Lewandowski is IMO realistic within 2 years. His agent is bound to whore him out of Bundesliga pretty soon, he's already been talking about how Lewandowski would like to prove himself in another league (luckily for Bayern he hasn't been telling everyone how the club is too small for him like he did during his Dortmund days).
[Poll] We desperately need a striker
- Thread starter Truedevil
- Start date
We don't need to be looking at a 'top class' striker. Will unbalance the squad. Pick someone up for around 6-8 mn and have him play second fiddle to Rooney. Which is why I'd like to keep Hernandez around. And as long as we don't play Di Maria up front again.
Sakho isn't a bad shout IMO if we are looking to let Hernandez go.
Sakho isn't a bad shout IMO if we are looking to let Hernandez go.
I prefer Charlie Austin
26, english and scored 18 goals and 7 assists in 35 games. Contract until 30.06.2016 so won't be too expensive either, imo we could do alot worse than him upfront as a second choice striker behind Rooney.
Berahino also wouldn't be a bad shout or Benteke if the price isn't too excessive
We should be having much more faith in Rooney. Still got it IMO - if he played up top with the proper support all season he'd get plenty of goals. Depay should get a few too playing off the left.
I'd be reasonably happy keeping Hernandez (underrated) and Wilson as backups, but if we go for someone it should be someone who may be able to inherit the mantle rather than a backup player like Austin, who is decent enough but not an upgrade on Hernandez IMO.
I'd be reasonably happy keeping Hernandez (underrated) and Wilson as backups, but if we go for someone it should be someone who may be able to inherit the mantle rather than a backup player like Austin, who is decent enough but not an upgrade on Hernandez IMO.
Forgot about Austin. Good call.
Personally I think we need somebody pretty decent
Firstly I'm not sure Rooney will be our long term main striker and he is likely to be a midfielder again at some points next season
Secondly if he was to pick up an injury at the start of September we would look rather threadbare up front
Kane or lacazette, would be perfect but one probably won't be available and the other will probably have a lot of offers
We will be getting another striker. We lost the league to City on goal difference with Rooney, Berbatov, Hernandez, Welbeck. We need another striker capable of 20 goal a season.
Rooney really is a problem at times. He's too powerful to leave on the bench, but at times he doesn't always deserve a starting spot and can look pretty woeful.
I don't like the way we seem to shoehorn him into the squad just because of who he is, he should only play on form and merit, rather than by reputation.
That said he if he can find his best we will be looking good, but I fear the best Rooney is behind him now. At the top level you need explosiveness and he has lost that, just like RVP and falcao.
I don't like the way we seem to shoehorn him into the squad just because of who he is, he should only play on form and merit, rather than by reputation.
That said he if he can find his best we will be looking good, but I fear the best Rooney is behind him now. At the top level you need explosiveness and he has lost that, just like RVP and falcao.
That is asuming that Morata will accept to go to Madrid and then to get immediately sold to United. After Madrid gave up on him and Juve offered him the chance to play there, I don't think that he'll do that. In fact, I have very high doubts that he will accept any Madrid offer unless it is to be as main striker.
I must say I do worry about the level of expectation that seemingly is going to be placed on Wilson. I'm not even convinced that he is SURE to make it at the club. He has the tools to be a top striker but it must be said he did have a tendency to go missing in some of the games he was given last season. Hopefully though him getting this chance will spur him on.
Rooney isn't a problem at all,at least he hasn't been a problem since LVG became manager,he wasn't undroppable last season....he was just the best option.
The new striker would have to be significantly better to retire him to the bench.
Yes of course, ultimately any such hypothetical deal will boil down to Morata's personal preferences and he might feel a sense of gratitude towards Juventus who have the look of a club that is very much on the uprise. But I just feel that if were to provide him an attractive alternative, offer him a regular role (given the dearth of options in the striker position if Robin's proposed move to Fenerbahce goes through), and convince him that United will be a very competitive medium to long term 'project' as it were - both for his personal development and chances for silverware, then he might just be persuaded with the clear understanding that Madrid aren't buying him outright, but rather as an intermediary for United since we can't deal with Juventus directly and don't have the right to exercise an option on the clause.
Seems pretty far fetched to be a viable option to be fair, and I doubt it'll ever happen, but Morata is among the absolute standout striker talents in Europe, plus the transfer market are becoming increasingly stranger these days will leveraged deals, any number of different clauses, loan maneuvers and facilitation transfers. All theoratical of course, dunno if it'll come to fruition in practise or if he's even on our scouts' radar.
I agree. I think relying on Wilson to be a backup for Rooney (who's been hit and miss for a couple of years anyway) could really leave us short. With Falcao gone and seemingly Van Persie following you'd have to think another striker will be brought in at some point in this window.
Yes. The class of 92 syndrome.
He was though. When RVP returned from injury he HAD to fit him into the team because he was captain, he ended up taking Herreras slot in midfield which was a mistake. Apart from that little run of matches where he did "OK" he was pretty poor upfront. If he plays the same way this year we will be significantly relying on the wingers to score.
LVG usually keeps players who have been out for a while on the bench, he didn't HAVE to fit Rooney in, Rooney just happened to be the only striker capable of playing multiple positions, would you also say he TRIED to fit Fellaini in by playing him upfront ? Or Di Maria.
He was poor upfront, but he was the best striker in the team last season and he had a shorter stint as a striker than the other 2, let's also not ignore the fact that Rooney was good in a lot of games.
