The Soccer Blog: De Rossi: A Red Devil?

Saturday, 2 April 2011

De Rossi: A Red Devil?

By: Ivor | April 1st, 2011
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A Born Leader It’s April Fool’s Day and the rumor mill hacks are hard at work to earn their crust. This morning I couldn’t help but have a good larf at the Daily Mirror’s idea of “Sir Alex wants to sign two Ashleys!” Still, with Manchester City and Chelsea willing to outspend anybody, Arsenal desperate to rebuild their defense, Liverpool on the verge of committing to a complete overhaul and a wounded Bayern squealing loud enough from Bavaria to make itself heard in Manchester and London, outrageous rumors are flying like cruise missiles.

United have been patching over their problems for at least three seasons. Yet now, on the very tenuous cusp of winning a nineteenth championship, with the club in an uncertain position vis-à-vis the leveraged debt of its ownership, nobody seems to be having more of an adventure of it all than the Gaffer himself. If there was no “value in the market” for pedigree players this time last year, not much has changed since. The crafty old Scot is clearly intent on stocking up on enough youth prospects that the near-distant future looks quite bright. Additionally, we may actually have the best batch of academy youth players since the renaissance period of Beckham, Scholes, Giggs and Neville in the likes of Danny Welbeck, Paul Pogba, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Will Keane and Davide Petrucci. Indeed, if the Gaffer, Paul McGuinness and company can keep young Ravel Morrison away from the pull of gang affiliations and his predilection toward committing acts of grievous bodily harm, United may yet produce their greatest home-grown star since George Best. Still, as Arsenal have clearly shown for the past six seasons, talk is cheap and potential is just like kissing your sister!

The problem is right now. Whether, Fergie charms him into it or not, Paul Scholes does not seem to be burning with enthusiasm when it comes to signing up for one more season and EVDS is definitely retiring. Any one of David de Gea, René Adler, Guilermo Ochoa, Sergio Asenjo, Diego Benaglio or Sergio Romero works for me. Wesley Sneider undoubtedly wants to come and join us, so it seems to be a matter of finding a mutually acceptable fee with Massimo Morastti at Inter. And, although I keep hearing that we’ve got Jack Rodwell and Ashley Young already sitting in the shopping cart, I still don’t think our most immediate need has been dealt with.

The Best Aside from the fact that, as deep-lying-cum-box-to-box midfielders Darren Fletcher, Anderson and Michael Carrick are just barely adequate, Darron Gibson is simply not good enough. Everybody has had their chance to shine, and, to be fair, we have hung in there, but, as various on-field incidents have shown this season, we desperately need a technically skilled, hard-tackling, communicative Hard Man to run our midfield. I particularly like Yann M’Vila, and have read in a number of sources that he would like to be a Manchester United player. The only strike against him is that, at 21, he’s very young and does not speak English well. As he is young and will need time to adjust, it is possible he could collapse under the weight of expectation next season. With Paul Pogba waiting in the wings, the Gaffer may feel the need for more instant mode of gratification

Luckily, there is a chance we might sign Daniele De Rossi. I love Danny the Red. Italian football’s not usually my thing, but this lad is a born winner and exactly what Manchester United need. With A.S. Roma in bad economic shape and Thomas Di Benedetto–an American corporate raider and business partner of John Henry in the New England Sports Ventures corporation which owns baseball’s Boston Red Sox and Liverpool F.C.–supposedly about topurchase the team, a lot of things have changed for the club’s lifer, Di Rossi. After a very public divorce and being repeatedly booed by the right-wing Ultras over his stated support for former manager, Claudio Rainieri, the blond enforcer may be ready for a change. De Rossi, who joined the club at the age of seven and whose father also played and coaches there, has been about as dedicated a dedicated servant to his team as it’s possible to be in these venal mercenary times, spoke to La Stampa last week about the fans breaking his heart. Jose Mourinho of Real Madrid says he wants him too, but with Lass Diarra and Sami Khedira already in the squad, De Rossi surely wonders how much playing time he would receive.

