Van Persie’s arrival could halt Welbeck’s progress at Man Utd

Welbeck needs first-team football

Just as one of England’s most exciting young strikers came good last season, the undeniable talent of Robin van Persie has completely left Danny Welbeck in the lurch.

He showed his class at Euro 2012 and throughout last season with his pace and natural finishing ability.

As it stands, his development has been stunted by one of the world’s best strikers taking his place at Old Trafford.

Welbeck needed to be sent on loan for the season, playing first-team football on regular basis with a Premier League team on the up such as Michael Laudrup’s Swansea City.

Over the last few years, a number of young English talents have seen their careers fizzle out due to lack of first-team football or being played in the wrong position – such as Daniel Sturridge, 23, who tailed off at the end of last season on the right wing and Adam Johnson, 25, who rarely featured in Roberto Mancini’s plans.

In Johnson’s case, he has made the right move going to Sunderland where he will hopefully be an integral part of a team that has top ten potential.

So, as United currently have three well established strikers – Van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernández – and one other youngster Federico Macheda, it is time for Sir Alex Ferguson to make a bold move and send Welbeck out on loan as soon as possible.

Can Southampton afford to give Adkins more time?

The fixture list handed Southampton a tough start to life back in the Premier League with games against both Manchester clubs in the opening weeks of the season.

But despite playing some attractive football, the bottom line is that Southampton occupy the 20th place in the Premier League table after three games, with no points to show for their efforts and eight goals conceded.

If next weekend’s trip to Arsenal produces the same outcome as their opening three fixtures, surely it will be time to thank Nigel Adkins for his efforts and bring in someone capable of grinding out some results.

For all their flair and exciting play, Blackpool showed us that playing pretty football at the expense of keeping a tight defence is not the way to secure Premier League survival.

And plaudits, as good as they are, certainly are not a substitute for points.

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Read more on: Danny Welbeck, Manchester United, Premier League, Robin van Persie, Sir Alex Ferguson.