Manchester United Summer Transfer Window 2015: What do we still need?

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The way we are lining up, and with ADM going one way, does Cavani now make sense?

I'm talking about the way we have lined up the last 3 games btw, how LVG lined up at Bayern, which is the best evidence for how we will line up next season.

We seem to be playing 2 cms and a CF with a second striker off of him, not a traditional #10 like mata or silva, but a dynamic second striker as Muller was at Bayern. So I'm not interested in the point of view of 'well, mata is a #10 so we'll play behind rooney' because we just aren't seeing he evidence for that.

So if we're going to play 2 up top, could bringing in Cavani make sense? If we sell ADM then our net transfer spend is down to 20m for the summer, and with 75 adidas money being pushed in on Aug 1. I don't think a price tag would put us off.

I'm just trying to think who would improve us enough to bother with, when Muller and Lewa can't leave Bayern, Pedro could go right into the front 2 but would seem a bit awkward, and there's been no real links to lacazette etc.

I remember hating the idea of Cavani when we played 1 striker and rooney had to play, thinking cavani would just sit on the bench like falcao or play out of position wide right. But now if we are really going to be playing 4-4-1-1 type thing, rooney behind Cavani might make sense. Would people prefer Rooney and Depay?
 
Blackwidow said:
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Since he started to teach in a Chinese TV show how Bavarian people dance :D he is unavailable...
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He already looked like a puppet in my mind before this.

This just confirms it.

He's controlled by strings.
 
United should be aiming to have the best squad in the world. At the moment, we're probably just somewhere in the top 10. There are only so many players who can improve us. Worrying about cost is counter-productive when we're trying to go up a level. It's why I find it so weird when posters complain about transfer fees, saying things like 'we've paid £5m too much'. The only thing that should matter is that the player is good enough for the club. All that stuff earlier in the summer about Fabinho at £15m being a better purchase than Coleman at £25m did my head in. We should go for whichever of the two players is better (as it turns out, I'm quite happy with Darmian). This isn't a Football Manager game where you're trying to avoid the sack.

Yes, Pedro for £25m is a better value than Reus for £60m, but if we take that attitude we'll end up with a squad full of Pedro-level players. At some point you have to bite the bullet and pay more than a player is worth. Shoot for the stars. That's what we need and it's the only way we'll be able to get to where we want to go.

Reus or bust.
 
Dante said:
United should be aiming to have the best squad in the world. At the moment, we're probably just somewhere in the top 10. There are only so many players who can improve us. Worrying about cost is counter-productive when we're trying to go up a level. It's why I find it so weird when posters complain about transfer fees, saying things like 'we've paid £5m too much'. The only thing that should matter is that the player is good enough for the club. All that stuff earlier in the summer about Fabinho at £15m being a better purchase than Coleman at £25m did my head in. We should go for whichever of the two players is better (as it turns out, I'm quite happy with Darmian). This isn't a Football Manager game where you're trying to avoid the sack.

Yes, Pedro for £25m is a better value than Reus for £60m, but if we take that attitude we'll end up with a squad full of Pedro-level players. At some point you have to bite the bullet and pay more than a player is worth. Shoot for the stars. That's what we need and it's the only way we'll be able to get to where we want to go.

Reus or bust.
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Good post. But... if we went off this wouldn't we have signed Vidal over Schneiderlin? etc.
 
Dante said:
United should be aiming to have the best squad in the world. At the moment, we're probably just somewhere in the top 10. There are only so many players who can improve us. Worrying about cost is counter-productive when we're trying to go up a level. It's why I find it so weird when posters complain about transfer fees, saying things like 'we've paid £5m too much'. The only thing that should matter is that the player is good enough for the club. All that stuff earlier in the summer about Fabinho at £15m being a better purchase than Coleman at £25m did my head in. We should go for whichever of the two players is better (as it turns out, I'm quite happy with Darmian). This isn't a Football Manager game where you're trying to avoid the sack.

