Erling Haaland / signs for Dortmund

[StrettyEnder07]

His point is fair one. Usually you don't see a team with many ''equal options'. There tends to be a pecking order and a composition based on age, reputation etc. For example Mata works as a squad player because he's of a certain age. Lingard works as a squad player because his reputation is not that high.

So if we sign, let's say, Haaland and Sancho we'd have the following young stars who would all want and possibly expect to start
Rashford
Martial
James
Sancho
Halaand

Now if Halaand is genuinely top striker material (in a few years) I would sign him regardless in the hope that either he or James would accept being second choice/rotational for a year or two. But I think the point that these things have to be considered is correct.

Course they have to be considered, have to fit in to the way of playing but not sure where this thing in England has come from where you can only have one top class player in each position, look at the top sides in Europe:

City: Aguero, Jesus, Sane, Sterling, Mahrez, Bernardo
Barca: Suarez, Dembele, Messi, Griezman, Fati (and they want to sign Neymar)
Madrid: Hazard, Benzema, Bale, Junior Vic, Rodrygo, Vazquez
Munich: Lewandowski, Gnabry, Muller, Coman, Perisic, Coutinho, Robben, Arp
PSG: Icardi, Cavani, Neymar, Di Maria, Mbappe

Only side doing well without massive options are Liverpool as they are jammy as hell with injuries.

Why do United fans find it so hard to understand that you need more than one option up front? Look at Bournemouth away, Martial/Rashford not working we had no other options but a just turned 18 year old kid.

 

[StrettyEnder07]

I'm doing my best to show you I'm not saying any of this but you seem to have got this notion stuck in your head so lets just leave it at that

All good, just saying find it mad how people are against having quality options, have a look at the post I have just posted, all our European rivals and their options.

 

[Zoo]

 

[Fortitude]

Haven't heard about. Care to elaborate?

Long story, so I've heard!

Most noggies on here are fast to point out that even Alfie has shot that down as something stupid to base his sons career on.

Would be great to kill it with fire! I don't condone censorship, usually, but by goodness, this one needs to die, die until it's dead!

 

[Mani]

I believe that even Lukaku would do better with Daniel James in the side.

Haaland + Daniel James = easy goals.

NO he won't,Lukaku is poor at reading ball in air.Just check his performance over the period of time and his heading ability.

 

[charlenefan]

His point is fair one. Usually you don't see a team with many ''equal options'. There tends to be a pecking order and a composition based on age, reputation etc. For example Mata works as a squad player because he's of a certain age. Lingard works as a squad player because his reputation is not that high.

So if we sign, let's say, Haaland and Sancho we'd have the following young stars who would all want and possibly expect to start
Rashford
Martial
James
Sancho
Halaand

Now if Halaand is genuinely top striker material (in a few years) I would sign him regardless in the hope that either he or James would accept being second choice/rotational for a year or two. But I think the point that these things have to be considered is correct.

This!!

Looking at those players you listed I only see James as one happy to fill the squad player role, all the others would expect to play week in week out and kick up a fuss pretty quickly if it weren't the case

It's a situation pretty similar to the one Spurs had 2 years ago, they had a set starting XI which wasn't good enough to win the league but the players within that XI were too good to be backups so at some point you have to just sell one of those too good for the bench if it means replacing them with a next level star

I look at us at the moment I would suggest the perfect mix for us would be

Undisputed first choice striker who plays week in week out (in this scenario it would be Martial or Haaland assuming either are good enough)
Someone like Mandzukic - as an impact sub and starting the lesser games
Greenwood - as above but obviously at a different stage of his career

 

[StrettyEnder07]

This!!

Looking at those players you listed I only see James as one happy to fill the squad player role, all the others would expect to play week in week out and kick up a fuss pretty quickly if it weren't the case

It's a situation pretty similar to the one Spurs had 2 years ago, they had a set starting XI which wasn't good enough to win the league but the players within that XI were too good to be backups so at some point you have to just sell one of those too good for the bench if it means replacing them with a next level star

I look at us at the moment I would suggest the perfect mix for us would be

Undisputed first choice striker who plays week in week out (in this scenario it would be Martial or Haaland assuming either are good enough)
Someone like Mandzukic - as an impact sub and starting the lesser games
Greenwood - as above but obviously at a different stage of his career

The reason that Spurs have still won feck all? Burn out of their players who play week in week out, state of Dele Ali this year, completely different player as over played, look at Rashford for us, bar the last few weeks after he finally had half a rest, he was burn't out and could hardly run away at West Ham.

