Ben Foster nearly could have ensured a championship for Manchester United in the match for his Watford club. The loaned out keeper made a number of great saves throughout the match, however, with the panache of title holders and all the oil money behind them, Shevchenko slipped in a wonderful cross and Salomon Kalou headed home the winner in extra time. Kalou’s header, who just came on late in the match, scored with great leaping header and driving the ball into the opposite corner.
Foster, who joined Manchester United from Stoke City for a fee of £1million, going up to £2.5m, in July 2005, made a number of key stops for Watford and Manchester United in a sense. Watford wins then United takes their lead over Chelsea to nine points. I'm sure there would have been some complaints from Mouinho after the game, wanting to change the rules or blame United, having their hands in this match somehow, Ferguson inextricably invested in the game. After joining United, Foster was loaned to Watford for the 2005/06 season to build up his first team experience.
I always find this interesting, how a player who is loaned out to another team can affect a game or even a title race or even a Champions League win. Real Madrid loaned out Fernando Morientes to Didier Deschamps’ Monaco, where he scored against his club I believe, and then led them to the final. Often, there are rules where a player who is loaned to one club can't play for another. This was the case for Everton's American keeper, Tim Howard; he couldn't play in the match versus Manchester Untied. But, there are also a number of interesting paths players take when loaned out to other clubs and it comes back to haunt the club who was trying to bring in some money, get some experience for another player, or unload a player. Then, there are times, where the loaned out player has a positive influence, or nearly, as Foster did. More to come on this as we dig deeper.
Then, there are the players who were cultivated by one club only to play and star for another:
Etoo who was a signed Real Madrid player but came into his own for Barcelona.
Cesc Fabregas who was a Barcelona youth player ends up playing against his former club in the Champions League Final.
Then there are those players who always score on their debut. And the players who score against their old clubs. We'll digg deeper on the connections of players and their teams.