Yes, I do really like Daniele De Rossi. He takes no prisoners, is very efficient and scores a fair share of goals from dead ball kicks and long-distance shots every season. Probably best remembered for taking out the U.S.A. striker Brian McBride with an elbow at the 2006 World Cup, De Rossi got a lot less credit for the yeoman work he did as a box-to-box midfielder next to Rhino Gatusso when Italy won the tournament. I love him best, however, because of a deja vu Keanoesque series of moments he gave me a couple of years back in Rome.

I had spent Christmas in Sienna working and treated myself to the luxury of a good seat seat at the Olympic Stadium when A.S. Roma played Inter. Everybody’s favorite passive/ aggressive boo boy Marco Materazzi was up to his usual mayhem at the beginning of the match, repeatedly stepping on Mirko Vucinic’s feet, twice grabbing his head while chitchatting and sticking his fingers in the Montenegrin striker’s eyes. Unfortunately for him, Danielle De Rossi was having none of it. For the rest of the match, in a series of off-the-ball incidents that were much more interesting than a fairly dull game, De Rossi was ‘on’ Materrazzi like white on rice, practicing all of the dark arts–pinching his underarm hair, stomping on his feet, ankle-tapping, kneeing him in the rectal area, whispering sweet-nothings in his ear–and all from point blank range. “Molto viciino!” my friend Pino called it. Taking care of one’s own. Francesco Totti may be the nominal captain of the A.S. Roma team because he owns an ego as big as the city itself, I was told, but Danny the Red is the one who really runs things.

Yes, Daniele De Rossi is a truly interesting character, the combative midfielder has been present in the engine room of the Roma midfield since he broke into their first team in 2001. Ferguson has bid on him before, but now, at 28 and in his pomp, may be the right time.

For me, watching Nani be assaulted by Jamie Carragher was the last straw. A lot of fuss was made about Wayne Rooney’s elbow attack on Wigan’s Jamie McCarthy, but I recognize it was born out of frustration at the cumulative humiliation and pain he’s gone through this campaign as a result of a number of cheap fouls by Cattermole, De Jong, and, seemingly, the whole defensive crew at Blackburn and Birmingham City. It’s easy to say “What’s good for the goose…”, or blame the referees, but, right now, aside from Nemanja Vidic and, to a lesser extent, Darren Fletcher, there is nobody willing to take charge and play with belligerence in midfield like Robson, Ince or Keano in days of yore. We need De Rossi!!!

Howe much is he worth? If Javier Pastore fetches £50M, than I have no clue. If Roma fancy Berbatov as part of a swap/cash deal, it may prove to be well worth it to the club as the Bulgarian’s wages are high and we have Danny Wellbeck waiting impatiently in the wings wanting to play or leave. Yann M’Vila, Moussa Sissoko or Axel Witsel may be cheaper alternatives, but I think De Rossi is a luxury item the club deserves!

Some Related Man United Posts:Paul Stretford: The Devil Will Collect His Due Part 2Paul Stretford: The Devil Will Collect His Due Part 1Yann M’Vila Wants to Play for Us!The Return of Davide PetrucciNobby Stiles: Why We Should Care

Category: Manchester United

Tags: A. S.Roma, Manchester United, Real Madrid
Tweet « Ashley Young – a good addition? | Home | Pondaveplus this summer he only has 1 year left on his contract i believe, so the price wouldnt be sky highGuestApart from being a fascist twat along with the Scouser's Aquilani, Buffon and Totti.
Italians mix football and politics too much.johnwell said he is in his best years now i dont think we should be looking for younger players becuase if you think about by the time rossi turns 30 players like pogba nd morrison will be at a good age to start to play in the first team . we need someone that can make an impact straight away rossi and sniejder , with valencia and nani on the wings thats 1 scary midefiledblog comments powered by Disqus