The Search for a Midfielder

Johan07 said:
So you will get rid of three of our CM-squad players and replace them with one? If we get rid of three we need three in. Thats the reality, we cant go into a season with 5 CM-options. If McT and Pereira leaves I could see us bringing Garner up into the squad but that would be it for young talent for me.
Still would need two CMs more in.
It would be seriously expensive to do that, especially wage-wise. And if you also want to upgrade the other positions it will not be doable.
If we want to do anything like what you are suggesting we are realistically looking at not renewing De Geas contract, getting rid of Sanchez and at least two, probably three of Fellaini, Mata Lukaku and Matic. And keeping Pereira and McT instead.
Its not realistic.
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We dont need more than 6 midfielders. Pereira was barely used this season anyway. The 6th midfielder could be someone from the youth setup in the occasional Carling Cup/Fa Cup game or someone like Mata or Jesse playing as a 10 before 2 midfielders. As if McTominay or Pereira are some top players that need to be replaced. They are squad options barely good enough if at all.

it is not impossible, how many players do we buy on average per summer anyway? 3-4? I dont see the issue really.
 
sideshow_bob said:
This Leandro Parades guy just reminds me of Carrick so much.

Obligatory YT video:

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Would have loved him before he went to Zenit and I’d still have him. Read that he’s got 10 goals and 15 assists in 61 games for them, that sure is alot for a DM. Seems a bit rash though, picks up a lot of cards.. The toughest part though is that he’s got at least 2 and a half years left on his contract and Zenit are wealthy aren’t they?
The transfer would probably require a big sum which we probably can’t allocate between all the other positions that are in need of strenghtening.
 
JohnnyLaw said:
Would have loved him before he went to Zenit and I’d still have him. Read that he’s got 10 goals and 15 assists in 61 games for them, that sure is alot for a DM. Seems a bit rash though, picks up a lot of cards.. The toughest part though is that he’s got at least 2 and a half years left on his contract and Zenit are wealthy aren’t they?
The transfer would probably require a big sum which we probably can’t allocate between all the other positions that are in need of strenghtening.
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I think he would be the perfect Matic replacement, totally silly but he could have Rojo's no5 shirt as well !
 
JohnnyLaw said:
Would have loved him before he went to Zenit and I’d still have him. Read that he’s got 10 goals and 15 assists in 61 games for them, that sure is alot for a DM. Seems a bit rash though, picks up a lot of cards.. The toughest part though is that he’s got at least 2 and a half years left on his contract and Zenit are wealthy aren’t they?
The transfer would probably require a big sum which we probably can’t allocate between all the other positions that are in need of strenghtening.
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You're right. He's probably not going to come cheap. But he's well worth it imo. Not too many out there with his range of passing. Gets plenty of goals & assists too as you say. Surely, he'd jump at the chance to swap the Russian league for the EPL.

Yeah he picks up quite a few cards but so did Scholes & Vieira when they were his age if I'm not mistaken. His workrate is suspect though. So I'd imagine pairing him with the busy Fred & Herrera in midfield is a must.
 
We should really try and make a play for Veratti. He looks ready to move on. Think PSG could be tempted to do business at the right price. I could also be dreaming.

Would happily dump 75m+ on that guy.
 
#6 - Matic/Fellaini
#8 - Herrera/Fred
AM - Pogba/Pereira

We play a 3 man midfield and arguably have 2 for each role with the option to switch to 4-2-3-1 if Pogba is out and play Lingard off the #9. The problem is Herrera and Pereira are coming to the end of their contracts this summer, Fred is struggling and Fellaini.......well opinions on him vary but my view is he's not good enough, certainly not as the holder, a role I also think cuts Ander's qualities in half and on top of that Fellaini is pretty injury prone.

I hope Herrera signs a new deal and Fred will certainly be given a second season, Pereira will go but we don't need direct cover for Pogba as he's a bit unique. I think this summer will finally be the end of the road for Fellaini so the key will be a holding midfielder that can compete with Matic, of course if Ander doesn't sign we'll need another box to box option as well but I think/hope he will stay.
 
