[Van Piorsing]

In order to improve, needs to stay fit. Still a long way to go...

 

[ThemanGiggsy]

i really hope he can improve and get minutes. i think there is a good, potentially great player there...at centerback though

 

[Cutch]

Thought he looked tidy actually. Some nice touches, and should have scored the winner. Assume it was part of the plan to drop into defence to make a 3 at times, similar to what Matic has been doing in recent months

 

[el3mel]

There's still a good player in him, but he'll probably need to play a lot to develop and I'm not sure we'll ever be able to give him that.

 

[pablo__p]

Impressed by the interview he just gave. Hope he can make it here albeit still not convinced which direction he's going to go.

 

[Glorio]

Thought he looked tidy actually. Some nice touches, and should have scored the winner. Assume it was part of the plan to drop into defence to make a 3 at times, similar to what Matic has been doing in recent months

Was actually better in possession than when defending. Seemed really weak in the tackle, especially for a big defender but on the flip side seemed really comfortable on the ball

 

[Poborsky's hair]

If he wasn't from glass, given 100 games like Lindelof for the first team he would be an absolute monster and we would have fixed our issues with CB. However I don't trust him to stay fit, he will get injured inevitably with Bailly. On the other hand I wouldn't mind him to be tried in the middle of the pitch with Fred in some of the easier games I think, given run of games he can surprise.

What a header, shame for the lad, mind

 

[croadyman]

Impressed by the interview he just gave. Hope he can make it here albeit still not convinced which direction he's going to go.

Yeah seems confident in front of the camera when being interviewed and glad he acknowledged that the season has been a bit up and down for him. Really thought he would kick on after that masterclass against Neymar & Mbappe but still couldn't win Ole's trust to play in more games.

 

[Mickson]

He's going to be a good player but doesn't seem like it will be at United. Will never get a real chance. Felt sorry for him today, although a decent performance.

 

[Borys]

I like him but it's very likely he'll end up in "not good enough to play first team/ injured" trap in here. I don't trust him as a defender but he does have nice skills and physicality, this was an interesting experiment with him in the midfield in front of the back 4.

 

[croadyman]

I like him but it's very likely he'll end up in "not good enough to play first team/ injured" trap in here. I don't trust him as a defender but he does have nice skills and physicality, this was an interesting experiment with him in the midfield in front of the back 4.

The big question is would you trust him there in a game against one of the top six

 

[Ekeke]

Very nice header unlucky it didnt stand. Done okay as a holding midfielder didnt really stand out as good or bad at it

 

[Devil may care]

I thought we looked better with him next to Matic than when Fred was on, especially once him and Matic established that he'd drop deep and Matic would push on.

 

[Borys]

The big question is would you trust him there in a game against one of the top six

I wouldn't trust him against one of the top 15 teams in the EPL.
But I also don't trust Pogba in midfield. I have trust issues.

 

[Adnan]

The header was actually fantastic. He held off the opponent and attacked the ball really well.

 

[Sylar]

I like him but it's very likely he'll end up in "not good enough to play first team/ injured" trap in here. I don't trust him as a defender but he does have nice skills and physicality, this was an interesting experiment with him in the midfield in front of the back 4.

I think we made a mistake by not continuing with the momentum and confidence he got after the PSG game where he was outstanding

He looked good on the right next to lindelof (and Shaw on the left of the three)

 

[arnie_ni]

Thought it great management playing him in midfield. Offered him more protection and allowed him to build some confidence. Would do it again actually.

It obviously doesn't help amad when he comes on as he'd rather have someone a bit more progressive but definitely helped axel.

 

[romufc]

I thought he was rubbish. We ended up playing a back 6 with both him and Matic dropping in. Made no real forward passes and was very clumsy off the ball.

He keeps getting beat, giving away silly corners and fouls. If this continues, no way he makes it here. Showed a lack of composure, mind you he played in a position that's not natural and it showed. He struggled to know what positions to take up.

 

[MadDogg]

Thought he struggled when he first came on, but improved as the half wore on. With all our other midfielders injured it was good to put him in there for a half just to give him that gametime if we need and also to rest one of the two that are fit (I would have preferred Matic but Fred was understandable after what happened against PSG).

 

[Brightonian]

I wouldn't say no to trying him in DM a few more times this season, since that's clearly a position we're going to have to do something about in the future.

 

[Cantonagotmehere]

Finally he comes on and nothing terrible happened.

Progress.

