Attacking Midfielder or Defensive Midfielder?

We can easily bring both in as it’s virtually guaranteed Pogba is off and we’ll most likely see Pereira, Rojo and Sanchez if we can so they’ll be funds there to bring in both.

If we get in £100 million plus for Pogba that’s effectively the Sancho deal and Grealish is meant to have a release clause of £45 million if Villa go down so if we could also bring in a quality defensive midfielder too and end up with a net spend of around £70-£80 million with sales and we can surely manage three incomings in a window.
 
If we sign Sancho or another Rw that can be a good 10 can serve as a backup Bruno and we can just sign a DM and have Matic challenge him in his first season before moving on.

It’s not the end of the world if James or Greenwood get some RW starts, especially if we buy a proper 9 or keep Ighalo and he’s not a flash in the pan (since Greenwood needs playing time somewhere).

But if we sign say Adama Traore to play RW I’d rather we sign a creative mid centrally and pray Fred-Mctominay can start 90 times combined with Matic or that central mid and Bruno in a 433 in easier games. We can’t have no creative central player again as Ole doesn’t have us playing the 442 pressing system Leipzig do and it looked like we might try this past summer.

Also now looks like a short season may be on the horizon. Less depth needed or more if they shove games tighter and tell teams to just play youth and deal with it.
 
MadMike said:
Bruno, Mata, Lingard and Pereira = 1? Interesting maths.

EDIT: not to mention Sanchez who is still on the books and young Angel Gomes.
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Yes but 4 are not good enough and need moving on. Gomes hasnt shown much at the top end either, but has had limited chances and has time on his side.
 
I think either could transform us, Bruno can adapt to play at 10 or 8 with no problem I imagine. Although if I had to choose I'd bring in a CDM and leave Bruno as the 10.
 
A midfield of say, new DM (say Partey), Fred and Bruno would be a top midfield. Of course, keeping Pogba if he gives a shit would make it on paper probably the most formidable in Europe. Sancho is the most essential signing we can make. It transforms us to a new level.
 
Zakaria and Grealish would be enough for this summer. We can possibly wait to get Sancho the following summer.
 
We definitely need a CDM. We have seen what Matic did coming back into the side on form to free up Fred. Matic and McTominay should be backup to the new guy and Fred.

Depending on who we sign on as a right winger, we might not need an attacking midfielder now that we have Bruno. If we get Sancho he can easily play behind the striker or at the least have more of a playmaking role if Bruno gets injured.

Rashford, Martial, Greenwood, Sancho, Bruno, James, Gomes, Chong. Enough? Maybe we could do with someone like Grealish provided we get rid of Pereira, Lingard and Mata.
 
wolvored said:
Yes but 4 are not good enough and need moving on. Gomes hasnt shown much at the top end either, but has had limited chances and has time on his side.
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But it's not the same as having just 1. Because you ain't gonna move 4 CAMs in one window, you're just not gonna find suitable takers for all of them. Which means they'll be in our squad taking up space.
 
MadMike said:
But it's not the same as having just 1. Because you ain't gonna move 4 CAMs in one window, you're just not gonna find suitable takers for all of them. Which means they'll be in our squad taking up space.
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True we could bring 2 mids in and let 2 leave, then even if we don't sign another one next season and promote we could let the other 2 go. I would try and shift Sanchez and periera first
 
Rob Bowman said:
Yeah this all depends on Pogba.

He stays we just need a DCM. He is off, we need both.
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If Pogba stays we will probably play this midfield

....Bruno.....

Pogba...Fred

So we'd need more of an AM as back up for Bruno instead of Lingard or Pereira
 
Himannv said:
A DLP seems like the missing piece.
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When the season started we played

...Lingard...

Pogba...Mctominay

Lingard was the AM, Mctominay was the ball winner and Pogba was the DLP.

I have a strong feeling that when everyone is fit we would play

....Bruno...

Pogba....Fred

With Bruno replacing Lingard as the AM, Fred replacing Mctominay as the ball winner and Pogba as the DLP
 
Inter Yer Nan said:
A midfield of say, new DM (say Partey), Fred and Bruno would be a top midfield. Of course, keeping Pogba if he gives a shit would make it on paper probably the most formidable in Europe. Sancho is the most essential signing we can make. It transforms us to a new level.
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Yeah I would be happy with just Sancho and Ighalo on a permanent deal in this window.
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
When the season started we played

...Lingard...

Pogba...Mctominay

Lingard was the AM, Mctominay was the ball winner and Pogba was the DLP.

I have a strong feeling that when everyone is fit we would play

....Bruno...

Pogba....Fred

With Bruno replacing Lingard as the AM, Fred replacing Mctominay as the ball winner and Pogba as the DLP
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The problem I see with that is Pogba has never really played as a DLP for us. He's always looking to get forward and just doesn't seem naturally suited to that role. I'm not saying that Pogba, Fred, and Bruno midfield wouldn't work, just saying a DLP is the kind of midfielder we are missing in the squad.
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
If Pogba stays we will probably play this midfield

....Bruno.....

