Edwin Van der Sar may call it a day at the end of season
Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar may finally call it a day at the end of current season. That is according to the goalkeeping coach Eric Steele at old Trafford.
Former Holland captain was signed by Manchester United from London club Fulham back in 2005. He would turn 40 on 29th of October this year. And that is normally the sell by date for a goalkeeper.
Steele said that Edwin has pretty much decided and it is not a sudden decision, in fact it had been on his mind for a long time and he has finally decided to do it as the season ends.
He added that like any other sensible player Edwin knows when the time is right to bid farewell, and he does not need to be told. However, the goalkeeping coach did still leave an option for Van der Sar to carry on playing for another season. He said that
Edwin has won pretty much everything since coming to old Trafford but the FA cup. He added that completing his trophy cabinet may be a motivating factor and may convince him to stay on for one more season if United do not manage to win it this year.
"If he gets to Christmas and he thinks it is right to go on and the manager [Sir Alex Ferguson] thinks it is right we will make a decision, it is down to how he feels and performs. If he doesn't perform the manager will make the decision. Edwin will as well”.
Steele added
Steele said when Edwin came to United he made it clear that he wanted to win silverware in English football, and having won Premier League , Champions League and Carling Cup, FA cup remains his final frontier and he may stick for a bit longer to complete
the quartet. He added that it would not be a surprise if this season Van Der Sar may be seen in action also in the FA cup instead of Thomas Kuzak who is normally the first choice for cup games.
Meanwhile, another United player who is thinking about his retirement is the Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov. The front man has hinted towards setting a timeframe for him to hang his boots, he said that he would never be able to carry on for as long as Gary
Neville, Ryan Giggs or Paul Scholes.
He said that every player is different and that golden generation for United is a unique crop of players. Berba said that he knows how long he can last and he would end his playing days, while he is still good. He added that it’s best to say when people
ask you why rather than asking why not. Berbatov said that the body starts giving you various signals of ageing and a player does know when it’s time to bid farewell. The Bulgarian added that the examples of Neville, Giggs and Scholes are exceptions and maybe
it was due to the system they have come through. The former Tottenham man said that as these players made their way up through to the ranks, they had proper facilities and guidance. But it is not the same for everyone and not everyone can last for that long
and still perform at the highest level. Berbatov has been in excellent form this season and has already scored 7 goals, after 2 average seasons for United; this year looks to be the one where he really comes in to his own.
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