Jones is not going to be first choice and Carrick is hardly ever fit.
[Poll] We desperately need a striker
- Thread starter Truedevil
- Start date
Since when does that mean anything, ffs.. turn of the tv or twatter..
No fire without smoke.
It has also helped VG that he has signed a potential goal scoring threat in Depay, and with Di Maria to come into the fold rooney depay and di maria will be a very balanced 3 man attack to give us that drive to open teams up. If we can solve the midfield and sign a couple of CM, with already one defender signed we will have the tools to possibly challenge for the title. I feel the chelsea approach is what we should do, have rooney with hernandez and wilson has backup, its a little short and thin upfront, but rooney will be playing week in week out.
If we can go into the pre-season tour, with depay, Schneiderlin and Darmien signed, that is very good business done, and we can take our time looking at perhaps signing one moe CB and a CM
Costa's level is massively overplayed on here. He scored 21 times last season and was very good, but he wasn't amazing. If Rooney can't score more than 20 goals next season as our main centre forward playing 40+ games then I think we're getting rid of the wrong player.
Hernandez and Wilson also bring different things that Drogba and Remy wouldn't. For our possession based system pace and the ability to make runs to stretch a defence is exactly what Van Gaal has said he wants from his strikers. For our system Rooney/Hernandez/Wilson should be better than Costa/Remy/Drogba.
Things change quickly in Football. Van Persie was due to be our captain and first choice this time last season and Rooney was going to potentially be sold.
There is every chance Van Gaal saw Hernandez' performances towards the end to his Real Madrid career and his comments about seeing a role for himself here that wasn't first choice and changed his mind.
Absolutely. I also think a more defensively solid unit with Darmian/Schneiderlin and either Ramos or Otamendi will mean we are able to play a more attacking system that'll benefit our attackers. As I said before there's no reason whatsoever why our front 6 of Rooney, Mata, Depay, Herrera, Fellaini & Di Maria shouldn't be able to outscore Costa, Hazard, Fabrgeas, Willian, Ramires & Oscar.
It's also a much better spread of goals: if Chelsea have Costa & Hazard out they're screwed.
I've had an epiphany about this current dilemma and the stars have shown me we should sign Aubameyang.
Completely agree that a striker is a necessity if we're going to challenge on all fronts. Would be delighted with Kane, Icardi or Lacazette - another option worth looking at would be Berardi at Sassuolo. He's only 20 but looked very mature last year, scored something like 15 goals for a second rate side. I think Sassuolo just signed him from Juve but I bet we could get him for about £20m, a new pal for Darmian.
One thing from our squad, there is a possible spread of goals
Herrera, mata, fellaini, di maria, depay, rooney, there is a good spread of goals
And he thinks costa, remy, drogba is far superior to rooney, hernandez and wilson, when drogba only scored 4. I am sure rooney hernandez and wilson could score us 30 between the 3
It's pretty natural on this forum. Remy brings a different set of skills to Chelsea, whereas Hernandez is seen as a dopey amateur who gets lucky. The fact that Hernandez' record of putting the ball in the back of the net is far superior doesn't seem to count for much. Likewise Young is seen as a mid table player who we should be looking to sell asap, whereas Willian is great because he perfectly "does the job he's asked to do".
Bizarrely enough I bet if you asked the majority of Chelsea fans on this forum they'd have Hernandez & Wilson over Remy & Drogba. In fact I bet they'd be 50/50 whether to take Costa/Remy/Drogba over Rooney/Hernandez/Wilson.
If we go for relatively young strikers there aren't very many available: Kane, Lacazette, Muller & Benteke. (Juve already bought Dybala)
Kane, Spurs will resist selling this summer & to a PL club unless they get crazy money. Also lacks pace.
Lacazette, A viable option but I think United and other clubs are resisting signing him because he isn't quite the finished product yet.
Muller, Bayern won't sell to us or anybody.
Benteke, Is he United quality? Not for me.
Any other young strikers I missed out on? (Have intentionally skipped Benzema, Cavani & Pedro because of age).
Given all the above choices and for the sole reason that we desperately need a striker, I would go for Lacazette.
Kane, Spurs will resist selling this summer & to a PL club unless they get crazy money. Also lacks pace.
Lacazette, A viable option but I think United and other clubs are resisting signing him because he isn't quite the finished product yet.
Muller, Bayern won't sell to us or anybody.
Benteke, Is he United quality? Not for me.