You want to go down the road of Spurs, having a top class starting 11 but once you have one or two injuries, you are fecked and it costs you winning anything.

Personally prefer to go down the City/Juve/Munich/Barca/Madrid/PSG root of having quality replacements for quality players and winning a few things in the process.

 

[charlenefan]

The reason that Spurs have still won feck all? Burn out of their players who play week in week out, state of Dele Ali this year, completely different player as over played, look at Rashford for us, bar the last few weeks after he finally had half a rest, he was burn't out and could hardly run away at West Ham.

You want to go down the road of Spurs, having a top class starting 11 but once you have one or two injuries, you are fecked and it costs you winning anything.

Personally prefer to go down the City/Juve/Munich/Barca/Madrid/PSG root of having quality replacements for quality players and winning a few things in the process.

Did I say that? Like I said at this point it's best we just dont bother with one another

 

[StrettyEnder07]

Did I say that? Like I said at this point it's best we just dont bother with one another

It seems to be what your suggesting, Kane/Martial = Llorente/Mandzukic, sounds pretty similar

 

[StrettyEnder07]

So if people don't want Haaland signed but would prefer Mandzukic as he is more of a back up happy to sit on the bench, I'm assuming that no one wants us to sign Sancho/Ziyech as we already have James who has been class for the right wing and assuming they are happy with Lingard who is back up and is happy to sit on the bench?

Correct?

 

[Posh Red]

We used to have Ronaldo, Bebatov, Teves & Rooney all fighting it out for positions along with more good players on top of this. It feels like United fans have some kind of inferiority complex when it comes to this situation.

He is a young player and he is not going to come in and be first choice for any of the biggest teams in Europe I wouldn't have thought. If he is as good as some are saying he can come in and fight for his place.

 

[Ekeke]

We used to have Ronaldo, Bebatov, Teves & Rooney all fighting it out for positions along with more good players on top of this. It feels like United fans have some kind of inferiority complex when it comes to this situation.

He is a young player and he is not going to come in and be first choice for any of the biggest teams in Europe I wouldn't have thought. If he is as good as some are saying he can come in and fight for his place.

Yep. We also had a manager who, when we needed a goal we stuck 4 strikers on the pitch. We dont even have 4 strikers at the moment

 

[kafta]

Literally a month ago we had to start Rashford with one ankle, Lingard and Mata in games cause of one or two injuries. We can't stay one injury away from 4-5 games without more than a goal a game. This whole thing should be a distant afterthought. If he is as good as reported, and will help us, we should sign him.

 

[StrettyEnder07]

We used to have Ronaldo, Bebatov, Teves & Rooney all fighting it out for positions along with more good players on top of this. It feels like United fans have some kind of inferiority complex when it comes to this situation.

He is a young player and he is not going to come in and be first choice for any of the biggest teams in Europe I wouldn't have thought. If he is as good as some are saying he can come in and fight for his place.

Haha well said mate, a United fan who actually remembers that it is a squad game, mad to think there could be competition for places, who would have thought such a thing.

 

[StrettyEnder07]

Yep. We also had a manager who, when we needed a goal we stuck 4 strikers on the pitch. We dont even have 4 strikers at the moment

Haha were not allowed mate, might upset a few people if we have more than one goalscorer

 

[charlenefan]

We used to have Ronaldo, Bebatov, Teves & Rooney all fighting it out for positions along with more good players on top of this. It feels like United fans have some kind of inferiority complex when it comes to this situation.

This is the thing we didn't. We had a season of Ronaldo + Rooney + Tevez then a season of Ronaldo + Rooney + Tevez/Berbatov after which Tevez moved on. That level of competition doesn't last for long when referencing top level players

He is a young player and he is not going to come in and be first choice for any of the biggest teams in Europe I wouldn't have thought. If he is as good as some are saying he can come in and fight for his place.

