How do we solve our midfield problem?

I would genuinely move Maguire into midfield. He can tackle, pass and drive forward. He isnt the most graceful on the ball but he virtually plays midfield with the ball at his feet anyway when he starts. Removes the pressure of being central defence and gives us more legs in midfield. He has the skillset to do it well IMO.
 
If we signed two mid table midfielders we would instantly improve our team. The constant giving the ball away either through mis control or wayward passing is killing us. McT (squad player in top 4 team), Matic (done), Fred (lower half of PL midfield), Donny (who knows?)
 
Matic is done don’t understand how he got that new contract we knew for years, Fred just not really a midfielder to play triangles and control play.

If you look at Villa with Ramsey, Chukwuemeka, Buendia they were playing rings round us with movement, passing and touch we looked miles off it.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
Thing is we had control in the first half, lost it totally in the second half, and Ralf didn't do anything about it because... Reasons?
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He’s either not very good (which I hope not) or he doesn’t trust the bench which isn’t a good enough reason when 3 or 4 players wer gassed after 60mins.
 
Ollie Derbyshire said:
He’s either not very good (which I hope not) or he doesn’t trust the bench which isn’t a good enough reason when 3 or 4 players wer gassed after 60mins.
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It's not good enough at all. There are managers with half the squad and half the players we have that have to find ways to change games.
 
VivaRonaldo85 said:
We’ve never replaced Michael Carrick. Dying for a player like that
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We did buy a few though. I was just thinking about how many mids we've brought to the club in the last 7 or so years and there are a few good in number. Failure after failure though.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
It's not good enough at all. There are managers with half the squad and half the players we have that have to find ways to change games.
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Yep totally agree, swamp the midfield and hold on if you have too, don’t just let the game get out of your hands without trying something.
 
Same old story. Teams walking through us, copious amounts or space. Relying on Matic to give 90 minutes is never going to end well. Desperate for a centre midfield still after I'd say what... 3 years?
 
We know it, the pundits know it, the journalists know it everybody but the United training staff know the midfield is fecking shit yet it’s the same names game after game.

Any team in the PL can win the midfield battle against us so we’re up against it every match it’s ridiculous
 
As others have said, we could bring in some average premier league midfielders who have the energy and hunger to play our new system. It would be amazing how much of an improvement in attack it would be.
 
Maybe leaving Matic on the pitch was a way to highlight our dire need for a C/DM to the board.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
Then that's on him really. He's got to at least try things... Doing nothing is just poor management
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One thing surprises me, 10 years ago Fergie and Mourinho were challenging for titles and they often put defenders in midfield for that extra steel. At half time it was clear that Matic was gassed so why the hell didn't Ralf try something?

Didn't see the composition of the bench but if Jones was fit he certainly was the obvious change, just to get a fecking grip on the midfield. Can't say we weren't warned by Villa through the 70 minutes before they equalized. Game was slipping away and Ralf just stood there watching helplessly.
 
Good point. Think I'm in denial that's its been that long since we were decent.
 
We seem like one of the easiest teams in the league to bring out of shape. More or less any team we meet succeed in pressing us better than we press them.

We just don't have the ability to control a game of football when we need to.
 
We need at minimum two midfielders. Preferably three to play 4-3-3 although two and Fred or Mctom (but not both) could work.

The chances of getting one in January are slim to none so.
 
MoskvaRed said:
To put it another way, 2006 was the last time we bought a quality midfield player. 16 effing years….
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I assume our so called expert scouts thought Fred may be the solution at a £50 million outlay. Worrying if they’re still in a job.
 
Fooza said:
Amen

Who would have known the midfield is the most important part of the team
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Amazing isn't it. It is the link between the defence and attack. It is there to break up oppositions attacks and initiate ours. We might as well bypass ours, the opposition do.
 
VivaRonaldo85 said:
I assume our so called expert scouts thought Fred may be the solution at a £50 million outlay. Worrying if they’re still in a job.
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Problem with our club is they pay out that sort of money and presume it means the player is good, when in reality they are being taken for a ride.
 
An inexplicable decision United management have made, to allow our midfield deteriorate into nothingness.
 
It is beyond ridiculous at this point. We need Zakaria and Haidara in yesterday. We can't go the entire season with this midfield, it just won't do. I have no idea if those two are good enough, but at this point we have to try something new.
 
Statistically, Matic is by far our best midfielder for progressive passes, ball retention and carrying through the middle. Unfortunately he seems to only be able to play for about 50 minutes before losing his legs entirely. Then we're playing with a passenger. He can't screen the defence either when his legs go. Which is what caused both goals.

I don't doubt that finding that sort of deeper lying passer who can also last 90 minutes is a difficult task, especially in January. But we're desperate for it now.
 
Laurencio said:
It is beyond ridiculous at this point. We need Zakaria and Haidara in yesterday. We can't go the entire season with this midfield, it just won't do. I have no idea if those two are good enough, but at this point we have to try something new.
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Couldn't have put it better myself
 
What do you guys reckon Julian Weigl would cost and is he the type of player we need, because I honestly can't think of any other metronomes out there whom we could realistically get in this window.
 
Donny deserves a few games to see if he can give us a bit more control, if he shows an inability to do that then at least we tried it
 
We need to fix the midfield asap but the combined passing capabilities of our team outside attack is atrocious. All our talent is concentrated in attack and after that is a massive drop off in technical passing. We're a dinosaur club that has treated possession talent and football as being undesirable because we once had a manager who played boring possession football.
 
DickDastardly said:
Its january.

I don't know. Maybe BUY someone??!

For fecks sake.

Sell Matić. Sell Mata.
Sell VDB.
Sell Fred. Sell Pogba.
Sell Lingard.

Buy a midfield pair. Any pair. Burnley has a better midfield then us.

Fecking brainless club.
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Pretty much every team in the league has a better midfield than us and no I don't think that's being overdramatic either
 
Leftback99 said:
I said this all summer while everyone was getting giddy over signing a striker and a winger. What on earth do we pay scouts and analysts for?
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Thing is they were going to buy Sancho the previous season. When they didn't get the player they promised Ole, they just went back in without assessing if he was what we needed for this season. Not too bothered about them spending on DVB, but think they needed another midfield brought in with him. A DM who can protect the defence, clear up in midfield and dictate the pace of the game. We did not need Sancho and we all know why we got Ronaldo. Buying Sancho without sorting the midfield properly was a pointless signing.
 
It’s just not working. We knew Matic would smolder in his second season at United and he’s right on cue. McFred, joke.

We spent a pretty penny for Donny, but why?

We can go back and moan about all the stupid acquisitions going back to Fellaini, but the simple truth is our midfield is easily bent over.
 
DomesticTadpole said:
Thing is they were going to buy Sancho the previous season. When they didn't get the player they promised Ole, they just went back in without assessing if he was what we needed for this season. Not too bothered about them spending on DVB, but think they needed another midfield brought in with him. A DM who can protect the defence, clear up in midfield and dictate the pace of the game. We did not need Sancho and we all know why we got Ronaldo. Buying Sancho without sorting the midfield properly was a pointless signing.
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Yeah what on earth will it take for our board to realise we need a DM right NOW not waiting until the bloody summer
 
Matic and Fred have historically a very poor record for us when playing together.

DId no one remind Rangnick of it? Maybe start DVB instead?

Not sure why Fred was playing CF at times.
 
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