I'd rather not sign any more average players.
Manchester United - January Ins and Outs
- Thread starter Devil may care
- Start date
Get to work on Veratti.
Yeah why not spend £120m on a midfielder we don't need to play next to a £90m midfielder we already have, to feed the ball to the forwards we don't have.
Rather than buying Verratti, why not buy and develop our own Verratti/ playmaker?
I don't think they are average players TBH. Even if they are, they fit in our system perfectly.
Michael Keane is proven to be quite a decent CB. He's tall, he's solid and he knows United inside out. If he does well, then we finally have an option for Bailly/Smalling. If he fails, then we've got an upgrade for Jones/Rojo as a 3rd choice CB who also happen to qualify as homegrown talent
Drinkwater falls in the same category. He adds bite and legwork in CM and unlike Fellaini he's pretty mobile too. With Drinkwater and Pogba doing the leg work we might be able to play Carrick/Blind/Herrera as the brains in CM.
A quality RW that adds pace on the flanks will allow us to return Rashford upfront, were he belongs. Ok we might not be the treble side with these players.
Please dont shoot me , I had to post this, nearly choked on my coffee laughing.
Manchester United star Michael
Carrick will join Manchester City
in January, claims Tim Sherwood,
‘Michael Carrick is the first name on a
Premier League team sheet in my
opinion,’ Sherwood told BT Sport.
‘Man City are crying out for a Michael
Carrick. They play with Fernando or
Fernandinho in there. They are good at
what they do but they can’t do what he
can do. They can’t link the play like
Michael Carrick.
‘When Pep Guardiola was at Barcelona,
he had Sergio Busquets doing that. He
had Xabi Alonso doing that at Bayern
Munich.
‘Michael Carrick is a replica of them
players and if Man United don’t want him,
Man City will buy him in January.’
Manchester United star Michael
Carrick will join Manchester City
in January, claims Tim Sherwood,
‘Michael Carrick is the first name on a
Premier League team sheet in my
opinion,’ Sherwood told BT Sport.
‘Man City are crying out for a Michael
Carrick. They play with Fernando or
Fernandinho in there. They are good at
what they do but they can’t do what he
can do. They can’t link the play like
Michael Carrick.
‘When Pep Guardiola was at Barcelona,
he had Sergio Busquets doing that. He
had Xabi Alonso doing that at Bayern
Munich.
‘Michael Carrick is a replica of them
players and if Man United don’t want him,
Man City will buy him in January.’
It's just a matter of time before Van Dijk makes the step up to the top tier of clubs. He is so dominant every time I see him play. Imagine Smalling's best performance for United, but in pretty much every game. He can pass and dribble with the ball as well. I see no downside in signing him. He won't be cheap though.
I mentioned this last year but was laughed at, I think it was that strange period when everyone on here were taking the same drugs and somehow thought that Smalling was world class.
Still makes me laugh to this day. I got slaughtered on here when I said Smalling wasn't even top 10 CBs in the league. He is a donkey.
Van Dijk would be a great signing for us. As would Fonte. But to be honest, I think Otamendi would have been great here. We missed out by not signing him last season.
In the same interview (filmed beforee the Chelsea game), he said United are now an attacking force like Mourinho's Real Madrid and defensively sound like his old Chelsea side. Must have been on some illegal substance when said this.
Yeah, I read that. What a twonk.
Agreed. Excellent centre back.
Do you think Pogba could fit in a system like the one we have? Two AM's as what they call free-8s. Silva and De Bruyne were great for us at the start of the season with that setup. Although we are kinda struggling now to find a system to accommodate Both Silva, KDB and Gundogan, Fernandinho.
I reckon something like this would be beneficial to Pogba's game.
-------------------Blind/Herrera-------------
----Mata/Mkhitaryan--------Pogba----------
Rw(Lingard?)-------------------------Martial
--------------------Rashford-----------------
I think we could do with someone like Van Dijk as well. Would be a perfect Vinny replacement imo. I was really impressed with his game last night, not only the defending / physical presence but also some of his passing was superb.
Also, as much as I love Otamendi, he gets very adventurous and has these lapses in concentration that get on my nerves sometimes. I think he needs a level headed partner along with him to really get the best out of him (like Mustafi when they were in Valencia). Though, I've seen him play at his very best when we play Spanish sides or one of the expansive bundesliga sides because he is actually very good with 1 v 1's. But I still think he's going to be our 3 cb at best as Stones looks more like a big money cb than him, and I'm pretty sure Pep is keen to bring another one in the summer, possibly a left footer.
No, I don't like it all that much, TBH.