Yes, Pedro for £25m is a better value than Reus for £60m, but if we take that attitude we'll end up with a squad full of Pedro-level players. At some point you have to bite the bullet and pay more than a player is worth. Shoot for the stars. That's what we need and it's the only way we'll be able to get to where we want to go.

Reus or bust.
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Pedro level is better in attack than what we have at the moment bar Rooney and Mata. I'd gladly take 2-3 Pedros in attack to replace what we currently have and will be our best wing option. Even if we keep Di Maria, I think he'd still be our best wing option as he fits the team better.
 
C'est Moi Cantona said:
Have to admit it's a bit of a worry, we have already bought four players but it is not impossible we will buy four more yet - GK, CB, RW, CF so that would be eight signings in one window, recent history tells us that can be a very bad thing.

For me I hope we keep DDG, get a truly top class player and a CB in, then call it a day for this window, likely though we will indeed get four more players in, nine if you include the back up keeper.
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Naw, a new winger AND striker is excessive to the point of just being silly. If we lose Di Maria and replace him with Pedro that's fair enough. I think he'll suit us better anyway. But I really hope we don't slide into a phase where we have high levels of player turnover every new season. Let's get some silverware under this lot's belts and build from here.
 
Alias said:
Good post. But... if we went off this wouldn't we have signed Vidal over Schneiderlin? etc.
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I don't think it was the price that was the issue with Vidal. I'm pretty sure both players went for about the same price (£25m).
 
Enigma_87 said:
Pedro level is better in attack than what we have at the moment bar Rooney and Mata. I'd gladly take 2-3 Pedros in attack to replace what we currently have.
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But we don't need to replace the entire front-line, we only need to augment it. If Reus is better than Pedro (and both are available) go for the former. I'm sure that's what Woody is doing, tbf. My post was only addressing some of the posters who worry about transfer fees like they're experts because they've won the treble two years in a row on their PCs.
 
Dante said:
But we don't need to replace the entire front-line, we only need to augment it. If Reus is better than Pedro (and both are available) go for the former. I'm sure that's what Woody is doing, tbf. My post was only addressing some of the posters who worry about transfer fees like they're experts because they've won the treble two years in a row on their PCs.
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Don't know about that. Vidal is better than Schneiderlin, yet we didn't move for the former and the transfer fee was about the same.

Reus being better than Pedro for us is debatable as well. I don't think Reus will get more games in that Barca side or do better in a possession side.

To be fair can't see that many available players on the market better than Pedro.

For example if we can land Muller I'm all for it but he doesn't seem to be available. Aguero, James, Hazard, Ribery, Robben I don't think we can get..
 
None of the elite players are available so we either go for an experienced player who is familiar with the system (Pedro) or try for someone on the way to becoming elite.

De Bruyne is the only one I can think of really. I'd be all for it personally.
 
An Irish Red said:
None of the elite players are available so we either go for an experienced player who is familiar with the system (Pedro) or try for someone on the way to becoming elite.

De Bruyne is the only one I can think of really. I'd be all for it personally.
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Which clubs sell elite players?

To get elite player you need to make a offer that selling club can't refuse and wages that other teams might not match.
 
Bojan11 said:
Which clubs sell elite players?

To get elite player you need to make a offer that selling club can't refuse and wages that other teams might not match.
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The players you are talking about either play for Bayern, Barca and Real (where they wouldn't want to leave) or our domestic rivals (who would never sell).

Unless someone like Bale becames available, which is unlikely, we'd be better off trying for an 'elite' talent on the way up. Just like Chelsea did with Hazard. De Bruyne fits the bill.
 
If Reus really is better than Pedro for the system you are playing - that is worth a discussion. Reus is a counter attacking player who might look spectacular sometimes and for sure rates great in FIFA where speed etc. counts - but in my eyes Pedro is somebody who can perform in the big matches and works better in a system like van Gaal's.

