Let’s sign Gareth Bale

The Bale possibility ended as soon as Zidane stepped down. He'd have left if Zidane stayed.

We'll probably end up signing him when he's 31/32 for more than Madrid paid for him originally
 
devilish said:
His signings suggest otherwise (Dalot, Bailly, Lindelof, Lukaku etc). He also gave plenty of games to Rashford and Lingard + he promoted Mctominay
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Of all players mentioned - only Lukaku is a guaranteed starter though.

McTom was played during an injury crisis and Lingard is approaching 26 so is not a youngster.

Signings are one thing, playing them and developing them is another. Jose seems to be more willing to sign the younger player, even though we are linked to an array of more established players also (Bale/Griezmann/Willian/Toby etc).

Fact is - Bar McTominey coming in and doing well, Jose hasn't actually improved or given any confidence to our younger players.

Martial/Rashford - in and out of the team/dropped for established Sanchez
Shaw - Slated constantly in the press by Jose/dropped for established Young
TFM/Periera/Tuanzebe - Loaned out. Various reasons of course but all left due to no pathway to our squad

Signing Dalot interests me, be interesting to see how he is used. I hope he isn't played and bombed to bench after 1 mistake (like lindelof)

With Bale, however I feel that our attack has been lacking and another youngster may just be more much of the same for us. Bale is world class, he's in the top 5 players in world football today and actually available. You need the balance of experience and youth and Bale would bring that spark we are desperate for.

If possible, we should sign Bale. Whatever the money. What a statement that would be.

Bale or Mata/Lingard RW? I know what I'd want
 
Bale isn't happening - Jose needs a winger who holds the touchline, provides crosses & acts as a RB when required.

Just an interview with him & Bale will take a wage cut to stay at Madrid that is for sure. That isn't how you get the best out of Bale & every Jose team has had one winger who cuts in & one winger who provides with by holding the line. Since we have Sanchez - it is ultimately too attacking for Jose & won't provide the width & the crosses that he wants to provide Lukaku.

Willian is our star & our saviour.

Knew griezmann wasn't happening & neither is Bale.
 
I'm bored of 'statement' signings, we've made so many of them post-Ferguson and the results have not been good. Let's make smart signings instead.
 
settembrini said:
I'm bored of 'statement' signings, we've made so many of them post-Ferguson and the results have not been good. Let's make smart signings instead.
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We haven't made enough of them imo.
Unless you're including a loan deal for Falcao or a 6m deal for a past it Bastian, I'm struggling to think who these statement signings are.
 
Aloysius's Back 3 said:
Bale isn't happening - Jose needs a winger who holds the touchline, provides crosses & acts as a RB when required.

Just an interview with him & Bale will take a wage cut to stay at Madrid that is for sure. That isn't how you get the best out of Bale & every Jose team has had one winger who cuts in & one winger who provides with by holding the line. Since we have Sanchez - it is ultimately too attacking for Jose & won't provide the width & the crosses that he wants to provide Lukaku.

Willian is our star & our saviour.

Knew griezmann wasn't happening & neither is Bale.
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All we have to do it take out Lingard or Mata and replace them with Bale. Nothing changes neither player hugs the touch line now. Technical wise we need Valencia to make more runs creating more space for Bale.
 
Craig Ward said:
Of all players mentioned - only Lukaku is a guaranteed starter though.

McTom was played during an injury crisis and Lingard is approaching 26 so is not a youngster.

Signings are one thing, playing them and developing them is another. Jose seems to be more willing to sign the younger player, even though we are linked to an array of more established players also (Bale/Griezmann/Willian/Toby etc).

Fact is - Bar McTominey coming in and doing well, Jose hasn't actually improved or given any confidence to our younger players.

Martial/Rashford - in and out of the team/dropped for established Sanchez
Shaw - Slated constantly in the press by Jose/dropped for established Young
TFM/Periera/Tuanzebe - Loaned out. Various reasons of course but all left due to no pathway to our squad

Signing Dalot interests me, be interesting to see how he is used. I hope he isn't played and bombed to bench after 1 mistake (like lindelof)

With Bale, however I feel that our attack has been lacking and another youngster may just be more much of the same for us. Bale is world class, he's in the top 5 players in world football today and actually available. You need the balance of experience and youth and Bale would bring that spark we are desperate for.

If possible, we should sign Bale. Whatever the money. What a statement that would be.

