I've been through this countless times. Track back on this thread and you'll probably find plenty of posts (mine included) on this very subject. Which is why I refrained to elaborate any further on this and let it die off. Seems it doesn't...oh well.
The thing is, you don't have to look further than last season. Just look at the teamplay when Ruud was starting and compare that to when Saha was starting.
It was quite obvious to me, even then, that Saha offered something Ruud, for all his Godlike scoring ability, never did.
Saha gave our attack another dimension. His athleticism allows him to hold the ball as well as Ruud, but he can also turn on his defender and run at goal. He also runs the channels between defenders and goes deep to retrieve the ball. These are all things that contribute to our other attackers being more effective.
Ruud was a goal glutton. Basically, his teammates work to supply him with scoring opportunities, most of the time. Saha on the other hand liberates his teammates from this shackle.
We have not had such mobility in our frontline, as we have now in Saha-Rooney, since Yorke - Cole. Yorke and Cole worked so well specifically because they work in tandem and they work for the team. Their dynamic link up play and clever running, opens space for other to exploit. Ruud isn't going to give you that. Somebody else had to do it. Not the end of the world, yes, but you lose that extra man which could run and probe and stretch defenders. Not a problem we have with Saha.
All that said. I would have loved for Ruud to hang around. Because we could use with his supreme finishing sometimes. But this meant he wasn't a sure starter and he didn't like that. I'm sure Fergie would have wanted it as I do. Unfortunately, Ruud didn't.
The thing is, you don't have to look further than last season. Just look at the teamplay when Ruud was starting and compare that to when Saha was starting.
It was quite obvious to me, even then, that Saha offered something Ruud, for all his Godlike scoring ability, never did.
Saha gave our attack another dimension. His athleticism allows him to hold the ball as well as Ruud, but he can also turn on his defender and run at goal. He also runs the channels between defenders and goes deep to retrieve the ball. These are all things that contribute to our other attackers being more effective.
Ruud was a goal glutton. Basically, his teammates work to supply him with scoring opportunities, most of the time. Saha on the other hand liberates his teammates from this shackle.
We have not had such mobility in our frontline, as we have now in Saha-Rooney, since Yorke - Cole. Yorke and Cole worked so well specifically because they work in tandem and they work for the team. Their dynamic link up play and clever running, opens space for other to exploit. Ruud isn't going to give you that. Somebody else had to do it. Not the end of the world, yes, but you lose that extra man which could run and probe and stretch defenders. Not a problem we have with Saha.
All that said. I would have loved for Ruud to hang around. Because we could use with his supreme finishing sometimes. But this meant he wasn't a sure starter and he didn't like that. I'm sure Fergie would have wanted it as I do. Unfortunately, Ruud didn't.
