How many positions in the first XI are actually settled ?

If talking about competing with City and Liverpool at their current/recent levels I’d say it’s 3 or 4 tops. We have a lot of players that would be good squad players, could be carried if 1 or 2 were starters or maybe could be good enough to do a ‘Leicester’ in a one off season.

But players who are good enough to compete week after week for multiple seasons we are very short on. So many of our players are spoken about like they are still young or projects but if they aren’t good enough now, when will they be. Rashford and AWB are 24, Mct 25, Shaw 26, Maguire and Fred both 29 in few days.

Maybe a new manager gets a lot more out of some of these players but as we saw Klopp do at Liverpool that may require a huge turnover of players and plenty of time.
 
Spaghetti said:
Pogba has to be first xi. He doesn’t play well every game, but no player does.

I hope he stays.
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He's gone. I don't see any chance of him staying on with us now. It's extremely high risk for him to carry on playing with us and not signing an extension by now because he's literally one bad injury away from being screwed. I wouldn't be surprised if he already has a deal in place with another club, even if it's a verbal agreement.
 
-------------------------?------------------------
?----------Varane-----------?----------------?
-------------------------?------------------------
---------------------------------?---------------
----------------?------------------------
———?------?-----------Sancho--------

That’s about right. DDG is safe but depends on the style. As we all know DDG can’t play ball.
 
I really don't understand how Sancho is "settled" according to some of you lot. He got dropped for the biggest game of our season just 2 games ago and came off the bench to help us to a 0-0 draw at Southampton. He has time on his side so no worries there but his level of performance is both average and somewhat inconsistent so far. Honestly for me Elanga is first name in the wide positions right now which says a lot about the performances of the more experienced players.
 
Borys said:
Personally I don't think so, this summer we need to splash cash for a DM and CF, maybe another winger/forward.
With this squad we are too far behind to say exactly what we need. Some players (Shaw, Dalot/AWB, Fred, van de Beek, Sancho) can be really effective if we have some structured team. The question if if we can have a structured team with the likes of Ronaldo and Bruno.
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I think it's more about having a structured team. One including both Ronaldo and Bruno, I think, will never be a structured and organized team unless we add some serious players around them.

Bruno needs a lot of movement from our forwards for his passes to find anyone, otherwise his passes become too risky and he's giving the ball away 8 times out of 10. Ronaldo is kinda useless if he doesn't score and so on.

In terms of investing, I still think we need:
- ST
- DM
- RB
- possibly RW
- possibly LB

That's an easy 300 mil if we want to go for proven quality.
 
------------------------X------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
Sancho--------Bruno-----------Elanga
---------------------------------------------------
------------Pogba------------X---------------
---------------------------------------------------
Shaw----------------------------------Dalot
---------------Varane------X-----------------
----------------------------------------------------
--------------------De Gea--------------------

Our priorities this summer should be, in order, a CB, a box-to-box CM and a striker.
 
We don’t need to field 11 better players for the team to improve. It’s on the coach and his methods to get the best out of players, and create something that’s better than the sum of its parts. I highly doubt just taking a player from Liverpool, or some other team and placing them in United is going to improve that position.

Going into next season, we absolutely need a striker and two midfielders. I would also say we can improve on attack (imagine saying this at the start of the season), along with a better quality fullback (or two).

I don’t understand people who are saying GK, it’s one of the last positions I’d replace now. Especially when we have so many other positions where we are lacking quality.
 
youmeletsfly said:
I think it's more about having a structured team. One including both Ronaldo and Bruno, I think, will never be a structured and organized team unless we add some serious players around them.

Bruno needs a lot of movement from our forwards for his passes to find anyone, otherwise his passes become too risky and he's giving the ball away 8 times out of 10. Ronaldo is kinda useless if he doesn't score and so on.

In terms of investing, I still think we need:
- ST
- DM
- RB
- possibly RW
- possibly LB

That's an easy 300 mil if we want to go for proven quality.
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Would also throw in CM as well, rotation option IF Pogba stays but starter if he leaves. I also think we will need to upgrade to a modern keeper at some point too.
 
