He will be fit, hes been training, but I think Ole would be mental to start the lad in a league game. We'll probably have to wait until the FA cup for him
Centre Back... Who do we go for?
- Thread starter Macern
- Start date
So we should win the Premiership then.
He's 6 feet tall. I think that's alright considering he'd be paired with someone taller. Agree he seems a better player than Dias.
We need to get an imposing intimidating CB, someone who will make attackers fear, Upamecano is the right fit imo.
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What are the options that have good pace and heading ability. Need someone with both
Being a CB is hell today.
Yeah, we're in the midst of a tactical evolution as most elite CBs are turning into de facto midfielders while other, good CBs like Maguire's cohorts are being left behind and have a tough time depending on the opposition and the team's tactics.
Konate
It's not just tactics but also rule changes, you have to defend like a penguin because some random ball can hit your arm and it's a penalty in the box. See Lindelof and Dier, Dier wasnt even looking at the ball was shoved and had his arms out to balance himself in the air.
United need to attack in numbers and it also need 1 or possibly 2 attacking wingbacks. That's the only way we have to break our opponent's defence. To successfully implement that we need
a- a Goalkeeper who isn't scared to leave his line
b- 2 CBs who are talented, they have pace and at least 1 of them is good in air.
c- a DM who can help the defence
d- a hardworking CM
Let's tackle them one by one
A- We've already got Henderson
B- That's a big issue as most of our CBs are painfully slow and those who are not are either injury prone or shit. I'd suggest that United cut go for the Leipzig duo Upamecano and Konate. They had been playing together for quite some time and they have the characteristics we need in our CBs. Maguire, Tuanzebe and Mengi can act as their cover.
C- I'd sell Pogba and McT at this point and bring in someone like Ndidi. A trio made up of Ndidi, Bruno and VDB would provide us with a well balanced midfield. Maybe we should have a look at another creative midfielder on the cheap to provide our creative outlets some cover
a- a Goalkeeper who isn't scared to leave his line
b- 2 CBs who are talented, they have pace and at least 1 of them is good in air.
c- a DM who can help the defence
d- a hardworking CM
Let's tackle them one by one
A- We've already got Henderson
B- That's a big issue as most of our CBs are painfully slow and those who are not are either injury prone or shit. I'd suggest that United cut go for the Leipzig duo Upamecano and Konate. They had been playing together for quite some time and they have the characteristics we need in our CBs. Maguire, Tuanzebe and Mengi can act as their cover.
C- I'd sell Pogba and McT at this point and bring in someone like Ndidi. A trio made up of Ndidi, Bruno and VDB would provide us with a well balanced midfield. Maybe we should have a look at another creative midfielder on the cheap to provide our creative outlets some cover
I think he was a completely different defender to Maguire. People are making the comparisons becuase he was our captain and because he lacked pace but was strong in the air. That is where the similarities end for me.
I think he was a much cleverer defender, which came with experience. His positioning was good, he read the game well, he could use crafty tricks such as shirt pulls at the right times much like Baresi, he was level headed. In those terms he was a better defender and he was most certainly a much better captain in my opinion with organising those around him. In terms of pure ability though I would agree Maguire is probably a better defender.
I think the main differences for our club was players around im as someone else mentioned, but more than that the partnership he had with Pallister. Its these partnerships that have made our best defences Stam/johnsen Ferdinand/Vidic. much like those Pallister complimented and covered Bruces weaknesses very well. Both were very good players, but neither world class or briliant defenders. They were individually definatel the weakest of our great partnerships and that was really highlighed by ROmario/Stoichkov when they were absolutely battered at the very very highest level.
I am not sure its even which defender we go for, but quite possibly, as it should have been the season we signed Maguire...which "defenderS" we go for.
