We've got options on the creative part in CM. Ando, Clev, Powell, Scholes, Giggs, Carrick + the introduction of Kagawa and hopefully Moura can help that. However I am concerned about the defensive part of it. We only got Carrick with the positional sense, the discipline and the tackling ability to act as DM. If he picks an injury then we'll end up playing defenders there.
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We've got options on the creative part in CM. Ando, Clev, Powell, Scholes, Giggs, Carrick + the introduction of Kagawa and hopefully Moura can help that. However I am concerned about the defensive part of it. We only got Carrick with the positional sense, the discipline and the tackling ability to act as DM. If he picks an injury then we'll end up playing defenders there.
Missed his goal in the play off inal then?
Anderson's fecking pass very nearly ended in disaster.
Only 18 years old and he does play very mature for his age. But its tough for a teenager to play in midfield because its a position that requires the most experience in order to excel at it. I'd imagine he will take Pogba's minutes though. Probably a few carling cup games here and there.
Maybe if he scores a screamer in a sub appearance he will give us a good two or three games in a row next season. Other than that im not expecting much.
The problem is you're coming up with issues based on what, an hour of football over 2 matches?
And seemingly you've not done any homework on him before his United career. Believe it or not this will be more of an indication of what he can do, than 50 minutes of pre-season football
Up to this point, I rate him as highly as Bebe.
well isnt that nice
exactly
He has at least 4 years until we really can judge him and that under Fergie he will develop tremendously
Just watched the match, Powell really is going under the radar with all the talk about Kagawa and people looking at how the young players we have produced are doing at this level.
For the second match I've been impressed with his work rate and closing down without the ball. Anyone worried that he's an attacker being played in midfield and therefore wont be able to put his foot in and will be a luxury player is way off the mark. Especially in this second match he had a touch of Darren Fletcher with his closing down and aggression in tackles. He even bravely went into the sliding collision that could easily have injured him. Compared to Petrucci or Anderson alongside him and he looked far, far more interested in the match when United didnt have the ball. Whilst his actual standing tackles didnt always come away with the ball, and thats something he can work on, the sheer fact we actually had someone getting there quick to close people down meant the opposition lost the ball with stray passes more often.
Despite being the one to sit back behind Petrucci and Anderson, he was also the one to penetrate the defence, bring down the high ball with a nice touch and just rushed his finish a little when he probably should have scored. We already know he can and will get on the scoresheet and can shoot with either foot, so that part is not a concern. Instead we should focus on the fact that every single time Kagawa came deep to get on the ball, Powell ran into the attacking midfield space he left behind and supported Macheda. Every single time he identified that dangerous space and acted on it. He also very responsibly found a good defensive position when Petrucci and Anderson were making offensive movements. He's miles ahead of our other young central players with his movement and reading of the game and I believe he could possibly be the key to Kagawa playing behind a striker. Because when you do that you need good movement, support and goals from midfield. Our other midfielders dont have this down yet and I dont think its a coincidence we signed Powell in the same window as Kagawa. They already seem to have this understanding down.
His distribution was tidy and his passes cusioned in a similar way to Carrick's. However when he tried to play the final pass he was too rash and thats something else he needs to work on. Very few of the balls he tried to play in behind actually came off and thats pretty much the only time he gave away the ball with his passing. When it was just general passing he moved the ball around well and accurately.
For the second match I've been impressed with his work rate and closing down without the ball. Anyone worried that he's an attacker being played in midfield and therefore wont be able to put his foot in and will be a luxury player is way off the mark. Especially in this second match he had a touch of Darren Fletcher with his closing down and aggression in tackles. He even bravely went into the sliding collision that could easily have injured him. Compared to Petrucci or Anderson alongside him and he looked far, far more interested in the match when United didnt have the ball. Whilst his actual standing tackles didnt always come away with the ball, and thats something he can work on, the sheer fact we actually had someone getting there quick to close people down meant the opposition lost the ball with stray passes more often.
Despite being the one to sit back behind Petrucci and Anderson, he was also the one to penetrate the defence, bring down the high ball with a nice touch and just rushed his finish a little when he probably should have scored. We already know he can and will get on the scoresheet and can shoot with either foot, so that part is not a concern. Instead we should focus on the fact that every single time Kagawa came deep to get on the ball, Powell ran into the attacking midfield space he left behind and supported Macheda. Every single time he identified that dangerous space and acted on it. He also very responsibly found a good defensive position when Petrucci and Anderson were making offensive movements. He's miles ahead of our other young central players with his movement and reading of the game and I believe he could possibly be the key to Kagawa playing behind a striker. Because when you do that you need good movement, support and goals from midfield. Our other midfielders dont have this down yet and I dont think its a coincidence we signed Powell in the same window as Kagawa. They already seem to have this understanding down.
