By now anyone will have understood that from the day I saw Cruijff till today, wingers have always fascinated me. It’s the one position which, according to me has been perfectly named, as I think that wingers truly are players with wings. They don’t bother to run on the pitch, they simply fly. They make the other players look like some a bunch of schoolboys while themselves epitomizing the beauty of the game. The blistering pace which leaves the opposition defenders miles behind and crowd spellbound before breaking into a roar, the outrageous dribbles and the one-twos against the players, the soaring crosses which drop right in place for a striker to head the ball into goal, all are just a day on the pitch for a talented winger. And it is the continued display of these skills which makes football matches very endearing to watch. Only a very die-hard fan will pick to watch a modern day Chelsea-Liverpool snooze over the breath-taking antics of a Cristiano Ronaldo.

Winger is one of the two out-and-out attacking type players on the pitch, the other being the striker. There is simply no such thing as a defensive winger. Wingers are supposed to run through defenders and support strikers by creating goal scoring opportunities. They are supposed to stretch defenses allowing other players to exploit the gaps to attack the opposition. Teams like Manchester United which effectively employ wingers are far more attacking than teams who don’t and for people like me, much more endearing to watch. South Americans are considered to be the players with true flair, a fact which is accepted by many fans and players alike, but wingers are still the best players to watch on pitch, an interesting clash considering the fact that some of the best wingers are and have been of European origin.

To give a tactical overview, wingers can be classified as wide-forwards in traditional formations, but today are more or less attacking midfielders. They are used in standard 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 and 4-3-3 formations. Their primary aim is to beat opposing fullbacks by dribbling around them and delivering crosses from wide positions. These requirements make wingers, usually the most technically gifted players in the team. They are pacey, have excellent ball control, passing, crossing and top it off very good dribbling skills. Wingers do have defensive duties but they are very limited and in a normal game, wingers are expected to deal with the attacking aspect of the game and not the defensive. And above that they are very wily players, adept in the use of trickery and guile to bamboozle their seemingly witless opponents.

In the last couple of decades we have seen some very good wingers, inspite of the fact that football more and more is becoming a very technical game and the beauty of the game is on the decline. Ryan Giggs has of course been there all along and is still there right up with the best, an amazing fact considering he has been playing top flight game for almost 17 years. Andrei Kanchelskis, David Beckham, Luis Figo, Mauro Camoranesi, Karel Poborsky, Robert Pires and in the recent times Cristiano Ronaldo, Arjen Robben, Nani, Ricardo Quaresma, Joaquin, Alexander Hleb, Cicinho, Maxi Rodríguez, Jesus Navas and to certain extent Robin van Persie all are excellent examples and each of them has the capability to single-handedly smash through opposition defenses to either create goals or score them. There isn’t any person in this world, no matter how much a non-football fan, who cannot appreciate the on pitch trickery of Cristiano Ronaldo, or the pin-point passing of David Beckham. French great Henry began his career on the flanks before becoming a forward, and it is those skills which are a major reason for his ability to do his attacking runs. You just need to watch small clips of all these players to understand what kind of greats they are . . .

Who can forget the legendary goal by Giggs 99 FA-Cup semi-final, where he dribbled past 5 Arsenal players on the way to history or the performances of Luis ‘Lion King’ Figo for Barcelona and Madrid or the lob-shot specialist Poborsky and in recent times the trickery of the Portuguese Golden Boy, Ronaldo. They have truly lorded over football pitches . . .

The words

Take flight let your wings unfold

Only you can really be so bold

The open sky is your goal

Fly away, O liberated soul

truly suit a winger

and in these times, we look to likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and his fellow Lords of the Wings to restore football to its former beauty

A Brazilian, a natural attacking midfielder and a flair player, many saw Anderson as the long term successor to Scholes and add to the fact that Nani, also coming into the club at the same time, is also being seen as a successor to the Welsh Wizard, so the twin purchases further cemented this theory. Naturally comparisons followed between the young kid and the midfield maestro and whether the boy will be able to fill the shoes of one of the greatest attacking midfielder ever to play in EPL.

A few months down the line, the lad has proven something quite different. Instead of trying to be seen as an able successor, he has managed to carve out a nice little niche for himself in the team. More extensively deployed in the first team, thanks to an untimely injury to Scholes, Anderson not only held his own but a string of good performances put pressure on last season regular, Carrick forcing him to raise his own game. Its this competition for midfield, which has brought out the recent solid performances from the former Spurs star, and which in turn also got performances from the Brazilian.

So the million dollar question, how does Anderson fit into this very versatile Manchester United midfield. What does he bring to the table that makes him an asset for us. For starters he himself is a very versatile player, capable of a box-to-box, attacking as well as left wing play if needed and also a very good passer of the ball. On a humourous note, an advantage he has over Scholes are his defensive skills, I have always considered Ginger to be one of the most horrendous tacklers in the game ever, to think playing alongside the likes of Keane, he might have picked up a few tips. Anderson’s greatest asset is his heart, akin to Rooney, which makes him give it all on the pitch. Its this which makes him take the ball single-handedly past 3 defenders, shut out proven players like Gerrard and Fabregas. When you have players like this on the pitch, they envelop the others in their aura and the whole team’s performance improves. Many might find this sceptical, but we have all been there and seen sides lift their performances when they see fellow players give their all.

Among the recent purchases Carrick and Hargreaves are here to give their best years to the club, both are 26 and will be here for next 4-6 years, while Anderson, along with Nani is here for long-term, by the time these two hang their boots, the lad will be ready to give his best years to the club, and if his current performances are anything to go by, all of us are in for a real treat for many years to come. What will be very interesting will be the fourth player Sir Alex will bring in to complete our future midfield, by the looks of it either an attacking midfielder or another complete midfielder.

Manchester United play a free-flowing game, and a player like Anderson will improve and add to this game. A true box-to-box player is an asset in any club and one of Anderson’s talent is sure to dominate the scene for years to come. As with any young talent, there is a lot of scope for improvement, but the ease with which the lad has adapted to EPL and our style of play is a sign of very good things to come. Initially being seen as a successor to another great, he has gone one to make his own mark on the game and shown potential for becoming a driving force of a very talented midfield quartet.

Great players can always adapt to any team and play well alongside other greats and Anderson is a name which will be taken along with and among the greats of Manchester United.

Last year many (including sometimes me) saw Carrick as the one who will take over the mantle from Scholes, as we were always going to get Hargreaves, and now many (this time not me) call Anderson as Scholes successor, but to me the boy is not a successor. He is not the next Scholes or as Pele says a combination of two Ronaldinho and Ronaldo. He is not a player like Gerrard nor can be compared with Fabregas. Some can compare him with Davids and the hairstyle certainly helps, but none of that counts

He is simply . .

Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira, Future Legend!!!