Curbing Ando's enthusiasm
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Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted Brazilian midfielder Anderson was talking about quitting Manchester United last season after poor form and injuries put him on the brink of an Old Trafford exit.
Anderson, 22, endured a difficult campaign and was tipped in some quarters to be eased out of the club during the January transfer window. In the end, he stayed where he was, only to suffer a cruciate knee ligament injury during a Premier League win over West Ham in February.
Now on the road to recovery, he was involved in a car crash last month that saw him pulled from the wreckage before the car caught fire, although Ferguson said that the injuries he suffered were not serious and he has now begun to train with the club again. Now the boss hopes that the break has allowed the midfielder to re-assess his future.
''Anderson has an incredible talent,'' said Ferguson. ''He loves training and playing. He wants to play every game and train every day. But that is a problem for me because at 22 he has not got the maturity to understand we operate a squad here.
''When he does understand that, he will be a fantastic player here but last season he was talking about leaving because he was not playing in every game.''
Rather than put his arm around the player's shoulder, Ferguson opted to stand well back from someone who first made his mark with FC Porto in the hope that common sense would eventually prevail.
''Maybe it is a good thing he has been injured for a spell because he can look at the situation,'' said Ferguson. ''In some ways, I don't want to change his mentality because it is wonderful to see someone who wants to play every minute of every day.
''If you have someone with that enthusiasm, you have to be careful you don't check it to the point when you lose it. I didn't talk to him about leaving. I just let him get it out of his system.
''Maybe the injury has quelled the storm in his body because he came back here with the same enthusiasm and has been telling me he is ready to play. Everyone has seen the quality in his game and he will get his opportunity.''
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With scholes on good form, it'll be hard for ando to break into the first 11.
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Sir Alex has revealed that Anderson spoke about leaving United last season because he wanted to be in the team every week. But now the Brazilian is back in football training following a six-month lay-off, the boss hopes to hone his midfielder's enthusiasm and ability so he fully realises his “wonderful talent”.
It is interesting that Sir Alex chose not to make a widely-predicted move to sign Germany international midfielder Mesut Ozil from Werder Bremen. “No, I wasn’t disappointed [not to sign him],” the manager said of Ozil, who has now joined Real Madrid. Anderson may well be the reason for that. The challenge for United now is to get the 22-year-old to pick up the form that drew lavish praise during his first season at the club in 2007/08.
“We certainly hope [he kicks on this season], because the boy is a wonderful talent,” enthused Sir Alex.
“He has got a great personality for playing football. He loves playing, he loves training. He wants to train every day and play every minute of every game.”
But therein lies part of the problem. “He’s 22 and doesn’t have the maturity to understand that we have to operate with a squad here. When he understands that, he’ll be a fantastic player here.”
Much like taming Wayne Rooney’s aggression, controlling Anderson’s enthusiasm is a matter which must be dealt with carefully.
“Whether we can change that mentality he’s got is difficult to say,” said the boss.
“I don’t want to change it in many ways because it’s so wonderful to see someone who wants to play football every day and play every minute of every match. If you get that enthusiasm, you have to make sure you don’tcheck it to the point that you lose because he wants to leave because of it. Last season, he was talking that way because he wasn’t playing in every game. So we have to hope the maturity comes, and maybe it will have been good for him being out injured for this spell. He will have had a good look at the situation at United.”
Anderson’s suggestion that he would leave was more like blowing off steam rather than making genuine endeavours to leave Old Trafford, but Sir Alex says the boy from Porto Alegre (which literally means ‘Happy Harbour’) has returned to training this week displaying typical eagerness.
“I didn’t need to talk him out of leaving, I just let him get it out of his system. Unfortunately for him, he got the injury around that time, and that quelled the storm in his body. He’s come back and has the same enthusiasm. He came to me last week and said, ‘I’m ready, I’m ready’. It’s fantastic to see that in a young lad. It’s great to see. But he is a great player and he will get his opportunities here. I think everyone has seen the quality he has and he has played some fantastic games for us. He will play many more.”