Fullbacks for the summer

Ajaxsuarez said:
Not sure if TFM is the answer. Palace fans seem to have mixed feelings about him. Has good physical ability but not the qualities on the ball that a fullback needs nor seems to understand how to position himself there.

Personally still think of him as a cb, but that's probably mostly based off my (very high) opinion of him back at Ajax.
Click to expand...
I share your concerns, but I'm not sure we can afford two quality fullbacks plus one or two quality midfielders.
 
Does Jose do attacking full backs?

Those saying Valencia is fine just shows how we haven’t had a decent RB for a very long time. I find it bizarre that a former winger can be so inept going forward.
 
Luke’s replacement with an assist.

I know it’s a set piece, but it’s a hand attribute to have.
 
Get Alex Sandro, switch Young to the first choice RB for one more season and pick up a midfielder or two. Potentially one central midfielder and a center half. If Mourinho persists with 4231 we probably need somebody to play wide right because all we have there is Mata since it has become clear that Sanchez is not going to be used there by Mourinho.
 
If we can't get Alex Sandro then maybe Tierney would be worth a punt. LB is clearly very near the top of several positions we need to sort out.
 
If we get Sandro it'll be a complete transformation to our left side, someone more than capable of doing the Ashley Young on Salah job but also will provide a natural left foot in attack down the left side
 
We desperately need new full backs. I'd go as far to say we need four; two on each side. Our entire selection of full backs are abysmal. Easily the weakest area of our team
 
haram said:
Click to expand...


While Luke Shaw's body lies mangled under the bus these comments don't say much for Valencia either, I've long felt we will probably only buy one fullback as Mourinho loves Valencia, but maybe we will buy 2 afterall.
 
I'd like us to get Tierney from Celtic. Think he will be a World class fullback in the coming years.
 
ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg said:
Does Jose do attacking full backs?

Those saying Valencia is fine just shows how we haven’t had a decent RB for a very long time. I find it bizarre that a former winger can be so inept going forward.
Click to expand...

Valencia lost the ability to consistently cross the ball years ago , I dont get what happened either but we need a pair of full backs this summer 100%
 
We're still only one player deep on the right as well as struggling for depth on the left. Blind will probably leave and I'd like to see Shaw utilized as an option before Young but that is up to his own development.

Ideally you want two fullback nailed on starters as well as a backup and then maybe two defenders who can deputize in at last resort when there is a crisis. Then you want Young and Valencia level players who are performing a role at a level of "shit we literally have nobody to play.. Um... Young and Valencia? Do us a job lads" in a squad so thin that they have somehow become first choice.

This will be our biggest area to sort out next season, a tough one considering we bought Darmian last season and Van Gaal's bizarre demolition of the youth squads in order to pillage for the first team which produced barely even ready players who had their confidence destroyed and either left or needed to go on loan.
 
I think we will buy 1 top class left back and loan luke shaw out. We will keep fosu mensah for cover (10 appearances or so) and Valencia, young and the new left back will share 2 spots.

We will hope luke shaw has a successful loan and he will eventually replace young when he retires. If not we will sell him.
 
I see no point in taking chance with youngster, we need someone who walks into our starting XI and delivers from day 1. So, I say big No to Tierney/Sessegnon.

Those who have watched Sociedad fair number of times - how is Odriozola's defending?

Edit: I dint see many mentions of Philipp Max. His crossing could be great plus for us.
 
Last edited:
Swift Football said:
I see no point in taking chance with youngster, we need someone who walks into our starting XI and delivers from day 1. So, I say big No to Tierney/Sessegnon.

Those who have watched Sociedad fair number of times - how is Odriozola's defending?

Edit: I dint see many mentions of Philipp Max. His crossing could be great plus for us.
Click to expand...

Definite no to Tierney.

Sessegnon's a wing back.I'd love him but he needs a loan spell at a PL club given how young he is, so I would buy him.

Sandro -yes
 
VanHaal'sRedArmy said:
Sandro and Fabinho. Add a central midfielder (or two if we are selling) and a right-winger.
Click to expand...

This makes sense to me. Sandro is a top 4 LB in the world and brings natural attacking width and quality on the ball with a physical defensive presence.

Fabinho has put together a couple of consistent seasons now for me proving his quality, and although he’s now a CDM and has played and shined at RB at the highest level. He would also give Mourinho the option of sitting him alongside Matic in game where he felt he needed a bit more solidarity defensively.
 
Wasnt surprised at all yesterday when Shaw didnt start the last 45' . Bring in a good competitor who can fight for the spot along with Young!
 
MyOnlySolskjaer said:
Some reports have linked us to this guy and I really like the look of him. Looks like a fantastic crosser, has a variety of passing in his locker from effortlessly dispatching low accurate crosses to the higher floated ones. Love the way he glides on the right hand side.

Click to expand...