I do think United need another midfielder with some real creativity, someone to play alongside Hererra or Matic with Pogba further forward. Someone suggested Veratti in an earlier post, which is a good shout.
 
Devil may care said:
#6 - Matic/Fellaini
#8 - Herrera/Fred
AM - Pogba/Pereira

We play a 3 man midfield and arguably have 2 for each role with the option to switch to 4-2-3-1 if Pogba is out and play Lingard off the #9. The problem is Herrera and Pereira are coming to the end of their contracts this summer, Fred is struggling and Fellaini.......well opinions on him vary but my view is he's not good enough, certainly not as the holder, a role I also think cuts Ander's qualities in half and on top of that Fellaini is pretty injury prone.

I hope Herrera signs a new deal and Fred will certainly be given a second season, Pereira will go but we don't need direct cover for Pogba as he's a bit unique. I think this summer will finally be the end of the road for Fellaini so the key will be a holding midfielder that can compete with Matic, of course if Ander doesn't sign we'll need another box to box option as well but I think/hope he will stay.
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I think we should not be over dependent on pogba for creativity, injuries can happen any time and being overdependent on one star is bad planning. We need other options for creativity as well who would plug in the absence of pogba. Also Fred needs to step up and step up real quick to make the right side relevant in attack. Someone like Erikson or fekir playmaker who could also slot in RW would be a decent signing I think as Fred hasn't shown anything as of now that he could be the real deal in absence of our top stars.

We'd all like to see a right winger come in but the question remains about how to use these set of attackers perfectly without blocking anyone's path including that of likes of Martial or Sanchez or Lukaku, who could all liven up under right attacking tactics and coaching of Ole and Phelan or under any new manager and bringing another right winger in would seriously complicate the problems even further.

That's why I feel a attacking playmaker cum right sided versatile player certainly makes sense along with a cover for Matic. Fellani is a curious one for Me as I like his plan B option which could do real damage in certain situations. Players like Mctominay needs to be sold while in what capacity Andreas can fit in the squad remains a big question to me. We all love giving youth a chance though youth should be deserving enough to get one and with him I feel he won't make it into this set up big time for some reason. His best position is still not known to us, so this summer should be the one we make a decision on him as a squad player or not.
 
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Patrick08 said:
I think we should not be over dependent on pogba for creativity, injuries can happen any time and being overdependent on one star is bad planning. We need other options for creativity as well who would plug in the absence of pogba. Also Fred needs to step up and step up real quick to make the right side relevant in attack. Someone like Erikson or fekir playmaker who could also slot in RW would be a decent signing I think as Fred hasn't shown anything as of now that he could be the real deal in absence of our top stars.

We'd all like to see a right winger come in but the question remains about how to use these set of attackers perfectly without blocking anyone's path including that of likes of Martial or Sanchez or Lukaku, who could all liven up under right attacking tactics and coaching of Ole and Phelan or under any new manager and bringing another right winger in would seriously complicate the problems even further.

That's why I feel a attacking playmaker cum right sided versatile player certainly makes sense along with a cover for Matic. Fellani is a curious one for Me as I like his plan B option which could do real damage in certain situations. Players like Mctominay needs to be sold while in what capacity Andreas can fit in the squad remains a big question to me. We all love giving youth a chance though youth should be deserving enough to get one and with him I feel he won't make it into this set up big time for some reason. His best position is still not known to us, so this summer should be the one we make a decision on him as a squad player or not.
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The issue with creativity is a fair point, ideally we'd have a balance like City or Real with 2 creative #8's ahead of a great DM, but right now that seems pretty hard to achieve given the make-up of the best parts of the squad we currently have.

I'm not 100% sure on Fekir but I agree Eriksen would be great in essentially the Mata/Lingard role with the option to slide into Pogba's role if Paul is out for any reason. The problem is I don't see Eriksen coming here, Levy hates us and Real were linked to him yesterday. Once you go past him I don't see that many options for the floating playmaker type of attacker, perhaps Angel Gomes will grow into that and I know that's not immediate enough but we are going to need some patience IMO as this squad is bloated with quantity over quality, we need to sell to buy so it's going to take time as several players we need to bounce are on stupid wages.
 
