[amolbhatia50k]

I'm basing this on no real proof but I'm 100% sure they are arrogant, I don't see it as a bad thing tbh. How they behave publicly can differ from player to player of course.

I don't know about them but I have met successful people, as I'm sure you have, who aren't arrogant or full of themselves. There's no reason for it to be any different for footballers.

They certainly do, Memphis does not.

Obviously.

 

[Nighteyes]

Why is that? Was there a period when he gained some confidence and played well? Have I missed something?

I think that after "the Shaw" myth this cliche about condifence is the second I disagree the most with (no offence to you mate, just I can hear it often on the caf). He seems to have plenty of confidence and self belief, the more he struggles the more difficult shots or ridiculous driblings he tries. He could be some player if he only had some skills.

Spot on. I doubt people even believe what they are parroting any more.

 

[VorZakone]

Borthwick-Jackson, Rashford, Martial, Lingard all held their own in the PL, Memphis is the only one fannying around.

 

[Successful]

There are guys like him coming up every year from Holland. The fail rate is huge. We shouldn't expect him to be a first team player.

Just think about guys like Ryan Babel, Afellay and perhaps Wijnaldum. It's hard to find the best players!

 

[Duafc]

Why is that? Was there a period when he gained some confidence and played well? Have I missed something?

I think that after "the Shaw" myth this cliche about condifence is the second I disagree the most with (no offence to you mate, just I can hear it often on the caf). He seems to have plenty of confidence and self belief, the more he struggles the more difficult shots or ridiculous driblings he tries. He could be some player if he only had some skills.

Na I think it's plain to see! Look at him last year, he knew he was the big fish, he was settled and he had a team largely built around him... He was smashing on free kicks, goals from outside the box and scoring for fun.

In his Instagram, under armour deal and interviews he does come across as confident and driven with self belief but it's rhetoric more than anything, on the pitch it's definitely the opposite.

Your right in that he never stops trying things but it's just the difference between it coming off or not, particularly the shooting. He hasn't suddenly stopped being good at hitting the ball, or lost the technique. He just can't produce it because he's over thinking, not confident and trying far to hard.

I also think he's being doubled up on by a slightly higher class defender, playing in a system that doesn't suit him and hasn't had a good fullback behind since shaw, which does make a difference.

He definitely has some skills, he just hasn't adapted how he thought he would and has stumbled massively, partly through being managed a little poorly but it's mostly just on him.

However given his performances in the early champions league qualifiers and midget land I don't see how anyone could think he lacks the skill element, for me it's 100% mental and a confidence issue.... Not just that he plainly lacks confidence but that he is putting too much pressure on himself and not playing a natural, relaxed game.

 

[tanikozo]

I hope Jose applies his quick and deadly counter-attacking style which he used in Real Madrid here.Yeah we may not have Ronaldo to contribute to them but still I think Memphis would be far better in a less possesion oriented playing style as probably every attacking player we have.Please Jose I want to see real football.

 

[Adisa]

This is something I have never agreed to even while we still hadnt signed him. I dont see any great dribbling ability in Memphis. If I had to put money on one of Memphis or Young to beat their man, I'd put it on Young every single time and even he is no great shakes when it comes to dribbling.

I do agree that he needs to shed some weight though, seems to cost him his agility.

Anyone that says Memphis is a good dribbler has never really watched him. Even in his PSV days he wasn't considered a good dribbler.

 

[Adisa]

His game last season was all about getting enough space to get his shot away. Usually a shimmy to the right foot and wham! And he took a ridiculous amount of shots. His average was higher than Ronaldo who also takes a ridiculous number of shots.
He has never been a skillful player. His problem in England is that that space that was afforded to him in Holland isn't there and IMO, he doesn't have the technical capacity to create that space. He's not quick, his top speed might be decent but his pace over the first few yards is actually very slow.
It's not a knee jerk opinion I expressed those concerns last summer. People looked at his goal stats and went "oh what a player" without having actually seeing him play and realizing what he was good and wasn't good at.
As I said earlier, he definitely won't be sold but unlike most I'm not expecting any drastic improvement in performances.

 

[Nighteyes]

Anyone that says Memphis is a good dribbler has never really watched him. Even in his PSV days he wasn't considered a good dribbler.

Said this all along before we signed him last summer. One of the main reasons I never wanted him. Was quite blatantly not the type of player we needed.

 

[bucky]

Can some Dutch posters help out? Supposedly his attitude has been awful in training again according to this.

 

[VorZakone]

Can some Dutch posters help out? Supposedly his attitude has been awful in training again according to this.

His recent behavior has supposedly surprised his national teammates. Apparently he didn't do the exercises properly.

