Our Future upfront?

With the imminent departure of Ruud Van Nistelrooy some fans are concerned at the perceived lack of firepower in front of goal next season. Should we be worried? or do we have adequate recruits to see us through to silverware success.

A number of fans see the departure of Ruud Van Nistelrooy to Real Madrid for £12 million a tactical blunder by Ferguson. The pairs relationship soured considerably at the end of last season and as a result Ruud spent much of the tail end of the campaign on the bench much to his distaste. Whichever way you look at it Ruud is still (well until last season) a 20 goals a season striker capable of getting you out of the tightest spots when required. i remember last season against Bolton, we were drawing and desperately needed a goal to maintain the pressure on runaway leaders Chelsea. Up stepped Van the man from the bench, he hadn't been on the pitch all that long when bamm, yet again he was in the right place at the right time to slot home the winner. Question is now he has gone, will we have that kind of safety net? A match winner who you truly believe will score when in front of goal?

Lets have a look at the options. i will start with Rooney. Outstanding there is no question that he is one of the brightest talents in the English game. He did have his quiet spells though and did have a dry spell during the middle of the season. That said he is our creator, that pass, that through ball, that cross and the occasional sensational volley, that’s what we look to Rooney for, not 40 a season.

Solskjaer.. I have been really encouraged by the news that Ole is returning to fitness. He is a united legend, is content to warm the bench and always used to score when he came on. However at 33 can he really do the business. He certainly can't for 90 minutes week in week out, but he does provide us with another option providing he stays clear of injuries.

Rossi... A real talent. In the reserves he scored in excess of 30 goals last season. i see him as a Scholes figure myself, similar build, great vision and can score a few. I'm sure you can remember Scholes as a striker when he first broke into the United first team. I think he could become a great successor to the ginger warrior. he has looked a little off the pace in pre season friendlies and some have called for him to get on the protein shakes to add a bit of muscle, so he maybe needs another season of being broken in. More first team starts are required and a few goals would be nice. i think he is very much a wait and see.

Saha... I think Saha is the key. He has had a terrible time with injuries since joining United and providing he stays injury free this time he can be the replacement. I see Rooney and Saha as a great partnership. Their movement is exquisite. One will drop back allowing the other t roam forward, they both seem to know where each other on the field at all times and both have pace in abundance. If and it's a big if he can stay injury free we may have another Yorke & Cole on our hands and we all know what that means....