He was tearing shit up for Wigan in the Europa League and was comfortably their best player in all those games so he definitely looks more ready than he did last season. Trouble is, he's played AM/CF all season and despite Fergie and Gradi saying his best position is CM, I really don't see him becoming a good enough CM for Man United.
- Status
Speaking of brew, you haven't lived until you've tried Pliny the Younger. Next time you swing by San Francisco in February and have an extra half day on hand, drive an hour north and try it. Unfukkinbekievable. Voted best beer on earth six years straight.
Good enough for what? If we're going to rebuild, let's rebuild. If we're going to win the prem trophy back and make a hard run at Bayern, Barca and Real then we'll need to buy 4 and possibly 6 world class or near world class players. If it's the latter then full steam ahead but I really don't see us, with or without Moyes, spending what it will take to get us back to where we were when Barcelona trashed us. And if we're going to rebuild, then why not start with the promising crop of young players we have on the books? A few buys, but a few brought up too.
As for what to do with young Nick, it seems likely we're going to lose RvP and Chicharito. I'd hate to see them go, but if they do go then the opening for young Nick is there.
Moylan's in Marin?
He has way more potential than the likes of Cleverely who plays his fair share of games. I don't expect Powell to go straight into the first team and produce straight away but given game time here and there likes Januzaj to start with is not a bad idea. Blooding him in while strengthening in CM is a good idea.
If he produces performances anywhere near Januzaj's standard then we are onto a winner. Let's develop him as a CM, he's tenacious, can cover the ground, certainty has an eye for goal and can get from box to box if need be. He would need to work on his positioning, tactical awareness and passing but only Carrick is a better passer in CM atm and Giggs of course but if Fletcher can get by then so can Powell.
If he produces performances anywhere near Januzaj's standard then we are onto a winner. Let's develop him as a CM, he's tenacious, can cover the ground, certainty has an eye for goal and can get from box to box if need be. He would need to work on his positioning, tactical awareness and passing but only Carrick is a better passer in CM atm and Giggs of course but if Fletcher can get by then so can Powell.
I think a Premier League loan would be best suited to him next season. This follows the same pattern we had with both Welbeck and Cleverley.
Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa.
Your point is well taken although Welbeck and Cleverley aren't the most compelling examples chosen as evidence to support the point.
Nick is an exceptional talent, well beyond Danny or Tom.
If we were on the cusp of a title winning side I'd go along with another loan, but we're living in pure fantasy if we think we're going to lift the prem trophy next season. It's a different story if we bring in Jose and 4-6 class players but I don't think either will happen and certainly not both will happen.
So let's develop a side that can grow together and have us back where we belong two seasons from now.
Nick is already better than Danny at forward and an overall better footballer than Cleverley, but that's a matter of opinion. And the opinion that matters as of this moment is Moyes, who as of this moment is still United manager.
Sorry, but that is a ridiculous statement.
What planet have you been living on the past 12 months? Danny is a hard worker defensively for a forward, but he's simply nowhere near the finisher Nick is today. That may change in the future, but as neither you nor I have a crystal ball we don't know what their future holds until it plays itself out. But right now Powell is a more gifted goal scorer. Perhaps he has nothing else on Danny, but goal scoring is a prized talent for a forward.
I agree that Powell is going to be a star; probably one of the top English players of the next decade. He seems to have a football intelligence about him that sets him apart from other young, up and coming players. I'd say he has a bit of developing to do before he can be considered better than Welbeck, but he's not too far off.
One thing to mention is that while Sir Alex was sure he's going to be a central midfielder, Moyes might think completely differently. We wont know until he talks about it himself or picks him in the team
Never seen him as a CM myself. Don't think he's ever looked like that's where he belongs. 1 to add to an ever growing list of #10s.
I think you're getting a little carried away there. Welbeck has played and scored for England in major championship finals. He's scored against real Madrid in the Bernabeu. Powell has played for England U/21s and a Championship side. Powell has shown himself to be a good player against Championship opposition but he needs to be scoring regularly against Premier League opposition to be seen to have made the step up. He wouldn't get enough starts with our first team to be able to do that so the best option is a loan to another EPL club. He may well go on to be one of our best players and an England regular (as I believe he will) but he's currently no more than a young player with potential.