Any other young strikers I missed out on? (Have intentionally skipped Benzema, Cavani & Pedro because of age).
Given all the above choices and for the sole reason that we desperately need a striker, I would go for Lacazette.
Muller, Kane, Lewandowski, Benzema, Lacazette, Cavani, Higuain, Aubameyang, Benteke, Lukaku.
In order if take them, reckon it'll be Kane or Lacazette if we get do go for a striker.
In order if take them, reckon it'll be Kane or Lacazette if we get do go for a striker.
You'd prefer Kane to Lewandowski and Benzema?
There's just something about Kane that I like, he's a player that I think will progress on what he did last season, so in answer to your question, yes.
Not one to dwell on personalities but you're pretty spot on.
That's mad.
Did Icardi sign an extension?
Lacazette would be a good Premier League player I think. Fast and powerful. I'd love him or Kane to come in, with Lacazette being the cheaper option.
I think he did, which rules him out.
I would also prefer Kane to Benzema and Lewandowski. I think he performed this season better than either of them (imo) and he is alot younger and has a very high ceiling. Neither Benz or Lewa were anywhere near as good on age 21 as Kane is.
He's three weeks short of turning 22 and at that age Benzema got a move to Real Madrid after a couple of excellent seasons at Lyon - better than what Kane showed last season and produced both in the league and in Champions League (he had 12 CL goals by 22). He had two seasons in which he broke 20 goals and in one of them he broke 30 in all competitions for Lyon. To say that Benzema was not anywhere near this good at Kane's age is completely mental.
Lewandowski was still playing in Poland and was going to get a move to Dortmund soon but it's understandable since he had to start in a smaller league and move up the ladder.
Karim was.
If Kane has another season like this one he can expect a move to Real Madrid aswell
I absolutley don't agree they are miles ahead in terms of quality absolutley not, he scored 31 goals in his debut season in the BPL. I don't see how that is miles apart from what Lewa and Benz are doing in fact I doubt either of them would reach that number in the BPL.
He was quite good but I think Kane atm is better and if I'am honest I don't think Benz of now is as good anymore as back in those days of Lyon so I'd definitley prefer Kane over him anyday of the week.
People have a point in saying it has only been one season so it may only be a one hit wonder. But something about the lad tells me it isn't the case. I think the lad is destined for great things and will no doubt become one of the best strikers in his generation and I think he'll overclass Benz and Lewa over time.
Rooney brings the set of skills to lead the line every week, Hernandez Brings an alternative option in the forward line, and Wilson if he is used right could easily score 4 goals or more. Considering Rooney scored 14 playing 60% of the time in midfield, that is a pretty good return. Is Costa remy and drogba that much better than what we could have next season? No. People have made their minds up about Rooney, when he has allot to offer next season, and I expect him to have a very good season
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The Mail as the club linked to Diafra Sakho.
The only available EPL striker not named Harry Kane worth signing is Benteke imo.
Yeah Benteke seems the most realistic choice out there. But who knows with LVG. Maybe he'll go with what he as.
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I think we could be better balanced going into the season with just Rooney Hernandez and Wilson, is it risky? Yea if VG has got his heart set on 433, but? If he has other alternatives that he may want to go 2 up top, a striker might have to be added. But if his plan A is 433, we may is well stick to just Rooney Hernandez and Wilson, since rooney will be one of the first names on the team sheet
Rooney scored 12 league goals, some of which were penalties. I also don't count his games in the #10 role as mitigation for his average numbers, but it keeps being generalised into the 'played in midfield' argument. Fair enough, there were games when he was an actual central midfielder, but definitely not 60% of games. He's played as a 10 for much of his career.
Costa also played far less league football on the whole, and took no penalties, just as Suarez didn't for Liverpool, and Yaya takes them ahead of Aguero. It cannot be denied that we have been caught napping in terms of top-bracket attacking talent since Ronaldo, and only RVP, fleetingly, provided the kind of threat we need other than Rooney in 2009/10. The difference in what the best are prooducing and what we are getting is big, and growing.
Yea but how many games was rooney allowed to play upfront on his own? when it did not involve Falcao and RVP, too many strikers last season that wanted to be no1, and it become a mess, we need a settled striker that will lead the line every week, it was either rooney, or RVP and Falcao, with rooney in midfield, nothing consistent.
