New Left Back

Pinning hopes on Shaw is ridiculous at this point. He hasn't really played football in 3 years apart from a handful of games here and there. The chances of him recovering to become a regular beyond faint.

We have 4 LBs but neither is great. It's a problematic situation. I'd like to see more minutes given to Mitchell so we establish where he's at. We know Blind and Darmian's obvious limitations and their not gonna change.

Personally, I would have sold Blind, Darmian and Shaw and used the money to get Mendy with Mitchell as backup. Rojo or Young can play there too as a last resort. Now Mendy's gone sadly.

No point having 6 left backs when none are good enough to be a starter for us. Trimming is needed.
 
We really could use a proper left back. I feel the same way about Shaw as I did Raphael.... They are great full backs but hardly ever available.
 
Some posters want him starting as left wing back! Madness he is utterly rubbish and epitomises our sub standard quality across the board.
 
Honestly if we aren't signing anyone because we have hopes of Shaw ever doing anything it's a mistake.

He's done nothing at United.

We need a left back. Look at how good Marcelo and Carvalaj were for Madrid tonight.
 
Bwuk said:
Tierney or Andy Robertson would both be great shouts.

Think Jose will sell Shaw. He doesn't have the mentality to make it here from all accounts.
Click to expand...

Well Robertson has went to Liverpool but reiterating my point on Tierney.

Great player. His goal for Celtic tonight was unreal as well.
 
Bwuk said:
Honestly if we aren't signing anyone because we have hopes of Shaw ever doing anything it's a mistake.

He's done nothing at United.

We need a left back. Look at how good Marcelo and Carvalaj were for Madrid tonight.
Click to expand...

This. I think it's foolish to bet on Shaw. There is a chance that he might come good and stay injury-free, but it's a slim chance. On the other hand our options to buy there aren't great either. We would need to pay a fortune for Alex Sandro or Rose, and I don't think Guerreiro would be cheap either. Emerson has torn his ACL, who could have been our best option in terms of value. No idea if we were interested in Mendy and it's kind of pointless to discuss now. Same with Dalbert from Nice, who has signed for Inter and Kolasinac. I actually would've taken a gamble on Ricardo Pereira, who was great on the left during 2015/16 and could have also covered for Valenica.
 
In a ideal world we should have signed that LB Monaco sold to City. he looked like an absolute top player.
 
sully1 said:
In a ideal world we should have signed that LB Monaco sold to City. he looked like an absolute top player.
Click to expand...
£52m though... Huge investment for a full back. Might look like good value if he's a mainstay for almost a decade mind.
 
Andy_Cole said:
Shocking we've not signed one. Arguably our weakest position before the summer started.
Click to expand...
At this point its just negligence. I thought Jose was good at correcting a team's faults after the first season? Still a dysfunctional left hand side to the team. Still no set piece taker.
 
Mr Smith said:
Sorry, you mean a 22 year old who's been at the club 3 years, and suffered a freak injury that kept him out of football for almost a year? Yeah, he's really run out of chances... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I like Shaw but we are still waiting to consistently see the player we saw from Southampton. Previous manager and this one have publicly criticised Shaw in ways that I can't remember any other player. Ability wise should be the best in the country but his career at Utd isn't defined by injuries, it is a attitude issue and a player that actually that I believe doesn't really like being a footballer.
 
Regarding Shaw it was a terrible injury and I can imagine how many times he has replayed that moment even subconsciously. Maybe he will never recover that belief he had prior to the injury.
 
We just can't go into the season hoping Shaw would magically become great for us. He had like 5 good games for us in 3 seasons and every single time he played last year he was a liability... Darmian is decent defensively but useless going forward. I think he would be OK if we had a good LW however our wide players are useless in attack as well. I don't think we will sign 2 more players so it will be one of LB or LW, fullback looks more likely at this point (Aurier).
 
Mr Smith said:
Sorry, you mean a 22 year old who's been at the club 3 years, and suffered a freak injury that kept him out of football for almost a year? Yeah, he's really run out of chances... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

You seem to be confusing 'run out of chances' with 'not relying on him'.

I don't think anybody is necessarily saying to give up on Shaw, but he's been played by injuries his whole time at United and had his attitude and work ethic questioned by more than one manager in that time. It would seem rather silly to bank on that guy being the main man at LB this season.

