The Soccer Blog: Darren Agonistes

Monday, 6 September 2010

Darren Agonistes

By: Ivor | September 5th, 2010

DarrenFletcher_2345881 It took a long time for me to accept Darren Fletcher for who he is. Before him there was true Manchester United royalty. The brilliant Bryan Robson and Roy Keane, and, somewhere in between, the flawed, narcissistically-inclined, sometimes brilliant Fred Karnoesque daily drama that was Pauly Ince. Spoiled is what I was. Look at the club before them and over a hundred years, you’ve only got Frank Barson, Duncan Edwards, Nobby Stiles, and, arguably, the oft-injured Martin Buchan. In his bebop ode to St. Peter, the greatest of jazz bassists Charles Mingus says: “The shoes of the fisherman is some badass shoes.” We-ell, clearly, Roy Keane is gone but not forgotten and he leaves behind some badass boots to fill. Still, despite the Irish maestro’s exit and subsequent retirement, United have won three premiership titles, the European Champions Cup, been Champions Cup finalists and lifted two league cups. Not bad at all, really, So why am I so uneasy?

Darren Fletcher is no natural footballer. That has been apparent for a long time. Brought up to the squad in 2003, the lipless Scotsman was a decent crosser of the ball but too slow to be an effective force on the flanks. Worse, though, was the fact that as impressively willing as he was to come into a game in any position, hustle and run all over the pitch, he could not hold on to the ball, did not tackle well and always always always gave away possession when pressured. I would oftentimes find myself screaming at him in frustration in the midst of a game as he gave away the ball again! Yet the Gaffer persisted with young Darreninho, as we called him, trotting him out there week after week. And I have to admit that I saw him play a number of games where the Strettie Enders booed him relentlessly and City fans chanted that he was “Fergie’s Tartan rent boy!” It didn’t seem to bother him at all, though. None of that peripheral fan rage rattled the lad at all. Season after season, he has improved incrementally. Although the negative facets of his game are still there, his tackling and positioning have improved tremendously.

Sir Alex Ferguson, whether you love him or hate him, knows what he wants and knows how to win. So much success can not be denied, despite a few grievous errors over the years in buying the likes of Juan Sebastian Veron, Massimo Taibi, Kleberson, Eric Djmba-Dejemba and a certain Bulgarian striker the jury is still out on. His instincts are pretty good. His faith in the likes of Fletcher, John O’Shea and Mikhael Silvestre may indeed be viewed as favoritism and sentimentality, particularly by the London club-biassed Fleet Street character assassins led by Piers Morgan, Barney Ronay and Martin Samuel, but the Gaffer abides.

Sure, he’s a crusty old man with a penchant for obscenity, and, if his critics are to be believed season after last season, currently staring at a bottomless abyss with Sheik Mansour and Roman Abramowicz’s mercenaries snapping at his waggly tail. The club is broke, those selfsame critics are saying, and Ferguson is finally finished. I think not!

There really is a problem, however. The club really is finally feeling the after-affects of Roy Keane’s retirement now. The diamond-shaped midfield so successfully used in 2006-07 and 2007-08 was not so much a “papering over of the cracks” as Piers Morgan saw it, but a brilliant division of labor modeled on Ancelotti’s A.C. Milan. Repeatedly humiliated by the brilliance of Gattuso, Seedorf, Pirlo and Kaka, Ferguson came up with a premiership alternative in Fletcher, Carrick, Scholes and Anderson. A perfect division of labor! Well, maybe it wasn’t quite as good, but it was pretty close, and, in a way, even better, because it fed a brilliant workhorse strike pool in Tevez, Rooney and Ronaldo.

Unfortunately, two good seasons were all we were going to see from the depressive, mercurial Michael Carrick and the self-destructive Anderson. With the exit of the grand grafter prima donna Carlos Tevez, along with the inevitable loss of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid, the centre, as the cliché goes, did not hold. Having gambled big on Dmitar Berbatov to fill those other badass shoes up front, a more traditional holding midfielder role was asked of Darren Fletcher. No longer playing a constant high-speed, one-touch pass game, the midfield has been forced to adjust to the stop-start Berbatov style. Can Fletcher cope? Well, last year he couldn’t. I don’t underrate his ability to adjust, because he’s proven me wrong before,
but Darren just doesn’t have the complete set of skills to be a successful holding midfielder. So what is the Gaffer going to do?

