The problem is not formation 4 at the back vs 3 at the back. It's quality of our full backs. Has been few seasons where they have all the time yet fail to put in decent service into the box. Mourinho Porto and many occasions at Inter could work without winger and wing forward as the full backs were up to the task.
Thiago Alcantara
- Thread starter Paxi
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Sanchez - Lukaku
Thiago
Pogba - Matic - Fred
Young/Shaw/Mitchell - Lindelof - Bailly - Valencia/Dalot
De Gea
Thiago
Pogba - Matic - Fred
Young/Shaw/Mitchell - Lindelof - Bailly - Valencia/Dalot
De Gea
If he plays as #10 he could be a Mata replacement.
The amount of talent there is overwhelming. That doesn't necessarily translate into domain, but technically would be very impressive.
Other poster already posted similar. Basically Mourinho's Porto tactic. Thiago for Deco's role, Pogba for Maniche's, Fred for Pedro Mendez', and Matic for Costinha. Problem all lies the full backs positions, if nobody do better than Valencia & Young of last season.
Edit: Fix autocorrect Costinha to Coutinho
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The Quality of service also depends on quality of movement in the box. There aren't just many players inside the box when we reach final third and only the physical targets without good movement is very easy to mark and defend. You can have 3 tall physical players in the box yet good quality service won't be much effective without proper Dynamic movement as players like Lukaku and Fellani are just standing at one place hoping the ball to come to them and it makes it easy for opposition to defend.
Thiago in means Pogba out.
I just can't see how we go into the season with Pogba, Matic, Fred, Thiago, Herrera, Fellaini, Pereira and McTominay. No matter what formation we think up.
Even if one or more of Herrera, McTominay or Pereira leave, I still don't see it.
Unfortunately I can see a scenario where we sell Pogba to Barca ( as Howson mentioned,) and replace him with a Thiago, Savic or Vidal ( God forbid.)
If Jose's pieces all fall into place, maybe..
............................................Sanchez.....Lukaku.........................................
.............................................Thiago........Fred...........................................
.....Young/Shaw...............................Matic........................Willian/Valencia.....
...............................Lindelof..........Maguire..........Smalling...........................
Willian could be our new 70 million pound wing-back.. good times!
I just can't see how we go into the season with Pogba, Matic, Fred, Thiago, Herrera, Fellaini, Pereira and McTominay. No matter what formation we think up.
Even if one or more of Herrera, McTominay or Pereira leave, I still don't see it.
Unfortunately I can see a scenario where we sell Pogba to Barca ( as Howson mentioned,) and replace him with a Thiago, Savic or Vidal ( God forbid.)
If Jose's pieces all fall into place, maybe..
............................................Sanchez.....Lukaku.........................................
.............................................Thiago........Fred...........................................
.....Young/Shaw...............................Matic........................Willian/Valencia.....
...............................Lindelof..........Maguire..........Smalling...........................
Willian could be our new 70 million pound wing-back.. good times!
I know Valencia and Young cannot be trusted as quality full backs but we don't really have a choice. Dalot won't displace Valencia immediately and though I am a huge fan of Shaw, I don't see him hitting the heights that he was destined to hit. He's been here for 5 years and hasn't produced one consistent season (obviously not counting the one with injury)
Thiago in means Pogba out.
I just can't see how we go into the season with Pogba, Matic, Fred, Thiago, Herrera, Fellaini, Pereira and McTominay. No matter what formation we think up.
Even if one or more of Herrera, McTominay or Pereira leave, I still don't see it.
Unfortunately I can see a scenario where we sell Pogba to Barca ( as Howson mentioned,) and replace him with a Thiago, Savic or Vidal ( God forbid.)
If Jose's pieces all fall into place, maybe..
............................................Sanchez.....Lukaku.........................................
.............................................Thiago........Fred...........................................
.....Young/Shaw...............................Matic........................Willian/Valencia.....
...............................Lindelof..........Maguire..........Smalling...........................
Willian could be our new 70 million pound wing-back.. good times!
Ed won't let Pogba be sold. That would be completely foolish of him since he's trying to build the club up more so in the business sense. Especially after coming from the World Cup, he's the face of United and will be so for years to come.
Disagree here. Plenty of time the ball from outwide wouldn't be able to beat the first man. It's not new issue just under Mourinho or LVG. There is a reason Valencia and Young who were wingers ended up as full backs now so we don't have to rely on them as attacking focus point on the wings. Quality of service by itself is a distinct thing from forward quality. Noone can mark the forwards to the extend to force good crosser to hit the first man.
Ask yourself this if Lukaku and Fellaini were the problem, why these 2 ain't exactly having problem meeting ball from outwide when playing for Everton and Belgium.
Yeah that's kinda why i listed our other fulbacks, Mitchell looks hungry. Dalot could be a real surprise ect.
Pereira reminds me so much of him the way he plays.
This thread has originated from Miguel Delaney's drivel? Dark days ahead.
Contrary to the Kroos issue, they are right on the money with that assessment. Let's drive the price into regions north of 80m and be done with him.
Bayern has to replace Robben and Ribery, so I don't think they are too hot on solving your clubs' issue on the wing by selling the only player they have in their squad who fills the bill.
Pogba ain't leaving with two weeks of the window left.
