Do we really need another central defender?

Browniee

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Aug 27, 2011
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Obviously last season our defence was a frigging mess with all the injuries and broken partnerships, but honestly do we need another centre half this window?
If and its a big if all our defenders can stay fit surely they're capable of competing with the best?
Smalling
Jones
Rojo
Evans
McNair
Blacket
And now Blind (who's doing an excellent job so far)

I think we have enough, I'm not so gutted about missing out on Ramos and Otamendi.
Stay fit and we'll do ok.
What you reckon?
 
Smalling Stones/Laporte partnership would be awesome. Don't think we totally need it, depends on Rojo and Blind has been doing well too. But it would be an improvement.
Stones for Evans I'd say
 
Ability wise, we don't need one.

Fitness wise, I'd anticipate the answer should be yes.
 
Matches against City, Chelsea and almost every solid CL side should verify that. Minimizing the risk would be wise thing to do so yes, we could use some top talent.

Browniee said:
Stay fit and we'll do ok.
What you reckon?
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Jones is already out of the game so I guess the current situation kinda answers that one for you.
 
Until he does it over 2 seasons Smalling is still injury prone

Jones is injury prone

Rojo like Romero looks like a mistake waiting to happen (must be an Argie thing)

Evans will be sold
 
If Jones stays fit then no, but he won't stay fit so yes.

A ball playing CB would be nice, like when we signed Ramos that time.
 
We need a striker more than we need a defender. Dare I say goalkeeper aswell :nervous:. Nevertheless, we have good option in center back and I hope some of us have not forgotten about McNair who was not that bad last season in this role. He could fill the void left by Evans if the he leaves.
 
You cannot drop Blind based on his performances. That would be a gross injustice. I do think we need another young CB though, I do not trust Philistine to stay fit and Evans is Evans.
 
We shouldn't, only because I don't think it'd be worth the time getting him gelled into the team, and building a relationship with our other centre-backs. We should leave it for this Summer, and have a look at the situation next Summer.
 
Amadaeus said:
We need a striker more than we need a defender. Dare I say goalkeeper aswell :nervous:. Nevertheless, we have good option in center back and I hope some of us have not forgotten about McNair who was not that bad last season in this role. He could fill the void left by Evans if the he leaves.
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Exactly, we have good cover. Evans needs to go imo and loan Blackett out. It's just a shame they're all made of glass.
 
If Blind's going to play as a centre back, then no. Van Gaal stated that he needs two players for every position. At centre back, we have Rojo and Blind competing for left centre back, with Smalling and Jones at right centre back. Then, assuming Evans will be sold, we have Blackett and McNair for back up. More than enough, in my opinion.
 
We could do with one more just to ease the nerves. An injury or two will be a big blow for the defence.

Smalling + Jones rotating for the RCB position and Blind + Rojo rotating for the LCB position is good enough. Still yet to see if Blind really can be a CB for us, but Smalling should be starting every week. If we do get a new CB, he'd have to be someone who's versatile on both RCB and LCB and someone who wouldn't mind being a rotation player. Otamendi ticks the first box, but a player like him should be starting every game.
 
Yes..will need it during the annual injury crisis ..and a better defender to come in and push Blind, but he should earn his spot in the team..based on last season, rather than just three games, yes we still do...form and fitness in such a long season will vary..lets have depth like we do in midfield
 
Certainly shouldn't be prioritised over a striker/no.10.

Only thing will feck us over is a bad string of injuries.

People forget about the likes of McNair in the background who is more than capable of filling in when required.
 
Browniee said:
Obviously last season our defence was a frigging mess with all the injuries and broken partnerships, but honestly do we need another centre half this window?
If and its a big if all our defenders can stay fit surely they're capable of competing with the best?
Smalling
Jones
Rojo
Evans
McNair
Blacket
And now Blind (who's doing an excellent job so far)

I think we have enough, I'm not so gutted about missing out on Ramos and Otamendi.
Stay fit and we'll do ok.
What you reckon?
Click to expand...

Ramos is a shame but Otamendi was not what we needed.
 
I wish Hummels would come but he wont. Laporte is linked who is good but would prefer more experienced. Numbers wise we are fine, experience wise we could do with one.
 
Depends who it is. If someone of top class is available, then yes, if similar sort of standard to what we have why bother?
 
Yes we need one, Smalling is injury prone and guess what would happen if Smalling is out for a couple of weeks. That leaves us with two unreleable CBs
 
If it's Stone, then yes sign him, otherwise i think we will be fine. Too much potential in Stone to let him go to Chelsea without a fight.
 
