Sergej Milinkovic Savic

Didn't he like some other post too? A post about Carrick or something.
And there is interest from our part as Di Marzio reported that we had enquired about him.
Maybe Matic talks to him about the club a lot.
Whatever be the reason, if we agree a fee with Lazio, convincing SMS won't be a problem
 
Alot on here think he could only replace Pogba . I personally think he will be Fellani's Replacement in the midfield . I know they are not the same type of player but we are a long way back and Maybe Jose thinks we need as much talent as possible and we may set up in different ways next year .
 
kirk buttercup said:
Alot on here think he could only replace Pogba . I personally think he will be Fellani's Replacement in the midfield . I know they are not the same type of player but we are a long way back and Maybe Jose thinks we need as much talent as possible and we may set up in different ways next year .
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How do you fit Savic, Pogba, Fred and Matic in the same team though
 
kirk buttercup said:
Alot on here think he could only replace Pogba . I personally think he will be Fellani's Replacement in the midfield . I know they are not the same type of player but we are a long way back and Maybe Jose thinks we need as much talent as possible and we may set up in different ways next year .
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Matic, Fred and Pogba will be the 3 starters next season as things stand. The only one of them Savic might replace is Pogba.
 
JJ12 said:
How do you fit Savic, Pogba, Fred and Matic in the same team though
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There's alot of games over the season Rotating the line up may not be a bad idea . To me it seems if United are to be at the top table they need depth of Qualtiy players that can rotate
 
devilish said:
I grew up watching the Serie A and that was long before I could watch the EPL on a week in week out basis. Terms like regista, trequartista and mezzala come more natural to me then terms left half or hug touchlines
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They did look Italian, but i have no clue what any of them means, i just thought it was some new fancy double-pivot stuff :)
 
Still dont know where we'd put him, assuming we're playing a 433 next season. That said, it was very much more of a 4222 in the last few months of the season.

It could mean that both Pogba and Savic play as the attacking midfielders, with Matic and Fred as the double pivot.

It would be very similar to City under Pelegerini, when he played Nasri and Silva as the wide attacking midfielders, with Fernandinho and Toure as the double pivot.

We could also mix it up and put Savic deeper.

Pogba Savic
Matic Fred

Or

Pogba Lingard
Matic Savic
 
Duncan Castles in his podcast today said Lazio are very keen to sell and the president of the club is trying to raise the price of the player by leaking (concocting) "stories" in the media. He said that contrary to these stories, Lazio have not received an offer of €110m (although they'd very much like to do so), in part because the big clubs around Europe that scouted him have doubts about his personality/temperament and what his best position actually is.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
Still dont know where we'd put him, assuming we're playing a 433 next season. That said, it was very much more of a 4222 in the last few months of the season.

It could mean that both Pogba and Savic play as the attacking midfielders, with Matic and Fred as the double pivot.

It would be very similar to City under Pelegerini, when he played Nasri and Silva as the wide attacking midfielders, with Fernandinho and Toure as the double pivot.

We could also mix it up and put Savic deeper.

Pogba Savic
Matic Fred

Or

Pogba Lingard
Matic Savic
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We don't have the full backs to pull off a diamond.

Neither we're really suited as a team to play possession football. I'd much rather see 4-3-3.
 
Enigma_87 said:
We don't have the full backs to pull off a diamond.

Neither we're really suited as a team to play possession football. I'd much rather see 4-3-3.
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We don't have the Fullbacks yet ;). It's a long summer and Jose will be under pressure next season to deliver a title challenge . I can see us going big this summer
 
Infra-red said:
Duncan Castles in his podcast today said Lazio are very keen to sell and the president of the club is trying to raise the price of the player by leaking (concocting) "stories" in the media. He said that contrary to these stories, Lazio have not received an offer of €110m (although they'd very much like to do so), in part because the big clubs around Europe that scouted him have doubts about his personality/temperament and what his best position actually is.
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It’s a shame Lazio missed out on CL. Another season playing in the CL could further show Savic’s level of quality. He looks a great player but I dont see anyone paying over 100 million at the moment.
 
