This. I'm not a big fan of his, but whenever he came in, he did a decent to good enough job. And we need players like that. I really hope we keep him but it's looking unlikely.
Sunderland bid £12m for O'Shea, Gibson & Brown
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This. I'm not a big fan of his, but whenever he came in, he did a decent to good enough job. And we need players like that. I really hope we keep him but it's looking unlikely.
He's a good enough defender. He won't give you much in an attacking sense, but he'll come in and do a decent to good defensive job in the absence of other players.
the arrival of phil jones have force o'shea out...
Versatility and consistency
Agreed, he's very versatile. He can do an 'OK' job in a lot of positions.
But abilty wise, he's lacking.
Fantastic player off the ball. However, I happen to think he's been getting progressively slower over the last few years, and probably his best is behind him, and age is not his friend.
Who said you do?
I just said he won't be missed so much, and he won't. The likes of Smalling, Jones and the twins will make sure of that.
Silly comment from you geebs, you got me totally wrong.
Valid point.
However, the coaches are forward thinking, and seem to think he has given his best years and United should move forward.
How do you guys think we plan to provide cover to the twins and evra once O'Shea and Brown are gone? Is there anyone that we can promote from the reserves? I was thinking Da Laet but he's gone.
Try watching with your eyes
Evans, Jones, Smalling will do just fine.
But none are fullbacks though, except maybe Evans who can cover at left back.
I wouldn't argue against that Sultan, every player has his point where he is moved on. Its happened to better players than O'Shea and will happen to many more after he has left.
It just irritates me that even after around 300 games for United and 70 caps for his country, some people still say that he's got no talent. Idiots.
Pique, Kompany Jagielka. The list goes on, being able to play on a few positions when you're younger isn't "a danger" if you have true quality!
O'Shea and Brown weren't full backs either.
Smalling, Jones and Evans have all proved they can do a good job there!
I do, at actuall games, not just on TV.
He nutmegged Figo, scored one of the sexiest chips I've ever seen and kept a clean sheet. Thats technical ability.
I've been to games as well, O'Shea is a great player.
Literally be very sad to see him go, great great player for us. If these three players are sold, I'd be surprised to see no-one else come in.
To pay the players wages I suspect.
They dont have the stadium (nor ability to charge "London" prices) of an Arsenal to bring in the money, nor someone who's happy to keep putting the money up.
Moyes has done very well there against the odds.
Jagielka is at a middle ranking club, he's not in the same class. Pique pretty much played centre half ever since he joined Barcelona.
Of course versatile players can make a big impression - but if you're talking about a mega talented player, it makes sense to give him the vast majority of his games in his natural position. Smalling played about 95% of his matches at centre half, for instance, last season.
I'm sure some coaches are of the opinion playing young players in various positions helps their development in understanding the game better.
Since he joined Barca yeah, but he was aged 21 then, that gives Jones 2 years
As for Phil, he plays for England and he's attracted interest from the likes of Arsenal, not too shabby really. Bit harsh to say he's not in the same class as Jones.
regardless of where you watch it, try taking the blinkers off
Pique played fullback for Zaragoza
And CM! Didn't do him any harm though did it?
But feed me wants to ignore that.
I disagree, O'Shea has the ability to not play for 10 games then come in and perform a variety of roles to a consistently reliable standard.
There are not many players around capable of doing that. Consistent level of performance is the most difficult attribute to maintain in top level sport, if you don't believe that claim take a look at how Anderson, Carrick and Nani have struggled with their consistency over the years.
O'Shea falls into the category of you don't appreciate what you have until it's gone. He has never let Utd down and we know he is fully capable of fulfilling whatever role we require of him, can the same yet be said of Evans or Jones?
Letting O'Shea go is just plain stupid. He's a player happy enough to come in and do a job for us when needed and he's good backup for either fullback position. We can't really rely on the twins who struggle to finish a game without an injury.
I'm not denying that it can be a useful learning curve. But too much shunting around of a player can be detrimental to a player's development. Jones will probably get the odd game at right full back, he may find himself playing a bit as a holding midfielder too, but the majority of his games will (rightly) come as a central defender.
Roy Keane played a fair bit at right back too during his early career.
I'm not ignoring that. I didn't follow his spell at Zaragoza so can't really comment.
But there's absolutely zero proof that his stints at full back and midfield helped him become a better player. It's just as conceivable that he'd have been the same player if all his opportunities had come as a central defender early in his career.
its natural for young players being played out of position
at United its been quite common over the Fergie years. Examples of the top of my head:
Lee Sharpe - played at left back
Fletcher - played right wing
Phil Neville - mostly used as fullback despite playing a lot of youth football in CM
it raises their awareness of other positions
at United its been quite common over the Fergie years. Examples of the top of my head:
Lee Sharpe - played at left back
Fletcher - played right wing
Phil Neville - mostly used as fullback despite playing a lot of youth football in CM
it raises their awareness of other positions
Perhaps he's no longer happy with being a squad player? People assume he's being forced out but that may not be the case.
Maybe he wants to play more than 15 games a season ro rely on injuries. He's done well with United but he's not getting any younger.
Of Jones? obviously not.
And let's not make out that O'Shea has never had a poor game for us, feck me, people here making out that he's a guaranteed 7 out of 10 every week.
O'Shea is very reliable, I agree, but I've seen him have some shockers in his time here, to blank out this is being blinkered to say the least.
He plays a lot more than 15 games a season for United.
A long term injury to Evra and suddenly we're relying on 2 twins to last us through the season? That doesn't fill me with confidence.
Bang on. It's the Dutch philosophy too for young players.
Sharky, stop going off on one mate. You're completely misrepresenting my initial point, which was that Jones shouldn't be considered a like-for-like replacement for O'Shea, in terms of being a utility player.
I've no issue with him getting the odd game in other positions, but that'll more likely be a case of needing to fill in for injuries, suspensions and rotation. The majority of his games will come as a central defender, because that's where his future lies.
The player he's likened to - John Terry - played pretty much exclusively as a central defender, even in his younger days.
I've no issue with him getting the odd game in other positions, but that'll more likely be a case of needing to fill in for injuries, suspensions and rotation. The majority of his games will come as a central defender, because that's where his future lies.
The player he's likened to - John Terry - played pretty much exclusively as a central defender, even in his younger days.
No, we're relying on 2 twins, Jones, Smalling and Evans, all of these have proven they can do a good job at full back.
Jones has had 1 season in the PL. We shouldn't expect too much too soon. We are going to miss O'Sheas experience
I don't think it's a case of trying to raise their awareness, more just trying to get them into the side in some form so they get playing time. If Jones spends some time at right back or central midfield this season, chances are it's because Fergie also has Rio, Vidic and Smalling to pick from, not because he wants him to sample a different position.