Kind of like that game vs PSG......

 

[Isotope]

Used to think he was fast, but yesterday he looked pretty slow. Maybe it's just illusion.

 

[criticalanalysis]

Used to think he was fast, but yesterday he looked pretty slow. Maybe it's just illusion.

He's got a long stride, so in motion, he's got speed/length that would make it hard to beat him but he does have an overly relaxed posture for me. For example, he's seem to be on his back feet and not on his toes enough. With his size, unless he was 100% switched on, it does seem like a lack of agility but I don't neccessarily think that's the case.

Basically yeah, he needs to be more fired up and 'on it'.

 

[Isotope]

He's got a long stride, so in motion, he's got speed/length that would make it hard to beat him but he does have an overly relaxed posture for me. For example, he's seem to be on his back feet and not on his toes enough. With his size, unless he was 100% switched on, it does seem like a lack of agility but I don't neccessarily think that's the case.

Basically yeah, he needs to be more fired up and 'on it'.

Yeh. Maybe he's still recovering, but he needs to be more aggressive to be successful.

 

[croadyman]

I think we made a mistake by not continuing with the momentum and confidence he got after the PSG game where he was outstanding

He looked good on the right next to lindelof (and Shaw on the left of the three)

Yeah we made a huge mistake not allowing him to build on that and it's not as if he was injured either, so really there was no excuse for Ole just suddenly freezing him out after such a composed performance against two of the best around

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Yeah we made a huge mistake not allowing him to build on that and it's not as if he was injured either, so really there was no excuse for Ole just suddenly freezing him out after such a composed performance against two of the best around

It was his first game game in how long?

it was a terrific performance, but he may well not have had the fitness to go into a run of games.

 

[Cassidy]

It was his first game game in how long?

it was a terrific performance, but he may well not have had the fitness to go into a run of games.

Im sure he had the fitness to play a hell of a lot more than he did (which was basically not much at all)

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Im sure he had the fitness to play a hell of a lot more than he did (which was basically not much at all)

didn’t he get injured shortly after that match?

 

[Cassidy]

didn’t he get injured shortly after that match?

No I don’t believe so. Remember him being available but Maguire being back

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

I know he’s an academy graduate but he doesn’t impress me much & seems injury prone. I’d probably let him go if we can get around £20m for him, especially with Bailly staying. Put the money towards getting a top centre back. Top CB (Varane?), Maguire, Lindelof & Bailly are good CB depth.

Better that than keeping him & letting his contract expire in a few years or getting way less money like TFM. Tuanzebe still has a bit of value right now.

 

[AjaxCunian]

Axel is a difficult one, he was absolutely dominant in the academy. Tall, strong, athletic, a leader, ball playing abilities and very very quick. RoShaun Williams, Teden Mengi are just the same, Fosu Mensah as well but he's less of a leader. It looked like we were building mini Varane's in our academy, all players that also had a similar profile to Dayot Upamecano. However for all of them it looks like it isn't coming together for them yet.

Axel played very well at Aston Villa and earned his opportunity here at United. He was great vs PSG but I have been so underwhelmed in most of his other games. He is weak in the air, doesn't add that much on the ball, is often somehow involved when we concede, it is just very meh. He will have some good tackles and defensive actions, win duels but overall it is not good enough. I hope he quickly improves because I would love for one of them to make it here.

Another poster made a good post about the benefit of the academy being strong, that means that United can invest less in the fillers of the squad and more in the big transfer buys. This would be great if he could be a strong 4th choice.

 

[Rozay]

I know he’s an academy graduate but he doesn’t impress me much & seems injury prone. I’d probably let him go if we can get around £20m for him, especially with Bailly staying. Put the money towards getting a top centre back. Top CB (Varane?), Maguire, Lindelof & Bailly are good CB depth.

Better that than keeping him & letting his contract expire in a few years or getting way less money like TFM. Tuanzebe still has a bit of value right now.

I think the time to get that sort of few for him has passed.

He now has to watch out for Mengi too. One impressive cameo against decent opposition for us and it wouldn’t take much more for him to be ahead of him.

As you mentioned in your closing paragraph, I predict the same really. He’ll go after a couple more injuries for next to nothing. And we’ll continue to ask why other teams get so much for their players. It’s the point in which we sell ours. Brewster fetched Liverpool £24m. Solanke got them the same. Ibe got £15m. Harry Wilson will fetch a good fee. They identify those who are good but not good enough early on and extract maximum value. We will reject offers until they are in a Phil Jones situation. Villa would have paid £20m+ for Axel last season. We could have gotten £10m+ for Williams last summer with Southampton and others sniffing around. Players who hardly feature here and are clearly not in the top bracket of talent. Nothing that can’t be replaced by the next batch of kids coming behind them anyway.

