[afatzp]

Right now he is not at the PL physical level and all his skills shielding and controlling the balls have to be re-calibrated , and it takes real talent to adapt to the highest games. When he develops a bit stronger , we may see Elanga showing more of his technical skills. We sees similar things on Greenwood that his two-footed skills at U23 gradually faded away after his breakthrough year, simply he has to ensure to use his most favorable left foot to control balls at the highest level of games.

But Elanga offers some unique values among the front three: the work rate and covering. With Ronaldo on field, the two wings have to cover more ground to make the high pressing tactics work , and for whatever reason Rashford currently offers way below bar on these aspects.

Bottom line is , Elanga worth the start position, and we should give some patience to allow him show his talent , instead of rushing to write him off or call him "championship player at best" .

 

[Herschel Krustofsky]

What would you say Ji Sung Park’s best attribute was?

His song

 

[Chaky_Best]

Not sure that Elanga is as talented as Rashford or Greenwood. Not sure if he's better suited to play in a wing, but what I like about him now is his behavior and the fact that he's really disciplined. Rashford looks depressed whenever he plays and Greenwood looks totally selfish when he was a player, so it's actually good to have a guy who has the good mentality.

Not sure about his long term future, but as it is, he deserves to be in the group of 16 players that play regularly.

 

[Edy2]

Is he exceptional in something? I think not. Another hard working player.

We need this more in our current position than super gifted but half arsed players.

 

[Alfie092]

Far more impressed with his off the ball stuff and his energy than what he did on the ball. Maybe in years to come that's what he will be useful for? I see the way modern football is changing and maybe we could do with Elanga starting a lot of games for us but I do think he needs to offer more on the ball than what I have seen so far since he broke into the first team...

 

[Santoryo]

We need this more in our current position than super gifted but half arsed players.

That's how your Lingard and McTomminay of this world started. Their hard work(without much else) drew some people to them yet here we are. A young player should always show more than just hard work for him to be seen as an elite prospect. Rashford who currently get slaughtered also showed hard work when he started out, but in his case he'd also shown insane pace to compliment his hard work back then. There was something to work with. Same thing with the likes of Greenwood and Januzaj. Sure they might not have panned out but that was due to reasons beyond their actual talent and skills.

Elanga hasn't shown anything special for people to be hopeful about his prospect as a top player in the future.

 

[Abraxas]

Utterly ridiculous takes from some. He's a young lad that's hardly kicked a ball in senior football that's in a floundering team. Not the time to write him off or reach cheap conclusions on his ability. For me he works hard, he's contributed to a few goals for us now and that's where I'm at with him. At least wait until the season is out and there are a few more data points to work with.

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

He is a top player in the making. Have more faith in him than Rashford and Greenwood before.

With a better manager he will improve even more.

He might not have been good enough for our prime teams in the past under SAF, but in the current side he is one of our best players already.

 

[horsechoker]

Utterly ridiculous takes from some. He's a young lad that's hardly kicked a ball in senior football that's in a floundering team. Not the time to write him off or reach cheap conclusions on his ability. For me he works hard, he's contributed to a few goals for us now and that's where I'm at with him. At least wait until the season is out and there are a few more data points to work with.

He probably doesn't have the individual talent of Greenwood or Rashford but can develop into a good system player which is what modern football requires and it's why he's getting game time.

 

[city-puma]

He probably doesn't have the individual talent of Greenwood or Rashford but can develop into a good system player which is what modern football requires and it's why he's getting game time.

They are all different. Elanga is more like the blending of Rashford and Greenwood, but he has much better aerial capability. He is 19. It is already amazing that he performs and contributes a lot in the team. If he can keep injury free, he will grow a lot this season. He is one of the future stars here.

 

[AngeloHenriquez]

He is a top player in the making. Have more faith in him than Rashford and Greenwood before.

With a better manager he will improve even more.

He might not have been good enough for our prime teams in the past under SAF, but in the current side he is one of our best players already.

