The mods have their own 'Fabregas to United' thread in the mod forum.
Fabregas
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Jamie (@Vault Dweller) are here to talk about United's dreadful home defeat at the hands of Big Ange's Tottenham Hotspur. Should this have been the end of Ten Hag? How long does he actually have left? And does Nik finally want ETH out?!
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Nope.[/quote]
'Everyone', really? Loads of people (including myself) were saying exactly that he'd be best in the middle. But just because we didn't immediately drop Rooney and play Kagawa there in every single match doesn't mean it's been handled wrong. I think Fergie wanted to ease him in as gently as possible, so he started him off in occasional games from out wide. The injury obviously slowed that up too. But by the end of the season, he was playing in #10, which is why Rooney ended up in CM for a few games.
It's not always as black and white as 'he's best at #10, so if we haven't played him at #10 in every single game of the season, it's because Fergie got it all wrong.' Football doesn't work that way.
So are we still not getting Fabregas? Where's that big third bid, Woody?
I'm surprised RAWK don't have some sort of boom and bust cycle for our transfer target threads.
We might want to try to convince him with the 'heir to Scholesy' angle. Anyone wanna tell Woodward?
How does your razor-sharp mind interpret the quote:
"Thiago was close to joining Manchester United this summer, there were talks before the U21 Euro [Championship]," Mazinho told La Xarxa.
"Thiago is happy. He wanted to leave, Barca accepted it. Guardiola was crucial, he has been very important in Thiago's life."
This suggests to me that United were in touch before the U21 tournament.
The fact that he doesn't say we were in touch after, or competing with Bayern, suggests to me that we never followed up on our initial interest.
I'm sure you will dismiss this, and lump me in with the "soft-heads" that you are so critical of.
http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1505759/my-son-thiago-was-close-joining-manchester-united?cc=4716
"Thiago Alcantara’s father Mazinho, who won the World Cup with Brazil in 1994, says his son gave real consideration to the prospect of joining Manchester United before opting instead to move to Bayern Munich earlier this month.
Thiago was publicly pursued by United for several weeks and they had appeared certain to land the Spain Under-21 international until Bayern stepped in with an eleventh-hour bid."
I'm fairly sure he actually agrees with you; his point seems to be that anyone with an honest mind would admit we were in for Thiago and the soft-heads are those who deny it on the basis that there was no official confirmation on our part.
Of course we wanted thiago and anyone who says otherwise is extremely clueless but seriously who gives a toss...he was never coming here and used our interest to get more money at bayern.....fabregas would be too good to be true if we get him but I wont get my hopes up...wish barca would make a fooking decision.....I'm expecting cabaye to be our midfield signing which is not bad at all but fabregas is a fantasy player
So, ignore the actual quote, and copy and paste the reporter's opinion? OK!
To be honest, I don't really care about this. You can't sign everyone you go for, and Pep was always going to swing it. Move on, and don't blame our club or manager for this one.
Not every player is doing this all the time, you know. I don't think he was ever inviting bids to bump up Bayern's offer. Pep came in after we came in, and Thiago chose him. Old boss, promise of plenty of playing time despite the apparent CM surfeit, best club in Europe. Not hard to see why he made the choice he did.
Was he? Only in the papers was he publicly pursued, I don't remember United confirming their interest.
Whatever, his dad says they considered it so that's that.
Can we leave it now?
The actual quote I saw was that he very close to signing but couldn't reach an agreement with us. I'm guessing it was about the clause.
Crazy that we might not get Fabregas and have to settle for Fellaini? I hope you're right, that I am crazy and that we will land Fabregas and won't have to settle for Fellaini but I hope for your sake you haven't wagered a year's wages on that coming to pass.
feck off thiago and gaurdiola...!
Is there that much of a difference in what Klopp was saying and we're saying if we have an attacking threat in midfield such as Fellaini in the starting XI? We sometimes fixate too much on where the names appear on a computer screen, as though they are strictly ordered not to leave certain areas of the pitch. In what I outlined above, Kagawa would in reality slither right behind RvP and Fellaini would push ahead of Carrick.
Or not. Who knows? We may land Fabregas and Moyes may have us revert to a old-fashioned, swashbuckling 442, Kagawa up front with RvP and Fabregas sitting in midfield with Carrick. Once we take what I hope will be a customary 3-0 lead by the 55th minute we can play around with tactics and see our whippersnappers such as Januzaj and Lingard get some minutes. Tactics will largely be dictated by personnel, and the reality is that we can't pick anyone we want for the squad. In that respect, we'll just never be in the same class -- the ability to skim the cream of the playing crop -- as Real, Barcelona and Bayern.
