Falcao really is the icing on the cake...but...

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Woodzy said:
We shouldn't forget that our goal is top 4 this year. We have a squad capable of that.

Huge weaknesses, yes, but we can definitely get top 4. And remember we get to let Woody off of the leash once more in January, not to mention next summer when we hopefully get to look into adding depth for the Champions League.
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We've got the glitter for me but I still yearn for an actual powerhouse in CM and a CB but the latter I'm guessing may show themselves from within the squad hoping against hope.
 
Woodzy said:
We shouldn't forget that our goal is top 4 this year. We have a squad capable of that.

Huge weaknesses, yes, but we can definitely get top 4. And remember we get to let Woody off of the leash once more in January, not to mention next summer when we hopefully get to look into adding depth for the Champions League.
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I reckon Chelsea, City and Liverpool will be the top three. That means we have to finish ahead of Arsenal and everyone else. Possible, but by no means "definite".
 
whats all this gibberish about cake and icing? You are all morons.


Real badasses eat chocolate chip cookies
 
without falcao i would be content but sceptical about the players we brought in and the sums of money spent. Getting falcao on a nominal loan fee, check him out for a year then can pay 40m next year is an absolute blinder. if he gets back to any sort of form he had pre injury he was the best striker in the world.
 
All the players we've brought certainly improve the team but it's hard to see how they all fit together or even why we've failed to add the real key attributes we were missing coming in to the summer. It's an awful lot of change to fully process at once. All looks a little bit incoherent and disjointed atm.

Hopefully LvG is able to gel them all together but I wouldn't be at all surprised if the sum of these signings is less than the individual parts would appear on paper.
 
Welbeck out- falcao in = good business.

That is us done now !

Let's hope cleverly goes to Everton and we can get vlaar in.
 
I feel like having a moan about our lack of defenders and a proper CM, BUT how can I moan when we just signed Di Maria and Falcao in the space of a few days #Confused:rolleyes:
 
Why are people going on about no central midfielder we have signed the best midfielder in a three man midfield last year in DiMaria? We have also signed Blind who last year was Dutch plaeyr of the year...in central midfield and we have signed Herrera. What does surprise me is we havent signed a top top centre back after losing Vidic and Rio. Our defence is bar Jones in the middle (exclude Rojo as he hasnt played) piss poor quality wise.
 
Meh, just commented on our midfield issues so might as well quote my earlier post just a few mins ago.

Joga Bonito said:
I shared this opinion earlier but after thinking about it, I would like to give the current midfielders we possess a fair chance before saying our midfield is poor as of now(not saying that you are). I would have loved to have a commanding presence like Vidal or Carvalho being signed in this window though mind you. It's just that we have signed Blind(def mid), Herrera and have Carrick who is a quality player whilst Di Maria is more than capable of playing as an attacking midfielder in a midfield trio.

They are risks though naturally. Blind is rather slow, lacks athleticism and might take some time to adjust to the EPL's high tempo and physicality. However, he seems like an intelligent player with good vision who can outwit players rather than outmuscle them. He is also familiar with the way LVG operates and his tactical systems.

Herrera is also new to the EPL but he looks tailor-made for it with his high octane game play and is also a good incisive passer as well with a good engine on him. He doesn't shirk away from the physical side either which is a bonus. Has the potential to become a proper all-round box-to-box midfielder.

Carrick is 32 and is returning from a significant lay-off after a poor season. So it is justified to have concerns about whether he has it in him to regain his initial form. However, he is a player who is reliant on his intelligence, anticipation and positioning rather than his physical aspects. If he is surrounded by younger athletic midfielders (Di Maria, Herrera) he could prove to be an excellent defensive midfielder in the mould of Alonso, Busquets etc.

I don't have any doubts about Di Maria in the central midfield as he is top notch and with his high-energy game, he shouldn't have trouble adjusting to the EPL. He has been subjected to rough treatment and harsh tackles before and handled it well (ignore the diving part, focus on the part where he doesn't seem jarred and carries on with his normal game after the tackle), so I don't expect to see his game being affected by the physicality of the EPL.

If anything the cover for our midfield is underwhelming with the likes of Anderson, Cleverley, Fletcher and Fellaini in the squad. However, we are only challenging on two fronts and thus barring an injury crisis, we should be doing well this season. In the worst case scenario, if we really need a midfield enforcer, I can envisage us going for Carvalho or Strootman in January. Don't think that would be necessary though.
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I am more concerned about the lack of cover we possess in a couple of areas than our first choice midfield. We only have Valencia and Young as cover to our first choice wing-backs. I have already highlighted the poor depth that we have in the central midfield and if LVG is hell bent on playing with 3 at the back then we don't have adequate personnel there as well. I think buying Falcao was a brilliant deal as it provides us with depth, tactical flexibility and an insane injection of fear factor and quality to the front line which is looking rather stale and meek even with RVP and Rooney there.

He is 28 but hey when Zidane went to Real for a world record fee he was 29. Not the model to follow but we have money to burn and it won't really hurt us significantly if it fails. Our finances and income are secured from merchandise sale, sponsorship deals etc. Moreover, it is just a loan fee and we can scupper the deal if we want unless Balague is right about the FFP thing. I don't think it is a fair assessment to label Falcao as an 'icing' esp after Welbeck(most likely) and Chicharito are leaving.
 
Who the feck buys a cake and then ices it themselves. They sell them iced!
 
