Naah, they still have Welbz,Walcott, Sanchez, Ox, Wilshere, Ramsey, Arteta, Flamini, Chambers, Per, Wojiech available, their key players missing are Ozil, Debuchy, Kos, you can hardly call Ozil one.United possibly without Jones, Evans, Rafa, Shaw, Blind, Carrick..
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What's the benefit in buying a back up rather than a new first choice though?
If we just buy a good back up then we're still depending on Rafael stepping up if we want a top class RB. On the other hand, if we buy a RB who is good enough to displace Rafael anyway then we can't lose. Either Rafael gets fit and steps up (in which case we're delighted with our strength in that position) or he doesn't (in which case we're not heavily effected)
Chelsea were happy to bring in top class competition for Azpilucueta even after he had an excellent season so why would we be reluctant to do the same?
I agree with this. We need to bring someone good enough to be a starter. Survival of the fittest literally.
We still have De Gea, Herrera, Di Maria, Mata, Januzaj, Van Persie, Rooney etc, hardly lacking in quality.
Don't know how much Arsenal you have seen this season but we should be excited about Arteta and Flamini playing and especially Chambers at RB.
All those players you've named are attacking players, it's the defensive players that we miss and by that the balance in total, without Blind the balance is back to old on its own, but with the absence of Rafa, Shaw possibly, Jones, Evans it not even there.
He's been surprisingly poor so far, which seems to have gone under a lot of people's radars. Definitely something to exploit there, given that we've been strong attacking down that flank with Di Maria and Shaw.
No doubt but the only player that you mentioned from Arsenal that concerns me is Sanchez. Absolutely nothing to worry about with the likes of Wilshere, Ramsay (who has been awful), Arteta and Flamimi etc. Always love watching Mertesacker try to football as well.
In Arsenal's perspective, which player of us has looked like being capable of doing something? Di Maria completely out of form and Rooney has been on a good run for England but also nothing special, they have a player who has won them matches recently, singlehandedly, can't say that of the United side.
So you have no faith in any United player producing any type of quality that will hurt Arsenal?
I think they can, but they havent done it recently, I dont think apart from Shaw and de Gea we have any player really in form.
That has nothing to do with a player turning it on this week. Players are out of form before they hit form and players are in form before the hit a form slump. Come kick off, who cares what happened last week or in previous games, anything can happen and I back our quality over theirs.
I dont think its likely that players who have been underperforming for weeks/months are suddenly going to do Arsenal some serious damage.
Welcome to football, it takes a second to change things. One slip, one bounce of the ball, one referee decision, it can change everything in a second.
Where would we even find a top class RB though? It'd be a risk to spend big on one who might not make it. I'd just prefer a capable back-up because when Rafael is fit I think he is one of the best in the league.
Out of curiosity, what is the longest run of matches Rafael has ever played for us? I'm thinking six, max.
He pulled at least ten in a row during SAF's last year.
has there been some kind of a setback in his recovery?
when he had gotten injured, it was just a niggle. physioroom had him as a "doubt" for today's match. Now, physioroom has him coming back on the 8th of december. This means missing today and two more games.
The same can be said about jones.
I know LvG said that these two will not be available for selection today, but has there been update based on which physioroom changed it's information?
when he had gotten injured, it was just a niggle. physioroom had him as a "doubt" for today's match. Now, physioroom has him coming back on the 8th of december. This means missing today and two more games.
The same can be said about jones.
I know LvG said that these two will not be available for selection today, but has there been update based on which physioroom changed it's information?
Probably just common sense from Physioroom. They know that he plays for us, so it's only reasonable to keep adding a few weeks to his injury every time his return date approaches.
Even 10 is relatively poor, all things considered.
Good player, but not great by a long shot. United need to buy a top quality RB and let Rafael play second fiddle to him. His injuries are so frustrating and when he plays, my heart is always in my mouth as he looks like he is just going to foul or do something stupid. Massively overrated on here.
You need to learn to be more pessimistic, chances are you'll have a better Saturday night if you understand that before kick off.....I for example could watch the match in my living room. But because of my nervous disposition I will sit in the kitchen and gauge how we are doing purely by being on the forum. Thats the kinda shit I'm talking about!
