No one is doubting his talent. Its injury record and missing the key games.
As things stand, he cannot be trusted for a whole season.
Harry Maguire | Signed
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As things stand, he cannot be trusted for a whole season.
Also, we have about 6 CBs at the club. If there's no one available right now at the right price and profile, it's prudent to wait for further developments; you never know who will break out and have a "must buy" year, à la Mbappe or De Ligt.
I personally would rather upgrade other parts of the team and be on the lookout for better deals throughout the season, rather than panic buying like we've constantly done in the past.
I personally would rather upgrade other parts of the team and be on the lookout for better deals throughout the season, rather than panic buying like we've constantly done in the past.
The fact that he can't be trusted I understand, but we still have 5 other Center-Backs under contract next season, even if we miss Phil Jones for a few weeks next season, there still plenty of cover to choose from.
Very happy with signing Maguire even if the price tag is too much. He appears to be a leader which we desperately need and will provide calm to our shaky defence. Also don't get people claiming Lindelof is slow, he is plenty fast enough and I think Maguire and Lindelof compliment each other well.
A back four of AWB-Lindelof-Maguire-Shaw is balanced and all comfortable on the ball, perhaps it's not as attacking as some of the other elite teams but it's solid.
A back four of AWB-Lindelof-Maguire-Shaw is balanced and all comfortable on the ball, perhaps it's not as attacking as some of the other elite teams but it's solid.
Come on dude - Bailey and Rojo are very rash and injury prone. Axel might not even make it. That leaves us Lindeloff and Smalling. We need a CB who doesnt shit when pressed and is brilliant in air.
If you are worried about his pace, partner with Smalling or Bailey. If you want to play out from back, partner with Lindeloff.
Point is - there is no one realistically we can sign this summer who would be better than Maguire.
Liked Evans while he was here. He had some good and then mixed seasons before LVG. Then he had the really bad one yeah and was shipped out. Showed so much promise but couldn't have consecutive great seasons while he was here to win over enough fans.
Jones is much like Gerrard in the sense that alot of his ability relied on his athleticism.
Though Gerrard was becoming shot entering his 30s, maybe earlier, he didnt have the attributes to counter to compensate.
Jones entered that stage a year ago...
I think that’s their point. In comparison to other centre halves who are seen as being ‘ball-playing’ defenders, his distribution and general comfort on the ball is clearly lacking.
You know it’s sunny outside and people have been drinking when Jones is better than Maguire.
fecking hell Caf
fecking hell Caf
Still think we should get a DM before we splash 80m on a CB. But Harry will be a good signing.
The other side to that argument and one that I think is more likely, however terrifying, is that we have actually signed good players and are just so behind the curve tactically and preparation wise that they look to drop a level when they come here. If you think through all of our signings post SAF, we have hired some absolute worldy players alongside hugely rated younger guys and there's probably only Ibra who you can say has been a definite success. I'm fully aware our scouting system was antiquated and has gone through a refurb but they can't have been off with so so so many signings, especially when you think that other top teams were after these players.
My point is we have plenty of solid if unspectacular PL quality CBs and adding another who, in my mind is a pretty similar level, doesn't really improve us. If we play with a high line the lack of pace & DDG is an issue, if we play with a deep line we're essentially just sticking with Mou's system and adding faster players for the counter attack. neither will bring us anywhere close to the top teams.
In fairness, he is much better offensively in the air than Smalling. On the ball i think you're overrating him.
All CB relies on athleticism, and most can play towards they are 35 years old. If there actually are fitness issues with Phil Jones that would be a problem, with the demands of increased fitness being asked by Solskjaer to the players, you would think that they would have control over Phil Jones fitness level, and if he responds well to being asked to work harder. If he is actually shot, I don't think he would have got a contract renewal.
In all seriousness, if Jones didn't have his injury problems and he was offered in Part exchange we would likely have taken it, but then again if he didn't have the injury problems would you by trying to buy Maguire? Probably not
Well just few years back Juventus BBC is regarded as the best defence in the world.
Even when he's fit he makes too mistakes, he can't be trusted.
Jones is basically a smaller, worse defending and more mistake prone Maguire.
So yeah, probably.
Jones is in no way criminally underrated, how is this line of thinking even a thing. He was a great talent and can perform well enough to be a back up if he manages to put a run of games together but he almost never does because every season is a stop start season for him. He never really significantly improved, he pretty much has been on a similar sort of level since 2012. He could probably still start for a number of PL teams but he's just shouldn't be at United anymore.
Maguire is at this point very clearly the superior player.
Maguire is at this point very clearly the superior player.
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Seriously?
Have you been watching the same United games as everyone else? Plus he gets injured after every 4 games, do you know why this is? He cannot read the game, which leads to lunging for tackles and overstretching.