Hundreds? Really? There must be at least double as much trying to be clever and funny by making very poor jokes or pisstakes.Cider alone is more frustrating than all muppets toghether. Its really even more tiring than the “morons“.
I agree with both you and Klopp, the latter of whom knows more about football than most of caftards combined. It's strange to read posts here, on the world's greatest United fan forum, that dismiss Kagawa as an attacking central midfielder. Certainly if we can play Cleverley there, which we did last season with some positive but not amazing results we can play Kagawa there.
But this is not to suggest we should not poke around for the likes of Thiago, Fabregas or Modric. But sometimes the solution is right in front of us. And if we did land Fellaini, once we got over the Jim Jones style mass suicide here on the caf, we can get on with the business of playing both Kagawa and Fellaini as mids and let the chips fall where they may. If we only lift the English prem trophy this season, we can take small comfort in the knowledge that Moyes was not a disaster and get on with the business of strengthening the squad next summer for a serious CL run in 14/15.
Klopp was crying watching one of the best central AMs around being fecked about - you've just found another way to misuse him. Sell Fatboy to Chelsea, put Kagawa in the No.10 role, get a decent CM and get on with your life.
Probably what will happen. You just have to accept that Cesc is the decent CM.
You know he is coming.
Tired WUM is tired.
He's right though.
Been a real slow news day on that front. Hopefully the calm before the storm
About what we should do now, yes. Because everyone and his mum knows that. About what we have done so far, no. Fergie plays the long game, and it's always worked for him. If Kagawa has a stunning season this year (and the signs are good), then it will have a lot to do with the gentle introduction last year.
Just so I don´t misunderstand you, you are talking about a 4-3-3 formation with a 3 man center midfield and Kagawa as the offensive spear head of the CM, right?
This could actually work, if he gets enough defensive cover from the other two. Kagawa´s least impressive ability is his tackling, both defensive and offensive. As AM he finds a way to compensate that, because his enourmous mobility and anticipation allows him to actually foresee and evade 1v1 situations. He has an extreme good eye for space and likes to push into it. That makes him such a good player in the hole, because he finds spaces even in positions, where the opposing defense is the thickest.
However, in a CM without enough defensive cover or just one partner (in a 4-2-3-1) he is actually forced to take tackles or otherwise he rips a huge hole in their own defensive formation. That is why he is wasted in a two men midfield and IMO a worse option than Cleverly or Anderson.
IS NO NEWS GOOD NEWS IN THIS CASE?
If they play him as a CM or wide AM in a 4231, then yes.
He usually plays narrow, but mostly from the left.
That's two managers making a bollocks of his career. Klopp's tears of truth.
That's two managers making a bollocks of his career. Klopp's tears of truth.
Short answer? Yes.
This roots mostly in the enourmous reputation and popularity, which Keisuke Honda is enjoying over there. Both him and Kagawa have the same favourite position and normally Honda plays there.
I have seen pretty much all games by Japan in the last three years and Kagawa has very rarely even remotely reached his normal level there. Most of the times he seems uncomfortable on the left wing.
I don't get the whole playing Kagawa out of position thing too much, he's an attacking player who produces in the final third whether that's through the centre or from the wing. He's said as much that it doesn't bother him where he plays. Anytime he's played on the left for United he's drifted in anyway, so what's the major issue?
He's being diplomatic since Fatboy's taking his favoured position. What's he supposed to say: 'Get rid of the waster and play me there?'
I agree with Pete here. Best case scenario for us would be if we could feck Rooney off abroad for a good sum. Get a top CM. Play Kagawa as No 10.
Well on course for the title then.
Cesc is back on, I presume?
Cesc is back on, I presume?
The best attacking players aren't limited to rigid positions, for me. You play Kagawa in the attacking third, he'll produce the goods.
I remember him playing there a few times this season but it made no difference to his performance level.
This isn't going to fecking happen 
You don´t seriously expect him to openly criticise his coach for his choices, do you? In his first year no less.
His profile just fits a central role more. He is not much of a crosser and while his pace is good, it is not of this world either. He can produce from the side, but to an far less extent. His strenghts (mobility, vision for space, first touch, close control) shine way more in the center. Saying that he can drift inside is all good and well, but it also creates problems. He logically loses one possible receiver on the left flank and moves into the field of influence of the estimated AM (mostly Rooney). If there is good rotation with the AM, then this can be avoided, but we have not seen much rotation in the last season, which is understandable because it takes a lot of good understanding and timing to make that work. The end result was often, that he simply pushed in Rooney´s occupied space and they stood on each other feet or he was invisible alltogether.
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