DDG
???? -Lindelof -Varane -????
?????
?????——?????
?????-?????-Sancho
​
I’d probably keep Fred and McT as back up and Shaw is in poor form at the moment but we know he’s good.

Pogba, Bruno, Matic, Mata can all go.
 
Varane, Sancho and Bruno. I wouldn't be sad to see anyone else leave
 
De gea
Xxx. Lindelof. Varane. Shaw
Xxxxx. Xxxxxx.
Sancho. Bruno. Elanga
Xxxxx
 
If we are going to compete we are going to have to implement a 4-3-3 system.

GK De Gea CB Varane RCM Bruno RW Sancho.

Other than them four and 7 new players I can't see us challenging. I can see Rashford becoming our new Center forward though and I think that's what he could be sulking about this season.
 
I think one of fred or mc tominay will be a part of the next squad built.

Then I'd add in
Bruno
Ddg
Shaw
Varane
Sancho

In an ideal scenario Maguire/Shaw regain their form and Martial comes back as a solid 8/10 attacker for us. Then we are left with needing a top tier striker, midfielder and a right back. The reality is probably alot more grim than that though financially speaking..
 
Borys said:
Personally I don't think so, this summer we need to splash cash for a DM and CF, maybe another winger/forward.
With this squad we are too far behind to say exactly what we need. Some players (Shaw, Dalot/AWB, Fred, van de Beek, Sancho) can be really effective if we have some structured team. The question if if we can have a structured team with the likes of Ronaldo and Bruno.
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I agree. The priority signings for this summer should be DM and CF (considering the Greenwood issue). Depending on what happens with Pogba we'd need another CM.

I'd be fine with Shaw/Telles/Maguire/Varane/Lindelof/AWB/Dalot/CB (Jones,Tuanzebe, new player) as our defensive options for next season. A proper structure and adequate rotation can form that into a good unit.

What isn't sorted currently is the forward positions and midfield. That's where we have the most uncertainty barring Bruno. Rashford has done it for us before but he's been mostly off it for this season. Sancho has been inconsistent in his first season and Elanga we'll find out about for the rest of this season. McTominay and Fred are fine for squad depth. Pogba and VDB are up in the air as well as Martial and Ronaldo.

There's enough quality there that just needs the right setup and the right additions.
 
The same people saying Sancho is a guaranteed starter now would have wanted him benched for most of this season. Weird how things turn out like that and how you can't judge a player off a short time but have to use their last two seasons to properly assess.
 
TwoSheds said:
I really don't understand how Sancho is "settled" according to some of you lot. He got dropped for the biggest game of our season just 2 games ago and came off the bench to help us to a 0-0 draw at Southampton. He has time on his side so no worries there but his level of performance is both average and somewhat inconsistent so far. Honestly for me Elanga is first name in the wide positions right now which says a lot about the performances of the more experienced players.
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Exactly. Just speaks to the fickle nature of fans.
 
honirelandboy said:
If we are going to compete we are going to have to implement a 4-3-3 system.

GK De Gea CB Varane RCM Bruno RW Sancho.

Other than them four and 7 new players I can't see us challenging. I can see Rashford becoming our new Center forward though and I think that's what he could be sulking about this season.
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Rashford cannot play as a lone CF. He either needs to be in a 2 or on the wings. History has told us that and his playstyle also.
 
Tyrion said:
Sancho ????? ?????
?????? Bruno
??????
Shaw (he's not this bad) Varane ????? ??????
DDG​

I make it 5 out of 11.
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Realistically, I'd add Fred / McT for the 2nd CM spot and Lindelof / Maguire for the 2nd CB spot.

DM, RB, RW, CF needed and I think most would agree with that. If you-know-who wasn't such an idiot, maybe we would've been fine at RW as well. Think highest priority still is DM and CF closely followed by a RB.

I'm optimistic that we'll sign a couple of good players esp. if we can clear some wage budget with Cavani, Marital, Pogba, VdB, Lingard etc. all leaving.
 
Tyrion said:
Sancho ????? ?????
?????? Bruno
??????
Shaw (he's not this bad) Varane ????? ??????
DDG​

I make it 5 out of 11.
Click to expand...

this looks reasonable. Shaw would need to up his game again though. It's sad to see we still need so much rebuilding.
 
