It's fine if you want to call them your boys.
Ruben Amorim - Manchester United Head Coach
- Thread starter sewey89
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) are here to discuss three 1-1 draws.
The first got us knocked out of the FA Cup, the next puts us in a good position in our Round of 16 Europa League game, and the latest was an actual decent performance against Arsenal at Old Trafford.
All hopes for the season now rest on the Europa League - does Amorim have the squad to win it?
Definite future in comedy, newbie
Atalanta showed that he was best in space, not just ok.
But a lot of leagues are deceptive and position alone doesn’t tell the true story.
In 19 and 20, Sporting were 13 and 22 points off top. They won it in Amorims first full season (he had two months of 20).
As experts say, the playing style he implemented at Sporting, the way they play these days like never before is as intriguing as the titles.
“Ok” means a lot of things and I know what I meant.
Worth mentioning how much of a mess they were in at the time too.
What else is your crystal ball telling you?
Debast will be the best IMO. He impresses me the most. Technically sound, his passing is so creative for a CB, he also has a nice shot that he needs to use more often. Scored a screamer against Lille in the CL. His problem is his over confidence. His errors are not because of his limitations but because he's too cocky and sometimes he overplays it. He's very young and I think that with playing time and experience he will become one of the top CBs in Europe.
Only my personal opinion of course but I'd put Inácio at second. Quality, ball playing CB, great passing, he has been playing at high level from such young age and he has been an integral part of this successful period of Sporting and is now cementing his place in our NT. It's a matter of time until he moves.
I put Diomande at third because although he has the best physical tools of all our CBs, he's a bit raw sometimes and error prone. Of course he's also very young and will evolve with experience and the right environment. I put him at third but if he fixes some of the concentration lapses, positioning errors and keeps evolving, he probably has the potencial to become the best of the 3.
Quaresma is a decent and serviceable CB who can play many positions. He's a good squad player. Dunno if he is top European club material but he has been good for Sporting and played a vital role in our two league wins. Everybody says that he's a great guy to be around, with good personality and positive influence in the dressing room. I think clubs need a player like him. Not a surefire starter but dependable when called upon and with great character.
I did mean to offend you. Ok is often understood as passable and that's how I read it.
Hojlund bashing is a bit tiresome. He's a young player who did good in Italy with a very demanding manager such as Gasperini. I think some United players were underperforming because of Ten Hag setup and managerial style. I sincerily believe he will flourish with Amorim. I think United has more pressing needs than splurging money on another striker. Give a real chance to Hojlund and Zirkzee.
Possible. Probably
It’s offensive that he gets paid to talk shit week after week. Comes across impressively thick.
Give them both the season. It will be obvious what we need to do by the end of it.
You are just trying to keep one of your favorite player .
By the way, do you think that Zirkzee could fit in his 343 as a AM next to Bruno?
Well....let's hope he can do the same for United. As the saying goes, once bitten, twice shy. I've been bitten 5 times.
No Zirkzee is also a striker. Just a different profile than Hojlund. And we need them both.You are just trying to keep one of your favorite player .
By the way, do you think that Zirkzee could fit in his 343 as a AM next to Bruno?
I´m from Sweden and I had never heard of Gyökeres before his 23 birthday. I can guarantee that Rasmus is waaaay better than he was att the same age. So Rasmus has all the possibilities to be as good as Gyökeres. 70 mill WAS way to much, but beggars cant be choosers..
I retract everything I've said
You’ve just proved to be a stalker mate.
He describes himself as a 9.5 which matches with what he does on the field. And in some formations this players are better fit as AMs, the typical examples would be Griezmann or Muller who both have had success as strikers but are also clearly AMs.
I agree it's hard to understand why Erik lost all tactical sense when coming into the role but I think his management severely limited some of the players especially the patterns in the attacking phases. The midfield was hung out to dry last season and it only whimsically changed after Wilcox was reported to have demanded / instructed a different approach.
Aside the former manager, I think the best prospect with Amorim in charge is (from what I've seen) his teams come across very defensively responsible. I think many saw the demise of Liverpool with Jurgen Klopp leaving as the assumption is they would lose the high intensity, possession orientated style but while that could be true it's the defensive solidarity Slott has instilled which has made them more competitive / dangerous as a team.
