Centre Mid options other than Vidal..

When Jogi Löw revealed his 30-man provisional World Cup squad, then-Mainz manager Thomas Tuchel was furious that Johannes Geis wasn’t included: "He showed a maturity and took responsibility in his position for us superbly, and I felt he should’ve been rewarded by Joachim," grumbled the highly rated coach. "He’ll be there soon, though, I’m sure."

I've never heard of this guy, but I say we sign him and loan him back to the Bundesliga. Chelsea are cnuts, but they've got it right. You won't lose money on a 20 year old German DM.
 
NMF said:
Kramer always impresses me when I watch Mochengladbach.
Click to expand...

He looked quite solid the couple of times I saw them last season.

My worry would be that the seem like one of the better drilled sides in Europe and he does a lot of "functional" work for them, so maybe upside is a bit limited? He doesn't immediately jump off the screen in terms of creative ability on the ball/turning in tight spaces and that sort of thing.

However, being named to the German 23 and trusted to start in the final once Khedira went off suggests he might have a bit more to his game then he gets to show there. Also, he's obviously young enough to show more.
 
NoPace said:
When Jogi Löw revealed his 30-man provisional World Cup squad, then-Mainz manager Thomas Tuchel was furious that Johannes Geis wasn’t included: "He showed a maturity and took responsibility in his position for us superbly, and I felt he should’ve been rewarded by Joachim," grumbled the highly rated coach. "He’ll be there soon, though, I’m sure."

I've never heard of this guy, but I say we sign him and loan him back to the Bundesliga. Chelsea are cnuts, but they've got it right. You won't lose money on a 20 year old German DM.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't mind that either. For his 20 years of age he arguably has been their most important player last season and Mainz played one of their best seasons ever. It really was a strange exclusion from Löw. If we were to buy one German player, apart from the obvious ones like Hummels or Reus, then it should be him.
 
Biggest feeling is that we will either sign Strootman if the Vidal deal doesn't happen.

For discussions sake, I'd look to potential cheaper options like Casemiro, and Gustavo with hopes that LvG will mould them to greater players. If not I guess Carvalho can do the job if Van Gaal is still interested in resurrecting that deal.
 
James McCarthy, please. He would be expensive, but suit us so well. Pretty much at the same stage of his carriere as Herrera (or Vidal was when he went to Juve, Modric when he started to show his potential in central midfield for Spurs etc.).

Its players at this stage and age we should be on the search for. Now we have one. Technically sound, good passer, incredible fit (to use a LvGphrase) and professional, with alot of experience from the PL. And he is only a couple of hours drive from Carrington. It would be a shame to miss out just because he is not dutch, spanish or a flashy south american.
 
Mario Suarez. Probably wont be too expensive and has undoubted quality. Can play both as a box to box or a holding midfielder. Goon on the ball and actually knows what defending in midfield is all about. Him and Ander would take the mickey out of prem midfields.
 
Lars Bender or Morgan Schneiderlin would be perfectly fine for me, with Strootman to come in January or next summer
 
Okay, bit of a left-field option but I think Javier Mascherano could be a good target if we can't pull off the Vidal signing.

Sure, he just turned 30, he's an ex-Liverpool player and not exactly the most sympathetic player (although you could argue that's an advantage given the kind of player he is) but he really proved in Brazil how effective he can be when deployed in his favoured role. Was a fantastic leader for Argentina (we could use some leadership after losing Giggs, Evra, Rio and Vidic) and in my opinion one of the three best players of the tournament. And honestly I think he suits our need better than Vidal, a more defensive player to partner the more adventurous Herrera rather than having two 8's in midfield.

It's been rumoured that Barca are willing to sell, Mascherano might fancy the chance to play in midfield again and even though Enrique reportedly wants to play him in midfield, he'll still only play second fiddle to Busquets. If we want a destroyer, he's certainly a better option than De Jong.
 
RooneyLegend said:
Mario Suarez. Probably wont be too expensive and has undoubted quality. Can play both as a box to box or a holding midfielder. Goon on the ball and actually knows what defending in midfield is all about. Him and Ander would take the mickey out of prem midfields.
Click to expand...

Have you just made that up?
 
unitedbhoy said:
Oh man, the Strootman thread in January/Next Summer is going to as funny as the Vidal one when we fail to sign him also.
Click to expand...
I don't get this Strootman talk. Why would we wait for Strootman if he has a knee injury thats worse than Vidal's? Surely it's better to sign Vidal who hasn't spent 6 months out due to a knee injury?

Thoughts someone?

We need someone who's comfortable on the ball and can tackle. We have enough players who are creative and play neat football. Who that person may be, I'm not sure, defending seems to be a dying art these days.
 
Jev said:
Okay, bit of a left-field option but I think Javier Mascherano could be a good target if we can't pull off the Vidal signing.

Sure, he just turned 30, he's an ex-Liverpool player and not exactly the most sympathetic player (although you could argue that's an advantage given the kind of player he is) but he really proved in Brazil how effective he can be when deployed in his favoured role. Was a fantastic leader for Argentina (we could use some leadership after losing Giggs, Evra, Rio and Vidic) and in my opinion one of the three best players of the tournament. And honestly I think he suits our need better than Vidal, a more defensive player to partner the more adventurous Herrera rather than having to 8's in midfield.

