It's a unique situation as he's at Barcelona who by all accounts, was his dream club and is generally viewed as the pinnacle along with Real Madrid, so United is a step down in his eyes. But that would be the case anywhere. And not everyone can play at Barcelona. So he wants to understand if Barca intends to sell him, or if they intend to keep him as a key player. If his club is going to plan without him long term, then he'll be OK with leaving and probably see United as a very promising choice. But we are waiting essentially to see if Barcelona truly want to sell him or plan on building their squad without him, and waiting for them to have that conversation with him. Happened with Fabregas, Sanchez, Sneijder, Robben, Eto'o, Ozil, etc. All world class players at their best that eventually were moved on, but doesn't mean they'll be bad professionals. Even Di Maria who people love bringing up. He started on fire. But between his family not really liking the city, him completely being the opposite style to Van Gaal and falling out with Van Gaal... It just led to him wanting to leave asap (and hes been excellent for PSG, even if Real Madrid was his #1).
Frenkie de Jong | The last muppeting lap
- Thread starter davidmichael
- Start date
- Status
Have we signed him yet?
If we can get FDJ, Nunez and Timber I think the club can be forgiven for foregoing the DM and even gambling on Garner and Pellestiri/Amad. Its important to remember that next season's remit is a return to CL football and restoring pride and confidence in the players. Given that we were wins against Villa, Newcastle, Leicester and Everton away from making top 4 during our worst season I'd say such additions should be enough.
Thanks for clarifying.
Not sure if you read the article. The point is: Pogba performed at the same level as at Juventus, but was seen by many (including myself) as wasted money. De Jong is a fantastic player, yet you are paying over the market for a player that may not have as much impact as an attacker or even a top CB.
Also, this is a top 50 that is dynamic — it changes from year to year. I suppose it’s possible that more than 2 out of 50 top transfers would be midfielders, but when Modric, Rodri, Fabinho, Jorginho, Kante, Kroos, Casemiro, Veratti moved, they still probably weren’t in the top 50 at that time…
So De Jong comes in on big money, but does that impact winning as much as an attacker or CB? If you pay 85m for FDJ, does that mean you don’t have enough for good DM, so the midfield has the same problems?
I’m not saying FDJ is a bad player, he’s not, he’s one of the classiest CMs in the world. But is spending loads of money on a CM a winning strategy? We did so with Pogba and it got us nowhere.
We will not make top 4 unless we fix the CDM position in our squad. FDJ is really just a pogba replacement and he will face the same problems pogba faced if we retain mcfred in the CDM position. We must fix the CDM position and it will be a total waste of time if we finish the window without bringing in a world class CDM. Actually CDM is what we have to fix, everything else like Nunez or Timber is just a bonus
It must be BS. What do they mean with Europe.
8% is 8/100, which is kind of the amount of teams you get comparing 1 midfielder per team in the top 5 leagues, so there are other 7 better than him.
Now if you get all midfielders from all first division leagues you'd get over 1000 midfielders so there are at least 79 better midfielders.
It's just a BS made up number.
https://www.fcbarcelona.com/en/club/meetings-and-events/events/host-a-private-event
What are they doing over there
What are they doing over there
On the flipside, you could've said the same for the season before the one that just ended. We were probably a few wins and draws away from actually challenging City, added Ronaldo, Sancho and Varane to that squad and had a total pisstake of a season.
I certainly didn't expect that of Pogba, but I agree with you on De Jong. If he's is a press resistant metronome passer who can also give good work rate and make a few tackles (not Keane/Kante levels obviously but a basic amount alongside a more determined ball winner) then I would be extremely happy. Not bothered about goals/assists although the odd ones would be nice.
is there any movement
Prof Sulk's protege?
I know, would I like us to sign a DM? Yes but I also understand whats doable and whats not in the context of a Glazer ownership and general economic realities the club has to contend with.
Last season we had done well and should have done better but we had an underlying issue of squad imbalance and an average/poor manager that people in the club were overlooking. Now we have a better manager, we still have Sancho, Varane and Ronaldo who we all expect the new manager to get the best out of. If he feels a conductor like FDJ is needed then the club is right to back him, he could potentially work well with Fred or McTominay if they are given ball hunting duties.
