The deadwood and the backups

charlenefan said:
My squad for next season

-----------------De Gea-----------------
AWB--Lindelof--Maguire--Shaw
---McTominay---Pogba---
Sancho---Fernandes---Rashford
-----------------Martial-----------------

-----------------Romero-----------------
Dalot--Bailly--Tuanzebe--Williams
-----------Fred-----------Matic-----------
Greenwood--Mata--James
------------------Ighalo------------------
Click to expand...
Your 2nd 11 is clearly a non-starter; as we saw this season.

Chances Bailly and Tuanzebe will certainly be fit over an entire season are low.
Mata and Matic are both too slow to play in the same mid-field.
Lindelof + Maguire are collectively too slow to play in a partnership.

At the very least, you need another faster CB to partner Maguire. I'd also play Mata, Garner and Fred, or Matic, Pereira and Fred in the same midfields. Never Mata, Matic and Fred.
 
Mark Pawelek said:
Your 2nd 11 is clearly a non-starter; as we saw this season.

Chances Bailly and Tuanzebe will certainly be fit over an entire season are low.
Mata and Matic are both too slow to play in the same mid-field.
Lindelof + Maguire are collectively too slow to play in a partnership.

At the very least, you need another faster CB to partner Maguire. I'd also play Mata, Garner and Fred, or Matic, Pereira and Fred in the same midfields. Never Mata, Matic and Fred.
Click to expand...

:rolleyes: Always someone that misses the point entirely
 
Sky1981 said:
This won't happen, and will never happen.

Stop making FMish assumption based on FMuppet shortlist, it seldoms works if not never works.
Click to expand...

Yep. Try and buy Aarons on footy manager and see how far you get. Let alone in real life, for a position we bought a slightly older player for 50m just last summer.
 
These players should leave. Either due to injury record or not being up to it. Sometimes both. Potential total market value is from £106 m to £186 m; but in most cases I would expect to get less than values listed below.

Out:​
​
Fee​
Contract to:​
Reason for sale​
AM​
Alexis Sánchez​
0.0​
Jun 22​
failed​
AM​
Andreas Pereira​
14.0​
Jun 23​
..
AM​
Jesse Lingard​
16.0​
Jun 21​
..
AM​
Juan Mata​
6.0​
Jun 21​
..
LB​
Luke Shaw​
16.0​
Jun 23​
injuries​
CB​
Phil Jones​
11.0​
Jun 23​
..
CB​
Eric Bailly​
16.0​
Jun 22​
..
CB​
Marcos Rojo​
6.0​
Jun 21​
..
?​
Timothy Fosu-Mensah​
5.0​
Jun 21​
..
RB​
Dalot​
16​
Jun 23​
..
B2b​
Paul Pogba​
80.0​
Jun 21​
lacks commitment​
​
Total :​
£106 m​
to £186 m​
​

The only players leaving, above, who make us weaker are Pogba and Shaw. Players we need to sign are :
2 fullbacks, right-winger and striker. Ideally another centre-back too. Pogba was already replaced by Fernandes; but we need another creative midfielder to substitute for Fernandes (also 4 AMs to leave).

In:​
Minimum​
Maximum​
​
LB​
20​
30​
Fode Ballo-Toure + Pervis Estupiñán​
RB​
​
​
move Williams​
CB​
11​
​
Salisu. TFM + Linderof combination cannot work as they don't have the aerial dominance.​
RW​
25​
85​
Traore or Sancho. (Sancho is only coming if Pogba leaves )​
AM​
30​
45​
Nkunku (RB Leipzig), or Grealish, Maddison, ...​
CF​
25​
​
Plea (Mönchengladbach). Can also play RW.​
CDM​
25​
​
Bellingham understudies for Matic. McTominay and Fred play Box2box.​
Total:​
£136 m​
£221 m​
​
 
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I dont even think its a question of deadwood and back ups, its also about the attitude and form against value of players, as well as youngsters comign through. Personally I think there are arguments to sell lots of our players to raise funds towards a major spree if there are buyers. I wouldnt sell all of these, but these are my personal choices I would consider selling:

DeGea: We have a fantastic international and experienced back up keeper who has never let us down, has generally been fantastic everytime Romero has played and we have a fantastic young English keeper on loan. DeGea doesnt seem the keeper he once was.....time to cash in?

