A midfield of Blind/Carrick/Di Maria would be solid. The issue we have right now is getting everyone fit at the same time.
But to spend £60 million on a player and then not play him in his best position would be utterly stupid.
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A midfield of Blind/Carrick/Di Maria would be solid. The issue we have right now is getting everyone fit at the same time.
But to spend £60 million on a player and then not play him in his best position would be utterly stupid.
I'd be ok with a midfield of Blind, Carrick and Di Maria but that also means no room for Mata or Hererra so we'd be leaving more than £60m of players on the bench in order to play this £60m signing in what is supposed to be his best position. Which makes the decision a little less obvious.
When you take into account that he's not being picked in central midfield by the Argentina coach and has played most of his career in a position where we're desperately lacking in quality then I fail to see what is "utterly stupid" about playing him out wide.
He has multiple positions where he can be at his best, it's not a case with him that he can only play in one position. He's world class in a midfield 3, having basically a free role in attack when we play a possession based style. Likewise, he is class when playing in any attacking position, be it up front, in the hole, on the wing, if we use a counter attacking formation. He just needs space to run with the ball and a set up that will get the most out of that. The way we used him against Arsenal, a free role as part of the attacking trio, can work really well IMO. It lets us have a solid midfield like herrera, Carrick and Fellaini behind, with a good blend of defensive ability, passing, creativity, and strength, and then an interchanging attacking trio like we saw on the weekend with Di maria, Rooney, and then one of Mata, RvP, Januzaj, Falcao next to them.
The key with Di Maria is to just give him a free role though, not isolate him to a wing, as even though he can be class, it restricts him a lot.
Blind and Herrera or Fellaini will offer him as much protection as Alonso and Modric (without the same quality of course), we don't have the same wings but we don't have to play the same way and it doesn't mean we have to shift him out wide. Actually our players in front of him will offer Di Maria more stability and protection in defence (Rooney for instance works much harder than any of Real attackers).
The midfield of blind herrera and di Maria is what I hope to see develop over time, with the likes of mata, rooney and falcao ahead. When he played this left central attacking midfielder role for madrid he'd help run the midfield but also sprang forward as a left winger getting crosses in. It was a very unique role which is where I think he was truly a special player whereas as a traditional widemen he's been very good.
I think if you play Di Maria and Januzaj either side of Rooney we'd be very short on goals as the front 3 in a 4-3-3 all need to be goal threats, and Di Maria on the left would leave him mostly just pumping balls into the box.
I agree that it would require buying 2 wide forwards as well as Strootman to go 4-3-3 with Di Maria in a 3 man midfield, but we could use the diamond with just Strootman added.
-------------------------Blind
-------------Strootman-------Di Maria
..............................Herrera
......................Rooney......Falcao
No more Blind as holding midfielder please.
What's all this "PSG preparing huge Jan bid for AdM" rubbish all over the papers this morning?
We don't have a game in Europe, something needs to be written about us.
For even more of a goal threat you could even swap Herrera and add Mata at home vs the park the bus teams.
It’s only that Di Maria gave an interview for the French MOTM two weeks ago. And he said (like Ronaldo) that we never know in football (for a future transfer in Paris). Then it was just a lot of speculation from medias here in France.
Why?
What? He's the best holding midfielder we have right now and has been excellent for us so far.
I don't agree with that, for mee it looks clearly like a player out of position there, he's ok but we need a midfielder who can impose himself better on that possition.
Where do you think he should play then?
You're pretty much on your own there. Definitely the first person I've seen who hasn't been really pleased with his performances in that position. He's been one of just a few players who's not really had a bad game this season.
He has been ok so far but at some point we are going to need a midfielder ala Keane/Carrick who can actually dictate the game from midfield, I think Blind would be great in a midifield of three as some kind of Hargreaves or Fletcher but I don't see him as an answer for a midfield of two or a creative midfielder.
He won't be going any where in January because we don't need money. Although 100 million plus Silva might change my mind 
He has far more mobility than Carrick which in my opinion makes him better suited to the role, particularly in a midfield 2. Whenever Carrick plays as part of a 2 his partner struggles immensely because of the ground they have to cover. If both Blind and Carrick are fit for me it's either Blind on his own or both of them (dependent on the game).
If we go with a midfield 2 I think Blind-Herrera is our best bet as both have great mobility and both contribute defensively. I certainly disagree that he's not well suited to a midfield two (far more suited than Carrick). Herrera would play box to box ala Toure and Blind would play defensively ala Fernandinho.