Paul Scholes as deep-lying midfielder. It seems that the less space our Ginger Ninja has to cover, the cleverer his game becomes. At first I thought this season was Scholes’ last hurrah, but, with the kind of minimalist game he’s playing now and the ability of Berbatov, Valencia and (still!) Giggsy to hold on to the ball, there’s no reason he can’t play at least a couple more seasons. This also allows Darren Fletcher more time to throw his body about in midfield and to get rid of the ball before he’s caught in possession.

Buying Lassana Diarra or Moussa Sissoko. Assuming the money is there, having either one of these two available would allow Scholes more down time and reinvigorate the game of the ever physically reticent Michael Carrick. Born to play in Europe, I’ve always thought Carrick ought to be saved for European competition and matches against the more flair- oriented EPL teams like Arsenal and Spurs. Diarra definitely reminds me of the brilliant Mr. Makalele, although if he suffers from Sickle Cell Anemia, as I have read, his career may be fading. Moussa Sissoko seems to have no down side, save perhaps for a penchant of tackling too hard. Having already seen Paul Pogba play, I am certain that United will only have to worry about their central defencive midfield problem for a couple more seasons before this kid comes in to change everything!

Buying Sotiris Ninis or Steven Defour. These two have no down side if you watch the Youtube vids! Simply put, even if Paul Scholes wasn’t aging, the club still needs more of a spark in midfield and either one will do. With Magnus Eikram on the cusp, United’s midfield may yet let a million flowers boom.

Does this bode well for Darren Fletcher? I actually think so. He may not start so much and his ego may suffer, but I see Darren as a kind of super-sub in the future, coming on about 60 minutes in for Scholes, Carrick, Anderson or Sissoko and completely reenergizing the midfield.

Some Related Man United Posts:Manchester United Alphabetical Season Preview – Part 1A Pre-Season Injury Crisis? Does Such A Thing Exist?Future 2010/2011 United Kit? You decideUpdated Breaking News: United Sign Mexican StrikerMan United Crossbar Challenge

Category: Manchester United

Tags: Darren Fletcher, Manchester United
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ahmad_hFletcher is one the best players that united has to offer, he doesn't show it but he is!!! i didn't read the whole article, the first two paragraphs made me sick!!!
btw who is Ivor? are u new here? i don't recall you anytime in this blog.... i doubt you being a man utd fan!!omeidheidariI cant agree with this article. Last season, Fletcher was one of my favorite players. Two seasons ago he deserved to play in the final against Barcelona, and I think the outcome might have been different if he did. Last season he was one of the hardest working players, especially since Carrick looked to forget how to play at times. He also had those two important goals against City in the first derby. I cant wait to see how well he does this season.OnsideWell, your very first line gave you away. The truth is, Darren has been putting in tremendous performances since 2006-07, but it took his early goals in 2008-09 to bring his performances into the limelight. Go watch any match from 2006, 2007, 2008, you'll see. Watch United-Roma 7-1, you'll see. Fletcher, is United's driving force. When the team is struggling, when Rooney can't muster a single proper play, when the likes of Park, Valencia, Berbatov are lost in the headlights, when Giggs is in one of his anti-genial modes, Fletcher is the one who grabs the team by the neck as if to say "Hey, we're fekkin Manchester United, and we're not losing this match!" You can mock some of his qualities (as if there has ever been a flawless footballer in the history of the game), but what Darren brings to the table is actually what the club currently needs to keep up with City and Roman's billions.man9utdthis was an awful article on one of the most committed players at United. ridiculous and the author should be ashamed of himself. I question him being a true United fan after reading this ......Sw4@fletch: read the article. most of it was a thinly veiled attack on his ability as a footballer.fletchi didn't think it was stupid. fletcher has been good for a while now.Sw4Either this article is a wind up or your the stupidest person on the face of the earth.blog comments powered by Disqus

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Monday, 6 September 2010

Darren Agonistes

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