Samid said:
If you ask me what the starting lineup will be at the start of the 23/24 season:

XXX
XXX - Varane - XXX - XXX
XXX - XXX
XXX - Bruno - Sancho
XXX​

Even then Varane is a doubt because he seems to be on a decline. And Bruno must agree to a new contract by then.
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I'd add Shaw/Telles at LB because we have so many issues, and probably De Gea if us signing Johnstone is true and we're doing it to have a solid backup and selling Henderson for 20M or so.

So even if those positions aren't perfect, we've got bigger issues (the 6 spots you also had as unclear).

Bruno wanting to leave is probably possible, end of the day we're not really good enough anymore to keep our best player, but there will be top teams who don't want a player, even as productive as he is, who is a 10 and loses the ball a lot, though some team like Juve that plays 3-5-2 and could throw him up top, or some team committed to a 4-2-3-1 might be down to spend a ton on him, and if we sold him in 2024 with a year plus an option for another to go and he'd be 29/30 which is when you wanna cash out on a player. We could certainly use the money elsewhere. This is probably more realistic an outcome if we hire Ten Hag and he loves VDB as a 10 AND we don't win a ton right away with him here so Bruno wants to go AND Ten Hag is horrified at some of the other positions and wants replacements to build the kind of mobile, ball possession backline he has at Ajax now, along with a proper 9 and a RW.
 
If Pogba is staying then we need striker, dmc and right back. So we are on 8/11 imo.
 
Andycoleno9 said:
If Pogba is staying then we need striker, dmc and right back. So we are on 8/11 imo.
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Im yet to believe Pogba can play with Bruno in the same 11 and both reach their maximum.

Pogba is definitely a big issue for you, you have (on occasion) sandwiched him out wide to fit him in the team. He is nothing but a huge negative for you. Regardless of ability.
 
Andycoleno9 said:
If Pogba is staying then we need striker, dmc and right back. So we are on 8/11 imo.
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So I assume it's:

-----------------DDG
RB Varane Lindelof Shaw
------------------DM
---------Bruno Pogba
Sancho-----------------Rashford
------------------CF

I'd argue that Shaw and Rashford are far from settled, or should not be considered settled anyway.

Pogba is almost certain to leave imo.

For me, given we know that there's not going to be enough money available, we probably have to live with what we have in defence.

Buying a new DM is huge for us. So much so, I believe we need two of them for cover, competition and time to settle. Fred is better as a box to box player alongside Bruno and a proper DM, and McTominay needs another level of improvement fast or I'm not sure it's worth keeping him. Not that I'm writing him off yet, there are some very positive signs from him, but I'd much rather he had a couple of players to fight to get past.

The next priority is CF of course. Again though, just buying one CF would leave us with Ronaldo(if he stays), and Rashford as backups. Not enough, unless we happen to get very lucky and buy a CF who performs for 45+ games.
We have little cover for the wide positions, assuming Martial and Greenwood aren't available. Elanga has done brilliantly. But new players often have a slump after an initial burst. He should be 4th or 5th choice right now if we're even trying to build a winning squad.

We have no chance of building a title winning team for next year. It would take 5 TOP players, plus 3 or 4 good rotation options for us to even consider catching city. The players will know this too. It's part of why I think Pogba leaves. Ronaldo probably too. Bruno, Sancho, Varane and anyone else who still has some stock will probably be feeling they'd like to move. Some may even agitate for it.

So we probably lose 11 players this year (Mata, Matic, Bailly, Martial, Henderson, VdB, Lingard, Pogba, Ronaldo, Cavani and Greenwood) and it could be more. We are truly fcked, to be honest. Especially if we don't get top 4 or somehow fluke a CL win.
 
Bruno should not be penciled in at this point. That makes it a solid two from eleven for me.

Varane and Sancho.

Scary.
 
We've spent a billion since Sir Alex and we still need over half a team - really is frightening.

There's no way we sign 7/8 players in one window though, so this summer, 4 key positions (XX)...