Sparky Rhiwabon said:
...aren't we forgetting to buy the damn cake?

i.e. that midfield lynchpin that all successful teams are built on?
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No, we sorted 'the cake' out before any of the Falcao stuff even started.

I really think that our midfield and defence signings are being overlooked, perhaps understandably, since they've all been injured/stuck in transit.

But they are major signings, all first team squad members, and all midfielders or defenders - Herrera, Shaw, Rojo, Blind, Di Maria - that's half an outfield team and they will need time to gel and prove themselves before we start judging them.

What we do know is that Di Maria was MOTM in the CL final a few months ago and then lit up the world cup, Blind had a fantastic world cup after being named the Dutch player of the year while playing as a DM, Shaw is more than capable of handling himself in the PL, Herrera has impressed every time he's played and Rojo also had a very strong world cup and has just experienced playing in the World Cup final.

I really think the worth of these players has been somewhat dwarfed by the signing of Di Maria and then the frenzy surrounding the (probable) signing of the finest CF on Earth, Falcao.

But as I write this it's still possible that the Falcao deal fails for some reason, and if that should happen, this is still an absolute monster of a window for us. In fact, it's so big that I'm not sure some of us can quite grasp that we've bought (including Falcao) 6 immediate first team starters...

As Jack White sang, I said it once before but it bares repeating - 6 FIRST TIME STARTERS!
 
If we can pull the wagon through till January I think we'll end up getting Strootman done.
 
I love how so many journalists say "United, a squad left untreated and have a massive lack of talent with squad players average at best" etc etc in different words.

Falcao
Van Persie
Rooney
Mata
Di Maria
Januzaj
Herrera
De Gea
Shaw
Rojo
Carrick

Beg to differ

----------------------------------DE GEA---------------------------------

RAFAEL------------JONES---------------------ROJO---------------SHAW

------------------------------CARRICK/BLIND----------------------------

-------------------HERRERA------------------DI MARIA------------------

----------------------------------ROONEY---------------------------------

------------FALCAO--------------------------------------RVP-------------

:drool:
 
Some good points in here. I myself wanted a "presence" at DCM or CB.... but perhaps I am not giving enough weight to Blind at CM.

Bottom-line is how they fit. When we signed Carrick most on here moaned endlessly that we didn't do enough. Point was it is not quantity or even just quality. It is in fact quality that we *need*. Now I am not sure we needed Falcao, but DiMaria, Herrera, Blind, Carrick need to be a cohesive midfield and then some how we need to sort our attacking options. Then hopefully Rojo and Shaw settle with Jones and who ever else at defense.

I have to have faith LvG has a big plan and this all fits cause all I want in United playing CL again and being a threat for big trophies.
 
Sparky Rhiwabon said:
...aren't we forgetting to buy the damn cake?

i.e. that midfield lynchpin that all successful teams are built on?
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If the person we want is not available, then we will have to wait for that signing. I'd rather we waited for the right one then spend a lot of money just to keep people happy. LvG will know what he is doing. Strootman next summer. Don't think Roma will sell in January, unless they are doing really well without him.
 
Ive just got this feeling falcao will be going to rm next season and we will get chicharito back !

I don't know why , i just cant get my head round why we end up with falcao and madrid hernandez ! Its usually us that gets the shit end of the stick.
 
XdanielredX said:
I love how so many journalists say "United, a squad left untreated and have a massive lack of talent with squad players average at best" etc etc in different words.

Falcao
Van Persie
Rooney
Mata
Di Maria
Januzaj
Herrera
De Gea
Shaw
Rojo
Carrick

Beg to differ

----------------------------------DE GEA---------------------------------

RAFAEL------------JONES---------------------ROJO---------------SHAW

------------------------------CARRICK/BLIND----------------------------

-------------------HERRERA------------------DI MARIA------------------

----------------------------------ROONEY---------------------------------

------------FALCAO--------------------------------------RVP-------------

:drool:
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Who will Rooney pass to in that formation? There's nobody on the wings.

Also teams will absolutely walk through us with that midfield.
 
Browniee said:
Herrera, Blind, Carrick, Fletcher will be fine

Mata can play in a midfield 3 aswell
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Kill 'em all said:
We've signed 2 central midfielders in Blind and Herrera, you can make that 3 with Di Maria. .
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Theon said:
We've signed three midfielders in Herrera, Blind and Di Maria. That's an excellent midfield.
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yamo123x said:
Welbeck out- falcao in = good business.
.
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jesperjaap said:
Why are people going on about no central midfielder we have signed the best midfielder in a three man midfield last year in DiMaria? We have also signed Blind who last year was Dutch plaeyr of the year...in central midfield and we have signed Herrera. .
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Looks like the OP was right!
 
XdanielredX said:
I love how so many journalists say "United, a squad left untreated and have a massive lack of talent with squad players average at best" etc etc in different words.

Beg to differ

----------------------------------DE GEA---------------------------------

RAFAEL------------JONES---------------------ROJO---------------SHAW

------------------------------CARRICK/BLIND----------------------------

-------------------HERRERA------------------DI MARIA------------------

----------------------------------ROONEY---------------------------------

------------FALCAO--------------------------------------RVP-------------

:drool:
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You know what - on paper that still looks good - its just a shame we don't play matches on paper.
 
XdanielredX said:
Who would have thought a year ago with a frontline and midfield consisting of Rooney, Van Persie, Falcao, Januzaj, Di Maria and with De Gea in goal we would be struggling but...
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Yeah, my post in the thread of goals for each of those strikers was way off the mark. I didn't see this coming at all either!
 
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