Football-starved Bébé doesn’t deserve the criticism
Over the years, there have been several who have tried their luck at Old Trafford but some have instead long faded away from memory; for those unlucky ones, it hasn’t quite been a theatre for which they can achieve their dreams in. Having the talent is one thing, but having the temperament to go further is another.
It is testing times for both Gabriel Obertan and Thiago Bébé. On the back of a rather unforgettable evening against Crawley Town in the FA Cup 5th round, where Manchester United limped to a 1-0 victory, they are the subject of strong criticism from some sections of the fans and media. Such scapegoating that is hardly justified for two talented players starved of regular football.
They require patience; and much more. They require understanding and some sympathising. Bébé, in particular, is hardly in a position that should warrant such scrutiny. Indeed, he has made only three starts so far (and a further four from the bench, including a game against Bursaspor in which he scored) in his short United career so it is remarkable his future is already being put into question.
Signed from Vitória S.C as a relative unknown, here is a player that arrived at Old Trafford without any sort of match practice, and having played at an even lower level in the Portuguese 3rd division just last year, he surely requires time to settle into (fairly) new surroundings. Bébé’s £7million fee raised a few eyebrows, understandably, but that was hardly his fault and the media attack that followed was hardly justified, most of it happening even before he kicked a football in the red of United. Such a valuation does at least indicate the player’s talents – the same that had Carlos Queiroz (and, apparently, Jose Mourinho) sit up and take interest.
In an article for the Telegraph, respected journalist Mark Ogden pointed out that while the forward does have some ‘raw talent’, his crossing ability is ‘woeful’. Interesting; when asked about that on Twitter, he replied:
“That was his seventh appearance. Shouldn’t Man Utd players be able to cross by their seventh appearance?”
Perhaps, they should be able to. He has great technique – he has shown that at times, so Ogden’s point that he cannot cross is up for debate. For those who have criticised the Portuguese winger, another tweet directed to me sums up the thoughts of the general consensus on the player’s worth.
“Do you see him becoming a player that can turn a game v Chelsea or Arsenal or Real Madrid?”
It’s far too early to say. Although, and this is no comparison of talent, you would have said the same about Cristiano Ronaldo or Nani at this stage of their United career. He needs time; in a few years, who knows? Would he still be a United player? Who knows? And that’s the point of the article – who knows what he could do in the future and who knows how good he is and can be having played so little. It’s far too premature to make definite conclusions at this moment of time. Extra empthasis on the word ‘time’…
32 Responses to “Football-starved Bébé doesn’t deserve the criticism”
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- - February 23, 2011
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i agree, i cant understand why people are picking on bebe tbh he seemed more in a rush at times than lacking ability.
bebe needs games but also needs to stay at manu, maybe trying to find him a loan at a local league club might help get rid of some of that rust.
ober is a slightly different case and its quite hard to know at the moment whether his a bit of pace and flash or can deliver an end product.
Well said. Nothing more to say on the issue. Lets move on now. There are more pressing issues than talking about a poor team performance in a game that we won.
well said!
He is only 20, and it is his first season.
Look at his stats, he’s got 7 apps so far and returned us 2 goals.
It’s not bad at all!
To be honest, unless you were blind, it was easy to see Ronaldo had talent as a young lad. He was direct fast and skillful. nani too, you could see he had a lot of talent. Bebe however, i cant see any talent at all im afraid. being able to run fast cant be enough. Train everyday and practise passing, crossing, tracking back, positioning….you know…football, well im sorry i dont see it. 7.5million, i think we have been ripped off
Totally agree. If this kid makes it I will eat more than one hat. Sometimes it is better to hold your hands up and say we made a mistake with that one. The press were on to it early on too which makes me think the word on Bebe came from someone inside the Utd camp (perhaps a young player…maybe a disgruntled Rooney unhappy at the lack of quality signings I don’t know) It’s a shame for Bebe…I wanted him to be a rough diamond. However, he lacks the basics and is way short of being a Man Utd player and further off than Diouf, Obertan or Gibson. Sorry but he’s out of his depth and if you can’t see how this story will end then I think you need some new glasses and not the red tinted ones you normally wear.
What is it with this blog, defending Gibson and Bebe when they show u absolutely nothing that will suggest that they will be good enough?