My God you can't believe this, he has talent and is hard working with a great attitude and I look forward to him improving but "One of our best players already"?? Not even in the top 15 yet and that's fine, let's give him time as there is space in the squad for him and I have high hopes for him but let's not use ridiculous hyperbole and build him up to something he isn't yet currently.

 

[BlahRules]

My God you can't believe this, he has talent and is hard working with a great attitude and I look forward to him improving but "One of our best players already"?? Not even in the top 15 yet and that's fine, let's give him time as there is space in the squad for him and I have high hopes for him but let's not use ridiculous hyperbole and build him up to something he isn't yet currently.

Amad would have been our best young player if he was given the game time. Elanga is just Daniel James who came through the youth.

Hannibal is a talent that will also add something but won't get minutes because it's now going to be given to Lingard who does feck all with it.

 

[AngeloHenriquez]

Amad would have been our best young player if he was given the game time. Elanga is just Daniel James who came through the youth.

Hannibal is a talent that will also add something but won't get minutes because it's now going to be given to Lingard who does feck all with it.

Oh stop, please. Amad looks exciting but in reality hasn't shown any more than Elanga yet, I'm excited about both but let's wait for them to do it before we start ranking them, Elanga is nothing like Dan James for me he's far more direct, maybe they both work hard if that's what you meant?

Lingard and Hannibal also play in different positions, one won't be blocking the other, Hannibal has played 6, 8, 10 and wings in the youth but is an 8 for me that needs to play next to a proper 6 but again barely has any men's football experience, he's an exciting talent but let's not rush him

 

[BlahRules]

Oh stop, please. Amad looks exciting but in reality hasn't shown any more than Elanga yet, I'm excited about both but let's wait for them to do it before we start ranking them, Elanga is nothing like Dan James for me he's far more direct, maybe they both work hard if that's what you meant?

Lingard and Hannibal also play in different positions, one won't be blocking the other, Hannibal has played 6, 8, 10 and wings in the youth but is an 8 for me that needs to play next to a proper 6 but again barely has any men's football experience, he's an exciting talent but let's not rush him

Amad has shown more in the games he had played. I see Amad not only does he have good dribbling skills, but he also has a very high level of football IQ. Amad dominated when playing as a false 9 against Wolves.

I still haven't seen much from Elanga that shows he is technically above Amad or has a better football IQ. The only thing he has is pace.

Just because Lingard and Hanniball are not the same player doesn't mean that Hanniball minutes are being blocked by Lingard. Lingard played most of the time as the attacking midfielder or as right winger and was shit in all the games he had been given minutes.

 

[Ali Dia]

Same kind of craic with Dan James last season. Look, put it this way. Would you rather play a really hardworking energetic improving player who is figuring out how to be productive OR a woefully out of form lazy player that was once productive and now always looks like he thinks he’s made it and doesn’t have to work for the team, vice versa in fact? Give me the former any day. At least they have the potential to genuinely surprise you, they keep the opposition on their toes tactically, they know they can’t sit back and take ages on the ball and that kind of player actually helps the other players in the team who are also willing to keep trying until something comes off. Have we learned nothing over the last few years? Static players and play gets figured out and punished in this league. Hard work and energy actually pays off. It’s all about striking a balance. Any time a player comes in who works hard but doesn’t score or assist they are automatically shit. People will never learn.

 

[R.N7]

Never a surer sign a youngster's gonna make it at United than lots of caf posters questioning his ability and preferring more 'talented" players ahead of him.

 

[bosnian_red]

Oh stop, please. Amad looks exciting but in reality hasn't shown any more than Elanga yet, I'm excited about both but let's wait for them to do it before we start ranking them, Elanga is nothing like Dan James for me he's far more direct, maybe they both work hard if that's what you meant?

Lingard and Hannibal also play in different positions, one won't be blocking the other, Hannibal has played 6, 8, 10 and wings in the youth but is an 8 for me that needs to play next to a proper 6 but again barely has any men's football experience, he's an exciting talent but let's not rush him

Amad has shown loads more potential and bucket loads more ability on the ball. The only doubt with Amad is if he'll ever find out how to be physical enough for the premier league despite his size, and how to impact the game often enough. It's a big doubt, but the question isn't talent IMO.

