Targettable Full backs

Andy Robertson would be ideal. Young, plenty of room to develop and wouldn't mind being a back up to Shaw when he's fit again. Plus, he has the similar pace and drive that Shaw does and that we have lacked majorly since he got hurt.

Mario Fernandes would be a shout for right back.
Yeah, I agree that Robertson would be ideal.
 
You need a new full-back anyway, not just a stop gap but one who can either be a starting RB or solid back-up to Darmian and Shaw, so i'm not sure if January will be the time to get one. Maybe a loan would be a better option for now like you were going to do with Coentrao.

Valencia Yung and Rojo are decent enough as backups imo
 
Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo playing as false-wing backs with Herrera, Scheiderlin playing as false centrebacks plus Rooney and Martial as false centre midfielders all playing in slightly attacking roles that push them up the pitch from their false positions. Or we just clench our teeth and hope that our current fullbacks are good enough to keep us going until Shaw returns from injury.
 
Valencia Yung and Rojo are decent enough as backups imo

The level of Shaw compared to Valencia, Young and Rojo is considerable. Young and Valencia are also both 30 and neither are defenders, especially the latter who's still awful in terms of defensive positioning (Using Shaw as an example as that's the level you should try and attain for your RB also).
 
Not really interested in someone who can only play at left back because when Shaw is up and running games will be few and far between.

How has Fabinho at Monaco been this season?
Sime Vrsjalko at Sassuolo looks handy and could solve many positions.
Gregory van der Wiel seems to be second choice at PSG and could be tempted.
If we're desperate maybe Arbeloa even.
 
You need a new full-back anyway, not just a stop gap but one who can either be a starting RB or solid back-up to Darmian and Shaw, so i'm not sure if January will be the time to get one. Maybe a loan would be a better option for now like you were going to do with Coentrao.

The club needs one more specialist class FB. Preferably one that can play either side or is a specialist RB (with Darmian providing cover on both sides)
 
You need a new full-back anyway, not just a stop gap but one who can either be a starting RB or solid back-up to Darmian and Shaw, so i'm not sure if January will be the time to get one. Maybe a loan would be a better option for now like you were going to do with Coentrao.

Our backups are pretty decent, just all have freak injuries; Rojo is a pretty solid left back - was also in the World Cup Team of the Year for his performances as a LB, Valencia for me is one of the most underrated fullbacks in the league defensively but he's horrid on the ball, Young can certainly do a job and has impressed me positionally and CBJ is looking quite promising.

That's a lot of great cover as it is... But alas, majority are injured. I believe we need a stop-gap/loan option. It would be impossible for us to get someone like Gaya for example to be backup for Shaw. There's a nice bit of experience in the depth which I like in Young/Valencia as our starters are quite young.

LB:
Shaw
Rojo

CBJ
Blind (CB)

RB:
Darmian
Valencia
Young

Varela (Bit shit admittedly)
 
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I heard a journalist claim, on a TV discussion yesterday, that the right back West Ham signed from Leeds was very good and would play for England someday. Of course playing for England doesn't mean you're very good but an interesting shout nonetheless.
 
I think we need a rightback more than a left back. We have a potentially world class left back in Luke Shaw when he returns from injury, aswell as Blind, Rojo, CBJ and Darmian that can play there. On the right we only have Darmian, Varela (who isn't good enough) and 2 converted wingers.

Basically our left back position should be sorted for the next 10 years, but right back is still up for grabs.
 
Jones has operated at RB before, I take it he's injured as usual?
Otherwise we could shift Blind over to LB and keep our eyes open to an available CB also.
 
No point signing a good LB considering Shaw will be back next season and would keep Marcelo out of that LB spot. I say we make do with what we got and in the summer try a cheeky bid on Hector Bellerin for the RB spot with Matteo being backup for both LB and RB.
 
You're essentially looking for a stop gap or give the opportunity to a young player. Let Jackson play.
Wasn't this the reason LVG gutted the squad so that in instances like this we'd give youngsters a chance? If so what happened to that noble idea or is this idiot making up shit as he goes?
 
Our backups are pretty decent, just all have freak injuries; Rojo is a pretty solid left back - was also in the World Cup Team of the Year for his performances as a LB, Valencia for me is one of the most underrated fullbacks in the league defensively but he's horrid on the ball, Young can certainly do a job and has impressed me positionally and CBJ is looking quite promising.

That's a lot of great cover as it is... But alas, majority are injured. I believe we need a stop-gap/loan option. It would be impossible for us to get someone like Gaya for example to be backup for Shaw. There's a nice bit of experience in the depth which I like in Young/Valencia as our starters are quite young.

LB:
Shaw
Rojo

CBJ
Blind (CB)

RB:
Darmian
Valencia
Young

Varela (Bit shit admittedly)

Wow. You just can't really prepare for that amount of injuries at fullback. That's a lot of options, and having more would be very bloated and would result in some players barely getting a sniff in normal circumstances.

Then again, I suppose "loads and loads of defensive injuries" is actually considered normal circumstances at United.
 
We need fullbacks who can do more in an attacking sense while also being fullbacks. Enough of this using wingers or center backs as our back up fullbacks (they're all injured anyway). Ideally, we would bring in someone like Coleman and have Darmian rotating for either side, and he'd get plenty of games as he would be the first back up for both left and right fullback positions. Then blind should be back up at left back as well. Not playing center back.
 
I heard a journalist claim, on a TV discussion yesterday, that the right back West Ham signed from Leeds was very good and would play for England someday. Of course playing for England doesn't mean you're very good but an interesting shout nonetheless.

Sam Byram yeah, think if he rejected Everton to go to West Ham for lack of playing time then he may well have rejected us on similar grounds.
 
