I'm a United fan but I have always followed Monaco. Fabinho is good enough for Barcelona let alone United, Sidibé is very good going forward and very adventurous but sometimes suspect defensively but Jardim will fix that.
Seamus Coleman
- Thread starter Morpheus 7
- Start date
I'm a United fan but I have always followed Monaco. Fabinho is good enough for Barcelona let alone United, Sidibé is very good going forward and very adventurous but sometimes suspect defensively but Jardim will fix that.
Fabinho good enough for Barca at RB or DM? Sidibe seems like a very modern fullback, more winger than defender at times, but we seem to be playing with the intent to have our fullbacks be a main part of the attack under Jose.
From what I've seen this year I'd argue that Sidibe is better as a right-back than Fabinho at this moment in time. Why should we stay away from Fabinho, if he's good enough for Barcelona in your opinion?
Add Ricardo Pereira. He's brilliant, too.
Concerning Fabinho, as a RB, defensively he could play DM for anyone but some teams will like a better passer.
And Sidibé should stay where he is, he is still developing his game. It's a bit tiring to see clubs take players when they are not ready, nowadays there is no patience or will to actually develop players, so leave them alone, let them develop in clubs who are actually developing them.
Fabinho is far better defensively and also good offensively while Sidibé is very inconsistent defensively but very good offensively, for me Fabinho is the better player and the better fullback.
And I want Fabinho to stay at Monaco, it will be impossible to replace him.
Can't say I agree with that. The difference between them isn't that big IMO. Also, it's a bit unusual to claim you are an United fan and don't want us to buy the best players for the positions we need.
Disagree.
There is reason why Jardim used Raggi as a right back against PSG and that's because Sidibé is a liability without Dirar in front of him. As for Fabinho I wouldn't mind it in the summer but not during the season.
Bit of an exaggeration, don't you think?
No, it's not. He doesn't track back correctly and doesn't play the line correctly. In fact he reminds me Evra at Monaco but Evra was a wingback in a 352.
Glad, that's settled.
Would Fabinho have enough offensive quality to play fullback for Barca though?
Sidibe could develop at United just as much as he could at Monaco, we currently field a 20 year old LB for instance. Basically we need a RB and whoever we get is unlikely to be the finished article.
Fabinho could have the same role than Abidal and he isn't bad going forward, he is a good passer but his crosses are surprisingly inconsistent. And no, there is no patience, Sidibé should develop in Monaco before moving.
Sidibe will be 25 at the start of next season, hardly a kid, it hasn't done Luke Shaw any harm to play for United and he's 5 years younger, I don't think it would do anything negative for Sidibe.
Shaw is good at defending and he is english. The fact that Sidibé is 24, isn't going to help him at all because people and even a manager like Mourinho will expect a ready made player.
Look, I'm not saying that Sidibé is bad because he isn't but as of today, he isn't ready to play for a team with huge ambitions like United, in a back four. He could definitely play for Juventus when they are in 352 but in a back four he is currently lacking defensive nous and discipline. That's where he is at the moment, we will see how Jardim has fixed that in May.
The thing is we don't buy many ready made players, even Pogba isn't as ready made as some may like to think he is, he's just advanced for his age. Whoever we get is likely to be in the same spot, as I say we already have a number of players who'd be in the same boat such as Martial, Rashford, Lingard and Shaw. I'm not saying Sidibe is the only option but all of the other options are the same as him regarding where they are at in their development, except Coleman who is as good as he's going to get at this point.
And I believe that they should all stay where they are at the exception of Mario Gaspar who I believe is the most ready, not necessarily the best "prospect" but the most ready.
The truth is that I do not trust United. Until the club find some stability, all the players playing for good teams and still developing should stay away.
Interesting viewpoint, personally I care about United above various random players, and we have a very good record of developing players, certainly among the big clubs. For me we need a RB and I'd rather go with potential that we can turn into top class than spend £30M for Coleman who is decent but isn't getting any better than that.
And that's the problem "random players", that's how players end up being disposable, that's why I want them to take the right decisions, clubs and fans don't care about them, they are random items that can be thrown away and replaced by a newer, shinier item.
I mean with have Darmian, why aren't we developing him? He was supposed to have potential before joining us.
That's the reality of football though, and more often than not players make the move as their own choice to make large sums of money, it's simply the cycle of the game nowawdays. If I were in charge somewhere would I think differently? Possibly, but I am just a fan of Manchester United, so when I see a player I think is good and could improve us I hope the club buys them, again not Sidibe in particular, and I hope they rise to the challenge. As for Darmian, we have been slipshod in our buying since Fergie retired, no question about that, I mean he was an International RB when he came here so it wasn't like he should have required developing, the problem was that whoever made the call to buy him didn't take stock of whether his attributes were compatible with the PL.
