Im not in panic mode yet. Partly because I feel a little more relaxed about our squad (midfield) than I have in recent summers, and partly because it aint over until the fat lady sings and she hasnt even got on stage yet, she is still in her dressing room tucking into a KFC bucket. I refuse to be downhearted. These things often go down to the wire and I believe we will get someone in, even if it isnt someone who will set the world alight it will be helpful. If Moyes wants to take a bit of time before he makes such a crucial and strategic investment then I think that is probably fair enough - certainly it is justifiable. At the end of the day, I now firmly believe in Carrick's ability to never get injured and never need a rest, so its all good.
So we didn't sign a central midfielder
- Thread starter charlenefan
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) are here to discuss three 1-1 draws.
The first got us knocked out of the FA Cup, the next puts us in a good position in our Round of 16 Europa League game, and the latest was an actual decent performance against Arsenal at Old Trafford.
All hopes for the season now rest on the Europa League - does Amorim have the squad to win it?
Not at all... We dont sign midfielders.. We sign CB's
I know some have been going on about this for a while, but this is actually the first summer that I thought we really need to sign a midfielder (last summer I thought it was possible but not vital) and I believe we still will.
I was a little excited at the beginning of the summer because I thought we might go for genuine quality. Now I sort of don't care much given all were linked with is fellaini.
I'm going to go wild and say we'll sign two central midfielders this summer.
Djemba is coming back?
Well Fabregas would have been a dream signing and Thiago would have been nice, but one went with his old manager and one stayed put so not much we can do about that.
I actually rate Fellaini and would be quite content with him added to the squad
I know why those didnt work out and it's fine.
And I do think fellaini will do well for us. But it's not a signing that excites me much at all. Hopefully even if we do get him, we make some more interesting midfield signings in the future over the next couple of seasons.
I reckon Anderson will get fit and we will get 6 reasonably top-class seasons out of him. Maybe Rooney will become a permanent midfielder too. 4-3-3 with the four of Rooney, Carrick, Cleverley and Anderson rotating would be great.
Sad as it is to say, I think Giggs will only be used on the Left Wing now, or at least left of a 3.
Sad as it is to say, I think Giggs will only be used on the Left Wing now, or at least left of a 3.
That is incredibly optimistic.
The rest of it was too
I've been in panic mode for 2 league titles, so clearly shows what I know.
Will be amazing to see what Moyes does with only one truly class central midfielder. As I see it we have:
- Michael Carrick (excellent, can play maybe 40 matches fingers crossed)
- 2 injury prone, decent midfielders who aren't really top quality
- A 40 year old left winger
- A centre back with a good engine
- Not a single youth/reserve player 'on the cusp'. Petrucci is miles off, Tunnicliffe appears to have faded and the others are really young. Adnan, Cole, Lingard are all too attacking
I think if Moyes wants to compete this season, he'll have to significantly change our tactics to accommodate the gaping hole Fergie has left him. We can't and don't control matches at present the way we once did. Maybe we can work around it by basing our success on a solid defence and counter-attacking: basically negating the need for a great central midfield.
Will be amazing to see what Moyes does with only one truly class central midfielder. As I see it we have:
- Michael Carrick (excellent, can play maybe 40 matches fingers crossed)
- 2 injury prone, decent midfielders who aren't really top quality
- A 40 year old left winger
- A centre back with a good engine
- Not a single youth/reserve player 'on the cusp'. Petrucci is miles off, Tunnicliffe appears to have faded and the others are really young. Adnan, Cole, Lingard are all too attacking
I think if Moyes wants to compete this season, he'll have to significantly change our tactics to accommodate the gaping hole Fergie has left him. We can't and don't control matches at present the way we once did. Maybe we can work around it by basing our success on a solid defence and counter-attacking: basically negating the need for a great central midfield.
The need for another DM will be clearly felt next week against Chelsea. The likes of Hazard, and Oscar will need a lot of holding.
Where do people get the impression from that Cleverley is injury prone?
He's not injury prone at all!
He's not injury prone at all!
Powell?
Sigh.
Jones. Who's not a midfielder.
Bit early to bump this. I'm still confident we'll bring one in.
No one has ever seen him play central midfield. At Crewe he was in the hole, and for the reserves he mainly played as a striker.
I'll go out on a limb and say he's not ready to be Manchester United's first choice in a position he's never played at any decent level.
You didn't say ready though, you said on the cusp, though fair enough about his position, I thought be was supposed to be a midfielder.
we haven't seen Hernadez in midfield either...worth a try?
Why?
Not sure which part that's aimed at so I'll address both:
Why is it too early to bump it? Because there's still over a week of the window remaining so we haven't yet failed to sign a midfielder.
Why am I confident we'll bring one in? Because Moyes clearly wants to bring a midfielder in (as evidenced by bids for Fellaini and Fabregas) so I would hope that once he's identified an area he would address it.
Moyes will sign a midfielder. He exploited that area when we played against Everton last season, unless he is also drinking from the "there is no value in the market" whiskey. Not having a go at SAF because we've had some superb midfielders and some shit ones too, and Carrick is good, Scholes came back from retirement, Anderson showed glimpes and Cleverley was coming through.
