I dont really see why Mata couldn't be a false number 9. Likewise Januzaj.
Not any more he wasn't agreed but that is besides the point, we have always had 2 strikers of top quality whenever we have done well.. to get in a lesser striker just so Rooney can swan around unchallenged is a ridiculous proposition.. relying on Rooney is a massive gamble especially as it seems as if he isn't as good as he once was.
Van Gaal doesn't employ false nines though, even as the occasional novelty. It's very unlikely, if not downright impossible to start anything but traditional strikers under Van Gaal.
I'd say we only need another winger if Di Maria leaves, as for the striker, it would have to be one happy playing second fiddle to Rooney.Gamble bordering on stupidity. As happy as I am with our midfield now, the attack still looks very blunt, especially if di Maria is about the leave. There aren't nearly enough goals in any of the options we have to play in attack.
Depay - Young, would need time to adjust
Young - Not a prolific goal scorer
di Maria - Same
Mata - has he scored more than 10 only twice in the 9 top league seasons.
Rooney - Hasn't scored 20 in a while.
Januzaj & Wilson - Too young.
We need goal scorers. One striker, and preferably another from the wide areas.
I'd say we only need another winger if Di Maria leaves, as for the striker, it would have to be one happy playing second fiddle to Rooney.
I reckon we are definately getting Bale and Kane in at some stage.I think it's likely to be next season though.
We do love to overrate our youngsters don't we?
Wilson has done nothing of merit to be considered at par with a proven EPL scorer like Berahino
Depay scored many goals last season - but in the Dutch league. The EPL is a totally different level.
Falcao and Di Maria were sensational in Spain. In EPL, they were not.
Even LVG admitted last year that he was taken aback by the competitiveness of the EPL (we got beat by MK Dons and Leicester - these were games he thought we could win easily).
We do love to overrate our youngsters don't we?
Wilson has done nothing of merit to be considered at par with a proven EPL scorer like Berahino
Not overrating Wilson,not claiming he's as good as Berahino either, but he is really fast and still young just like Berahino,we might as well give him more game time, he would definitely be a second choice striker at the very least in one of the lower ranked EPL sides.
Sometimes the difference between 2 players is the number of games they play, Kane got his opportunity by chance and look at how that turned out.
I'd love to believe that Willo takes his chances this season but I don't think he's ready to be our 2nd striker, he's also prone to injuries.. I think fighting with someone like Berahino for the second striker wouldn't be bad for him though.. I think we could get Berahino for lessNo, but if you actually watch them play, there's no obvious disparity in quality. This attitude is why young English players never get anywhere at the big clubs. Of course Wilson hasn't 'done anything' to compare to what Berahino has done, he hasn't been given the opportunity. Until he gets that opportunity, he will never have 'done' anything. Before this season (and to some extent the last) Harry Kane hadn't 'done' anything comparable to strikers who were playing regularly in the Premier League. Then he got his chance and oh, all of a sudden he has 'done' something.
Is it worth £25m for Berahino to mostly sit on the bench instead of the other? Only if we really have become Madrid MkII.
Thats fair and i agree. However he wont be given a regular run at a top club. Barely no one gets that anymore. Berardi had been scoring hattricks against top sides and juve hasnt yet recalled him. Experience is as important as talent
Wilson needs a 1 yr loan in another epl club
We should be going with a striker who a) is young enough to be benched, assuming Rooney is preferred choice for lone striker in a 4-3-3, and b) complements Rooney if we switch to a system with two strikers, or c) they have to be an even bigger name than Rooney.
Don't think Cavani fits any of those criteria. Neither does Higuain, and both are massively overrated and overpriced. It would be better to spend on the potential of Lacazette or Kane. Outside of those two there are no obvious options, assuming Bayern aren't willing to sell Muller or Lewandowski.
Berahino, Benteke and Lukaku would all be decent-ish if money was no object. Of the three Berahino is by far the best value for money since the other two are less prolific and would both cost more than £30m.
I think you missed out a couple of wordsIf you're wanting to be realistic and accurate (which your post seems to be aiming at) in discussing options, then you should also take it as given that Spurs won't be selling Kane (this summer) . My advice would thus be to exclude him from your whittled-down short-list.
