He's nothing like Mata.
Kevin De Bruyne
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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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I can't see him leaving this season. Will probably go after this one, to help Wolfsburg go far in CL/Bundesliga and see what their team can do. I suppose he'll go to either Bayern or an English club next season if he maintains this form. We'd benefit from him but we'll have to clear out someone.
Yeah true, but nobody really knows why Mourinho didn't rate him and decided as soon as he arrived that he wants to get rid of him. It's not like he got a lot of opportunities, similiar to Mata he just wasn't Mourinho's cup of tea.
Only some rumours that he has attidude problems and needs to be the main man (like in Bremen or Wolfsburg) and doesn't like fighting for his place.
As high as I rate him, you are right, I don't think he should be a target, he is not a winger and best as 10, if we spend that kind of money it should be for a top class winger.
Yeah, because they exist and are attainable.
I've rarely seen de Bruyne play but is he essentially Chelsea's version of what happened to us and Pogba then?
Griezmann is as attainable as De Bruyne and would cost as much. Both will probably stay for another year and move to a bigger club next summer, but would prefer signing Griezmann as RW than De Bruyne as 10 or playing him on the wing.
Griezmann is not a conventional winger by any stretch. He's more of a striker than a winger.
Probably because he spent half the season on the bench...
Hmm, didn't Ricardo Rodriguez won that for Wolfsburg that year?
He may be different player but they both occupy same position.
I think he means the season just gone, where he won Bundesliga player of the year
Yeah for the last season undoubtedly.
But all in all he had one great season. I don't like us to splash 50m for a one great season on a player that we don't need at the moment(in his position) and who for some reason or other couldn't break in premiership.
Griezmann for example is the same age, but had 2 solid seasons at Sociedad, 1 very good one and 2 great seasons in the last 5 years. CL experience as well.
He also comes (according to KdB) reports at a lower price as he has a buyout clause at around 43m pounds.
Agreed with that. I'd rather city spend on him 50m and fail to address their defensive issues.
Thats the part I disagree with tbh. He can play as a 10 and as wide player too.
I would rather him play as our 10 than Depay anyway. I would also rather him playing RM for us than Mata and him over Young at LM
He is not lightning quick, but he add pace and creativity 2 things LVG says we lack in our attack. Of course Pedro also brings that too.
Griezmann is a good shout.
True but players like Pedro, Sanchez or Bale wouldn't be those classic wingers either and I think we could do with one of them. He would add pace and goals alongside Memphis of course and would kill my worries that Rooney won't score enough on his own. I was already a huge fan of him at Sociedad where he was more a traditional winger and available for half the money he is worth now
Have you seen Wolfsburg's goal against Bayern? He sure got pace, and that technique... wow.
Him and Griezman are both attainable. Not sure if they are quite at the level that LVG talked about us needing but there aren't any superstars out there available right now.
This is the player we should be targeting. Would love to see Bale here, but don't see that coming to anything. I really won't mind moving Mata if we can get hold of De Bruyne. Game is not all about pace, although he is still pretty fast, but it's about footballing intelligence. If speed was the main factor, then Valencia would be first choice for that right wing position.
Disagree. Obviously he's right footed, but they are both AMs whose main strength is spotting a pass in the final third and delivering it. Both excel as 10s on the counter and can produce well without being outstanding as wingers. De Bruyne is a bit more nimble but Mata was quicker than he is now at 24 too. Both are good, composed finishers who don't get a ton of goalscoring chances but convert well when they do. Neither is useful in the air. Both take set pieces.
The way I could see De Bruyne fitting is if we went with the formation Madrid used when Bale was out, with Memphis as Ronaldo as a the LWF, a 9 up front (presumably Rooney) and then 2 AMs in Mata and De Bruyne (Isco and James for Madrid) creating for them on either side and constantly available in possession for Herrera (Modric), the DM (who knows) and FBs to feed:
Memphis-------Rooney--------------
--------De Bruyne------Mata--------
----------------Herrera---------------
---------------Schneiderlin-----------
Shaw--------------------------Darmian
-----------LCB-------Smalling--------
------------------GK------------------
Looks pretty damn strong if the 2 defensive signings are good.
That's not Mata's main strength. Mata's main strength is his ability to find pockets of space in dangerous positions and clinically put away chances. I really don't why people fail to see, Mata is nowhere near as creative as he is branded. De Bruyne is far more of a 'pass-spotter' and his stats - not only his assists but his chances created - back this up.
This I basically agree with (though Mata had 16 and 20 assists in all comps his 2 full Chelsea seasons), though I think if Mata played as a 10 with speedy wingers on the side and a 9 up top he'd look more creative, as he did at Chelsea when in that role and as De Bruyne did at Wolfsburg last year.
I would be surprised if Mata gets 2X as many goals as assists again.