Smalling is a beast and I hold my hands up to the fact Blind is playing well, I also like the potential of McNair.

Of the rest though Rojo is 50/50, I don't rate Jones and he can't stay fit and Evans and Blackett will be sold/loaned IMO.

I think that leaves room to bring Stones in and we should as him Shaw and Smalling are the type of quality young English players United have always had in the core of the team.
 
Blind has been good so far, but I don't know if I can trust him against the top strikers in the league. I have a feeling Benteke, Lukaku and Costa would destroy him physically. That will never be a worry with Smalling. Blind or Rojo will also be first in line for left back if Shaw gets injured (knock on wood). That's all just my natural pessimism, though.

I'd like someone to be definite first choice alongside Smalling to give us consistency at the back, which we've lacked for a few years now, but if you gave me the choice between a world class striker and a world class defender to strenghten our starting 11, I'd have to go with the forward every time. In other words, we have more pressing issues in the next two weeks, and I won't be devastated if we stick to the defenders we have, especially now that Hummels, Otamendi and Ramos have all become unavailable. Laporte and Stones are left, but I see them as investments rather than immediate first team material, so we could afford to wait another year.
 
We would've definitely benefitted from signing either a world class centre back or centre forward.

I think we have too many doubts at either side of the pitch at the moment. If we had Lewandowski or a forward of that class, I would be quite happy with the squad as it is.

Similarly I'd have felt a lot more confident with the lack of goals up front had we brought in a Ramos or Otamendi.

With doubts over Blind's long term spot, Rojo and Jones' fitness along with Rooney's form/Hernandez and Wilson's ability to cover it leaves us fairly uncertain in two areas.

Hopefully we can get some consistency in the back four this season. It's obvious the presence of Carrick, Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger and the two solid fullbacks is making the job easier for Smalling and Blind, but for now it's great to have one centre back who can play the ball and the other being physically dominant.
 
NotoriousISSY said:
We would've definitely benefitted from signing either a world class centre back or centre forward.

I think we have too many doubts at either side of the pitch at the moment. If we had Lewandowski or a forward of that class, I would be quite happy with the squad as it is.

Similarly I'd have felt a lot more confident with the lack of goals up front had we brought in a Ramos or Otamendi.

With doubts over Blind's long term spot, Rojo and Jones' fitness along with Rooney's form/Hernandez and Wilson's ability to cover it leaves us fairly uncertain in two areas.

Hopefully we can get some consistency in the back four this season. It's obvious the presence of Carrick, Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger and the two solid fullbacks is making the job easier for Smalling and Blind, but for now it's great to have one centre back who can play the ball and the other being physically dominant.
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:lol: Don't mean to pick on you... Captain Obvious, feck me sideways I would be over the moon if we did. Seems everyone has forgotten we didn't have a fecking midfield for years!
 
I don't think we do. I think van Gal feels the same too considering the 'Ramos or no one' policy for the position.
 
Devil may care said:
Smalling is a beast and I hold my hands up to the fact Blind is playing well, I also like the potential of McNair.

Of the rest though Rojo is 50/50, I don't rate Jones and he can't stay fit and Evans and Blackett will be sold/loaned IMO.

I think that leaves room to bring Stones in and we should as him Shaw and Smalling are the type of quality young English players United have always had in the core of the team.
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Blackett will cover Shaw. You'll see......
 
Let's see... we have been crying out for Ramos or Otamendi all summer, but seems Blind has been doing an excellent job so far which has surprised us all, but hasn't been fully tested yet though. Truth is our new fullback (Darmian and Shaw) and Schmidfield spine has been excellent too, maybe we don't need another.
 
I thought we needed one last summer and badly needed on this summer. I'm warming to the possibility that we're ok, though. Smalling looks to have stepped up a level, Blind has been a revelation and our newfound strength in central midfield means we could play Carrick as a classy, ball-playing defender if needed. To me, what we really needed was an organiser and a leader, who can bring the best out of quieter characters like Mike Smalling. It looks as though Blind might be that man. Good on him.
 
I'm still not sure. I'm very confident that fully fit we can have a brilliant defence, but last seasons constant injuries to Jones and Shaw have left me hesitant. Ideally, we could sell Evans and bring in someone reliable. But Smalling is brilliant and Blind has looked very good. No reason why he can't bulk up a bit either and that would only help him.
 
Yes, badly. Only Smalling is good enough of our current bunch. I like Jones but he just isn't.
 
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