Dalot: I actually think he has a lot of talent and has been stunted by injuries. Same token, for me Bissaka is one of the best right backs in the world, thought that before we signed him. We also have a very good full back in Laird waiting in the wings. Are we the right club for Dalot to grow at for him or us?

Rojo: Had a good few months but nothing more than a squad player

Jones: Done very little in several years here, a huge flop when thinking of the player we signed from Blackburn

Smalling: I think he is a decent defender, better than most still at the club, but his ability on the ball been questioned and will his stock ever be higher than his season at ROma?

Lindelof: Personally I dont rate him at all, is so average in most areas and really poor in others

Pogba: Lets forget the ability and the circus that goes with it. Judging him solely on performances over the time he has been here he has been exceptional probably 10% of them and abysmal in 20% of them. You can say he hasnt had great players around him but that never stopped Bryan Robson. If the fee we paid for him is on the table, Id snap there hands off personally, performance wise he has never even got close to justifying the price tag regularly. Take away those first three months Ole was in charge and he has been a dire flop.

Perreira: I actually had high hopes for him and wanted to see him get opportunities. He has had plently this season and hasnt grasped them at all

Lingard: He is what 27 now and has had one decent season.

James: I just dont see a player here at all, may be young but his decision making and final balls look dreadful to me. Reminds me of a poor version of Walcott, quick and a decent finisher.....nothing more

Sanchez: Was actually one of my favourite players outside of our club over the last decade, all been soured with his time here. Tremendous talent but doesnt even need explaining this one does it.

The lot of them would be well over £200m even in these times, I would think more over £300m. That in itself buys you Grealish, Bellingham and SAncho. Add a quality centre back and a decent cheap striker and we would have a great squad.

Personally if it was possible I would sell all of them bar DeGea, think Henderson needs more time before he is ready and though not been his best season, DeGra is still one of the best in the world for me. Though Pogba has all the physical attributes and ability, I think performance wise through his whole career, even at Juventus, he has been one of the most over rated players performance wise that is suposedly world class I can ever remember
 
completely concur with this sentiment, I must put my hands up and say I’ve done this before - you definitely can’t infer a player footballing ability based solely on there name alone, this is a serious cardinal sin (one I can imagine a lot of people have made) :lol:
 
GK: De Gea and Romero. This combo has worked fine for years, and Henderson is too good to sit on the bench. Another year of PL experience will work wonders for him.

RB: AWB has done well and will improve so no problems as no1 RB for now. Laird is a very talented youngster but injuries are holding him back. Dalot hasn't really shown enough to be considered our future RB but again injuries have affected him so give him another year.
CB: Rojo, Smalling and Jones gone leaves Maguire, Lindelof, Bailly and Tuanazebe. I would strengthen in this position to compete alongside Maguire.
LB: Shaw and Williams are not fantastic but it's not an area that require immediate attention. Let them battle it out next season before potentially improving if they don't show enough to be our future LB.

CM: Fred, McTominay, Pogba and Bruno is a good quartet all with different qualities. Matic has come back into form but I would look to get rid of him whilst we can for a fee, but I doubt that's going to happen after the new contract he has just signed. We should be looking at a DM our deep lying playmaker then our options will be very good. Loan out Garner and Gomes.