He was so good last year it wasn't even funny. In terms of passing he's almost like a Beckham/Scholes hybrid, he's got a brilliant right foot. He can bend it from out wide, ping it from the centre, it's beautiful to watch him pick a pass. Scored a couple of screamers with both his right and his left.
He really seems to thrive in a team where he's the most important man, but then again that's probably the most obvious assessment someone could make and it applies to almost every talented player in the world. While it remains to be seen how good he could be in a team where he has to compete with multiple super stars and enormous pressure, I personally have no doubts about him being ready.
Haven't been following the rumours all that much because I've been busy, so I don't know if they're based on anything. But if City snatches him up and we bring in someone like Pedro, I couldn't say I would be pleased about that.
He really seems to thrive in a team where he's the most important man, but then again that's probably the most obvious assessment someone could make and it applies to almost every talented player in the world. While it remains to be seen how good he could be in a team where he has to compete with multiple super stars and enormous pressure, I personally have no doubts about him being ready.
Haven't been following the rumours all that much because I've been busy, so I don't know if they're based on anything. But if City snatches him up and we bring in someone like Pedro, I couldn't say I would be pleased about that.
Should we buy him and rotate with Mata on the right wing?
Mata would have to move to 10 or the bench.
Imo he offers more than Mata, better creative output, faster, can actually beat a man and about similar threat to goal himself. He also shines regularly against big teams like Bayern and never shies back from taking responsibility when it counts. Despite all the love I have for Mata, if I had to chose between him and Mata, the little Spaniard would be benched.
It doesn't have to be one or the other imo. De Bruyne can play on the wing and Mata centrally.
With Memphis on the left, yeah I think that could be a good setup but like I said it was just the case that if I had to decide between the two de Bruyne would be ahead for me atm.
Mata IMO is a better #10 than him, and also more proven. If (and probably we will) get Pedro, then Pedro is also better on the wings than him.
We either need a versatile attacker who can play anywhere up front (Griezmann, Muller, Reus), or a #9 - Lewandowski, Higuain.
We don't need IMO another #10 (Rooney, Herrera, Mata all can play there with Januzaj and Pereira as coming talents) or someone whose second position is on the wing.
It's weird that we are. Mata, Herrera, Pereira, Januzaj - are all capable of playing at 10. Mata and Herrera have played a lot of games there, and done well, for their previous clubs. Buying De Bruyne doesn't solve any of our problems and benches our 37m and 28m buys for a fancy new toy purchased for an insane fees.
Say that again Louis?
I don't think LvG trusts Mata as a #10 due to him having no pace and being easily knocked over, he wants the #10 to be able to hold the ball up and protect it so the attack doesn't die. At any rate it seems he's intending to Schweinsteiger Memphis, or at least try to so that is probably why we haven't been in for DeBryune.
Bringing this guy in wil surely mean the end of Mata, we already have been through too much upheaval this window there is no need to compound issues. Get Pedro and a CB in, I would say that will be us done.
This is not a 'we', fans thing, this is a 'we' club thing. They've spent nigh-on 200m in two summers and the team is still a mess in certain areas. van Gaal himself has pointed out we still lack creativity and pace, as well as a 'galactico' so I'd expect more.
By the way, we've already benched the 28m for a 24m toy.
I think that it's the lack of right winger, if you play Memphis on the left and Mata in the middle you 'only' have Young as a 'reliable' option on the right and for some reason he isn't good on the right.
This is not a 'we', fans thing, this is a 'we' club thing. They've spent nigh-on 200m in two summers and the team is still a mess in certain areas. van Gaal himself has pointed out we still lack creativity and pace, as well as a 'galactico' so I'd expect more.
By the way, we've already benched the 28m for a 24m toy.
And we spent that much because we didn't had a decent starting eleven, mainly due to age and injuries, but we also lacked a solid bench. We are basically building an entire team from scratch, which isn't acceptable for a big club.
Damn strong team indeed - especially against "smaller" teams, but we'd need to put Carrick or Schweinsteiger in place of (Mata/KdB) in the bigger matches, or we'll get found out. Similar to what happened to Madrid IMO.
Madrid weren't found out; Modric got hurt and along with Ronaldo, they need him to win the CL. Even then, they still beat Atletico and narrowly lost to Juve. They were set to go through on away goals until Morata scored on the hour.
Have you seen Madrid's record against the top 4 in La Liga? Worst of the lot iirc.
I agree about Modric though. Huge loss for them. Only thing about Mata is his lack of work rate - would KdB make up for that? I've not seen enough of him to know if he's willing to work at both ends.
The Guardian say he's going to Cits for £48m
Feck me
Hope it's not true. Aguero, with De Bruyne, Silva and Sterling behind him.. probably rotating. Is very scary.
That is a hell of a front 4...thank god their defense is shaky and Yaya is on the decline.
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