Ait Nouri would be my pick if I had to choose I think
The left-back market…
- Thread starter Rozay
- Start date
Just buy Fernandez back already.
Crazy talent and cheap. How can’t they see that it’s a no brainer?? Ffs!
Crazy talent and cheap. How can’t they see that it’s a no brainer?? Ffs!
Maybe he doesn't want to come back.
From a sporting perspective, why would he?
Hopefully he agreed for the buy back clause to be inserted meaning he was open to a fixture return
Sure but everyone can change their minds and with his form and ours he's probably wise to think he can attract better performing major clubs.
He's the best pick from the Premier League in my view, ahead of Kerkez and Robinson.
Gutierrez from Girona is a similar profile - can dribble, pass and cross all at a high level - the wingbacks essentially become playmakers.
Yeah id like to see us have proper creative threats on either wing with two workhorses in the centre of the park.
Something like the below would be a perfect Amorim middle 4 in my opinion.
Quenda - Ederson - Ugarte - Gutierrez
(RWB) (CM) (CM) (LWB)
Didn’t catch the Benfica-Barca game. How good was Alvaro apart from his assist?
Very true. Liverpool have been using Trent and Robertson as their creative outlet for a few years.
Man of the match for me, I watch a lot of Barca games and it was probably the quietest I’ve ever seen Yamal for either Barca or Spain.
Defensively sound, composed on the ball, broke up play, intercepted perfectly, knew when to stand off and when to commit, a threat going forward, great stamina and at times would step into midfield to provide an extra man.
It’s ok having the buy back clause but the player still has to agree to move….im not even sure he’d be interested coming back.
Absolute ridiculous decision to sell him yet another mistake pretty much everybody could see coming from a mile away
Absolute ridiculous decision to sell him yet another mistake pretty much everybody could see coming from a mile away
This is all true but you're also somewhat conveniently omitting that he gave away a penalty (albeit soft and against Yamal) and in particular defended the space quite poorly against Raphinha for the injury time winner.
He was good, nowhere near MOTM IMO.
This is spot on in my opinion and a massive reason why this system is currently struggling. It's no surprise it looks slightly better when Amad plays RWB but not his future position hopefully.
Mazaroui is a good player but is going to be a RCB in this system.
This is why I'm not fully onboard with Dorgu as an option. He seems like a powerful runner who can recover well defensively and make driving runs forward on either side, but having watched the peak TAA and Robertson years, I'd love for us to have more technical players in those roles who have high workrate and can deliver quality in the final third.
As mentioned before, Quenda and Miguel Gutierrez would be my top picks for this reason.
It was never a penalty and if it was the other way round I don’t think Benfica get given that as shown at the end right before Raphinha scored, as for the winner there’s nothing more that Alvaro could of done in that situation as he was the last one back and stayed with Raphinha who then cut in and the ball went through Alvaro’s legs and the keeper was off balance and wrong footed by the shot.
For pretty much the first 70-75 minutes of the game the commentators effectively said Alvaro was the best player on the pitch but once Raphinha scored that freak goal Benfica seemed to capitulate and Barca upped the tempo, I thought Pedri and Alvaro were the best two players on the pitch.
Well that's exactly my point - at 4-4 there's no reason for him to be defending 10 yards inside Barca's half as the last man, especially when you know they have Raphinha - one of the form players in the world - pinned high ready to hit you on the counter.
He let's him steal a few yards on him to in behind and then instead of showing him wide and away from goal - when the closest Barca player in support is still 20, 25 yards further back at this point - he let's him cut inside on his preferred foot and shoot which is literally the only danger. It's poor defending whatever way you look at it.
How could Alvaro have shown Raphinha out wide and away from goal when he was behind him ? It didn’t help that the other defender was nowhere near to support and the rest of the Benfica players were appealing for a penalty whilst Barca simply played to the whistle, you could say Alvaro should have been goal side but outside of that there’s nothing he can do and you could also say the keeper should have done better too.
Because he'd caught up to him whilst Raphinha was getting the ball under control? He's already shaped to cut inside once he has possession yet Alvaro's taken a couple of extra strides and essentially over-committed.
