FOOTBALL

Golden Boot Forlan explains United faillure

by Laurent Picard , 01 June 2009

Diego Forlan has explained why he failed to impose himself during his spell with Manchester United.

The prolific Forlan has won the Golden Boot after bagging 32 league goals with Atletico Madrid this season, leading the capital’s second club to a Champions League spot.

The Uruguay international only claimed 10 Premier League goals in two years and a half at Old Trafford, and he has explained his bad figures by his lack of regular action and starts in England.

“The competition was hard at Manchester, there was [Ruud] van Nistelrooy, [Dwight] Yorke, [Andy] Cole, [Ryan] Giggs, [Ole Gunnar] Solsjkaer,” he told El Pais. “I only appeared for 10 minutes every time. That is why I moved to Villarreal, who were not the club they are today.

“I left United to revive my career and this challenge proved a good decision.”

He said about his future: “I am not forced to leave Atletico, speculating is useless. I am very happy in there. If something comes, it will be studied.”

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CHOKE AND CRY LOUD MANSCUM FANS:02 June 2009 13:45

How much did Berbatosh cost and score this season. CRY LOUDER AND LOUDER. ITS A JOKE TO SAY FORLAN SCORES EASILY, HOW COMES ETO'O AND VILLA DIDNT GET PAST 30?

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cry louder and louder manscum fans:02 June 2009 13:45

How much did Berbatosh cost and score this season. CRY LOUDER AND LOUDER. ITS A JOKE TO SAY FORLAN SCORES EASILY, HOW COMES ETO'O AND VILLA DIDNT GET PAST 30?

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matt:01 June 2009 21:44

Instead of everyone arguing about which league is better lets just say there fairly equal which i believe they are!Forlan has done very well in spain because the spanish style suits him better and torres's style obviously suits the english league!

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tony:01 June 2009 21:26

In order for a forward to score on a regular basis he needs continuity. Do you think Torres or Ronaldo last season would have scored as much as he did if he was playing 10 to 20 minutes a game? Of course not. Its simple logic. Tevez last year was United's second leading goalscorer behind Ronaldo. This season he has seen his minutes on the field dramatically reduced, and as a result so has his goal tally. Its a pretty obvious correlation

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tony:01 June 2009 21:20

Forlan never said that his improvement was due to the league. He makes it pretty clear that it was because in Villareal and now at Atletico he was getting regular and consistent playing time. People who watch the game know that Forlan does not lack speed or skill. In fact he is a very skilled player, able to finish with both his right and left foot. His last few seasons have also shown that he is a clinical finisher (this is the second time he wins the pichichi award). The 700 minutes without a goal argument might make sense to an outsider who doesnt quite understand the game, but others who have watched and played the game know that you cannot just throw a forward, or any player for that matter, into a game for 10 minutes and expect him to make a great contribution. A player, especially a forward, needs to get enough touches on a ball so he can get into a rhythm. That is hard to come by when you are thrown in cold with 10 minutes left to play.

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bob:01 June 2009 20:55

forlan should return to old trafford and we should kick out berbatov(cos he's lazy)

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Robertinho:01 June 2009 17:15

Apparently the Forlan logic is that if a player performs very well in x league after not so much in y league, that must be because y league is of a higher standard. Yet Torres, the guy Forlan replaced at Atletico, did not play nearly as well as Forlan has in Spain, but has had success in England.

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i agree with mike:01 June 2009 16:41

i think anyone who actually has seen forlan play will now that he is very strong and skillful and not particularly slow. i also feel its lazy to say hes only succeeding in spain because their league is poor, possibly not as competitive as ours, more though its just different. i feel if forlan was given a proper run in the epl he would florish

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killer :01 June 2009 15:57

diego ooooooooh diego ooooooooh diego oooooooooh diego oooooooooh!

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Mike Cope:01 June 2009 15:21

Anyone who makes the comments about Forlan that 'whatever' makes is proving beyond any doubt that they never even saw the bloke play. He was a very skilful player who had the speed and strength to score a good number of important goals for us. His problem was always that he filled in for injuries and would be dropped back to the bench as soon as the more established stars were available, regardless of whether he had just scored two at Anfield, the equaliser against villa or the winner against Southampton. He was given so many 10 minutes appearances at the end of games it was no wonder the guy was not scoring as regularly has he had before, and then after, joining United. The media jumped on him, willing him to become another United flop. It was a real shame the way he was treated in England. But his class was there for those who wanted to see it. He has proved that emphaticaly in Spain, and any one who does not appreciate what he has done is a moronic idiot.

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Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	GD	PTS
1.	Arsenal	0	0	0	0	0	0
2.	Aston Villa	0	0	0	0	0	0
3.	Birmingham	0	0	0	0	0	0
4.	Blackburn	0	0	0	0	0	0
5.	Bolton	0	0	0	0	0	0
6.	Burnley	0	0	0	0	0	0
7.	Chelsea	0	0	0	0	0	0
8.	Everton	0	0	0	0	0	0
9.	Fulham	0	0	0	0	0	0
10.	Hull	0	0	0	0	0	0
11.	Liverpool	0	0	0	0	0	0
12.	Man City	0	0	0	0	0	0
13.	Man Utd	0	0	0	0	0	0
14.	Portsmouth	0	0	0	0	0	0
15.	Stoke	0	0	0	0	0	0
16.	Sunderland	0	0	0	0	0	0
17.	Tottenham	0	0	0	0	0	0
18.	West Ham	0	0	0	0	0	0
19.	Wigan	0	0	0	0	0	0
20.	Wolverhampton	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Everyone wants to either play in Spain or Italy. What was that about "European dominance"? It's over..FINITO!!! bahahaha. Was it a good couple of years of dominance. And I bet you lot thought it would last forever...sort of like the British economy...a collapse could never happen. Oh wait..

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