I'd like to see Garner given a shot. I think Eriksen will be used further forward (although not a pure AM) and Garner has 60 or so appearances for Forest while Zidane has only youth team experience. Garner at 21 and Iqbal at 19 are both very young to be given starting roles for us, but I think there'd be less of a hurdle for Garner to overcome, in that he's ridden the more physical challenges for 2 seasons.
Frenkie de Jong | The last muppeting lap
- Thread starter davidmichael
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Try rationalise it all you want but it's a crap Midfield and won't get us top 4.
This is Manchester United not fecking West Ham
So we might be happy to choose to not have a plan b, which is bonkers but shows the confidence Ten Hag has in his own abilities and his staff.
McFred I agree on, but chances are that we could end up with neither in midfield even if we're not signing de Jong.
That’s really weird, considering most of the evidence points towards him at least not been too keen to come here.
He’s just playing to the crowd. Barca cannot afford to not sell him so if their buyer isn’t fussed about the account they are screwed before they even got started.
Wow - do you want to get back to where we were or..?
Ten Hag knows exactly what he wants and won’t settle for mediocre which is fine with me. He’ll work with what he’s got and probably develop a younger player.
Probably not true but rather we not spend if we can't find the alternative he wants.
I'll repeat, the idea that De Jong is the only player who is not mediocre in the role is ludacris. Also developing a player there requires them to have the requisite talent too
I agree on that
Oh god. There a chance we might go into this season with our current Midfield
I like his style. If we can’t get FdJ, we build FdJ.
I can see arguments for picking up Tielemans on a cheap if we don't expect him to play like De Jong, but rather no plan B than paying the ludicrous sum Wolves would want for Neves
We had years knowing Pogba was going and Matic.
Should have been easy to have replacements sorted. The excuses don't fly.
And Eirksen is a good signing but already Ten Hag says he sees him as a 10 way more than in the two so we are back to having an absolute relegation quality Midfield 2
What kind of reply is this? Of course it's a gamble, but some are so desperate for new midfield signings that they don't care who it is or the cost. All I've seen mentioned so far are Neves and Tielemans and I rather we stayed away from both. I still believe EtH is capable of developing the talents we got (and thus not playing McFred) even if I of course would have been more confident with FdJ in.
There's other players about but Madrid just paid €80m for one and the one's in England will go for more and will be less developed than De Jong. Like Ten Hag said today, we're probably better off finding someone at the club who he thinks can do the job then coaching them to play the role instead.
Right.. a couple of things..
1) on FDJ.. I think it’s clear that we’re at a roadblock between the 3 parties. United are waiting for green light from FDJ. FDJ is waiting for his money. Barca are waiting for him to either reduce salary or go. I think Barca will ramp up the pressure on him to leave. He simply doesn’t fit into their structure any more. This will drag on though.
2) on our current midfield. While it’s terrifying to think that we’ll go into the season with last years midfield.. it’s also important to realise that these aren’t BAD players. With a bit of good coaching and an actual style of play, they could improve ten fold. However, with matic and Pogba going, we need to bring in more numbers if nothing else, otherwise we’ll be reliant on a Garner/Hannibal/Iqbal filling gaps. But I don’t think it’s the end of the world if we don’t reinforce, I think the current crop will improve under Erik
1) on FDJ.. I think it’s clear that we’re at a roadblock between the 3 parties. United are waiting for green light from FDJ. FDJ is waiting for his money. Barca are waiting for him to either reduce salary or go. I think Barca will ramp up the pressure on him to leave. He simply doesn’t fit into their structure any more. This will drag on though.
2) on our current midfield. While it’s terrifying to think that we’ll go into the season with last years midfield.. it’s also important to realise that these aren’t BAD players. With a bit of good coaching and an actual style of play, they could improve ten fold. However, with matic and Pogba going, we need to bring in more numbers if nothing else, otherwise we’ll be reliant on a Garner/Hannibal/Iqbal filling gaps. But I don’t think it’s the end of the world if we don’t reinforce, I think the current crop will improve under Erik
Also known as another season with McFred.
Rice isn't good enough to do what De Jong does, let's be honest. There are other players out there though, that do not cost a bomb and fit into the developing talent category.
So to not have an alternative is crazy in my opinion, I think someone like Vitinha could have been a good option
If there is not another player available in this window who can play that role as ETH wants it is pointless to sign them. Tielemans is ok but there is a reason none of last seasons top 4 is in for him and Neves is equally uninspiring and massively overpriced into the bargain. We have become used to the notion that we have to have top players signed to progress because we have endured several years of managers not developing players. Maybe, just maybe, ETH is good enough at what he does to improve the players he is working with and we can avoid impulse buying players who don't fit the long term strategy.
We really do love rewarding the midfield that have been mainstays of the worst United team in forever.
They'll be dragging bus down forever them two
Rice isn't anywhere near good enough to play for us, I don't get the hype at all on him, but players like McGinn maybe, would cost us a fortune and Gerrard would not sell to us unless we broke the bank.
Especially as he coached him, unless you're peak Messi/Ronaldo it's highly likely there's always someone with the same, if not more, potential than you out there. I can confirm it's not McT however.
I actually think Tielemens with ETH guidance could do a similar job - he's a lesser passer but a bit more dynamic which isn't necessarily a bad thing for the PL. Rice literally can't play that role - he's perfect for a Moyes team though.
Iqbal is someone I see can be similar to him. It’s probably way to early for him though.
FdJ is a key signing and it will happen.
Not sure he is the type of player what Ten Hag is after to be honest
If at least Matic was still around I'd be fine holding off until we get a player ETH really wants but we cannot expect McFred to stay fit all season and play 60 odd games. It's just not going to happen
Give me attainable names.
Probably not right now but he's the type of player that could probably be developed to play that role with some success if needed.
No one was expecting it to happen in one window, I hope. We shipped out, what, 9 players so far? And there are early signs that a few of last season's starters will not be starters much longer. So green shoots, or darling buds or what have you.
Hopefully, the 'Frenkie or nah' strategy works out for us. This is a critical area for improvement, and we can't waste a season on Fred McTominay again.
Rather gamble on kids than go through another season of McFred. It simply can't happen, and won't.
McFred is more likely to happen than throwing in kids
I do rate Tielemans and he was my first choice before we entered FdJ. I think we should be all in on him if somehow we don’t get FdJ. Tielemans is a great player and can as you say, with EtHs guidance, be exactly what we need.
This is correct
I wonder if his backup plan is to play Martinez in that role. I know it is not ideal but he looks like he could manage it. Alternatively if ETH could add a bit of calmness and remove the brainfarts from Fred that would be an impressive piece of management. No way that McT can ever be good enough and I don’t believe that Garner is anywhere near good enough either.
I agree that the forward planning at the club haven't been top notch (the jury is still out if that has changed) but their approach now seems to be to have complete in EtH's vision. A gamble I know, but atleast they seem to be following it. If the scouts and EtH haven't found a suitable alternative to de Jong, then I back them in staying calm rather than panic buying (a trait the previous top brass was known for).
What did he say about Eriksen being a 10? I have missed that.
I wonder if it’s as simple as Barca trying to find a way of paying him his 17m which the league do not include in their FFP calculations. They’ve got plenty of cash now but FFP seems to be their real headache. If that’s the case I’m sure the league will agree to some more creative accounting.
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