The last month has not been kind to Manchester United; the 5 – 0 drubbing of Wigan and a 3 – 0 win over a weakened Wolves side aside United’s results have been poor. A draw at Birmingham is a good result compared to their other results; beaten by Aston Villa and Fulham in the Premiership and League One side Leeds in the FA Cup, United have struggled to the degree where they had to fight hard to win 3 – 1 at Hull – a fixture which their reserves comfortably won last season. It’s not about their league position, United are just a point behind Chelsea (though the leaderYes have a game in hand) but it’s the general performances that have been worrying. Yet United’s problems are varied – they’ve got lots of injuries, particularly to defensive players and it doesn’t help that Edwin Van der Sar, Owen Hargreaves and Rio Ferdinand have been out almost all season with recent injuries making things worse. And then there’s United’s inability to find goals when they need them most – Wayne Rooney’s having a fine season but United can’t afford to rely on one man only unless that man is Cristiano Ronaldo and he’s long gone. Whilst Rooney’s goalscoring and leading the line is admirable he hasn’t had much help from his strike partners with Michael Owen and Dimitar Berbatov both flattering to deceive, and that’s why United are looking elsewhere.
Dashing some hopes for United fans, that look isn’t directed at a big name signing who’s cost loads like David Villa, instead United are ready to give summer signing Mame Biram Diouf a chance to show what he can do. United were helped by youngsters last season when Kiko Macheda proved a hero and Danny Welbeck backed a couple and now they’re hoping that 22-year-old Diouf can quickly become a hero.
The Senegalese striker was loaned back to former club Molde for the first half of the season due to work permit problems but he has his permit now and has arrived in Manchester ready for action. He made his debut at the weekend as he came on as a late substitute against Birmingham but after being eased in United will want a lot from the talented forward.
Diouf had a good goalscoring record in Norway and, although the Norwegian league’s far easier than the Premier League, United hope that he can bring that form with him to help out with their current struggles. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer managed the leap after all to become a United star and he was the man who recommended Diouf to United, a strong recommendation indeed.
Diouf is fast, good in the air and has a good a shot on him, the first two of which can’t really be said of Berbatov or Owen. Diouf’s looked skilful for Molde and he’ll offer a completely different alternative to United’s current strikers which should come as a refreshing change to the champions. Alex Ferguson himself has already hailed the striker, saying
“He has adapted very well to our training regime and has looked very impressive. Overall, he is a really good centre forward and he will play a part this season.”
Given the number 32 shirt last worn by the Carlos Tevez, United’s struggles may put more pressure on Diouf than there already would have been by being at such a high profile team. Whether he strives or buckles under it is yet to be seen but United could really do with him settling quickly. United must hope that Solskjaer judged the player right and that Diouf with be as much of a success as the Norwegian was, if so then he could yet solve the problems they’ve been riddled with.
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