The bottom line is that I don't think £30M on Coleman is what is best for my club, so while there would be a pressure risk for a Cancelo, Sidibe, Cedric etc....I'd rather we went that route and put faith in them elevating themselves here, than settling for an overpriced option that has already peaked and whose said peak is nothing special.
And that's why they should stay where they are for the moment. Someone like Lichtsteiner should be our target for the short term and we can monitor and let someone else develop the other players, just to snatch them when they are actually ready.
Last edited:
I get where you're coming from, I always prefer it when the clubs buy potential, it's just more exciting imo and can often yield higher rewards. Saying that I can see the argument against going for a player who still needs developing, when you'll have a back 4 of him, and
Shaw (21) - Great player but still a work in progress
Bailly (22) - Great player but still a work in progress
Smalling (26) - Great player but despite his seniority at United he doesn't come across as a leader to me.
So in that way I think United might be better going for a reliable and consistent RB over one who could be inconsistent and needing more patience.
Mourinho could conceivably believe that the age profile of the squad is too young and potential-orientated, though? I mean De Gea/Bailly/Shaw aren't exactly grizzled veterans in the Cech/Terry/Ivanovic mold. Neither are Smalling and Blind really. Valencia is but he's the player who would drop out with any RB signing. In that context opting for experience over potential might make sense.
Personally I wouldn't go near a 33 year old RB who has cut his wood in Serie A, too old. I think mid 20's is as high as we should go with an exception being if they were a Dani Alves caliber RB. However the market is dead in this position outside of the younger players who aren't the finished artiucle.
I could see the argument for this if there were some truly stellar options in the market, but there aren't, the best RB options as of now are those that have potential, it was the same with CB which is why we bought Bailly, I am sure if we could have gotten Bonucci for instance Jose would have.
He could think that but he himself added 2 more players in that mold in the summer (granted Pogba is far along in his development for a 23 year old), and I think the reason is that the options that are the finished article and of a high quality are just not available. To me Coleman is a decent player but he isn't any better now than he was 2 years ago when I would have been on board with getting him, if anything he's regressed. I just think all we'd be doing buying him would be shelling out a big sum for a player who's never going to be anything more than decent, I just don't think he's vastly superior to Valencia these days to warrant such an outlay, we'd be paying £30M to stand still.
It makes absolutely no sense to prefer Lichtsteiner to players like Fabinho and Sidibe. He's been the weakest player in Juventus' starting XI for years. I'd prefer Coleman to him and there are quite a few right-backs I'd rather have than Coleman.
Agree with all of this.
I do not prefer him to Fabinho, Fabinho would be a great signing.
So don't resist!
I will resist until the summer. After that he will move since he doesn't like his midfield role, allegedly.
Unfortunately, he's injury prone, as exemplified by the following spoiler:
Although, I wouldn't want him anyway. With Valencia aged 31, the acquisition of Coleman would be a stopgap, rather than a long term option so to speak.
Given that football is a collective sport, its paramount that the RB we eventually get is a good systematic fit. For instance, if the plan is to keep Mkhitaryan playing on the right, then its of great importance to predominantly deploy an attacking RB, as Mkhitaryan will invariably drift into central areas. We wouldn't want a repeat of last season, where Mata and Darmian were incompatible, positioning us to be lopsided which had ramifications on the performance of Memphis, amongst others. Or when we had a deficit in attacking full backs after the injuries of Shaw, and Valencia, which was one of the overwhelming justifications as to why we struggled from an attacking perspective. Although, I suspect after seeing how flat we were with both Rojo and TFM/Darmian on at the same time against Zorya, Feyernood and Northampton respectively, that's the last time we don't field at least one attacking right back.
Provided the rumors of Bayern having lingering doubts over Kingsley Coman isn't conjecture,which could have a degree of truth, seeing as they didn't make the acquisition of Sane, even though they were interested in him, but wanted to wait a season until his release clause was activated and may not want to miss out on the highly rated German, Julian Brandt who has already played 4 times on the right this season. Or if the rumors regarding Gelson Martins become more concrete, then we might not need an attacking full back to provide width, as both Coman and Martins are great at providing width to stretch the opposition. Additionally, we may opt for a defensively sound RB to play alongside Bailly, as he had that luxury playing in the Africa Cup of Nations with Aurier albeit playing as the right wing back, who happens to be very great defensively, and that was certainly evident in the final.