De Gea

Dalot/Laird Varane XX Shaw/Telles

XX
Bruno Fred

XX XX Sancho
​
Then look to upgrade on the full backs and a midfielder the season after.
​
 
Robindinho said:
We've spent a billion since Sir Alex and we still need over half a team - really is frightening.

There's no way we sign 7/8 players in one window though, so this summer, 4 key positions (XX)...

De Gea

Dalot/Laird Varane XX Shaw/Telles

XX
Bruno Fred

XX XX Sancho
​
Then look to upgrade on the full backs and a midfielder the season after.
​
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Agree completely with this.

I'd like to see top young prospects who've been thoroughly vetted and we believe to have healthy, winning atittudes. Given we'll be lacking CL income our budget is likely to be tight, however hopefully this is offset somewhat by a ton of outgoings.

Something like the following (One of each) would I think move us in the right direction:

Kounde / Botman
Palhinha / Kamara
Raphinha / Antony
David / God Knows
 
If you look at the last year or two the club has really taken a hit. Greenwood our future star expected to be worth over 100/150 million is erased from the books. Rashford a big name player who was worth at least 50/70 million has become utterly useless. Martial didn't kick on and is deemed surplus to requirements. We are paying a fortune in terms of salary to a 37 year old out of sentiment. We wasted money VDB who is bang average. We spent decent money on two kids who are not playing on their loans. Our record signing Pigba will leave on a free. And most of Oles signings are all going to shit (Maguire, awb etc).

Aside from Sancho and Varane its a shambolic period from a squad building perspective.

Now we need both a CF and a RW in attack, a complete overhaul in midfield and our fullbacks are average two (not to mention one CB needed).

We have to be the poorest run club when you consider the wealth vs output.
 
DDG
Bruno
Varane
Fred
Sancho
Elanga

Squad players would be dalot, telles, lindelof, mct.

Sell the rest.
 
Our Club has been run incompetently for far too long. Cash has been spent but it’s been spent in an arbitrary fashion, there’s been no cohesive plan. Some of this has been done by people who love the club and want it to succeed but most of it is down to incompetence and poor planning.
It has to stop now.
Nobody should be bought unless they want to succeed and they are good enough, Promote the youth as much as possible.
No more buying of former greats in their declining years ie over 32.This club, this greatest of English clubs needs to return to its core values , promote the youth, play the game in a way that entertains your fans, respect the fans and the badge and get stuck in!
This summer sell/off load,
DdG
Maguire
Henderson
AWB,
Shaw
Matic,
Pogba,
Rashford,
Pogba,
DVdB,
Cavani,
Ronaldo.
Lingard.
Lindelof,
Buy,. A central fcuking mid who can boss a team and a game.
A monster keeper who will intimidate forwards, come for crosses and organize his defenders.
A center back who knows how to organize a back four, who will intimidate forwards, and get his thick head onto most balls into the area.
A left wing.
A number 8.
A no 9 who will batter opposing center backs, stuck 20+ league goals in the net and run all day.
Simple’s .
 
GK
RB Varane CB LB
Bruno DM Fred
RW ST Sancho
​
Yeah, I'm okay with Fred if he can keep performing. At the same time giving Garner some chances to rotate with him.
 
Sky1981 said:
This only works in a normal competitive dressing room. Apply this at the current squad they'll downtool and get the manager sacked
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In our squad the cleaner would get a start in the midfield!
 
MvG said:
Yes this is where I ended up as well as I don’t see enough consistency from either LB option while Bruno’s raw stats just can’t be ignored. DDG has regained some form but is surely on the decline and even if he continues to avoid mistakes his timidity is still an issue. I will say that Lindelof has been quite good of late and could be sufficient at the very least next to Varane. But still a question mark for me. You really wonder what a few of these players would look like under a really quality tactician though.
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DDG is only 32 this year. He could be good for at least another 8 years. Granted his distribution could be better, but he is world class at shot stopping.

At the moment you could barely mention a world class attribute of most of our squad. DDG won't be replaced for at least 5 years.
 
Ideally
De Gea
Varane

Pogba/Fernandes Sancho

Realistically

De Gea
Dalot Varane Maguire Shaw
Fred
Fernandes
Rashford/Elanga. Sancho
 
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