It's been rumoured that Barca are willing to sell, Mascherano might fancy the chance to play in midfield again and even though Enrique reportedly wants to play him in midfield, he'll still only play second fiddle to Busquets. If we want a destroyer, he's certainly a better option than De Jong.
Click to expand...
He dedicated Barca's CL victory over us to Liverpool fans. No thanks.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/spor...ews/former-liverpool-fc-player-javier-3376109
 
Maybe we're waiting to see who Arsenal are going to sign out of Khedira, Bender and Carvalho. And, then bid for one of the others with little or no competition.
 
Sami Khedira would be the best side option here IMHO. Also, Christoph Kramer is a good shout. Adding some German steel in midfield can't be bad, is it?
 
Kakeru said:
Sami Khedira would be the best side option here IMHO. Also, Christoph Kramer is a good shout. Adding some German steel in midfield can't be bad, is it?
Click to expand...
Khedira's after a new contract at Madrid, him and his agent were apparently messing Arsenal around last month.
 
NoPace said:
When Jogi Löw revealed his 30-man provisional World Cup squad, then-Mainz manager Thomas Tuchel was furious that Johannes Geis wasn’t included: "He showed a maturity and took responsibility in his position for us superbly, and I felt he should’ve been rewarded by Joachim," grumbled the highly rated coach. "He’ll be there soon, though, I’m sure."

I've never heard of this guy, but I say we sign him and loan him back to the Bundesliga. Chelsea are cnuts, but they've got it right. You won't lose money on a 20 year old German DM.
Click to expand...
Yes we don't do this enough in my view. Not with CMs anyway.
 
Xabi Alonso would be a decent short term option if we couldn't get our primary targets
 
Pogba. I personally think he'd compliment Ander more than Vidal anyway. He has the ability to sit deep and dictate the game, using his great passing range, whilst allowing Ander to be more of the attacking force out the two.

If we were willing to spend $60 plus million on Vidal, then surely we can spend the same on a player who is 5/6 years younger than him and potentially better, in my opinion.
 
Maybe a good short term solution could be Enzo Perez, would bring a lot of energy and skill to our midfield.
 
Baby Faced Assassin said:
For Argentina in the World Cup he played on the flanks.
Click to expand...

He played Di Maria's position when he got injured as a centre/wide mid. He normally plays CM for Benfica anyway, it is his natural position he played that wide role for Argentina to fit into their system.
 
2mufc0 said:
He played Di Maria's position when he got injured as a centre/wide mid. He normally plays CM for Benfica anyway, it is his natural position he played that wide role for Argentina to fit into their system.
Click to expand...

Nonetheless I don't think he is even on the clubs radar.
 
Baby Faced Assassin said:
Nonetheless I don't think he is even on the clubs radar.
Click to expand...

Maybe so but just suggesting alternatives to Vidal as the OP asked. TBH don't think anyone knows who is on the clubs radar they have done well to keep things quiet this summer.
 
Wonder could Guarin do a job in the centre for us? Thought he had a quiet World Cup for Colombia but he's a solid enough player, is versatile enough to put in a shift anywhere on the right side of attack too.
 
Manucho the boss said:
Wonder could Guarin do a job in the centre for us? Thought he had a quiet World Cup for Colombia but he's a solid enough player, is versatile enough to put in a shift anywhere on the right side of attack too.
Click to expand...
No thanks his a very limited footballer who lacks any decent technical ability he'd be a poor signing.
 
I still hope for Vidal but only if his injurry doesn't get in the way. If we can't get him, I'd be happy with a short term fix in the person of Nigel De Jong and than go back in for Strootman come January.
 
2mufc0 said:
Maybe so but just suggesting alternatives to Vidal as the OP asked. TBH don't think anyone knows who is on the clubs radar they have done well to keep things quiet this summer.
Click to expand...

So quiet that they probably aren't even looking for players anymore.
 
2mufc0 said:
Maybe so but just suggesting alternatives to Vidal as the OP asked. TBH don't think anyone knows who is on the clubs radar they have done well to keep things quiet this summer.
Click to expand...

I think everyone knew all about the Shaw deal before the end of last season, and there was no secret about our interest in Herrera, we had previously made a mess of that deal last Summer.
 
We could create some space in the squad for Blind as he can take multi task roles but more likely Louie will wait for Strootman as he's the only player in Dutch squad having the same level of importance as Robben and RVP.
 
Van Piorsing said:
We could create some space in the squad for Blind as he can take multi task roles but more likely Louie will wait for Strootman as he's the only player in Dutch squad having the same level of importance as Robben and RVP.
Click to expand...

I don't think we can afford to wait until January for Strootman, despite our easy start to the season we'll still have to play all the top teams before the transfer window reopens. We still need a player to cover Carrick too, I think it'll be De Jong in the short term with a big name mid-season.
 
RooneyLegend said:
Mario Suarez. Probably wont be too expensive and has undoubted quality. Can play both as a box to box or a holding midfielder. Goon on the ball and actually knows what defending in midfield is all about. Him and Ander would take the mickey out of prem midfields.
Click to expand...

Good shout, I hadn't really given him much thought. He'd really suit the Premier League. All the rags are suggesting Alex Song as an alternative to Vidal.
 
Would be delighted with de Jong or McCarthy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.