Devil may care said:
The issue with creativity is a fair point, ideally we'd have a balance like City or Real with 2 creative #8's ahead of a great DM, but right now that seems pretty hard to achieve given the make-up of the best parts of the squad we currently have.

I'm not 100% sure on Fekir but I agree Eriksen would be great in essentially the Mata/Lingard role with the option to slide into Pogba's role if Paul is out for any reason. The problem is I don't see Eriksen coming here, Levy hates us and Real were linked to him yesterday. Once you go past him I don't see that many options for the floating playmaker type of attacker, perhaps Angel Gomes will grow into that and I know that's not immediate enough but we are going to need some patience IMO as this squad is bloated with quantity over quality, we need to sell to buy so it's going to take time as several players we need to bounce are on stupid wages.
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With the state of the squad at RM and no permanent manager, dunno if big players will be interested in joining them.

If I would be, let's say Neymar, I'd look at the squad and realize they need 5-6 good players and that's a lot of money, even for their standards.
They seem to be 2-3 transfer windows away from competing again.
 
youmeletsfly said:
With the state of the squad at RM and no permanent manager, dunno if big players will be interested in joining them.

If I would be, let's say Neymar, I'd look at the squad and realize they need 5-6 good players and that's a lot of money, even for their standards.
They seem to be 2-3 transfer windows away from competing again.
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You could just as easily be talking about United here!
 
Infra-red said:
You could just as easily be talking about United here!
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I know, reality is a bit harsh these days isn't it?

I'd go as far as saying that we might look a bit better in terms of needing a certain number of additions to our squad?

I mean, we need a CB, RB and RW/CM. They kinda need a CB, a RB, a RW, LW, CM and a ST. (maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but: modric needs replacement, Benzema is shit, Carvajal is kind of always injured and they don't have a backup plan for him, they have nobody for LW, RW they have Bale or Lucas Vasquez and that's basically nobody, Ramos is getting old). I might be forcing it a bit, but I think we're in a slightly better position than them in the reconstruction phase as they need to spend a shit ton of money to reinforce.
 
Has to be someone who can pass the ball well. Barella, Parsdes, Neves, Frankie - are all players that should be on our radar. It would be annoying if Chelsea, City & Barcelona gobble up all these players with good passing range and vision.
 
youmeletsfly said:
With the state of the squad at RM and no permanent manager, dunno if big players will be interested in joining them.

If I would be, let's say Neymar, I'd look at the squad and realize they need 5-6 good players and that's a lot of money, even for their standards.
They seem to be 2-3 transfer windows away from competing again.
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The core of their squad has gotten old all at the same time and they don't seem to have the financial power they once had due to the Spanish banks tightening up, but the path back to the the top in La Liga is much easier than here, I mean we are staring down the barrell of no CL qualification for the 3rd time in 6 seasons, where as in Spain there are only 2 clubs max to get past to get to the title, nevermind top 4. The Levy factor is also a huge stumbling block as well IMO.
 
I seem to get more angry by the day now since he is gone. I can't believe we put up with him for so long. Jose that is.
 
Patrick08 said:
I think we should not be over dependent on pogba for creativity, injuries can happen any time and being overdependent on one star is bad planning. We need other options for creativity as well who would plug in the absence of pogba. Also Fred needs to step up and step up real quick to make the right side relevant in attack. Someone like Erikson or fekir playmaker who could also slot in RW would be a decent signing I think as Fred hasn't shown anything as of now that he could be the real deal in absence of our top stars.

We'd all like to see a right winger come in but the question remains about how to use these set of attackers perfectly without blocking anyone's path including that of likes of Martial or Sanchez or Lukaku, who could all liven up under right attacking tactics and coaching of Ole and Phelan or under any new manager and bringing another right winger in would seriously complicate the problems even further.