Bale or Mata/Lingard RW? I know what I'd want
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Guaranteed starters are a dying breed and the boundaries between first teamers and reserves is getting thinner at every season. The Martial thing was regrettable (although Rashford is getting loads of games), Shaw had been crap under 2 managers and there's nothing TFM/Periera/Tuanzebe had done at other clubs that remotely suggest that they are United level apart of course the hype at redcafe.

Mou is no Wenger but his reputation of only relying on old players is unfair at least in terms at United. In my opinion he had balanced things up by bringing a mix of youths (Lindelof, Bailly, Lukaku, Dalot, Pogba) and experienced talent (Matic, Mkhitaryan and Sanchez). This ideology is in line to that of his chief scout Ribalta who pretty much did the same thing at Juventus.

I agree with such ideology hence why I don't want Bale. We've got enough experience in midfield with Matic, Sanchez, Mata, Failini, Lingard and Herrera. Ah and I almost forgot. Bale is a crock on huge salaries. We had enough bad experiences with crocks (Bastian, Owen Hargreaves, Micheal Owen, Louis Saha etc) so lets learn our lessons.

So to answer your question, I prefer we get a younger winger whom we can develop. Someone like Martins, Thuavin or Suso.
 
devilish said:
Guaranteed starters are a dying breed and the boundaries between first teamers and reserves is getting thinner at every season. The Martial thing was regrettable (although Rashford is getting loads of games), Shaw had been crap under 2 managers and there's nothing TFM/Periera/Tuanzebe had done at other clubs that remotely suggest that they are United level apart of course the hype at redcafe.

Mou is no Wenger but his reputation of only relying on old players is unfair at least in terms at United. In my opinion he had balanced things up by bringing a mix of youths (Lindelof, Bailly, Lukaku, Dalot, Pogba) and experienced talent (Matic, Mkhitaryan and Sanchez). This ideology is in line to that of his chief scout Ribalta who pretty much did the same thing at Juventus.

I agree with such ideology hence why I don't want Bale. We've got enough experience in midfield with Matic, Sanchez, Mata, Failini, Lingard and Herrera. Ah and I almost forgot. Bale is a crock on huge salaries. We had enough bad experiences with crocks (Bastian, Owen Hargreaves, Micheal Owen, Louis Saha etc) so lets learn our lessons.

So to answer your question, I prefer we get a younger winger whom we can develop. Someone like Martins, Thuavin or Suso.
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You haven’t really answered his question though have you except say team rotation is acceptable but yet we all know the main starters for our rivals, so I don’t understand is it just acceptable for us. His been here two years and his starting center backs in the final was Smalling and Jones, with everyone fit. I don’t see that as someone developing a team.
 
cyberman said:
We haven't made enough of them imo.
Unless you're including a loan deal for Falcao or a 6m deal for a past it Bastian, I'm struggling to think who these statement signings are.
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Those two plus Sanchez and Di Maria for sure, some people would also make the case for Pogba and Ibrahimovic but not me personally.
 
Mainoldo said:
All we have to do it take out Lingard or Mata and replace them with Bale. Nothing changes neither player hugs the touch line now. Technical wise we need Valencia to make more runs creating more space for Bale.
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Bale can't play centrally without dropping Pogba who has to be the 3rd CM/Am unless we drop him (will lead to a quick sack of Jose if he struggles to get wins :)). Iv said this before -
Pandev - Etoo
Ronaldo - Di maria
Duff-Robben
Hazard - schrulle

It is vital for him to have one player cut in whilst another holds the width & provides crosses. Why you expect him to change this - I do not know after he has done this at every club. This is also why he shouts at martial to hold the width when Mata is on the other side. The reason he doesn't play Sanchez on the right is because Sanchez is better at cutting in than purely holding the width too.

Bale has more chance of coming under Giggs or a manager who allows Woodward has a say in transfers. Under Jose - no way, perisic, willian, hell there were rumours that dalot may occasionally play on the wings too - see the difference between players linked to Jose vs players linked to United by the media?
 
Right, this isn’t happening as he wants to have a go under a new coach at Real.

So who are we going to go for on the right wing now?
 
There were decent odds on him staying on SkyBet this morning - nearly evens. Free money if you are sure he's staying put.
 
devilish said:
Guaranteed starters are a dying breed and the boundaries between first teamers and reserves is getting thinner at every season. The Martial thing was regrettable (although Rashford is getting loads of games), Shaw had been crap under 2 managers and there's nothing TFM/Periera/Tuanzebe had done at other clubs that remotely suggest that they are United level apart of course the hype at redcafe.