 

[Rams]

His recent behavior has supposedly surprised his national teammates. Apparently he didn't do the exercises properly.

To be more precise, during the warm up he missed out the last cone where as all the other players ran on to the final cone. This lead the news paper to conclude that his attitude is bad. Or as I myself concludes.. it must have been a slow news day for De Telegraaf.

 

[Cooksen]

Hopefully we will see it soon memphis

 

[Ole90+3]

Hopefully we will see it soon memphis

feck me. This current United squad don't have do some talking - Memphis seems to be the worst for it.

Stop yapping and do it on the pitch.

 

[Taxx]

feck me. This current United squad don't have do some talking - Memphis seems to be the worst for it.

Stop yapping and do it on the pitch.

You are right, but he is probably being interviewed/asked about it, to be fair.

 

[Shimo]

I really want Memphis to be the player we thought we were buying, one that is confident, scores goals and believes in himself on the pitch (rather than talking) but, I don't think having Luke Shaw will get him to that. He needs two things - first to get his head down in training and show Mou to take a chance on him and then when he gets back on the pitch - the hardest part will be fight like hell even when things don't work out. Stop with the casual approach, do the simple things and then build back to the player that shoots on a whim or will take players on with little tricks and such.

Maybe if he can show Mou a real desire to work his socks for the team, he can be the right sided option that can be relied on to provide balance to Martial on the left.

 

[Escobar]

Next season is make or break at United for him. I hope JM brings the best out of him but if he doesnt cut it or has a poor attitude, he'll be out soon

 

[Freak]

He's just so cheesy with his interviews.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Some report(s) saying Mourinho will ditch him along with Blind and Mata. Personally I think that would be a bad move longterm, as poor as he's been, he actually has talent about him, I'd give him another year unless his attitude his is bordering Ravel levels of disruption behind the scenes.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Some report(s) saying Mourinho will ditch him along with Blind and Mata. Personally I think that would be a bad move longterm, as poor as he's been, he actually has talent about him, I'd give him another year unless his attitude his is bordering Ravel levels of disruption behind the scenes.

At worst I'd loan him out. Doesn't make sense to sell him given this past season might turn out to be the anomaly.

 

[YouOnlyLiveTwice]

Can't see him lasting long here under Mourinho, Jose will get tired of him quick.

I can see him being sold this window already.

 

[clarkydaz]

He's just so cheesy with his interviews.

id say more blag artist

 

[Rasendori]

Memphis is a forward, rather than a winger so to speak. He inevitably drifts into central positions in the pursuit of goals, likes to take a shot on goal, and play intricate passes around the perimeter, like the way Martial constructed his goal against Everton in the Fa Cup Semi Final. He predominantly played as a left wide forward in a 4-3-3 for PSV in the 2014/15 season, and during the World Cup for the Netherlands he performed admirably playing as a second striker with the freedom to roam in a 3-5-2 system. It's no coincidence that one of Memphis' best games for us, was against Watford, a game in which we played a 4-2-2-2 system, and more pertinently he was playing as one of the two most advanced forwards, essentially meaning he was playing as a wide forward. This is a position he is comfortable in, and showed no signs of struggling with the physicality, despite Watford having some physical players in Nyom (189cm & 91kg), Capoue (189cm and 80kg) and Cathcart (I mention these players in particular, as they were on the right side. In that match, he made intricate passes in tight spaces, a willingness to make runs in behind the defence and getting shots on goal, he beat Cathcart (188cm) in the air due to his incredible off the ball movement, and he was very, very unlucky to not have an assist to his name .

Memphis as a Manchester United player, has mostly played as a left winger in the 4-3-3 formation with the point forward, burdened with the task of beating players from stationary positions, and being an explosive dribbler in tight spaces.Whilst he's capable of being flamboyant by producing a bit of individual brilliance to get pass two players maximum, he isn't the type to consistently beat players, and this was certainly the case at PSV. In essence, he has some flamboyant tricks which work on occasion, but he's not a great dribbler, and most definitely wasn't one at PSV. So, LVG playing him in a system which relies heavily on dribbling, width, explosive speed and conjuring a piece of magic when the opposition have two banks of four was invariably going to be counter-productive. Moreover, I don't believe he was purchased to play in this role either, as Memphis was initially deployed as a shadow striker in the mould of Muller and Jari Litmanen who were goal threats whilst the speed and creativity would come from the likes of Findi George, Overmars, Ribery and Robben.