With Elanga... He doesn't really have anything IMO. He's alright at a few things and hasn't really shown anything. Doesn't have amazing technique or anything, doesn't have blistering pace, isn't a Dan James or Park Ji Sung level of work horse, isn't an excellent crosser or passer or whatever... He's just kind of there. Physically he's much more mature than someone like Amad which is why he's getting games, but nothing about his talent makes him look like he'll be a top league player long term (without even getting to United level).

 

[Edy2]

That's how your Lingard and McTomminay of this world started. Their hard work(without much else) drew some people to them yet here we are. A young player should always show more than just hard work for him to be seen as an elite prospect. Rashford who currently get slaughtered also showed hard work when he started out, but in his case he'd also shown insane pace to compliment his hard work back then. There was something to work with. Same thing with the likes of Greenwood and Januzaj. Sure they might not have panned out but that was due to reasons beyond their actual talent and skills.

Elanga hasn't shown anything special for people to be hopeful about his prospect as a top player in the future.

Yeah fair point, can't argue with you. He's got time on his side though.

 

[United in sin]

I wish we stop promoting future average PL players. Pick one or two standout talents and give them a chance. Not to every young player who looks decent.
Elanga is nothing special.

I dot think we've seen enough of him in the first team to come to this conclusion. Our team is also disjointed at the moment and hardly an ideal situation for a kid to come in and showcase his array of skills.

Rangknick has good judgment when it comes to identifying and developing young talent so if he sees fit to start this kid then we're working from a base of talent and good application/mentality. The kid has a bright future ahead of him in my opinion

 

[city-puma]

Never a surer sign a youngster's gonna make it at United than lots of caf posters questioning his ability and preferring more 'talented" players ahead of him.

It’s exactly why I find some opinions ridiculous. It seems many always use another player they think better as a reasoning to demean a player they don’t rate. It’s like those players are mutually exclusive to be in the same team.

 

[flappyjay]

I am hoping that he is still playing within his shell and he will open up and show us more strings to his bow with time.

 

[Drizzle]

He is a top player in the making. Have more faith in him than Rashford and Greenwood before.

....

He might not have been good enough for our prime teams in the past under SAF, but in the current side he is one of our best players already.

Haha... I get that some here are annoyed at people questioning how good Elanga is, but if anything this is even more ridiculous.

Compare Elanga to Rashford or Greenwood at 19 - or rather don't as there's absolutely no comparison whatsoever.

Nobody's writing him off, but yes some of us are wondering whether his ceiling will be that high. And that's OK. None of us know for sure, but we'll find out in the next few seasons.

 

[Gandalf]

Amad has shown more in the games he had played. I see Amad not only does he have good dribbling skills, but he also has a very high level of football IQ. Amad dominated when playing as a false 9 against Wolves.

I still haven't seen much from Elanga that shows he is technically above Amad or has a better football IQ. The only thing he has is pace.

Just because Lingard and Hanniball are not the same player doesn't mean that Hanniball minutes are being blocked by Lingard. Lingard played most of the time as the attacking midfielder or as right winger and was shit in all the games he had been given minutes.

Amad may well end up as the better player than Elanga but the evidence he was not ready for the PL is currently on display in the SPL where he flashed some ability on his debut and has been physically way off the pace besides that and dropped to the bench. Amad has great technique but has to get fitter and toughen up and that is why right now Elanga is ahead of him because he has the physique and stamina to play 90 minutes at the top level. Hopefully Amad can get there.

 

[Santoryo]

Comparing Amad to Elanga is a bit silly given the former is obviously more talented and has far more tools and skills. I personally(nor should others) don't care if a 19 year old kid doesn't light up the league and plays poorly, that's just comes with the inexperience and what have you. What I care about are the flashes and tools they display when I see them play whether they perform poorly or brilliantly overall.