His distribution was tidy and his passes cusioned in a similar way to Carrick's. However when he tried to play the final pass he was too rash and thats something else he needs to work on. Very few of the balls he tried to play in behind actually came off and thats pretty much the only time he gave away the ball with his passing. When it was just general passing he moved the ball around well and accurately.
Laughable.
The lad looks a natural in center midfield.
The thing that impressed most about Powell was that his first touch always took him forward. It seems a minor sort of thing to pick up on, but it shows a lot about a player when the first thing they do is to look for the forward option. I'm sure he's got a lot more adventure in him than he's currently showing and that'll come with experience, but he looks a good talent.
Fergie clearly rates him very highly as well. Wasn't afraid to talk in clear terms as to him being a first team starter in the future, he admitted that we moved in for him just before 'the secret got out', he's said Arsenal, City and Chelsea were keeping tabs on him, etc...
Looking forward to seeing more of him. It's obviously stupidly difficult at this point to speculate on how far he'll go, but there were encouraging signs from that performance.
Fergie clearly rates him very highly as well. Wasn't afraid to talk in clear terms as to him being a first team starter in the future, he admitted that we moved in for him just before 'the secret got out', he's said Arsenal, City and Chelsea were keeping tabs on him, etc...
Looking forward to seeing more of him. It's obviously stupidly difficult at this point to speculate on how far he'll go, but there were encouraging signs from that performance.
Right now he is still very inexperienced and raw. Tends to overhit passes from time to time. Its clear to see that he will never be the next Paul Scholes in terms of passing ability and technique. However, with some luck and rapid development, I really believe he could turn into a similar player as someone like lampard. Nonetheless, don't think he will turn out any worse than gibbo for example.
Too early to judge him properly but based solely on the last game in China, he didn't seem a naturally classy passer. Didn't seem the type to whom passing and playmaking comes naturally. Then again that's expected given he's billed as a Lampard type player. And if that's the case I wonder if he's going to work in a two man midfield. Against China his defensivr abilities weren't really tested.
I really think Nick Powell has all the tools to become a world class midfielder,and i am sure he will surprise a lot of caf members this season.
Dunno about world class, but I can see him getting games this season.. Will be a backup for now.. The Gibson role.
As I said earlier in the thread he's a mixture of Lampard and Gerrard, only better. He's Gerrpard.
It's been pretty much impossible to judge him in terms of his best position. We'll only know more when we see him in some competeitive games.
I agree that doesn't seem to be someone who's going to be spraying passes all over the field, at least for the time being, but at the moment we have Scholes and Carrick to do that anyway. His short passing game seems to be ok and if he can bring a bit of combativeness to midfield and also some goals then then he could contribute to the first team this season.
Scholes at 18 was never hitting 60 yard pinpoint passes Ffs
You can never say how he will turn out, it all depends on how much he wants to improve
His defensive workrate was better by far than Anderson or Petrucci, if Anderson can work in a midfield 2 its madness to think Powell cant. He also took up good defensive positioning which was handy as Carrick was in defence, not midfield. And he only went forward at the right times when others were holding and Kagawa had dropped deep in midfield to get the ball which means if we had lost the ball, we'd have enough numbers back to cover it
So my post was negative ? All I said were the flaws in his first 2 games, no harm done... What are you on about ?
You could make a vast list of flaws in everyone's first 2 games. Its preseason.
For example Hernandez hasnt scored yet. If we base our opinion on some minutes in pre-season we could say "Doesnt score enough goals"
Thing is he has a record of scoring goals in previous seasons. Just like Powell has a record of using his left foot very well in previous seasons. Coming up with issues based on a few minutes of preseason and ignoring what a player showed in previous seasons is silly.
What we know about Powell is he is two footed. So what you had to say was irrelevant.
Oh, he's two footed and he came from Crewe then, so his two matches went unnoticed ?
I didn't say I criticized him, I pointed out what I saw and his points that I'd make him work on... The point is, what are you freaking on about saying I didn't follow him in Crewe days, who in the hell knew he was going to sign for United ? You think I'm god ?