De Bryne - he is young and very good. But - in the Bayern forum we discuss, if he really is cut for a ball possession system as Wolfsburg plays a lot on the counter - and the rest comes from set-pieces. There is always the question if one can adapt. And we know that he might not be really a player you can put into rival situations (that what Mou told into the Guardian interview is in my eyes fair and why I think it is best he stays another year in Wolfsburg - what in a team like Bayern is the main thing. It is not only talent but you have to fight for your place, too.
 
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Blackwidow said:
If Reus really is better than Pedro for the system you are playing - that is worth a discussion. Reus is a counter attacking player who might look spectacular sometimes and for sure rates great in FIFA where speed etc. counts - but in my eyes Pedro is somebody who can perform in the big matches and works better in a system like van Gaal's.

De Bryne - he is young and very good. But - in the Bayern forum we discuss, if he really is cut for a ball possession system as Wolfsburg plays a lot on the counter - and the rest comes from set-pieces. There is always the question if one can adapt. And we know that he might not be really a player you can put into rival situations (that what Mou told into the Guardian interview is in my eyes fair and why I think it is best he stays another year in Wolfsburg - what in a team like Bayern is the main thing. It is not only talent but you have to fight for your place, too.
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Isn't he the star of the Belgium team? I know they are playing possession football.
 
LvG's latest comments are giving me the feeling that he's focused solely on attack now and amazingly we wont be buying a CB

Pedro seems almost certain to happen but he's certainly not the game changer LvG is talking about wanting IMO, so maybe there will be one exciting swerve before the window closes.
 
Devil may care said:
LvG's latest comments are giving me the feeling that he's focused solely on attack now and amazingly we wont be buying a CB

Pedro seems almost certain to happen but he's certainly not the game changer LvG is talking about wanting IMO, so maybe there will be one exciting swerve before the window closes.
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That doesnt seem to be the case for me as we've been chasing Ramos all summer. He wants all the god damn players.
 
CB Pedro top CF and I think we'd have enough to field a strong 433, but for a 4 2 3 1 with Depay as a 10, we'd need two top widemen.

I'd want us to go 433 route and see how we fare by January. There isn't many galactico CFs out there though. . which makes it hard to predict LVGs thinking.
 
Raees said:
CB Pedro top CF and I think we'd have enough to field a strong 433, but for a 4 2 3 1 with Depay as a 10, we'd need two top widemen.

I'd want us to go 433 route and see how we fare by January. There isn't many galactico CFs out there though. . which makes it hard to predict LVGs thinking.
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How is our wide men situation any better for a 4-3-3 than a 2-3-1?
 
I think he made that as a comment, and it's a good to have. But I don't get the feeling that we've a "game changing" forward lined up.

In fact, if anything, he seems to be mitigating that these deals are hard to do, so don't expect them to happen overnight or easily. The way I see it, it's a bit late in the season to pull this off. If reports are to be believed, maybe the Muller thingy was the last roll of the dice to make this happen.

IMO, I disagree that you can't win big trophies without such forwards. Fergie made a career out of this.
 
Pexbo said:
How is our wide men situation any better for a 4-3-3 than a 2-3-1?
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because 433 means Depay is out wide, so we just needPedro but if Depay is used as a #10 for 4 2 3 1, we're a top class wideman short, Pedro alone is not enough.
 
Thinking again about what LVG has said about needing a world class creative player - how much would it cost to prise Sanchez away from Arsenal? I think he is in that bracket and Arsenal are not as big a club as the ones that other players in that bracket are at.
 
Van Gaal said:
“No, it’s not my Manchester United. Why? Because we have to look for more balance in the team and for more creativity.

“The second goal against Barcelona was a marvellous goal. And we need not only what we have trained in the training session but also we need the creation of the players themselves. And then that has to be a mix. Therefore you need creative players.

“For example, Chelsea have Hazard, Willian and Oscar. There is a lot of creativity there. And you need that because you have to disorganised [teams that park] the bus. Next year there might be more teams who are parking the bus.”

But don't you already have creativity in your team?

“No, you don’t have a good vision I think. We can use much more creativity.”

