Anderson – should he stay or should he go? By @JulyTeeMUFC

"Anderson-son-son, he is better than Kleberson/ Anderson-son-son, he's our midfield magician/ To the left, to the right, to the samba beat tonight/ He is class with the brass, and he shits on Fabregas!”

So goes the chant sung by our fans about Anderson. Better than Kleberson? Yes. Midfield magician? Potentially. Glimpses have been shown. Shits on Fabregas? Except for this one, delightful nutmeg: (http://youtu.be/M2uw0g8AVzQ); No, not really. Anderson has been the reason for frustration for many fans, me included. While there undoubtedly has been potential, his displays on the pitch haven’t always lived up to the expectations. When we signed Anderson, I was very excited for what he could add to the team. I had watched him a bit at Porto, but hardly enough to say that I knew whether or not he’d fit in. The thing which stood out when I saw him for Porto was undoubtedly his flair. This young Brazilian chap wasn’t afraid to try cheeky skills, and I was looking forward to see whether this was something he’d dare pull off in England as well.

He joined United in the summer of 2007 for a reported fee of £25 million. A lot of money for a 19 year old boy, but in his first season he looked eager to prove his worth.  In his first season he played in 38 matches in all competitions. Many remember his performance at Anfield where he did well to keep Gerrard on a tight leash. He was also given a go as a substitute in the Champions League final. In the following penalty shootout he smashed in his penalty and contributed to winning the Champions League. His form had taken a hit towards the end of the season, but what could we expect from a young lad in his first season for Manchester United? After all, it’s not bad for someone who just turned 20 to stand tall after his first season with a Premier League trophy and a Champions League trophy, eh? The future was looking bright for young Anderson, and the fans seemed to think that the boy would justify his price tag.

The following years didn’t go as expected and Ando was troubled by injuries, poor form and problems off the pitch. He’s been known to party hard, and he’s been reported to stay out way to late and even crashing his car while intoxicated. The latter could’ve gone horribly wrong as the unconscious midfielder was dragged out of his car before it exploded. He also allowed himself a flight back to Brazil in January 2010. Sir Alex was far from happy with this and fined him £80k for his unauthorized vacation. Still, after all his problems off the pitch, his struggle with injuries and poor matches, he has now been with us for five seasons. Surely there must be something Sir Alex sees that we cannot? The question now stands; should Anderson be given another chance or are we better off without him? I recently asked this question twice on Twitter. The first time the response was to ship him off as soon as possible. The second time I asked, most of the response was that he should stay.

I thought last season would be make or break for Ando. Therefore I was pleased when he started the season brilliantly alongside Cleverley. The midfield pair was outstanding, with Anderson as the effective box-to-box brawler while Cleverley mostly worked as support for the wingers and attackers. Their effectiveness was shown when Arsenal were battered 8-2. Outclassed in midfield, there was little Arsenal could do to stop United from constantly feeding the ball upfield. Then disaster struck. Cleverley was brutally taken out by Kevin Davies in a match against Bolton, and in the following matches Anderson seemed lost without his midfield partner. After some poor performances, especially in Europe, Anderson also went out injured. He made some brief appearances in 2012, but went out injured once again, this time for the rest of the season. My personal opinion is that we should keep Anderson for at least one more year, and I’d like to take a look into his strengths.

You’ve all heard the fat jokes about Ando. One can’t deny that he does have a sturdy build, but the way I see it, it’s to his advantage. He has a sense of ball control and the right body to keep opponents away. We’ve seen him with the ball surrounded by 3 opponents closing in, but he’d still manage to get out with the ball. I find him good at keeping the ball, but he seldom fancies standing still with the ball to slow down the pace of the game. Something that has become somewhat of a trademark for Ando has been the soaring runs. He gets the ball in his own half, and counter-attack is the one thing on his mind. He takes the ball and charges towards goal, and his much ridiculed build doesn’t keep him from possessing pace. These runs are often out of nothing and he’s often well past the opponent’s midfielders before anyone’s on him. He has been called the most un-brazilian Brazilian there is, but there is one aspect of him that’s very much Brazilian; he has an eye for the cheeky solutions. The skills he often attempted at Porto haven't been displayed as much for us, but there's still something to show for. It could be a backheel, a risky through ball or a lob over the defense. Sometimes it has gone very well, like the lob to set up Welbeck against Arsenal last season, and sometimes the outcome has made fans moan and curse the day he was born. His passing has been under criticism, but like I said, he’s certainly got an eye for incredible passes and it’s much more difficult to work on that, than to work on his passes. He has struck beautiful passes both with the inside and outside of his boot, curlers and floaters. His main issue in attack is definitely his shooting. He’s fired away some terrible shots during his time, but he’s also had some real beauties in terms of finishing. I’m not sure whether or not his shooting should be an issue though, as I prefer him as a passer and creator in attack. 

Brazil legend Carlos Alberto said in April ’11 that Ando was being used wrong. While playing for Brazil he has had more creative freedom in midfield, being mostly involved in creating chances and scoring goals. When playing for United he has obviously had more defensive duties. With the arrival of Kagawa and possibly another creative midfielder, I see no reason to change this. In fact, I want to use Anderson as a box-to-box player with certain defensive duties.

It has been called out for an M’Vila type of player in our squad. Fletcher could possibly never return to top form again, and we need someone who can turn defence into attack in an instant. This player also needs to put his body on the line in order to help the defence and win the ball back whenever we lose it. My shout is to give Anderson a chance to be that player. He has the strength, the aggressiveness, the stamina, the ball control, the pace and the cheeky eye a box-to-box player needs. What he really needs is a consistent run, without injuries or off-the-pitch problems. If he can manage that, I think we can finally see Anderson fulfil the potential we all saw in him when he arrived. Let Kagawa be the dangerous player in “the hole”, let a new signing/Cleverley/Scholes/whoever be the support and playmaker the attack and wingers need, but let’s give Anderson one last chance to be our aggressive box-to-box player who can speed up play when needed.