O’Shea or Not O’Shea, That Is The Question

By: Taylor Rockwell | May 19th, 2009

I decided to take a break from rubbing my battered, chapped hands together (which I have been since it was decided that United would be playing Barcelona on May 27th) to take a look into the inevitable silliness that is the summer transfer window. There has been a lot of discussion on this blog of what United should do with their attacking options, but what could prove a more important/prolonged issue this summer is the right back position.

There are certainly capable options for United, but whether or not those options are ideal remains to be seen. John O’Shea has had an up and down season, with some excellent performances coupled with some dreadful ones. The Irishman isn’t exactly known for his deft first touch and, at 28, questions regarding his growth potential have begun to rise.

The other obvious choices are Brazilian teenager Rafael da Silva and oft-injured veteran Wes Brown. Rafael had, by all accounts, a brilliant first half of the season. The teenager looked a capable defender, and a legitimate attacking threat when partnered with Patrice Evra. One needs look no further than his cracking goal against Arsenal as evidence of that. However, the eighteen year old had some shaky/lackadaisical moments in the seasons’ second half for which he was punished… thoroughly. How much could he use another season in a sub/reserve role?

Brown spent pretty much the entire year injured, then healthy for approximately 12 minutes, then injured again, then healthy for 18 minutes, and is now currently out for the remainder of the season. While he proved an invaluable part of both the 06/07 and 07/08 campaigns, the 29 year old Brown would be a risky proposition as a permanent choice for the 09/10 season.

Gary Neville’s decomposing corpse remains on the roster, and the United skipper would murder a drifter if it guaranteed a United victory. Danny Simpson and Richard Eckersley are both bright young prospects with a lot of room to improve. Hell, given his aggressive style and frenetic work rate, why not throw Carlos Tevez back there and see what happens. Attackers might even dribble straight out of bounds for fear of coming within 20 yards of his snaggletooth.

So what do you all think should be done with the position? Trust it to someone already on the roster and hope for the best? Sign a reliable veteran to boost the consistency? Sign a world class performer to solidify the ranks? Start Ben Foster and see how long it takes for his legs to explode?

Who Should Start at Right Back for United Next Season?(online poll)