New Left Back

Wonder if Dortmund will consider a £30 million bid for Raphaël Guerreiro, even though he's been there for only 1 season and has a contract till 2020. Some of the alternatives will cost as much (apart from Kolašinac), but Guerreiro is probably the most accomplished - reaching the final of the U21 EUROs and winning the 2016 EURO - as well as being nominated to the team of the tournament while doing a thankless job on the left flank as a 442 diamond wingback. Offers a bit of versatility too, since he can play on the left wing or as a box-to-box midfielder. Though he would represent a departure from José's nominal tactic of using staggered flanks: Ivanović + Azpilicueta, Marcelo + Abeloa, Maicon + Zanetti/Chivu, and isn't very physically imposing. Hopefully this position gets sorted in the first attempt because several other positions need to be addressed, too, and that adversely affects the balance and cohesiveness of the entire team.
 
Invictus said:
Wonder if Dortmund will consider a £30 million bid for Raphaël Guerreiro, even though he's been there for only 1 season and has a contract till 2020. Some of the alternatives will cost as much (apart from Kolašinac), but Guerreiro is probably the most accomplished - reaching the final of the U21 EUROs and winning the 2016 EURO - as well as being nominated to the team of the tournament while doing a thankless job on the left flank as a 442 diamond wingback. Offers a bit of versatility too, since he can play on the left wing or as a box-to-box midfielder. Though he would represent a departure from José's nominal tactic of using staggered flanks: Ivanović + Azpilicueta, Marcelo + Abeloa, Maicon + Zanetti/Chivu, and isn't very physically imposing. Hopefully this position gets sorted in the first attempt because several other positions need to be addressed, too, and that adversely affects the balance and cohesiveness of the entire team.
Click to expand...

Read the description and the the first player that came to my mind was Bind.

Left footed, very good passer of the ball, can play in midfield, versatile, very good crosser of the ball. Should have been in the team of the tournament too.
 
Skills said:
Getting rid of a 21 year old, for a manager who will he gone within 2 years is also a terrible model.

Best case scenario is probably if we can loan him out for a couple of seasons, then bring him back once mourinho gets himself sacked. Contract situation isn't too great for that though.
Click to expand...

This is the problem in todays football imo. The players are becoming bigger than the manager and sometimes the club. If a player dislikes a manager or the club he is playing for, the player doesn't work hard enough anymore during training and matches, and eventually the manager gets sacked. If shaw can't motivate himself to give his all for a club like ours he can feck off.

Mourinho has said countless of times that he is commited to United for the long term if we want him. Haven't heard anything like that from shaw.

So let's get a LB who would do anything to play for a club like ours
 
Thepinhead said:
This is the problem in todays football imo. The players are becoming bigger than the manager and sometimes the club. If a player dislikes a manager or the club he is playing for, the player doesn't work hard enough anymore during training and matches, and eventually the manager gets sacked. If shaw can't motivate himself to give his all for a club like ours he can feck off.

Mourinho has said countless of times that he is commited to United for the long term if we want him. Haven't heard anything like that from shaw.

So let's get a LB who would do anything to play for a club like ours
Click to expand...
Shaw is a declared Chelsea fan. Remember reading that few years back when we just signed him.
 
K2K said:
That is something United would never do and rightly so.

You can't undermine the managers decisions then hold him accountable for results.

Martial was supposedly frozen out and fought his way back into the team. Maybe it really is Shaw in this case and not Mourinho.

Jose has shown this season with Micky, Mata and even Bastian that his mind is never made up. It's up to the player to convince otherwise.

Shaw when he has played this season has sadly covered himself in glory either. I think your evident dislike for the manager clouds that.
Click to expand...

I don't have any dislike for Mourinho - in fact I was championing us to get him since December 15. But the club has to look out for its own interests beyond Mourinhos tenure.
Thepinhead said:
This is the problem in todays football imo. The players are becoming bigger than the manager and sometimes the club. If a player dislikes a manager or the club he is playing for, the player doesn't work hard enough anymore during training and matches, and eventually the manager gets sacked. If shaw can't motivate himself to give his all for a club like ours he can feck off.

Mourinho has said countless of times that he is commited to United for the long term if we want him. Haven't heard anything like that from shaw.

So let's get a LB who would do anything to play for a club like ours
Click to expand...

No the problem is some of you just do not get that this isn't Fergies club anymore. The manager is not the club. Any manager we get now is here to further their own ambition, and the clubs success is just a by product of that fact. So therefore, we should also look out for our own long term interests - which should go beyond any single manager.
 