Attack: Need one more player in the forward positions, hopefully Sancho. Rashford is a top player and can operate from LW and CF. Martial is another one, but he needs to add consistency to his game and score more goals. James has been thrust into the first team too quickly, he's a good option to have but he shouldn't be starting every week. Let him develop and see what sort of player he is in 1-2 years. Greenwood the same, I actually want to see him more often rather than for the last 15-20. We haven't seen much from his all round game yet and he looks off it physically but his finishing is fantastic and he's a goal threat whenever he's on the pitch. One of Pereira/Lingard have to go, too similar players and have both been poor in the last 12 months. Keep one as a rotation/bench option as they both have great off the ball energy and can press high up the pitch. We should sign someone in the ilk of Ighalo if we can't keep him. Someone who knows he is there to be back-up but also good enough to make an impact when needed. Mata has been dreadful for years now and needs to be sold ASAP.

So ideally that's Jones, Smalling, Rojo, Lingard/Pereira, Mata, Matic. Loan out Henderson, Garner, Gomes and possibly Laird. Probably get £40-80m for all of them.

Then go out for a CB, DM/DLP and Sancho however I appreciate this may cost in excess of £200m once we purchase Sancho so it depends on the current situation and what options are out there.
 
Smalling to Newcastle makes much sense for both clubs imo. Hope that happens and we can cash in 20-25m for him. Jones too if they like.

Would be nice if we could fund Grealish by selling 3 out of 4 of Pereira, Smalling, Jones and Lingard. Would leave us money for Sancho too and clear some deadwood.
 
Ole seems to have an agreement with United's board to change the team carefully and slowly.
In 2019, 5 players left: Fellaini, Lukaku, Herrera, Valencia, Darmian
Only 1 in 2020: Young
With three more going on loan: Sanchez, Smalling, Rojo.

In the light of evidence, I'm changing what I said before. At most, I expect no more than 5 first team level players to leave this summer. From: Smalling, Jones, Rojo, Sanchez, Andreas Pereira or Lingard. In that order. I wouldn't be surprised if only the first 3 or 4 left. I can't see Sanchez going anywhere except China.

I think most fans want(ed) more players to leave, more quickly.
 
Our squad players are yet again cannot be relied upon and we have had to bring on our first team players to win us the game against the poor Norwich side

Ole should stsrt giving mins to Chong and Gomes and stop playing Mata and Lingard - let's hope we find buyers in the summer
 
jesperjaap said:
I dont even think its a question of deadwood and back ups, its also about the attitude and form against value of players, as well as youngsters comign through. Personally I think there are arguments to sell lots of our players to raise funds towards a major spree if there are buyers. I wouldnt sell all of these, but these are my personal choices I would consider selling:

DeGea: We have a fantastic international and experienced back up keeper who has never let us down, has generally been fantastic everytime Romero has played and we have a fantastic young English keeper on loan. DeGea doesnt seem the keeper he once was.....time to cash in?

Dalot: I actually think he has a lot of talent and has been stunted by injuries. Same token, for me Bissaka is one of the best right backs in the world, thought that before we signed him. We also have a very good full back in Laird waiting in the wings. Are we the right club for Dalot to grow at for him or us?

Rojo: Had a good few months but nothing more than a squad player

Jones: Done very little in several years here, a huge flop when thinking of the player we signed from Blackburn

Smalling: I think he is a decent defender, better than most still at the club, but his ability on the ball been questioned and will his stock ever be higher than his season at ROma?

Lindelof: Personally I dont rate him at all, is so average in most areas and really poor in others

Pogba: Lets forget the ability and the circus that goes with it. Judging him solely on performances over the time he has been here he has been exceptional probably 10% of them and abysmal in 20% of them. You can say he hasnt had great players around him but that never stopped Bryan Robson. If the fee we paid for him is on the table, Id snap there hands off personally, performance wise he has never even got close to justifying the price tag regularly. Take away those first three months Ole was in charge and he has been a dire flop.

Perreira: I actually had high hopes for him and wanted to see him get opportunities. He has had plently this season and hasnt grasped them at all

Lingard: He is what 27 now and has had one decent season.

James: I just dont see a player here at all, may be young but his decision making and final balls look dreadful to me. Reminds me of a poor version of Walcott, quick and a decent finisher.....nothing more

Sanchez: Was actually one of my favourite players outside of our club over the last decade, all been soured with his time here. Tremendous talent but doesnt even need explaining this one does it.