But you want rooney to be this suarez, ronaldo type player, to do it all and there are not those players out there, costa had a much more settled team and he had the players around him who could create chances for costa. Put rooney in a much settled team, that creates chances for the forwards, he will score goals. It is very hard to score goals, when the team has a whole is playing not only a slow tempo, but not having the ball moved at a quicker pace. The team had no creative wingers, and has a whole last season the pace of the team was not there. When the team is built towards him, and he is played upfront every week, he will average 20 a season and I think he will score 20 plus goals
This season will be the renaissance of Chicharito.
Why would either of them struggle in Premier League when they have been great domestically and in Europe? The mythical incredible level of defending in England again?
We had Rooney, Falcao, van Persie and Wilson last year even though we weren't playing CL, and neither of former 3 are too flexible and they weren't used much in other positions apart from up top, so I think we definitely need a new striker this season if van Persie leaves us.
Rooney is still questionable as a striker, but even if he isn't, our second option - Hernandez is average and can't be trusted to lead the line in more than one or two games in a row. Wilson hasn't really showed too much last season, so that means next option is probably Fellaini.
We need a striker who can be trusted to start at least 15-25 games next season, IMO.
Rooney is still questionable as a striker, but even if he isn't, our second option - Hernandez is average and can't be trusted to lead the line in more than one or two games in a row. Wilson hasn't really showed too much last season, so that means next option is probably Fellaini.
We need a striker who can be trusted to start at least 15-25 games next season, IMO.
Definitely the right decision, his debut season was fantastic but he's on the decline and needs replacing. I just hope we don't come up against him in August.
I agree partially, but he cannot be absolved under the whole creativity argument. 'Chances' are very subjective in themselves, and many of Suarez, or Aguero's goals are not as a result of the ball being passed to them while unmarked 8 yards from goal. I expect many goals top strikers score to not even be classified as a 'chance'. Rooney himself did this against Villa last season. That is the standard.
Then, if exclusively considering 'chances', I think it is also easier to create for some strikers than others, due to their speed/movement etc.
I just think Rooney is too blunt an instrument in open play. He is a good finisher, a very good finisher even. But I don't see other strengths/qualities that will really worry defenders. He is easy to defend against. I read all sorts of 'fastest player' articles on him, but from what I see, he won't out run your average centre-half, he won't dribble them, he/we won't produce quick Barcelona-type one-two to get round them. After that, you are left with 'if you give him chances, he will take them', which is no longer enough to be a leading striker in today's PL. There were games I watched last season where I thought Rooney was akin to a central midfielder playing centre-forward. Like what I would expect from Lampard playing upfront - excellent finisher, but in open play, a centre-half will not be frightened of him. Most of Rooney's play was coming deep, laying it off, or playing his favourite Valencia-pass to the right-wing. We lack that sharp edge that has defenders turning, dropping off, scrambling etc. Yes, Rooney can finish, and will still get goals as a result, but it is a lot easier to restrict him getting all of these chances due to him lacking in other areas.
This is why Jordan Rhodes, good a finisher as he is, wouldn't get 25+ PL goals. He's easy to defend, he doesn't hurt you. Other than being in the act of scoring a goal, I would say that Rooney displays the qualities of a player who belongs in the middle third a lot more in any given game than the qualities you would expect from a top player at the very sharp end of a team. He just often uses those qualities further forward due to his role. It is long-passing, keeping possession, tracking, tackling - until he gets a good chance, thn he reminds you he is a forward. Other than that, the cutting-edge qualities are not on display. I'm not advocating him be a central midfielder either by the way, or saying he'd make a great one. I just think he looks more a midfielder than a forward, even when he's not playing there.
There is no denying rooney is that striker who gets involved in the play, but I just do not see any better alternatives out there than rooney at the minute. And this summer I would rather see the club rebuild its backbone, than throw the money on a striker that is not going to play every week. VG has made rooney captain, VG sees his 433 system start to take shape the season to come. His signings he has made so far and the ones leaving, seems to be hinting towards 433, depay on the wing, Darmian at fullback, Schneiderlin in midfield, the club looking to sign another CB and probably another CM. If we look at who has been let go, nani, falcao, RVP and maybe evans and rafeal leaving, it seems heavily hedging towards 433 if we do not sign a striker, since mata or fellaini could play off the striker, VG may play a 3 man midfield, adding the striker may add to our problems. So I could see VG sticking with rooney hernandez and wilson, and look to the midfield to chip in with most of the goals. Now next summer I would think it would make sense to come back to striker situation, just concentrate on the clubs spine this summer, striker and GK next summer. Unless something very special came on the market, rooney would be the best bet to lead the line
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