Do we have the best collection of attackers in the league?

NessunDorma

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I was slightly surprised before the game kicked off to see people complaining about the Mata/RvP/Falcao/Rooney quartet. That they're all too slow and not good enough, ultimately.

That seems insane to me though. 2 and a half years ago - let's say when we'd just lost the title to City on goal difference - if you'd said 'We need to improve the squad. Let's sign Van Persie, Falcao, Mata and Di Maria', people would've been like 'Yeah, and Messi and Ronaldo while we're at it'.

But now here we are, with all of them on our books. And I don't think everyone fully appreciates just how many goals they could all score together. Great players playing with great players, and a great manager to motivate and organise them.

We could be about to witness some amazing football over the coming months, and i'm not sure i'd swap our collection of attackers for any other clubs.
 
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We looked instantly worse when Van Persie and Falcao were seperated in the last two games. Both of them together cause absolute chaos with their movement, opening up all sorts of space for each other and the 3rd man. I think this partnership is the way forward and if the midfield can be more creative we'll smash teams every week.
 
Costa, Hazard, Oscar and willian looked in a different class today tbh, they all looked nimble, capable of beating a man and creating something out of nothing. Ours in terms of names is the best, and it is a pretty effective foursome thus far but the Chelsea 4 are playing at a higher level and are better to watch in my opinion.
 
Alongside Real, we have the best collection of goalscorers in world football.

LvG's current strategy seems to be to get the team to playing halfway competently whilst filling the lineup with matchwinners. We've not always been the best team on the pitch, but we've usually been the one that scores the most goals.
 
Strikers yes. Attackers no. Without Di Maria we are slow and predictable and rely on wing play and over the top balls to create chances.

We are clinical but create very few chances and despite the results we are pretty boring.
 
Man for man we definitely have the best attacking bunch in the Premier League. Rooney, Robin, Falcao, Mata, Di Maria are some of the most exalted individuals in football in terms of what they've achieved in their careers. But at the end of the day, it's a fresh start and a team sport where the best parts don't make the best collective.

Apart from today's game we've yet to see any form of sustained cohesion from our front four, what we did have was chaos with players running into each others' zones, sometimes preferring individualism over teamwork etc which is a shame really given their quality. But against Newcastle, it all seemed to click for 50 odd minutes and we got a peek at their potential going forward.

If we can repeat that kind of team ethos, get some chemistry, movement and unselfishness going week in and week out, not to mention solidity in midfield - I don't think the likes of Chelsea or City are even a match for our set.
 
Dante said:
Alongside Real, we have the best collection of goalscorers in world football.
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completely agree with this, we have the best selection of strikers and central based attackers in the world, where we struggle is in the fact that our side is not balanced in the slightest, and we dont have the style of play to accommodate these players properly and as such we dont create enough chances to be consistently scoring 4 or so goals a game that these strikers are capable of doing as a unit.

also agree with whoever posted earlier about how if 3 years ago we went out and bought mata, van persie, falcao and di maria we would have been pinching ourselves and it would have been considered in the same ballpark as just buying ronaldo or messi.

sure they all have something to prove now as there are certainly question marks over their form, but they are proven world class.
 
When all are at the top of their game and at peak fitness, I reckon Falcao, RVP, Rooney, Di Maria and Mata just about tops any collection of attackers in the league.

Chelsea have Costa and Hazard who are world class, but I don't think Oscar, Schurrle and Willian are at that level. Oscar isn't far off, and will definitely get there. Same with City who have Aguero, Silva, and to a lesser extent Yaya (who I don't see as being at the level he was a year or two ago), but I woudn't rate Dzeko, Navas and Nasri as high as any of our attackers.

City and Chelsea have much better foundations behind their attackers though, which makes them better teams than us, by some distance.
 
RedDevilCanuck said:
Strikers yes. Attackers no. Without Di Maria we are slow and predictable and rely on wing play and over the top balls to create chances.

We are clinical but create very few chances and despite the results we are pretty boring.
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Yeah i'd agree with this. We would benefit hugely from another Hazard type player.
 