You can't use the fact that he was average last season to back up your argument when he was still the best option, if we had Luis Suarez on the bench and Rooney was still starting ahead of him then your point would have been valid, but we had Falcao and Rvp, players who were so bad that the manager decided to let them go which suggests that he would rather use Wilson as a back up for Rooney and the new striker than RVP.
How many 30 year old underperforming captains with suitable replacements have actually been undroppable?even Gerrard was given the boot.
I hear ya. But are realistically speaking, someone like Kane or Lacazette won't be available and even if they were, LVG won't bench Rooney. We will again go through the whole process of seeing Rooney in midfield which drastically affects the overall play IMO. Better for the squad as a whole we've got someone like Austin, Sakho, Berahino sitting on the bench.
Of course if Rooney get's injured, we might end up in a bit of a pickle but if we go through their scoring records for last season:
Rooney: 12 in 33 (but several games in midfield)
Austin: 18 in 35
Sakho: 10 in 23
Berahino: 14 in 38
Surely worth a punt? Instead of spending 30mn plus on a striker who's not guaranteed to even get into the first XI unless its at the expense of the overall team performance and the benching of one of Carrick, Herrera, Di Maria, Fellaini, Scheniderlin or Schweinsteiger (
).Edit: All assuming LVG won't drop him.
Edit 2: Assuming we go 4-3-3
Edit 3: Feck it too many assumptions; lets go all out for Benzema!
Excuse my ignorance, but what was said in the press conference?
LvG said we had plenty of strikers but of course he would as RvP and Chich have yet to leave, and Memphis said something like "I need to assist and score goals as I am a striker" which I think he simply means he's a forward, as in 4-3-3 LvG considers the front 3 all strikers and goal scorers.
Thanks. That's quite interesting. Although LVG seems quite savvy with the media, and I'm sure he's aware any admission could effect our leverage in negotiations.
We have a striker and we only play 1 striker. I really don't think we're that desperate for a striker
He's very cagey, I think he will have something up his sleeve as there's no way he goes into the season with 1 striker and a 19 year old as back up.
Well there's form to consider and the fact you need a couple of options at least.
Why was everyone going crazy saying lvg doesn't want another striker. The quotes I have read suggest he does want to buy but if not Depay can play up front...
That LVG intends on using Depay as striker if he needs him. Was part of the reason why they wanted him because he could not only play on the wing but also as a striker. He also said Depay has played there for the dutch national team.
If Rooney gets injured then we only have Hernandez and Wilson. Not enough imo.
Even Rooney alone is not good enough, he's still prone to extended periods of terrible form. He at least needs a rival striker to keep him on his toes.
Good post, I agree. Remy at Chelsea is the perfect example I think. Good striker who'll get games and be a competent back up while not demanding to play every week.
Is the major opinion in here for a new signing? Thinking about it, as it stands right now, I'd be quite satisfied with our striker options. If, and it looks this way, we play a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 system, having Rooney as first choice with Chicharito and Wilson as our second and third choices doesn't seem too shabby imo
Your assumption is that van Gaal is happy with Hernandez as 2nd choice. Everything he has said to date proves otherwise and if he leaves (which I'm sure of) then we'll need a striker as Rooney and an injury prone unexpierenced Wilson + out of position Memphis would be quite lightweight even if we play with 1 striker. So yes I would want a new striker and expect us to sign one.
Oh well there's no question that IF Hernandez leaves we'll have to get another one. But with van Gaal talking about not wanting to buy just for buying's sake makes me wonder. There are not many options out there available that would significantly improve our options up front. Especially a striker that would be ok with sitting on the bench half the time.
For that I'm not sure it would be the wisest decision to let Chicharito go.
For me it's basically whether or not we keep Hernandez and whether a suitable upgrade is available for the right price. I think he's a very good second choice but not sure if LVG wants that type of striker. Also with some question marks over Rooney, perhaps there is a need for a second choice who can put more pressure on Rooney.
The ideal would be a player who can do the lone striker role and be an option as a wide forward, which is why I think we have been linked with Muller and Cavani. I think a cheaper option to play second choice would be better - not even necessarily a big name - unless we decide to trade in Di Maria.
Personally I don't have a huge problem with Hernandez as 2nd choice. LvG seems to think differently, so with that in mind yeah we definitely need to sign a striker. No way can we go into next season with just Rooney, Wilson, and beyond that relying on wingers to fill in.
Cavani would be ideal for that role but I'm not sure he would want to be shifted out on the wings again. Rooney would still be first choice. It's not that easy going for a class striker that's also ok with sitting on the bench.
By the looks of it we'll probably have to buy a new striker now.
Last year we still had RvP and brought Falcao who came as a starter and top striker. Now we sold RvP and got rid of Falcao. That's 2 first team strikers. Yes Chicharito is back but it seems that LvG is not rating him that much which leaves us only with Wilson and Rooney.
Most probably we may even bring 2 forwards/strikers this window.
As we all want Rooney to play up front, you would think ideally someone who can play anywhere along the front three.
yep..I'd agree with that. If Rooney gets injured, or perhaps two get injured, then we really will be scrapping around...
its been quiet with regards to a striker purchase. But I agree we will need to buy one.
I heard Austin mentioned. A good back up? Wilson and Austin? A proven striker would make sense.
Said it before and will say again - we don't even know if Wilson is any good yet, as harsh as it may sound. He could just as easily be another Fraizer Campbell.