He's playing week in week out where he is at the moment, scoring goals for fun and would be signed for a huge fee - I think it's safe to say the player and fans alike would expect him to go straight into the starting XI

 

[Posh Red]

This is the thing we didn't. We had a season of Ronaldo + Rooney + Tevez then a season of Ronaldo + Rooney + Tevez/Berbatov after which Tevez moved on. That level of competition doesn't last for long when referencing top level players



He's playing week in week out where he is at the moment, scoring goals for fun and would be signed for a huge fee - I think it's safe to say the player and fans alike would expect him to go straight into the starting XI

So you think that if a giant club like United or Madrid comes in with an offer, he will turn it down unless he gets some kind of guarantee of playing time. Firstly, that is not going to happen. Secondly, he'd be daft to reject such an opportunity.

Incidentally, didn't Madrid just pay a similar fee for the Frankfurt striker? Is he playing week in, week out?

 

[yumtum]

Just seen this on his wiki:



Abort abort

To be fair, that was when everyone seen the Everton Lukaku - pace, power, finishing which this kid has, unfortunately Lukaku turned himself into something he shouldnt have.

 

[charlenefan]

So you think that if a giant club like United or Madrid comes in with an offer, he will turn it down unless he gets some kind of guarantee of playing time.

No

 

[Posh Red]

No

So what is the issue with signing him? Can't see any negatives personally

 

[Yagami]

Who wouldn't be all for stocking up on talented attackers? The more the merrier!

I'd rather have a potential situation of a player being unhappy with competition (like Tevez with Berbatov, Rooney and Ronaldo) than our current situation of having no competition at all.

 

[StrettyEnder07]

So what is the issue with signing him? Can't see any negatives personally

A chance to have a moan? haha was the same when we were linked with Dybala "why we signing him we don't need a number 10" haha course we don't caf

 

[settembrini]

We only had Ronaldo, Berbatov, Tevez and Rooney in the squad for one season. And Ronaldo was a winger so wasn't competing with the forwards. And we always played two forwards so it was essentially picking two from three each week which is different from having two players compete for one spot. And we couldn't even keep those players happy doing this as Tevez got upset and left to go somewhere where he would always start.

It's fine to want a strong squad but just pretending that we can have 22 superstars is ridiculous, no squad has that. Haaland isn't going to join us and play second fiddle, if we were ever to sign him it would be as a starter and would likely mean the end of Martial. That's just reality.

 

[StrettyEnder07]

Who wouldn't be all for stocking up on talented attackers? The more the merrier!

I'd rather have a potential situation of a player being unhappy with competition (like Tevez with Berbatov, Rooney and Ronaldo) than our current situation of having no competition at all.

lets not forget we ended the West Ham game with Lingard playing up front, but yeah we don't need anyone else.

Not like a good option from the bench at Bournemouth would have helped...........

 

[jderbyshire]

Good to see our scouts out there unearthing the hidden gems.

Like the masterstoke when we scouted 800 right backs and found that unknown Aaron Wan Bissaka.

 

[StrettyEnder07]

We only had Ronaldo, Berbatov, Tevez and Rooney in the squad for one season. And Ronaldo was a winger so wasn't competing with the forwards. And we always played two forwards so it was essentially picking two from three each week which is different from having two players compete for one spot. And we couldn't even keep those players happy doing this as Tevez got upset and left to go somewhere where he would always start.

It's fine to want a strong squad but just pretending that we can have 22 superstars is ridiculous. Haaland isn't going to join us and play second fiddle, if we were ever to sign him it would be as a starter and would likely mean the end of Martial.

Like Auba was the end of Lacazzete, or Lukaku was the end of Martinez, or Ronaldo was the end of Dybala, or Icardi was the end of Cavani, or Jovic was the end of Benzema or Jesus was the end of Augero?

Never known a club to have two very good forwards, madness

 

[charlenefan]

So what is the issue with signing him? Can't see any negatives personally

There's no issue signing him whatsoever, if he's the man to take us forward than do it. Like I said I have no problems upgrading any of the players we have if it can be done

 

[Posh Red]

There's no issue signing him whatsoever, if he's the man to take us forward than do it. Like I said I have no problems upgrading any of the players we have if it can be done

I think your undervaluing the benefits of competition. Having Martial AND Haaland fighting for the number nine spot is a fantastic position to be in. It's no a case of upgrading on individual players. It's about upgrading the squad as a whole.