That's why I feel a attacking playmaker cum right sided versatile player certainly makes sense along with a cover for Matic. Fellani is a curious one for Me as I like his plan B option which could do real damage in certain situations. Players like Mctominay needs to be sold while in what capacity Andreas can fit in the squad remains a big question to me. We all love giving youth a chance though youth should be deserving enough to get one and with him I feel he won't make it into this set up big time for some reason. His best position is still not known to us, so this summer should be the one we make a decision on him as a squad player or not.
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You have made some brilliant points here.
 
ErranMorad said:
Has to be someone who can pass the ball well. Barella, Parsdes, Neves, Frankie - are all players that should be on our radar. It would be annoying if Chelsea, City & Barcelona gobble up all these players with good passing range and vision.
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Totally agree. Give me a passer over a tackler there.

It's easy to see how a deep passer like Neves would be a good fit with Herrera doing the running (or maybe Fred if he comes good) and Pogba doing the creating, but when we need goals or are at home against weak teams, a midfield pairing of Pogba and Neves passing it around and an extra attacking midfielder looks real strong too.

Would also open up playing a diamond if we wanted to for tactical reasons, with Martial and Rashford up top, Neves holding, Herrera one side and either Pogba the other and Lingard or Mata as a 10 or Pogba as a 10 and Fred on the other side.
 
The gap between our starting trio and the rest is so big we can't afford to rotate.
 
It is looking like we’re lacking depth at centre midfield, Matic fades a little towards the end of the games but seems to be left on. I like Herrera I think he’s a great option, but a part of me would like us to kind of upgrade on Herrera and add somebody who has his workrate but also offers abit more creativity and pace ala the two silvas at Man City, I think that’d give us another dimension going forward. Could Fred be the answer? Must be a reason he’s sat on the bench though.

As for competition for Matic, what are people’s thoughts of Pellegrini at Roma?
 
Rocknrolla69er said:
It is looking like we’re lacking depth at centre midfield, Matic fades a little towards the end of the games but seems to be left on. I like Herrera I think he’s a great option, but a part of me would like us to kind of upgrade on Herrera and add somebody who has his workrate but also offers abit more creativity and pace ala the two silvas at Man City, I think that’d give us another dimension going forward. Could Fred be the answer? Must be a reason he’s sat on the bench though.

As for competition for Matic, what are people’s thoughts of Pellegrini at Roma?
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Got a feeling that even if we paid the release clause (rumoured to be around €35~40m), he will choose to stay. Think both he & the club have plans for him to be the next Mr Roma ala Totti & De Rossi.
 
Biggest issue is what we will do if/when Pogba gets injured. All/most of our attacking play is going through him, and i fear that without him pulling the strings in attack we will struggle.
 
It has to be Neves. Having seen him play closely over the past 2 seasons he is the real deal. He's more than good enough to be starting in a Champions League chasing club.

He can compliment or replace Matic, Herrera, Fred or Fellaini instantly. A player with a great attitude and technical ability. I think he's a Man United player and I hope we don't miss out on him. Whichever club he signs for next will appreciate him. Could see him at City/Barcelona/Bayern.
 
Fosu-Mens said:
Biggest issue is what we will do if/when Pogba gets injured. All/most of our attacking play is going through him, and i fear that without him pulling the strings in attack we will struggle.
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I think Fred is more suited to the Pogba role , I don’t think he d be bad backup seems quick moving the ball forward

I think it’s the Herrera and Matic roles where we lack backup
 
Looking at Serie A and Pellegrini, you also have the two at Napoli in the defensive minded Allan posting impressive stats, as well as the more attack minded Zielinski. I think theirs a wealth of talent out their that would upgrade our midfield.

Defensive midfield
Allan, Nzonzi, Witsel

Herrera role
Pellegrini, Zielinski, Saul Niguez
 
Rocknrolla69er said:
I think Fred is more suited to the Pogba role , I don’t think he d be bad backup seems quick moving the ball forward

I think it’s the Herrera and Matic roles where we lack backup
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Fred is still a big unknown, but will probably be the worst signing in the EPL this season. From the little we have seen from him, i doubt he has the abilities to perform in the position and the duties Pogba has.
Could potentially be a backup for Matic or Herrera.
 
