Agree with this. Fred and McTominay are not good enough on the ball, but they do get through a huge amount work on the field and do a good job covering the flanks. Expecting one player to be able to do the same job as both of them is a bit silly. Even in a 4-3-3 system the 3 in midfield need to be able to contribute in defence. Simply putting a dm in front of two cm's doesn't release the cm's from all defensive responsibility. Whichever midfielder we sign will most likely be playing next to Mctominay, I don't think the system will change.
Luckhurst: United prepared to move for a holding midfielder in January
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Agree with this. Fred and McTominay are not good enough on the ball, but they do get through a huge amount work on the field and do a good job covering the flanks. Expecting one player to be able to do the same job as both of them is a bit silly. Even in a 4-3-3 system the 3 in midfield need to be able to contribute in defence. Simply putting a dm in front of two cm's doesn't release the cm's from all defensive responsibility. Whichever midfielder we sign will most likely be playing next to Mctominay, I don't think the system will change.
Palhinha. He's like Kante but tall
Surely someone will be available to have on loan as there's literally no time.
On another note, although it is stupid but would Lindelof have performed worse than Fred yesterday in the same position? It's not a suggestion, just question.
On another note, although it is stupid but would Lindelof have performed worse than Fred yesterday in the same position? It's not a suggestion, just question.
Lock this thread.
Rodri and Kante the only succes stories really? Liverpool usually plays with 3 non-attacking midfielders if Fabinho or Henderson are the examples.
Rodri has an overall great passing and possesion team to go with. Kante often plays in a 2 cm midfield too, no?
Just saying, the task is almost inhuman also compared with the options available. Rice plays in a midfield two with Soucek, Bissouma plays for a team that is usually near relegation, Ndidi is often injured so it's a big ask to rely a system for a whole year on Ndidi.
Interesting. Is your club ready to let him go? Just watched a YouTube compilation and he reminds me of a young Matic, especially with his physique.
What United needs most now is Frenkie de Jong... (or a type of player he is of which there arent many)
Absolutely. But he's unfortunately on incredible wages (allegedly).
Guys well into his 50’s now, so must be available on a freebie
Re. Lindelöf, I'm actually curious myself.
He's probably our most important player and he'd be more expensive because of the timing but we're a seling club, everyone is always available.You'd be looking at a figure between 40 and 50 million euros I'd guess. Would probably ruin any chance we have at the title if we sold him but for the right price we wouldn't be able to refuse.
Palhinha is a beast and he was born to play in the Premier League. He wouldn't solve any build up problems by himself, not a Jorginho or Neves kind of player at all but he's still decent on the ball and any defensive issues would be sorted for sure as he's one of the best players I've ever seen at covering ground.
The way some people go on, there's hordes of Vieira & Keane types out there, and we're just wilfully missing them.
Well he's slower, weaker and not as mobile. So I'm guessing, yes, quite easily.
Fred or Lindelof?
a loan with obligation to buy next summer would be our best chance. Probably won’t get anything done now but if we can just get a midfielder it would be incredible.
Don't think we need a Vieira or Keane type of player. We basically need a prime Carrick who can anchor the defense and spray passes ahead of him - basically a deep lying playmaker with excellent positioning and a long passing range.
To be fair I don't think we need a Jorginho type for now. It's more critical that we get a positionally aware defensive workhorse who can also play the right simple pass. Think Roy Keane in his latter years.
With his height he could also drop between the CBs, allowing 1 of varane/maguire to carry the ball forward if he's being marked out. We have CBs and midfielders who can spray great passes. One thing I noticed was that he dithers slightly before playing longer passes. Does he do that with simple ones too? He won't be afforded the space and time in the Premier League.
He's not incredible technically but he mostly just keeps it simple. Don't ever recall him making a mistake on the ball that led to a chance.
He'll be a starter for Portugal from now on 100% which says enough about his quality.
Sounds like an interesting punt.
See what your saying but there is no excuse fir our double pivot to be worse than so many mid table teams
Carrick was so underrated defensively. His positioning alone forced teams to slow down their attacks. Similar to Keano in his latter years in that regard.
Cry more.
I think we get one or try to get one in January
And we will all wonder why we didn't 5 months earlier when it would have probably earned some more points for us
And we will all wonder why we didn't 5 months earlier when it would have probably earned some more points for us
He was at the Euro's. Looked mediocre.
Interesting. I watched another compilation and he looked like a DM version of McT in that one..
He played 45 minutes vs France and was great, won the starting spot. Then got 78 minutes vs Belgium and was ok, not the kind of match for him after we went down since he's a defensive player. He's like Fernandinho on steroids, every bit as important to us as Bruno was when he was here imo and we're a much better team now.
There's only two in a pair, so what do you mean? Pair him with Pogba in a double pivot with Bruno ahead of them, or have him as the CDM with Bruno and Pogba ahead of them? I don't like Pogba in the double pivot, I like him further forward. A proper, robust CDM with Pogba box to box and Bruno as AM is what I'd like to see.
Didn't Fabrizio say we want any of Camavinga Saul and Neves in that order. If we sell James which is looking likely then i definitely see us getting one more player. Camavinga if we finally persuade him to come here. If not then it will be Saul especially since Atletico doesn't mind loan with obligation.
Saying pair was my bad. I don't specifically mean a double pivot with AM or a midfield 3 with two 8s because I don't know which will be best. But I'd like us to definitely try a DM with Pogba and Bruno as the two 8s and if it doesn't work then we should revert back to the double pivot but with the new DM and one of Fred/Vdb/Scott while Pogba goes to the left midfield
If we are indeed looking for one of those, that's encouraging. At least we're targeting the right type of player.
Saul is not the type of player we need at all - not sure he’s even an upgrade on what we already have
There's a few outside of top clubs of that style, but obviously not as good. Sofyan Amrabat being the best. He's as press resistant as they come and, since arriving in Serie A two seasons ago, has dominated every team.
Yup, agreed.
We've done some great business this window but we really need a holding midfielder. A destroyer or deeplying playmaker. I don't care. We just need someone.
It’s mental that I’m still going to be disappointed with this window if we don’t sign a midfielder 
Lingard looking likely that he's staying, James fee probably covering Ronaldos fee. We are done in the market
I'll even take a midfielder on loan.
I'll even take a midfielder on loan.
It's puzzling. How the feck aren't they getting a midfielder whilst not playing other midfielders?
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I don’t think that would be unreasonable given that it’s one of the key positions that we needed to addressIt’s mental that I’m still going to be disappointed with this window if we don’t sign a midfielder
No,
Pogba and Bruno aren't xavi and iniesta. They aren't even De Bruyne and Silva and they're not being managed by Guardiola, who'd probably put 3 more midfielders around the team instead of defenders, goalkeepers and strikers.
As an ultra attacking, hoof the ball forward and completely bypass midfield set up it might work for the last 5 mins of a game.
Not if Bruno insists on this second striker position he's been taking up more and more. If he plays more like he did earlier on with us then yes because you'll actually have a player that Pogba can connect play through instead of having to pull of worldly long passes to find our forwards every time.