terms of leadership qualities.
He has definitely improved in that respect. Maybe he had to learn that side of the game, and it looks like he has, so let us hope he continues to develop and get better as the captain of Manchester United .
Captaincy Alternatives
Harry Maguire had his time, but you would say that it was in a period where the back four were all over the place. The left back was twenty yards up there. The right back was thirty yards back there. The two centre-halves did not know where the other was up to. It made Maguire look like he did not know what he was doing, and that is not great for any captain.
For me, Harry Maguire is still definitely captain material for England and Manchester United , but otherwise, there is not anyone else who is of the right age with the experience and quality to lead by example, is there? Even if United went and signed Elliot Anderson or Adam Wharton , they are still young lads, and you would be taking the armband off Bruno Fernandes , and I am not sure anyone is ready for that. I think he is the only one capable of being Manchester United captain at the club at the moment.
Transfer Needs
Solving The Midfield
Does Adam Wharton missing out on the World Cup make it a good time for Manchester United to get that deal done? I think Elliot Anderson is the better player, but I do like both of them. They are both very comfortable on the ball, and maybe you will struggle to get Anderson away from Evangelos Marinakis .
We saw what happened with Morgan Gibbs-White last year. He nearly went to Tottenham Hotspur . I was pleased to see the owner of a club outside the big teams keep a player. I presume Marinakis broke the bank to keep him at Nottingham Forest . You do not want to see all the best players going to the biggest teams, do you?
You want to see them shining for other teams across the league. Everyone already knows how good Elliot Anderson is. I think Evangelos Marinakis knows how good he is, too. He is playing for Nottingham Forest , and he could be starting for England . That is unusual these days. Think about the offer Tottenham Hotspur made to sign Morgan Gibbs-White . It was about 50 million pounds.
Maybe a bit more. I would put Anderson above that. You are already talking 80 million pounds for a player that Marinakis does not want to sell, so that is 100 million pounds to get him to the table. You might get it done for 120 million pounds. But you are Manchester United , so Marinakis is going to want 140 million pounds, and then he might consider selling his best player. It is going to take silly money to get him out of Forest this summer.
Shock Signing?
Which positions do Manchester United need to strengthen this summer? I think the answer is everywhere. There are obviously good players at Manchester United , some very good players in fact, but any positions where you think you can enhance this squad by bringing in a better player than the ones you have already got, you have just got to go out and do it.
What about Trent Alexander-Arnold to Manchester United ? That would be a signing that would certainly liven things up in the North West , would it not? United have so much of the ball, or at least they will be hoping to have so much of the ball at Old Trafford , that you need someone that finds a player with some ridiculous ball from right back to break the deadlock.
What a signing that would be. I have even heard that Sir Alex Ferguson knew Trent's grandmother. I wonder if Sir Alex could help get that deal done in some way. I think with Casemiro leaving, you need to be looking at players like Elliot Anderson and Adam Wharton , not Cole Palmer . Kobbie Mainoo reminds me of Michael Carrick . He is a Rolls-Royce of a footballer, but you need that little bit of grit in there to win tackles and take on the fight with teams, too, which is why United need to sign a player like Anderson .
A player like Anderson or Wharton will get right to people as well and win the ball, pass it on, and get forward too when the game allows it. United need to make a couple of midfield acquisitions of that type of player to play alongside Kobbie Mainoo or in place of him, depending on the game. They would be great buys for Manchester United , but it could cost 200 million pounds to get them both to Old Trafford . Petty cash, innit.
Southampton
The Spygate Verdict
Kicking Southampton out of the play-off final? The whole thing was unbelievable. When it was Leeds United spying on teams, they got that big fine. Southampton have been fined, and they lose the chance to win promotion to the Premier League ? It is just absolutely absurd.
The Football League should not have done that, but then again, what a deterrent to any other clubs thinking of doing the same. It lays down the law, does it not, but would it really make much of a difference? Everyone has all the information and data on set pieces, formations, and how teams play on their phones now. What I do not understand is what Southampton even thought they were gaining from doing it, or why the manager would sanction it.
I will tell you what, no one on the board at Southampton who is a Southampton supporter made that decision. I expected the Football League to find an excuse to kick a team like Millwall out to stop them getting to the Premier League , but not Southampton .
What I would have done is let Southampton play Hull City in the final, and if they won, they would have had to give half of the money they would make from getting promotion to Middlesbrough , 50 million pounds or something. That way, everyone is happy. Maybe not Hull City . Make it known that there is a huge fine to actually stop any more cheating, but you cannot stop a club from going up to the Premier League . That is too harsh in my book.
The Championship
Coventry City , Ipswich Town , and Hull City . The three best clubs in the Championship cannot have gone up this season because we have missed out on Millwall . I watched a lot of Millwall this season, and they have got a player, Femi Azeez , who is a fantastic left-footed winger on the right.
He has so much quality. He has been the icing on the cake this season. He was the difference every time I saw Millwall play, and you have got to have that little twinkling skill among all the strong stuff and desire of a team like Millwall that can compete all over the pitch. He was that little sprinkle of stardust. I thought Millwall were the third-best team in the Championship this season, so they should have won promotion.
What can you say about Middlesbrough ? They have just got to keep plugging away, have they not? The only way they make it back up into the Premier League at this rate is if they get into the top two and stay there next year, rather than having to worry about any more play-off games.
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