In July 2001, when Argentina international "Little Wizard" Verón moved from Lazio to Manchester United, he was worth 28 million pounds, setting a record for transfer fees in British football at that time.
When he first arrived in England, he also proved with his outstanding performance that this transfer was another major change in the formation and playing style of manchester United manager Ferguson. At one point, after watching the Argentine' game, Nikki Bart, one of the members of the 'Class of '92', thought, "I witnessed this on the bench when Veron came on the bench, and I felt like I couldn't play for United anymore and I might have to look for another way out because he was the best player I've ever seen besides Cantona".
In May 2002, due to the decline in Manchester United's results, Ferguson was criticized and questioned by many people at the press conference, and he did not use his usual diplomatic rhetoric to defend The Love General Perón, but directly blew up the "hair dryer" and shouted at the media who came to him, "Veron is a great player", and even when he left, he did not forget to emphasize again, "You are a bunch of idiots".
Although this was a necessary protection, Ferguson did so to many people. Soon after, Veron moved to Chelsea for about half the value he earned when he joined Manchester United. However, this transfer, as it was when he joined Manchester United, turned out to be one of the worst transfers in premier league history.
Ferguson fell in love with Belon
Considering that Veron had set a record transfer fee and had been protected by the old Jazz under Ferguson's account, coupled with his fee for a move to Chelsea, his cumulative transfer fee had reached £77 million at this time. So, were these transfer fees spent on him by mistake? Is he a great player?
Obviously, he is still unique, as in: Pele, the king of the ball. In 2004, Veron was included in the list of the 125 greatest footballers of the time, even though he left Chelsea after just a few games. So what is the real experience of Argentines at Old Trafford? Not surprisingly, there may be more than one answer to this particular conundrum. Like many such answers, it depends on which chair the respondent is sitting in.
Verón was born on March 9, 1975 in La Plata, Argentina. His father, Juan Ramon, was also a famous footballer and earned the nickname "The Wizard". So when he followed in his father's footsteps, became a professional player, and earned the nickname "Little Wizard", no one was surprised, which seemed like a natural result.
After joining the Argentine Collegiate Club in 1993, Perón played here for three years before moving to Boca Juniors in 1996. At the Candy Box Stadium, he actually only played 17 games with Maradona. However, it was a short stop, as it was not long before Sweden's famous coach Eriksen, who considered him a great midfield master, took him to the Apennine Peninsula and landed at the Ferraris Stadium in Sampdoria.
Batistuta and Perón
At this time, Perón is already an Argentina international, and he will also represent Argentina in the 1998 World Cup in France. However, after the World Cup, he was sold to Parma, and the cost of the transfer was around £15 million. Perón's mentor, Eriksen, also left Genoa, where Sampdoria is located, to join the thriving "Blue Hawk" Lazio. Interestingly, in the near future, they will meet again.
This season, under Verón's leadership, Parma won the Coppa Italia and Europa League. Such a brilliant performance was enough to convince Eriksen that Veron was exactly the kind of player he needed in Lazio, able to lead the team forward and chase the league title. To this end, Eriksen took him to Rome, and his debut was in the European Super Cup in Monaco, against Manchester United. Lazio won 1-0, while Veron's performance impressed Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
The deal to bring Perón to Rome is said to have cost Lazio's then-president Sergio Cranioti more than £18 million, but the investment paid off handsomely, with Lazio winning serie A titles in 2000, along with the Coppa Italia and the Italian Super Cup. However, at the time, UEFA had restrictions on non-national players, causing legal trouble for Veron to apply for an Italian passport, as well as allegations of falsified evidence. Both the player and Cragnottti were eventually acquitted in 2007, but the agent who obtained the passport, Elena Tedaldi, was jailed for 15 months.
Perón in the Lazio period
In 2000, reds United lost to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, which may have been the trigger for Ferguson to start thinking about changing his midfield choice. The popular 4-4-2 formation at the time made many clubs very successful at home, but Real Madrid from Spain preferred 4-3-3, and they simply and easily made It impossible for United's two midfielders, Roy Keane and Scholes.
The following season, Ferguson suffered the same problem when Heathfield's Bayern Munich used tactics similar to Bosque's Real Madrid to beat his side in the quarter-finals. Although United have won the league three times in a row, the existing system is not more useful in Europe, and Ferguson is eager to win another European title. As a result, he concluded that in the match against the top teams, 4-4-2 is likely to never meet the goal. If you want to adjust the formation, you need another type of midfielder, and Veron is the best option.
So, at the end of the 2000/01 season, Ferguson made a quick move that brokered the record deal, and Veron himself later said that Ferguson was heavily influenced by Erikson, arguing, "I had a lot of conversations with Erikson and I had a very good relationship with him." He gave me a lot of tips and explained a lot of things. He really wants me to come to England to play. ”
Perón during the Manchester United era
By this time, of course, Erikson had been abducted from Rome by Adam Crozier to become england manager, so he could have spoken out with the authority of someone who was already deeply involved in English football. However, in reality, there may be no need to say anything. Veron also stressed his respect for United midfielders David Beckham, Scholes and Keane, who passionately believes that "it's a pleasure to play with capable people".
