Sergej Milinkovic Savic

He is having an excellent game today vs. Inter so far. Missed a header from the 6 yard box, chested down and layed off the shot that was deflected for Lazio goal and hit the post with a free kick. Also showing good positional discipline in the midfield and organizing the play.

Consider me intrigued.
 
Invictus said:
It's not about being defensively aware, that's too reductive - it's about both Pogba and Milinković-Savić having their greatest impact in attacking roles - in terms of their movement and assists and direct goal-threat, and delivering their best performances in system where they have a great degree of freedom to threaten the opposition's box - facilitated by the likes of Parolo and Vidal and Leiva and Marchisio. Contrast that with Modrić - who's the archetypal assister to the assister in terms of creative passing from central midfield and an expert needle midfielder in terms of linking with Madrid's attack - and Kroos: who's emerged as one of the finest deep-set playmakers in recent years - behind one of the most threatening attacks in recent years, and the difference between their respective approaches and overall remit withing the broader framework is as stark as can be.

Because Pogba and Milinković-Savić (to a lesser degree) have very, very broad skill sets, folks presume that they'll work out together by making subtle changes in their games and being more disciplined when everything about their respective careers points to the contrary. Both of them would both excel with either a high-octane grafter who sets the stage for them or a Scholes-esque midfielder - who can control the momentum of United's game and synchronize his passes with their movement to open up the field and maximize their impact in the final third, so to speak. And while people do forget that Kroos and Modrić had to up their defensive game at Madrid, their individual games were never as expansive as Pogba's or Milinković-Savić's and they aren't as vertically oriented - and both of them were more disciplined than the latter duo as regards positioning - so the transition was considerably easier.

This rumor has all the hallmarks of Griezmann's proposed transfer last season - a clearly excellent player, but perhaps one that's not the ideal fit for United in terms of his role - though that didn't stop folks from sticking him into a myriad setups (mostly in a winger's role or as an attacking midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 ahead of Pogba) where he would be asked to make unnecessary sacrifices - instead of being thrust into his best role for Atlético as a striker-forward in front of a robust midfield base - where he's frequently devastating. United would be better served pursuing someone with the skill set of Pjanić, Verratti, Kovacić to extract the best out of Pogba - or even a more disciplined box-to-box midfielder (like Saúl).
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I agree! Remember when Mourinho tried to sign Gerrard as partner to Lampard (I assume)?
 
I swear I’m the SMS curse. When I watch him he’s average. I can see the comparison to Pogba I guess. He casually strolls about as well.
 
andersj said:
I agree! Remember when Mourinho tried to sign Gerrard as partner to Lampard (I assume)?
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Wasnt that when they had Makelele, the best sitting DM in the world?

If we had someone like him then I think Pogba and MS would be fine. But we dont. We have Matic who relies on his physicality, not his positioning. And Ander who reads danger better than him but isnt in the same class as Makelele
 
Adam-Utd said:
20m gets you bang average fullbacks these days, the times have changed.
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That"s true. I just hope that Jose can find a better player for 80-100m. Might be wrong. I haven't watched enough of Savic.
 
He seems to have a lot of freedom at Lazio. Today was tackled 4 times and lost the ball with an unsafe touch 5 times. A bit like Sanchez when he first joined and kept losing the ball a lot. On the flip side he made 4 interceptions so I guess when he can be bothered he can do that too.
 
OldSchoolManc said:
Lazio had a better goal difference! How does that work!?
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https://www.thoughtco.com/understanding-italys-serie-a-3557319
 
OldSchoolManc said:
Ah, thanks guys. I assumed leagues under UEFA all had the same rules.
Not sure which is the best system? Seems unfair if your GD is way better than the other team.
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I prefer results against each other, you have justified being better then the other team
 
Another giant for Mourinho to shoehorn into the team for his narrow slowball. Only makes sense if Pogba goes.
 
AP88 said:
Another giant for Mourinho to shoehorn into the team for his narrow slowball. Only makes sense if Pogba goes.
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Better that than renewing Fellaini's contract.
The above statement is by no means a false dichotomy
 
AP88 said:
Another giant for Mourinho to shoehorn into the team for his narrow slowball. Only makes sense if Pogba goes.
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I honestly don't care because Pogba has really done feck all. If SMS shows he can do better than Pogba and bench him, then fine, I am all for it.
 
Kapardin said:
I honestly don't care because Pogba has really done feck all. If SMS shows he can do better than Pogba and bench him, then fine, I am all for it.
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Pogba is MotM every other game and has delivered the best goals/assists from midfield this season. Two cups last season, a final this season, gone from 6th to 2nd. By all means, he’s no part of that and has done feck all.
 