Is there sth stuck up your arse this morning ? Usually I tend to agree to most of your wisdom, not this stupid crap though
Oh, he's two footed and he came from Crewe then, so his two matches went unnoticed ?
I didn't say I criticized him, I pointed out what I saw and his points that I'd make him work on... The point is, what are you freaking on about saying I didn't follow him in Crewe days, who in the hell knew he was going to sign for United ? You think I'm god ?
Is there sth stuck up your arse this morning ? Usually I tend to agree to most of your wisdom, not this stupid crap though
You dont need to follow Crewe to be aware of what he showed for them. Listen to Gradi who has seen more of him than an hour of preseason football
His defensive workrate was better by far than Anderson or Petrucci, if Anderson can work in a midfield 2 its madness to think Powell cant. He also took up good defensive positioning which was handy as Carrick was in defence, not midfield. And he only went forward at the right times when others were holding and Kagawa had dropped deep in midfield to get the ball which means if we had lost the ball, we'd have enough numbers back to cover it
What a daft use of the houllier smiley. It doesn't matter whether his defensive work rate was better than them. It was a game in which neither was tested defensively so we have nothing to judge them on defensively.
And Anderson hasn't exactly "worked" yet. I'm a big fan of his talents but Anderson in a 2 man central midfield or as a proper central midfielder is still a "work in progress".
Of course its worked. You think Sir Alex is going to keep picking him in central midfield if he doesnt work in a midfield 2?
Fergie picks him because he's incredibly talented in the hope it will truly work finally. I guess we're arguing semantics because what you mean by "worked" could be different from what I do. Point is, you may have read up a lot on him (Powell), but after watching his last game, I don't have anything to go on to judge his defensive abilities by. And right now I can only go on what I've seen.
Is how you judge players. Not some friendlies.
Then you werent watching Powell. He showed great incentive to close down opponents (more than our other midfielders, bar Fletcher who we've missed when it comes to that) and he was quite aggressive with it too. He wasnt tackling everyone he closed down, he's not masherano by any means, but by pressuring the ball as our midfield does not, we can force the opponent into more stray passes and intercept more often.
Thats enough defensive work to "work" in a midfield 2. Its more than Anderson or Cleverley.
As I said, I'll have to watch him against a more threatening team to judge that aspect better although even that will just be "first impressions" rather than an opinion.
Giggsy was already a classplayer at 17 and the nevs, Scholes, butty, beckham aso were in the thereabouts being under 20 so fair to have some demands regarding Powell imo
You're lucky to get one Giggs in a generation. That and he was an out and out winger with nothing much in the way of defensive responsibilities - much less dependent on experience.
The other four were each right on the cusp of twenty when they broke through into the first team. Powell is 18. Why would you expect him to make a breakthrough 18 months younger than Beckham and Scholes managed?
I'm excited by this guy. I think he could be a really talented CM. Of course it's early days but he looks like he'll be physically big, strong and quick. He presses well. Intelligent movement. Looks for the ball. Good control. Good technique. Good vision. And from his Crewe days we know he has an eye for goal. He could be an all round CM - not a luxury player or simply an AM. He could hopefully become a player who can sit deep for the majority of the game but make adventurous attacking forays at times. I think he is potentially a more orthodox CM than Cleverley or Anderson, although obviously he is young and needs time to learn. For now, he is a great addition having lost Pogba this summer.
I'm struggling to think of a player to compare him to though. No doubt if he was breaking through 10-15 years ago he'd have ended up as a typical English midfielder but I can see him becoming a bit more continental at United. The best I can come up with is Massimo Ambrosini for some reason.
He's good looking too, he could be the poster boy for the national team in a few years.
I'm struggling to think of a player to compare him to though. No doubt if he was breaking through 10-15 years ago he'd have ended up as a typical English midfielder but I can see him becoming a bit more continental at United. The best I can come up with is Massimo Ambrosini for some reason.
He's good looking too, he could be the poster boy for the national team in a few years.
His mobility, shooting ability and technique has me hoping he'll be something like Gerrard.
Here's hoping he'll be nothing like Gerrard.
I hope he'll be a bit more refined/modernised than Gerrard or Lampard in terms of possession based football, keeping the ball under pressure in tight places etc.
It would be fantastic to see him regularly banging in long range shots ala Gerrard or Lampard though.
It would be fantastic to see him regularly banging in long range shots ala Gerrard or Lampard though.
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