Blind has been one of our best signings, in my opinion. Very composed performances in midfield, and it seems to be widely acknowledged that it is his best position. De Boer and Kluivert both agree. He's iffy at left back, and doesn't have the height to be a centre back. He's a holding midfielder all day long, and he's done very well. rarely puts a foot wrong, or a pass wrong. Losing him to injury is a huge blow.
Well, that's nonsense. Carrick is slightly immobile, not lame. In fact, I'm fairly sure there were plenty of CL games Carrick covered the most distance in our entire team a few years back. He covers plenty of ground during the course of a game. Not like Blind is very mobile either, though granted, he's slightly better in that respect. Carrick's been unluckly that he has had to carry pensioners, afroman, fat bastards and Tom Cleverley in midfields and basically do all their work for them.
I agree with you though, Carrick has been absolutely terrific for us - especially considering the conditions he has been working under for quite a while.
I don't think anyone called him lame? Carrick's issues in midfield have been there for all to see, his immobility and failure to deal with being pressed are his biggest faults. He is a great player but it hasn't just been his partners all these years that are the cause of our midfield woes. Most teams that have an immobile player ensure that he is in a midfield three with legs around him (ala Pirlo, Xavi, Alonso).
However we've always tried to shoehorn him into a midfield two, as that was Sir Alex's preferred system. In all honesty I think Carrick will have a bit of an Indian Summer with player's like Blind, Herrera and Di Maria in a midfield around him, he could easily be our Alonso. However if we are moving to a midfield two Blind & Herrera are the obvious choices for me; both cover a lot of ground, both are good defensively and both are proficient at a "pass and move" style.
I think Blind-Carrick-Herrera or Herrera-Blind-Di Maria or Blind-Carrick-Di Maria are all very good options for us in a three (with Fellaini to come in if we need height etc); but in a two only Blind-Herrera would be a good option I believe.
Agree with all of that.
This are exactly my thoughts too.
He had amazing performances at CM, even when we were below standards, but now, even playing better against Arsenal, he seems to be lacking something.
---------------------------------------DE GEA---------------------------------
RAFAEL------------------SMALLING----------------ROJO------------------SHAW
-----------------------------------BLIND/CARRICK------------------------------
------------------------HERRERA-------------------DI MARIA--------------------
---------------------------------------ROONEY---------------------------------
---------------------FALCAO----------------------------WILSON----------------
Would love to see that given a go.
Di Maria needs to come back inside more, even Neville said it after analysing the derby.
RAFAEL------------------SMALLING----------------ROJO------------------SHAW
-----------------------------------BLIND/CARRICK------------------------------
------------------------HERRERA-------------------DI MARIA--------------------
---------------------------------------ROONEY---------------------------------
---------------------FALCAO----------------------------WILSON----------------
Would love to see that given a go.
Di Maria needs to come back inside more, even Neville said it after analysing the derby.
Really love the look of that team. Would fancy it to have a good chance against anyone, and it'd probably destroy lesser teams. If we could get a world class centerback in place of Smalling (or if Smalling improves sufficiently) then it could be pretty solid in most situations too.
Other than two right backs (
) I like that team a lot. Of course we still have to wait and see how the likes of Falcao and Wilson will do with a proper chance
Man Utd 3:0 Hull City
I just got back home, why was he subbed off? Obviously a blow I'd reckon, but did it look serious?
It didn't look serious, but it's still rotten luck. I expect him to be back quickly.
No, not very. Looks like he felt something in his hamstring, but he was walking normally. Probably just to be cautions doubt he'll be out for many weeks.
It didn't look serious at all, in fact he continued playing for a few minutes before getting subbed. I'd be surprised if he isn't playing again next week.
Yeah but sometimes when players continue playing on they just worsen the injury. Modrić played on after he got injured vs Italy and it proved to be a serious injury. Doubt its the same with Angel but given our luck this season.
He was still jogging and whipping in crosses after so he should be ok.
I hope he'll be okay, wanted to see him play on tuesday when I'll be at OT 1st time in my life. But doubt it. Hope noone will get injured before stoke game.
I missed first 15 minutes of the game. Hopefully it was just precaution? Subbing him off?
To be perfectly honest, we're not gonna miss him in his current form.
I thought he pulled up to cover his blushes for that pass at first and when he came back on quickly it only enforced that.
It'll be interesting to see if he's actually injured.
That final cross into the box he whipped. He couldn't have done it if his other ham was seriously injured, which is a good sign.
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