We need to be a little more ruthless in that respect I think, which is why clubs like Liverpool and Chelsea make good money in the market for players who, let’s face it, are not of their level. Brewster would have never been sold by United under the same circumstances.

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

I think the time to get that sort of few for him has passed.

He now has to watch out for Mengi too. One impressive cameo against decent opposition for us and it wouldn’t take much more for him to be ahead of him.

As you mentioned in your closing paragraph, I predict the same really. He’ll go after a couple more injuries for next to nothing. And we’ll continue to ask why other teams get so much for their players. It’s the point in which we sell ours. Brewster fetched Liverpool £24m. Solanke got them the same. Ibe got £15m. Harry Wilson will fetch a good fee. They identify those who are good but not good enough early on and extract maximum value. We will reject offers until they are in a Phil Jones situation. Villa would have paid £20m+ for Axel last season. We could have gotten £10m+ for Williams last summer with Southampton and others sniffing around. Players who hardly feature here and are clearly not in the top bracket of talent. Nothing that can’t be replaced by the next batch of kids coming behind them anyway.

We need to be a little more ruthless in that respect I think, which is why clubs like Liverpool and Chelsea make good money in the market for players who, let’s face it, are not of their level. Brewster would have never been sold by United under the same circumstances.

To be fair, usually English and young forwards (Brewster, Solanke, Ibe) fetch higher price than defenders, but I agree with your overall point of view, and Tuanzebe should be sold now, Garner & Levitt too perhaps.

Mengi, Shoretire & Majbri should be given a chance to impress and hopefully they impress and succeed here like Rashford, Mactominay & Greenwood, or they should be moved on at the right time to make money.

Manchester United compared to the best clubs in Europe have one of the highest number of Academy grads who play regularly for the first team so we are good there in terms of utilising the academy but we also need to make some sort of ROI on the academy graduates that we train for years and sell them for decent fee.

 

[Rozay]

To be fair, usually English and young forwards (Brewster, Solanke, Ibe) fetch higher price than defenders, but I agree with your overall point of view, and Tuanzebe should be sold now, Garner & Levitt too perhaps.

Mengi, Shoretire & Majbri should be given a chance to impress and hopefully they impress and succeed here like Rashford, Mactominay & Greenwood, or they should be moved on at the right time to make money.

Manchester United compared to the best clubs in Europe have one of the highest number of Academy grads who play regularly for the first team so we are good there in terms of utilising the academy but we also need to make some sort of ROI on the academy graduates that we train for years and sell them for decent fee.

I didn’t want to mention Garner in my previous post, as I thought some will get rather sensitive about him, but the time is approaching where we will have to decide whether we think he has a real future here or if he’s just another decent player in the making. I say this because he’s done well enough at Forest that his market value will be pretty good this summer. I’m not writing him off by any stretch, but if he’s not really going to be integrated into the squad properly, or we don’t see him as a future top player, we should make a call.

For what it’s worth, I think the club rates Garner highly, and he’ll get a shot to replace Matic. Levitt of course is unlikely to make it here, but he won’t fetch much anyway.

 

[AgentSmith]

I wonder if Brighton would be interested in Tuanzebe as a makeweight in a deal for Ben White.

He’s given his best performances for us at RCB (or as a defensive RB) and so would seem a natural fit for their system which demands tactical flexibility from the players.

Could facilitate a cheaper deal than the fee being suggested for someone like Kounde while avoiding the risk a player like Milenkovic carries as an unknown in the context of the Premier League.

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

I wonder if Brighton would be interested in Tuanzebe as a makeweight in a deal for Ben White.

He’s given his best performances for us at RCB (or as a defensive RB) and so would seem a natural fit for their system which demands tactical flexibility from the players.

Could facilitate a cheaper deal than the fee being suggested for someone like Kounde while avoiding the risk a player like Milenkovic carries as an unknown in the context of the Premier League.

Not sure about Ben White, he could be good squad option and might improve but he might cost a lot, Leeds tried to sign him permanently and if I remember correctly they offered 25-30 but Brighton refused, maybe not beause the fee offered was little but more likely they wanted him to be part of the plans for Brighton to be in the starting 11 for them


But I am not confident about Milenkovic, if we bring a CB from outside the PL, he has to be the finished article or very close to that level, and the new CB will compete with Maguire and Lindelof in the starting 11.