We currently have still, ridiculously so many centre backs:
JOnes, Rojo - Absolute joke both are still here but it is only a matter of (too much) time until both leave
Tuanzabe, Mengi - I think we really have to acknowledge the fact Tuanzabe is now 23, he is barely a youngster now. I think it is pivotal he steps up this season to some degree or we have to almost consider it wont happen for him as brutal as that is. The other side of the coin with Mengi, he is still 18, I liek him but we cant really expect too much from him this season at least
Lindelof, Bailly - AGain we have to acknowledge it is what 3/4 seasons they have been here now? Settling to a new culture and huge club and adapting, the time is long over. Bailly after a decent first season just hasnt due to form or injury put in godo performances of any consistency at all since that first season and Lindelof has been consistent, consistently very very very average at best
That is six centre backs as a potential partner to Maguire and perhaps the best option looking at it is Mengi, purely as there are high hopes and we havent seen enough of him like the others....failing. And again we are talking about a potential partner to a centre back after one season who has been average to decent most of the time as well and of course woeful the last few months.
I have to admit, I still am sad that all these years we have played TFM as a full back which he never has or will be, I do feel he may have become a decent centre back. We do also have the French signing, but he is just 16 so we must be lookin gat a season or two at the least until we can genuinely consider him.
SO for me, this season is pivotal for our centre backs, 2-4 of them really should be sold the end of the season if performances dont improve and we really should be looking at two top centre back signings as for the next two seasons there may well not be a partnership amongst the whole lot of them that will come to fruition within that time, even with one cb signed.
Its absolutely ridiculous we didnt sign a cb this window, I said at the time it would haunt us for the season and it already has in just a few games.
Upamecano is the obvious one, but where I feel we will finish the end of this season, the low fee and list of suitors for him, be shocked if he comes here in the summer. I also think as our stuation is so dire, it probably wasnt the right signing for the time, but we have also missed a trick longer term with Godfrey going to Everton. Great signing for them and I think he has all the tools to be a top centre back over the next couple of years, wouldnt have minded him, if he was one of two signings. Upamecano + Godfrey in the summer would have been ideal for me, neither of which will happen now
We currently have still, ridiculously so many centre backs:
JOnes, Rojo - Absolute joke both are still here but it is only a matter of (too much) time until both leave
Tuanzabe, Mengi - I think we really have to acknowledge the fact Tuanzabe is now 23, he is barely a youngster now. I think it is pivotal he steps up this season to some degree or we have to almost consider it wont happen for him as brutal as that is. The other side of the coin with Mengi, he is still 18, I liek him but we cant really expect too much from him this season at least
Lindelof, Bailly - AGain we have to acknowledge it is what 3/4 seasons they have been here now? Settling to a new culture and huge club and adapting, the time is long over. Bailly after a decent first season just hasnt due to form or injury put in godo performances of any consistency at all since that first season and Lindelof has been consistent, consistently very very very average at best
That is six centre backs as a potential partner to Maguire and perhaps the best option looking at it is Mengi, purely as there are high hopes and we havent seen enough of him like the others....failing. And again we are talking about a potential partner to a centre back after one season who has been average to decent most of the time as well and of course woeful the last few months.
I have to admit, I still am sad that all these years we have played TFM as a full back which he never has or will be, I do feel he may have become a decent centre back. We do also have the French signing, but he is just 16 so we must be lookin gat a season or two at the least until we can genuinely consider him.
SO for me, this season is pivotal for our centre backs, 2-4 of them really should be sold the end of the season if performances dont improve and we really should be looking at two top centre back signings as for the next two seasons there may well not be a partnership amongst the whole lot of them that will come to fruition within that time, even with one cb signed.
Its absolutely ridiculous we didnt sign a cb this window, I said at the time it would haunt us for the season and it already has in just a few games.
Upamecano is the obvious one, but where I feel we will finish the end of this season, the low fee and list of suitors for him, be shocked if he comes here in the summer. I also think as our stuation is so dire, it probably wasnt the right signing for the time, but we have also missed a trick longer term with Godfrey going to Everton. Great signing for them and I think he has all the tools to be a top centre back over the next couple of years, wouldnt have minded him, if he was one of two signings. Upamecano + Godfrey in the summer would have been ideal for me, neither of which will happen now
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They were quoted a silly price for him. I think they seem to have a policy of walking away if the asking price hits a certain amount like 70m or something. Unless the target was Messi or mbappe.
