At the top level, differences are quite minute I think. Auba and Mbappe might only be slightly faster and agile than Lukaku and Morata but it makes a huge difference when you watch these guys play. A combination of Lukaku and Auba would just have an extra dimension to it. Even in games where one of them starts on the bench, we would know that there is a distinctly different option on the bench with buckets of goals in case something goes wrong.
2 strikers or 1?
- Thread starter Zlatattack
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At the top level, differences are quite minute I think. Auba and Mbappe might only be slightly faster and agile than Lukaku and Morata but it makes a huge difference when you watch these guys play. A combination of Lukaku and Auba would just have an extra dimension to it. Even in games where one of them starts on the bench, we would know that there is a distinctly different option on the bench with buckets of goals in case something goes wrong.
We'll be either 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 for the majority of the season I would have thought, and we'll have Lukaku (probably) as the first choice striker, with Rashford and Martial also available to cover there.
What we need now, with a big strong aerial presence like Lukaku up top, is some wingers.
What we need now, with a big strong aerial presence like Lukaku up top, is some wingers.
So, Martial and Rashford who started 58 games, against Zlatan who started 41, and together scored 9 goals less than him, are all of a sudden 30 goal strikers each? I've lost me on your mathematics.
I think answer to this question lies solely in what our plans are with griezmann, if we don't plan to move for him next season, i think we will sign morata as well but if mourinho and woodward hope to get griezmann done next season i think we will sign only one.
I think AG will be staying at A.Madrid.
He used us to get a new, more lucrative contract. This is something that so many players have used us for, where they get a new contract and all of a sudden, they are very happy to play for their current club and profess their undying loyalty to their current club. AG followed the playbook perfectly; a true master of contract negotiations.
I want players who want to move to MUFC. Lukaku for example, was offered a more lucrative contract a few months back. His answer: "No...I want to move." <- That's the kind of player we need.
2 strikers, Lukaku, and one who won't mind sitting on the bench.
We definitely need another striker, Lukaku will help us massively but we need another. We simply didn't score enough last year. If Lukaku gets injured or has a difficult start, I can't see much difference going forward in tight games at OT. Lukaku was more clinical than Zlatan. We need another striker with a good conversion rate. I think it's essential that we get a good natural wide player with a great delivery too. Simply put, Zlatan is gone, Rooney is going. We need another replacement that can score. I don't want the burden to be on Rashford, he was magnificent last year. He's still learning and isn't ready just yet to lead the line in my opinion. He was important but needs to work on his finishing,we need finish our chances. Martial could go either way too, his workrate is questionable. He has the talent but I would like someone that guarantees consistent goals.
Unfortunately, there are many MUFC fans who believe that our attackers are better than they actually are. Martial, for example, is nailed on to win the Ball on Dor!
The truth is that if our goal shy attackers (we have many) would be more at home in teams who are fighting relegation. Scoring 5 league goals a season for the likes of Miki, Mata, Martial, etc is something to be embarrassed about and should warrant being transfer listed.
I was going to list the names of players who outscored our attackers, but the list was so long, I didn't bother.
The top MUFC player (Ibra, excepted) in the scoring charts is ranked 60!
Martial, our Ball on Dor elect is ranked 74.
In summary, I would not trust any of Martial, Mata, Rashford, Miki or Lingard to contribute significantly to our goal count.
How many games did Martial and Rashford play up front as the lone striker? That's literally the only question that matters. Yes, Zlatan was a great player for us. But Martial and Rashford can be great players, too. We just need to play them up front.
16 games, scoring 6. I rest my case.
Yeah, exactly.
So we saw last season how thin we could get in the ST dept, so perfectly we should have 3.
I want this:
-----------------DDG------------------
Valencia---Bailly---Lindelof---Shaw
---------Herrera----Pogba----------
--------------Mkhitaryan------------
-------Morata-----------Perisic------
----------------Lukaku--------------
With Rashford, Martial and Lingard the rotational options for the front 3
Mata/Pereira the rotational option for Mkhitaryan
Need to sign another CM to compete with Herrera for partnering Pogba, Fabinho would be glorious as he also you gives you a good alternative for Valencia on the RB
-----------------DDG------------------
Valencia---Bailly---Lindelof---Shaw
---------Herrera----Pogba----------
--------------Mkhitaryan------------
-------Morata-----------Perisic------
----------------Lukaku--------------
With Rashford, Martial and Lingard the rotational options for the front 3
Mata/Pereira the rotational option for Mkhitaryan
Need to sign another CM to compete with Herrera for partnering Pogba, Fabinho would be glorious as he also you gives you a good alternative for Valencia on the RB
So they scored 6 in 16, while Zlatan with a 15 years' more experience got 24 in 41. It's not exactly a huge leap to suggest Rashford and Martial could get the same in 41 is it?