Is it just to stir a reaction and get hits,
He is nothin like ronaldo or nani, they showed signs of technique early on l, like ronaldos debut against Bolton was awesome, Nani got assists first season.
Bebe looks more like manucho, strong and fast but no fuckin talent, certainly not enough to warrant a man united shirt. It’s shot buys like
that which see Liverpool a joke.
Obertan has some talent, but as Laurent blanc warned when we bought him, no mental strength for the game.
United’s standards should be higher than average nobody players like these 2 and Gibson. We’re the biggest and best club in the world, these players ain’t gonna keep us there
“We’re the biggest and best club in the world, these players ain’t gonna keep us there”
Always nice to hear some insight, buddy.
Thats right, ignore most of the comment which explains why this blog is particularly bad, focus on the foot note, then leave a bland, sarcastic reply that’s supposed to be funny but really isn’t.
Okay. Me, the ‘idiot’ supposedly on ‘fucking acid’ (your comment yesterday on the month old Gibson blog), will answer in a less sarcastic way
First of all, there is nothing to suggest that he will end up like Manucho:
They are two different players with contrasting styles, and while I understand your pessimism, the point of the article was not to make premature judgements, yes?
Give him time and make respectable judgements once you’ve seen enough of him (your comment on Obertan had me agreeing however).
I can assure you this wasn’t written to gain hits, I’m a strong believer in getting behind players and not make rash judgements. Simply, I feel strongly about this.
I was reffering to the half wit who said that Gibson was better than nicky butt and Phil Neville when taking about being on acid.
The idiot remark was aimed at u and I quite like sarcasm when it’s funny. Blackadder is mint.
It seems some will blindly defend players who simply show nothing to suggest they will ever be good enough. Bebe was playin inthe Portuguese 3rd division because that appears to be his level. Has it also occurred to u that he looks as bad in training every day, hence why he doesn’t get first team chances.
I also feel passionately about giving young players a chance, but why does Bebe get a chance and Morrison, pogba, Eikrem (had to leave the club) et al who consistently look better than him in the reserves don’t. What if more talented players like Eikrem leave coz Gibson was getting his chances?????
Here Here! Easter…tell them how it is
No complains about Bébé… He needs time and settle down in England, which is not easy for a 20 year old portuguese (ask Nani and C.Ronaldo about that!). Aldo, I do think Obertan should be showing something, anything that could make us doubt about his ability. I just don’t see it. Hope I’m wrong do, but it seems he just don’t fit in a Man United T-shirt. And I truly hope Nani don’t get injured, because if we depend on Obertan or Bébé, we won’t win anything this season…
Quite simply, bloody well said
I admire your optimism but see nothing in either to justify such faith-however Alex is the expert. What does frustrate is how a player clearly not ready gets a chance to embarass himself (surely counter productive) over a dedicated young professional brought up through the club like Robbie Brady. Why is he down the pecking order? There are seven and a half million reasons why and none of them are based on footballing performance. The only person to benefit so far is Jorge Mendes. As for Obertanthe fact he has totally failed to assert himself in the absence of Valencia and Park tells it’s own story.
Thanks for the comment, Tom.
Bebe has been something of an enigma, sure. He is lacking match fitness but this is why I stress that we give him time.
Purely the reason why I still have faith is, and I keep on saying it, because we just haven’t seen enough and that’s frustrating.
RE: Obertan – Agreed; I haven’t been as impressed, but even he in 18 months as a Utd player has found himself warming the bench often.
I agree with you on bebe,it is way too early to criticise you have to be patient with young players that is the values on which the club was built.
However the first season that Ronaldo played, although he was annoying sometimes to watch, he was exhilarating but at the same time it is unfair to compare any young player to a man who is now the 2nd best player in the world.
I hope bebe proves the doubters wrong or at least gets the chance to
Great article.
On Saturday I was one of the many fans calling for his head, saying he wasn’t good enough but when everything is put in retrospect you raise a very good point and have changed my outlook on Bebe completely.
Well done.
Wasn’t Nani being heavily criticised liked this until he had that Great game v Arsenal in Jan 2010 ?
The only person that really knows if they likely to be good enough is SAF. I am sure he will bin them if he thinks they arent up to it like he did with Bellion/Jones etc, but only once they have had a chance/time to improve.
Not really, Nani was criticised for lack of consistency and not lack of ability. Please highlight Bebe’s ability.