As much as Upamecano is probably an improvement on what we have he needs a general to keep him right and given Maguire is almost as bad as Bailly positionally I just don’t see that working out.
Lindelof gets a lot of flack and a lot of it deservedly so but Maguire doesn’t do him any favours by generally just being very poor. There was a break down Rio did recently and he picked out incidents where Maguire was poorly positioned and how that led to mistakes by others.
When you see how amateurish his defending is you start to wonder how on Earth anyone thought 80mil on him was a good decision. Needs a bit of the Jose controlling does Harry, let him control every move he makes.
Maguire either needs to regain some form and drastically improve or he needs to go so we can bring in someone who knows how to defend that could be of assistance to someone like Upamecano.
Lindelof gets a lot of flack and a lot of it deservedly so but Maguire doesn’t do him any favours by generally just being very poor. There was a break down Rio did recently and he picked out incidents where Maguire was poorly positioned and how that led to mistakes by others.
When you see how amateurish his defending is you start to wonder how on Earth anyone thought 80mil on him was a good decision. Needs a bit of the Jose controlling does Harry, let him control every move he makes.
Maguire either needs to regain some form and drastically improve or he needs to go so we can bring in someone who knows how to defend that could be of assistance to someone like Upamecano.
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50 million. They paid more for Dias.
They also sold the other team a player.
Nice post, I think having the right partner is a massive bonus but having Robson and Ince infront of you helps. Bruce and the rest learnt the art of captaincy from BR he was the greatest of all United captains. I mentioned in a previous post that Romario showed their limitations when we got murdered at the Nou Camp. But they’ve all gone through sticky patches as is maguire currently. Having watched through all our CBS since 1983, I like maguire and think he has it in him to be a UTD CB. He isn’t vocal enough to be captain. We all have opinions on captaincy, I like a Robbo type.
Yes Robson and Hughes were the players I idolised when a kid, had hundreds of Robson posters on my wall
Was the best captain we have had and am always amazed not to see him in hardly any "best of all time" Utd line ups, fabulous player.As for Maguire, I think the fee and fact he is captain are the major sticking points bringing out the vitriol with his piss poor period of form. Personally I am not convinced either way, but the fee we paid and could have paid for other defenders possibly, does irk me. To me he is like a fabulous championship centre back and I dont mean ability wise. I mean in his style, strength and sadly, his lack of intelligence. He is also decent on the ball though. I think its possible, though still on the fence, he can be the Vidic/JOhnsen/Bruce as the partner to a top quality ball playing centre back. But for £80m and the faqct he is meant to be that main ball playing centre back....not a good deal still for me
Robbo is my all time united favourite. As for maguire I think you’re being a bit harsh on him give him time and solid defence to play withYes Robson and Hughes were the players I idolised when a kid, had hundreds of Robson posters on my wall
As for Maguire, I think the fee and fact he is captain are the major sticking points bringing out the vitriol with his piss poor period of form. Personally I am not convinced either way, but the fee we paid and could have paid for other defenders possibly, does irk me. To me he is like a fabulous championship centre back and I dont mean ability wise. I mean in his style, strength and sadly, his lack of intelligence. He is also decent on the ball though. I think its possible, though still on the fence, he can be the Vidic/JOhnsen/Bruce as the partner to a top quality ball playing centre back. But for £80m and the faqct he is meant to be that main ball playing centre back....not a good deal still for me
I am actually hoping we don't sign anyone - because I really believe we have 1 or 2 who will break through in 12-18 months. Get Tuanzebe back from injury, and behind him Mengi and maybe even Fish. Maguire, Bailly and Lindelöf as well is good enough for this season. And next summer give Tuanzebe and Mengi a chance.