The likes of Guardiola push their 'false-fullbacks' into midfield areas, and Sterling/Niloto would force the opposition wide towards the touchline (hence creating room for De Bruyne/Silva) to make it work; but that's not Mourinho's style of play and we don't exactly have the optimal wide personnel for it - in terms of quality and tactical discipline. Replace Mata/Mkhitaryan with Ander, and it would be close to perfect because then we could play vertically (which is what Mourinho favors) instead of stretching things horizontally.@Devil may care I was thinking about you and the RB options, if you want a young attacking fullback who is good at defending but still developing we can go for Almamy Touré, he is good but doesn't have a lot of playing time at Monaco so moving to United won't change his status or his game time but he is a quality youngster.
Unlike Sidibé who needs to play right now and developing quickly in the short term, Almamy could eventually wait a little bit behind Valencia but in my opinion he isn't even that far behind Sidibé.
Unlike Sidibé who needs to play right now and developing quickly in the short term, Almamy could eventually wait a little bit behind Valencia but in my opinion he isn't even that far behind Sidibé.
Miky is out according to the press
You what?
According to the Sun. I'd very much doubt he's being sold, after getting 1 chance to start a game.
Not familiar with the player mate but I wouldn't object to one that could be eased in under Valencia who is playing pretty well, but I do get the feeling Jose will want someone a bit more ready to start.
If we continue with 4-3-3 we're certainly a centre midfielder short especially considering one of the 5 is a 35 year old. Finding a replacement for Carrick is the top priority and then finding suitable back up for Herrera/Pogba should next on the list as long as 4-3-3 remains on the agenda.
Y thoughts exactly when I read that
Rumours in the Scottish press that we're after this kid Dembele who's at Celtic. What do you guys know about him ? Certainly can't say he's too old !!
In my opinion we need a holding midfielder. A player that sits deep in midfield. That would allow us to play Herrera in a more box-to-box type of role letting him use his energy more freely. Not only does it suit him better but it would also imply he would be taking Fellainis spot. Needless to say, he would be a huge upgrade.
I'm not sure who would not be a worse option than Herrera in a deeper midfield position (out of possible candidates). I've been impressed by Danilo Pereira, but if Carvalho is considered better in Portugal that is not a good sign. But yeah, if we have over fifty new scouts, one or two of them should keep an eye on Danilo.
I'm not sure who would not be a worse option than Herrera in a deeper midfield position (out of possible candidates). I've been impressed by Danilo Pereira, but if Carvalho is considered better in Portugal that is not a good sign. But yeah, if we have over fifty new scouts, one or two of them should keep an eye on Danilo.
Mourinho tends to do a spot of window shopping in January. I can see him attempting to buy a holding midfielder, a right back and a central defender although he may struggle to get any depending on the market.
Could see him making moves for the likes of Tiemoue Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Jose Fonte, Fabinho, Joao Cancelo etc
Then in summer he'll go for one or two of the big names like Dzeko, lukaku, Greizmann, Draxler etc
Could see him making moves for the likes of Tiemoue Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Jose Fonte, Fabinho, Joao Cancelo etc
Then in summer he'll go for one or two of the big names like Dzeko, lukaku, Greizmann, Draxler etc
Players like Keane and Drinkwater are solid enough for teams like Burnley and Leicester but there's a reason why they didn't make the grade here.
There's quite a big gulf in quality between us and those teams and we shouldn't compromise on quality for the sake of a couple more homegrown players when we're easily meeting that quota anyway.
We were interested before his contract ran out at Fulham too. He's very good, but I don't know if any young striker is needed. When/if we ever bench Zlatan, Rashford or Martial should be upfront.
Cheers.
I thought I saw something about an even younger player in Scotland, say 15, and playing for the under 20s at international level. England and Scotland were both trying to get him as he was born in London but moved to Scotland as a kid. Know who it is ?
He's called Dembele as well, Karamoko Dembele.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...Manchester-United-target-Antonio-Rudiger.html
A CB and RB In january would be great, can't see the point in Rudiger though.
A CB and RB In january would be great, can't see the point in Rudiger though.
Rudiger imo quite similarly to Bailly, so perhaps it's a replacement for him when he leaves for ACON. But the article states that Smalling may be sold, so it's likely to be his long term replacement. I'd prefer us targeting a ball playing CB if we were to buy one.