The lot of them would be well over £200m even in these times, I would think more over £300m. That in itself buys you Grealish, Bellingham and SAncho. Add a quality centre back and a decent cheap striker and we would have a great squad.

Personally if it was possible I would sell all of them bar DeGea, think Henderson needs more time before he is ready and though not been his best season, DeGra is still one of the best in the world for me. Though Pogba has all the physical attributes and ability, I think performance wise through his whole career, even at Juventus, he has been one of the most over rated players performance wise that is suposedly world class I can ever remember
Click to expand...

Yes because complete squad overhauls, like you're suggesting, can happen in 1 summer.

Where are you getting this £300m figure from? Pure delusion.
 
Players that should leave
Pereira
Lingard
Mata
Smalling
Jones
Dalot

Back ups
Fred
Mctominay
Ighalo
Greenwood
James
Lindelof
 
Im just so fed up with the back ups. Yeah there are excuses. First game back. Rusty. Lots of changes etc etc. but we have been making these excuses all season and for some of these players for years. Even good players like Bailly. Dude is 26. Been here what 4 years? Can we ever rely on him? Im not even sure we Wouldn’t be better off scrapIng the sancho signing and just spend the cash on a few cheap backups.
 
STaphouse said:
Yes because complete squad overhauls, like you're suggesting, can happen in 1 summer.

Where are you getting this £300m figure from? Pure delusion.
Click to expand...

I dont think for one second think we will sell all of those players....but how on earth do you think it is delusional that they would sell for between 200-300m?

DeGea 50m
Dalot 25m
Rojo 5m
Jones 10m
Smalling 15m
Lindelof 25m
Pogba 90m
Perreira 10m
Lingard 15m
James 15m
Sanchez 5m

Thats 265m with fairly conservative transfer values, so again, how is that deluded?

I also feel, we have not done near enough in a summer for the overhaul we do need to do. We are not going to make 7/8 signings and sell 10 players of course not. But we have been making generally 3 in 3/4 out each summer, no wonder we are not bridging the gap significantly.

Look at Mourinho when he first took over Chelsea (11 players in and several older players released), Guardiola when he first took over City (7 in and 7 out plus loaning out those couldnt sell) and there are several examples on the continent of managers making a big overhaul of players with those they dont want leaving and several incomings in one window.

Just think where we may actually be now if we had of signed Fernandes in the summer and possibly have also sold Perreira and Lingard and bought Sancho for example. We would more than likely have been safely in to Europe instead of having a real struggle to do so.

The chmpions league is worth millions and we may well fail to get into it again this season from just one or two signings in and out. The only really good transfer window we have done for me since Ferguson retired was the first one of Mourinho and that was still a signing or so short. On the whole I like the transfer business we have been doing under Solkjear, but we need more and the one negative has been him seeming to hold on to certain players and extend there contracts when the majority shouldnt be.
 
jesperjaap said:
I dont think for one second think we will sell all of those players....but how on earth do you think it is delusional that they would sell for between 200-300m?

DeGea 50m
Dalot 25m
Rojo 5m
Jones 10m
Smalling 15m
Lindelof 25m
Pogba 90m
Perreira 10m
Lingard 15m
James 15m
Sanchez 5m

Thats 265m with fairly conservative transfer values, so again, how is that deluded?

I also feel, we have not done near enough in a summer for the overhaul we do need to do. We are not going to make 7/8 signings and sell 10 players of course not. But we have been making generally 3 in 3/4 out each summer, no wonder we are not bridging the gap significantly.

Look at Mourinho when he first took over Chelsea (11 players in and several older players released), Guardiola when he first took over City (7 in and 7 out plus loaning out those couldnt sell) and there are several examples on the continent of managers making a big overhaul of players with those they dont want leaving and several incomings in one window.

Just think where we may actually be now if we had of signed Fernandes in the summer and possibly have also sold Perreira and Lingard and bought Sancho for example. We would more than likely have been safely in to Europe instead of having a real struggle to do so.

