Former Man United star Paul Parker says Ineos made a mistake by not signing a forward in the January transfer window.
Given the poor form of Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund, it came as a great surprise to United fans that the club chose not to add a striker to their ranks before yesterday’s deadline.
In an exclusive interview with The Peoples Person hosted by Crypto Casinos UK, Parker said he thinks the club’s argument that the winter window isn’t the right time to do business does not hold water.
Ineos absolutely should have bought a striker in the January window
“I think it’s becoming a bit of a myth now,” he said. “Clubs do look to delve in at that time on a regular basis. Look at City, what they’ve gone and spent. You look at a lot of teams and what they’ve gone out and got.”
“When you need something that’s so, so essential, it doesn’t have to be an all singing and dancing centre forward, it could be someone young, who’s got a bit about him, some ambition … at the moment, anyone with energy and a football IQ about working that role would be a bonus to Manchester United.”
“It’s quite interesting they said they’re not going to go and get a stopgap, but when you have to look at quite a few of the players they’ve signed in their short tenure, they’re looking like stopgaps to be perfectly honest.”
“There’s a desperation”.
“They’ve gone and signed a left back [Dorgu] which is important for balance, someone with a bit of pace as well, but was it as important as a centre forward is? I would say no at this moment in time.”
“If you look at the three games, Liverpool, City and Arsenal, that stick out in a positive way, they played those games without a centre forward. Of course there was a centre forward on the field, but he was being bypassed.
“It [signing a forward in the January window] was something missed. You’re not going to go out in January and believe someone’s going to score you 10-15 goals between now and May, but Manchester United needed something.
The centre forward’s performance affects the confidence of both teams
Parker made an interesting point that the lack of a strong centre forward has an effect of the form and confidence of the whole team.
“As a player, if I was going into a game and there wasn’t a Mark Hughes playing, in the back of my mind, if things aren’t going well to start with, not sticking up front and we’re under pressure, there’s a light in me that would maybe switch off because I haven’t got much belief in what’s going on up top,” he said.
“When those top players aren’t there, the other team steps up a bit because they believe they can get something. United haven’t got a centre forward, so the centre halves step beyond them, and all of a sudden there’s more people in your area.
“Ordinary teams make Manchester United look really bad because of that.”
Parker also spoke about Marcus Rashford’s move to Aston Villa, his comments on that subject will be available here later today.
Featured image Chris Cole via Getty Images
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Red Billy
Red Billy is the managing editor of The Peoples Person, author of three books and totally obsessed with football’s transfer market. Billy still insists Matteo Darmian and Alex Telles could have made it at United given half a chance.
