Mou says no attackers needed. Do you agree?

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I think that, whilst not a priority, yesterday showed we still lack depth. One injury and we had only Mata as an attacking sub. We still have no (real) RW option unless JM remembers Sanchez can play there.

Unless Harry Kane was to become available I'd say it is low on the priority list.

Currently I'd have it as:

2 CMs with Carrick (and Fellaini leaving)
RB
(RW if JM continues to play Alexis on the left)
CB with two of Smalling, Blind and Rojo leaving
ST
 
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We need a left winger /midfielder, playing on the left, who can stretch the game, and open up the park , and is comfortable going past defenders on the outside. We have players who have to check back, continually, and this squeezes the size of the pitch.

But this is Mourinho, and he is still thinking a few seasons ago. You need to open the pitch up, making it bigger. Not making it smaller.
 
I think we have a perfectly fine attack. I think it's the way we go about our attacks that are the problem.
You can mention other teams who have A, B and C, but throw our players into other sides and you'd see more productivity.

When Liverpool bought both Salah and Mane, nobody would have expected the impact they would have, but in the attacking setup, they flourish.
City, Sane and Sterling this season have been very good, throw Sanchez and Martial in that side, and you'd see them flourish.

Throw the likes of Salah or Sane into our side and it wouldn't change anything.
The only one that I think could would be Aguero for Lukaku. Aguero has a lot more to his game, but it doesn't change the fact that Lukaku has proven he can score goals in this league.

If I could add a player to this team, I'd add a more dynamic right winger. Mahrez or Gelson Martins. Two different types of players, but both offer flair going forward.
Personally, with the team we have got, I really think a 352 would suit us so much more right now.
It relieves the issue of an actual right winger. It adds an extra defender who can push up which still gives Pogba that freedom, and we can fit our best players into one system.
 
Greck said:
How much do we need to spend for people to see a lot of our attacking problems goes beyond personnel? Sanchez didn't solve our problems like many thought so now we're looking for the next shiny toy that will.

The right wing is a need but we still need to fix our tactics
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What this bloke said.
 
Go 3-5-2, Juve with Conte style.

Alexis/Martial - Lukaku/Rashford
Pogba - NEW
Sandro---Jorginho-----NEW
Rojo Vic Eric
DDG
​
I think our strength in attack is in forwards, not swaggering wingers like Hazard/Neymar.
 
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Keeps It tidy said:
What are you basing it on?
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I'm basing it on what I've seen from him in our u-18 team and the last two games he played in our u-23 team, the first being his debut. If he was still at Feyernoord he'd be ripping up in the Eridivisie and there would be a clamour for us to sign him.
 
Adnan said:
What are you basing that on?
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From occasionally watching United U18s. You've probably seen more than me fair enough but he doesn't look physically ready yet to start for us.
 
Adnan said:
I'm basing it on what I've seen from him in our u-18 team and the last two games he played in our u-23 team, the first being his debut. If he was still at Feyernoord he'd be ripping up in the Eridivisie and there would be a clamour for us to sign him.
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The transition from youth Football to Senior Football can be difficult especially for a club like us. No sure thing he makes the transition.
 
The fact that Sanchez has yet to play on the right, suggests that Mourinho doesn't see him as a RW. So, we still don't have an out and out right winger in the squad and we most definitely are lacking one.
 
Keeps It tidy said:
The transition from youth Football to Senior Football can be difficult especially for a club like us. No sure thing he makes the transition.
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I agree with what you're saying but I think Chong will make that transition. Physically he will find it difficult at first for sure though and will probably get targeted for some rough treatment but he would definitely be a good bench option to bring on against tired legs..
 
7 years and we still play crap football. I think we need to invest in proper coaching staff.
 
RedCoffee said:
We need to stop buying players and focus on building some team spirit. The endless purchasing of high profile players over the last 5 years has got us no further forward. We need some serious stability. If we head into yet another window with 4 more targets I guarantee you we will be in a similar position this time next year.
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I think thats Woodys agenda though to bring in a 'galactico' or two every year. Throw enough money at the problem and it will all gel one day, and the endorsements from sponsors will be astronomical, is probably what hes thinking
 
If Mourinho thinks we don't need attackers then we don't need attackers. However, it would be nice to see him give us an explanation regarding why we couldn't manage to score against Newcastle despite having all our attackers fit and available.

I think Mou needs to take more accountability for our shoddy attacking play. Like others have mentioned, it's tiring to see us only capitalizing on individual brilliance or opposition mistake to create and make goals.