What top quality right backs are available better than Rafael? We need to get someone solid and reliable in though that's for sure as Rafael is plagued by these injuries. We should aim to get a good proper full back in asap, then if Rafael is fit, great we have options, if not then at least we'd have someone better than Valencia or an out of position Jones back there.
Coleman Coleman and that player Coleman.
Is he available though? I reckon he'd cost an absolute fortune if they were even willing to part with him. Has he got long left on his contract? I should have said available for a reasonable price, because I'd rather we spunked the big bucks on central defence.
They could well be interested in Nani which could help......
He posts about starting training and then doesn't feature in weeks.
Happened twice now. Odd.
Happened twice now. Odd.
Probably injured himself afterwards.
you are right with his injuries and that is that, on the other hand you are horribly wrong that he is overrated here. He is not he deserves all the credit given. He is always top 3 player on the pitch even he plays after a long break due to injury problems. Fouling is part of the game of every defender. Not every player is Rio Ferdinand. Anyway I think we should have a look at some RB, his injuries are so frustrating
That's the case
.....i give up with him. Pay 30m for Coleman in January.Hope to see him back for the Southampton game, we miss his quality down the right side overlapping.
If he's training today he should be 100% starting at the weekend but mostly likely not Tuesday which is fine. Our attacking diamond as seen yesterday could've done damage to even the best of teams and all we're missing is width via Shaw and Rafael, I can't wait until they're back, we're gonna be quality!
I thought Valencia being subbed off yesterday was to give him a bit of a break so I don't imagine Rafa will be back on Tuesday.
Can't wait for his return though. He's so important to the way we play.
Can't wait for his return though. He's so important to the way we play.
Agreed. I think the aim will be the Southampton game or maybe even Liverpool.
Coleman was ball watching for Spurs second goal. He was alright, but clearly a level below Rafael in today's match. If he had the same level of scrutiny like Rafael does, he would be criticized more. 30 Million for Coleman, you are having a fecking laugh.
His positioning, like Baines', leaves a lot to be desired and like Baines' will be exposed at a higher level yet people will swear blind he's better than Rafa.
I just think back to Micah Richards' interview yesterday when he was saying, at the time he was being hailed as the best full back in England, he always knew his positioning was bad and he used his pace and power to get out of jail lots. The media settle on narratives, like Coleman being anywhere near as good as someone like Zabaleta, and after that only an unmitigated failure changes their tune e.g. Baines at Brazil 2014.
Yup, as I and a few have mentioned on here before - Everton are seen as a 'neutral' side, and because of this they aren't ever really scrutinised much. Nobody really cares enough to do it. It's far easier to focus on their pro's through highlights and the odd game. I mean, Coleman is a great attacking fullback but defensively he isn't as good as Rafael. The brainfarts of 'Manchester United fullback' are going to be hot news and remain in the mind far longer, allowing lazy narratives to appear factual.His positioning, like Baines', leaves a lot to be desired and like Baines' will be exposed at a higher level yet people will swear blind he's better than Rafa.
I just think back to Micah Richards' interview yesterday when he was saying, at the time he was being hailed as the best full back in England, he always knew his positioning was bad and he used his pace and power to get out of jail lots. The media settle on narratives, like Coleman being anywhere near as good as someone like Zabaleta, and after that only an unmitigated failure changes their tune e.g. Baines at Brazil 2014.
Coleman or someone else.......Rafael as future RB is a big feckin laugh
Only because of his injury record. His quality is more than enough to be our RB for years if he could just escape the injuries.
That reason is big enough. If he would be the only injury-prone player in the squad then it's maybe a different situation. But we have far too many of them and some of them must go.
I love Rafael to bits and think he's worth keeping for the games he can play as I don't think its potential anymore. He's just a top class right back.
That being said, if he can only play 6 in 10 matches, does that not make him 40% less effective than he should be?
I think Valencia is going a good job deputising though and Van Gaal would do well in PR terms to say that he considers Valencia a full/wingback now and will be working on his game accordingly.
There would then be a lot less fraustrated vitriolic opinion in his direction than when we were a team relying on wing play and he was absolutely terrible going forward.
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