With Ten Hag I am more confident that even if we don't buy the DM, I also agree that he is required and long overdue, we have a manager with enough confidence to mould one of the young defenders into the role. I am still wondering why none of our managers ever considered one of the young defenders for the role, Axel was tried and looked a bit lost but we shouldn't have stopped there in my opinion.
Nah, I'd say any serious manager wanting to continue their upwards trajectory would have major reservations about United and rightly so. We've been an absolutely terribly run club for years and a poisoned chalice for managers and players alike. Murtough being in place was probably fundamental to securing Ten Hag who could have sat pretty and waited for another major club to come knocking.
And the same with Frenkie, outside of the fact he's already at his dream club in a stunning city with glorious weather. And it's pretty healthy for people coming in to want assurances over our sporting ambitions given the post Fergie era.
That's carries, not passes made under pressure.
Fabián Ruiz is in the top 2% for example. Verratti is the best player by that metric in the top 5 leagues. Rodri, Kimmich, Mikel Merino, Jorginho, Thiago, Bruno Guimarães, Luis Alberto, Pogba and Kamara are some other notable names.
If we can get him we should. A rare talent. Players like him are few and far between. We have no one in our midifield like him at present.
Assist tonight for Netherlands. Haven't seen it but heard it was a forward pass.
That's me sold. Sign him up.
That's me sold. Sign him up.
Let’s hope he follows your lead and is sold too. Preferably to us.
You guys are seriously underestimating ETH here. Schonne was an attacking midfielder. His defensive midfield definition is different from what we classify as our traditional DM.
He’s been flying into tackles tonight.
I wonder what the body language experts would make of that.
The last sentence was what I was going to say, our match going fans are very loyal, yes they have moments but it takes ALOT. If someone gives everything they won’t find a more loyal fan base.
Look at how we treat Ronaldo for example.
Completely agree. It is obvious that many people who comment here have never seen Ajax play.
Probably something about DiMaria.
3-0
belgium had too many trippels
belgium had too many trippels
I was going to ask does he even play with a 'proper DM'?
He's clearly showing us that he's no Di Maria.
Oh dear this is turning into a hammering
he plays a double pivot" I am a DM. I want to play as DM. Come get me please."
Well, if he wants us to get him, he should stop playing as a Di Maria. That’s what DM means, right?" I am a DM. I want to play as DM. Come get me please."
Wouldn't be surprised if LVG had played him there.
Pogba was suppossed to take a step forward into the peak of his career and turn into Keane/Viera. Not only did he fail to deliver vs high expectations, we didn't put him next to the likes of a Pirlo or even a proper DM (Matic was on his last legs). Everyone at United has been poor.
My point of referencing the other midfielders was that other clubs do spend money on midfielders. Rodri and Fernandinho have been very important for City and I mentioned Modric, aside from Benzema and Ronaldo I would say he's had the biggest impact at Madrid. They still rely on him and he's 35/36.
So I'm saying spending on the right player to fix a problem in your team is important (just like Liverpool did with a GK) and it just happens that we have the most serious problems in midfield.
That's why I feel it is worth persisting when a player like him becomes available rather than 3 x Fred/Mct/VDB type players.
EDIT - Of course we have to have hope that we'll get the system right otherwise there is no point watching. And it isn't like we're spending all our transfer budget on a single player.
Last edited:
Posting cause I have a thing for stats
As I said yesterday, @Berbasbullet , keep an eye on these upcoming Netherlands games. He's a different beast in his proper position, and ten Hag knows it.
Unfortunately not in a position to watch him tonight, but sounds like he is playing well!
Hopefully you'll see more of him this upcoming season
Just before completing his move to United, Di Maria probably produced one of the best individual performances I have ever seen in a International game, he completely ripped the German team apart on the night.
That being said, I do not think the FDJ and ADM situations are even remotely identical. If we sign him I expect it would be a lot easier for FDJ to integrate into the city and club.
- Status