The chmpions league is worth millions and we may well fail to get into it again this season from just one or two signings in and out. The only really good transfer window we have done for me since Ferguson retired was the first one of Mourinho and that was still a signing or so short. On the whole I like the transfer business we have been doing under Solkjear, but we need more and the one negative has been him seeming to hold on to certain players and extend there contracts when the majority shouldnt be.
Click to expand...
No one is paying 50m for De Gea. I don't think many Premier League teams would take Jones on a free considering the contract he's on.
 
-Supreme- said:
Our squad players are yet again cannot be relied upon and we have had to bring on our first team players to win us the game against the poor Norwich side

Ole should stsrt giving mins to Chong and Gomes and stop playing Mata and Lingard - let's hope we find buyers in the summer
Click to expand...
There were a few issues that caused it, but a big part down to the lack of running in behind and that was just Mata and Lingard not being up to it anymore. Put James and Greenwood as the backup wide players, and thats what i think our 2nd attack is next season, with Ighalo. Sancho in solves the front 3 both starting and back up. Would be nice to keep Gomes and have him as Bruno's backup for these games, with Fred and McTominay (or Garner), but I think Gomes will leave. Backup defence is fine too, with Dalot, Bailly, Tuanzebe and Williams.

Lingard to be fair could still be useful as a squad player #10, but he was always useless on the wings. Mata I don't think is sharp enough anymore for pretty much any top league fixture. Champions league or premier league, can't cut it. Maybe Pereira will be that back up which is fine for the time being, just coming in to rest starters in full rotation teams, but well down to pecking order in case of injuries.
 
PoTMS said:
No one is paying 50m for De Gea. I don't think many Premier League teams would take Jones on a free considering the contract he's on.
Click to expand...
You're right. They'll pay 60-70m for one of the best keepers in the world. 50m is Penny's for him.
 
GK-
1st Choice: DDG
Backup: Romero, Grant

Defence-
1st Choice: AWB, New CB, Maguire, Shaw
Backup: Dalot/Laird, Axel, Bailly, Lindelof, Brandon

Midfield-
1st Choice: Pogba, Bruno, New CDM
Backup: Matic, Scott, Fred, Juan

Attack-
1st Choice: Rashy, Martial, Sancho
Backup: Greenwood, James, Ighalo, Juan

Sold: Jones, AP, Lingard, Rojo, Alexis, Smalling
Loan: Chong, Gomes, Henderson, Levitt, Garner
 
For me, our back ups should almost always be young players with great potential who can take over from the starter in the future. I don't understand the likes of Fred and McT being back ups. I want back ups like we had when we had Nani there. Used to hate it when Park would get minutes ahead of him. Gomes for example should be far ahead of everyone else in midfield cause he has huge potential.

If not a young player with huge potential then an expierenced player who was quality and can still provide that quality perhaps not as consistently as in the past. I.e Matic and Scholes when he got older.

These other squad players are a waste of our time. Sell them or something else. However we still have to complete our first 11 before we even think about this.
 
For me...

Pool of GKs
DeGea | Romero | Henderson

Pool of Defenders
AWB | Laird | Maguire | Partner for Maguire | Lindelof | Tuanzebe or BaillyShaw | Williams

Pool of Midfielders
Matic | McTominay | Garner | Pogba | Grealish | Fred | Fernandes | Gomes

Pool of attackers
Greenwood | Sancho | James | Rashford | Martial | Ighalo

leaving no place at the club for
Grant
Dalot (perhaps a bit harsh)
Smalling
Jones
Rojo
Lingard
Pereira
Mata
Chong
Sanchez

...for which we’d be lucky to get 100M
 
Think this article sets us up correctly...

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-utd-squad-line-up-18502097


so 17 players...