The 4222 wouldn’t be a bad shout, seeing as class wingers are huge money and all ours are poor/better as a CF.

Lukaku Sánchez Martial* Rashford for 2 forward positions.

Pogba SMS Lingard Mata* for the 2 AM positions.

Matic Fred McTominay Herrera* for the CM.
 
I’d hate us to play the diamond. It’s probably old school but we need wingers who can take players on and can open teams up. We haven’t had anyone consistent in taking players on for a long time.
 
devilish said:
Well, I beg to differ on that.

SMS and Fred are very different players. Fred is pure energy. He's pacey, he's hardworking, he's a tough tackler (stats wise he had done more tackles then Matic), he's good dribbler and he's a decent passer of the ball. However don't expect him to score loads of goals because he won't. Think of him as an upgrade to Herrera.

SMS on the other hand is a big big upgrade on Fellaini. He's 6ft3 so he's got plenty of presence, he's got a great eye to goal, with a staggering 14 goals in 32 matches from CM while still retaining the composure and workrate Mou loves in a player. He's not among the fastest of players though and his passing rate is not that great (81.8%) but he still got a respectable 6 assists this season.

In my opinion both can play in the same team. HOWEVER, that would mean changing our system to a more narrow 4-3-2-1. Fred will drop deep helping Matic out and linking DM with CM. Pogba will be the more attacking option in a 3 men CM and drifting on the left to cover that area of pitch. Meanwhile SMS and Sanchez will play behind the striker with Sanchez drifting on the right if needed.

4-3-2-1

DM: Matic
regista/box to box: Fred
Mezzala: Pogba
AMRC: SMS
AMLC: Sanchez
STK: Lukaku
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Looks good on paper but all top teams have rapid full backs and wingers and we’d be slaughtered down the wings without having anyone wide. Valencia/Young would be 2v1 all the time.
 
Enigma_87 said:
We don't have the full backs to pull off a diamond.

Neither we're really suited as a team to play possession football. I'd much rather see 4-3-3.
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It wouldn't be a diamond, it would be a 4222, and it's the system we used in the last couple of months of the season.

Sanchez Lukaku
Pogba Lingard
Matic Herrera

Bwuk said:
Looks good on paper but all top teams have rapid full backs and wingers and we’d be slaughtered down the wings without having anyone wide. Valencia/Young would be 2v1 all the time.
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Not really. Defensively, we'd be set up in a 442, with two banks of four.

Pogba Matic Fred Savic
Back Four
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
It wouldn't be a diamond, it would be a 4222, and it's the system we used in the last couple of months of the season.

Sanchez Lukaku
Pogba Lingard
Matic Herrera



Not really. Defensively, we'd be set up in a 442, with two banks of four.

Pogba Matic Fred Savic
Back Four
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4-2-2-2 would be very narrow as well. We've struggled with width and that would make it even worse.

Also Savic as a RM would not work IMO, he doesn't have the defensive game or explosivity to back it up.

Matic/Savic/Pogba is one slow midfield and only Fred won't help there.

First one looks good on paper with Fred instead of Herrera and Lingard providing some energy, but Matic/Fred/Pogba in a midfield three with the work rate of Sanchez and another RW would IMO be much better.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
It wouldn't be a diamond, it would be a 4222, and it's the system we used in the last couple of months of the season.

Sanchez Lukaku
Pogba Lingard
Matic Herrera



Not really. Defensively, we'd be set up in a 442, with two banks of four.

