I'm worried he's more of a blocking point than a stopgap.
Mario Mandžukić
- Thread starter roonster09
- Start date
I'm worried he's more of a blocking point than a stopgap.
A year late, because we really could've used him towards the business end of last season, but better late than never. He would slot in well with our new style of play, and should set a good example for the younger forwards.
Ibrahimovic was a good deal for free and delivered a lot for his age. Sanchez was not considered "too old" at the time he just flopped big time.
Exactly. This is a player who knows what it means to fight, and can show the younger generation what it really means to go out there and give all to win.
Imagine waking up as a Villa defender and facing the pace of Rashford, James, Martial, Chong etc and when you're tired this Croatian Bastard comes in to make your life miserable
Decent bit of business
With Lukaku leaving we don’t have an out and out striker or any real aerial threat, he will be a useful addition.
The age isn’t great but he’ll be a squad player and much needed focal point in our attack when called upon.
With Lukaku leaving we don’t have an out and out striker or any real aerial threat, he will be a useful addition.
The age isn’t great but he’ll be a squad player and much needed focal point in our attack when called upon.
As the great philosopher Meatloaf once said, two out of three ain't bad.
He won't. We simply have no out and out strikter so if our Rashfords and Martials fail to score which I fear will happen a lot next season he'd be really good option from the bench.
Not sure it's that meaningful to talk about whether Sanchez was considered too old - the point is that he was touted as proven talent (Premier League Proven, even) who could by relied on to elevate us immediately, when in actual fact he did nothing of the sort as he had declined drastically - and all his past excellence counts for nothing when pulling on a United shirt.
Ibrahimovic is definitely more of a disputable case, as for sure as he contributed in some ways, but he made our attack even more stodgy and we dropped from 5th to 6th, and for all the benefits that this Proven Winner was supposed to bring, we probably performed better when he dropped out of the side.
The Schweinsteiger debacle speaks for itself of course.
Great option for a season or two - will look after the likes of Greenwood, Chong and Gomez when they come up against feck off cnutish defenders too.
He played like 10 games, starting about half of them
Definitely think the diamond is the way to go if we get these deals done.
Martial and Rashford as the split strikers providing the width with the fullbacks helping when they can. Meanwhile Dybala gets to pounce from the 10 position.
Mandzukic would provide the alternative holding up role and plan B off the bench.
We don't have a single good right winger in the squad so I'd rather us choose a formation that suits the players we have. Sticking Dybala (if we get him) on the right would be criminal. Likewise Lingard and Mata are shit on the right. Greenwood also not a winger and not ready to be starting every game.
Martial and Rashford as the split strikers providing the width with the fullbacks helping when they can. Meanwhile Dybala gets to pounce from the 10 position.
Mandzukic would provide the alternative holding up role and plan B off the bench.
We don't have a single good right winger in the squad so I'd rather us choose a formation that suits the players we have. Sticking Dybala (if we get him) on the right would be criminal. Likewise Lingard and Mata are shit on the right. Greenwood also not a winger and not ready to be starting every game.
A blocking point to who? The age he is at means that is not the case.
Had we gone for Kean or somebody of that age then yes I would agree.
A big prt of success is having a plan B
If people on here are serious when they want our team to win trophies they need to understand how important some kind of experience in the team is. Right now we have many up and coming young players, and they will be even better adding experience and leadership to our squad. Mandzukic would be an absolutely brilliant signing for the short term, and also for the long term development of our young players.
Youth is fine, courage and success isnt exclusively related to youth though. You can achieve success with courage and experience, like Mandzukic.
Some people also take these marketing slogans far too serious
Some people also take these marketing slogans far too serious
I think Zlatan might still be with us if not for the awful injury
The other two being Sanchez & Mata. Sanchez is just a write off at this point, yes we pay his wages but he contributes absolutely zero, im not sure he even contributes being a leader or a role model for the younger lads. Mata, whilst a great guy is not contributing much. Mandzukic for me gives you that option off the bench if we're getting swamped or bullied. He'll fight if he needs to, or time waste and be a shithouse to disturb the oppositions flow. We lack that in our current forward options.
Well said.I can easily believe he'd be a good option for a season. But if that's how we're thinking, don't sign him up on massive wages for three seasons.
I'm pretty much on the fence with regards to the immediate impact he might make on our team, probably leaning towards slightly pro, but one of the biggest problems we're suffering from now and in recent seasons is that zero thought has been given to the shape of our squad in the medium term. My worry is we get a decent season out of him and then two years of being regarded as "dead wood" whilst still on over £200,000 per week and totally unshiftable because of the high wages he's on, so in a year or two we could easily find ourselves with Sanchez, Mata and Mandzukic on the fringes of the squad, between then claiming the better part of £1,000,000 per week in wages.
Will be a good signing I feel. Been there, done it got the t shirt. Knows forward play inside out. Remember him mostly from his Bayern days.
this guy is a warrior
with all our kids up front we need a leader, a tough player and I'm all for this
with all our kids up front we need a leader, a tough player and I'm all for this
Has there been any indication of how much we'd be paying him per week? If he's on wages that high, I'd imagine a lot of it would be incentive driven.