Fish! That reminds of Mark Fish, who I think we might have had on trial once, before he went to Lazio.
who is this new Fish you talk of?
William Fish. Captaining the U23s at only 17 years old.
Sign de ligt. Agent Donny should be on it.
Huge talent, but Mengi is ahead of him. Will probably want a loan first before he gets a go in the first team.
Yeah I’ve watched him a few times, he looks very solid in every department but we’ve bought the french u17 captain and he looks pretty good as well. I have to agree, one of these will definitely break out
Same. There aren't many stand-outs on the market anyway.
As much as I would love to have Upamecano here, I think he's destined to become a Bayern player next summer.
He has already been linked with them, they've recently established a French wing (Coman, Pavard, Hernandez, Tolisso, Nianzou) and they're probably heavily in the market for a CB, since they'll let Alaba go.
He’s the new Mengi.
I’d suggest buying them as a pair. What a long term partnership that would be!
ive had it with Pogba, we cant build a team around him to the detriment of a cohesive unit. We won’t get more than €70m for him so I’d look to strengthen by maybe some swaps or put whatever money we get for him towards a top notch cf or the 2 cbs
I fully agree. We need a quick fix at the back and having a young, talented and proven CB pair is a huge step to that direction. Regarding Pogba, I believe its time for him to go. He lacks the characteristics to succeed within this team, his heart is not there and he's basically a square peg in a round hole. Maybe we can persuade Real to involve themselves into a swap between Pogba and Valverde. Valverde-VDB would provide us with an interesting defensive and well balanced midfield pair in a 4-2-3-1 system.
We should ideally be playing a back three, so Maguire, Lindelof and one other could work well and mitigate against one of their potential individual errors.
Promote Mengi and save the cash.
We have already spent a fortune and the defenders we have are decent.
Just coach them properly.
We have already spent a fortune and the defenders we have are decent.
Just coach them properly.
I would love that swap. Been very impressed by Valverde the few times I've seen him. Lets start a Uruguayan revolution here.
Whats there to coach? Only Maguire is decent Lindelof is too light weight, Bailly/Axel are too injury prone and Mengi whilst talented is still young he`s not a De Ligt who will hit the ground running immediately. We NEED a CB
Surprised people haven`t mentioned Kounde. He`s impressed me very much everytime I`ve watched Sevilla and his fast, aggressive style of play will compliment Maguire very well. If we can`t get Upamecano Kounde is the very best option to go for
70m release clause.
70m euros specifically and I`d pay it I rate him highly. Outside Upamecano and him any other CB would be a downgrade on our options unless Varane/De Ligt/Demiral/Marquinhos became available or Alaba leaves Bayern for free which is very unlikely. He`s our most realistic option and his age makes the fee worthwhile long term
I agree. I just don't think the club will spend that amount especially if we are still chasing Sancho
I don`t see us chasing Sancho anymore IMO that ship has sailed. Pellistri and Diallo weren`t bought for nothing they may need time to settle but they`ll be given proper first team chances to establish himself and the latter looks really talented and beyond them Greenwood will continue to get more games on the RW till he`s ready to be a ST. I`ll be shocked if we sign an attacker for another 2/3 years especially a 100m attacker when a CB/DM are desperately needed
When was the last summer where we didn't need a new CB? Serious question.
I think you can go all the way back to Fergie's last few years where Rio n Vida were close to their last years at the top.
CB has become a real problem for us. We've brought in Lindelof, Bailly, Maguire and I don't think we are any better at the back than when we had the Blind and Smalling pairing under LVG. In fact I preferred that duo ever so slightly.
I think you can go all the way back to Fergie's last few years where Rio n Vida were close to their last years at the top.
CB has become a real problem for us. We've brought in Lindelof, Bailly, Maguire and I don't think we are any better at the back than when we had the Blind and Smalling pairing under LVG. In fact I preferred that duo ever so slightly.