Ducker clearly thinks they are overpaying for Cucurella then with his (What The Actual Feck) text
Frenkie de Jong | The last muppeting lap
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Ducker clearly thinks they are overpaying for Cucurella then with his (What The Actual Feck) text
Definitely a sign from the gods.
This would be worse. We had a title winning team in the previous season and kept all of our players, I still had the expectation and optimism.
This is finishing 6th and somehow coming back from our transfer window with a worse squad.
FFSHow we see him
How his wife sees him
Shut up, ****. I'm not leaving Barcelona, so, you better get used to playing CB this year.
You don’t think he’d want to leave Wolves no? Interesting. Is he well settled there?
To be honest i think a bit of depends on whether any of our new purchases are gonna end up as long term options or not, for now though I still can't agree, the cracks were still there back in 2013, what followed was to me a disaster.
He was crying at the last game of last season saying goodbye, any offer from any club in European football and he's out of there.
If he were to move which he surely will by next summer I have always seen him going to Spain.
I don't think he would be desperate to come here. Although 'desperate' could be taken more than one way.
Why would he not be desperate to move from Wolves to United?
I agree it was a terrible transfer window in hindsight. The thing is I don't think anyone expected what followed, if it was down to the shock of no Fergie or the players downing tools I just remember being optimistic for the season as for any season under Fergie. We even started well iirc winning the community shield and then scoring 4 goals in our PL opener.
This is completely different, If we don't get FDJ and the fact that the Ronaldo drama isn't solved just gives me no hope that we can even mount a top 4 challenge. Don't get me wrong I think ETH is an incredible manager, it's just the board have let us down far too many times and so far this window despite new personnel it's been a stinker, we're giving our new manager a knife in a gunfight. This is as previously mentioned coming off a season finishing 6th not a title winning campaign.
Good post. Way more people would be more knowledgeable than me on this but I think the attraction of FDJ over Neves is what you've said though. Speed and an ability to carry the ball forward is something i've really missed seeing in a United midfielder. He just seems a stronger player than Neves and we're desperately in need of more energy and physicality in this side, not that i expect FdJ to launch into tackles and all but powering forward and being press resistant would be very nice.
Wanting CL football? At the moment you wouldn't bet we will be seeing CL for a couple of seasons.
Oh yeah he is being hamstrung by an fecking useless board, no wonder we feel little optimism
Damn @Hoof The Ball 's photoshop skills are on point. Did we just found ourselves Olly's replacement for memes?
He doesn’t have CL football now though right?
Where's the long line of CL clubs looking to sign Neves 
I agree I would love to see those attributes in a midfielder too and hence that’s what excites me about FDJ.
However, an important factor which isn’t being used to compare him and Neves is the fact that Neves is the only one who’s proven he can do it in the premier league and in the actual position we want him to play. FDJ’s best performances have all been in the Dutch league. He has been pretty underwhelming in the Spanish league which is regarded as physically easier than the premier league. One noticeable criticism I have seen of FDJ from Barca fans in particular is that they feel he takes far too long on the ball and doesn’t release it when he should. He seems to want to travel with it too much. That has the potential to be very problematic especially in the premier league where it’s the most fastest and intense league in the world. You just don’t have time on the ball especially in the centre of the park. Even if we did sign FDJ, I honestly feel we wouldn’t actually see him making many runs with the ball out from the back due to the risk attached to that style. Especially if he’s the deepest lying midfielder.
Hence why I feel the gap isn’t as big between them based on what they would be instructed to do in their role which would be mainly to pass out from the back whether it be short or long. Both of them would be more than adequate to do this I feel.
I understand i suppose as of now you're right although it could all change with some hindsight say we were to comfortably make top 4 with most of our players hitting their best form then it wouldn't be too disastrous of a transfer window.
I still have faith that we'll get de jong so hopefully it doesn't come to that.
Where's the long line of CL clubs looking to sign Neves
Tbh as soon as Chelsea got wind a transfer deal was taking place without their authority they’d likely start to monitor
You could say the same about FDJ as well right? Chelsea are the only CL team showing interest in him. Even they haven’t even put a bid in.Where's the long line of CL clubs looking to sign Neves
Juve and PSG were linked. Who's shown interest in Neves
True ***...and more chance to achieve it with Utd.
I have always though he was a perfect player for Simeone at AM.
In my opinion they are two completely different players, one (neves) will sit, screen the midfield in front of the defence, and has a range of passing both long and short(which is hit and miss), a little bit like a quarter back, more suited to playing in a midfield 3 in my opinion, but in terms of effectiveness both in defence and offence, he is no Paul Scholes or Michael Carrick, when you think of the type of players who have played in a 3 for us in recent times.
FDJ likes to come deep collect the ball and his first thought is to progress up the field, as you say he is very press resistant, and better suits a double pivot with a more defensive minded midfielder next to him, as he goes walkabout, which can leave his team exposed defensively to the counter in a 3, so he will play best with another No.6 next to him. For the system EtH wants, FDJ is the obvious choice, and superior one in my opinion. Veratti/Barella/Valverde can all carry the ball in midfield, and would be more comparable in terms of skill set than Neves, but they are completely unattainable.
