A cheap short term backup/rotation option who is reliable, experienced and ready to play would be Tagliafico
The left-back market…
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Jamie (@Vault Dweller) get the depressing job of reviewing United's 3-0 loss at Old Trafford to Liverpool. They discuss what went wrong, Casemiro's day to forget, and the pressure now on Erik Ten Hag. They also take some time to give McTominay a proper farewell, and give their overall thoughts on the Summer Transfer Window.
Has to be Ferdi for me. He becomes first backup at left and right back and offers us something completely different on both sides in being a proper wing back. It means we don’t have to go out and buy an AWB replacement too.
Unless we see Shaw as the understudy Lcb, which doesn’t appear to be the case, surely 3 out and out left backs is overkill?
Unless we see Shaw as the understudy Lcb, which doesn’t appear to be the case, surely 3 out and out left backs is overkill?
I'm still scarred by Brandon Williams playing at left back and constantly having to cut in because he's right footed like Ferdi. For that reason, I'm ooot.
Personally, would like us to use the scouting network to find some under-valued prospect that we think can become really good. Have no faith whatsoever in Malacia ever being good enough so wouldn't mind taking a punt on Bradley Locko. Quick, good carrier/dribbler and can swing a nice cross in and hopefully wouldn't be too expensive.
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Ferdi looks a much better player than Williams though, who let's be honest is midtable/relegation fodder quality. Plenty of 'inverted' fullbacks have proven to be solid, including our very own Dennis Irwin. Cancelo had also played a number of times for City at lb, and Spurs' Udogie also seems to be doing a decent job as an inverted FB. Ferdi himself seemingly had no issues delivering balls from the left if the Euros were anything to go by.
I’d agree if he was just a standard full back, but given how he’s a wing back you’d imagine the full back on the other side would be making up part of the back 3 in build up, at which point the need to be left footed in the first phase of play is irrelevant as he’d be pushed further on. In a similar way there’s no issue with our wingers being right footed on the left side.
The is a 21 year old French wing back at Marsielle called Quentin Merlin he has the potential to be a top player and can play as a winger as well, he is definately worth a look and we would probably get a good deal.
Locko is a hidden gem actually. Any team that gets him will have a quality LB talent for cheap. I heard Spurs want him as a backup to Udogie, would be so wasted in that role. But also reminds me of Chelsea signing Gusto while having James.
I guess my thinking is that its clear that Rashford is the only player we have that is capable of scoring 20 goals + in a season (don't really see Hojlund/Zhirkzee making the leaps required to this level yet) and to facilitate this we need a supporting cast that plays to his strengths and for this reason, I would like a left back who's tendency is to make overlapping runs outside Rashford as he just doesn't thrive when he's in the wider areas himself.
According to Orstein, calafiori is close to being completed. £50mil.
I do wonder how much more expensive Theo Hernandez would be and whether arsenal could have tried to get the best rather trying for a very long time to fix their left back issue.
I do wonder how much more expensive Theo Hernandez would be and whether arsenal could have tried to get the best rather trying for a very long time to fix their left back issue.
I like Ferdi and hope we go for him. Not too expensive either
Zlatan said that Theo is nfs for this season. I reckon they'd ask a really high fee (+80m). Could be an interesting target for next summer if he's still there?
As per Fabi we are paying same as we payed for Timber. 45m€ all in (40+5) which is less than 40m£ all in. Its a good price if not for his injury history it would have been a bargain.
Also Theo is probably not the best option for us. Defensively he is suspect. We are even moving on from Zinchenko for the same reason. For our requirement/system this is the best player we could have hoped for.
I have always thought under arteta you guys could do with a more attacking outlet at fullback. I know he's injury prone but Tierney always looked useful going forwards. Ben white isn't the most attacking of CBs playing at right back and timber has been unlucky with a serious injury.
I'm not completely sold on calafiori as a left back. As a CB yes.
He is essentially replacing Tomi/Kiwior in our system for LB role. I see it as a good upgrade. Just like White he can overlap and invert both depending on the situation. Will also cover for LCB.
On the LCB, things are still sketchy with Gabriel. Had interest from Saudi last year which turned his head. If they come knocking with a HUGE bid. Things can change there aswell. But its less likely and hoping it doesn't come to that as I am happy with him. He has flaws to his game but is now settled well in that defence so would rather not touch that.
I'm still not really a fan of having more than 2 players per position.
