With the arrival of Bellion, I think Forlan will drop further in the pecking order. Bellion even scored on his debut against Celtic.

Yeah the goal Bellion scored was a real cracker apparently, plus Forlan also missed a couple of sitters to.

He's enthusiastic but just can't finish off. Why does Sir Alex persist with him?

Fergie hates been proven wrong and will keep Forlan for another season so the cost of his purchase will be forgotten a bit and he can play Liverpool again and get a few more goals!!

Nothing irks me more than fans who judge a player solely on his finishing ability. Forlan never has been about finishing. I spent ages pointing this out when we were negotiating to sign him, and then throughout his first few weeks awaiting debut. The kid is very much a Mark Hughes type - a scorer of great goals, not a great goal scorer.

Forlan is “persisted” with because he offers many things the team lack. Most notably he has great movement, and drags defenders all over the park. All to often our team is incredibly static and teams just jam the centre. Forlan’s introduction made the defence have to work, and actually gave the passing talents of messrs Veron and Beckham a target to pick out. Ruud and Ole are great at finding half a yard in the box, but neither really move at all well in build up. It is no coincidence that the team scoring rate for last season is at its highest when Forlan was on the park. He is top of the list in that category last season (for the benefit of the curious the top five were Forlan, Scholes, Keane, Solskjaer and Ruud). He isn’t a crucial member of the squad, but he does give us an extra cutting edge when we need it. The fact is he has been a success if you judge him on what he was bought as, not what fans decided to imagine him as.

It is true that Bellion provides one of Forlan’s assets; sheer pace. Bellion is electric. However he lacks the nous of our Diego, and has never been good at linking play with his forwards. Bellion is very raw, and much more akin to Giggs at the moment; he is more effective at creating panic than creating chances. It doesn’t help that he still has no settled position, varying from midfield, to out and out winger to striker and back again in the course of a game throughout his brief professional career. Maybe if he settles out wide for a few months he will gain a more consistent delivery, or if he sticks up front for a bit he will figure out how to bring people into the game and create space. Until then he is way short of Forlan, although that is only the way it should be. Diego is a seasoned pro, Bellion is a very, very raw kid. The gap in age may not be huge, but the gulf in professional minutes is vast.

Forlan should remain a key component of the squad - and it is worth remembering he only drifted out of the picture at the end of last term following his injury layoff. Before hobbling off in the ECL he had pretty much secured a regular place in the occasional starter/first attacking sub role Ole has owned for so long.

True that Forlan does create extra chances and is very good at worrying a defence but the main aspect of a striker is to score goals. Now when Rudd is on song that isn't as important because with his strike rate plus the class ManU have in midfield they can cover that. What if Ruud was out for some time? You would need a striker to come on and fill that role. The way Ole, Diego and now Bellion play, you really can't see a natural replacement for him because they all lack that ability to find a class finish and that natural predatory instinct.

Perhaps if they were to play up front consistently with RVN out they would find this and hone those skills but for the moment they seem to be lacking a little.

He has to improve his finishing skills if he wants to stay longer at OT.

How is our youngsters (Richardson, Fletcher etc) doing?

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Originally Posted by Nugget
True that Forlan does create extra chances and is very good at worrying a defence but the main aspect of a striker is to score goals. Now when Rudd is on song that isn't as important because with his strike rate plus the class ManU have in midfield they can cover that. What if Ruud was out for some time? You would need a striker to come on and fill that role. The way Ole, Diego and now Bellion play, you really can't see a natural replacement for him because they all lack that ability to find a class finish and that natural predatory instinct.

Perhaps if they were to play up front consistently with RVN out they would find this and hone those skills but for the moment they seem to be lacking a little.

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Forlan was lively against Club America. He even scored 2 goals.

At the end of the day it all depends what Fergie is after from Forlan.

Yes Forlan scored 2 goals but I also heard he was wasteful and should have scored more. Scoring 2 goals is great especially when one of them was a header which I think is a first for Forlan (may be wrong).

But in a friendly against lesser opposition it may be a bad sign if you waste too many opportunities.

If Fergie wants a supporting forward then Forlan looks ok. If he wants a backup in case Ruud gets injured then Fergie needs to look elsewhere.

Forlan will improve but he may need to improve a lot to have a long career at United.

Without risking our crown it may be good for him to have a few starts in the Premier League. He will not improve if he does not start but the question is who gives way and is it too risky.

Ruud doesn't score every time he shoots but he makes that many chances for himself that you expect him to score almost every game.

I know people are going to say that Forlan was not bought to be a striker but if Ruud gets injured then Forlan and Ole are really the only options in my view. I think Fergie will need to play a 4-4-2 with Giggs, Keane, Scholes, Fletcher in the midfield with Ole and Forlan up front. Hopefully with the chances created there will be enough converted out of those players.

Exactly! Thats been precisely my point. When you play RVN upfront then playing Forlan out wide or just behind is good, but if you lose Ruud then who can take his place? Thats the only criticism of Forlan and Ole that with RVN upfront they create chances for other players to finsh off but rarely give themselves the chance. I think Forlan has a lot of potential to succeed at this level but will he given enough time? Is it worth the risk?

Hopefully for ManU's sake you guys never have to find out if Ole and Forlan can cut it up front without RVN but it would be interesting wouldn't it?