Not really interested in someone who can only play at left back because when Shaw is up and running games will be few and far between.

How has Fabinho at Monaco been this season?
Sime Vrsjalko at Sassuolo looks handy and could solve many positions.
Gregory van der Wiel seems to be second choice at PSG and could be tempted.
If we're desperate maybe Arbeloa even.

Not a huge fan of the guy but if we are talking about potential loan deals then he would be a good idea. Knows LVG well to.
 
I don't think we should be in for a left back because Borthwick-Jackson has done quite well so far and we'll be stacked there once Shaw and Rojo return from injury.

We should be in for a right back at some point though. Darmian has been too inconsistent and could do with some proper competition, rather than the makeshift options of Valencia and Young (who are both ageing now anyway).

I would've liked Byram - young, promising and was available for a reasonable fee - but we've missed the boat on that one.
 
I just don't see the point in this. There's no reason to spend money on a first team left back when we've got Shaw coming back and there's no reason to spend money on a backup when we've got CBJ here already who has done well every time he's played.

It's easy to say now but for right back we shouldn't have let Rafael go, although chances are he'd be injured now too.

Either way these are short term problems that we shouldn't be panicking over.
 
Is the thread title a pointer to the Southampton full back? :lol: nah
 
We need a left back. Robertson is a very god shout but whoever we go after the club will try to rip us off. If we can get Robertson for a reasonable price then we should definitely go for it.
 
Might make more sense to use Blind at LB and target a better CB.

Yeah, I'd prefer that. At least fix the CB problem longer term, so that Blind can be transitioned out of that position. I'm not a fan of him playing there long term, as he's a physical liability (either too slow for the fast strikers or too small for the big #9's). Getting a stopgap LB is short term and a waste of resources. Get Stones/Laporte/etc in at CB and Blind becomes a new era O'Shea, a necessary & useful utility player. Otherwise, keep force-feeding CBJ & Varela as needed for depth. Might as well get the youngsters some experience.
 
Sign a CB and have Blind go to LB.
 
Sign a CB and have Blind go to LB.
This / thread.

We don't need another full back in the squad. We need a centre back. We'll need 2 when we offload Jones in the summer.
 
McNair would be emergency backup at RB as well, and he might switch to a back 3 with Lingard as a wingback if things ever got that bad.

I think we might end up recalling Blackett if we're unable to sign anyone
 
Is Carvajal getting regular game time at RM since Danilo joined?

Had injury problems this season but he's back now and in top form, with Danilo's poor performances he will be 1st choice for Madrid. Also the Spanish press reported that Bale wants Carvajal playing because they have great chemistry


In Spain the best full back available for United might be Mario Gaspar (the one who scored the goal against England). He's as good as Carvajal and maybe better suited for the PL, he's stronger, a solid defender and with a powerful shot
 
Let this terrible phase go through and hope everyone comes back soon I say.

Worse comes to worse - Blind and Jackson can play LB, Varela and Darmian can play RB.

This is if we are sure of Darmian being our starting RB and Shaw coming back well.
 
Surprised that Bruno Martins Indi hasn't been mentioned yet.
 
I just don't see the point in this. There's no reason to spend money on a first team left back when we've got Shaw coming back and there's no reason to spend money on a backup when we've got CBJ here already who has done well every time he's played.

It's easy to say now but for right back we shouldn't have let Rafael go, although chances are he'd be injured now too.

Either way these are short term problems that we shouldn't be panicking over.

How about saving our season would that make any sense to you ?

-Shaw out for rest of season
-Young out for a long time (needs surgery to atleast a couple of months)
-Rojo out until march and will need time to regain fitness and form
-Valencia still out for atleast a month or more and will need time to regain fitness and form
-Jones almost always injurred
-Blind needs to cover LCB especially in absence of Jones and Rojo
-McNair doesn't look ready and should actually be loaned out

Leaves us basically with Darmian, CBJ and Varela
-Darmian has been shit lately but obviously needs to play however no competition or coverage for him
-CBJ is 18 years old and highly inexperienced, he does a decent job so far but you would take a great risk at playing him every game
-Varela doesn't look ready at all and should actually be loaned out

So at least for the coming months what we have available for our fullbacks is pretty poor quality with Darmian out of form and 2 inexperienced kids, one who looks decent for now and the other that looks like he is not ready to play at this level. If anything happens to these players (injurry or suspension) than we are totally fecked as we have no back-up whatsoever.

following fixtures are coming up in the next months (don't think any players will be back before this)

-Souton
-Derby
-Stoke
-Chelsea
-Sunderland
-FC Midtjylland
-Fifth round FA cup
-Arsenal
-Watford (2 march): probably Valencia back
-WBA
-Palace
-FA 6th round
-City (20th March): probably Rojo back

If anything happens to our 3 options or they play piss poor during that period, big chance you can say bye bye to the season.

Not brining anyone in given how we have played so far this season has been a very poor choice of management, not brining in some cover given our situation right now at the fullback position would just be deliberate mismanagement.

So what that shaw is back next season ?

1 Who says Shaw will ever be the same again after his injurry ?
2 How long will it take him to get back to his best form ?
3 How long will it take for him to be injurred again, been going from injurry to injurry since he has been here, the broken leg will only make that even worse ?
4 Why should a top club not have good competition on every position, why shouldn't Shaw be exposed to a good amount of competition the leftback ?

Everybody just assumes he will back in the team, play like he was playing at the begining of the season and continue to do that for the forseable future. I don't think it will be that easy. So just taking a big gamble on the remainder of the season because he we have Shaw so there is no space for another good leftback is just idiotic imo.