Fosu-Mens said:
Biggest issue is what we will do if/when Pogba gets injured. All/most of our attacking play is going through him, and i fear that without him pulling the strings in attack we will struggle.
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Just play with a more defensive 3 man midfield and hope someone steps up or switch to 4231 and play an AM in the middle, like Lingard or Mata/Alexis.

You cant replace players like him, same for Spurs, Pool and Chelsea with their star men. I dont count City, with their wealth of attacking options, but they also cant replace Fernandinho for example.
 
Fosu-Mens said:
Fred is still a big unknown, but will probably be the worst signing in the EPL this season. From the little we have seen from him, i doubt he has the abilities to perform in the position and the duties Pogba has.
Could potentially be a backup for Matic or Herrera.
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Totally disagree, I think the little we have seen from him has been promising, really has an eye for a pass, especially passes into space and the channels I think Rashford, Martial etc would thrive on the quickness he d play the ball forward for them. I’m quite baffled as to why you think he doesn’t have the quality’s to play as an attacking midfielder bit of an odd statement given the guys not been given the chance in the ulTra negative Mourinho era, and under Solskjaer he’s just been unlucky in the sense the team are performing very well so is now having to bide his time as well as having Pogba as a competitor for a place in the team. I think you’ve written him off far too quickly, pretty Mourinhoesque in your criticism
 
Rocknrolla69er said:
Totally disagree, I think the little we have seen from him has been promising, really has an eye for a pass, especially passes into space and the channels I think Rashford, Martial etc would thrive on the quickness he d play the ball forward for them. I’m quite baffled as to why you think he doesn’t have the quality’s to play as an attacking midfielder bit of an odd statement given the guys not been given the chance in the ulTra negative Mourinho era, and under Solskjaer he’s just been unlucky in the sense the team are performing very well so is now having to bide his time as well as having Pogba as a competitor for a place in the team. I think you’ve written him off far too quickly, pretty Mourinhoesque in your criticism
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Difference between having an eye for a pass and playing high risk passes. Based on what little we have seen from him i would say he is a "messy" player: Seems to lack awareness over his surroundings when he is on the ball. Dives into 50/50 tackles when the team is not in balance, when he should contain the player on the ball. His touch on the ball can sometimes be really good, and othertimes heavy. His passing is sometimes a meter off or a little hard. Overall he seems inconsistent, but if he can remove some of his bad habits then he got elements of his games that are excellent. Hopefully he will not become the new Anderson.

My portrayal of Fred might be a little negative, but given that we paid £50m+ for him he should be better. And it is not like he is a 20 year old talent with little experience. I did practically write him off when we signed him. Did not see him as a great player then, and do not see him in a different light now. I think your optimism regarding Fred is ungrounded, pretty Liverpoolesque in your naive praise.
 
I agree that we'll need a new DM come summer. Fellaini will be gone, Matic is not gonna get fitter or younger and the others just don't fill in that role.
 
Mcking said:
Herrera is not really a holding midfielder.
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He is though. He wasn’t when he arrived at the club but he has developed as such, with his best season coming in the role and having lost a fair bit in attack compared to when he arrived.
 
Fosu-Mens said:
Difference between having an eye for a pass and playing high risk passes. Based on what little we have seen from him i would say he is a "messy" player: Seems to lack awareness over his surroundings when he is on the ball. Dives into 50/50 tackles when the team is not in balance, when he should contain the player on the ball. His touch on the ball can sometimes be really good, and othertimes heavy. His passing is sometimes a meter off or a little hard. Overall he seems inconsistent, but if he can remove some of his bad habits then he got elements of his games that are excellent. Hopefully he will not become the new Anderson.

My portrayal of Fred might be a little negative, but given that we paid £50m+ for him he should be better. And it is not like he is a 20 year old talent with little experience. I did practically write him off when we signed him. Did not see him as a great player then, and do not see him in a different light now. I think your optimism regarding Fred is ungrounded, pretty Liverpoolesque in your naive praise.
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Interestingly could you remind us how many united appearances Fred has made?

As I say very Mourinhoesque, guess your an avid watcher of the russian league too hats off to you
 
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