I think we should send Mou to City for a month to coach them about defending while Pep should come here and teach us how to weave the attacking magic.

Both teams would benefit. Even though I wouldn't want City to fix their defensive issues.
 
Adnan said:
The attack is fine and I'm very hopeful Tahith Chong will provide the spark we have been missing on the RW. He can go either side which will give us even more variety in the attacking third along with fantastic pace, dribbling and a eye for a pass. The kid is the real deal as far as I'm concerned.
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Trouble is we have thought we had the real deal before. Who looked any better than Eagles or Januzaj in the reserves? Its a massive step up. Jose would sooner buy than promote anyroad. Rashford would have still have been a reserve player if Mourinho had have been manager instead of VG. Probably be better loaning out to a Burnley or Southampton for a season see if he can cut it.
 
wolvored said:
Trouble is we have thought we had the real deal before. Who looked any better than Eagles or Januzaj in the reserves? Its a massive step up. Jose would sooner buy than promote anyroad. Rashford would have still have been a reserve player if Mourinho had have been manager instead of VG. Probably be better loaning out to a Burnley or Southampton for a season see if he can cut it.
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I never saw anything special in Eagles to be honest. Januzaj had potential and the hype got out of hand at times but he had the potential for sure to be a very good central attacker. Unfortunately from what I've read he didn't have his head screwed on and had attitude problems which it seems cost him.

Chong imo is a bigger talent potentially than Januzaj. His pace in combination with his dribbling and play making ability makes him unique in a way. His decision making is also top notch for a 18yr old. He could play as a old fashioned winger hugging the touch line or an inverted one due to his ability to go either side of the opposing fullback. He also has high work rate and plays with great intensity with and without the ball. I'm very excited to see how he develops because I think he will provide the spark on our flanks that we've been missing for a long time.
 
I'd trust a decorated manager understands more about what a squad needs and doesn't need than an armchair analyst like myself, but I can't be the only one scratching my head wondering just who our attack is supposed to consist of.

I think Martial is playing really well and is starting to develop some consistency. Games like the one at Newcastle feel more like an exception than a rule - the man just couldn't get any more unlucky. I'm also loving Sanchez's workrate, but they're both being played out wide or behind the striker. And both of them are excellent forward players, but none of them are the Harry Kane type pure strikers.

So who do we have as a typical #9? Lukaku? Lukaku's decent, but decent doesn't win you the league. And he just doesn't look anything other than occasionally slightly above average. We have a fantastic midfield with Pogba who, current slump notwithstanding, is playing some amazing stuff going forward. We have amazing options with Sanchez, Martial, Lingard, Rashford, and Mata all of whom can beat their man, create space for their striker and even put away chances themselves. As far as creating chances goes, we are set.

But who do we have that can put away those chances? Who do we have as a player that can slam the ball in the net and make a habit of it? Lukaku and Ibra are our only typical forwards. Ibra's age is catching up to him and Lukaku just isn't good enough.

I want to have faith in Jose's long term strategy, but I'm just not seeing it myself.
 
Agree, for now. We need to overhaul our defense first. Why Smalling and Jones are still in the position to play even semi-regularly for us is beyond me. When fit, we have a pretty decent back four, but Bailly has suffered from injury and rotating through Shaw/Young/Darmian on the left isn't sustainable. There's a domino effect from improving one area of our team: a better defense frees up our midfielders and attackers more, maybe allows us to play more with 3 in the midfield and let Pogba roam box-to-box, etc.
 
It's all about availability. These days United don't need to go out and spend something like 50 mil. on a Persic level player. But if a top class player comes onto the market, Mourinho will rethink and consider putting in a bid, IMO.

Sanchez isn't fully integrated yet, when he's, the level of play will go at least a level up. Nonetheless Mourinho won't turn down the opportunity to bring in someone like Griezmann, except we could get a fullback who's on a similar level.
 
If we had better full backs, and a stronger midfield we’d have more control of the game and score more goals.
 
