You are Psv supporter? How many games this season Gakpo played as no9? That is your answer. Spending 50 mil (or more) on another left winger while having 3 already is something what even City and Psg can't afford.
We need striker. Classic striker
Cody Gakpo | OFFICIAL: Liverpool player
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran discuss a horrific month of December and a depressing FOUR defeats in a row - the latest coming against Wolves and Newcastle.
They discuss how much blame is on Ruben Amorim and rank our squad against other Premier League teams.
Do we have any chance of avoiding defeat at Anfield?
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We need striker. Classic striker
It's roughly:
18-23 - biggest development years, from youth to physical peak
23-28 - physical peak, slight refinement of some skills/more mental side and decision making
28-33 - physical decline, transition style of play to prolong career
If Gakpo was doing what he's doing now but at 20, it'd be a different story. At 23, seeing how he's playing, I think "good player, probably doesn't have enough to his game for a top team".
Sign him up
But can he do it against Stoke on a rainy day?
You would think we would have big advantage of signing him over other clubs with Ten Hag being here.
Meh. Get rid of Elanga from that list (which I don't think many will have a problem with) and I don't think it's any more stacked than City have been over some recent years.
Players like Sterling, Jesus, Grealish, Foden and Mahrez to name a few have all had to settle for extended stints on the bench at various points, even at times when other players like Gundogan, KDB or Bernardo Silva were getting played in attacking positions ahead of them.
Taking Mahrez for example, he played fewer league minutes for City last season than Alex Telles did for us. And he's played just four more league minutes than Elanga this season. That's a former PL player of the year who would have waltzed into our team. Meanwhile £100m signing Grealish has played fewer league minutes this season than the likes of Malacia and McTominay. Whereas the comparably disappointing Sancho has already had 30% more gametime than him for no good reason other than us not having the same ability to bench players.
Big names on the bench every week is what real depth looks like and the likes of Martial and Sancho are certainly no more deserving of gametime than any of those players. Let them have that Mahrezesque gametime until they actually earn more. It's not like they have bigger clubs than us knocking down the door to make them guaranteed starters.
Even someone like Rashford who you say is a guaranteed starter needs to spend a lot more time on the bench than he has in recent years, where he was massively overplayed. Us relying on him as much as we did was a sign that we were lacking, not something that should keep happening.
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didn’t you read my post? I fully understand people not want him because of his position (left winger) on the pitch. I don’t understand people stating he’s nothing special
You didn't read his post did you
Do you think he can be converted to a number 9?
Youl struggle to find many reasonable fans who are "over the moon" with Antony.
I think most of us are relieved to have a right wing outlet as much as we are pleased with Antony as a player.
The problem with Gapko is the position of an unpolished left winger who's good at having a goal flurry is already taken up by Rashford.
What we ideally need is a central figure who is solid with their back to goal and can be a 9.
I personally also think Rashford is better than Gakpo
Right so that's a problem then, considering Rashford himself struggles with consistency.I personally also think Rashford is better than Gakpo
I personally also think Rashford is better than Gakpo
That's because he is. Over 100 goals for Manchester united by age 25 will attest to that.
He isI personally also think Rashford is better than Gakpo
ETH's has months on the scousers, they can make contact all they want. The problem that held up the move is now gone and so is his 500k p/w salary.
His goal scoring abilities are really, really good, but i’m not convinced he can be converted to an nr 9. Any club that wants to buy him will need to pay 60mln+ to get him. That is way too expensive to gamble on a potential position he might not be suited for.
If Cody is to convert into a nr 9, that will only be successfull by granting him time to learn. And Man Utd is not in a position to do so.
Yes i did. And my point is that lots of us think thst he is nothing special for no9 position (which we need and on which, i guess, ETH sees him).
Also, to be fully honest, Sancho and Rashford are better than Gakpo.
Who was there for Qatar 22?
