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

[NoWinNoFee]

It's supposed to be rhetorical but, surely:
Neymar-Messi-Suarez
or
Ronaldo-Benzema-Bale?

Both are better balanced too...

You can also make a good case for:
Ribery-Lewandowski-Robben

Yeah after i posted i thought Messi/Neymar and Suarez. I'm not Benzema's biggest fan but obviously Ronaldo and Bale are world class, so on reflection (on paper) Falcao/RVP/Rooney are probably probably the 3rd best attack in Europe but point is if you want a build a team of superstars and big names, you can't get much better.

And if you stick players like Di Maria/Mata/Januzaj/Herrera behind those aswell supplying them, you should fancy your chances against any team in Europe with those players, but it's defense what lets us down, we are imbalanced.

 

[Cassidy]

Yeah after i posted i thought Messi/Neymar and Suarez. I'm not Benzema's biggest fan but obviously Ronaldo and Bale are world class, so on reflection (on paper) Falcao/RVP/Rooney are probably probably the 3rd best attack in Europe but point is you can't get much better.

And if you stick players like Di Maria/Mata/Januzaj/Herrera behind those aswell supplying them, you'd fancy your chances against any team with those players (if only we had a defense).

If you replaced one of Falcao/RVP with DiMaria in the attack then you have a case, but what RVP/Falcao/Rooney lacks is pace which makes it worse than Barca Real and Bayerns attacks which are full of pace.

 

[NoWinNoFee]

If you replaced one of Falcao/RVP with DiMaria in the attack then you have a case, but what RVP/Falcao/Rooney lacks is pace which makes it worse than Barca Real and Bayerns attacks which are full of pace.

Yeah but depending how you play and what formations you use, pace can come from anywhere, it doesn't have to come upfront, pace can come from central areas (in Di Maria) and have your world class strikers (which we have) finish them off, but yeah pace is something we are lacking.

Also a team can still be sucessful and have zero pace, I wouldn't regarded Spain 08-12 (European and World Cup winners) a fast paced side, they were successful with just pure technical ability, 2012 they won the European Cup with no strikers what so ever, just packing the midfield with the likes of Fabregas/Silva/Xavi/Mata/Martinez and Iniesta.

 

[Oneunited26]

Yeah but depending how you play and what formations you use, pace can come from anywhere, it doesn't have to come upfront, pace can come from central areas (in Di Maria) and have your world class strikers (which we have) finish them off, but yeah pace is something we are lacking.

Also a team can still be sucessful and have zero pace, I wouldn't regarded Spain 08-12 (European and World Cup winners) a fast paced side, they were successful with just pure technical ability, 2012 they won the European Cup with no strikers what so ever, just packing the midfield with the likes of Fabregas/Silva/Xavi/Mata/Martinez and Iniesta.

What you are forgetting with Spain is? If they did not score the first goal, they could be frustrated Has we saw in 2010. They found it very hard to break teams down, and would scrap 1 or 2-0 wins, only the final did they play well.

If you look at united's 3 greatest teams under fergie, 94,99,08, those United teams could hurt teams in so many ways. United today there is no mixing it up, it all has to be central without di Maria, and that is a worry. With 94,99,08, they had a very good knack of coming from behind and beating teams. Mata rooney RVP and falcao are like parts of a car we don't need

I look at the current United team, they could not even beat a 10 man villa team, that alone is a big concern that it's showing playing these 4 together, when any decent side could defend all 4 are ineffective. Because they are not going to run the channels, and there is no dribblers it's all very pedestrian

 

[NoWinNoFee]

What you are forgetting with Spain is? If they did not score the first goal, they could be frustrated Has we saw in 2010. They found it very hard to break teams down, and would scrap 1 or 2-0 wins, only the final did they play well. If you look at united's 3 greatest teams under fergie, 94,99,08, those United teams could hurt teams in so many ways. United today there is no mixing it hobbit all has to be central without di Maria, and that is a worry

I look at the current United team, they could not even beat a 10 man villa team, that alone is a big concern that it's showing playing these 4 together, when any decent side could defend all 4 are ineffective. Because they are not going to run the channels, and there is no dribblers it's all very pedestrian

I don't buy into that argument though, one could argue United playing with 10 men for 50-60 mins looked better than City and should have got something at the Etihad. End of the day Villa only had 10 men for 25mins and even against Villa we still had 8-10 players missing. We are 3rd in the league missing like 8+ players every week, only when we have a full team available can you fully judge this Manchester United team and say what we are missing and what we need to improve.

Any team would look like they are lacking something missing 8+ players every week, Real Madrid/Barcelona included.

 

[Oneunited26]

I don't buy into that argument though, one could argue United playing with 10 men for 50-60 mins looked better than City and should have got something at the Etihad. End of the day Villa only had 10 men for 25mins and even against Villa we still had 8-10 players missing. We are 3rd in the league missing like 8+ players every week, only when we have a full team available can you fully judge this Manchester United team and say what we are missing and what we need to improve.