 

[Posh Red]

Like Auba was the end of Lacazzete, or Lukaku was the end of Martinez, or Ronaldo was the end of Dybala, or Icardi was the end of Cavani, or Jovic was the end of Benzema or Jesus was the end of Augero?

Never known a club to have two very good forwards, madness

I honestly can't believe what I'm reading in here right now.

 

[Ekeke]

We only had Ronaldo, Berbatov, Tevez and Rooney in the squad for one season. And Ronaldo was a winger so wasn't competing with the forwards. And we always played two forwards so it was essentially picking two from three each week which is different from having two players compete for one spot. And we couldn't even keep those players happy doing this as Tevez got upset and left to go somewhere where he would always start.

It's fine to want a strong squad but just pretending that we can have 22 superstars is ridiculous, no squad has that. Haaland isn't going to join us and play second fiddle, if we were ever to sign him it would be as a starter and would likely mean the end of Martial. That's just reality.

Yorke
Cole
Sheringham
Solskjaer

 

[red woppit]

Today's game is all about squads. Most players understand that they won't play week in and week out, and will have rest periods during the season (injuries will obviously take them out the equation). Most players will also want to play in the big matches, but it will be a measure of the players ego if he accepts that he may not play in the games he wants, and therefore does he feel that the club can achieve great things, or not, then he will decide if he wants to stay with that club, or move on. Haaland is still learning the game, so he probably would accept not playing regularly for a season or so, Martial and Rashford will definitely pick up injuries, and will be rested for certain games, someone like Maddison, who appears to have a massive ego (obviously I don't know the guy, so that is what I perceive from reading about him), will probably want to play in every meaningful game. We certainly need to improve the squad, with still 5 or 6 players who need to be moved on, and possibly 5 or 6 academy players to come in, so an influx of players from outside the club is desperately needed.

 

[charlenefan]

I think your undervaluing the benefits of competition. Having Martial AND Haaland fighting for the number nine spot is a fantastic position to be in. It's no a case of upgrading on individual players. It's about upgrading the squad as a whole.

And I think you're undervaluing the likelihood of one of Haaland and Martial being happy when one of them is relegated to the bench and only starts in the lesser games

Like I said in your own example we only had the competition of Tevez and Berbatov for 1 year before the former complained about lack of game time and went across the road

If Haaland is the better bet, then get him just dont be surprised if in a years time you're selling Martial (not that anyone should really see that as a negative though)

 

[Roboc7]

Why is a 5m signing more likely to happen?

Firstly we sold Lukaku, creating quite a low net spend, leaving money available.

the club are mid rebuild. Sure if there were wasn’t any other players on the market then go get Mandzukic for 2 years as a backup.

But we went out and got the best and most expensive RB on the market, the same with CB, we also got a 21 year old attacker. Ole has also promoted various Young academy players.

Why therefore is it so obvious to you that we will pass on one of the hottest young talents in world football when it’s clear there is money available and it’s clear Ole wants to invest in talented, young players?

I’d be inclined to agree with you if Ole or LVG was in charge? They liked bringing experienced older players in

Because it’s cheap and Ole will have to make decisions like Mandzukic or no one. There may have been a low net spend but that’s because it’s how the club is run not because we are getting ready to spend big.

Any big spending over next two windows will be offset by selling Pogba. I still think most likely scenario is we’ll scout, monitor and be preparing a bid for Haaland and then he’ll sign for Leipzig.

 

[Yagami]

We only had Ronaldo, Berbatov, Tevez and Rooney in the squad for one season. And Ronaldo was a winger so wasn't competing with the forwards. And we always played two forwards so it was essentially picking two from three each week which is different from having two players compete for one spot. And we couldn't even keep those players happy doing this as Tevez got upset and left to go somewhere where he would always start.

It's fine to want a strong squad but just pretending that we can have 22 superstars is ridiculous, no squad has that. Haaland isn't going to join us and play second fiddle, if we were ever to sign him it would be as a starter and would likely mean the end of Martial. That's just reality.