Sure, now they just need 15 years experience over the summer holidays.
If anyone thinks any of our attacking players last season other than Zlatan were anywhere near acceptable, go re-read the match day threads. The football was so dry it was like watching England play.
Won't prolong this discussion further, but Zlatan scored 28, not 24.
best bet would be to buy a winger striker now or really good wing back, depending on how we overlap on the flanks .
No he didn't. Plenty of players have done that over the years, but Griezmann wasn't one of them.
There's little doubt that Griezmann fully expected to move to us, but on the off chance that Atletico did receive the transfer ban he felt enough loyalty to them that he didn't want to leave them in the lurch. Unfortunately they did get that transfer ban, so he ended up staying. To reward him for that, Atletico gave him a new contract with a higher wage. However, it's important to note that all reports are saying that the buyout clause has remained the same. That is the key fact. If he was just doing it for money, Atletico would have demanded to increase that buyout clause in this contract. The fact that they didn't shows that they knew he was serious about leaving. So he's stuck around for another year to help them out through the ban, and they thank him with the higher wage while not standing in his way to move next time.
Now, that's not to say we will definitely be back in for him next season. Mourinho may very well have somebody else in mind for that role that he can sign this window. Alternatively, maybe something else will change and we simply won't be as interested in signing him next season, or he may decide he would prefer to stay with Atletico after all. But this season it was definitely real. And I personally do expect it probably will happen next season.
I'd like to see another striker come in for the fact that we need depth. Yes, we play with 1 up top, but injuries and fixture congestion happen. It'd be nice to have another reliable goal scorer than can be put in there.
If we play with a two striker formation that second striker will be Rashford or Martial, not some £79m signing.
I'd prefer we add a world class wide attacker. Be that a winger or playmaker.
The only one available of the needed quality is probably James Rodriguez. Like you say, though, the situation is a bit fecked. Do we push for somebody like James this summer, or stay as we are and wait for Griezmann again next season?
After Lukaku, what we need is a left-sided winger/attacking midfielder. Will free up Martial and Rashford to play up front when needed and improve our starting 11 ... unless we sign Perisic.
I would prefer two. But there's many games in the season, supposedly Rooney is leaving then it leaves us with Lukaku, Rashford and Martial. Martial I don't even think is most comfortable leading the line, so it's more like 2.5 strikers for a full season with CL. I would very much welcome signing Morata and have 4 youngish-very young forwards sharing the games what with fatigue, injuries and all that.
I think a 442 diamond with Martial, Rashford, Lukaku, and Morata/Griezmann rotating for front 2 would work. This also means we can play with a holding midfield to allow more freedom for Pogba, a CAM position for Mata/Mhki, and no place for Lingard 
.
Obvious downside being the lack of width, but we have no actual wingers in our team anywhere, unless we go and get 2 wingers this summer, I don't see the point of playing the formations we went with last season.
.Obvious downside being the lack of width, but we have no actual wingers in our team anywhere, unless we go and get 2 wingers this summer, I don't see the point of playing the formations we went with last season.
...............................De Gea.................................
Valencia.......Bailly.........Lindelof........Darmian.
..............................Herrera.................................
..................Lemar..............Pogba......................
.......Rashford........................Martial..................
...........................Lukaku.....................................
Valencia.......Bailly.........Lindelof........Darmian.
..............................Herrera.................................
..................Lemar..............Pogba......................
.......Rashford........................Martial..................
...........................Lukaku.....................................
It doesn't need to be a striker.
We just need another goalscorer brought in.
We just need another goalscorer brought in.
I still think we're in for Morata as well as a dm.
-----------DM----Herrera----------
Morata-----Pogba-----Martial
----------------Lukaku---------------
Morata would get the Eto'o role like Mourinho's Inter Milan team, and Pogba would serve as the free roam #10.
-----------DM----Herrera----------
Morata-----Pogba-----Martial
----------------Lukaku---------------
Morata would get the Eto'o role like Mourinho's Inter Milan team, and Pogba would serve as the free roam #10.
Playing Morata on the right like that would be a complete waste of the £70/80 million we would have spent on him. He isn't a wide player, at least not to the standard we need.
If we do bring in another striker it should be a cheaper option as I can't see nor do I want Mourinho to change the formation to fit in two.
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if we sign Morata, tho highly unlikely, 3-5-2 would be the best, at least on paper
--------Bailly--Lindelof--Rojo-----
-------------------DM--------------
Valencia---Herrera---Pogba---Shaw
--------Morata--------Lukaku------
This sytem can bring the best/close-to-the-best out of
1. Lukaku (#9) | Rashford as sub
2. Morata (#9/SS) | Mkhi/Martial as sub (SS)
3. Pogba (CM)
4. Herrera (CM)
5. Valencia (RWB)
6. DM
7. All CB | Jones/Blind/Darmian as sub
LWB is our weakest link
Attack: 6 up front with 3-1-4-2
Possession, Slight defensive: 5 midfield with 3-5-2
Park the bus: 8 def with 5-3-2
So flexible. Suit Mou !!
