James Rodriguez | joins Bayern Munich | 2 year loan
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) are here to discuss Amad saving our blushes in a win against Southampton as well as our now annual loss at home to Brighton. They discuss Amorim's post-match comments, revisit how mid-table we may or may not be, and discuss some transfer news.
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How long till Ballbag changes his tune again?
I didnt know you were a time lord? How are the Daleks these days?
Actually, with all the noise now that the Griezmann deal is dying out since Simeone seems to be staying at Atletico for one more season, I think Jose will get James plus another striker to make up the goals deficit. Someone like Belotti, Lukaku or even Morata, supported 3 out of a pool of James, Mkhi, Rashford, Martial or Lingard looks great to me. Allows for a lot of squad rotation and dealing with injuries and suspensions, rather than rely on Lingard or Rooney like this season. Before I get flak, I see Lingard as a squad player, not someone who should have his name so often on starting team sheets. He has excellent movement off-the-ball and pace, but often fails to do what is needed when he gets the ball soon after.
Forget about the price but he contributes lot more than just 10 -12 goals. He averages 90 mins per goal+assists for Madrid (3 years in La Liga), that's superb record.
I remember some Chelsea fans weren't big on the idea of Fabregas joining them.
This is a similar situation. A few screamers from James and the fans will fall in love with him. I guarantee it. He's a class player.
This is a similar situation. A few screamers from James and the fans will fall in love with him. I guarantee it. He's a class player.
Freelance journalist. United fan. Think he has some links to Stretty News website.
Might have the occasional decent source for some United stories. In this particular instance, I'd be cautious. His info on Michael Keane seems more likely to be credible, as it easy to believe he might have spoken to some members of the Keane family in the past.
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Where is Mitten these days? Havent heard from him in a while. No longer ITK?
Veron, Falcao, Di Maria, Schweinsteiger, Berbatov, ..............................
I'd suggest extreme caution before guaranteeing anything related to transfers
He seems to be doing a lot more Spanish stories (lives in Barcelona with his family who must barely see him given the amount of travelling he does) and "interesting" general football stories for various publications, and far less United though he still does United We Stand magazine and regular ESPN articles on us. Mitten has generally been better on "inside the camp" stories, players hate Moyes, bored by LVG's football etc, than transfers.
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What happens when Sunday arrives and no signing occurs?
We synthesize a new date?
We synthesize a new date?
It's always the following week.
The more i watch Rodriguez the more i think he's just a good footballer. He can play quick short passes, he can pick out a pass through the lines, hes good at retaining posession and forcing a foul, has fantastic set-piece delivery, scores goals in different positions. Mata needs passing options around him to play in midfield because he is easily dispossessed, unlike Hererra or Pogba who are very physical. I do not see James having this limitation.
I am not wanting him to be bought by us but ill be happy if he is, people are talking about him not being right to maximize our players; but we are so lacking in quality that i just want to see good players play for Manchester United again.
At the moment our 'best' midfield in the eyes of the manager is Hererra as the deepest midfielder, Pogba in the middle, and Fellaini the furthest forward acting as a midfielder/no.10 hybrid. If we can replace fellaini with James Rodriguez and get another defensive midfielder then I would be happy with our midfield options.
I doubt we will see any movement until after the CL final. If there is to be any movement at all.
Anyway, we signed Bailly on 8th of June last year. I expect our first signing to be around the same date this year. That is the way Jose prefers to conduct his business. Nice and early.
I'm talking about AS saying this deal will be announced on Sunday.
I don't think this deal will happen either way.
I hope you're not suggesting Berba was a bad transfer? He is a legend for us and one of the classiest players we ever had.
The rest would have came good if they stayed longer imo. Apart from Bastian. He was past it.
Wasn't a good transfer either, was one of Fergusons biggest transfers ever but he never really set the place on fire. Sure had some nice games and scored some goals and he is indeed classy but you expect more from a top striker than that. For the money we paid for him, he should have done better, he is not a Falcao-like failure by any means but also not a great succes story either.
Disagree. He was a good buy for us. We won 2 league titles with him and got the Golden Boot during one of those seasons.
Also loves the club still. And chose to join Fulham over any of our rivals at the time. City were interested.
Thats the issue really isnt it. Do we blow a lot of our transfer budget on a player who ruins our shape? Id not be disapointed if we got him but...
Its a fictional issue created by some fans. If Cesc can play in a 2-man midfield, then it is ridiculous to say Pogba cannot. What is needed is simply to pair him with the proper DM.
At Madrid, Makele was in a midfield with Zidane, Figo and Solari. Makele was the only ball winner and yet they were good enough to win the CL.
Are you saying you have a Zidane and a Figo now? Last I check Man Utd don't have two d'Or winners on the team and an all time great like Raul leading the line
Firstly, Raul never lead the line at Madrid (started as a winger and later became an SS) and more so it is irrelevant to the discussion.
Those that claim that Pogba cannot be used in a 2-man midfield, base it on his defensive shortcomings and that defensive duties will shackle him offensively. I have simply given two examples in which the players in midfield are defensively worse than Pogba and were not shackled offensively. How good they were offensively relative to other players is of little to no relevance to the discussion.