Ronaldo occasionally played up front, too. Then, in 08/09, you also had Welbeck and Macheda getting game time up front.

There were countless other seasons we had a few forwards competing against each other.
Cantona, Cole, Ole
Cole, Yorke, Ole, Sheringham
Ole, Ruud, Forlan
Rooney, van Persie, Chicharito, Welbeck

lets not forget we ended the West Ham game with Lingard playing up front, but yeah we don't need anyone else.

Not like a good option from the bench at Bournemouth would have helped...........

Exactly, mate.

 

[settembrini]

Like Auba was the end of Lacazzete, or Lukaku was the end of Martinez, or Ronaldo was the end of Dybala, or Icardi was the end of Cavani, or Jovic was the end of Benzema or Jesus was the end of Augero?

Never known a club to have two very good forwards, madness

These examples go against your argument rather than support it.

Aubameyang and Lacazette often play in the same team. So do Lukaku and Martinez. Not what we are talking about.

Signing Ronaldo has been a disaster for Dybala, so much so that Juventus tried to force him out last season.

Likewise Icardi has effectively ended Cavani's PSG career.

Jovic's Madrid career has had a horrible start because he can't a run in the team due to Benzema starting most games.

Jesus and Aguero is a good example of how to have a strong squad. Aguero is the experienced star and Jesus is the almost 10 year younger player who is being groomed as his replacement. Which is obviously completely different to any situation we could construct with Martial and Haaland in the same squad.

 

[charlenefan]

Ronaldo occasionally played up front, too. Then, in 08/09, you also had Welbeck and Macheda getting game time up front.

There were countless other seasons we had a few forwards competing against each other.
Cantona, Cole, Ole
Cole, Yorke, Ole, Sheringham
Ole, Ruud, Forlan
Rooney, van Persie, Chicharito, Welbeck


Exactly, mate.

This is the thing a lot of you aren't understanding, it's not a case of having options being a bad thing it's a case of having players that know they're an option and them being happy with it.

In the above example all the bolded players knew they weren't first choice and they were 'happy' with that role, the rest were kept happy because they played most weeks due to the manager at that time almost always playing 442/4411

 

[settembrini]

Yorke
Cole
Sheringham
Solskjaer

Yes. A good example of the strong squad I am talking about.

You have the expensive stars in Cole and Yorke who were the starters and then Solskjaer and Sheringham were the cheap signings who provided good cover. If we were to sign someone to cover for Martial it would be someone of their ilk rather than an expensive star like Haaland.

 

[fps]

Jesus Christ. How is this still a thing!

A couple of facts about the Keane-Haaland 'tackle'.

1) Haaland was not injured by the tackle. He was not substituted off, he continued playing and finished the match.

2) Haaland was fit to play a friendly for Norway a few days later. He was also fit to play the following weekend for City (came off after 68 minutes).

3) Haaland carried on playing football for two years after the 'tackle'.

4) Haaland did retire from football at the age of 29, due to his failure to fully recover from an injury - to his left knee. Keane's challenge was on his right knee. Haaland has explained that his left knee had been causing him problems for months prior to the game with United, that he was heavily strapping it for that reason and that Keane's tackle had no effect on that knee or the existing injury. He had an operation on his left knee in the summer of 2001, but problems with that knee persisted and eventually caused his retirement in 2003.

5) Haaland came out of retirement after 8 years to play for Rosseland BK in the Norwegian Third Division.

6) Haaland does not blame Keane for the way his career ended and professes no bitterness towards him.

Now, for the love of God, let this myth die.

Wow, is all this true? I literally had no idea, I truly believed in this "myth".

 

[Ekeke]

The difference is both Martial and Rashford can still play with one or two strikers on the pitch. Ole converted to playing wide right so its similar to that. He could still play.

Right now we have Martial and Rashford who will want to play weekly. Then we have Greenwood who will get occasional chances.

We have a massive gaping hole for the 4th striking option.

 

[fps]

Wow, our interest is in the scouting stage? We may start preparing a bid in two years

It's the perfect Venn diagram for the Man Utd scouting department - a player every other major club is interested in, who also knows an ex-Man Utd player. Perfect.