As long as our attackers aren't slow then not having blistering pace shouldn't hinder us. Chelsea minus Hazard don't have much themselves, Arsenal have bags of it but don't look more impressive than we do.
 
In terms of quality our attackers are up there, but I think we lack variety in our options, need more pace and dribbling skills in the attack.
 
Maybe it's the drink talking but we have the best collection of attackers in the history of universe, IMHO.
 
Invictus said:
Man for man we definitely have the best attacking bunch in the Premier League. Rooney, Robin, Falcao, Mata, Di Maria are some of the most exalted individuals in football in terms of what they've achieved in their careers. But at the end of the day, it's a fresh start and a team sport where the best parts don't make the best collective.

Apart from today's game we've yet to see any form of sustained cohesion from our front four, what we did have was chaos with players running into each others' zones, sometimes preferring individualism over teamwork etc which is a shame really given their quality. But against Newcastle, it all seemed to click for 50 odd minutes and we got a peek at their potential going forward.

If we can repeat that kind of team ethos, get some chemistry, movement and unselfishness going week in and week out, not to mention solidity in midfield - I don't think the likes of Chelsea or City are even a match for our set.
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We beat newcastle, and we need to put it into perspective. They are good enough to get us into the top 4, and its a convenient quality to have for VG to build on for next season, but? if we take into context the age of the forwards they are all 30 next season, VG has to freshen it up in the summer. United still need more drive and acceleration in our play, and in certain games these players do not give us a certain option especially away from home, to see us improve. The problem united have? if we go a goal down like the villa game we have no plan B, its a problem and none of them can get in-behind defenses and stretch them. A few forget, these forwards could not even break a 10 man villa team, so the problems are there, press united do not give them space, they are ineffective. So individually they are good at a certain degree, but I still do not think the balance is there. Mata is replaceable, and I would be happy in the summer if VG could replace mata with a much more all round forward player who can stretch the play, and with that it speeds our play up. When di maria is fit, he will replace mata

Its not about how good it looks on paper, its how they click, and I still am not convinced with mata rooney RVP and falcao, especially away from home they struggle. They do not offer us a plan B, if we are a goal down we struggle, difference between ronaldo rooney and tevez then to this one, that frontline could hit teams with speed
 
Don't think its debatable that we have the very best trio of strikers. Obviously costa and aguero have been in top form but we have three strikers that are on their level right now.
 
On paper, yes. The best strikers for sure especially with their movement and chances vs goals scored. Most of our attacks are coming through Young at the moment though and when we subbed him off against Villa we did nothing. There has been sparks of movement and quality like our goals suggest today but we need to have that solid midfield/defence first and the likes of Carrick/Fabregas to start the attack.

It is a work in progress and where Rooney, ADM, and Mata play is going to be interesting. It's not like 99 or when we had Rooney, Ronaldo, Tevez, Scholes, Carrick in that we'd be confident of our attack ripping apart anyone - in the way Real Madrid are right now.
 
Oneunited26 said:
We beat newcastle, and we need to put it into perspective. They are good enough to get us into the top 4, and its a convenient quality to have for VG to build on for next season, but? if we take into context the age of the forwards they are all 30 next season, VG has to freshen it up in the summer. United still need more drive and acceleration in our play, and in certain games these players do not give us a certain option especially away from home, to see us improve. The problem united have? if we go a goal down like the villa game we have no plan B, its a problem and none of them can get in-behind defenses and stretch them. A few forget, these forwards could not even break a 10 man villa team, so the problems are there, press united do not give them space, they are ineffective. So individually they are good at a certain degree, but I still do not think the balance is there. Mata is replaceable, and I would be happy in the summer if VG could replace mata with a much more all round forward player who can stretch the play, and with that it speeds our play up. When di maria is fit, he will replace mata

Its not about how good it looks on paper, its how they click, and I still am not convinced with mata rooney RVP and falcao, especially away from home they struggle. They do not offer us a plan B, if we are a goal down we struggle, difference between ronaldo rooney and tevez then to this one, that frontline could hit teams with speed
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?
 