It's quite apparent after Raphinha's first two touches that he's looking to cut in on his left - if Alvaro recognizes and slows rather than over-striding then he can get his weight distribution under control and shield more square-on and try and push him towards the touchline. As it is he's gone too far, can't check back quickly enough which gives Raphinha a couple of yards of space inside the box, on his favoured foot to take another touch to set himself and then get the shot away.
But again if his positioning was better he might have been closer to him. Don't as the last man give an opposition player up to 10 yards on you (Raphinha wasn't even on the halfway line or he would have been further ahead) if the ball gets cleared upfield...
Maybe others will consider this a bit harsh but to me he has to do better there, and I just think it's important to note both those incidents when he has at least partially contributed to them scoring 2 goals and tell the whole story on his performance.
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0 chance that this is true.
Mitchell is a pretty defensive full-back, more suited to a back 4 as well, and believe me when I say he's not better than pre-injury Malacia. Ait-Nouri isn't a good target either because his physical profile doesn't match what United or another top teams want from a wing-back. He's always been one to avoid for me, whether we're planning with a back 3 or back 4. We need someone to be running up and down the flanks with good pace and running power, being difficult to stop even by very athletic opposing defenders. Ait-Nouri doesn't seem like a great fit for me, at all. Would be another square peg in a round hole, like many signings in the last 12 years.
Reguilón would be a much more sensible stop-gap option than either of them, for probably not more than about £2-3 million. Not the perfect solution but wouldn't cost anything and would be content with being back-up.
I'd "leave him in peace" for now and let him develop for a bit as I think a return to United this soon could easily be detrimental for him. However, it's reassuring to know that the low buy-back clause is real and we are also keeping tabs on him.
When you say his physical profile doesn't match, do you mean pace/strength?
Yes, he looks a bit too lightweight for me and doesn't seem to have the running power either to be bombing up and down the pitch whilst being hard to stop even by more physical defenders...although Carreras might be a misfit for the LWB role for similar reasons...but he's taller and I prefer his ball carrying to Ait-Nouri's.
If Rayan isn't hard to stop by more physical defenders then how is he the #1 full back in the premier league for dribbles? He's also is the 97th percentile for dribbles in Europes top 5 leagues.
He's also in the top % for tackles per game and for the amount of times a an opponent can dribble past him. Last two seasons dribbles past per game were 0.6. Prime Kyle walker was averaging 0.5.
The irony here is your claim that Rayan would be square pegs in rounds holes like many signings over the past 12 years when in reality if we started making signings based on the facts/data of a players performance rather than analysis like vibes and eye test we'd be in an infinitely better position.
All of these numbers have been attained playing against premier league opposition so the "doesn't seem to have the running power" is demonstrably false if you follow any evidence based analysis.
Does the stat consider that Ait-Nouri has to do a lot more box defending, where it's much easier to defend 1v1, as you are never too far away from your closest teammates, and space gets closed down really quickly, and those 1v1s are often not really 1v1s at all? And that someone like Walker at City had to defend way more 1v1s against quick opposition transitions, where all that space behind City's high line suddenly opened up and he had to use his recovery pace to cover for himself, or the likes of Dias or Stones, who aren't exactly lightning fast CBs?
I think a lot of these defensive stats for defenders get misinterpreted because the brand of football their teams play aren't considered. Wolverhampton don't really dominate their games and have also played one of the deepest defensive lines across the league for each of the past 3 seasons, including the current one. That means more box defending as a unit, and less transition managing where you can be left on your own with a lot of space around and behind you. Ait-Nouri's small and skinny frame doesn't make him a good 1v1 defender. I don't think he has exceptional pace either but he isn't slow. We also desperately need some height and a better physical flooring across the squad, but especially the midfield and defense. Ait-Nouri wouldn't move the needle that much in this regard for us, he would actually be a downgrade on Dalot. However, someone like Dorgu might be a raw youngster, who needs a lot of coaching and refining to become a top level player, but you can already see that he would raise the ceiling of our team much more than Ait-Nouri would, not just physically but overall as well.
