It would make sense taken our home grown players are at the edge of not making the threshold of eight players. Same case with Olise. It's the prerequisite for getting rid of Maguire, Rashford and McT in the cleanout.
Jarrad Branthwaite
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
If United need to dig themselves out of the hole they are in then they'll need more then just 4 significant signings.
Isn't this just a case of United scouts still going to games and the media speculating?
I presume Everton probably need to sell to avoid more FFP breaches (Or at least to give them more wriggle room) so it would make sense to take some talent from them.
I 've not seen tonnes of Branthwaite but what I have seen, I like. Got all the raw tools to be a very good player.
Him and Olise in theory are good signings.
I 've not seen tonnes of Branthwaite but what I have seen, I like. Got all the raw tools to be a very good player.
Him and Olise in theory are good signings.
Better than the collapsed suspended ceiling some of ours have then!
Couldn't agree more. Seems to happen to pretty much every Chelsea youngster though. Tbf, most are pretty decent, but nowhere near what the hype suggests.
Its official then. Sign players with first names The Urban Goose hates. They are destined for greatness
This is one of those myths that big tall lumps like him are given and it's not true. I also feel like the next part of your post is a bit contradictory...he jumps out of line but doesn't pre-emptively snuff out danger? Hmm. Him jumping out of line is to do exactly that. Our goal against West Ham that was the only goal to win the game is due to him doing that.
1:20
Not another Maguire.
Then you've not watched him play.
Him being a leftie makes him an appealing prospect. He’s definitely a name to consider in the list for refreshing our CB options along with Antonio Silva, Todibo, Guehi, Hato etc
I wonder if we might take advantage of Everton being in a pickle?
It's not that big a hole. CB and CM priority whilst this forward line of Rashford - Hojlund - Garnacho has promise. That alone I think takes us into the top 4 fight.
if you add a world class attacker on top of that, we are right in with the others. City and Pool really aren't that good, both look much more vulnerable these days than I can remember. The sad thing is the CL is even worse so people will point to that as a marker of them being good as I fully expect a PL team to win it this year.
4 significant signings and a style of play might be enough if we also got rid of some of our shite.
He has a name like a character from Shortland Street and for that reason, I’m out.
A symptom of the woke snowflake PC world we live in.
YOU CANT EVEN DRAW TITS AND GLASSES ON POSTERS OR LIBRARY BOOKS ANY MORE!!1!
He’s just as comfortable with both tbh. A bit like Evans. Can play RCB and LCB with ease.
What many underestimate is that the squad is not static. Its a living organism were players grow old, they pick injuries, they lose motivation and form or they want out. Now let's have a look at United. We need a RB because AWB is not suitable for a high press, Shaw is injury prone while Malacia had vanished in the treatment room. At CB, Varane and Maguire will probably leave (Varane is old, Maguire is on silly salaries and is unsuited for high press). That's 3 signings in defense alone. In midfield we'll probably need to replace Casemiro and Eriksen and we need someone in RW. That's another 2-3 players. Then we need another striker of course. That means 7 players. We're excluding players who might want out, that Martinez will return to his former best and there's no rotten apples among the top players we would like them to stay (ex Onana, Rashford, Bruno, Martinez etc)
4 signings are good enough when in normal conditions ie when you're squad is competitive and you lack the cherry on the cake. For example the signings of Yorke, Blomqvist and Stam were enough to take the EPL winners to treble winners. Its not suited for a rebuild.
He's a good young player and has got better with every move he's made. Bringing him in, means that we can afford to have cover for when Shaw gets injured by moving Martinez to an inverted LB position. Another young CB prospect we've been linked to is Leny Yoro, who is also ambipedal. Wonder who we would prefer out of the two? It may come down to the transfer fee, think Yoro may be cheaper given Everton are valuing Branthwaite at 100m.
Well in theory we are supposed to have cover for Shaw in Malacia (whom I don’t particularly rate tbh) but I’d rather we play a left back there than Martinez.
Yoro also looks a real talent too. I’d prefer Branthwaite though firstly because he’s English and settled in the PL and the area, but secondly because Yoro is 18. Branthwaite is also still very young, but he is more developed and is a player very much for now. We should be targeting young players for sure, but we can’t keep buying talent on the never never. These young players need to deliver now. I’m lazily comparing Yoro to Saliba, who was also signed by Arsenal at 18 but had to spend two seasons (or was it even three?) on loan before he could be reasonably expected to be a key player for them. Branthwaite would be expected to perform immediately, while still having plenty of scope for growth.
Of course, 100m would be a joke for Branthwaite, but if indeed Everton find themselves in a place where they need to sell then I’m hopeful of somewhere between 50 and 60. If not then we’d probably need to move on.
I'm undecided on Malacia. I think he will end up as a competent LB but unlikely to really push Shaw for a starting place. Shaw is becoming injury prone and is likely to get worse as he gets older. I like the idea of Martinez as an inverted LB, this is the role Arsenal wanted to buy him for.
I get what you're saying on Branthwaite, a bit more developed and further along than Yoro. But i think Yoro has the potential to be world class and since he won't be starting ahead of Martinez right away, he's one we can target and bring along. I mean, if Saliba is the model, I'd rather a 'Saliba' than a Branthwaite if you're comparing the two. I think we will be priced out of Branthwaite anyways as you say, 100m is a joke for him. There's been talk of Real making a bid for Yoro, they've been really good with their transfers with young players recently so that gives some indication of the type of potential teams think Yoro has.