Or who knows, Jose may adapt to the players currently at his disposal, and adopt a 4-4-2 diamond, quite similar to his days at Porto/Inter. Then it would be in our best interest, to get a wingback in the Dani Alves mould, and my pick would be Nelson Semedo. Not the finished product, but on an upwards trajectory which would complement our pool of talented players in Shaw, Bailly, Pogba, Martial. Not to mention, Rashford, TFM, Tuanzebe, and Gomes.
16/17 Ankle injury Aug 11, 2016 Sep 4, 2016 out for 24 days missed 4 games
15/16 Hamstring Injury Apr 17, 2016 May 16, 2016 out for 29 days missed 6 games
15/16 Thigh Muscle Strain Sep 12, 2015 Oct 11, 2015 29 days 5
14/15 Thigh Muscle Strain Sep 30, 2014 Oct 16, 2014 16 days 2
14/15 Concussion Sep 18, 2014 Oct 1, 2014 13 days 4
13/14 Unknown Injury Jan 21, 2014 Jan 29, 2014 8 days 2
12/13 Hamstring Jan 21, 2013 Feb 23, 2013 33 days 7
12/13 Hamstring Injury Dec 21, 2012 Jan 6, 2013 16 days 4
11/12 Thigh Muscle Strain Mar 17, 2012 Apr 5, 2012 19 days
15/16 Hamstring Injury Apr 17, 2016 May 16, 2016 out for 29 days missed 6 games
15/16 Thigh Muscle Strain Sep 12, 2015 Oct 11, 2015 29 days 5
14/15 Thigh Muscle Strain Sep 30, 2014 Oct 16, 2014 16 days 2
14/15 Concussion Sep 18, 2014 Oct 1, 2014 13 days 4
13/14 Unknown Injury Jan 21, 2014 Jan 29, 2014 8 days 2
12/13 Hamstring Jan 21, 2013 Feb 23, 2013 33 days 7
12/13 Hamstring Injury Dec 21, 2012 Jan 6, 2013 16 days 4
11/12 Thigh Muscle Strain Mar 17, 2012 Apr 5, 2012 19 days
Given that football is a collective sport, its paramount that the RB we eventually get is a good systematic fit. For instance, if the plan is to keep Mkhitaryan playing on the right, then its of great importance to predominantly deploy an attacking RB, as Mkhitaryan will invariably drift into central areas. We wouldn't want a repeat of last season, where Mata and Darmian were incompatible, positioning us to be lopsided which had ramifications on the performance of Memphis, amongst others. Or when we had a deficit in attacking full backs after the injuries of Shaw, and Valencia, which was one of the overwhelming justifications as to why we struggled from an attacking perspective. Although, I suspect after seeing how flat we were with both Rojo and TFM/Darmian on at the same time against Zorya, Feyernood and Northampton respectively, that's the last time we don't field at least one attacking right back.
Provided the rumors of Bayern having lingering doubts over Kingsley Coman isn't conjecture,which could have a degree of truth, seeing as they didn't make the acquisition of Sane, even though they were interested in him, but wanted to wait a season until his release clause was activated and may not want to miss out on the highly rated German, Julian Brandt who has already played 4 times on the right this season. Or if the rumors regarding Gelson Martins become more concrete, then we might not need an attacking full back to provide width, as both Coman and Martins are great at providing width to stretch the opposition. Additionally, we may opt for a defensively sound RB to play alongside Bailly, as he had that luxury playing in the Africa Cup of Nations with Aurier albeit playing as the right wing back, who happens to be very great defensively, and that was certainly evident in the final.
Or who knows, Jose may adapt to the players currently at his disposal, and adopt a 4-4-2 diamond, quite similar to his days at Porto/Inter. Then it would be in our best interest, to get a wingback in the Dani Alves mould, and my pick would be Nelson Semedo. Not the finished product, but on an upwards trajectory which would complement our pool of talented players in Shaw, Bailly, Pogba, Martial. Not to mention, Rashford, TFM, Tuanzebe, and Gomes.
That's nonsense in fairness. John O'Shea, Darren Fletcher, David May and Phil Jones have played often at right back for us in their careers and have all done a solid job there without ever convincing too much. Valencia is the same. He does a job there but can never be comparable to a specialist right back. That is a bit like saying John O'Shea was a better right back than Gary Neville because he played well there for a month.
Needs to improve (a lot) defensively
I prefer Valencia in almost all facets of the game.
Very underrated player in my book.