Our biggest issue is having our players play in the right position and right formation. By now everyone with half a footballing brain could identify that Pogba is being played way too deep. He's not a DM and deserves to be played higher up the pitch. Please note that he's not a No. 10 like many people think he is. He plays his best football in a 4-3-3 and Jose needs to play him there. We don't need a No. 10. I don't care if we play against weak teams or not, we shouldn't be playing 4-2-3-1 especially when we don't have the correct players for that formation. We need two No. 8.... and a No. 6 to sit deep protecting the back 4 and also breaking up play and providing the balls to the No. 8's ahead of him which would be Pogba and another player. In this formation, both No. 8's would play box-to-box. Matic has been pretty ordinary and we need a proper replacement for him. Jorginho seems like a good option for Matic and we need to get one to play at No. 8 who could be Milinkovic-Savic or Thiago. I would also hope that Sanchez be tried on the RW instead.

--- Martial --- Lukaku --- Sanchez ---
----- Pogba ------------- Milinkovic ---
-------------- Jorginho ----------------
 
Kind of glad, because it would Rashford getting more time in his preferred position.

Could also mean moving Pogba as a number 10, hence why we've been linked to so many box to box/holding midfielders. It would leave us with:

ST - Lukaku/Rashford
LM - Sanchez/Martial
CAM - Pogba/Lingard
RM - Mata/?

Could probably do with a right midfielder, but to be honest, 8 players for 4 spots is way too much, especially for players who expect to be in the team week in week out. It'd be impossible to keep everyone happy.


Lukaku/Rashford
Sanchez/Martial - Pogba/Lingard - Mata/Lingard
Matic/Jorginho - Fabinho/Herrera
Shaw/? - Jones/Rojo - Bailly/Smalling - Valencia/Young
​
 
I agree that we need to switch to 4-3-3 and I do think a big issue is with the coaching side of things when you look at how City, Liverpool and Spurs attack in particular, but even then I think our 6 for 3 is fine in terms of quantity but not quality.

Sanchez is top class, Martial can be if not stuck out on the right wing, Lukaku is ok but shouldn't have the untouchable spot he has in the team, Rashford is still very raw and Lingard and Mata are average.
 
We need a right winger/attacking mid more than we need any other players. Last time I checked, a right winger is an attacker...( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). So Mourinho is wrong unless Martial or another player begins to click on the right.
 
I wrongly assumed Sanchez would play on the right.

United’s Left side is stocked with talent, getting them to play well is down to Jose.

The Right side however could bee improved vastly.

Defensively the team is close to amazing, a few dodgy performances aside, it is the very least of United’s problems.

If Fellaini goes, plus Carrick retirement means a CM is required.

Tactics and maybe just Time is required to get the attacking play better, adding players just for the sake of it won’t solve anything.
 
I'm fine not getting another attacker. We need to bolster our midfield urgently. Currently we neither get protection for our defense or much creativity going forward from the midfield. We need a semi defensive midfielder and a creative one as well. If this means dumping someone to the bench so be it.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
Kind of glad, because it would Rashford getting more time in his preferred position.

Could also mean moving Pogba as a number 10, hence why we've been linked to so many box to box/holding midfielders. It would leave us with:

ST - Lukaku/Rashford
LM - Sanchez/Martial
CAM - Pogba/Lingard
RM - Mata/?

Could probably do with a right midfielder, but to be honest, 8 players for 4 spots is way too much, especially for players who expect to be in the team week in week out. It'd be impossible to keep everyone happy.


Lukaku/Rashford
Sanchez/Martial - Pogba/Lingard - Mata/Lingard
Matic/Jorginho - Fabinho/Herrera
Shaw/? - Jones/Rojo - Bailly/Smalling - Valencia/Young
​
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Pogba cannot play as a No. 10. He's not creative enough. He's best as a box-to-box and we shouldn't be playing a 4-2-3-1 especially when our RW is one of our weakest positions. We need 2 CMs... one who plays as a 6 and the other who plays as an 8.
 
We created big chances against Newcastle. We need fullbacks and CM's.
 
It almost doesn't matter who they sign if they continue to move the ball as slow as they are and their movement is as static and predictable as it is at the moment. I hate to say it, but they are boring to watch. They've been that way since the beat Liverpool.
 
If he went 4-3-3 he could play lukaku to the right of the 3 and sanchez and martial could swap the other 2 positions.
 
If we add a top class midfielder to partner Matic and free up Pogba, then Lukaku, Sanchez, Martial, Rashford, Mata, Lingard are decent options. I mean I would prefer some upgrade but that will come at cost of losing one of these and except Mata, I can't see anyone practically getting sold in summer. We can improve/upgrade on Lukaku for instance but that's not going to happen and not practical. Add more quality/reliability/steel in midfield and let Pogba be more creative and we should create more chances. We also need Martial and Rashford to improve on their finishing.
 
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