Many people feel that although Veron seems to be a good player, he has become less and less able to find feelings in training and competition, especially that season, he showed extreme discomfort.
At first, because Ferguson placed Belon in the team, there was almost no interference. Veron has scored four goals in his first 8 games and he runs very quickly. The following month, he was named Premier League Player of the Month and everything looked on track. However, since losing 2-1 at home to Bolton Sonville, United have won just one of their next seven games. Suddenly, some people began to suspect that Ferguson's 4-5-1 was based on Veron's core, but if you want to go back to 4-4-2, is it still feasible? So how do you play the next week?
United's Champions League record this season is proof of this. Veron has been very good in Serie A and he has been a key factor in United's progress in the group stage, scoring four goals in six group games. However, due to repeated injuries to the Achilles tendon, he spent most of the second half of the season on the sidelines, and it was during this time, when people were discussing his value, that Ferguson made a long speech in the media.
Erikson, who coached England
Ferguson's tireless protection, Eriksen's sweet words, brought Perón to Old Trafford, but he himself was deeply troubled by the language environment, especially in the first few months. In a 2016 interview with 442, Veron made it clear what he thought at Old Trafford, "The real change is physical. I think training is a very important thing. I went from serie A, which was very intensively trained before, to the Premier League, which is trained in Place, and it seems that they play all year round: Christmas, New Year's... I handled it well at first, but after December, I had a hard time keeping up."
This almost confirmed what many people thought at the time, and the kind of interpretation that Ferguson seemed to strongly oppose. Still, it's perhaps not hard to understand the manager's desire to protect his players from media persecution. Rumors of Ferguson's desperate denial of the truth quickly began to spread, but in the Champions League semi-final of the defeat to Bayer Leverkusen, United's midfield was thoroughly explored by the opponents, and Manchester United lost the opportunity to reach the final.
Perhaps the truth of the matter may never be known, so there is no evidence that Ferguson's words are not credible. However, Manchester United's players have expressed their views on the club's record signing and the reasons for his failure. In an interview with Sky Sports, Gary Neville appeared to both accept the fact that the signing of Perón was intended to speed up the team's tactical playing style, while also doubting the practical role of such tactics, which he said was one of the reasons for Perón's eventual defeat at Old Trafford.
Today's famous Gary Neville
The famous commentator said, "I think the biggest challenge happened inside Manchester United, when we had Beckham, Keane, Scholes and Giggs. Do you tell yourself that you buy players to support them? Or would you buy a player to challenge, to replace them, and possibly reverse the way they played? I remember when Veron joined, he was worth £28m, which was a big deal at the time. He may not be that good, but you have to get him on the pitch and Scholes' position is going to move forward, which disrupts the team. ”
This statement can show that Gary Neville sees no reason to destroy the original lineup and system. But he may not have told Ferguson what he was thinking, after all, he needs to really integrate Perón into the team before they can continue to compete with other European giants.
As mentioned above, Nicky Barthes feels his position on the team is threatened by new signings, but his views are slightly different. Perhaps leaning toward the theory, Veron just wasn't used to speaking English, couldn't, or wasn't adapted. Of course, there is also a hint of these words, and perhaps the way some players try to convince the newcomer is his position in the team.
According to the Times, Nicky Barthes, who eventually left Old Trafford to join Newcastle's midfielder in 2004, said, "There are some superstars coming to this club but they can't stand it. I thought of Perón. Even though Veron is a great player, an incredible player, he doesn't know what it means to be a Manchester United player. He doesn't know how the club feels, can't keep up with the rhythm, the fans don't want to see him pull the ball around, pass the ball on the outside of the back of the foot, they want passion and struggle, such as handing the ball to Schmeichel, Giggs, constantly attacking. ”
Nicky Bart, one of the members of the "Class of '92"
Like Gary Neville's comments, Barthes seems to reinforce the idea that, for whatever reason, Perón never really belonged to Old Trafford. Maybe it's an Englishman's game, maybe it's a special requirement to play for Manchester United, maybe it's because he's considered the one who was brought to change everything, and many members of that team think there's really nothing that needs to change.
Whatever the reason, Perón's start at Old Trafford was wonderful. Understandably, Ferguson tried to make things better and offered outspoken support. By the second year, however, Ferguson seemed to see it as a failed move, accepting nearly half of the losses he had lost when he bought Perón and sending him to Chelsea as Abu's rubles made him richer. But the move did not put Perón's career back on an upward trajectory, and after just a few games he was loaned first to Inter Milan and then to École Argentina until his contract at Stamford Bridge expired, when he had signed with his home club.
Veron's development at Chelsea has also not been smooth
When Veron first joined Manchester United, it was seen as a big success for Old Trafford, which recruited the best midfielders in Europe. As a result, his transfer fee set a record, and no one questioned his worth. But two years later, his career began to decline, and when he went in and out of the stamford bridge gates, little changed, and his value shrank in half, and his fame fell even more.
For the "Little Wizard", his spells did not produce any magic at Old Trafford at all.