Potential Matic Replacements

Have to say Arambarri really sounds exactly like what the doctor ordered in that excellent analysis article someone posted a little while back on the thread. Haven't seen him play though.

I don't think we're looking for a CDM for the pivot - much more an all-rounder.
 
I don’t mind getting in one player for Matic this year.

If we can get rid of Matic and Lingard for £40 million and bring in Rice for £50 million then that’s a real coup I think going by everybody else’s opinion of Declan.

Out:

Martial, Pogba, Matic, Lingard.

In

Grealish, Sancho, Rice.

———————Rashford——————
Grealish———Bruno————Sancho
——————Fred———Rice—————-

Diallo, Greenwood, Cavani, Mctominay.

I’d be happy with that and we have a strong bench although only Ole knows if this will disrupt the spirit of the squad as I don’t want to do that. Also I know it’s light in midfield but I’d be happy with that as I feel if really necessary Grealish, Tuanzebe and Bailly could do a job there.
 
justsomebloke said:
Have to say Arambarri really sounds exactly like what the doctor ordered in that excellent analysis article someone posted a little while back on the thread. Haven't seen him play though.

I don't think we're looking for a CDM for the pivot - much more an all-rounder.
Click to expand...

Like most, I haven’t seen much of him. However, his YouTube highlights remind me of Fred. Industrious but nothing special.
 
Devil1 said:
Like most, I haven’t seen much of him. However, his YouTube highlights remind me of Fred. Industrious but nothing special.
Click to expand...

If that aforementioned article is right, I'm not sure his qualities are of the sort that'd really come across in a highlights reel. One thing does though, which sets him apart from Fred. He's got a wicked shot on him.
 
Sea-Cow said:
I know there are a few on here who rave about him, but I thought he looked very slow.
Click to expand...
He also looks like a 34 years old guy. :lol:
Carrick and Scholes were not fast either, but you can protect the midfield area without pace if you has good positioning, pressing, and tackling. Koopmeiner's stats for tackling and interception is quite impressive on the both end of the pitch, but his main weapon is forward passes to create chances on counter attack.

Judas said:
Imagine having two Fred's in the squad, I've just started sobbing uncontrollably.
Click to expand...
This, I'd rather have two Fellaini in the squad at least he can make a decent pass and head the ball on goal.
 
Poor video quality, but here's a cheap alternative that still has the same type of stats as Ndidi but in a weaker league. Mentioned him last year or the year before, since then he then moved to PSV last summer for just £4.3 million



Better quality from when he signed for PSV



0ab2b62ea4bc45d625ac1e8f1f2bbee4.png
 
Last edited:
My concern is we want Rice and if we don't get it him we'll leave it for another year which would be disastrous. We do seem to have a target in mind often, and we can't get them we just leave it, or go for a cheap punt to just gap fill.
 
Judas said:
Imagine having two Fred's in the squad, I've just started sobbing uncontrollably.
Click to expand...

He's not Fred, just because one poster thought a highlight reel reminded him of Fred. As per described, I suppose you could say to some extent he's the same type of player - an aggressive presser. But there are other traits he has that you would not associate with Fred - precise diagonal passing (which should be bleeding obvious from that highlight reel), a really good and heavy long shot (which is the precise opposite of Fred and which should be even more bleedin obvious from that highlight reel) and apparently also excellent decision-making. Which adds up to something a lot more like James Ward-Prowse than Fred, if we're doing comparisons.
 
Number32 said:
AZ were playing well for 50 minutes, then collapse after the first goal. He was only 21 at the time, my point is he was very mobile playing as DM but develop himself to be a playmaker CM now and let his partners do the dirty job, that's why he runs less than playing as DM 2 years ago. But he is not naturally slow or immobile at the pitch.

If we bought him to be a DM in a 4-3-3, then I agree with you, he won't be the answer for our DM issue in a faster PL. But if Ole stick with 4-2-3-1 formation, he would be the perfect partner for McT, Fred, and Garner. He could be our 2nd playmaker after Bruno, so he may be a Pogba's replacement not Matic's. I assume Pogba and Matic are gone this summer.
Click to expand...
They were playing well against our second string, where we had several kids starting the game. Jimmy Garner was in midfield in the game and was only 18 at the time where he partnered Matic with Mata playing as the #10. And all we did to Koopmeiners in both games was to have someone occupying his space high up the pitch which affected his game.

But my point was, signing someone to partner Pogba at the beginning of last season, had to be someone with the ability to cover alot of ground and quickly. Koopmeiners was the wrong choice for that very reason IMO.

