Right Winger... Who do we go for?

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Mata, Lingard, Rashford, Lukaku, Martial, Sanchez and Pereira are all capable of playing there but they belong elsewhere really so this surely has to be our priority next window.
 
We really should have put a buyback clause in Zaha's deal. He could surely help us when we need pace on the counter and maybe platoon with Mata (who could play against packed defences) to give us an effective set of players competing on the right.

With Fred being bought and Pereira now in the first team, it's tough to see Lingard getting too many games centrally, this would have been a good year to send him on loan somewhere to sweeten a move for a starting quality RW, and then when one of or both of Herrera and Fellaini go next year he could come back and be our most attacking central midfield option backing up Fred and Pogba.
 
YouOnlyLiveTwice said:
That’s basically what we are playing i think. Mata drifts inside all the time. Alexis should probably stay further up the pitch though, but our formation switches between 4-3-3 and 4-3-1-2. I don’t think Mou would play a diamond in defensive situations though. We won’t risk having our fullbacks dealing with a winger and fullback alone.

5-2-1-2 is another option, but our CM’s have been the best part of our team so far, so it would be stupid only playing 2.
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I think it was mainly a 433, but as we know Mata tends to drift inside most of the time because he is more a CAM than a winger who provides width.

Is there any chance we can use Matic in a back of 3?
Or is Lingard good enough to play as a wingback?

Also, I agree with you. We have great midfielders, if Pereira-Pogba-Fred combination gets bettter, we could have a balanced and dynamic midfield.

Maybe in the 5-2-1-2, Pogba could have more freedom to attack and create opportunities for Sanchez and Lukaku, while Pereira and Fred offer balance, and our wingbacks the width and crosses we need.
 
We're definitely incredible short there. Not in terms of players that can 'do a job' there but no one excels there at all from our current crop of players, as Mike at the top of the page says all of those players are capable but just don't quite suit the role either. Problem I feel the club has is the number of players in those wide areas, someone has to leave first to balance out the squad (probably Martial if we're honest)

In terms of who we go for? Difficult one. I'd like to see Pulisic myself, but I've always been someone who would prefer to look to the future. Not necessarily Jose's way of course, but having seen Alexis' performances since he joined the club, I don't think short term options work all the time. If we did have to go short term I'd say Willian, just because of his relationship with Jose and I think he'd give us good balance there. Several times last night we had opportunities to break down the right wing but Mata was either too slow or wanted to cut inside every time (not his fault, it's the player he is) That being said Willian would be pointless if Jose isn't going to go further than this season.
 
I Don’t really get footballers and position obsession

Why can’t sanchez or martial play RW. It’s a different area of the pitch they cover nothing more.
 
Maybe we don't need to find one?Once Matic comes back into the team i'd like to see Perreira moved to the right wing in place of Mata,we would still have the creativity and he would add pace and a bit more positional awareness when we don't have the ball.
 
NoPace said:
We really should have put a buyback clause in Zaha's deal. He could surely help us when we need pace on the counter and maybe platoon with Mata (who could play against packed defences) to give us an effective set of players competing on the right.

With Fred being bought and Pereira now in the first team, it's tough to see Lingard getting too many games centrally, this would have been a good year to send him on loan somewhere to sweeten a move for a starting quality RW, and then when one of or both of Herrera and Fellaini go next year he could come back and be our most attacking central midfield option backing up Fred and Pogba.
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Zaha doesn't even play on the right.

Everyone wants to cut in nowadays that there's a dearth of right sided players.
 
Joseunited said:
Maybe we don't need to find one?Once Matic comes back into the team i'd like to see Perreira moved to the right wing in place of Mata,we would still have the creativity and he would add pace and a bit more positional awareness when we don't have the ball.
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The RW role he had on loan is very different to the wide forward type of RW our 4-3-3 requires.
 
60m for Pulisic would have made a huge difference for the RW. It's a shame we didn't go for it.
 
Joseunited said:
Maybe we don't need to find one?Once Matic comes back into the team i'd like to see Perreira moved to the right wing in place of Mata,we would still have the creativity and he would add pace and a bit more positional awareness when we don't have the ball.
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Perreira isn't quick and he's not very physical. He essentially played a wingback role in all but name at Valencia.
 
SwansonsTache said:
The RW role he had on loan is very different to the wide forward type of RW our 4-3-3 requires.
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The heat map showed that Mata was awful in the Leicester game. Darmian surprisingly did better than expected. As usual, the RW offers nothing in attack and Sanchez had a mixed game yesterday. His passes weren't crisp although Mata and Lukaku should have done better with the ones he did provide. In all, the lack of industrialism on Sanchez and Mata will affect the growth of Rashford. Lukaku depends on strength to get himself ahead of a defender whereas Rashford depends on speed. Lukaku will score goals but Rashford will struggle this season as a ST due to the lack of pace on Mata's part and Sanchez taking too many touches before he releases the ball.
 
Pulisic at the end of the season, i can see him leaving Dortmund then to be honest, and Liverpool will be big contenders for his signature, i hope we are too.
 
beingshe7don said:
Pulisic for 60m is actually quite appropriate. Not sure where the humor lies? Pulisic wants to leave and perhaps we could throw in Rojo or something.
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If he leaves next summer, he'll be cheaper as he'll only have 1 year left on his contract at that stage.
 
NinjaZombie said:
Zaha doesn't even play on the right.