Mou is no Wenger but his reputation of only relying on old players is unfair at least in terms at United. In my opinion he had balanced things up by bringing a mix of youths (Lindelof, Bailly, Lukaku, Dalot, Pogba) and experienced talent (Matic, Mkhitaryan and Sanchez). This ideology is in line to that of his chief scout Ribalta who pretty much did the same thing at Juventus.

I agree with such ideology hence why I don't want Bale. We've got enough experience in midfield with Matic, Sanchez, Mata, Failini, Lingard and Herrera. Ah and I almost forgot. Bale is a crock on huge salaries. We had enough bad experiences with crocks (Bastian, Owen Hargreaves, Micheal Owen, Louis Saha etc) so lets learn our lessons.

So to answer your question, I prefer we get a younger winger whom we can develop. Someone like Martins, Thuavin or Suso.
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My point is, we can sign a youngster to develop, as you mentioned. But Jose isn't the right coach to develop them. Out of all our youngsters, there is an argument that none have kicked on as expected. Granted, that can be a player issue as well as coach/manager. But case in point, under Mourinho - Shaw/Lindelof/Martial/Rashford have all either stagnated or declined.

You could make arguments for Shaw being poor under Moyes, but so was everyone. Jose has had these players for a season or 2 and they all look poor in comparison to the level they can reach.

Lets sign one of the 3 you mentioned - we'll be no better with them than we are now.

Bale instantly improves us. he's on big money because he's a good player. His injury record isn't as bad as people like to make out and is very weak in terms of a reason not to sign him.

A kid from Portugal, a flop from Newcastle and a flop from Liverpool rather than bale? We'd be better off sticking with mata and lingard for our RW than signing any of them
 
Mainoldo said:
You haven’t really answered his question though have you except say team rotation is acceptable but yet we all know the main starters for our rivals, so I don’t understand is it just acceptable for us. His been here two years and his starting center backs in the final was Smalling and Jones, with everyone fit. I don’t see that as someone developing a team.
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It actually did. Name me one of the kids you mentioned deserves to be in a position then he is now. Is Rashford better then Lukaku? is Mctominay better then Pogba or Matic? Did Periera, TFM or Tuanzebe do enough at their loan team to deserve a real chance with us? Not hype but actual gameplay

Also note that SAF was very cautious with kids. You might recall the famous class of 92. However reality shows otherwise. Gaz replaced Parker because the latter was suffering injuries. Scholes replaced Ince because Ince had became a big time charlie and Beckham replaced Kanchelskis because the latter defied SAF by playing with Russia despite still being injured and that after spending an entire summer begging Anderton to sign with us. Don't take me wrong, they would eventually been given a chance. However its not as if SAF went full youth blast out of pure faith. Circumstances made him do it. We're talking about the same man who still bought a meah 31 year old to replace Cantona despite having Paul Scholes scoring goals for fun and the same man who preferred to rely on Cleverley to a young Pogba.

Finally Smalling and Jones tandem would be a thing of the past if only Bailly could stay fit. I am not a big fan of Hodor and Bran but they are first teamer based on merit.
 
OldSchoolManc said:
Right, this isn’t happening as he wants to have a go under a new coach at Real.

So who are we going to go for on the right wing now?
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anthony martial, put up or shut up. if you can't take the right winger position send him packing in the summer.
 
Craig Ward said:
My point is, we can sign a youngster to develop, as you mentioned. But Jose isn't the right coach to develop them. Out of all our youngsters, there is an argument that none have kicked on as expected. Granted, that can be a player issue as well as coach/manager. But case in point, under Mourinho - Shaw/Lindelof/Martial/Rashford have all either stagnated or declined.

You could make arguments for Shaw being poor under Moyes, but so was everyone. Jose has had these players for a season or 2 and they all look poor in comparison to the level they can reach.

Lets sign one of the 3 you mentioned - we'll be no better with them than we are now.

Bale instantly improves us. he's on big money because he's a good player. His injury record isn't as bad as people like to make out and is very weak in terms of a reason not to sign him.

A kid from Portugal, a flop from Newcastle and a flop from Liverpool rather than bale? We'd be better off sticking with mata and lingard for our RW than signing any of them
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What makes you think that? Surely not what at United.