No it isn't tragic - but if we are going to compete against Liverpool and City - we cant have a striker who scores 1 in 3 when Liverpool have Salah and City have Haaland. And at 27 years old for an price of at least £50 million - just mentioning Watkins seems....odd ? And especially since a goalscorer is what we need.
Of course Toney is out of the picture after his gambling stunt, but he is a really good comparison to Watkins - and he has outscored Watkins at all levels.
Watkins scored 25 goals in 46 matches in his best season in the Championship. And he has scored 27 goals in 86 matches in the P.L
Toney scored 31 goals in 45 matches in his best season in the Championship. And he has scored 22 goals in 47 matches in the P.L
We can always argue if Toney would have been good enough for United, but he is at least 1 level above Watkins
I think you missed the fact that I said in Jan. Cuz you are not going to get a proper no.9 in Jan, like say Osihmen or Vlahovic etc.
Like Sancho and Antony he doesn't exactly have electric pace does he? I'd prefer we went for someone more explosive since we primarily still create our best chances on the counter attack.
We're not man city. You'll find players are far more eager to hang around on the bench when they're winning trophies left right and centre.
Garnacho has shown enough that we shouldn't be putting unrealistic hurdles in his way. Sancho and Garnacho are Rashford backups and Martial will also play there if we get a new no 9.
About Antony's pace; when that myth started? We could have see couple of times this season that guy is quick
Well, if the articles that have come out lately are to be believed, not really anymore no. Klopp's calling the shots now, and his first big call was Darwin Nuñez....
That is disappointing to hear. Sounds like the price is €50m according to reports. If he can't play as a 9, then I don't see the point really. I do think we can give him opportunities as a 9 however, due to Martial's inability to stay fit.
There is Gakpo at home.
We have Rashford, we need to prioritise a proper No.9 rather than another player who is better out wide, particularly on the left.
We have Rashford, we need to prioritise a proper No.9 rather than another player who is better out wide, particularly on the left.
What's the hesitancy on Gakpo's ability to play #9?
From watching him a fair few times now, his game is basically the Left wing Mason Greenwood - Decent pace, decent dribbling but fantastic two footed clean ball striking and just lacking the physical outlet "back to goal" build up play. We saw Greenwood begnning to show that predatory CF movement and basic build up play development in a few games under solskjaers coaching.
Everyone was tipping Greenwood to develop and grow into the #9 role but he was never going to be a brute force target man style, he was basically a few years from Gakpos' current body archetype & for me Ten Hag has shown his player developing abilities already, enough to satisfy that he could make Gakpo a modern give & go get into the box CF that can drift wide too.
It's not like we need to be lumping it in all the time, seems like a interchangable front 3 that can rotate is very useful in a fluid passing system and watching Gakpo so far he seems technically fine outside the box popping it round corners & laying it off so I think people are worrying abit too much about him being able to do the simple stuff with a few weeks of decent coaching. (Mctominay springs to mind)
Imma let you finish but Rashford is having the best World Cup.
Also worth noting (though it's probably obvious) that he's massively outperforming his underlying stats this season. 12 goals from 7.5 xG, 15 assists from 7.5 xA.
Overperformance might be something he's capable of generally given his striking ability but not to that extent. It's a hot streak and you shouldn't base your idea of how productive he'd likely be in the future off that rate of returns.
That said, if he had clocked a more sustainable 8 goals and 8 assists from 19 games it would still be pretty good.
Overperformance might be something he's capable of generally given his striking ability but not to that extent. It's a hot streak and you shouldn't base your idea of how productive he'd likely be in the future off that rate of returns.
That said, if he had clocked a more sustainable 8 goals and 8 assists from 19 games it would still be pretty good.
Could we send van der beek to PSV and have Gakpo? might sweeten the deal and make the whole thing slightly more affordable.
Comparing Gakpo to Greenwood is quite the stretch. Greenwood was as pure of a striker of the ball as you could find in the game, and was two footed to boot. He was tipped as the next great striker because that was his position throughout the academy ranks, and it came more natural to him.