The inclusion of an attacking full back in the starting berth is imperative to the way Memphis plays the game, as like I stated previously, he likes to drift into central positions. This is why he formed such a formidable relationship with Jetro Williems who would frequently maraud forward and provide that width for the vast majority of the game. Similarly at Man Utd, we were beginning to see a relationship with Memphis and Shaw blossom, but unfortunately Shaw was subjected to a tibia fracture which ruled him out for 259 days. Consequently, this has had implications on the performance of Memphis, as he's often played with Rojo or Darmian who simply aren't on the same wavelength. Here you can see Memphis urging Darmian to move - http://i.imgur.com/prfbiBO.gif
It's no coincidence that Memphis' two best games from an individual perspective in Brugge and FC Midtjylland were when he had an attacking full back to partner with in Shaw and Joe Riley respectively.


I believe this game truly encapsulates the play style of Memphis

In addition, Memphis is capable of great ball retention when he uses his body as a shield to buy time for incoming teammates, as at PSV he would at times be the most advanced player given PSV often played counter-attacking football. Additionally, he's an instinctive player by nature so he often adapts accordingly by doing a flick on with consummate ease. And we've seen glimpses of this against top opposition like PSG and Barcelona in preseason, and also against Arsenal in the 3-2 victory

 

[KikiDaKats]

@Rasendori kinda agree with the Shadow Striker point but that got scrapped before the lad got going.. The main reason I believe this season should be seen as an educational one and kick on.
He is not my cup of tea but it doesn't mean he is not better than what we've been seeing.

 

[Burrow]

I dont get why people keep questioning his attitude or mentality? Every interview and piece about him tells us that he's a hard worker who wants to become the best he can be. I get that his public persona might not be what everyone likes on this place, but the things he's actually saying is encouraging in my opinion.

Anyhow, I would love to see him stick around for atleast another season as I'm sure we'll se plenty of from him.

 

[Rasendori]

@Rasendori kinda agree with the Shadow Striker point but that got scrapped before the lad got going.. The main reason I believe this season should be seen as an educational one and kick on.
He is not my cup of tea but it doesn't mean he is not better than what we've been seeing.

Ideally, you want two players on either side who meet the profile of what Van Gaal values in his winger, whilst Young is quick, he lacks the requisite pace and creativity that Van Gaal values in a winger, and Mata certainly doesn't meet the profile which makes the inclusion of the shadow striker counter-productive. For instance, the presence of Ribery and Robben on either side meant Muller could exploit the space given to him in central areas, which is an inherently risky strategy from the opposition given Muller's off the ball movement is incredible. Likewise, with Jari Litmanen, Findi George and Overmars were threats, and like Muller he's a goal threat himself and when you have a threat from the left, right and central areas it's essentially a nightmare scenario. Unfortunately, Memphis had Young on the left against Spurs, who Kyle Walker had in his back pocket and not only did Mata complete 0 take ons, a look at his average heat map conveys he was playing very deep, and thus not putting a sustained threat on Ben Davies. Van Gaal scraped Memphis playing as a shadow striker after his performance against Brugge. What he should've done was find a player with pace and creativity to play on the right, because if I remember correctly the 1st leg was on the 18th of August, and therefore he still had time to get a right winger/forward. Had that been the case, then we would've had a threat from both areas, but because that didn't happen, we ended up with Mata on the right. With Mata's tendencies to drift centrally, it meant the opposition could afford to prioritize the left which meant that area was very congested, which limited Memphis' best attribute .. his off the ball movement. Consequently, our main threat on the right was Darmian.

 

[Raoul]

Good posts on Memphis. I have full confidence that he will step it up to a higher level with Mourinho in charge.

 

[Wade3]

He has deficits in his game but also the natural abilities to become a productive player in the PL. Dribbling and shooting can be improved, if being worked on properly.
I can only repeat myself when saying that him losing plenty of weight and focusing on his agility is key for him.

 

[Bubz27]

Ideally, you want two players on either side who meet the profile of what Van Gaal values in his winger, whilst Young is quick, he lacks the requisite pace and creativity that Van Gaal values in a winger, and Mata certainly doesn't meet the profile which makes the inclusion of the shadow striker counter-productive. For instance, the presence of Ribery and Robben on either side meant Muller could exploit the space given to him in central areas, which is an inherently risky strategy from the opposition given Muller's off the ball movement is incredible. Likewise, with Jari Litmanen, Findi George and Overmars were threats, and like Muller he's a goal threat himself and when you have a threat from the left, right and central areas it's essentially a nightmare scenario. Unfortunately, Memphis had Young on the left against Spurs, who Kyle Walker had in his back pocket and not only did Mata complete 0 take ons, a look at his average heat map conveys he was playing very deep, and thus not putting a sustained threat on Ben Davies. Van Gaal scraped Memphis playing as a shadow striker after his performance against Brugge. What he should've done was find a player with pace and creativity to play on the right, because if I remember correctly the 1st leg was on the 18th of August, and therefore he still had time to get a right winger/forward. Had that been the case, then we would've had a threat from both areas, but because that didn't happen, we ended up with Mata on the right. With Mata's tendencies to drift centrally, it meant the opposition could afford to prioritize the left which meant that area was very congested, which limited Memphis' best attribute .. his off the ball movement. Consequently, our main threat on the right was Darmian.

