Agreed, Smalling is good but not top class.
If we signed a 5th player...
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Agreed, Smalling is good but not top class.
How many of those are good enough to be relied upon is the real question. I like Tuanzebe but we have nothing to suggest that he's ready to play in the Premier League for Manchester United. The fact that Mourinho didn't bring him to Sweden tells me he has his doubts about how ready Tuanzebe is. Rojo certainly isn't good enough imo and I think most would agree with that. Jones will likely divide a lot of opinions too. Blind doesn't seem to be a starter in Jose's mind. If he lasts this season, I doubt he'll last much longer. Not that I think he's a bad player but not sure he'll remain a United player if we get a decent offer.
Why striker? I would have thought that was one of our strongest positions.
I'm not confident. We'll likely be playing only one up top but I'd argue there are still question marks over all of them. Zlatan - speed of adaptation and due to age likely a short termer, Rooney - I'm not going to go into but I'm not a fan - think we'll only have a couple of streaks of good form out of him per season, Rashford is still a kid and will be hot and cold, Wilson hasn't shown me anything to believe in really.
The days of having 4 proper strikers are gone across football but I'd be more confident with someone around who's in their peak years and has a record of getting over 20 a season consistently (which out of the four we have, only Zlatan has managed). And to be primitive (and not entirely right about it), goals win leagues and our players have had trouble getting them in recent seasons. Obviously, breaking down a defence is way more complicated than simply signing quality up top, but it would help.
Anthony Martial got 17 which is very close, and he could play striker if necessary even though he's certainly better as a winger imo. Rooney still got a decent return of 15 tbf. Not good enough from Wayne but I think you have to factor in the way the team were playing. That certainly limited the number of goals we scored. Rashford also managed an impressive goal every 3 games. If he can continue to get similar numbers that's a good option to have. Ibrahimovic's numbers speak for themselves - 47 goals in 41 games for PSG. Unlikely he'll reach such numbers for United but I think it's unrealistic to expect him to get any less than 15 at an absolute minimum and I would argue he probably will surpass 20 goals next season. I really don't see anything to suggest we'll struggle to score goals. There are also goals in our midfield with Mata getting 10 goals last season and Mkhitaryan getting a very impressive 16.
Anyone and everyone who we buy from here on in will cost a fair few quid more than they ought to.
A quality holding mid, valencia is a good enough right back despite the criticisms (and considering every team has right back as their weak point). A lot more quality to be bought in midfield to improve us
CB by miles. Phil and Mike have injury issues. Rojo is awful. Blind obviously played there last season, but he's more of a DM honestly (imo at least).
I do not understand the logic towards those who says Defensive Midfielder. I am pretty sure I have not forgotten basic arithmetic and if we add up all the defensive midfielder we have currently in the team it equates to around 4: Carrick, Schneiderlin, Blind, Fosu Mensah. That is without mentioning players who could do a job in that role like Fellaini, Jones, Schweinstiger, etc. Three out of those four are more than decent holding midfield option.
In regards to the thread, I feel a fifth signing is unnecessary and we need to focus on building team chemistry rather than making a Frankenstein squad each summer as one other poster mentioned.
In regards to the thread, I feel a fifth signing is unnecessary and we need to focus on building team chemistry rather than making a Frankenstein squad each summer as one other poster mentioned.
I think CB is less of a need than RB.
Smalling and Bailly are quality. Jones and Blind are decent backups in a pinch. Rojo is rubbish and admittedly could use replacing. But there is a nice youthfulness to that group, and Rojo could be replaced by TFM and Tuanzebe.
At RB, TFM was positionally suspect. Darmian at his best was solid defensively and unspectacular going forward. At his worst, he was at risk of a red card as he proved unable to handle the Premier League and in attack he was absent and an inconsistent crosser. That was in a possession based system designed to shield the defense.
Valencia is excellent in my opinion. I don't even worry too much about his defending even though he doesn't look completely comfortable there. Unlike some fans, I think Valencia's crossing and overlapping runs are a big plus coming from the RB position.
So I like Valencia, but for the future there needs to be a good attacking RB with some youthfulness. Now is the time to bring that player in while Valencia can provide veteran cover for any growing pains.
At CB, the age profile is good, and there are two good starters at least. At RB, the age profile is poor if Darmian can't improve enough to at least match Valencia's contribution.
I'd go for Fabinho, since he can function as that DM as well if needed. He looks like a stronger defender than Darmian and Valencia, and he might have more to offer offensively than Darmian will. At 22 he fits with the young team we are putting together for the future.
Plus, balance on the attacking side with the fullbacks is critical to Mourinho and to United. United face lots of packed defences and negative setups, so another season with a weak right side is not an option.
My only caveat is that the possession based system meant that our defenders saw a lot of the ball. That put pressure on Darmian, and he often had to provide cover for slower players like Blind or for mistakes in that area of the pitch.
So perhaps a different system with faster CBs who can recover will help Darmian. However I'm sorry to say that I think it won't make a difference, and we should look to replace Darmian with a younger RB
Smalling and Bailly are quality. Jones and Blind are decent backups in a pinch. Rojo is rubbish and admittedly could use replacing. But there is a nice youthfulness to that group, and Rojo could be replaced by TFM and Tuanzebe.
At RB, TFM was positionally suspect. Darmian at his best was solid defensively and unspectacular going forward. At his worst, he was at risk of a red card as he proved unable to handle the Premier League and in attack he was absent and an inconsistent crosser. That was in a possession based system designed to shield the defense.
Valencia is excellent in my opinion. I don't even worry too much about his defending even though he doesn't look completely comfortable there. Unlike some fans, I think Valencia's crossing and overlapping runs are a big plus coming from the RB position.