Do you have the players for that?

“We look for more creativity. Now we have Wayne, Mata, Depay, Young, Januzaj, Wilson, Herrera. Young has had a fantastic season but he is not a Neymar and we have to compete with that kind of class.”

...

Is that the type of thing you can't get out of your head on holiday inPortugal?

“No, I’m thinking at that time, they have Hazard, he can always make goals, he can always make an action and decide a goal. Manchester City have Aguero, it's the same type. Barcelona has Messi, Neymar and Suarez. We as Manchester United have to compete with these clubs. So we have to look also for that kind of players.”
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Here are the relevant quotes for people who can't be bothered reading the whole interview.

It's funny that his comments read a lot like many of the posts on here. About how we need someone with massive individual talent who can score or create goals on their own.

He's aiming very high as well. If you look at the list of our players he names as creative there are some really good players in there but the ones he names at other clubs are generally on another level. That last paragraph particularly: Hazard, Aguero, Messi, Neymar and Suarez. A player like Pedro would fit in comfortably with our current list of names but nobody would bracket him with those five.
 
Harrisamo said:
Naw, a new winger AND striker is excessive to the point of just being silly. If we lose Di Maria and replace him with Pedro that's fair enough. I think he'll suit us better anyway. But I really hope we don't slide into a phase where we have high levels of player turnover every new season. Let's get some silverware under this lot's belts and build from here.
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How is it silly though? We have lost RvP , Falcao, and almost certainly ADM. We have brought in Depay, and maybe Pedro, so 2 players replacing 3 when we will have more games, and greater ambition this season.

We need a striker more than we need a CB imo, and we have to replace ADM so in no way is it excessive, it's just replacing what we've lost.
 
If AdM is on his way to Paris we should pull the Trigger on the release clause for Griezmann.
43,5 Mio Pounds seems ok for his Quality and Age.

Reus, Bale, Müller etc. would all be great but None of them will be available for us.
 
If we can get Pedro and Stones in then we'd have finished the window off well and should be able to maintain our top 4 spot. Then next summer we can concentrate purely on getting a new keeper and a top attacker.
 
Devil may care said:
If we can get Pedro and Stones in then we'd have finished the window off well and should be able to maintain our top 4 spot. Then next summer we can concentrate purely on getting a new keeper and a top attacker.
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Maintain our top 4 spot? Really think with the squad we have right now we should be challenging. Rooney is our biggest worry as if he gets injured the drop off in quality is massive. I'll be disappointed if we get anything less than a title challenge.
 
Lawman said:
Maintain our top 4 spot? Really think with the squad we have right now we should be challenging. Rooney is our biggest worry as if he gets injured the drop off in quality is massive. I'll be disappointed if we get anything less than a title challenge.
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I don't think we have enough in the forward line to be serious contenders, we are building our way back though.
 
Can we just buy griezmann ffs, he is the creative AND goalscoring outlet LVG keeps banging on about.

we would kill 2 birds with one stone if we signed him we'd get the striker that could get 20 a season we desperatly need but also have a very capable winger too.
 
Devil may care said:
I don't think we have enough in the forward line to be serious contenders, we are building our way back though.
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I disagree we have enough just not an abundance. We are capable of controlling games with this midfield away from home so I'm hopeful we can get some momentum going. Old Trafford should be a fortress once more and LVG looks like he manages the big games well. I think we have a right shout at the title. Although I see why Chelsea are favourites.
 
Lawman said:
I disagree we have enough just not an abundance. We are capable of controlling games with this midfield away from home so I'm hopeful we can get some momentum going. Old Trafford should be a fortress once more and LVG looks like he manages the big games well. I think we have a right shout at the title. Although I see why Chelsea are favourites.
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I'm not convinced Rooney is good enough as the main #9 and while we are still playing Young and using Mata as a wide man I don't think that attack has nearly enough goal threat and creativity in it to win the PL. Memphis will have a good debut season I suspect but we have to give him time as well, he's young and this is a very different league.
 
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