1st Team...
--------------------------DeGea--------------------
AWB--------Maguire-------?????---Shaw
-------------------------Matic----------------------
-------------Bruno----------------Pogba-------
?????---------------------------------Rashford
-----------------------Martial-----------------------

2nd Team
------------------------Romero--------------------
????-------?????-----Lindelof---Williams
--------------------------McT------------------------
-------------Fred--------------?????-------------
Greenwood----------------------------James
-----------------------Odion------------------------

So near as I can see we must sign a RW and maybe a CB. But based on this I can see the Grealish hype, but can he accept not starting every game? Also we have the Henderson issue. Bottom line if we sing Jadon I am ok with all this. Thoughts?
 
Rob Bowman said:
Think this article sets us up correctly...

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-utd-squad-line-up-18502097


so 17 players...

1st Team...
--------------------------DeGea--------------------
AWB--------Maguire-------?????---Shaw
-------------------------Matic----------------------
-------------Bruno----------------Pogba-------
?????---------------------------------Rashford
-----------------------Martial-----------------------

2nd Team
------------------------Romero--------------------
????-------?????-----Lindelof---Williams
--------------------------McT------------------------
-------------Fred--------------?????-------------
Greenwood----------------------------James
-----------------------Odion------------------------

So near as I can see we must sign a RW and maybe a CB. But based on this I can see the Grealish hype, but can he accept not starting every game? Also we have the Henderson issue. Bottom line if we sing Jadon I am ok with all this. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

The only absolute top class addition I feel we need to that squad is a RW, but Pogba could go leaving us needing another quality attacking midfielder. I appreciate people's concerns about needing another RB, CB, a striker and a DM, because Matic's time may be close and McTominay may not be the answer as the deepest-lying mid, but I would hope we have just about enough to fill in those positions next year with our second string and kids. For me it's full steam ahead on Sancho or another option for a right-sided attacker, otherwise it is not critical for us to go splashing cash at the minute, in fact I actually worry it could do us more harm than good just as we have started getting rid of some deadwood.
 
I love this conversation and I have read most of these posts, but instead of the ‘calm’ transfer window Ole is predicting we need a full-on cull.

I would try and move on the following;
DDG-overpaid and struggling for form.
J Periera- Not good enough.
TFM-never going to make it here.
Dalot-Same as above.
Smalling-Ready for life away from OT
Rojo-Same as above.
Jones-Injury prone and rubbish.
Matic-Only because of younger alternatives
Mata-Passed his sell by date.
A. Pereira- Simply too poor.
Lingard-As above.
Pogba-Cash in and forget the drama.
Sanchez-Overpaid and not part of plans.

I think their combined weekly wage is over £1,650.000 ?

Because the squad is already bloated I think we could be just as strong with just 4 signings and the recall of Dean Henderson, CB Koulibaly or Skriniar type ?
CDM Bentancur in a Pogba + cash swap?
AM Grealish ticks a lot of box’s
RF Sancho is a must.

So our 25 man Premier League squad would be;
1, Henderson
2, AWB
3, Shaw
4, Skriniar
5, Maguire
6, Bentancur
7, Sancho
8, Fernandes
9, Martial
10, Rashford
11, Grealish

12, Romero
13, Linderlof
14, Bailly
15, Tuanzebe
16, Williams
17, Fred
18, McTominay
19, Gomes
20, Greenwood
21, Ighalo
22, James

23, GK ??
24, Laird
25, Garner

Or any of the up and coming youth, Chong Hannibal ?
 
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AaronRedDevil said:
You're right. They'll pay 60-70m for one of the best keepers in the world. 50m is Penny's for him.
Click to expand...
You're separating the player from his wages. The wages are a big sticking point as it's yearly wages where as transfer fee can be divided up for many years.
 
PoTMS said:
No one is paying 50m for De Gea. I don't think many Premier League teams would take Jones on a free considering the contract he's on.
Click to expand...

Really? Two years ago he would have cost nearer double that, look at the fees City, Chelsea and Liverpool paid for keepers. how much do you think Dean Henderson would cost if somebody was going to buy him from us? As I said, I was being conservative with those fees.