Pogba Matic Fred Savic
Back Four
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Pogba and Savic are not particularly well-suited to the task of tracking fleet-footed opposition fullbacks up and down the touchline.
 
kirk buttercup said:
We don't have the Fullbacks yet ;). It's a long summer and Jose will be under pressure next season to deliver a title challenge . I can see us going big this summer
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yeah of course. If we sign Sandro on the left and Meunier/Sidibe on the right of course we will have a great platform, but let's see :)
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
It wouldn't be a diamond, it would be a 4222, and it's the system we used in the last couple of months of the season.

Sanchez Lukaku
Pogba Lingard
Matic Herrera



Not really. Defensively, we'd be set up in a 442, with two banks of four.

Pogba Matic Fred Savic
Back Four
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We played that maybe once against Chelsea and that was it.

We’d lack any pace down the sides and we’d be reliant on our average at best full backs providing width.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
In a 433, the centre midfielders move out wide and help the full back, depending on what side it is.
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They do, but they are also responsible for tracking midfield runners and our fullbacks also have the assistance of our wingers in preventing 2v1s. In a 4-3-3 we usually defend in a 4-1-4-1 shape. The problem with narrow systems like the diamond, christmas tree and 4-2-2-2 is that you can't adequately control the opposition fullbacks.
 
Bwuk said:
We played that maybe once against Chelsea and that was it.

We’d lack any pace down the sides and we’d be reliant on our average at best full backs providing width.
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The benefit of using it against Chelsea is that it allowed us to go man-for-man all over the pitch and just leave a CB on each side as the spare men. That's of course because Chelsea don't play with fullbacks & wingers - they just have a single pair of wingbacks!
 
Infra-red said:
They do, but they are also responsible for tracking midfield runners and our fullbacks also have the assistance of our wingers in preventing 2v1s. In a 4-3-3 we usually defend in a 4-1-4-1 shape. The problem with narrow systems like the diamond, christmas tree and 4-2-2-2 is that you can't adequately control the opposition fullbacks.
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Seemed to work fine against Chelsea's wing backs, when we beat them 2-1.
 
Haven't seen him that many times but what I have seen isnt really all that special . I doubt any club would be willing to pay 100m for him..
 
Bwuk said:
We played that maybe once against Chelsea and that was it.

We’d lack any pace down the sides and we’d be reliant on our average at best full backs providing width.
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We've played a midfield square (as Moruinho likes to refer to it as) more than once, but that's not the point i'm making.

I don't necessarily want to see that formation next season. I am; however, predicting what our team could look like if Savic was added to the squad.
 
I’d be happy if we aren’t pursuing this. It would just mess up the dynamics plus we need our second midfielder to be defensive with energy.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
Seemed to work fine against Chelsea's wing backs, when we beat them 2-1.
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As explained above, that's because Chelsea don't play with fullbacks & wingers - they just have a single pair of wingbacks. We man-marked them all over the pitch and their only 'spare' man was Christensen.
 
I know for a fact that we won't get it. Him it's the hope that gets me.

He's far too good for Lazio. So I have no idea where he'll end up. It's whether Lazio price him out of a move is the only question.
 
I think SMS may have been Jose's planned marquee signing had Pogba demanded to leave but now with Pogba likely to stay it's perhaps possible that Jose may be eyeing up another marquee signing such as a Bale/Ousmane Dembele/Greizmann or something
 
Personally, I don't like the narrow formation people are putting forth to fit in both Pogba and this guy. I'm usually open to new ideas and play styles but we've dominated English football stretching teams with width. Now that doesn't we have to play a 442 forever however completely going astray from the proven uber successful path makes just as little sense.
 
And I worry about Pogba only if he's billed to be our fulcrum. Don't build the team around him. Build a strong team which includes him adding the added creativity on top.

SMS doesn't look like a player that fits Pogba IMo.
 