There's no question Moyes had been trying to sign one... We know of two we have definitely bid for. That doesn't mean we'll necessarily sign one though.
I've seen him play CM for Man Utd. 90% sure that's where he was playing.
I'm not.
Today's press conference..
Moyes: "There is no pressure to do it. I have an idea of where I'd like to strengthen. If the right players are available, then great, but there is a possibility nothing may happen."
Nice to see the backtracking from the confidence and assurances that we'll get players in before the end of the window.
Moyes: "There is no pressure to do it. I have an idea of where I'd like to strengthen. If the right players are available, then great, but there is a possibility nothing may happen."
Nice to see the backtracking from the confidence and assurances that we'll get players in before the end of the window.
I don't think we'll sign anyone after today's press conference.
He obviously still hasn't if he's still hopeful of bringing in one or two.
He'll get him free tyres, but no midfielders, what more does he want.
How hard can it be to bring in a quality midfielder.....we had the whole summer to plan and target the right players.
If we fail to get anyone then lets pray that Carrick doesn't get injured!!!
If we fail to get anyone then lets pray that Carrick doesn't get injured!!!
If I had to make a free £10 Paddy Power bet... I'd now bet on no new signings.
I still hold some hope that Big Dave can pull something out of the hat mind.
I still hold some hope that Big Dave can pull something out of the hat mind.
His big penis?
I think Moyes is just trying to hold his cards into his chest and not ramp up prices because effectively Fellaini is about the only signing that will happen and Everton have the ball completely in their court.
This midfield problem has been building for too long for a club like United not to have solved. It's negligent because without a midfielder, or indeed, 2, of decent quality (ala Fellaini) we're very much an injury to Carrick away from being in very dodgy waters indeed.
No midfield signing this summer would be baffling beyond belief.
This midfield problem has been building for too long for a club like United not to have solved. It's negligent because without a midfielder, or indeed, 2, of decent quality (ala Fellaini) we're very much an injury to Carrick away from being in very dodgy waters indeed.
No midfield signing this summer would be baffling beyond belief.
Carrick will play 50 matches, Anderson and Cleverly will come good, Giggs and Jones can play in midfield and Scholes could still make a comeback,and we haven't tried RVP and Chacharito in midfield yet. We have enough options.
To be honest, I've recently started sympathising with the group of people I thought were crazy for saying we are putting in bids for show.
I mean, I almost don't count bidding £25m or £30m for Cesc as 'tried to sign Fabregas'. People say Arsenal put in bids in the hope/knowledge they will not be accepted, and our pursuit of Fab seems similar. Everyone is coming up with theories or trying to dissect Fabregas' interview to claim we were obviously dead serious and for good reason - but the facts are, the bids we put in were a joke. The Everton bid also had no chance of being accepted, so if we don't increase it, the only conclusion I can see is that we were not serious about getting them.
Baines and Fellaini are probably, in this complex market, as easy as a deal you can hope for in terms of getting decent players. They play for a smaller club, would likely want to join, are not being chased by other big clubs, and do not cost an amount of money we should not be able to afford. If we can't get that one over the line, then we must really be waiting for one of the world's best players to declare from the rooftop that they have a burning desire to play for United, will not consider anyone else, will submit a transfer request and force the issue, personally pay/forego monies to their current club to help subsidise a deal - and all-in-all be available for less than £25m. Only then will I fancy our chances of getting a deal for a player who isn't a promising British kid playing for a far lesser club over the line.
Sorry for the rant, it appears I am now losing it
It's definitely a strange situation. Our bids for fabregas were seriously odd. And I would have thought that since we were clearly interested in that sort of technical midfielder, that we'd have some other alternatives we had been working on, given how long we took to get rejected on the fabregas one. Only for the alternative to be fellaini, a completely different sort of midfielder. Moyes said he wanted two, but what happened to the fabregas kind of player? Was it "fabregas or no one"?To be honest, I've recently started sympathising with the group of people I thought were crazy for saying we are putting in bids for show.
I mean, I almost don't count bidding £25m or £30m for Cesc as 'tried to sign Fabregas'. People say Arsenal put in bids in the hope/knowledge they will not be accepted, and our pursuit of Fab seems similar. Everyone is coming up with theories or trying to dissect Fabregas' interview to claim we were obviously dead serious and for good reason - but the facts are, the bids we put in were a joke. The Everton bid also had no chance of being accepted, so if we don't increase it, the only conclusion I can see is that we were not serious about getting them.
Baines and Fellaini are probably, in this complex market, as easy as a deal you can hope for in terms of getting decent players. They play for a smaller club, would likely want to join, are not being chased by other big clubs, and do not cost an amount of money we should not be able to afford. If we can't get that one over the line, then we must really be waiting for one of the world's best players to declare from the rooftop that they have a burning desire to play for United, will not consider anyone else, will submit a transfer request and force the issue, personally pay/forego monies to their current club to help subsidise a deal - and all-in-all be available for less than £25m. Only then will I fancy our chances of getting a deal for a player who isn't a promising British kid playing for a far lesser club over the line.
Sorry for the rant, it appears I am now losing it
Lots of questions. We will of course be left to speculate about the answers. But it has been a strange summer.