It's those flashes of brilliance as well as that display of talent that'll tell me that with time and nurturing, said youngster could turn into a top player in the future. I saw such signs, flashes and talent in the likes of Greenwood, Januzaj, Amad. Now obviously that talent doesn't always pan out due to various circumstances as exemplified in both of Adnan and Greenwood's cases but if things had turned out differently for them, let's say more commitment and hard work from Januzaj and no off field issues from Greenwood, they could have given themselves a chance to emerge as top players.

Elanga simply hasn't shown me anything like Amad, Greenwood or Januzaj that would make me rate him as an elite prospect. He simply hasn't shown that kind of talent. With hard work and the stuff he's got, he could make a decent career for himself in the PL but he doesn't have the talent to be a top player and star in this league, I simply haven't seen anything like that from him.

 

[Gandalf]

I don't think comparisons are helpful either, the more rapid physical development of Elanga is why he is getting games right now and I doubt ability factors into it that much.

I do think he has a future role within the squad and I imagine it would be as a bench option who will put in a shift and can cover a couple of spots higher up the field. Howson actually made a good point about this the other day when he mentioned that leaving aside the superstars the Academy produced a good flow of rotational players under SAF like Phil Neville, John O'Shea etc. and with the squad needing to be rebuilt we can be a lot more effective with our transfer strategy by using the good young talent in the academy to fill the bench roles. It makes more sense to put guys like Elanga, Garner, Bernard et al into the first team squad next season than to spend 25m+ on a player who is not going to be a full time starter.

 

[TwoSheds]

Elanga is very talented, don't know what you lot are on. I don't think he's a world class talent but he's very good and you really don't have to be world class to be useful at United right now. He's far more talented than for example McTominay who, like it or not, is a key player for us right now. Very good talent with a great attitude > world class talent with average to poor attitude.

 

[Lecland07]

Looks out of depth in a shallow team, to be honest. Needs to go to the paddling pool.

Still, I prefer him to most of our players.

 

[R.N7]

It’s exactly why I find some opinions ridiculous. It seems many always use another player they think better as a reasoning to demean a player they don’t rate. It’s like those players are mutually exclusive to be in the same team.

This type of fanboyism is very endemic to United fans. Diallo fans will be in this thread venting theír frustrations after every game.

 

[Ballache]

Never a surer sign a youngster's gonna make it at United than lots of caf posters questioning his ability and preferring more 'talented" players ahead of him.

It's ridiculous.
NT soon I hope! Still hoping to see him, Forsberg and Kulusevski behind Isak.

 

[Mr PG]

He has pace, is a handful and does the basics well which puts him above Rashford. I believe we might have won at least one of the last two games if we had him instead of wasteful Rashford.

 

[Poborsky's hair]

Right now he is not at the PL physical level and all his skills shielding and controlling the balls have to be re-calibrated , and it takes real talent to adapt to the highest games. When he develops a bit stronger , we may see Elanga showing more of his technical skills. We sees similar things on Greenwood that his two-footed skills at U23 gradually faded away after his breakthrough year, simply he has to ensure to use his most favorable left foot to control balls at the highest level of games.

But Elanga offers some unique values among the front three: the work rate and covering. With Ronaldo on field, the two wings have to cover more ground to make the high pressing tactics work , and for whatever reason Rashford currently offers way below bar on these aspects.

Bottom line is , Elanga worth the start position, and we should give some patience to allow him show his talent , instead of rushing to write him off or call him "championship player at best" .

Totally agree. It is always very difficult to step up to the tempo of the fastest and strongest leagues in the world. The skills, dribbling ability, shooting, running, will take time to adjust because everything is simply on higher level. Like you said once he gets stronger and builds proper stamina along with some confidence, he will be very useful.

Imho he already adapted in terms of stamina pretty quickly, something for example James Wilson never even reached from U23 footy. Mason took long time to adapt too, with ancho struggling even being established footballer in a smaller but senior league.

He's got great trades, mentaility will take you very far, he can't fade away like Rashford or many others though. Even with his hardwork off the ball creates chances, people don't realse that, even if he doesn't win the ball he gives our team a briefer or set us up in good position for the next pass etc. Pressing is very underrated trait and starts with attacking players.