Everyone wants to cut in nowadays that there's a dearth of right sided players.
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There was no dearth. Mourinho just dint want to buy them. Mazrez, Malcom, dembele, bernardeshi, Sadio Mane, Costa. We showed zero interest in all of them.
 
I wonder if we can get away with a lopsided set up, where we just overload the left with the players we have and just have someone like Valencia stretching it with someone like Fred helping him cover it.
 
Skills said:
I wonder if we can get away with a lopsided set up, where we just overload the left with the players we have and just have someone like Valencia stretching it with someone like Fred helping him cover it.
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We've done exactly that for 5 years, with varying degrees of success.

It's certainly a valid strategy, as long as the quality of the front 3 is good enough.
 
Dante said:
We've done exactly that for 5 years, with varying degrees of success.

It's certainly a valid strategy, as long as the quality of the front 3 is good enough.
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True, Mata or Lingard have generally played as attacking midfielders coming from the right. But I was thinking along the lines of playing two of Sanchez, Martial, Rashford and have them all play from the left/centrally with Shaw also bombing down the left. Sounds almost stupid, but I wonder how it would work.

Probably doesn't leave you much space though.
 
Skills said:
True, Mata or Lingard have generally played as attacking midfielders coming from the right. But I was thinking along the lines of playing two of Sanchez, Martial, Rashford and have them all play from the left/centrally with Shaw also bombing down the left. Sounds almost stupid, but I wonder how it would work.

Probably doesn't leave you much space though.
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Fergie actually did it quite a lot in his career.

I can't remember all the specifics, but a quick search found this:
http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/03/07/manchester-united-lopsided-right-wingers/

It's workable if you have the right players.
 
Why don't we look at Demarai Gray? He looks a proper winger every time we play against them, IMO he deserves a move to a higher club in order to reach his potential.

I even remember him being touted as the next big thing when he was at Birmingham once.

Even if it's not for the right wing, if Martial leaves, Gray is the player I think we should look to replace him with. He's literally what most United fans think Rashford is.
 
right now, i cant help but think having young wide ride would massively improve our play. As crazy as it seems
 
Sanchez did play on the right wing in Barcelona, so maybe he's an option there? I'm sad Mata doesn't play in more central role as he's not that dynamic in right wing, but he can create solid chances from there.
 
I don’t see the point in signing 19/20 year old options with Tahith around, unless they are truly exceptional. It could end up being a very short-term waste of money if aching turns out as good or better within a short time.
 
Miloszz11 said:
Sanchez did play on the right wing in Barcelona, so maybe he's an option there? I'm sad Mata doesn't play in more central role as he's not that dynamic in right wing, but he can create solid chances from there.
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He switched to the RW midway through some games last season to accommodate for Martial and he was even more shit there than on the LW. It didn't look promising.
 
Rozay said:
I don’t see the point in signing 19/20 year old options with Tahith around, unless they are truly exceptional. It could end up being a very short-term waste of money if aching turns out as good or better within a short time.
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That’s one way to look at it but then I’d say Dembele is truly exceptional and Malcolm was good enough for Barca to buy so I think even with both of those being young they’re both perfect signings, having Chong as well would only have meant long term quality in depth.
 
What about David Neres from Ajax? Looks like a brilliant player. I rate him higher than FCB Malcom.
 
Georgan said:
What about David Neres from Ajax? Looks like a brilliant player. I rate him higher than FCB Malcom.
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From what I've seen he's definitely not good enough yet. Plays better on the left as well. He's nowhere near Malcom yet. For example, Tadic has been way more important than him while Neres has been at the club longer. Honestly can't see how you reached that conclusion.
 
It shouldnt be difficult for a professional footballer to go from one wing to another and still be dangerous. In fact all evidence suggest it's easy enough so I don't understand why you have not found an internal solution when you have Rashford, Martial and Sanchez at the club.

Just this weekend Sterling was playing LW when the majority of last season he was RW. Sane played matches fron RW as well last season and looked dangerous. We bought Mane as a RW where he had a phenomenal debut season. when Salah came in Mane was sent to LW and still performed so what in the hell stops your players from doing the same. FFS Willian this weekend was playing LW after years at RW. There is no reason your multitude of LW can't switch flanks and make that position their own. In fact the likes of Martial and Rashford should thank their lucky stars and be greatful for such an opportunity at a big club. As a young player you just wanna get on the pitch and regardless of position, get to showcase your quality.
 
Bergman said:
It shouldnt be difficult for a professional footballer to go from one wing to another and still be dangerous. In fact all evidence suggest it's easy enough so I don't understand why you have not found an internal solution when you have Rashford, Martial and Sanchez at the club.

Just this weekend Sterling was playing LW when the majority of last season he was RW. Sane played matches fron RW as well last season and looked dangerous. We bought Mane as a RW where he had a phenomenal debut season. when Salah came in Mane was sent to LW and still performed so what in the hell stops your players from doing the same. FFS Willian this weekend was playing LW after years at RW. There is no reason your multitude of LW can't switch flanks and make that position their own. In fact the likes of Martial and Rashford should thank their lucky stars and be greatful for such an opportunity at a big club. As a young player you just wanna get on the pitch and regardless of position, get to showcase your quality.
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So why couldn’t Gary Neville play left back?
 
I know that Sessegnon wasn't great in the first game against Palace, but I saw glimpses of brilliance in his movement and awareness.

If he can marry those elements to his end product and defensive nouse, I think he could become the most Mourinho right winger in the history of football. It's the next natural evolution to his game.

I'll be paying very close attention in today's match against Tottenham.
 
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