Agree. One thing I view as important though is we have a player able to deputise for Carrick as the defensive midfielder when he's not in the team. Fed up of horrifically unbalanced midfield pairing whenever Carrick doesn't play such as Anderson-Cleverley, Giggs-Anderson etc.
Kevin Strootman
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Tosic has gone on to prove that he is a good player. I know your point is generally speaking and obviously not every player 'vetted' has been of the required standard, but a player who has been known to the club for a long time and has been long touted as a signing will have a much more comprehensive profile with our scouts.
I agree
Has been very quiet for the dutch so far. Did have one significant supporting run off the ball down the left, he was picked out and then pulled the ball back for a teammate in the middle. Other than that he hasn't particularly stood out, with several other dutch players standing out a lot more. Strootman and Van Ginkel have mostly blended in while Maher has had a bigger impact slightly in front of them. Despite Germany being outclassed so far Rudy has been perhaps a bit more prominent than the Dutch two behind Maher.
Very quiet first half. Hopefully he'll have a much better second half. He's had a few unimpressive moments when Rudy and Rode have both ran passed him.
Looks a little one-paced.
Me no likey.
Sell Strootman?
I love the way some people watch one half of a player they've probably seen play for the first time and instantly write them off. 
I love the way some people watch one half of a player they've probably seen play for the first time and instantly write them off.
To be fair, I just saw him have a shot and it didn't even go in. Not United quality.
Agreed, he could definitely do with some tips from Cleverly in that regard, if he does end up here.
Never seen him play but his face irritates me, looks like an unwanted lovechild of Gareth Barry and RVP. Do Not Want. Please go for Alcantara instead.
Looked alright to me, couple of well timed tackles and neat and tidy passing. Did the job he is there for I reckon.
I sort of get where you're coming from, as some faces are just irritating to me as well, and Thiago is obviously a more desirable option...however to not want to sign a player because of his looks...seriously what has this place become?
Basically just kept it simple, kept the ball okay and held his position to keep the shape unless he could make a simple exchange of passes to get forward. Van Ginkel was a little bit more impressive I thought as he continued his good supporting runs all game and if im not mistaken won the corner they got the winner from. He's going to Chelsea isnt he?
Actually he did win some tackles, should have mentioned that. Thats probably the bright spot at least he's not a luxury player
I love the way some people watch one half of a player they've probably seen play for the first time and instantly write them off.
Meh, it's no stupider than people suggesting we should sign him despite never watching him play a match - which I'm pretty sure half the posters in this thread have been doing
He's at Vitesse, who have a great relationship with Chelsea so yeah it's more than likely.
I thought Strootman was alright defensively, offered very little going forward though. Although you have to wonder if, with him being an experienced player and captain, he was set the defensive responsibilities whilst Maher and Van Ginkel were allowed to roam forward. He tracked back very well, and read a number of situations well (most notably being the slide in the last few minutes from Hermann's cross).
If you ask me, that's what we need. We've got Kagawa and Carrick to play as forward-going midfielders. We've needed a ball winner for some time now, especially one who can break up opposition attacks far up the field. I haven't seen Strootman, even on video, so I have to rely on what others are saying. If he's in the mould of Hargreaves (minus the injury curse) he could do a job for us.
Didnt get to watch the game.. What was he like? Did he impress..
For the role he plays, I'd say he did fine (tonight being the first time I've seen him play). He contributed to the attack early on, and seemed to cope well and pass his way out of trouble when Germany were pressing quite aggressively towards the end - other than that I didn't really notice him, which again might be the role he played.
Pretty underwhelming I'd say and given that I've now seen him play for 90 minutes I'd consider myself an expert.
. Well in all honesty i didn't expect much from him. But i'm going to try watch the game..First time I've seen him play, and I thought he was poor. One of the more worrying things was his lack of pace, he got caught flat footed a couple of times and didn't have the pace to recover, his passing was alright but nothing worth getting excited about, he just looks mediocre to me.
None of the CM's we are linked too are quick - Strootman, Felliani, not sure about Wanyama. We just have to deal with it. And its not like Carrick is quick either.
So, the general view is that he had an average performance?
He was clearly given the holding role and kept the teams shape well, there wasn't anything impressive from him but he was ok, the only thing that I thought was poor was his off the ball movement, he'd often pass it and then just stop.
no. Just looks sluggish and if he's supposed to be defensive he lacks recovery pace.
That's one way of putting it, personally I'd say he was fecking shite and we should keep well clear.
I've hear from several accounts that one of his strengths, thus argued why he would fit United, was his pace. If he's slow, he's not exactly going to solve our "problem" in midfield so far as pace is concerned. Carrick isn't slow, but he takes half the pitch to get going - just imagine if he had the stamina to sprint for 10k! Scholes had quick feet, but his top speed somehow seemed slower than his walk. Giggs is still pacey, but he doesn't always use it, and he's not a CM. Cleverley and Ando both have pace, but their performances are a bit erratic.
Is the Strootman/Carrick combo the best two man midfield?
Is the Strootman/Carrick combo the best two man midfield?
I'd say he looks more like a Carrick understudy than a partner.
Guys can we please just keep this in perspective, we've watched him play one game.
Well this is only one game. We'll see how he is in the next one. Weird to come to anything conclusive after one match.
I didn't watch the game, but it doesn't seem people were too impressed. Can't judge on one game though, I'm going to hopefully watch the next and get an idea of what we may be interested in.
Basically we don't need him as i thought. Rather Fallaini... Rather Anderson. We need Engergy and steal in the middle not a shit version of Carrick.
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