ok, this has been bugging me for a little while, so I'm just going to go out and say it, and then see what people think.
Is Gibson's continued presence in the United squad due to actual talent, or to the circumstances currently surrounding the club?
In the (very recent) past, when Ferguson identified a weakness in the squad - due to a decline in the ability of a player, or the availability of a suitable replacement - he had the money to go out and strengthen the playing staff with the best and brightest available from across the globe. Following the takeover of the Glazers, and the leveraging of debt against the club, the amount of money available for both transfer fees and wages has decreased significantly. Thus, Sir Alex is unable to replace existing squad players with superior players, leading to extended playing careers of personnel who can still perform admirably, but are clearly past their prime (Scholes, Giggs, Neville, etc). Facing this restricted ability in the transfer market, players from the youth teams have been given their chance whereas in years past, it would have been new acquisitions that would be filling these roles. Macheda, De Laet, Gibson, and the Da Silva twins have all had significant spells in the first team in the past two seasons. Up until that debate raged whether or not Wes Brown or John O'Shea was the last player to be promoted from within Old Trafford to the senior team.
So the question remains, is the presence of these players in the Manchester United playing squad due to actual talent, or the circumstance of not being able to buy superior players?b
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