JJ12 said:
How do you fit Savic, Pogba, Fred and Matic in the same team though
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Look at the players warming Real Madrid's bench. City just walked the league and could go out and splash a load of cash on Mahrez, despite already having plenty of options there. These are the teams we're trying to catch up to.
You don't put them in the same team - you put them in the same squad.
 
devilish said:
SMS on the other hand is a big big upgrade on Fellaini. He's 6ft3 so he's got plenty of presence, he's got a great eye to goal, with a staggering 14 goals in 32 matches from CM while still retaining the composure and workrate Mou loves in a player. He's not among the fastest of players though and his passing rate is not that great (81.8%) but he still got a respectable 6 assists this season.
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Savic scored 14 goals across all competitions this season in 44 appearances and he's played large chunk of the season as an attacking midfielder for Lazio. His passing accuracy over the course of season reads at 78.2%, just not good enough for a CM or a 10. Couple of years back Radja Nainngolan scored 14 goals for Roma in a season where he played as a 10, his productivity dropped to less than half of that in coming seasons when he returned to his normal role. Goals tally are not a good way to judge a CM upon.

The fee being mentioned for this bloke is absolute bonkers, Pogba gets so much shit mainly due to absurdly high fee but he was so much more accomplished than Savic. He is so much more rounded than Savic. He's done nothing yet to warrant that sort of money. Only way you could make some sense of this signing is if we're selling Pogba and we'd be taking a huge dip in quality if we're going to replace him with Savic.

In my opinion both can play in the same team. HOWEVER, that would mean changing our system to a more narrow 4-3-2-1. Fred will drop deep helping Matic out and linking DM with CM. Pogba will be the more attacking option in a 3 men CM and drifting on the left to cover that area of pitch. Meanwhile SMS and Sanchez will play behind the striker with Sanchez drifting on the right if needed.
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Our team is in dire need of width, one of the major reasons we've struggled so much against defensive sides is how predictable we are to play against. Majority of our attackers like to come centrally making it easier for opposition to flood the midfield and choke us since our fullbacks are garbage. Adding Savic and playing a narrower formation would further compound the problem, you'll have Pogba and Savic who do their best work as a 10 and both will vie to occupy the same space. I really hope we steer away from this signing, for the money he'll cost it has disaster written all over it.

forevrared said:
The same way Madrid have been the best team on the planet with Casemiro, Kroos, Modric, and Isco in the same side.
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Yeah nothing to do with the fact they have a freak in Ronaldo plus talents of Bale, Asensio on the bench.

Also, Isco started his career as a winger and he can play there due to his amazing close control and quality on the ball. None of the Fred, Pogba, Savic or Matic at any point in their career have played as a winger. Playing from the left side of midfield is different than playing solely out wide if you're going to refer to Pogba in his Juventus days. So yeah this combo of four won't work.
 
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My concern on SMS is the price. We could sign Fekir for less money. Also, he would be able to play in a midfield of 3, behind the striker or on the right wing (similar to Mata).
 
Kush said:
Savic scored 14 goals across all competitions this season in 44 appearances and he's played large chunk of the season as an attacking midfielder for Lazio. His passing accuracy over the course of season reads at 78.2%, just not good enough for a CM or a 10. Couple of years back Radja Nainngolan scored 14 goals for Roma in a season where he played as a 10, his productivity dropped to less than half of that in coming seasons when he returned to his normal role. Goals tally are not a good way to judge a CM upon.

The fee being mentioned for this bloke is absolute bonkers, Pogba gets so much shit mainly due to absurdly high fee but he was so much more accomplished than Savic. He is so much more rounded than Savic. He's done nothing yet to warrant that sort of money. Only way you could make some sense of this signing is if we're selling Pogba and we'd be taking a huge dip in quality if we're going to replace him with Savic.
.
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I said 13 goals in 32 matches as a CM....which is correct.

https://www.whoscored.com/Players/288767/Show/Sergej-Milinkovic-Savic

Same as his passing

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...nkovic-savic-lazio-sergeant-manchester-united

I am not arguing whether we should buy him up or not. All I said is that Pogba and SMS can play together in the correct setup + he's the big guy with technique Mou tend to like to have around.
 
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