Rossi: The Wrong Striker At The Wrong Time? …
Is Giuseppe Rossi the wrong striker at the wrong time for United?
The player has made plain his wish to be part of Sir Alex’s first team plans next season but admits that United have failed to spell out how he fits in at the club.
“My future is a bit confusing with United but I want to play for them,” he said. “I will have to evaluate the situation. My goal is going back to United and being able to cut it. When opportunities come along I hope to be there and impress.”
So far United have failed to reciprocate publicly with clear expressions of faith in the player. This contrasts markedly with Sir Alex’s commitment to Jonny Evans, a youngster of great potential who performed solidly on loan at Sunderland, as the north east club stormed the Championship. Evans has been promised a squad berth next term. Rossi can make no such prediction, despite scoring a goal in nearly every other game for Parma, a feat made all the more impressive by the fact that Serie A is the hardest league in the world for forwards.
United’s reticence is odd, given that Sir Alex continues to be troubled by persistent injury worries to Saha and Solskjaer and by uncertainty over Alan Smith’s future. Rossi rarely features as a strong candidate for United’s attack next term, sparking fears among his most ardent supporters that the player does not figure in the manager’s plans.
Rossi is recognised by the staff at Old Trafford as second only to Paul Scholes as the club’s most natural finisher but this may not be enough to recommend him to the manager. Rossi’s lack of stature and inexperience make it likely that he would only flourish alongside a more senior and robust attacker. Sir Alex’s anticipated tactics next season are moving in the opposite direction, placing emphasis on a frontman capable of leading the line alone. Rossi is not yet this type of player.
A reversion to 4-4-2 would mean Rooney plus one other. However, Rossi and Rooney is a combination which, in the short term at least, would not inspire panic at Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal, never mind among the cream of Europe.
For all the success of his Italian loan adventure, Rossi continues to attract suspicion because of his disastrous stay on Tyneside last year. The Italian under-21 international arrived in Newcastle in a blaze of publicity but failed to confirm a sensational United reserve team reputation. Is it his fate to be a footballer of talent who can not thrive in England?
It could be that United are sufficiently impressed by Rossi’s goal return and development last season that finally, the player is recalled to the squad for the champion’s title defence. Yet doubts will gather with every Rossi plea that solicits little or no public response from United, leading to the conclusion that Rossi’s hopes of a United future will come to nothing.