Shaw didn't declined, he was always shit with us. Pochettino once suggested it was down to poor attitude. Lindelof needs time to settle down. Martial had a great season with us same as Rashford.

Also note that Arsenal's 3 best players in EPL history were flops from Juventus, Milan and Inter respectively. If only we had players like Henry, Vieira and Bergkamp. And monkey ears would probably sell his mum to have the same career as his teammate who once signed with us as a kid from Portugal.
 
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Mainoldo said:
Who do you think we require for RW?
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If I might add a comment on your question, I’d say we need crossing abilities at both wings. Our main striker is quite good at headers (shock alert), and he is not getting enough good crosses imo. With this argument in my mind, I’d lime winger that delivers crosses, and hopefully end product, but primarily crosses.

Among crossing RWs there’s Gelson, who is quoted to be on his way to the Emirates, on a free, but there’s a chance we could hijack that transfer. Others worth a shout is said to be heading to West Ham, Felipe Anderson. Another option is Willian. Not the sexiest options, but I really do think we’d be a whole lot better, and extremely dangerous from the right. This again would make our attack more dynamic and the opposition would struggle if our wingers poised a real threat from the line.

Summing up my argument with regards to Bale, his crossing would be somewhat easy to anticipate like Young’s crosses (which haven’t bore many assist).

Naturally, at RW Bale would drift inwards, and switch with the LW at times, but my question would be: is that the kind of player our squad need post Alexis? I guess it’s quite obvious from this post that I was all for Perisic last year, but now I feel the left is filled, so now I would look for a similar option at right, and at the same time stopping Rom from playing RW like he did this spring.
 
devilish said:
His signings suggest otherwise (Dalot, Bailly, Lindelof, Lukaku etc). He also gave plenty of games to Rashford and Lingard + he promoted Mctominay
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Only Dalot really qualifies as a young talent in that list. The other 3 were regulars in their sides and at a good age already. Lukaku has more mileage in his body than most players past their mid 20s, shouldnt be anywhere close to that list.

In any case, my point is, Jose has already bought Sanchez to take over the left flank from 2 really talented kids in Martial and Rashford. Adding another to the mix won't help anybody.
 
devilish said:
It actually did. Name me one of the kids you mentioned deserves to be in a position then he is now. Is Rashford better then Lukaku? is Mctominay better then Pogba or Matic? Did Periera, TFM or Tuanzebe do enough at their loan team to deserve a real chance with us? Not hype but actual gameplay

Also note that SAF was very cautious with kids. You might recall the famous class of 92. However reality shows otherwise. Gaz replaced Parker because the latter was suffering injuries. Scholes replaced Ince because Ince had became a big time charlie and Beckham replaced Kanchelskis because the latter defied SAF by playing with Russia despite still being injured and that after spending an entire summer begging Anderton to sign with us. Don't take me wrong, they would eventually been given a chance. However its not as if SAF went full youth blast out of pure faith. Circumstances made him do it. We're talking about the same man who still bought a meah 31 year old to replace Cantona despite having Paul Scholes scoring goals for fun and the same man who preferred to rely on Cleverley to a young Pogba.

Finally Smalling and Jones tandem would be a thing of the past if only Bailly could stay fit. I am not a big fan of Hodor and Bran but they are first teamer based on merit.
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I didn’t say the loan players are ready they are not. In hindsight I agree with your SAF points but at the end of the day he was willing to get rid of our first team players and trust in the youth. We can’t even get rid of Fellaini and give trust in McTomminy who he likes. Bailly was fully fit by the final, Jose for whatever reason didn’t trust him, but we can all see he’s a better defender so is that not player management?
 
redpatron said:
anthony martial, put up or shut up. if you can't take the right winger position send him packing in the summer.
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He's not a RW though, he's a LW

We;'ve played far too many players out of position on the RW for season after season..........
 