Completely agree. Pardew said earlier this season you stop Martial you stop United. We would be so much more devastating if teams had to worry about 2 or 3 attacking players, preferably across the pitch.

You can't put 2 defenders on every attacker. The key after that is moving the ball quickly and purposefully across the pitch.

 

[Rasendori]

Good posts on Memphis. I have full confidence that he will step it up to a higher level with Mourinho in charge.

Thanks Raoul, not bad for a recently promoted newbie then.
Indeed, Bubz27.

 

[red_devil83]

You can't write a player off after 1 year under a manager who didn't play to his strengths and was ultimately in charge of a failed regime. In addition, more players looked worse than better under said manager.

If he can't do it under Mourinho, who is basically the modern equivalent of Sir Alex, then fine, we can discard him...but there's a whole year to wait for that yet.

If he turns out to be a flat track bully, then fantastic because smashing lesser teams is what wins you leagues.

 

[Rozski]

A lot of good stuff from @Rasendori there. I think it could be as simple as a counter attacking player being played by a manager that uses a counter attacking system.

He clearly wants to be good and agree with others that the system under LVG just didn't suit him at all and he ended up getting in his own head. You only need to watch a highlight video of his PSV days to see that most of his goals came on the counter.

I'd be really surprised if this time next year this many people want him sold.

 

[kouroux]

Does it seem like he lost weight or is it the camera lens ?

 

[dichinero]

Does it seem like he lost weight or is it the camera lens ?

Looks about right!

 

[Stacks]

Na I think it's plain to see! Look at him last year, he knew he was the big fish, he was settled and he had a team largely built around him... He was smashing on free kicks, goals from outside the box and scoring for fun.

In his Instagram, under armour deal and interviews he does come across as confident and driven with self belief but it's rhetoric more than anything, on the pitch it's definitely the opposite.

Your right in that he never stops trying things but it's just the difference between it coming off or not, particularly the shooting. He hasn't suddenly stopped being good at hitting the ball, or lost the technique. He just can't produce it because he's over thinking, not confident and trying far to hard.

I also think he's being doubled up on by a slightly higher class defender, playing in a system that doesn't suit him and hasn't had a good fullback behind since shaw, which does make a difference.

He definitely has some skills, he just hasn't adapted how he thought he would and has stumbled massively, partly through being managed a little poorly but it's mostly just on him.

However given his performances in the early champions league qualifiers and midget land I don't see how anyone could think he lacks the skill element, for me it's 100% mental and a confidence issue.... Not just that he plainly lacks confidence but that he is putting too much pressure on himself and not playing a natural, relaxed game.

You are as skilled as the opposition it works on. It is far easier to embarrass a league 1 FB than Philip Lahm. All footballers have skills which they do on the training ground but they can't replicate them in games. Lampard said Joe Cole did Ronaldinho's skills with a golf ball, yet we know Ronaldinho had next level skills as he did them on the highest stage. Memphis may be a good show boater like Zaha but he hasn't demonstrated the skills for this level. in fact I am being harsh on Zaha as he completed more dribbles than anyone in European leagues

 

[Stacks]

You can't write a player off after 1 year under a manager who didn't play to his strengths and was ultimately in charge of a failed regime. In addition, more players looked worse than better under said manager.

If he can't do it under Mourinho, who is basically the modern equivalent of Sir Alex, then fine, we can discard him...but there's a whole year to wait for that yet.

If he turns out to be a flat track bully, then fantastic because smashing lesser teams is what wins you leagues.

Lesser teams in the league shackled him rather easily........

 

[Sb_16]

I have no hope in him. So either I'm in for a pleasant surprise or nothing lesser this coming season. I've nothing to lose.
He'll come back early preseason. So enough time for the manager to evaluate him and make a decision on transfer/replacement if necessary.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Definitely look leaner.

 

[GE]

Good to see him doing fitness work whilst on his holiday/break.

 

[RDCR07]

Good to see him doing fitness work whilst on his holiday/break.

Erm. Pretty much everyone is at this point. Aren't they back in full team training in like a week or so?