I like this system so much because we don have any great traditional winger (Giggs/Kanchelski)or modern winger (Ronaldo/Neymar/Messi). Martial/Mkhi/Mata/Lingard are either not proper traditional/modern winger or just not at the level, at least not now.
With the system, I think its so balance that it suits the players so much. It balances out both the offensive and defensive aspect of each player. Plus none of our player is capable of carrying the team alone. ie We don need individual performance like Ronaldo/Messi, we play as a team like Juve. A real team game
Anyone with me
--------Bailly--Lindelof--Rojo-----
-------------------DM--------------
Valencia---Herrera---Pogba---Shaw
--------Morata--------Lukaku------
This sytem can bring the best/close-to-the-best out of
1. Lukaku (#9) | Rashford as sub
2. Morata (#9/SS) | Mkhi/Martial as sub (SS)
3. Pogba (CM)
4. Herrera (CM)
5. Valencia (RWB)
6. DM
7. All CB | Jones/Blind/Darmian as sub
LWB is our weakest link
Attack: 6 up front with 3-1-4-2
Possession, Slight defensive: 5 midfield with 3-5-2
Park the bus: 8 def with 5-3-2
So flexible. Suit Mou !!
I like this system so much because we don have any great traditional winger (Giggs/Kanchelski)or modern winger (Ronaldo/Neymar/Messi). Martial/Mkhi/Mata/Lingard are either not proper traditional/modern winger or just not at the level, at least not now.
With the system, I think its so balance that it suits the players so much. It balances out both the offensive and defensive aspect of each player. Plus none of our player is capable of carrying the team alone. ie We don need individual performance like Ronaldo/Messi, we play as a team like Juve. A real team game
Anyone with me
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This. Not two pure strikers, but goals scoring (with playmaking ability) winger/10 with Lukaku.
When you have limited #9 you need a dynamic and creative #10 or SS to support them and add some craft, not another #9.
With the amount of games we have a season (50-60), one striker won't be enough. Lukaku gets injured or fatigue, we are screwed. We still need an experience back up.
Lukaku+Rashford+Martial is enough for striker position imo. That's not bad at all.
if we sign Morata, tho highly unlikely, 3-5-2 would be the best, at least on paper
--------Bailly--Lindelof--Rojo-----
-------------------DM--------------
Valencia---Herrera---Pogba---Shaw
--------Morata--------Lukaku------
This sytem can bring the best/close-to-the-best out of
1. Lukaku (#9) | Rashford as sub
2. Morata (#9/SS) | Mkhi/Martial as sub (SS)
3. Pogba (CM)
4. Herrera (CM)
5. Valencia (RWB)
6. DM
7. All CB | Jones/Blind/Darmian as sub
LWB is our weakest link
Attack: 6 up front with 3-1-4-2
Possession, Slight defensive: 5 midfield with 3-5-2
Park the bus: 8 def with 5-3-2
So flexible. Suit Mou !!
I like this system so much because we don have any great traditional winger (Giggs/Kanchelski)or modern winger (Ronaldo/Neymar/Messi). Martial/Mkhi/Mata/Lingard are either not proper traditional/modern winger or just not at the level, at least not now.
With the system, I think its so balance that it suits the players so much. It balances out both the offensive and defensive aspect of each player. Plus none of our player is capable of carrying the team alone. ie We don need individual performance like Ronaldo/Messi, we play as a team like Juve. A real team game
Anyone with me
Possible, or we might drop one CB and go with a 442 diamond or 4132, with the DM dropping deep to cover and act almost like a 3rd CB. It's all flexible. Lukaku is also comfortable in pulling out wide on the right, while Morata will be comfy pulling out to the left. Both are strong enough in the air to cause opposing full backs problems, allowing our own FBs or CMs to push up and take advantage of the space.
If we go for a 1 striker system then I think the depth is there in Rashford and Martial but we need a serious improvement on distribution. Beckham-putting-it-on-a-plate levels of service service required.
Exactly this.
I would like the club to sign another as well as Lukaku but the good ones are very expensive.
In my opinion we need one striker, simply because i have great hope in Rashford and i think we should trust his potential. Martial can play there if we have no other options but we don't have any special wingers and i have hope that Martial can build on his potential and develop as a great number 11. However we need additional reinforcements in the attack, in addition of Perisic who would add something different to our left side (even thought i'm not a fan), we could upgrade our number 10 position or we could play Mkhitaryan there and go for a superstar right winger in the name of Bale/Dembele or even Lucas form PSG. Of course it depends of the formation Jose intends to play.
Lukaku replaces the goals Zlat scored for us last season but we still need more if we're going to challenge.