Any team would look like they are lacking something missing 8+ players every week, Real Madrid/Barcelona included.

I don't buy that, I have seen United in the past be completely ruthless when someone is down to 10 men, end of the day they could not take advantage of a poor villa team, and we had enough players to beat villa.

Look at Real Madrid at old Trafford, we went down to 10 men close to the 60th minute, they ruthlessly picked us apart. That is what separates the best teams to the ones not good enough, and we are not good enough at the minute. If we cannot take advantage, it makes you think there is allot of work ahead and certain pieces missing from this team

The reality is? This squad will never be fully fit because of the amount of injury prone players in this squad. There is enough players available to have beaten the likes of villa

 

[saivet]

Individually yeah, but as a unit no.

 

[Lawman]

without a doubt we do they just need game time and the new players allowed to settle in.

 

[Lawman]

I don't buy that, I have seen United in the past be completely ruthless when someone is down to 10 men, end of the day they could not take advantage of a poor villa team, and we had enough players to beat villa.

Look at Real Madrid at old Trafford, we went down to 10 men close to the 60th minute, they ruthlessly picked us apart. That is what separates the best teams to the ones not good enough, and we are not good enough at the minute. If we cannot take advantage, it makes you think there is allot of work ahead and certain pieces missing from this team

The reality is? This squad will never be fully fit because of the amount of injury prone players in this squad. There is enough players available to have beaten the likes of villa

You are cherry picking games buddy. I remember United struggle in a few games also from that era, we are rebuilding plus we have lots of injuries that is disrupting our line ups and affecting the flow of our game. Our new players are yet to fully settle also, I remember Evra being written off as a dud by a few quite early on before he settled in.

 

[Oneunited26]

You are cherry picking games buddy. I remember United struggle in a few games also from that era, we are rebuilding plus we have lots of injuries that is disrupting our line ups and affecting the flow of our game. Our new players are yet to fully settle also, I remember Evra being written off as a dud by a few quite early on before he settled in.

It's not about being cherry Picking, I just don't think the balance in our attack is quiet there, I just think we need something a little different than what we have in attack

 

[Gannicus]

Maybe it's just me, but we were so much more fun to watch in the 90s than now or even the Ronaldo years. It was like watching "Pirates of the Caribbean" every single match day. Incredible stuff!

But then Ferguson got all pragmatic after the desolation years of the early 2000s, but the trophy haul that ensued can't be denied.

 

[dannyrhinos89]

Pace is a vital aspect of being a striker and none of our forwards have it. Everyone raves about our "world class frontline" yet I don't see that all I see is a couple of cripples that can't do much anymore. Everything about our attack is so slow and laboured and tbh very predictable.

When a player like Sanchez, aguero or Sturridge gets the ball you don't know what will happen next, when RVP and Falcao get the ball you know they're going to slow down any momentum and play the easy pass because it's all they can do.

We definitely should look at bringing in a fast proper out and out striker in the summer. (Lacazette looks good)
We need our own Sanchez, aguero or Sturridge just to give us a little bit of energy, flair and unpredictability.

 

[OutOfTowner]

Maybe it's just me, but we were so much more fun to watch in the 90s than now or even the Ronaldo years. It was like watching "Pirates of the Caribbean" every single match day. Incredible stuff!

But then Ferguson got all pragmatic after the desolation years of the early 2000s, but the trophy haul that ensued can't be denied.

The problem with this is that during those cavalier days, teams weren't used to the the fast-paced, counter-attacking, free-form style that we brought and thus were less prepared going up against us, which is why we were feared back then. But these days, even relegation strugglers are familiar with how faster teams are set up and thus know to contain them by putting bodies back and giving them no space to exploit. Plus speed and possession football has become a staple of modern day tactics so it's not surprising to see even Championship teams playing wonderful free-flowing football.

 

[Roman Bellic]

No we don't.

City and Chelsea both have better attacking options in terms of form over the last 2 seasons. What we do have however is the most diverse attack - from RVP to Di Maria to Rooney to Mata, we have players with different playing styles , it has its positives and Negatives - as we have seen this season,we can't seem to predict our goals or goalscorers , it almost seems like we play like a different team every game, which can be a plus on certain occasions , on the other hand it just shows how imbalanced our attack is and can prove to be detrimental as we saw against spurs.

 

[SiRed]

On paper, yes.

Slight problem is Van Persie is slightly over his peak and Falcao just came back from serious injury. And Rooney lost some pace.

3-4 years ago, the quartet would have completely destroyed any defences in every match.

There was no value in the transfer market back then

 

[marjen]

We have the best attackers in the world anno 2012.

Not at present though and they aren't getting younger.