Otherwise he's very good finisher, knows the United tiki taka, making quick passing movements and runs behind, very decent finisher. and at the very least, he will replace Lingard as a squad player, he could go as high as Park Ji Sung too, scoring important goals, while being a water carrier from the front, rather than a mazy dribbler who will take on players 1on1. Or he could go even higher, depends on his mentaility only, and that seems top notch now. Hopefully he's paired with a good progressive manager and he will be a 10+10 winger every season easily.

People are just too obsessed with flicks and technical ability, just because you have glued ball to your feet or can shoot from distance doesn't mean he can overgrow those players. like Lingard at some point became more useful than lazy di Maria, like anyone playing on the wing is better than Martial.. etc..

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

 

[TwoSheds]

Most ground covered and way more sprints than anyone else, backs up the impression you get when watching that his energy changes the way the team play.

 

[Kag]

He is a top player in the making. Have more faith in him than Rashford and Greenwood before.

With a better manager he will improve even more.

He might not have been good enough for our prime teams in the past under SAF, but in the current side he is one of our best players already.

Rashford and Greenwood were miles ahead of Elanga at his age. This is ludicrous.

 

[ROFLUTION]

A bit of an unfair comparison somehow. Elanga and Cavani doesn't play back to back so should have more energy. Their covered ground is based on fewer matches and minutes where they have more energy available basically. Still, decent work, but hard to compare like that.

 

[pratyush_utd]

A bit of an unfair comparison somehow. Elanga and Cavani doesn't play back to back so should have more energy. Their covered ground is based on fewer matches and minutes where they have more energy available basically. Still, decent work, but hard to compare like that.

Yes but Rashford came on last game and was strolling around. So maybe the sample size isnt big enough but the story it paints isnt far from truth.

 

[Rossa]

That sums it up. Although I'd add he does have an eye for goal too. But he's not shown any real technical quality. If he keeps developing then I can see him making a decent premier league career somewhere but he's not yet shown any signs of potential to develop into an elite attacker.

Still, he works hard and follows orders so he's useful for now. But losing Greenwood and having Elanga step up as a regular is a major step down in a strictly football sense.

Seeing as it’s a team sport, I’m not so sure. This season, Greenwood was wasteful, selfish and with a terrible attitude.

 

[Rossa]

That's how your Lingard and McTomminay of this world started. Their hard work(without much else) drew some people to them yet here we are. A young player should always show more than just hard work for him to be seen as an elite prospect. Rashford who currently get slaughtered also showed hard work when he started out, but in his case he'd also shown insane pace to compliment his hard work back then. There was something to work with. Same thing with the likes of Greenwood and Januzaj. Sure they might not have panned out but that was due to reasons beyond their actual talent and skills.

Elanga hasn't shown anything special for people to be hopeful about his prospect as a top player in the future.

Isn’t Elanga said to be one of the fastest in the squad? He’s shown great speed a few times, but he needs to have a go more often.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

A bit of an unfair comparison somehow. Elanga and Cavani doesn't play back to back so should have more energy. Their covered ground is based on fewer matches and minutes where they have more energy available basically. Still, decent work, but hard to compare like that.

it doesn't take an expert to see how they contribute in 90 minutes. You've seen longer samples of Cavani, Rashford and Ronaldo playing consecutively to know their output, so wouldn't act so surprised. It's also clear to see what kind of attitude Elanga has.

 

[NZT-One]

Not sure that Elanga is as talented as Rashford or Greenwood. Not sure if he's better suited to play in a wing, but what I like about him now is his behavior and the fact that he's really disciplined. Rashford looks depressed whenever he plays and Greenwood looks totally selfish when he was a player, so it's actually good to have a guy who has the good mentality.

Not sure about his long term future, but as it is, he deserves to be in the group of 16 players that play regularly.

I hope, he stays as grounded as he appears until now. We have to consider that he is still somewhat of unknown commodity to our opponents, same as with Greenwood in his breakout season. At some point, opponents will be prepared to deal with him, that is when we can evaluate if his mentality is right. Also hope that we can resist giving him a 100k per week contract any time soon. Don't think, it helped Rashfords and Martials ability.