I'm glad you agree with me that he wouldn't be our DM, and I would deploy him exactly as you have described it but he would be a budget option.
 
meamth said:
https://www.unitedinfocus.com/news/...anchester-uniteds-number-one-midfield-target/

Now Nuno is gone, Wolves should be in transition period.

We should go all the way for him this summer. My top priority and the dream signing.
Click to expand...
He's an absolute no brainer for me. PL experience, quality, and as you said, could be available with Nuno gone after a poor season for Wolves.

I think we need two midfielders this summer. Never would be a brilliant addition, and someone with a bit of guile beside him, like Tielemans, would be a brilliant partnership. Tielemans would be a difficult one to get done, but I'm thinking someone along the lines of Camavinga would slot in nicely beside Neves.

Would be a massive upgrade on Fred and McTominay for me, and both players would cost less than Rice combined.
 
eire-red said:
He's an absolute no brainer for me. PL experience, quality, and as you said, could be available with Nuno gone after a poor season for Wolves.

I think we need two midfielders this summer. Never would be a brilliant addition, and someone with a bit of guile beside him, like Tielemans, would be a brilliant partnership. Tielemans would be a difficult one to get done, but I'm thinking someone along the lines of Camavinga would slot in nicely beside Neves.

Would be a massive upgrade on Fred and McTominay for me, and both players would cost less than Rice combined.
Click to expand...

I don't want to be an absolute tosser and just get rid of Fred and Mctominay altogether, that would be a stretch.

On their merit McT and Fred improved this season, getting rid of them is just poor man management.

Getting Neves, and mix him up with McT, Fred and Neves is good enough for me.
 
Neves isn't a bad shout but my worry with him is that he often likes to play hollywood balls when they're not on.

A tempo setter, such as Carrick, knows when to knock those balls and when not to. When to quicken up the game and when to slow it down, etc.

Maybe he can learn that but his range of passing coupled with his defensive attributes would complement Fred/McTominay and even Pogba if he was to play deep.
 
Ideally we need someone who is a mix of Matic's skills but also can offer forward passing, otherwise if you just sign a pure destroyer then there is a lack of quality on the ball and would still need a player to control the tempo of a game too
 
Imo, chance of signing Rice is completely gone with the combo of suggestions he'd cost £90m, a lot of recent suggestions that Lingard will be returning to Utd, and now Chelsea are interested again. Time for our scouts to do some serious work. Find an unknown gem. I'm sure there are plenty of great talents for this role in less well-followed European leagues. It will be more of a risk but frankly there are no great players available in this position if Rice and Ndidi are not options, so if we were to take a risk in any position it should probably be this one.

The one that immediately stands out to me is Monaco's Aurelien Tchouameni who just won Ligue 1Young Player of the season. He's only 21 and an excellent tackler with great mobility. He also plays in a league that is really struggling financially post-Covid so we would probably be able to sign him for far less than his true value. Eduardo Camavinga is another amazing talent from Ligue 1 and is just 18! However, I do feel like he's ultimately been developing more into a player that is more box to box rather than a straight up dm, so Tchoumeni might make more sense. Again however, Rennes may be in a situation where they need to sell Camavinga and if he's prepared to join Utd (suggestions last season that Real were his ideal club) he could be a top level signing.

Some alternatives that come to mind are Ruben Neves. Despite having a pretty poor season, Wolves are in a period of transition with the departure of Nuno and so Neves may be looking to leave. This for me would be a case of if the price is fair (less than £30m) he could be a good option. I would definitely opt for the 2 young French dms first though. Ibrahim Sangare was a player I recommended highly last summer before he went to PSV. I still feel we should have signed him since he was available cheaper following Toulouse' relegation than he would be now and it's a good example of incompetence from our scouting team imo considering how rubbish last summer really was (with the exception of Cavani). He has continued to perform very well at PSV and is among the top ball winners in Europe every season. He would still be a good option for us, though his cost will probably be higher than if we moved last summer.
 
Neves is very good, but not quite elite quality that we need. Has also just had a really poor season, so it's a bit 9f a risk to think he's suddenly going to become one of the best DMs as soon as he signs for a bigger club.

I feel like he gets away with a lot because he scores the occasional worldie.
 
A younger Matic would have been great. Often he comes on and shows what dictating play is all about, before his legs give way :lol:

No idea who would fill his shoes in the current market. McTominay and Fred as a two doesn't work, though.
 