Pogba...Fred

So we'd need more of an AM as back up for Bruno instead of Lingard or Pereira
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I agree, but if Bruno is out I would push Pogba to the 10 and play Fred and McT behind him. This is why I wanted a young DCM replacement for Matic.

Not saying I am right but that was my reasoning.
 
Rob Bowman said:
I agree, but if Bruno is out I would push Pogba to the 10 and play Fred and McT behind him. This is why I wanted a young DCM replacement for Matic.

Not saying I am right but that was my reasoning.
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That is another solid option..anything really to keep Lingard and Pereira far away from the pitch :lol:
 
If Pogba leaves, it's definitely AM. We're already obviously shit when Bruno can't play. A team needs creativity far more than whatever McTominay can't be taught to do as a massive DM who makes his best passes from that area of the pitch anyways.

Much rather see Matic, Fred and McTominay as a 6 than more Pereira, Lingard or 2020 Mata who might be even a step slower. If we sign a RW who can backup Bruno it can changes since James and Greenwood should be better next year at RW than this one and they were promising if not ready to do well there.
 
NoPace said:
If Pogba leaves, it's definitely AM. We're already obviously shit when Bruno can't play. A team needs creativity far more than whatever McTominay can't be taught to do as a massive DM who makes his best passes from that area of the pitch anyways.

Much rather see Matic, Fred and McTominay as a 6 than more Pereira, Lingard or 2020 Mata who might be even a step slower. If we sign a RW who can backup Bruno it can changes since James and Greenwood should be better next year at RW than this one and they were promising if not ready to do well there.
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Yeah expect us to go all in for Grealish & Sancho if Pogba leaves,however I think there is a growing feeling he could stay.
 
A right side creative attacker should be first in line, then go to a holding mid, then a center back
 
Himannv said:
A DLP seems like the missing piece.
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Deep lying playmakers are very rare though. How many can you honestly name in the market right now? They also require a possession-based style of football which I'm not sure we play. I think I'd still prefer another hard-working attacking midfielder in a similar mould to Bruno, with either Fred or McTominay at the base of midfield. I think the advantage of that (all hard-working players that can attack and defend) means that injuries are far less significant. In the past few years, we have been so reliant on Pogba's creativity that we go completely flat when he's out. It's the same with a deep-lying playmaker; if he's unavailable your approach to games has to change completely.
 
Matic will leave next summer and till then we are good at dmf. Amf who can play at cmf will be my choice. Grealish or Van de Beek.
 
Mr Smith said:
Deep lying playmakers are very rare though. How many can you honestly name in the market right now? They also require a possession-based style of football which I'm not sure we play. I think I'd still prefer another hard-working attacking midfielder in a similar mould to Bruno, with either Fred or McTominay at the base of midfield. I think the advantage of that (all hard-working players that can attack and defend) means that injuries are far less significant. In the past few years, we have been so reliant on Pogba's creativity that we go completely flat when he's out. It's the same with a deep-lying playmaker; if he's unavailable your approach to games has to change completely.
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For DM it's sell Pogba and use the money for Grealish and Partey or Zakaria.

....Bruno...

Zakaria....Fred

Very energetic midfield and are good passers. Mctominay and Grealish rotating and midfield is sorted with just the sale of Poga
 
Defensive but if Pogba goes we need another creative minded attacking number 8 for sure. If we don't get one then we'll have fecked Bruno over and be wondering why he is struggling when in truth if a team only has on creative outlet like we did when we had Pogba then it is impossible for that player to do it every game.
 
Linked with Van De Beek by James Cooper. We've been linked with AMs much more than DMs even though people think we need the latter more because 'Matic is our only DM'
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
Linked with Van De Beek by James Cooper. We've been linked with AMs much more than DMs even though people think we need the latter more because 'Matic is our only DM'
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I believe Ole is happy with our current options.

Van de Beek is an interesting one, as he can play both as a AM and DM, which means he could rotate with Bruno and Pogba.

Bruno (Van de Beek)
Fred (McTominay) Pogba (Van de Beek)

Matic as back up.
 
Himannv said:
A DLP seems like the missing piece.
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Agree.

I can see Pogba hashing out a deal so he stays one more season prior to leaving. Irrespective of whether we see him for a another season or not, a consistent DLP who can interchange with Fernandes would be a perfect fit for us.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
I believe Ole is happy with our current options.

Van de Beek is an interesting one, as he can play both as a AM and DM, which means he could rotate with Bruno and Pogba.

Bruno (Van de Beek)
Fred (McTominay) Pogba (Van de Beek)

Matic as back up.
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I've never heard of Van De Beek playing DM
 
Icemav said:
Agree.

I can see Pogba hashing out a deal so he stays one more season prior to leaving. Irrespective of whether we see him for a another season or not, a consistent DLP who can interchange with Fernandes would be a perfect fit for us.
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That's what Ole wants to do with Pogba and we saw signs of it at the start of the season.
 
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