Nice, I think Sanchez would be the best benefactor of those slide rule passes into the box. Lukaku would thrive off the Floated ones
 
I really don't care who we buy. It is Mourinho who has to change his tactical approach to games.
 
haram said:
Click to expand...


Interesting. I guess Valencia was also one of the players Jose wasn't happy about yesterday as well then. 'Desire' to get forward, I guess.

More often than not, our left winger keeps the width, which means our left back doesn't always need to get forward. However, with Mata on the other side drifting infield, it's vital that our right back gets forward and provides that attacking outlet.

Valencia was way too deep yesterday, and that is further backed up by his average position yesterday.

Going forward, if we want to play a proper 4231, we need an attacking left and right back in the summer. Someone who will get forward and provide the attacking overload in wide areas.

I look at Spurs, for example, and a lot of their good play comes from the fact that their full backs get forward well. They don't always get the ball, but it drags players out of positions and as I said before, creates overloads.

Potential left backs:

Rose
Sandro
Ghoulam
Tierny
Bertrand

Potential right backs:

Sidibe
Florenzi
Meunier
Bellerin
 
Cathy Ferguson said:
I share your concerns, but I'm not sure we can afford two quality fullbacks plus one or two quality midfielders.
Click to expand...

If we're selling Darmian, Blind, one or both of Smalling and Jones, Shaw and potentially Herrera (with Fellaini and Zlatan leaving clearing those wages off the bill) that might recoup a bit of cash. If he's getting 150m to spend + whatever the club makes on sales, that could be around 250m. Would definitely do for 3 quality players, maybe more.
 
On paper, it seems quite a simple and logical process for the next couple of years:

SUMMER:
SELL - Shaw, Darmian and Blind.
BUY - 1 x RB, 1 x LB
BRING BACK - TFM, Mitchell and Tuanzebe (as a CB).

2018/19 Season full-back options:
RB - New signing; Valencia; Fosu-Mensah.
LB - New signing; Young; Demetri Mitchell. Rojo in an emergency.

FOLLOWING SUMMER:
Move on Young and Valencia. 2019/20 season - TFM and Mitchell to be second in line, main competition for the new full-backs now bedded in completely after a full season with the squad.


Alex Sandro or Faouzi Ghoulam would be my guesses for LB but I am stumped about RB to be honest.
 
Ghoulam shouldn’t be anywhere near the discussion given his injury problems. Can’t see any possibility we will take that risk.
 
I can't get excited for any full back signing with Jose in charge but there's certainly options out there. Even within the league, I like the look of Wan-Bissaka who bar a mistake against Chelsea has been easily Palace's best player over recent weeks, Liverpool took a chance on Robertson and look how that's paying off now. I doubt we'll see more than one brought in, if even that. Jose clearly doesn't see full backs in the same way modern coaches do and it explains our complete lack of investment in them.
 
ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg said:
Does Jose do attacking full backs?

Those saying Valencia is fine just shows how we haven’t had a decent RB for a very long time. I find it bizarre that a former winger can be so inept going forward.
Click to expand...

It's one of the real United mysteries over the last decade, of how Valencia has gone from super effective, always seeming to pick the right option when attacking (as a massive contrast to Nani), to then completely changing and adopting the "stop dead" move and barely playing with any risk again. At least at full back it's not as frustrating, as he isn't at the edge of the box stop dead as often.
 
How can we expect to compete for the title and champions league If we go into next season with Valencia and Young as primary full backs ?

I'd take the 2 Sessegnon brothers from Fulham straight away.
 
Sell Darmian, Blind, Lindelof and Shaw (seeing as Shaw clearly can’t win over Jose) and bring in Fabinho and Alex Sandro as it’s about time we started going with quality over fecking quantity and that’s our full back spots sorted out.
 
yamo123x said:
How can we expect to compete for the title and champions league If we go into next season with Valencia and Young as primary full backs ?

I'd take the 2 Sessegnon brothers from Fulham straight away.
Click to expand...

Yeah, we aren’t going to compete with those two either.
 
Sandikan said:
It's one of the real United mysteries over the last decade, of how Valencia has gone from super effective, always seeming to pick the right option when attacking (as a massive contrast to Nani), to then completely changing and adopting the "stop dead" move and barely playing with any risk again. At least at full back it's not as frustrating, as he isn't at the edge of the box stop dead as often.
Click to expand...

Captains armband weighing him down as much as the number 7 shirt did. Trying to set an example so takes no risks
 
Cutch said:
Captains armband weighing him down as much as the number 7 shirt did. Trying to set an example so takes no risks
Click to expand...
He was pretty much the same before the armband as a right back too, just a bit younger and more energetic.
 
I'd go for sessegnon from Fulham and loan him out. Then get Danny rose as well with young as back up. Rose seems to want out of Spurs and is very good when fit and up for it.
For right back, maybe your man odriozola, although don't know much about him other than YouTube vids. Or the lad who signed for barca from benfica, who is on the bench because of sergi roberto but is a good attacking full back and would be an upgrade on Valencia I reckon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.