It's fine. He'll be happy to leave when he realises Spurs wont achieve much more than Europa league qualification.If you're wanting to be realistic and accurate (which your post seems to be aiming at) in discussing options, then you should also take it as given that Spurs won't be selling Kane. My advice would thus be to exclude him from your whittled-down short-list.
If you're wanting to be realistic and accurate (which your post seems to be aiming at) in discussing options, then you should also take it as given that Spurs won't be selling Kane. My advice would thus be to exclude him from your whittled-down short-list.
I'd love to believe that Willo takes his chances this season but I don't think he's ready to be our 2nd striker, he's also prone to injuries.. I think fighting with someone like Berahino for the second striker wouldn't be bad for him though.. I think we could get Berahino for less
And you seem to like underating them. Especially if they are British.We do love to overrate our youngsters don't we?
Wilson has done nothing of merit to be considered at par with a proven EPL scorer like Berahino
I dont really see why Mata couldn't be a false number 9. Likewise Januzaj. Obviously finishing wont be their biggest asset but you would assume that with most strikers who would be willing to play beneath Rooney.
Keep an eye out on Kane until January. We could get him & he still wont be cup tied either
In what way would that not be bad for him? He doesn't need competition - he'd already be second choice behind Rooney and have Hernandez for company. What he needs is games, and throwing another young striker into the mix would limit his even further.
And I highly doubt we'd get Berahino for less. West Brom are rumoured to be unwilling to sell for less than £30m, so £25m seems pretty a pretty realistic target price. A total waste when he's really no more talented than Wilson (and with, in my opinion, a significantly lower ceiling.)
Hernandez is as good as gone so we will need a striker, Wilson's not good enough to be no2 striker, we will be in the market for someone and Benteke or Berahino seems like players who are realistic atm..In what way would that not be bad for him? He doesn't need competition - he'd already be second choice behind Rooney and have Hernandez for company. What he needs is games, and throwing another young striker into the mix would limit his even further.
And I highly doubt we'd get Berahino for less. West Brom are rumoured to be unwilling to sell for less than £30m, so £25m seems pretty a pretty realistic target price. A total waste when he's really no more talented than Wilson (and with, in my opinion, a significantly lower ceiling.)
And you seem to like underating them. Especially if they are British.
Wilson doesn't necessarily need a loan move, he needs more game time and with United competing for 4 trophies this season with him as our 3rd option in that position, he might just get that this season.....we are really bad at loan moves, besides Wilson and Mcnair seem to be LVG's main youth projects and Januzaj to an extent.
I believe it would be very difficult for a young striker to develop at United considering the pressure, the amount of games we can give them and how teams tend to play against us (ie parking the bus). Id say lets sign a young quality striker keep Hernandez and send Wilson on loan for a year or two. By the time Rooney is too old to do the job we would have two quality strikers ready to take his place
We obviously dont want a young striker(not named Harry Kane) and we dont need one, there's no point signing a player like Berahino who isn't good enough to start for us, we have Wilson and we let go of Henriquez which suggests our new striker will have some sort of experience with Hernandez on his way out.
Loan moves dont always work out for strikers, you also have to incorporate the strikers into your team after a successful loan spell and that might take another season or 2, Wilson needs to remain with the first team and feature in certain games to improve, he has already impressed in the few games he has played for us and his goal against QPR proves he is a special player.
We need a striker who is good enough to challenge Rooney and also good enough to make an impact from the bench without commanding a starting place....someone like Remy.
We aren't desperate.
Assuming our centrebacks consists of 2 out of Rojo/Evans/Smalling/Jones/McNair/New CB(do we really need one?) and fullbacks Valencia/Darmian/Rafael and Blind/Shaw.
Midfielders would number 3 in the form of Carrick/Schweinsteiger/Schneiderlin/ Herrera/Di Maria/Young/Fellaini/Pereira.
We are left with 3 forward positions that can be filled by Mata/Rooney/Wilson/Chicharito/Depay/Januzaj/DiMaria/Young.
We aren't exactly desperate for a striker though I think a new one is good to have.