Going into the season with Shaw, Malacia + a new left back fighting for one position... We'd basically be hoping to have another injury crisis to justify our decision to hoard 3 players for one position. It's unlikely we'll end up in the same situation as last year. If we really don't trust our 2 current left backs to play enough games to cover the position, we need to force them out the door and start from scratch with new players.
Going into the season with Shaw, Malacia + a new left back fighting for one position... We'd basically be hoping to have another injury crisis to justify our decision to hoard 3 players for one position. It's unlikely we'll end up in the same situation as last year. If we really don't trust our 2 current left backs to play enough games to cover the position, we need to force them out the door and start from scratch with new players.
@Dominos Agreed, I think the ideal situation is to have 2 players per position, in addition to 2-4 players that can fill into multiple positions. If someone are injured, we should have good enough junior players to fill the squad. But with the injury history of Shaw and the strange first season of Malacia, I dont really trust any of them. Would be far more relaxed if we sent Malacia out on loan and brought in someone to really compete with Shaw.
If we're ever in the position where we have more than 2 players per position, the profile of the "excess" player and the position is relevant.
For example, having Jonny Evans as 5th choice centre back makes sense because
1. He doesn't really expect to play significant amount of games
2. Having 5 centre backs means we have 2.5 players per position as there's 2 centre back spots in the team. That's significantly different than having 3 players for one position like left back.
I think our squad has been too big for a while. I remember under Ole's final season he went into the season with attacking options of Ronaldo, Cavani, Greenwood, Martial, Rashford, Sancho, Lingard, Mata - 8 senior players for 3 positions and loads of players ended up spitting their dummy out over lack of playing time. It's bad for squad cohesion to have players unhappy with getting no playing time. Also a waste of wages to have a bloated squad of players that aren't being used.
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Wording here is key left sided defenders.
Brathwaite (obvious) and Hancko most likely although I’m increasingly coming round to the idea of a more dedicated individual with Malacia still not back fully.
All reports suggest this is something we won’t sort until late in the window (so I’m guessing we need our sales sorted first)
In Hojlund’s first season with United, where he started the season with back issues and was injured for another stretch of games midseason, he scored 15 goals. Not a far stretch from breaking the 20goal mark. Unless you are referring to scoring over 20 goals in the league only, in which case Rashford has never done that in his career either.
Good to see a mention of a left sided defender from a credible source. For me that should be one of the top most priorities given Malacia, Shaw and Martinez spent the entire last season out. I think we need a new LB and a new LCB. Preference would be someone like Ferdi who can play both LB & RB and someone like Calafiori who can play both LCB and can be an option at LB if needed.
Is Tyrick Mitchell any good?
Calafiori is about to sign for arsenal.
@Dirty Schwein … give you £5m for Alfie?
Stay the feck away from him
How about a player swap?Stay the feck away from him
Weve got loads we don’t need, take your pick
Kadioglu is surely the option?
Excellent option if Shaw isn’t fit and also covers perfectly for Dalot on the right. Arguably as good as either so provides proper competition on both sides.
Excellent option if Shaw isn’t fit and also covers perfectly for Dalot on the right. Arguably as good as either so provides proper competition on both sides.
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If we’re selling AWB then it makes sense.
Feck off.
I was thinking about him after the copa America. Another option could be to bring back Reguilon.
Kadioglu seems like a good target to me as he can play both sides and in midfield too. Having that sort of versatility is important. He’s also highly technically proficient.
Feel like we should've hung on to Reguilon and he wanted to stay.
I’m down with Hancko, not so much with Alonso. Can’t see there being much in those links.
Obviously we have to manage the budget and be mindful not to solve a short term problem by creating a longer term issue, resulting in deadwood that needs to be moved on in 2 years. Someone like Alonso on loan would be okay….although not Alonso…..and then a longer term fix next summer. Or a player that can play LB and LCB and had a long term future at the club. Hancko, Branthwaite etc.
My thought had been getting in De Ligt and Kadioglu, as that would technically cover the entire back four with two players, leaving us with:
Dalot - RB/LB
Kadioglu - LB/RB
Shaw - LB/LCB
Malacia - LB
Yoro - RCB
Martinez - LCB/LB
De Ligt - RCB/LCB
Maguire - RCB/LCB
Evans - RCB/LCB
Ship out AWB and Lindelof.
If we sell AWB, we’ll need another RB too. But Kadioglu can cover both sides. He’s actually right footed.
Seems like Hancko (LB and LCB cover) and Kadioglu (LB and RB) would make a lot of sense. Only really heard of them this summer but would give us some much needed depth.
Kadioglu or Hancko.
Or both. If we can ship off AWB and Lindelof