It would be huge coup getting FDJ, but suspect given the options - he either stays at Barca or moves to Chelsea. Other than the relationship with the manager (which we don't actually know how strong that is), we dont have really anything going for us at the moment, when comparing what's on offer for him.
My own interpretation of all this is that ten Hag is in contact with de Jong and has received assurances by the player that he will move once he settles the deferred wages issue with Barcelona. And it doesn't seem like the player or his camp have leaked anything to the media thus far apart from maintaining their stance that they're happy and don't want to leave.
So the way i'm looking at this, is that de Jong and ten Hag are in contact and it's a case of who will bend first, the player or Barcelona.
Chelsea are also reported to be interested and it's been said that CL football could prove to be a advantage for them and they're monitoring the situation and will make their move once they know the players decision. And I think we (United) already know the decision of the player due to Erik ten Hag being our head coach and it being reported that he's in regular contact with the player. And I think Erik ten Hag is going to be the decisive factor for the player.
I’d imagine there isn’t going to be a queue of CL clubs going for Neves because of the £75m price tag wolves slapped on him recently. Only premier league clubs can afford to pay a fee like that for him. Clubs outside of PL would expect an elite player for that price.Juve and PSG were linked. Who's shown interest in Neves
Mate he was shopped around last summer for half of that
https://www.90min.com/posts/wolves-...ruben-neves-to-raise-transfer-funds-exclusive
He is probably crying right now at the seeming lack of interest in him.
Worries me how pessimistic our reliable journos are starting to sound on this, also doesn't help there is nothing solid on Sesko/ST or a RB to help distract us from this long painful saga
Hi mate, I keep hearing EtH relationship will be the key to getting the deal done but they only worked together for a season and a half before he went to Barca, and haven't seen any quotes from FDJ attributing any special relationship with EtH. No encouragement has been given publicly either. I really really want FDJ to sign, but I can't make a case for it myself, I keep coming back to why he would pick us in our current state over staying at Barca on reduced terms (club of his dreams/lifestyle/house/family settled) or sign for Chelsea (Champions League/London factor/New Owner Building a Squad/Project)
Yeah and when you think back to what Corrigan said about relationship not being that strong it makes me highly pessimistic
One possible plus in United's column is EtH will play him in his favored position, something that FDJ has recently spoken about when comparing club to country.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but this thread is beginning to feel like a business centre office block which was once thriving with activity and has been slowly clearing out with lots of empty offices now and only a couple of businesses left.
McFred trending on twitter
We can forget FDJ, he will either stay at Barcelona or join Chelsea. Out biggest mistake for the CM positions was not signing Boubacar Kamara for free (yes, 0m) and he is on wager that we probably are paying Tom Heaton or someone. He has been very good for Aston Villa this preseason and us, in such a need of CMs, not getting him no matter if would have signed FDJ also was such a bad decision, i can not think of one good reason we did not (according to media he was keen on joining us and was a fan of the club when he was young). But nevermind, we will once again go with a 4-2-3-1 with McFred occupying the 2 CM positions as it seems of today. Even though i have been cheering for playing Martinez as a CDM next to a real box-to-box, Fred was brilliant in that position in Shaktar, just look at the game he played for them in CL against City. But still I would not let Fred get the freedom to join the attack, because he is not got enough in final third area of the pitch so i would rather have them both being more of CDMs but Fred acting box to 80% of the offensive box (if it makes sense). It would be like having 2 pitbulls behind Bruno/Eriksen - Fred trying to win the ball and play easy passes while Martinez is an excellent passer and can both make passes cutting through the opponents midfield or lifting the ball over the defense from 30-40m.
Something like
..........................DDG
................Varane....Linelöf
....Dalot...............................Malacia
................Martinez
..................................Fred
.........................Bruno
Sancho.................................Rashford
........................Martial
Something like
..........................DDG
................Varane....Linelöf
....Dalot...............................Malacia
................Martinez
..................................Fred
.........................Bruno
Sancho.................................Rashford
........................Martial
Obviously not the resulted we wanted , we have to try harder, just have to look to the next game now and improve.
Right?
Right?
I'd say they had a good working relationship at Ajax and it was under the tutelage of ten Hag where several players exploded on to the scene, including de Jong who they bought from Willem II as a 18 year old . I'd say de Jong has lost his way slightly since he left Ajax and he's at the stage of his career now, where going back to work with ten Hag who he knows well, will be very important for him in the decision making process.
I think staying at Barcelona is probably not a good idea when they've actively been trying to sell him. He's not appreciated at the club and if he puts his football first then a move away is probably going to benefit him especially under Erik ten Hag, who was the head coach when de Jong came to prominence as a player at Ajax.
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Shame he doesn't seem to be thinking like that
I don’t know if it’s just me, but this thread is beginning to feel like a business centre office block which was once thriving with activity and has been slowly clearing out with lots of empty offices now and only a couple of businesses left.
Yeah think that's a very apt comparison
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