Phil jones is still just 28 and on the fringes of the England squad. 10m wouldnt buy you many good championship players. I do however agree with you regarding the contract, it is one of the reasons we have struggled to offload some players
 
jesperjaap said:
Really? Two years ago he would have cost nearer double that, look at the fees City, Chelsea and Liverpool paid for keepers. how much do you think Dean Henderson would cost if somebody was going to buy him from us? As I said, I was being conservative with those fees.

Phil jones is still just 28 and on the fringes of the England squad. 10m wouldnt buy you many good championship players. I do however agree with you regarding the contract, it is one of the reasons we have struggled to offload some players
Click to expand...

The same contract situation affects any move for de Gea too, and Sanchez. On rumoured 350K and 400K. No one is taking on that contract for de Gea and paying 50m for the privilege. It's also surreal to imagine we'd get Sanchez out without massively subsidising his wages, let alone getting paid as well. Dalot would also not fetch more than what we've paid as he's not really lived up to expectations.

Also, it would be daft to sell James, who can be a very efficient squad player and is definitely not tearing deep into our silly wage bill.
 
Bastian said:
The same contract situation affects any move for de Gea too, and Sanchez. On rumoured 350K and 400K. No one is taking on that contract for de Gea and paying 50m for the privilege. It's also surreal to imagine we'd get Sanchez out without massively subsidising his wages, let alone getting paid as well. Dalot would also not fetch more than what we've paid as he's not really lived up to expectations.

Also, it would be daft to sell James, who can be a very efficient squad player and is definitely not tearing deep into our silly wage bill.
Click to expand...

I expect that we will keep faith with De Gea next season due to loyalty but also the fact no one will pay him what he is currently on.

I am not sure where that is going to leave Henderson,can understand him going somewhere who are willing to make him their number one.
 
Bastian said:
The same contract situation affects any move for de Gea too, and Sanchez. On rumoured 350K and 400K. No one is taking on that contract for de Gea and paying 50m for the privilege. It's also surreal to imagine we'd get Sanchez out without massively subsidising his wages, let alone getting paid as well. Dalot would also not fetch more than what we've paid as he's not really lived up to expectations.

Also, it would be daft to sell James, who can be a very efficient squad player and is definitely not tearing deep into our silly wage bill.
Click to expand...

Yes you are probably right with the contract regarding DeGea. He is going nowhere this summer anyway.

It is just personal opinion, but I disagree on James, for the simple reason I dont think he is even good enough to be a squad player at this club. Him and Chong, i just dont see anything there
 
anant said:
GK-
1st Choice: DDG
Backup: Romero, Grant

Defence-
1st Choice: AWB, New CB, Maguire, Shaw
Backup: Dalot/Laird, Axel, Bailly, Lindelof, Brandon

Midfield-
1st Choice: Pogba, Bruno, New CDM
Backup: Matic, Scott, Fred, Juan

Attack-
1st Choice: Rashy, Martial, Sancho
Backup: Greenwood, James, Ighalo, Juan

Sold: Jones, AP, Lingard, Rojo, Alexis, Smalling
Loan: Chong, Gomes, Henderson, Levitt, Garner
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I would sell Mata, Pereira, and Lingard first.......We ain't going to get anyone to take Sanchez....We need a left footed CB...Jones, Rojo, and Bailly, and Dalot should also be sold.....Laird is better option than Dalot...
 
I see Bentocure being mentioned but We don't even know if He is all that to be honest.
 
Bestietom said:
I would sell Mata, Pereira, and Lingard first.......We ain't going to get anyone to take Sanchez....We need a left footed CB...Jones, Rojo, and Bailly, and Dalot should also be sold.....Laird is better option than Dalot...
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I wouldn't mind Bailly for backup and we won't buy 2 CBs this summer. Alexis has been useless, so would like him out even if it means us having to terminate his contract. And we won't sell all three- would prefer to sell Lingard and AP as we can get decent fee there due to age
 
jesperjaap said:
Yes you are probably right with the contract regarding DeGea. He is going nowhere this summer anyway.