If paired with a good DM, Pogba will be more than fine in a 2-man midfield.
He never was a winger, ever. Coming from the Atletico academy he was a forward that ended up shifting to an attacking midfielder then an ss of sorts then back to leading the line again. I actually watched him play and didn't look at team sheets thinking I knew better lol
Secondly Pogba can play in a two man midfield if you want to again waste your money like you did with Di Maria. Di Maria was the best CM in the world when he went to Man Utd and they decided to play him mostly as a winger instead. So consequently you wasted him.
So now you have a player in Pogba who was absolute magic in a three man midfield that allowed Pogba to really play as a free roaming attacking midfielder, supported defensively by Vidal/Marchisio and playmaking wise from deep by Pirlo. So what do you and Man Utd as a whole want to do now, feck it, let's not get the best out of a player we paid a world record fee for. Lets make him adjust to the team and change the way he plays rather than trying to get the best out of him.
Consequently what you have now is a shell of the player that was at Juventus. But hey what do I know Man Utd obviously don't need any help they are doing just fine.
A manager will always play his own tactics and style, the players just have to adapt to that. It happens everywhere, not just a United thing - some good players can't adjust and they leave, become world-class elsewhere.
Also, Di Maria was a winger who played CAM in his last season under Ancelotti (who likes FBs for width).
I also watched Raul play with Zamorano, Suker, Morientes, el fenomeno and RvN, and he never lead the line. In his first few seasons, particularly when Mijatovic was in the team, Raul was deployed on the right flank. It was later that he became a regular SS. Games he played alone upfront were necessitated by absences of preferred options e.g. Morientes and el fenomeno.
Di Maria was a winger at Benfica and under Mourinho at Madrid. He was moved centrally by Ancelotti when Ozil was sold for Bale and the latter was preferred on the right flank. (But I am sure you actually watched all those games too). Di Maria was always a better winger than he was a CM. Di Maria's issues at United was not with playing either as a CM or winger, but that LvG asked him to constantly change positions, while he would rather be given a fixed role. The dynamic positioning is a core principle of LvG and his version of Total Football, and also the reason LvG favored multi-functional players. You could fault Di Maria for being less adaptable, but the bulk of blame lies with LvG for buying a player that was unlikely to suit his philosophy.
Your argument is flawed as you have not seen Pogba play in the said 2-man midfield thus you cannot say that a 3-man midfield is the best system for him. Being good at Juventus with a 3-man midfield does not automatically equate to him being equally great in a similar setup at United and does not bar him from being equally or more successful in other formations. More importantly, the structure of the team is to make the team successful and not necessarily make Pogba great. If a 2-man midfield makes the team successful, why should the manger adopt a different approach.
Tell me who led the line for Real Madrid after Morientes got injured at the end of 2001 by himself? I'll be here waiting. Tell me where did Raul play in the 2004 CdR final and for all those games Ronaldo (fat) missed? Tell me where did Raul play when Higuain came to town specifically 07/08, 08/09? In the 95/96 season when bam bam went down to injury who led the line by himself? In his debut year in La Liga under Valdana he made a number of appearances in La Liga and consequently after this all without bam bam as well. I could go on, but it's quite obvious you have no idea what you are talking about.
And again he was never ever a winger, if you watched him play you would know this. As I said looking at a team sheet shows you nothing.
You do know Di Maria got benched by Bale right, because he was so inconsistent as a winger and frustrating as hell at times to watch play.
Actually Di Maria's best ever football was at Madrid as a left sided box to box central midfielder, ask anyone who watched him play that season under Ancelotti and he was the best central midfielder in the world at the time, his ego got so big, because he was so damn good, he asked for the same pay as Ronaldo lmao. Every news outlet that covered football said the same thing, putting him in central midfield rescued his career at Real Madrid. But hey, you apparently watch us play lmfao, you should already know this.
http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/88/s...carnation-how-di-maria-has-rescued-his-madrid
https://www.fourfourtwo.com/feature...nt-england-bound-castaway-key-man-real-madrid
So what does Man Utd do? Spend all this money on a player and play him in the exact position he was benched at for in Real Madrid, instead of the position he rescued his career in and made his name in. The only reason noodle was worth the money you paid was because of his resurgence as a central midfielder! Great job!
I have seen Pogba in a two man midfield, ask France how he did there? He played it sparingly at Juventus due to injury and he was HORRIBLE when they did. As I said I actually watch football, you should try it.
If you buy a player for a world record fee, you better damn well build the team around getting the best of him or what is the point, why not go out and buy any fairly decent midfielder who is proven in a two man midfield and pocket the change, hell with that money you could of bought two or three.
Kante cost 25m, Kroos cost 25m, Vidal cost 37m, Thiago cost 25m, Eriksen cost 15m, Casemiro 5me, and the list goes on and on and on
Please don't reply, I don't need to school you on football a 3rd time.