James Peril said:
Pogba is MotM every other game and has delivered the best goals/assists from midfield this season. Two cups last season, a final this season, gone from 6th to 2nd. By all means, he’s no part of that and has done feck all.
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He's contributed 6 goals and 10 assists. Had some class games, but lots of inconsistency in between. Maybe Sanchez has hindered him, but whatever the reason, there are others who can do better both stats-wise and in terms of all-round game.

I am not saying he isn't key to us, he certainly is our greatest potential and could become world-class, but that he certainly requires competition for his place. When I said, "feck all", I meant he has done feck all to be considered untouchable and a priority over any other midfield signing.

Nick7 said:
Do you watch football? Or just moan about it online?
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Bit of both. In between, I also binge on chips and Red Bull.
 
Kapardin said:
He's contributed 6 goals and 10 assists. Had some class games, but lots of inconsistency in between. Maybe Sanchez has hindered him, but whatever the reason, there are others who can do better both stats-wise and in terms of all-round game.

I am not saying he isn't key to us, he certainly is our greatest potential and could become world-class, but that he certainly requires competition for his place. When I said, "feck all", I meant he has done feck all to be considered untouchable and a priority over any other midfield signing.



Bit of both. In between, I also binge on chips and Red Bull.
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That's fair.
 
If you think that Martial looks lazy and disinterested on the pitch, then you won't like SMS.
Even though i think he has fenomenal technical and passing ablilites, deadly on set pieces and with a good shot, he is not the midfielder we need.
Big, slow player with limited defensive contribution, except corners. He will not "balance" our midfield and "free" Pogba up. In fact he would do quite the opposite.
 
Lots of speculation about this guy, and it all started with that quote from himself about how much he likes Mourinho and all that, but I can't see us signing him unless Pogba goes, sms will cost at least 75-80m so that would be a very hefty pricetag for one player considering how much we need to improve in other positions.
 
BlueHaze said:
Lots of speculation about this guy, and it all started with that quote from himself about how much he likes Mourinho and all that, but I can't see us signing him unless Pogba goes, sms will cost at least 75-80m so that would be a very hefty pricetag for one player considering how much we need to improve in other positions.
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75m is hardly breaking the bank if the other players we buy are significantly less expensive. Sandro would be the only other prominently linked player who would cost nearly as much, and we are of course likely to lose several players like Fellaini, Darmian, Blind, Martial, Carrick (ret), and maybe one or two others.
 
Raoul said:
75m is hardly breaking the bank if the other players we buy are significantly less expensive. Sandro would be the only other prominently linked player who would cost nearly as much, and we are of course likely to lose several players like Fellaini, Darmian, Blind, Martial, Carrick (ret), and maybe one or two others.
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I think we’re definitely going to see a smallerbut higher quality squad next season. As many as 7 or 8 leaving with 5 coming in and a young player like TFM being blooded too.
 
Fosu-Mens said:
If you think that Martial looks lazy and disinterested on the pitch, then you won't like SMS.
Even though i think he has fenomenal technical and passing ablilites, deadly on set pieces and with a good shot, he is not the midfielder we need.
Big, slow player with limited defensive contribution, except corners. He will not "balance" our midfield and "free" Pogba up. In fact he would do quite the opposite.
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I agree, I watched him against Inter, which was arguably their biggest game of the season, very good on the ball, but he looked like a right lazy fecker without it, I think a high energy player would suit us better.
 
I wasn't very impressed with the little I saw from him but he must be quite good if so many clubs want him.
 
I haven't watched much of him, but what I've seen of him he looks decent.

I can't help but feel there's some artificial transfer hype around his ability though.
 
Watching SMS play on a few vids I really am impressed by Ciro Immobile and his clinical finishes. That's the guy we should get from Lazio.
 
Mercurial said:
Watching SMS play on a few vids I really am impressed by Ciro Immobile and his clinical finishes. That's the guy we should get from Lazio.
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He completely bottled it in Dortmund, he suits the Italian league.
 
I could be completely wrong but he reminds me a bit of Dele Alli in some aspects of his game.

He could play behind the forward, could play slightly deeper as an adavnced midfielder, could potentially play as a central striker as well, similar to Alli. But is that the skill set we really need? We would be replacing fellaini with a better player but our football style would probably get even uglier and more direct than ever before.

In my opinion we should be looking at ball carriers that can sit at the center circle and recycle the ball for majority of the game but can drive forward when required. Fred fits that description to an extent. But it would be useful to sign an experienced midfielder - someone like Mouse Dembele or Modric.
 
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