Mainoldo said:
I didn’t say the loan players are ready they are not. In hindsight I agree with your SAF points but at the end of the day he was willing to get rid of our first team players and trust in the youth. We can’t even get rid of Fellaini and give trust in McTomminy who he likes. Bailly was fully fit by the final, Jose for whatever reason didn’t trust him, but we can all see he’s a better defender so is that not player management?
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They hardly gave him a choice. It was either selling them or lose the dressing room. Mou would surely have done the same

Bailly's season was ruined by injuries. I cant blame nou for not hurrying him back. We are not exactly experts in dealing with injury prone young defenders
 
Craig Ward said:
He's not a RW though, he's a LW

We;'ve played far too many players out of position on the RW for season after season..........
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Realistically, there is no reason he couldn't do exactly what he's doing on the LW but on the RW instead. Any forward worth their salt is adaptable enough to do damage across the front line.
 
crossy1686 said:
Realistically, there is no reason he couldn't do exactly what he's doing on the LW but on the RW instead. Any forward worth their salt is adaptable enough to do damage across the front line.
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Do name the top wingers over the year who were equally good on either flank.
 
crossy1686 said:
Realistically, there is no reason he couldn't do exactly what he's doing on the LW but on the RW instead. Any forward worth their salt is adaptable enough to do damage across the front line.
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Except for Christiano Ronaldo name them right now :)
 
Even if RM is willing to negotiate, they are looking above 120m . Huge risk for an injury prone player.
 
Varun said:
Do name the top wingers over the year who were equally good on either flank.
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Well Winger is quite a socialised position, would we not say that Martial is an inside forward playing LW?

Mainoldo said:
Except for Christiano Ronaldo name them right now :)
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As above, obviously Messi and Ronaldo but it's not fair to mention them two. Players who are not traditional wingers and played on both wings are: Sanchez, Mata, Hazard, Robben, Ribery, Suarez(early barca days), Dembele, Neymar, Dybala, Coutinho, Salah, Mane, Sterling. I'll stop there.

I agree that it probably wouldn't be Martial's best position but it's not Mata's or Lingard's either, they still do a job there and try to impress when they play.
 
crossy1686 said:
So, no Griezmann, no Bale, who we in for next? Dybala?

How old are Beckham's lads? Surely one of them can cross a ball?
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Don't think Dybala has ever played as a wide forward in his life. Doesn't have the explosiveness for it. If what you're looking for is width, look elsewhere. Bale himself is not quite that type of player anymore either, but can still occasionally do it.
 
giorno said:
Don't think Dybala has ever played as a wide forward in his life. Doesn't have the explosiveness for it. If what you're looking for is width, look elsewhere. Bale himself is not quite that type of player anymore either, but can still occasionally do it.
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Honestly, I don't know what we're looking for. It would appear we're looking for an elite level player who can come in and improve the ceiling at the club. We have a lot of players who are currently around the same ability, we need some bigger fish in the pond so those guys have got a target to push themselves to. I'd say Bale fits that category, which is probably why we're looking to sign him.
 
crossy1686 said:
Well Winger is quite a socialised position, would we not say that Martial is an inside forward playing LW?



As above, obviously Messi and Ronaldo but it's not fair to mention them two. Players who are not traditional wingers and played on both wings are: Sanchez, Mata, Hazard, Robben, Ribery, Suarez(early barca days), Dembele, Neymar, Dybala, Coutinho, Salah, Mane, Sterling. I'll stop there.

I agree that it probably wouldn't be Martial's best position but it's not Mata's or Lingard's either, they still do a job there and try to impress when they play.
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The guys you mentioned were equally good on both flanks?
 
crossy1686 said:
Well Winger is quite a socialised position, would we not say that Martial is an inside forward playing LW?



As above, obviously Messi and Ronaldo but it's not fair to mention them two. Players who are not traditional wingers and played on both wings are: Sanchez, Mata, Hazard, Robben, Ribery, Suarez(early barca days), Dembele, Neymar, Dybala, Coutinho, Salah, Mane, Sterling. I'll stop there.

I agree that it probably wouldn't be Martial's best position but it's not Mata's or Lingard's either, they still do a job there and try to impress when they play.
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Instead of going through all these players and stating that your wrong. Simply put they all have a set side and don’t move from their set position to perform at the same level on the opposite side. Neymar plays LW and would not come to United to play on the RW to good effect. It’s not his position. Robben the same in reverse.. so with that being said why do you expect Martial to switch to the opposite side of the field and perform the same as on the left. It’s not his position.
 
Bale spent 5 seasons in Madrid starting from the right in most games though
 
I really don't want us to shell 120m odd on Bale (or anywhere close to that). I don't think he's the answer to our problems despite playing in a position/right channel which does need strengthening. I would have happy taken Mahrez/Costa instead and feel they would fit in better vs Bale. If he's staying at Madrid I'm glad we're gonna save up that 120m and invest somewhere else or on someone else.
 
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