Sink or swim when players come to big clubs.
His passing stats look pretty weak. 37 passes per game, under 80% pass completion and 0.2 key passes. He's in a side that are poor in possession but still...
Maguire is way more suited to the high press, than Varane. This is a myth that doesn't seem to go away.
Who knows what this next round of sanctions could be. They may be doomed to relegation, in which case Onana might also be a good option.
What names Do you like? Please don't say Jadon.
Seriously?
I don't think that Maguire is the donkey many portray him to be. If he was a 90s EPL defender then he'll probably be rated as good as a Tony Adams. The guy is huge, he's strong and he's very good in air. Unfortunately he's also very slow and his scanning is horrible. That's down to the fact that he never played in a high line before. Hull, Leicester and England don't play that style of football. Nothing wrong with that. Players have a different skillset and can only play with certain clubs that play that skillset.
Varane is the modern type of CB. He's fast, he's extremely experienced and he's brilliant. Unfortunately he's also a bit injury prone, he's on a silly salary and he's reaching a stage in his career were he'll have to transition to a different style of game. Not everyone can do that. Rio for example struggled big time when he lost that yard of pace and we're talking of one of the best CBs EPL football had ever seen.
We always had one of the highest defensive lines in the league under Ole, when Maguire was the first name on the team sheet.
Last season, the duo of Martínez and Varane were one of the deepest pairings in the whole league.
Ole played with a deep line up until varane came. That was the time when maguire struggled
No, I'm talking about his two full seasons in charge.
And he had Varane for what, 2 months? I'm not talking about those few games at the end of his tenure.
Ole started his managerial career with us (as interim) with a swashbuckling style of football only to revert to Mourinho ball as soon as clubs started adapting to it and exploiting the glaring weaknesses this squad has (which tbf wasn't built for a high line/high press football). During his first summer as a full time manager he doubled down on Mourinho ball by signing Maguire, AWB and Dan James who were literally made for playing the quick counter attacking football, Mourinho teams were designed for. United were struggling big time at that point but Bruno's signing in January lifted us and he carried Ole for two seasons. The summer after he faced an underwhelming summer season with Diallo/Pellistri (whom he rarely played), VDB (who he didn't wanted) and Cavani. That created the perfect counter attacking side that fully relied on the quick runs of Rashy + Greenwood and the sharpness of Bruno and Cavani. Towards the end of the season it became evident that the good old counter attacking football couldn't take us to the next level. More and more opponents learnt our game and were just happy to sit back and get a point against us. Thus Ole tried to change the game with Sancho (we were incredibly reliant on the left side as Greenwood was basically a striker playing as a winger and AWB produced next to nothing), Varane (whose pace and experience was supposed to allow the defense to play with a higher line) and of course Ronaldo who was considered as a top goal poacher. It was then that the entire team collapsed. Maguire and AWB struggled in a high line, we suddenly learnt that our team didn't had the legs (or the will) to run up and down the pitch. Rangnick doubled down on that theory as he clearly stated that this team was uncapable to play his gegenpressing and then ETH came and went on spending big on Martinez and Malacia.
I think this is the crux of the situation that some in this thread seem to be missing. He would cost a lot yes - if Everton were in a normal situation - but they're getting done by FFP this season and are likely going to have to sell some of their prized assets at the end of the season cheaper than they imagined. Especially if they get more points deductions and it causes them to be relegated. Would not complain at all if we signed him and Onana for the midfield.
Didn't know he was only 21. His surname had me confused with the washed up Barcelona forward for a while at the start of the season 
I see he was at PSV for a year too, any Dutch fans know how he fared?
I see he was at PSV for a year too, any Dutch fans know how he fared?
Yeah it's an odd myth that we play a deeper line with Maguire when it's actually the opposite.
https://markstats.club/epl-teams-20-21/
4th highest in the league 20/21
He looks decent from little I’ve seen, now he’s signed a new contract though I imagine the price will be extortionate. A lot going on at Everton so who knows what state they will be in by the summer, even so it’s rare you see players sold off on the cheap.
We were linked with him when he was on loan at PSV and that was probably time to sign him.
We were linked with him when he was on loan at PSV and that was probably time to sign him.
There might be something in this, if you'd come to me in 2006 and said you had a wonderkid called Lionel I'd have told you to do one.Its official then. Sign players with first names The Urban Goose hates. They are destined for greatness
Although knowing us the club will just buy a load of Nigels and Chardonnays.
I quite like Claudio, Luis and Simone at the moment...
Are you insane?!
At the time he was fast. Do you argue that Varane isn't extremely experienced and wasn't brilliant?
I read it as «is brilliant». He was. But he is not.
I think Varane always relied on pace and agility.
I agree that he is very experienced, but he dont always look like one either. Keeps surprising me to see him letting the ball bounce when he should not etc. And quite often he look like a player who used to rely heavily on beating attackers on pace and agility, but cant.
I think that Varane is still a very capable CB. The defense as a whole would have performed much better if
a- it didn't suffer so many injuries
b- it was built for the style of the modern style of football
c- it didn't rely so much on two players at the wrong side of their career (ie Casemiro and Varane)
However I do agree that signing him at that age and on that salary was stupid. I also believe that its time for him to go.