If we get Sancho I bet we'd see Pogba at the double pivot alot more than recent times. Is there a DM that is currently partnered with a player that has Pogba's lack of defensive ability and inability to dictate the tempo beside him? As far as I know Rice, Ndidi, Neves, Locatelli, all have players that are more defensively astute or more aggressive than Pogba around them
 
If the reports that Neves could be available for around £40m, then it's a no brainer for me. Rice is going to cost more even if we include Lingard in the deal.
 
Diabovermelho said:
If the reports that Neves could be available for around £40m, then it's a no brainer for me. Rice is going to cost more even if we include Lingard in the deal.
Click to expand...

No brainer or very underwhelming? Aside from the odd banger of a goal, he has all the same issues Matic has right now at the age of 32.
 
justsomebloke said:
No. We need a midfielder with better all-round qualities, not a defensive specialist like Ndidi, great though he is.
Click to expand...

I agree. We need a midfielder that is defensively sound, but also decent on the ball, an all rounder. I like Ndidi for Leicester and he is a good anchor man, but he is limited. I think with no disrespect to him, if we signed Ndidi, fans would be questioning him in a year or two
 
Lemon Moon said:
Someone like Ndombele then?
Click to expand...

Interesting to see who the next Spurs manager is. They have been poor this season Spurs and losing Kane could be a major blow....but Ali and NDombele are potentially two very big players for them, both talented, I still think NDOmbele can be a big player
 
Judas said:
My concern is we want Rice and if we don't get it him we'll leave it for another year which would be disastrous. We do seem to have a target in mind often, and we can't get them we just leave it, or go for a cheap punt to just gap fill.
Click to expand...

I think Rice would be a good signing but the fee was always going to be prohibitive. If we cant sign a decent midfielder this summer, something is wrong, there a loads that could improve us, literally loads, considering we are so weak there at th emoment really and there are so many good young midfielders about, should be the easiest position to fill....wish we were afer two personally
 
meamth said:
https://www.unitedinfocus.com/news/...anchester-uniteds-number-one-midfield-target/

Now Nuno is gone, Wolves should be in transition period.

We should go all the way for him this summer. My top priority and the dream signing.
Click to expand...

He ticks all the boxes in terms of being young, a leader, technically good, hard working, good positioning, good range of passing........but I dont know, I personally feel he has been overly hyped from a brilliant season in the championship and some wonder goals. Whenever I watch Wolves he seems to be good.....but not that good. I feel like that about a lot of WOlves players personally. Neto for example looks a really good young player, but when I hear the pundits talking of him being a world beater, I dont see him that highly myself. Not critising any of these players, all good players....but not great players for me
 
Red_toad said:
No brainer or very underwhelming? Aside from the odd banger of a goal, he has all the same issues Matic has right now at the age of 32.
Click to expand...
He's only 24, so his best years are ahead of him. Also, he has more interceptions, tackles and blocks than Rice, Fred and Scott. More goals, passes and pass completions % than the three as well. And he had a down season. Very good going forward, with excelent defensive work rate. I wouldn't call underwhelming at all.
 
Koopmeiners seems made for what we need. Very strong defending and attacking set pieces, creative, comfortable on the ball, how much is he worth?
 
This Aurelien from Monaco looks good and Chelsea has been linked to him.

But we all know that Monaco will want that "Tony Money".
 
Ekeke said:
Poor video quality, but here's a cheap alternative that still has the same type of stats as Ndidi but in a weaker league. Mentioned him last year or the year before, since then he then moved to PSV last summer for just £4.3 million

Ibrahim Sangare (cannot post videos yet, so I've removed them)
Click to expand...

My GF is a PSV fan so I've seen (too) many of their games. Sangare loses the ball more often than he wins it. I've seen plenty of games where his pass completion rate is barely above 50%. He creates loads of chances for the opposition by giving the ball away in dangerous areas when he's not under pressure. And mind you, this is for a team that finished second. He's one of the reasons they're looking to buy back Brighton's Davy Propper, who has played a total of 5 games this season.

I have my doubts on Koopmeiners as well. He completely shit the bed in the u21 euro. He struggles with a press and high tempo. Maybe he could adapt, but the step up from a no pressure club like AZ to us cannot be overstated.

sincher said:
No we need a Kante-like player. Neves isn't that.
Click to expand...

justsomebloke said:
No. We need a midfielder with better all-round qualities, not a defensive specialist like Ndidi, great though he is.
Click to expand...

Seems we're divided along 2 lines on what we need:

1. A defensive rock to partner Pogba (Ndidi type)

2. A playmaker type DM that will play in Pogba's place (Koopmeiners type)

I'm personally in the first camp, as I'm positive Pogba and his cnut agent will stay and let let his contract expire. Can't wait for the monthly "we're close to an agreement" type announcements next season. :rolleyes: Lets hope Garner steps up or we'll have to buy yet again.