SammyUnited_83 said:
What are you on about.

Regardless of his age, Shaw's attitude and / or fitness has now been questioned by 3 managers - he wasn't even signed by a club who had a manager at the time.

Doesn't look like a Man Utd player - get rid.
Click to expand...

Mourinho and van Gaal, who am I forgetting about?
 
Skills said:
This is where a director of football would come in use who'd tell mourinho to get his shit together and use Shaw, or make do with the other resources we have at the club.
Click to expand...
So a man to tell the manager how to manage their team? Sounds flawless...
 
I've been in the "Shaw will come good" camp but after Mourinho's comments, it's getting lonely in there. I think I'll make my way over to the Benjamin Mendy camp before it gets too crowded in there.
 
Dong Fangzhuo said:
I've been in the "Shaw will come good" camp but after Mourinho's comments, it's getting lonely in there. I think I'll make my way over to the Benjamin Mendy camp before it gets too crowded in there.
Click to expand...

You should come into the, "I don't give a feck either way, as long as whoever plays LB gives everything he has and can actually attack" camp.
 
Womp said:
You should come into the, "I don't give a feck either way, as long as whoever plays LB gives everything he has and can actually attack" camp.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a hostile place, lacking in conviction. I'll stick with Camp Mendy for now.
 
A few options out there and we truly need a stable, firm first choice LB:

Kolasinac
Ricardo Rodriguez
Mendy
Bertrand

Any of those four would be solid, dependable options and would improve us in that area.

Must be a priority in the summer.
 
Im a big fan of Shaw and hope he does stay but if it's not working for him here then it's good for both parties. Mendy would be my choice like many others.
 
Don't want Ricardo Rodriguez. If we are trying to sign a pure left-back, then it's hopefully either Alex Sandro, Emerson or Mendy.
 
Mourinho must be twice as frustrated considering our poor attacking play and how vital Shaw was to our left hand side before his injury. He was probably placing a lot of hope in him hitting that kind of form again coming into the season, so for that not to come to fruition via Shaw's own doing must be frustrating.
 
If we must go for a new left back (which I am very disappointed after the money we have spent in that position over the years), and it is Shaw that must make way, then I would see if Bertrand could be prised from Southampton. Homegrown quota is important, and losing a young English player would mean we would start to push the limit with the likes of Rooney, Carrick and young set to depart over the next few years, so going for an England international who has got the quality to step into that position would be ideal. So IMO Bertrand would be a good pick if we can get him.
 
bucky said:
Don't want Ricardo Rodriguez. If we are trying to sign a pure left-back, then it's hopefully either Alex Sandro, Emerson or Mendy.
Click to expand...
Alex Sandro would be the dream purchase. Probably not that realistic?
 
All this coveting of attacking left backs ...., do your homework fellas. José's favoured formation of recent years does not include an attacking left back. The rightback can get forward , the left back hardly crosses the halfway line...see azpilecuetta under jose.
If you want to know why our leftbacks dont attack, look no further...its tactical & it comes from the manager.
 
RedMaestro said:
Alex Sandro would be the dream purchase. Probably not that realistic?
Click to expand...

Before last summer I thought Pogba, Ibrahimovic and Mkhitaryan weren't realisitc either, so who knows. Emerson might present the best value out of the three.

frank lee madeer.. said:
All this coveting of attacking left backs ...., do your homework fellas. José's favoured formation of recent years does not include an attacking left back. The rightback can get forward , the left back hardly crosses the halfway line...see azpilecuetta under jose.
If you want to know why our leftbacks dont attack, look no further...its tactical & it comes from the manager.
Click to expand...

Nonsense. Azpilicueta is simply better defensively than he is offensively, that's the reason why he isn't playing as a wing-back in Chelsea's system now. And it also has to do with who was playing in front of him. To get the best out of Hazard you give him as little responsibility defensively as possible. Whereas, on the other side you had with Willian one of the better wingers in terms of workrate and defensive contribution, so Ivanovic was allowed to get forward more.

It's coincidental that's it's the same with us. Valencia is better going forward than Darmian and Blind, which is why he is allowed to do so. Mourinho simply wants one full-back to be more disciplined, while the other is going forward.
 
Skills said:
Getting rid of a 21 year old, for a manager who will he gone within 2 years is also a terrible model.

Best case scenario is probably if we can loan him out for a couple of seasons, then bring him back once mourinho gets himself sacked. Contract situation isn't too great for that though.
Click to expand...

Completely agree pal; Martial and Shaw could be assets to the club long after Mourinho gets the train home to London for the final time.