I am really looking for Nick to do something against Arsenal in the semi final of the cup and in the playoffs should Wigan qualify. I just get the feeling that we could see something special from him in those games if he is to be the player that is being discussed on this page.
Does anyone know why has he come off the bench rather than start the last couple of games? Just eased into it after the injury or has someone taken his place in the Wigan first XI?
Check my posts in this thread, I rate Powell as highly as anyone here, but this is way off the mark. I think he has a bit more work to do before he can be a regular member of our squad.
He was injured for quite a while, he's being eased back no doubt about that.
A loan to a Premiership club next season would be ideal progression.
Agreed.
A loan to a Premiership club or one of the newly promoted sides would be about right next season I think.
Swansea would be nice but he probably wouldn't get a game in front of Michu and Bony. Norwich, Hull, West Brom or Sunderland would be decent shouts if they stay up.
Swansea would be nice but he probably wouldn't get a game in front of Michu and Bony. Norwich, Hull, West Brom or Sunderland would be decent shouts if they stay up.
Be a shame if we've given up on the idea of him playing in midfield. Don't see him getting games up front for United any time soon.
Personally I would keep him, he's at the age now where he should be breaking into the team.
Must be reason Crewe and Wigan both play him futher forward. Rosler seems like a smart guy.
He's played almost no football as a CM so I really doubt he could just step in there and be at the level we need.
And as an AM/ST he's competing with Rooney, RVP, Hernandez, Welbeck, Kagawa, Mata and even Januzaj so he's got no chance.
Dario Gradi had him down as a future CM though.
Can't blame Rosler picking him in the position where he's already been so prolific though. In a way, Powell is a victim of his own success.
Yeah I didn't think of that to be honest I still think of him playing as a CM for some reason
Here's the quote from Fergie about how he saw Powell developing:
That was almost two years go, mind you.
That was almost two years go, mind you.
If we're dead set on him as a CM then he needs to go to a club under the agreement that's where they're going to play him. Which might be hard to find at a PL level.
For sure. It's a big ask. Maybe Ole might do us a favour if he's still in the top flight?
It wouldn't be the only time Fergie had some odd views on where a players best position is either to be fair.
I very much doubt a club would agree to that, at the end of the day if he isn't good enough to play there then what's the point of him going on loan to another club.
Was posting that to show what Gradi (and Powell himself) thought about his best position.
Like I said, though, that was two years ago. Having played almost exclusively up front since (although I think he's also been played out wide?) it's looking less and less likely that he'll end up playing as a CM. Which is a pty because he'll have a hell of a tough time getting games for us up front.
Not a contractual thing obviously, but I assume when a player goes on loan to your club there's a discussion between the two parties of how they plan on using him/where he fits into the squad etc..
Ferguson, Gradi and Powell think he'll be best as a midfielder. Given that, I don't think its an odd view.
To me he always looked a lot like Frank Lampard, so at his best at the head of a midfield three. Same position as Mata, Kagawa and how Moyes sees Rooney so pretty much impossible for him to end up starting for us here.
Don't think he's fast enough to play wide and doesn't have the skill of a Januzaj or Mata to make up for it.
If he's going to end up first XI here it will surely need to be as a box to box midfielder.
Who knows though, our decline as a team if it continues means players like Powell will find it a lot easier to end up as starters.
I'd be saddened if this guy doesn't get a chance with us, whether next season or season after that.
He has it.
He has it.
I reckon I agree with those who don't see his future in midfield. Both Gradi and Fergie called him a future midfielder when he signed for us but since then he's exclusively played in more advanced positions - for the reserves, various England sides, Wigan under Coyle and now Wigan under Uwe fecking Rösler. If we still see his long-term future in midfield we need to loan him to someone who'll play him there week in, week out. Personally, I think he lacks a bit of work-rate for central midfield.
I've got a sneaky suspicion that we'll have a poor summer window and that'll lead to Nick Powell having a very good season for us next year.
Silver lining and all that.
Silver lining and all that.
- Status