Smacks of bullshit
Wont see many departures in Jan, possibly just BFS
Not usually a month where we let people go. Next summer will be a different story especially if some of the players dont get their act together. Potentially would expect to see Depay, Schneiderlein, Young, Rojo, Smalling, Miki all go
Not usually a month where we let people go. Next summer will be a different story especially if some of the players dont get their act together. Potentially would expect to see Depay, Schneiderlein, Young, Rojo, Smalling, Miki all go
Jeez this will be long to explain
I am not the kind of person to get carried away with big name signings. Maybe its because I grew up in a country were around half of the people supported the Serie A clubs, a league which was, back then, far richer then the EPL. I used to dread reading the gazzetta dello sport because I feared seeing United linked to a Serie A player which most probably we couldn't afford to buy (ex Batistuta) or worst to see Serie A clubs linked to our stars. The taunts of us selling Ince to Inter or failing to match Fiorentina's salary for Batigol weren't nice
That changed with us signing JSV. JSV wasn't only the second most rated attacking midfielder in the world (second only to Zidane) but it was a signing that made sense. JSV was a continental playmaker who knew how to dictate tempo and was extremely technical. With Keane at his back, Beckham and Giggs on the flanks and Scholes partnering RVN I couldn't see anyone capable of taking us on. Till this very day I couldn't understand what went wrong. That team should have knocked the shit out of everybody. What we do know is that JSV complained that United played 'differently' and certain things he's been asked to do (ex tackling) were unreasonable. No regista should do that.
Time had moved on till then but time and time again our CM had rejected foreign talent. Some were clearly not good enough. I wonder what SAF was drinking when he signed Djemba Djemba. However some were quite rated at the time. Kleberson was a Brazilian international regular while Ando came with a big reputation. Even to this day foreign midfielders seem to struggle. Bastian, Fellaini, Schneiderlin, Blind and Mata had all failed in CM. TBF Herrera is starting to show a glimpse of his talent but he's nowhere near to what he was at Bilbao and I dare to say that Fletcher (who had 1/3 of Herrera's talent) was a more effective player for us then he is. I cant pinpoint why all this is happening. However I cant help remembering what JSV said and he knows one or two about the midfield
Returning to present time I think that we've got two massive issues
a- Some of our first teamers are clearly not good enough. Mou had tackled some of the issues (Bailly had done well as CB, Pogba may yet to settle down but his quality cant be put in question) but there are still areas that need to be strengthen (ex DM and AMR)
b-A non existent quality strength in depth. We have that in almost every position apart from GK and STK
Keane and Drinkwater are homegrown talent. They might not be pleasing to the eye but they know the system inside out and sure as hell they would give their 100% for us. If they fail to make the grade, who cares? Surely Keane and Drinkwater would be better options on the bench to Rojo, Jones and Frigging Fellaini.
Drinkwater would be a average signing. Not for me Clive.
I want to see an elite level classy CDM coming in, with the potential to really dominate midfield and give us a proper base to build on for next 5 years.
I want to see an elite level classy CDM coming in, with the potential to really dominate midfield and give us a proper base to build on for next 5 years.
Who on earth is this player?
Verratti. Totally doable. white text
Weigl. But if not him, find the next Verratti or Weigl. Our scouting team need to pull off some magic here.. because I sure as hell don't want another sub par EPL midtablesque midfielder to add to Fellaini and Schneiderlin.
We need someone who has the potential to be world class and follow the footsteps of Makalele, Xabi Alonso, Cambiasso..
Only way we can get best out of Pogba. Otherwise it is just a waste of a signing to add yet more mediocrity to this average squad.
KEVIN STROOTMEISTER
@devilish I don't really follow the point about the midfield. Okay, there's been some disappointments and players who didn't work out in the way we hoped but many of the players you've listed there were hardly considered world-beaters (or even central midfielders, in some cases) when they joined the club.
I'm not sure what Drinkwater is supposed to solve in that regard. You claim he knows the club inside out but he has actually spent a very minimal part of his senior career at United, I'm not even sure he made a first-team appearance for us. Again, if you think average first teamers is a massive issue, why contribute to that further?
Signing a player on the basis that they'll give 100% is not justification for bringing them in either. I'm sure Rojo and Fellaini try their best for us too but they'll never be key players for us because they're fundamentally shit. I agree with the idea that we don't need to sign galacticos in every position and that it can actually be harmful in some ways if we do, but we do need to maintain some kind of standard or else we'll drift further and further away from the top.
I'm not sure what Drinkwater is supposed to solve in that regard. You claim he knows the club inside out but he has actually spent a very minimal part of his senior career at United, I'm not even sure he made a first-team appearance for us. Again, if you think average first teamers is a massive issue, why contribute to that further?
Signing a player on the basis that they'll give 100% is not justification for bringing them in either. I'm sure Rojo and Fellaini try their best for us too but they'll never be key players for us because they're fundamentally shit. I agree with the idea that we don't need to sign galacticos in every position and that it can actually be harmful in some ways if we do, but we do need to maintain some kind of standard or else we'll drift further and further away from the top.
Just out of curiosity, what do you mean when you say a player 'knows United inside out'?