You also need to look at team balance. Our current first choice options in midfield and defense are all players who aren't great at eating up space quickly, defending the channels, and managing opposition transitions: Mainoo, Ugarte, Maguire, De Ligt, Mazraoui, Martínez. We only really have Yoro who can be coached into being a huge asset in such situations. Of course, playing with a high line is not all about what you have to do when space opens up and you're hit on a quick break, but still. Why would you want to add Ait-Nouri to this group? His arrival wouldn't get us an inch closer to actually being able to play on the front foot and we would keep facing the same problems we have been facing in games where we aren't camped in our own box for most of the 90 minutes. He does bring some qualities in possession that would mean he's an improvement on Dalot there, but I'm sure there are other targets that would offer the same things whilst also having the required physical profile for their out of possession tasks.
If a top team takes a chance on Ait-Nouri, and the player excels in a setup that I don't think he can excel in, I'll happily eat my words and admit I was wrong, but I'm not sure if that's going to happen, especially in the Premier League...but if it does, I think he would flop at a top 6-8 team. I don't rate him highly enough to be able to do well for a top team.
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If Rayan spends so much time in his box defending then why does he rank 94% for non penalty goals and 86% for assists? Dalot for comparison is 38% and 43rd.
I mean just touches in the opposition penalty box Rayan is 85% whereas Dalot is 65%.
I could go on and on about chances created/key passes/progressive carries etc etc and show that Rayan is elite if you think that his stats are only impressive from a defensive stand point.
Claiming that someone with a skinny frame won#t make them a good 1v1 defender is pure bro science. Ugarte is hardly a bodybuilder but he makes more tackles per 90 than any midfielder in the league, Kante is tiny and was #1 player in Europes top 5 leagues for tackles/interceptions and almost any duel metric.
As I said in my previous post the issue at United is we've had bro science logic dictating our transfer policy whilst clubs like Liverpool are being led almost entirely via data, hence why we get crushed. Maybe we should go back to signing Fellaini as I'm sure his large frame will make him a great 1v1 defender.
1. If you read my post again, I'm only saying that Dalot brings a better physical level to the team. Later on, I also say that Ait-Nouri would admittedly be an upgrade on him in possession.
2. Ugarte isn't a great 1v1 defender either. "More tackles per 90" doesn't have a lot to do with that. Ugarte also commits to too many duels which should be his strong suit, but he overdoes it, which can be detrimental to the whole team, and his best games at United so far came when we weren't playing on the front foot so he didn't have a lot of space to cover as one of his biggest responsibilites. Games where he had to do that too, he wasn't that good. That's one of the reasons why he can't be a key player for us long-term. In comparison, Kante had excellent acceleration and a great engine, which allowed him to commit to as many duels as he liked.
3. You don't know what dictates United's transfer strategy. Do you really believe data isn't involved in our recruitment?
You never answered my question. If Rayan only has excellent defensive numbers because he plays in a system where they sit deep and don't have possession then how does he have such elite level attacking numbers?
His attacking numbers are measured against everyone in the premier league/Europe's top 5 leagues, not just Dalot. So how can he be so far ahead when he's always defending?
Probably counter attacks , you need to look at context.
And also having a low center of gravity is very useful, where rayan has a high one.
I think you are using bro science as much as anyone.
This post is so bad it's almost a parody.
Which idiot thought selling fernandez was a good idea when we had no left backs?
Got Lukey Shaw haven't we.
This is why you don't hang onto injury plagued players no matter how good they are. There is no good outcome. Either they are fit and playing and you have another quality player sitting on the bench losing form/wanting away or you have a poor replacement for when they are injured and then you have a big dip in quality whenever they are injured. The only situation that isn't really bad is having 2 quality LBs but as mentioned, thats hard to keep both happy and whats the point. If you have a quality left back without injury issues then you simply sell the one that is constantly injured.
Alvaro looking above decent against a strong Barcelona side
Hopefully someone comes and pays his 50m clause then.
Cracking ball from him up to Belotti for the pen, before VAR canned it.
Indeed, guy has a cross on him
Nuno Mendes was excellent for PSG too, what might have been
Not gonna happen but Nuno Mendes is superb.