Apart from that one game against Spurs where he scored an own goal I can't remember a true gaff or a bad performance in the last 2 years from him. his injuries are definitely a concern and hence we need another CB, but I think he's worth keeping around. He's a very experienced player but still only 27. Thats the age defenders enter their peak.
Every player makes mistakes, Phil Jones is not unique in that sense, and the younger you are, the more mistakes you make. Considering Phil Jones is entering his prime, based on previous experience with football players, Phil Jones should make less mistakes in the future. As a example, Jonathan Evans made less mistakes then Maguire in 2019 (so far).
Can't understand why so many people are getting their knickers in a twist over this signing 
FA Cup final May 19th 2018?
Fair enough. I'd blocked that from my memory.
To be fair, Jones is only 1 year older than Maguire, and he has more England Caps too despite the injuries. Plus he is Fergie signing.
Can't understand why so many people are getting their knickers in a twist over this signing
Neither can I, many are calling for signings to be made and mainly a CB. Granted I have in the past said wow £80m for someone who hasn't played in Europe however; looking at our squad and what is around, I have come to the following conclusions:-
1. Better to spend the £80m than the Glazers pockets
2. English player adds £20m to fee.
3. Ole strategy of Birtish players - Maguire is experienced in the prem and a ready made CB to slot into a inexperienced back 4 of AWB, Shaw, Lindelof. Therefore; going for a Ruben Dias or someone of that mould would be the same thing as 3 years ago of signing Bailly, or Lindelof waiting for them to settle and mould them?
4. He will not come to United with the intention of going somewhere else, he will play for the club, which would mean a back 4 who are commited fully to the club and could be our back 4 for 5//6 years?
We don't need to worry about Phil Jones mistake making as he's hardly ever fit long enough to make many.
Yes, this is the 3th time I defended Phil Jones in here, it always end with people brining up ancient injurys. Defending Manchester United player, what a weird concept.
I get that people are tired of seeing him, its been, who knows how many years, and we won shit, time to change our center-backs. I understand this argument, even if I don't agree with it
missing easy aerial clearances when a decent defender should
have suddend brainfart and take wrong position, giving clear path on goal to opponent
he is a midtable player and players exactly like him pulling this club down to the position where they belong. If the club wants to rise, then it needs to find players who can set the bar high because it's real cut throat tough out there at top
Spurs at home in the 3-0 defeat at OT early last season, the farcical own goal in the champions league last season against Valencia another. There are honestly so many calamitous moments. Someone posted the 2-0 defeat from David Moyes last game as united boss a week or so back and guess who gave away the penalty for one of those goals, I'd completely forgotten it/blocked it from memory.
That is scary to think about, I can't believe Jones is still so young.
Yes we are doubting his talent ! Jones is a bang average footballer who by some miracle manages to play for United. Constant mistakes constantly out of position constantly rubbish . If he left United today I'd be amazed if any top 10 team came in for him
He was okay, lacked a bit of physicality like Lindelof but he lost the plot with his form at the exact time it seemed like a manager who would appreciate the fact he could pass the ball a bit with either foot would be coming in. LVG came in and Evans was crap when he played and so he was out.
Maguire wasnt that impressive defensively, thats why someone might feel safer defensively with Evans. I dont think anyone thinks Evans is better on the ball
I understand your point but unless we improve drastically then players like those are very unlikely to join us. They will always have plenty of offers as CB is a problem area in general for top clubs at the moment.
I've seen a few training videos with him and he is very good with the ball compared to other CB's. I just think it is a question of courage when it comes to games. Hopefully he will get more comfortable the more experience he gets
He'll probably feel more comfortable bringing the ball out of defence when he's not surrounded by Smalling, Jones and Young.
Good job there isn't any truth in these "Rumours", much better and affordable CBs out there plus we can address the midfield to with the 80m going some where near to getting 2 players in
Got a feeling you're going to be bitterly disappointed quite soon. Sorry.
He's injury prone and error prone. At age 26 and with 8 years experience with Manchester United, you'll expect some sort of maturity, leadership even in his game. Instead he plays like a 17 year old moron. There's a reason why United had spent 89m on CBs (Blind, Bailly, Rojo and Lindelof) since he joined us and look set to top that up with another 80m.
Pretty much, yes. Being positively sluggish will be a problem in a high line (unless you're an absolute genius when it comes to positioning/anticipation).
If you stay fairly low, and the team is more focused on counters (not necessarily outright bus parking) it's less of a factor. A slow/slowish CB, who's a good defender as such, with a decent foot on him, can do very well in such a setup. He'll probably be skinned from time to time by lightning quick strikers, but you could call that a calculated risk.
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