 

[Ekeke]

I wonder if Brighton would be interested in Tuanzebe as a makeweight in a deal for Ben White.

He’s given his best performances for us at RCB (or as a defensive RB) and so would seem a natural fit for their system which demands tactical flexibility from the players.

Could facilitate a cheaper deal than the fee being suggested for someone like Kounde while avoiding the risk a player like Milenkovic carries as an unknown in the context of the Premier League.

The chances that Milenkovic coming to the premier league and doing any worse than White is not very high. Brighton are 16th having conceded 36 goals in 29 games.

White is this season's Ben Godrey who has done fine at Everton after a £24 million move but isnt setting the world alight as someone we needed to sign last summer. I think both of them have potential (more-so on the ball) but they could easily take as long as Stones has (5th season at City) to finally live up to some of that potential and be a great CB.

Milenkovic is a step ahead in his development. As for White, Godfrey, etc the main difference between them and Tuanzebe is that they get to play regularly. I don't think there would be much difference if Tuanzebe was playing weekly for Everton or Brighton than them.

And if Tuanzebe isnt playing because Lindelof is starting so much, most likely White and Godfrey wouldnt be playing much either so little change to us there too. I mean look at DVB he was our big money signing in the summer coming in as a starter for Ajax and at 23 years old Ole barely plays him.

Milenkovic being a step ahead he would hopefully not come in as Lindelof's backup...

 

[VP89]

The chances that Milenkovic coming to the premier league and doing any worse than White is not very high. Brighton are 16th having conceded 36 goals in 29 games.

White is this season's Ben Godrey who has done fine at Everton after a £24 million move but isnt setting the world alight as someone we needed to sign last summer. I think both of them have potential (more-so on the ball) but they could easily take as long as Stones has (5th season at City) to finally live up to some of that potential and be a great CB.

Milenkovic is a step ahead in his development. As for White, Godfrey, etc the main difference between them and Tuanzebe is that they get to play regularly. I don't think there would be much difference if Tuanzebe was playing weekly for Everton or Brighton than them.

And if Tuanzebe isnt playing because Lindelof is starting so much, most likely White and Godfrey wouldnt be playing much either so little change to us there too. I mean look at DVB he was our big money signing in the summer coming in as a starter for Ajax and at 23 years old Ole barely plays him.

Milenkovic being a step ahead he would hopefully not come in as Lindelof's backup...

How much of Brighton's goal conceding is down to Ben White, and how much is down to the fact that they are not the most talented squad but geared toward progressive football from their manager?

 

[AgentSmith]

The chances that Milenkovic coming to the premier league and doing any worse than White is not very high. Brighton are 16th having conceded 36 goals in 29 games.

White is this season's Ben Godrey who has done fine at Everton after a £24 million move but isnt setting the world alight as someone we needed to sign last summer. I think both of them have potential (more-so on the ball) but they could easily take as long as Stones has (5th season at City) to finally live up to some of that potential and be a great CB.

Milenkovic is a step ahead in his development. As for White, Godfrey, etc the main difference between them and Tuanzebe is that they get to play regularly. I don't think there would be much difference if Tuanzebe was playing weekly for Everton or Brighton than them.

And if Tuanzebe isnt playing because Lindelof is starting so much, most likely White and Godfrey wouldnt be playing much either so little change to us there too. I mean look at DVB he was our big money signing in the summer coming in as a starter for Ajax and at 23 years old Ole barely plays him.

Milenkovic being a step ahead he would hopefully not come in as Lindelof's backup...

Fiorentina are 14th having conceded 45 goals in 28 games with 3 less points than Brighton in a weaker league. Not the best comparison to use to make your point.

It’s also unfair to attribute overall team performances to individual players as well. Brighton’s defence has not been an issue this season and Ben White has been an important part of that collective.

 

[Ekeke]

Fiorentina are 14th having conceded 45 goals in 28 games with 3 less points than Brighton in a weaker league. Not the best comparison to use to make your point.

It’s also unfair to attribute overall team performances to individual players as well. Brighton’s defence has not been an issue this season and Ben White has been an important part of that collective.

Milenkovic is their best performing CB.

White is Brighton's 2nd best performing CB

We arent comparing Milenkovic with Dunk