This is going off topic, so I will make this simple. My original comment was regards to Makelele in midfield with Figo+Zidane+Solari which you claim was possible cos Raul was leading the line. That midfield was from the 2001/2002 season in which Morientes was the guy leading the line for most of the games. That injury (as I already stated) forced Raul to deputize does not proof your claim that the setup was possible only because of Raul. Even in the final of CL, which was probably the most important game, it was Morientes leading the line. Again this is going off topic.
The debate is not about whether Bale is better than Di Maria but where Di Maria should have been played at United. Excluding his time at United, in 9 seasons at top flight, playing in 3 clubs and under 7 managers, Di Maria has been used as box2box CM under only one coach for one season and has been a winger or attacking midfielder for the remaining 8 seasons and 6 coaches, both before and after that lone season. But in your opinion all those managers are wrong and his best position is as a CM? If he is so great as a CM why have all the other managers not used him as such? The truth is Ancelotti moved him into the middle by necessity and not by choice. BTW he also had a great season in 2011/12 as a winger and got his salary increased from €2m to €3m.
FYI LvG did play Di Maria as a CM almost half the time, Di Maria just didnt like the continuous switching of position
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-utd-news-di-maria-11124749
You havent seen Pogba play in the said 2-man midfield i.e. you havent seen him play alongside whoever Mourinho plans to pair with him at United in a 4-2-3-1 and thus you cannot comment on how well he will do in it.
For France, Pogba was paired with Matuidi who is not a true DM and was in a formation that was more 4-4-2 than 4-2-3-1 with Griezmann being much further ahead than both Payet and Sissoko making him more of an SS than an AM. That setup left Pogba and Matuidi exposed defensively and with Matuidi's penchant for going forward, Pogba's offensive freedom was constrained. A failed implementation by Deschamps is not a justification to write off the entire system. I cannot remember any game at Juve that Pogba was in a 2-man midfield, but Juve did not have a true DM and thus the success or failure of such experimentation is not valid.
Whether the role Mourinho has in mind for Pogba will be the best for the team or not is yet to be seen. I think the player has the abilities for the role and with a good DM, he would still excel as well as he did in a 3-man midfield at Juve. You believe otherwise but time will be the final judge.
You can continue to rant about how you know more about the best role for Pogba than Mourinho, but I am disinclined to pay your opinion any mind. Forgive me if I trust the opinion of one of the best managers of the last 2 decades over that of a fan who has no achievement to his name in the field.
Very odd things to say about Pogba.
I'm genuinely wondering if you've seen him play at all this season with that analysis.
PIN. THIS. POST.
Dices que?
Finally! Made this point a million times myself. DiMaria when we signed him started in a cm role with Blind and Herrera and was sensational, got injured and then was played as a winger and was totally wasted by Van Gaal, made no sense at all, just as it didnt moving Blind back to left back and then central defence where he is average at best. He would be a decent Carrick replacement for us as a back up anyway to a good signing. DiMaria didnt settle anyway but I 100% agree with you that we totally wasted the talents of a brilliant player who was a monster for Real and looke dlike being one for us when played in cm
In an ideal world, yes, absolutely. He's a game-winner
No. The reason was he was poor defensively. When he played we were under immense pressure defensively. Our defensive shape was extremely poor. Even when he played as a winger he had no defensive awareness
We were playing with Blind as DMF and all defensive work was thrown on his shoulders and Blind doesn't have the requirements to be a single DMF IMO, especially in EPL.
If we had a better DMF the formation would have worked better against weaker teams I believe. I liked this Diamond formation much from the offensive point, just lacked a proper DMF to cover ADM and Herrera.
Blind is a good passer but he's slow and easily pressed. He's not a proper DMF for me.
A single DM on his own cannot cover the entire midfield in any team. That's what a box to box midfielder should do surely? Support the DM. The problem was at the time Herrera and AdM were too attacking and we were getting overrun in midfield. Herrera was also drifting off from position leaving gaps in midfield.
Defense hasn't been the best attribute of the diamond formation. It's a formation all about attacking and sacrificing defense in terms of scoring multiple goals. I remember last SAF season he tried it and we were conceding a lot, remember this old lady that asked him to change the formation ?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ams-Sir-Alex-Fergusons-diamond-formation.html
The only way to play it efficiently is to have a hell of a DMF behind both CMs.
Di Maria was the best central midfielder in the world when he came to us despite not even playing in central midfield for the previous 3 years at Real??? Paul Pogba has shown Scholes-esque passing and Viera-esque physicality but he needs 2 dedicated midfielders to do all the midfield work for him???
What is going on in this thread?
What is going on in this thread?
This is false, it's something that only stubborn managers do. There are many others who do the opposite and adjust to the players they have.
For instance this is what our manager thinks and does, and indeed we have changed our formation several times in the last three years (4-3-1-2 in 2015, 3-5-2 last season and 4-2-3-1 this season but depending on who plays we use also 3-4-3,4-3-2-1 etc.) because we sold players and got others with different characteristics.
I think it worked out very well for us
You can't bake a chocolate cake if you have apples, you bake an apple cake instead.
How about an apple tart.
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