This is somewhat of the hope I have with Amorim, I think it's more valuable to be a team that's harder to beat compared to one that's easy on the eye. Especially coming off the back of Erik's management where he set the team up to be defensively vulnerable and naive in the midfield. I'd even like to see Cas / Ugarte in the middle and Mainoo pushed further ahead, many have written off these players but when you look at the versatile profile available in the teams selection, any manager with an ounce of tactical competence should be able to get a tune out of them.
Because people have decided that the 21 year old with 18 goals so far for United - despite playing in a totally dysfunctional team - has no scope to improve.
That’s a pretty ridiculous statement.
I like the look of Gyokeres but I would much rather have 21 year old Hoijlund. I don’t know what you expect from players , he had a decent season in a struggling side and showed he can make the step up and you can only conclude that he will improve if the team do as he was starved of service during his time here so far.
The 70m isnt the players fault and you would almost be certainly paying more than that for Gyokeres. Personally think we will all be happy with Hoijlind long term and the fee won’t be such a topic of conversation although quite a few here want to destroy him before he has even got started.
There's still time for them to come good.I retract everything I've said
I rate them all by the way. Just hope Amorim can get them to perform at their max level as none of them are bad players.
You couldn't be more wrong if you are talking about me. I've always been a defender of Hojlund and is one of my favorite players.
Player development isn't linear though is it?
Sometimes a striker can flourish, but he just needs to be in the right environment. Some are just late bloomers and it takes time for everything to click into place. We've seen it with loads of players over the years, a great example would be Michu at Swansea, for 1 season he was superb. Robbie Keane at Spurs is another, he lasted about 6 months at Liverpool. There's loads of examples of strikers who looked good in weaker teams and weaker leagues that couldn't do it when they stepped up a level.
Gyökeres is 26 and up until a couple of years ago he was playing in the Championship. The last 2 years he's looked close to being a really good striker. Hojlund is only 21.. at 21 Gyökeres couldn't get a game at Brighton. Could barely score a goal in BL2 or the Championship.
At 19 Hojlund was playing and scoring in Serie, at 20 he scored 16 goals for Utd in his first season. He's ahead of where Gyökeres was at the same age, so who's to say in 5 years time, he won't be even further ahead of him.
Hojlund is a very good striker for his age and he's been in a difficult environment to score goals. His conversion rate last season was one of the highest in the league. Let's see what kind of impact Anorim can have with him.
Both parties were clearly in touch long before TenHag got bagged.
This was the plan all along.
This was the plan all along.
Jesus wept.
I would love to go back in time and see what you would have said about Gyokeres at 21.
The comparison just doesn’t make sense and stinks of people wanting a shiny new toy.
Heh Gyökeres is gone sooner or later. I'm afraid of the january market if he keeps this form at Sporting and the Swedish NT but he's 100% gone next season.You are just trying to keep one of your favorite player .
By the way, do you think that Zirkzee could fit in his 343 as a AM next to Bruno?
I think Zirkzee can play the role Paulinho had at Sporting when we played two up with him next to Gyokeres specifically in games against bottom tables clubs with ultra defensive setups. Paulinho played like a false winger, forward, playing from the inside which enabled us to fill the spaces that a very mobile forward like Gyokeres opens up. Opposing CB would have to deal with two mobile references which made their work way harder. Zirkzee like Paulinho would have more chances to finish due to Hojlund mobility and work rate.
With Amorim tactical approach, I think both Hojlund and Zirkzee can be compatible in certain circunstances. They could play off each other, in opposite movements. When one looks for support, the other could play in depth. I think United could have an interesting dual threat.
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Yes of course but who knows if Hojlund will develop to the level of Gyokeres by the time he is 26.
You can't just assume that will happen (I would love it to)
That’s the issue with written views.. no context or meaning.
I mean ok as in pretty decent and favouring his ability.. didn’t say “he was miles better” or”perfectly suited him” because any opinion on the Caf that’s seen as at either end of a spectrum, gets nit picked.
I'm talking in general. Some of the absolute guff I've read on here about Hojlund is ridiculous.
The level of Gyokeres is currently the Portuguese league.
It always has been to be fair. He was written off as a waste of money by many alarmingly quickly.
Bas Dost hunting grounds
Don't be so disingenuous.
I'm absolutely stunned some can't see his potential. He's going to surprise a lot of people in a better setup where he actually gets decent chances.
He's a good player that's become overrated. I'm pretty sure Weghorst would score a lot of goals over there.