The reason I still prefer that option is that I think a midfield of Pogba Ndidi can help us challenge for the title and Fred/McTominay + a new playmaker can't.

I like McTominay and Fred. They're warriors and I think both of them would do better next to a player that can pass a football when pressed. But who can honestly say, after all the great midfielders we've had in the history of our club, they're starting XI material?

McTominay is literally Fellaini, except he's homegrown and hasn't been deployed as a target man.
 
Not convinced, and I don’t think I ever have been, by Ruben Neves. Every time Wolves would play well against us since being promoted it was Joao Moutinho who’d have masterclasses. Neves would occasionally score a longshot.
 
VanDeBank said:
My GF is a PSV fan so I've seen (too) many of their games. Sangare loses the ball more often than he wins it. I've seen plenty of games where his pass completion rate is barely above 50%. He creates loads of chances for the opposition by giving the ball away in dangerous areas when he's not under pressure. And mind you, this is for a team that finished second. He's one of the reasons they're looking to buy back Brighton's Davy Propper, who has played a total of 5 games this season.

I have my doubts on Koopmeiners as well. He completely shit the bed in the u21 euro. He struggles with a press and high tempo. Maybe he could adapt, but the step up from a no pressure club like AZ to us cannot be overstated.





Seems we're divided along 2 lines on what we need:

1. A defensive rock to partner Pogba (Ndidi type)

2. A playmaker type DM that will play in Pogba's place (Koopmeiners type)

I'm personally in the first camp, as I'm positive Pogba and his cnut agent will stay and let let his contract expire. Can't wait for the monthly "we're close to an agreement" type announcements next season. :rolleyes: Lets hope Garner steps up or we'll have to buy yet again.

The reason I still prefer that option is that I think a midfield of Pogba Ndidi can help us challenge for the title and Fred/McTominay + a new playmaker can't.

I like McTominay and Fred. They're warriors and I think both of them would do better next to a player that can pass a football when pressed. But who can honestly say, after all the great midfielders we've had in the history of our club, they're starting XI material?

McTominay is literally Fellaini, except he's homegrown and hasn't been deployed as a target man.
Click to expand...

I think it's rather that we need a pair of allrounders at CM, and that Fred might be one of them. We are not playing two DMs, nor one defensive and one offensive. Both need to be able to contribute in both areas. And the stats indicate Fred is actually doing both pretty well. Certainly better than he gets credit for here on an eye test basis.
 
VanDeBank said:
My GF is a PSV fan so I've seen (too) many of their games. Sangare loses the ball more often than he wins it. I've seen plenty of games where his pass completion rate is barely above 50%. He creates loads of chances for the opposition by giving the ball away in dangerous areas when he's not under pressure. And mind you, this is for a team that finished second. He's one of the reasons they're looking to buy back Brighton's Davy Propper, who has played a total of 5 games this season.

I have my doubts on Koopmeiners as well. He completely shit the bed in the u21 euro. He struggles with a press and high tempo. Maybe he could adapt, but the step up from a no pressure club like AZ to us cannot be overstated.





Seems we're divided along 2 lines on what we need:

1. A defensive rock to partner Pogba (Ndidi type)

2. A playmaker type DM that will play in Pogba's place (Koopmeiners type)

I'm personally in the first camp, as I'm positive Pogba and his cnut agent will stay and let let his contract expire. Can't wait for the monthly "we're close to an agreement" type announcements next season. :rolleyes: Lets hope Garner steps up or we'll have to buy yet again.

The reason I still prefer that option is that I think a midfield of Pogba Ndidi can help us challenge for the title and Fred/McTominay + a new playmaker can't.

I like McTominay and Fred. They're warriors and I think both of them would do better next to a player that can pass a football when pressed. But who can honestly say, after all the great midfielders we've had in the history of our club, they're starting XI material?

McTominay is literally Fellaini, except he's homegrown and hasn't been deployed as a target man.
Click to expand...
This Ajax fan has similar views about Koopmeiners, who he doesn't rate very highly. Seems like the special talent is Ryan Gravenberch.

 
Adnan said:
This Ajax fan has similar views about Koopmeiners, who he doesn't rate very highly. Seems like the special talent is Ryan Gravenberch.
Click to expand...
It's weird to ask an opinion from a direct rival supporter in North Holland. He might be still salty with him after this heartbreaking lost

 
You must log in or register to reply here.