I think we'd struggle to find that type of experience and mentality though, particularly with the window closing on Thursday. He's an absolute beast, and what he lacks in quality he makes up for it in drive and determination. Basically the mentality we're hoping to instil in all our young attackers.
Would be a great buy for us . About top quality and we don't have a lot of that .
How anyone has a problem with that is beyond me
How anyone has a problem with that is beyond me
Makes a lot of sense. No wonder many are complaining
Depth is needed though and Sanchez could still leave.
I don't get why he wants to come here. Is he being chased out by Juve out as well? He has never came out and said anything in public ever since this story broke out that it is kind of weird
Didn't start more than a handful of games, even though our attack was full of injuries, Celtic legend without a doubt but he wasn't someone you remember for United.
The Ban Seal of Approval is good enough for me.
I hope Sanchez does leave because let's say we sign both Dybala and Mandžukić, the below would be what we'd have in terms of team depth which makes it very difficult for James to make it through let alone Gomes/Greenwood/Chong.
I think the below would be a safe bet of Solskjaer's preference.
He was only with us for 2 months. And at least one person was very impressed.
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/foot...-henrik-larsson-was-real-aristocrat-1-3152249
I’d put Dybala ahead of Lingard on the RW, even Greenwood. I think Lingard is more of a impact sub personally.I hope Sanchez does leave because let's say we sign both Dybala and Mandžukić, the below would be what we'd have in terms of team depth which makes it very difficult for James to make it through let alone Gomes/Greenwood/Chong.
I think the below would be a safe bet of Solskjaer's preference.
With Mandzukic and Dybala our depth looks pretty good and pretty balanced in terms of play styles.
Where do you do your graphics?
OK, I have some work to get on with... so naturally I spent some time looking this up instead.
In the two months he was with us we played 14 games - Larsson started 10 and came on as a substitute in 3. He played in every league game, starting in 5 out of 7 and coming on as a sub in the other 2, 3 out of 5 cup games (he was rested in both the Reading games, though was a playing sub in one) and started both the Champions League games.
People seem to remember him as being way less central than he was in his brief time here.
Last edited:
@witchtrials
He scored 2-3 goals for us? At a time we beat clubs by 3-4 goals on a regular basis. I have no bad things to say about Larsson, professional and true legend for Celtic, and deserves praise for his achievements. But he wasn't some incredible player for us as some want to paint him.
Ole started to implement new system, we all saw that in the friendly matches so far. 4-5-1 which changes to 3-2-5 when we are in possession. In that case, we'll have Mandzukic leading the line with Dybala in the hole behind him, and 2 of the 5 (Rashford, Martial, James, Chong and Greenwood) in the wings. In fact I see him playing more regularly than you guys think. He's excellent in link up play, great touches and movement, can creat huge spaces for the rest of the young lot plus Dybala to score goals even if he didn't score himself, not to forget his best attributes which is his defensive play that can help us in counter press.
I don't think he's here as a bench option, I think he is here to lead the line.
Many news outlets have reported that his deal is separate from Dybala and that he will join even if Dybala didn't, reported salary 6.5 millions per year.
I wanted Ben Yadder, but I can see the logic and football behind this.
I don't think he's here as a bench option, I think he is here to lead the line.
Many news outlets have reported that his deal is separate from Dybala and that he will join even if Dybala didn't, reported salary 6.5 millions per year.
I wanted Ben Yadder, but I can see the logic and football behind this.
Wan-Bissaka 21
Tuanzebe 21
Lindelof 25
Shaw 23
Pogba 26
Lingard forever young
McTominay 22
Rashford 21
Martial 23
Greenwood 17
Dalot 20
Dybala? 25
James 21
Gomes 18
Chong 19
More minutes given to academy players than any team in the league for 3 consecutive seasons.
But where’s the youff!
His overall contribution and workrate for that short period meant he had a much bigger impact than he was ever supposed to.
Why are we still lingering on signing another ST when we're finally getting rid of our flat-track bully who was surplus to requirements and are absolutely woeful in midfield? With the emergence of Greenwood too?
Did you see the intensity in City - Liverpool game? We can only dream about playing with half of that intensity with our slow & non-existant midfield. We need midfielders & a RW not strikers not AMs. Mandzukic will be another member of the deadwood group we already have come next year. It's impossible to understand our strategy about building a balanced squad.
Did you see the intensity in City - Liverpool game? We can only dream about playing with half of that intensity with our slow & non-existant midfield. We need midfielders & a RW not strikers not AMs. Mandzukic will be another member of the deadwood group we already have come next year. It's impossible to understand our strategy about building a balanced squad.
This is a total tangent now because the original point wasn't about how good he was for us, but about whether he made sense as an example of a player who was influential despite not leading the line and playing in every game. I was just pointing out that he did lead the line for us at almost every opportunity.
For what it's worth Rooney and Ronaldo scored 5 each during that period to Larsson's 3 (though 2 of Ronaldo's were penalties).
Are some of you struggling through a midlife crisis or something? Never known a set of fans to be as obsessed with age.