It is just personal opinion, but I disagree on James, for the simple reason I dont think he is even good enough to be a squad player at this club. Him and Chong, i just dont see anything there
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Fair enough. For what it's worth, when we did have the opportunity to play effective counter attacking football, James and Rashford linked up brilliantly. He's been asked to do much more than he should have been, but for the first 2-3 months he was very refreshing.
 
Bastian said:
Fair enough. For what it's worth, when we did have the opportunity to play effective counter attacking football, James and Rashford linked up brilliantly. He's been asked to do much more than he should have been, but for the first 2-3 months he was very refreshing.
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Yes I agree due to how weak we have been on the right he has been thrown in at the deep end. He did start off well with a few goals but I find him infuriating. He works hard, he has fantastic pace but I just think he is out of his depth at the club. I cant see anything else in his game, decision making, vision, technical ability, dribbling, passing, through balls, pretty much everything I just dont see the quality of a top premiership footballer in the making. Hey I hope I am wrong but I really really just dont see it at all, he looks like a poor version of Walcott to me which isnt a good thing. I think similar of Chong as well to be honest.
Whoever we sign for that right wing spot I do still worry about the back up options there and even though he doesnt even play on the right it is another good reason for signing Grealish for me, if whoever we sign there is injured I wouldnt want any of the current options playing there regularly
 
jesperjaap said:
Yes I agree due to how weak we have been on the right he has been thrown in at the deep end. He did start off well with a few goals but I find him infuriating. He works hard, he has fantastic pace but I just think he is out of his depth at the club. I cant see anything else in his game, decision making, vision, technical ability, dribbling, passing, through balls, pretty much everything I just dont see the quality of a top premiership footballer in the making. Hey I hope I am wrong but I really really just dont see it at all, he looks like a poor version of Walcott to me which isnt a good thing. I think similar of Chong as well to be honest.
Whoever we sign for that right wing spot I do still worry about the back up options there and even though he doesnt even play on the right it is another good reason for signing Grealish for me, if whoever we sign there is injured I wouldnt want any of the current options playing there regularly
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I definitely don't have those worries. If we were to manage getting Sancho, I'd be more than happy with Greenwood being back up to Martial as well as being backup to Sancho, and when we defend deep and play on the counter, James could be a good option too. I'm not one to find clips and post them really, but there were some outstanding passes on the break from James to Rashford when the former was in form. I think it's easy to undervalue how efficient he can be in a certain style because he's been so useless against low block teams.
 
If we get a right winger i'm fine with the front 5 or so as is, I guess i'd want to keep Igahlo. Greenwood and James covering wings. If Bruno were injured i'd push Pogba forward and add Fred or McTominay in. Pereirra or Mata are basically back up, back up which is fine imo. I'd want a DM to start ahead of or at least compete with Matic and i'm not entirely convinced by our first team defence. Getting someone in to relegate Shaw or Lindelof to back up would be in the back of my mind medium term. So defence would be more my focus beyond the first 2 obvious areas.
 
De Gea, Romero, Grant

AWB, Laird
Maguire, Lindelof, Tuanzebe
Someone, Bailly, Mengi
Shaw, Williams

Pogba, Fred, Mejbri
Bruno, Someone, (It'd be nice to have Gomes here but who knows)
McTom, Matic, Garner

Sancho, James
Rashford, Greenwood

Martial, Ighalo

We have a lot of deadwood.
We actually have a good side these days with plenty of dead wood on top, were it used to be a decent squad with deadwood.

Rojo, Jones, Smalling, Dalot, TFM, Mata, Lingard, Pereira, Chong, Sanchez could all go for me

RW: Sancho
CM: Bellingham, Grealish, VdB - I'd be happy with any
Matic - I'd give him a year then look at some defensive midfielders
CB: Someone

I don't think we're far off to be honest.
Next season we can see how Greenwood is progressing for being up top with Martial.
Williams and Shaw are fine, but may be a position to strengthen if they, especially Shaw, doesn't push on

If we could get Sancho, Bellingham and a CB this summer I'd be over the moon, but we'll see
 
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