Danny Welbeck

I have gotten a lot of stick on twitter and various other places because of the fact I do not like Danny Welbeck. And by do not like, that is to say do not rate, as opposed to the do not like that is a small pool of hatred that I reserve in my soul for the RVPs and Fergies of this world, who continuously shit (and shat) on my weekly diet of football. Needless to say, people come up with all kinds of reasons my hatred of Welbeck is ridiculous. The fact that I am 19, the fact that I am an LFC fan and the fact he has won the title are all (apparently) legitimate reasons for discrediting my views on the subject. Whilst all of these facts are true, they are all also irrelevant. I know Man U fans who hate Welbeck, my age has nothing to do with my ability to understand a player who has been around the game as long as I've been following it and winning the title does not, nor will it ever make you a world class player. Asier Del Horno, Juliano Belleti, Kieran Richardson and Stefan Savic all fit that bill perfectly.

Yes, there is the point that Welbeck has been banging them in for England on a semi-regular basis. 8 goals in 18 games is without doubt an impressive return. But I refuse to be convinced that 2 goals each against Moldova and San Marino and one against the Scottish make you a good player. Yes, Sweden and Belgium are decent sides but the Swedish defence isn't exactly world class, with the majority of their players made up from lower level countries or mediocre EPL sides. The same sides Welbeck struggles to score against.

But ultimately, the stat that for me kills Danny Welbeck as a world class footballer is this: 1 goal last season in the Premier League. 1. He made 27 appearances, and played for a total of near 1300 minutes. That's nearly a day. He had a chance conversion rate below 5% (the exact stat varies, one website said 2.6%, another 4% in any case, the point still stands). His shot on target accuracy is another point that doesn't flatter, less than a quarter by some reckoning. His passing accuracy is very high, over 80% but very few of those passes are actually forwards (16%) and he creates less than one chance per game. He simply doesn't get enough assists to justify his goal return.

Is Danny Welbeck a decent young player with some very good attributes? Yes. Do I think he has what it takes to compete at the top level as a striker? No. The fact that a man who scored, including England games and all United appearances, 7 goals in 53 appearances, 33 of those starting last season is simply not good enough. When you consider three of those goals were against Stoke and San Marino twice, with 2 more against a moderate Swedish defence, you start to worry. Yes, a goal against Real Madrid is a good goal, but then one goal doesn't make a career. Unless you're Danny Welbeck apparently.