I think Gakpo could be effective in a similar vein to when Rashford plays at 9, especially if he’s more comfortable than Rashford on his weaker side, but he’s not going to start over Martial when both are fit and I’m not sure he’d start over Rashford either. So we’d be paying a decent sized sum for a rotational piece with no clear path into the starting XI as of now.
If ETH is dead set on him then so be it I’m happy, but I can understand some of the hesitance given the similarities he has with one of our own already.
Van Gaal on Gapko (BBC)
..."Cody is a very young player, he is 23 but looks younger," said boss Louis van Gaal. "He has only been playing with PSV for two, three years and always played from the left.
"He did not want to play in the centre or at 10 but he did have to for me. Now he thinks I am a great head coach.
"Things can change but Cody has everything it takes to become a star. He has a wonderful personality to become a star player because he open minded to anything and everything."...
Lets bear in mind hes been involved in 35 goals in 29 games for club and country this season - 17 goals and 18 assists.
Whats to doubt. A star in the making...
..."Cody is a very young player, he is 23 but looks younger," said boss Louis van Gaal. "He has only been playing with PSV for two, three years and always played from the left.
"He did not want to play in the centre or at 10 but he did have to for me. Now he thinks I am a great head coach.
"Things can change but Cody has everything it takes to become a star. He has a wonderful personality to become a star player because he open minded to anything and everything."...
Lets bear in mind hes been involved in 35 goals in 29 games for club and country this season - 17 goals and 18 assists.
Whats to doubt. A star in the making...
Really though? So before this tournament the clubs that can afford him weren’t scouting the eredivisie and weren’t alerted to its top scorer? I find that hard to believe
Mostly seen people talking about him as a LW or a potential #9, but any thoughts about #10 as his long term position?
If we thought he could deputise for Bruno effectively next season then that would be another route to minutes for him, as well as being something that makes VDB even more redundant and sellable.
If we thought he could deputise for Bruno effectively next season then that would be another route to minutes for him, as well as being something that makes VDB even more redundant and sellable.
Sounds like if we wait until summer for Gakpo then hes our striker signing... not ideal to wait until then either!
The rashford comparison I dont really see. Rashford's game so far since the academy has been all about utilizing his great stride & searing pace to get in behind on the last shoulder of a high line or to pull off tricks with good footwork to beat his man 1 on 1 before creating a chance or shot on goal. That being said, even rashford has been showing signs of all-round development at #9 with some of his hold up play and assists recently like for Antony's debut goal!
It doesn't always come natural to players but I dont think people put enough value on the lack of high level coaching that most of our players have endured since they came through or got bought. There is that sense in the last few years of the "united curse" that people turn rubbish eventually coming here and for me it's been the coaching. Now we have Ten Hag who is the first manager with clear philosophy we've had since frankly Van Gaal ( I know, crazy! ) with a progressive footballing ideology that has clear principles and tasks for each position to fulfill. It is so much easier for a player to then slot in, adapt and learn to fulfill those duties in the system when there is coherent structure and clear ideas that actually work. VanGallball, Mourinhoball Oleball/Mckennaball was functional, but not progressive or communicated well enough.
I do agree though for the most part, Gakpo is at the moment primarily Left Winger and we are stacked there already.
No I dont want Garnacho's impressive rise to be hindered whatsoever, top prospect there and gametime will be scant enough as it is.
Are there realistically other attainable striker targets out there that good data-scouting could unearth beyond the maguire-level obvious picks of Toney et al...honestly yes...But I do trust this managers judgement and having obviously watched him develop for years at PSV whilst managing Ajax, if ETH thinks this guy has attributes that can be used and developed in his system at LW RW & ST then im all for it. He's done left foot, right foot and a brave headed goal all from movement into central positions on the world cup stage, he certainly knows where the net is.
And Let's be honest most of us love Tony Martial but the man is injured every single season without fail, won't be suprised if we go for another striker eventually if Martial cant accept a squad role in his new contract.
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All talk he’ll be signed for a reasonable fee.
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