So I like Valencia, but for the future there needs to be a good attacking RB with some youthfulness. Now is the time to bring that player in while Valencia can provide veteran cover for any growing pains.
At CB, the age profile is good, and there are two good starters at least. At RB, the age profile is poor if Darmian can't improve enough to at least match Valencia's contribution.
I'd go for Fabinho, since he can function as that DM as well if needed. He looks like a stronger defender than Darmian and Valencia, and he might have more to offer offensively than Darmian will. At 22 he fits with the young team we are putting together for the future.
Plus, balance on the attacking side with the fullbacks is critical to Mourinho and to United. United face lots of packed defences and negative setups, so another season with a weak right side is not an option.
My only caveat is that the possession based system meant that our defenders saw a lot of the ball. That put pressure on Darmian, and he often had to provide cover for slower players like Blind or for mistakes in that area of the pitch.
So perhaps a different system with faster CBs who can recover will help Darmian. However I'm sorry to say that I think it won't make a difference, and we should look to replace Darmian with a younger RB
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Tough one but CB. Valencia/Darmian are meah but at least they spend most of the time on the pitch not in the training room. Lets hope Bailly can do the RB role.
CB.
Smalling is our only reliable CB, blind is not jose type of a CB and only is a good back up plan, jones cant stay fit for more than 3 weeks, bailly is still raw and unproven at this level, rojo is a disaster waiting to happen.
Smalling is our only reliable CB, blind is not jose type of a CB and only is a good back up plan, jones cant stay fit for more than 3 weeks, bailly is still raw and unproven at this level, rojo is a disaster waiting to happen.
Mahrez for right wing, and then Fonte for central defence.
We should sign either Koulibaly or Mustafi. Both of them are on the market. Mustafi would be the cheaper option.
A settled Di Maria would of been very useful at this stage! God damn you LVG.
Has to be an established centre back!
Yeah because you can never have too many wingers playing as full backs.
As long as they're fast.
He does not have a ton of first team experience but, Bailly is coming off a year where he more than held his own in La Liga helping Villarreal to CL qualification. And La Liga is the league everyone loves to say is the best in the World on this forum.
Why didn't you guys go in for Kante I wonder?
CB please
Don't even want a RB this summer.
Far too many changes and we need to gel quickly.
Don't even want a RB this summer.
Far too many changes and we need to gel quickly.
Right back out of those two options. Not Fabinho though, someone better, especially going forwards.
Christ, the league has terrible standards if that's the case.
That's a bit of a wild statement. He has the power and pace to be a good right back and very often looks the part but there have been a lot of times where his lack of experience/understanding of the position have caused him problems. He regularly struggles with the offside trap and seems to get caught ball watching 3-4 times a game.
He's better than Darmian but we need a specialist right back who fully understands the position. Valencia is like Silvestre. Not 100% reliable but a decent backup.
This, with Rooney unfortunately getting his nth chance to stink the place up as a no.10 and us looking at using Pogba as an 8 we should shore things up in midfield. I have doubts on Schneiderlin living up to his soton stint and at his best he was a defensive b2b mid not someone like Makelele.
Me and my friends talk about that so much.
For me there are three key areas that need improving if/when we sign Pogba. They are right back, centre back and right wing. I expect at least two of these positions to be improved with a new signing. The most important area is centre back. We have only two decent players here which are Smalling and Bailly and the latter is new to the league. Rojo and Jones are average/injury prone and then we have a few kids who will probably go out on loan. I don't think Blind is a typical Mourinho centre back and at least one more player is needed here to add depth.
Probably an experienced centre half, but then Rojo and Jones would need to leave, and possibly Blind too depending on whether CBJ goes on loan too.
If it's a RB then Fabinho makes sense, as he is also VERY good in midfield, to the point where it may be his best position.
If it's a RB then Fabinho makes sense, as he is also VERY good in midfield, to the point where it may be his best position.
I'm annoyed by the clickbait title. That's all I have to say.
Totally agree.
Well, there's no guarantee we weren't in for Kante/Krychowiak but it may be a problem if the window closes and we haven't got one.
I would totally agree with this.......though I would like to see Mensah get opportunities there. He can play as a right back though positionally doesnt look right to me, he could develop in to a quality centre back, so that it is two positions covered....BUT I really think he could become a top top central midfielder in the way all that Jones was experimented in and failed.
I dont think any of our central midfielders have been good enough Schneiderlin, Carrick, Herrera, Fellaini, Schweinsteiger have all been mediocre at best the last two years.
I see some people complaining about the muppetry on here of people wanting virtually a whole new team.....well, I think we do, at least 4 or 5 positions I think will be totally different players over the next 18 months to what they were before, only DeGea, Shaw, Smalling, Martial and Rashford will remain from last years first eleven I think. That doesnt mean we need to be going all muppet with big names linked though. I think 2 or 3 of the other positions could well be filled by some of the talented youngsters we have, which added to the hopeful four would be a good side....but for this season we would be a little short
In the words of the great Scooby Doo...Rikes!?!
Centre back. We only have smalling and Bailly, the rest are useless.
Well two seems more than enough. We actually also have a third in Blind who contributed to the best defense in the league last year.
Can't really think of anyone who we have been linked with who is still available and plays in a position we may want to strengthen other than Fabinho, Manolas, et al.
Sorry. What i meant is the english league is new to him. Probably using the wrong word here.
If we could only bring in one more player I'd prefer it to be an experienced centre back. Smalling and Bailley can't play every game and Jones and Rojo just aren't good enough. I'm not convinced by Blind as a defender either.
Seeing as Blind won't get the nod, we definitely need a center back.
Centre back without a doubt. The more games we have to start with Jones and/or Rojo, the more we will lose.