Chelsea have had/will have to buy back Luiz and Lukaku; De Bruyne would have been an obvious asset to them, and even Bertrand would have been a decent alternative to Alonso. This is a lesson for United to observe and adapt accordingly.

Rashford looks to be carrying an additional burden this season, while Borthwick-Jackson was decent last season and worth another chance, yet hasn't had a look-in despite the leftback fiasco recently. Fosu-Mensah hasn't featured and someone like Goss, the closest thing to a Vice-Carrick in the ranks, was binned without even getting a chance. United without granting youth opportunities is just another money club, and that's been reflected in the post-Fergie fall into relative obscurity.

The question is, is Mourinho worth it?
 
Acrobat7 said:
Care to mention why? Are you following Wolfsburg?
Click to expand...

Well for one I wanted him when we were linked with Luke Shaw. When he was having a fantastic season. He can contribute goals/assists + decent free-kick taker.

I was surprised he has not got a move from Wolfsburg. I think he's slightly better defensively than Mendy.
 
Jig1234 said:
Well for one I wanted him when we were linked with Luke Shaw. When he was having a fantastic season. He can contribute goals/assists + decent free-kick taker.

I was surprised he has not got a move from Wolfsburg. I think he's slightly better defensively than Mendy.
Click to expand...

Thanks for answering!
I haven't watched a whole lot of Wolfsburg this season, but everytime I did he either sucked or played CB and sucked. Okay, having a wannabe coach like Ismaeil certainly was no help.
 
This is to bucky. Sry I messed the reply option up.



So you declare my post nonsense , but then do an in depth dexplanation of why José's leftbacks are withdrawn ? ....that was basically the entire substance of my post... so you agree??

I disagree with you to some extent on your reasoning behind it , but your basically saying that jose can choose which fullback he withdraws dependant on the defensive capabilities of the man in front of him. Yes ? It all adds up to 1 attacking fullback , ... but I think its the left one for a different reason.... to prevent right footed crosses / balls into the box for a right footed striker ( mostly) & the reason joses right is given more freedom is for the same reason. The left winger / left forward is supposed to create shooting oppurtunities for himself. Hazard got frustrated with the lack of support eventually. imo its more about limiting risk .
 
Last edited:
frank lee madeer.. said:
So you declare my post nonsense , but then do an in depth dexplanation of why José's leftbacks are withdrawn ? ....that was basically the entire substance of my post... so you agree??

I disagree with you to some extent on your reasoning behind it , but your basically saying that jose can choose which fullback he withdraws dependant on the defensive capabilities of the man in front of him. Yes ? It all adds up to 1 attacking fullback , ... but I think its the left one for a different reason.... to prevent right footed crosses / balls into the box for a right footed striker ( mostly) & the reason joses right is given more freedom is for the same reason. The left winger / left forward is supposed to create shooting oppurtunities for himself. Hazard got frustrated with the lack of support eventually.
Click to expand...

Your punctuation isn't helpful. I disagree with the notion that is has to be the left-back.
 
Mendy would a solid addition. Bernat might be interesting to look at, as he's reportedly wanting to leave this summer (likely back to Spain).
 
United Pro said:
Mendy would a solid addition. Bernat might be interesting to look at, as he's reportedly wanting to leave this summer (likely back to Spain).
Click to expand...
Not sure Bayern would let him go. They have absolutely no cover for Alaba (please don't say Rafinha) besides him and I just don't see Ancelotti using Hummels as LCB in a three men line.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
Bertrand. Soton can have Shaw back.
Click to expand...

I like him, he's steady rather than spectacular. They have Targett and McQueen, the latest off the conveyor of superb leftbacks, so I'm not sure they'd take him to stifle their development. Logic would suggest activating Shaw's additional year on his contract, then loaning him out somewhere like Brighton for a year, see if he can recover his form and fitness in a less intense environment. His current value with a year left won't go any lower anyway, so it'd make sense to send him out next season with a view to either coming back with confidence and older, or be sold for a fee more representative of his 'true' value.

Plus, another substandard season next year could see Mourinho implode and back door it.....
 
If (?) Ben Davies wanted to leave Spurs this summer in search of being part of a first XI, then I'm sure Poch would take Shaw and lick him into shape. He already knows the player and vice-versa, so I think Shaw would be quite happy to come to Spurs.

The other condition, would obviously be that Shaw would have accept a very substantial wage cut, because I doubt that Spurs would offer a young 2nd choice LB (or 2nd choice unless and until Shaw proved otherwise) more than around 40k per week absolute max.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.