ZIDANE said:
On paper, yes. The best strikers for sure especially with their movement and chances vs goals scored. Most of our attacks are coming through Young at the moment though and when we subbed him off against Villa we did nothing. There has been sparks of movement and quality like our goals suggest today but we need to have that solid midfield/defence first and the likes of Carrick/Fabregas to start the attack.

It is a work in progress and where Rooney, ADM, and Mata play is going to be interesting. It's not like 99 or when we had Rooney, Ronaldo, Tevez, Scholes, Carrick in that we'd be confident of our attack ripping apart anyone - in the way Real Madrid are right now.
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I think a few are going over board its the best since 08, even though that team was dominating england and europe, adding the fact we had probably the best backline in europe at the time, ronaldo alone back then and now is better than all our front players combined. Like I say, there is still an unbalance in the attack, its good enough to get us a top 4, but we got to get another top class winger and a striker, just to inject much needed speed into our play
 
mmmmmmm

very talented but the balance isn't right

Falcao was superb today and his movement was so good

Ideally you replace Mata with a player like Sanchez (why weren't we in for him) and RVP for Rooney with a Herrera taking Rooney's place in midfield and we are set

Rooney needs to play as a 10
 
buckooo1978 said:
mmmmmmm

very talented but the balance isn't right

Falcao was superb today and his movement was so good

Ideally you replace Mata with a player like Sanchez (why weren't we in for him) and RVP for Rooney with a Herrera taking Rooney's place in midfield and we are set

Rooney needs to play as a 10
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Apparently he only wanted to go to london
 
Of course we do, but the problem is the absence of a truly world class box to box midfielder. Thus, we're consigned to third place at best this season.

It would be nice to see what a fit and in form Di Maria could do supporting such a quarter of insane attacking players.
 
Gannicus said:
Of course we do, but the problem is the absence of a truly world class box to box midfielder. Thus, we're consigned to third place at best this season.

It would be nice to see what a fit and in form Di Maria could do supporting such a quarter of insane attacking players.
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We need that for the balance to be right I reckon.
 
I'd give it to Chelsea personally;

Costa is easily on at least on par with any other striker in the league
Hazard is shoein for any team of the year on the left wing
Whether it's Oscar or Fabregas they've got great options in the number 10 role
Willian/Schurrle/Ramires would be the 'weak' point in their attack but they're all still pretty handy

City would come second as Aguero and Silva give them the edge over us

Pretty much how the league stands then
 
Gannicus said:
Of course we do, but the problem is the absence of a truly world class box to box midfielder. Thus, we're consigned to third place at best this season.
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Things have changed, it's no longer our midfield that's the problem (though we could do with a better option than Fellaini). It's the back 4 that will stop us getting higher than 3rd
 
We force teams to play straight up, as we say in basketball, no double teams because everyone is too good. That's an amazing asset to have, for sure.

We start flowing in a formation and we could terrorize anyone.
 
I hope this is a lesson when anyone says we have the best forward line after beating Newcastle, names do not make United the best forward line, when the balance is not there. Balance above names is what gives a team the best forward line, not names on paper. And we were shown mata rooney RVP and falcao are too slow, and this happened against villa away, where we could not even break down a 10 man villa team
 
Oneunited26 said:
I hope this is a lesson when anyone says we have the best forward line after beating Newcastle, names do not make United the best forward line, when the balance is not there. Balance above names is what gives a team the best forward line, not names on paper. And we were shown mata rooney RVP and falcao are too slow, and this happened against villa away, where we could not even break down a 10 man villa team
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How would a game against spurs where we make loads of chances be a lesson that we dont? Balance was fine, was just one of those games where we couldn't score.
 
On paper it's the best in Europe, never mind PL. How the feck can you get better than RVP/Rooney/Falcao?

How they play they are not though, we are missing something, probably like someone said above, maybe a David Silva/Sanchez or Eden Hazard - Di Maria will probably be that guy, but we always have someone injured so never can see them all out on the pitch at the same time.
 
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