Sverre Nypan | Norwegian media: United out of the race

[lysglimt]

In theory, I think Ugarte and Mainoo actually is a good pairing. The problem is not so much the player types, more that Mainoo has fallen on the cliff this season. If they both play to their best, it could work very well.

It's not a good pairing - they are too slow. Mainoo will never work in a 2 man midfield - unless the other is really mobile, and Ugarte isn't.

 

[Bojan Djordjic]

In theory, I think Ugarte and Mainoo actually is a good pairing. The problem is not so much the player types, more that Mainoo has fallen on the cliff this season. If they both play to their best, it could work very well.

It's in no way a good pairing and that's why Mainoo has "fallen off a cliff". Mainoo's still very young and so am confident he can do it in time but at the moment neither are either progressive passers or carriers in midfield so when the ball gets there it's just going to go sideways or backwards. The partnership works to some extent when you're playing a conservative game against better teams but its killing us against teams where we are supposed to be the dominant force as the midfield has no go forward ball or tempo setting, particularly when combined with two defensive oriented wingbacks. Mainoo is pure class in tight small spaces but he needs to develop more strings to his bow and particularly expand his passing range which I think he has in him.

 

[Dve]

It's in no way a good pairing and that's why Mainoo has "fallen off a cliff". Mainoo's still very young and so am confident he can do it in time but at the moment neither are either progressive passers or carriers in midfield so when the ball gets there it's just going to go sideways or backwards. The partnership works to some extent when you're playing a conservative game against better teams but its killing us against teams where we are supposed to be the dominant force as the midfield has no go forward ball or tempo setting, particularly when combined with two defensive oriented wingbacks. Mainoo is pure class in tight small spaces but he needs to develop more strings to his bow and particularly expand his passing range which I think he has in him.

No, I don't think that's the reason why he's not been able to receive and pass the ball the way he used to, or to succeed with a dribble. It doesn't really matter where on the pitch he is, in the pivot or as a nr. 10. We haven't seen much of his pure class in tight spaces, as you say, and that's not a question about position.

 

[Bojan Djordjic]

No, I don't think that's the reason why he's not been able to receive and pass the ball the way he used to, or to succeed with a dribble. It doesn't really matter where on the pitch he is, in the pivot or as a nr. 10. We haven't seen much of his pure class in tight spaces, as you say, and that's not a question about position.

Personally think its how he's been used. If you look at his stats on fbref, most of his metrics have actually improved bar the goalscoring ones. He's 19 and so its perfectly normal for his develoment not to be totally linear but I think he's not the swiss army knife midfielder you need to be in a midfield two and he's been struggling at 10 bar in the first half of the rangers game so he's just not thriving.

 

[MaMa given red]

If this kid is smart he'll take a step up to a more competitive league for a few years before even thinking about joining an English Premier League club.

He could do with a move to the Netherlands or Portugal until he's about 20/21 to build up some decent experience. If he excels at that level, that's when we should reconsider our options.

 

[MadDogg]

It's not a good pairing - they are too slow. Mainoo will never work in a 2 man midfield - unless the other is really mobile, and Ugarte isn't.

Ugarte is quite fast and mobile for a midfielder. Although there have been a few times he's looked slow, but I think that might be due to him struggling to play every game at the tempo that he plays at.

 

[daba]

If this kid is smart he'll take a step up to a more competitive league for a few years before even thinking about joining an English Premier League club.

He could do with a move to the Netherlands or Portugal until he's about 20/21 to build up some decent experience. If he excels at that level, that's when we should reconsider our options.

When we are able to loan players to Nice (after this summer I believe), this option should become a good option for us. Ligue 1 is a solid league and with Nice, players will also get European comp exposure too.

This summer that won’t be an option though, so if he wants to play for his boyhood club it may have to be now unless he is able to negotiate a lowish release clause with us at his next club. Unlikely but not impossible to happen. Or he could back himself and play more of an understudy role for a couple of years behind Fernandes and be his natural successor.

 

[TsuWave]

so you're telling me with still have a chance?!

 

[MaMa given red]

When we are able to loan players to Nice (after this summer I believe), this option should become a good option for us. Ligue 1 is a solid league and with Nice, players will also get European comp exposure too.

This summer that won’t be an option though, so if he wants to play for his boyhood club it may have to be now unless he is able to negotiate a lowish release clause with us at his next club. Unlikely but not impossible to happen. Or he could back himself and play more of an understudy role for a couple of years behind Fernandes and be his natural successor.

It would be nice if Nice signed him and then sold him on to us in a few years, if and its a very big if he really excels in the French league.

There are loads of kids that claim that we are their boyhood club, it's completely irrelevant to them signing for us though! Unless he's a generational talent (He isn't!) then he's not going to be anywhere near ready for this level of scrutiny any time soon. It's the last thing we need in a squad that already has lot's of young players that are struggling.

 

[golden_blunder]

No transfer talk I see.

Take general talk about the player to the football forum please, so performance talk, what type of player he is etc

This thread should only be transfer talk