He may well be, but United definitely need a contingency at least.

Also regardless of whether Shaw's fit or not, he's never been the most effective going forward anyway.
 
I would even just go for a standard left back like Bertrand, he would be better than anything we currently have.
 
AdnanRED said:
I would even just go for a standard left back like Bertrand, he would be better than anything we currently have.
Click to expand...
Off the top of my head I'd say Danny Rose (unlikely to get him) as first choice or Bertrand second from the EPL.
Jordi Alba maybe. Kieran Tierney is a real prospect at Celtic but is more than likely to stay there at least a couple of years yet and a move to United at the moment would probably be a step too far anyway.
Of the current options, Shaw has a lot to do convince yet, Mourinho isn't a big admirer of Blind, Darmian is decent at times but not the answer long-term and Rojo is far better at CB.
 
I wanted us to sign Robertson. Haven't seen much of Tierney, although I've heard good things.

As it stands, if all were fit - I'd be happy enough if Young was first choice LB. Shaw will be gone next summer if he doesn't step up this season.
 
I wonder if United looked at Raphael Guerreiro before his move to Dortmund? Surely they could have promised him that he'd be a starter at LB.
 
Milan signed Ricardo Rodriguez the Swiss left back for something stupid like 15 million

always thought he was a good player

Tierney scored an absolute peach but haven't seen enough of him

we certainly could use a good attacking fullback
 
Hed Zitin said:
I'm saying bin them. They are all replaceable. Bin one of them. Don't care which one.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. I agree with this and as you stated 1 of them should be sold off and replaced.

red thru&thru said:
We won't get a LB this year. Will have to wait and see how Shaw will get on. Screw it, just give Mitchell a chance. He surely can't fo any worse than Blind.
Click to expand...

As you said, I would be tempted to use a youth player in the LB position, if only because the standard of our current LBs is so ridiculously low.

I do find it amusing how a player who has been an absolute failure for 3 seasons, is highly regarded, rated and relied to do well in the future, while Memphis, Morgan S, Bastian S (who at least could keep themselves fit and in reasonably good condition) were sold, but Shaw has escaped Jose's ruthless will to win and the disposal of deadwood.
 
Last edited:
sunama said:
Fair enough. I agree with this and as you stated 1 of them should be sold off and replaced.
I would also be tempted to use a youth player in the LB position, if only because the standard of our current LBs is so ridiculously low.
Click to expand...
Mitchell has looked good but I doubt Mourinho will trust a player of his age and inexperience
 
Tierney would be an excellent option for many reasons. He'd give us a very different option from Darmian or Blind in the sense that he is pacy and attack minded, he'd also be more attainable for a sensible fee from Celtic and the bedding in period would be shorter than for a foreign player. If we finished the window with a left winger and Tierney, I'd be ecstatic.
 
buckooo1978 said:
Milan signed Ricardo Rodriguez the Swiss left back for something stupid like 15 million

always thought he was a good player

Tierney scored an absolute peach but haven't seen enough of him

we certainly could use a good attacking fullback
Click to expand...

I also feel a good attacking right FB that is on the younger side wouldn't hurt us either. It's also a problem that we have almost no depth in those positions, if Shaw and Valencia is out we need to play CBs in those positions which really isn't what our attack needs.
 
El Zoido said:
Seen rumours that the Glazers wouldn't approve finances for a LB target this summer.
Click to expand...

I think that unlikely to be honest.
Whatever their faults, they have not baulked at our ever escalating transfer demands.
We've spent something like half a Billion since SAF, and apparently would have still found the funds if Bale was available.
 
Demitri Mitchel in our current squad

If we have to sign somebody new:

-Perisic if we want to play with 3 at the back and use wingbacks
-Rose, Guerreiro or Bernat if we want to play with 4 at the back

Rose and Guerreiro might be near impossible to sign though. Bernat might have some more chance as he plays second fiddle behind Alaba at Bayern but still won't be easy.
 
Bertrand? I've been keen for us to sign him for a while.

Better than Shaw all round IMO and not constantly injured
 
Danny Rose would definitely push Shaw out, probably long-term. Not sure that would be ideal. Mitchell looks to have great potential and it would be a shame if he saw his chances wiped out in my opinion.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.