It’s worth noting that both Nani and Ronaldo used 2-3 seasons before they became our most important players, and started delivering the consistent end product that the world recognizes.
Now, of course they both showed more ability and maturity than Bebe and Obertan have shown, but they both also had experience from a portugese top team and CL, and thus had both more experience and matching than Bebe, and partly Obertan had when they joined us.
Do we expect Bebe and Obertan to become two of our most important players? No. Can they? We don’t know. Do we expect them to become of use? Of course we do, SAF bought them, didn’t he? Can they? WE DON’T KNOW.
Bottom line: Give both 2 seasons. Look back at those 2 seasons, have they done anything of note? No – Can be sold. Yes – Give them another season.
After 3 seasons, are they of any use to us, as in pure class or good squad player? No – Sell. Yes – Keep.
The thing I don’t understand is fergie says he’s gona be a striker so why does he keep putting him out on the wing. I think the striker role would suit him better he’s fast and a good finisher
The other thing is he’s only been at the club 6months what about carrick, oshea, gibson, evans , even fletcher and maybe ando, none of them are good enough for united. Excluding the pensioners. Valencia, rio, vidic and evra are the only consistant players and that includes roo berba and nani
Some awful comments here. Bebe needs game time, simple. His crossing ability? I’ve seen him it some dangerous crosses at reserve level.
Any player with his physical attributes has the ability to change a big game, he also has good technical ability, so who is to say he couldn’t change a United Vs Chelsea game with a bit more experience/confidence?
Gibson has the ability to be a big midfielder for us, there aren’t many that can score 10+ from central midfield (which i’m certain Gibson would given a first team place), he can pass, he can tackle – he needs more game time and more confidence, it took Fletcher 3-4 years to develop into the man he is today. Not every player is born into the game a ‘first teamer’ they have to be developed.
Eikrem was a good player, but never had the physical attributes to compete in an English midfield.
And people slagging off Jonny Evans need their head looking at, he is the most complete defender for his age I have ever seen, yes he has a had a dip in form, but once again that is part of a first team players development.
Sorry, just my thoughts on the blog and a few comments. Good piece, enjoyed it.
Exactly development is crucial. Nice comment, couldn’t help but agree. Some of the stick Gibbo and Evans have received have been justified to an extent, but I firmly believe they’ll still be wearing the red shirt in years to come.
Please for Christ sake,this is just his (Bebe) first season. Lets give him time to settle down,he may turn out to be our next Cristiano. Concerning Obertan,i dont think he is ready to settle down, if i could remember very well last month he offer a transfer request wanting to leave Old Traford,that shows that he is not ready to play.
Personally I think both obertan and bebe deals are BIG mistakes. Certainly if there still at the club next season. Reason? Cleverly, Welbeck and the amazing ravel Morrison.
I would hate to have these 3 quality young English players not getting the first team chances they should because of bebe n obertan. The return of cleverly should spell the end of obertans united career. The return of welbeck will probably see bebe go on loan. Morrison is gonna be a phenomenon once fergie gets his head straight. Absolute class.
It’s because of signings like bebe n obertan that young English talent doesn’t always get the games they should. And it’s the same at every club.
Our countries brightest youngsters then have to take a backward step with hope of going forward which rarely happens. And then the national team suffers because of it.
Well said Si. Bebe and Obertan could possibly develop into squad players but at the expense of whom?
Other posters using Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo as examples of development need to wake up. In their early years they were often frustrating to watch and inconsistent in the extreme but there was never any doubting their talent. I’ll reserve judgment on Bebe for now, but I’ve seen enough of Obertan.
Bebe is a striker being converted to an outside player. His first couple appearances he impressed with speed and trickery as part of a front 2. He belongs in a striker role running at defenders. Obertan has been in the system longer and should be further along in his development. He shows flashes of brilliance but doesn’t know when to be greedy and when to distribute.
A serious question: Have you ever criticised a United player?
Yes! Haha – I used to a lot. However, I’ve mellowed down a bit and urge others to do the same; I dislike reactionary conclusions and judgements, scapegoating and knee-jerkers
P.S Have you heard of Kleberson?
If Darren Fletcher from 2001 can develop in to the kind of player whose absence was blamed for a loss in a Champions League final, then Bebe can be anything he wants.