Two questions always accompany any mention of Federico Macheda and his stop-start career at Manchester United.
The first centres on when, or if, the Italian will fulfil his potential and that is swiftly followed by the other, which goes along the lines of, ‘Is he really still a teenager?’
Having exploded onto the scene at Old Trafford with a dramatic late
winner against Aston Villa as a 17-year-old substitute in Apr 2009,
Macheda has since made sporadic blips on the radar before disappearing
beneath the surface for frustrating long periods.
Since that goal against Villa, Macheda has made 26 further appearances for United, with three more goals added to his account, yet he remains an enigma.
Injury and a six-month loan spell at Sampdoria last season, which proved disastrous with Macheda failing to score a single goal as Samp were relegated from Serie A, have interrupted his progress at Old Trafford.
But the 19-year-old offered a reminder of his potential by scoring
twice as a substitute in United’s 4-1 victory against New England
Revolution in the opening game of the club’s tour of the United States.
Both were six-yard box finishes, crisp, well-taken goals that are the hallmark of any natural goalscorer.
Macheda can also be clumsy, headstrong and seemingly clueless about the offside rule, however, and the flaws in his game continue to place a question mark over his immediate future at United.
Consider that Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov will be Sir Alex Ferguson’s three front-line strikers this season, the jostling behind that trio to become fourth in line is intensifying.
Aside from Macheda, Ferguson also has Michael Owen, Danny Welbeck and Mame Biram Diouf and, clearly, seven into four does not go.
Having signed a new one-year contract earlier this summer. Owen will continue to be Ferguson’s wildcard on the bench, the man with the pedigree and ability to save or win games in the closing stages.
So Macheda must see off the challenge of Welbeck and Diouf to avoid
another loan spell away from Old Trafford in the coming campaign.
Welbeck, who made his full England debut against Ghana last season following a successful loan at Sunderland, has returned to United and will link up with the squad in Seattle this weekend.
Diouf, who had an unproductive year on loan at Blackburn, is most likely to find himself the odd-man out among the three youngsters.
But Macheda’s ability to score goals in the tightest situations might just give him the edge over Welbeck, whose early season form at Sunderland tailed off due to injury last term.
Whether Macheda will meet the challenge is another matter, though. He is rated highly by Ferguson, but he starred in pre-season last summer before failing to grasp his chance once the season started.
The same may happen again, but then we should remember he is still only 19.
Macheda might appear to have been around for years, but he is still only a rookie and reminding people of might be a valuable exercise.
The first centres on when, or if, the Italian will fulfil his potential and that is swiftly followed by the other, which goes along the lines of, ‘Is he really still a teenager?’
Since that goal against Villa, Macheda has made 26 further appearances for United, with three more goals added to his account, yet he remains an enigma.
Injury and a six-month loan spell at Sampdoria last season, which proved disastrous with Macheda failing to score a single goal as Samp were relegated from Serie A, have interrupted his progress at Old Trafford.
Both were six-yard box finishes, crisp, well-taken goals that are the hallmark of any natural goalscorer.
Macheda can also be clumsy, headstrong and seemingly clueless about the offside rule, however, and the flaws in his game continue to place a question mark over his immediate future at United.
Consider that Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov will be Sir Alex Ferguson’s three front-line strikers this season, the jostling behind that trio to become fourth in line is intensifying.
Aside from Macheda, Ferguson also has Michael Owen, Danny Welbeck and Mame Biram Diouf and, clearly, seven into four does not go.
Having signed a new one-year contract earlier this summer. Owen will continue to be Ferguson’s wildcard on the bench, the man with the pedigree and ability to save or win games in the closing stages.
Welbeck, who made his full England debut against Ghana last season following a successful loan at Sunderland, has returned to United and will link up with the squad in Seattle this weekend.
Diouf, who had an unproductive year on loan at Blackburn, is most likely to find himself the odd-man out among the three youngsters.
But Macheda’s ability to score goals in the tightest situations might just give him the edge over Welbeck, whose early season form at Sunderland tailed off due to injury last term.
Whether Macheda will meet the challenge is another matter, though. He is rated highly by Ferguson, but he starred in pre-season last summer before failing to grasp his chance once the season started.
Macheda might appear to have been around for years, but he is still only a rookie and reminding people of might be a valuable exercise.
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