The article which is the reason this thread was opened stated that Mou sees Alcantara as more of a #10
Love to see this happen, can't see it though. Think if he does leave Bayern he'll go back to Spain. Not worried that Pogba is leaving this summer, not enough time left. It's one thing little Martial leaving, but a giant like Pogs? Not very likely.
Thiago as a possible Mata replacement of sorts? Sign me up.
Thiago as a possible Mata replacement of sorts? Sign me up.
You meant a giant like Shaw I'm guessing
I think Shaw's been at the slim fast over the summer, he's just a mini giant now.
please yes. oh btw: Thiago is not a #10.
I swear he’s been on a diet the past 4 seasons.
I think he's a bit of a bloater like Rooney, instead of bulking up for the winter, he does it for the summer.
Just had flash backs when the cafe was dissecting his ball signed by De Gea
Can’t get sucked into this again!
Can’t get sucked into this again!
I'd rather Vidal. Cheaper and a great option to rotate and rest our midfield. Not to mention he would be half the price.
Thaigo is a great little player but we have no where to put him.
Thaigo is a great little player but we have no where to put him.
We have Fellaini and I'm sure he'd be interested.
You never knows. Snejder was not a no 10 and was used as midfielder most lay or even wid play maker, then Mourinho made him his primary no 10
Play Thiago with Matic and Fred in midfield, play Pogba wide right. Will give Pogba attacking freedom, and he has the technique and energy. I genuinely think he'd thrive there
What's the reason he isn't that highly rated amongst Bayern fans? Everytime I watched him he looked class.
He got plenty of opportunities to play as #10. He lacks endproduct for this role/position. I am not even talking about goals/assists, but about creating any goal-threat.
Most fans rated him until quite recently. I dont really understand why the mood seem to have swung so much, because Thiago didn't change.
Personally I always thought that he is extremely inefficiant, while looking fancy against small teams. In my opinion as #8 he needs too much time to release the ball, which slows down the build up. Additionally he is not really reliable when it matters most. He disappeared in almost all big matches. Many half-decent CMs can keep possession against defensive teams or teams that lack quality.
It's that people here have a hard-on on him ever since we missed out on him. From what I've seen I agree with @PedroMendez, never could get my head around people overpraising him in games where he's done very little.
Would love to see us sign him, but these sorts of links never seem to happen. May well leave and rock up at a rival before we kick ourselves.
You haven't seen him that often then, I reckon
Happens a lot with the flair player types, they tend to look greater than they often are. Basically, he's a fair weather player.James having a bigger impact on our game than him in 5 years, didn't help either.
Agent must be struggling to make his move happen ?
He’s actually evens to stay at Bayern, so there’s value in the market if you don’t see him leaving. Slight odds on to leave. Barca slim favs to sign him over United.
Yeah, sorry, that's what I meant. Can't believe it's been that long!
We'd have to gut one or two from our midfield if we wanted Thiago.
We already have too many numbers as it is.
We already have too many numbers as it is.
Germans don’t like this type of player. That’s all you need to know.
Been saying this for a long time now, we’ve no need to buy another midfielder like Thiago when we have Pereira already here and playing well in that role.
With Pereira and Fosu-Mensah staying this season added to Pogba, Fred, Matic, Herrera, Fellaini and McTominay we do NOT need any more midfielders and need to focus on right wing, left back and as Jose seems set on it again yet another centre back.
I know Pereira is yet to prove himself in the PL but I would rather see him develop into a world-beater. I get much more satisfaction seeing our youth players getting promoted instead of signing players and forking out ridiculous sums of money. Yes there is no guarantees that would happen however and Pereira may not even get a look in under Jose once the season starts!
Thiago on his day is a sensational midfielder and would have been a player I would have wanted badly had we not signed Fred. Thiago is best suited as a number 8 or an even more advanced role and we are stocked with players there, even Pereira can play as an 8. Thiago is an inconsistent player and seems to get injured often, so he may not even start every game. So unless one of our midfielders leave, which I doubt, I do not see him coming in, just won’t be worth shelling out circa £70m on him. I would rather, even though it would be extremely overpriced, pay £70m on Alex Sandro! Someone who would automatically be our first-choice LB, start every game when fit and improve us dramatically in one of our weakest positions in the team! Or even use that £70m to contribute towards signing a quality CB and/or RW.
Thiago on his day is a sensational midfielder and would have been a player I would have wanted badly had we not signed Fred. Thiago is best suited as a number 8 or an even more advanced role and we are stocked with players there, even Pereira can play as an 8. Thiago is an inconsistent player and seems to get injured often, so he may not even start every game. So unless one of our midfielders leave, which I doubt, I do not see him coming in, just won’t be worth shelling out circa £70m on him. I would rather, even though it would be extremely overpriced, pay £70m on Alex Sandro! Someone who would automatically be our first-choice LB, start every game when fit and improve us dramatically in one of our weakest positions in the team! Or even use that £70m to contribute towards signing a quality CB and/or RW.
Mourinho might not like Periera. This is my worry. And even if that isn't the case buying Thiago - who is one of the best in the world -can only be a good thing. When Pogba was out we struggled massively with creativity but with Thiago and Periera we would be perfectly ready to cope with any such situation. Plus what is the problem with having 3/4 top quality midfielders? Real has Kroos, Modric, Isco all starting games. Barcelona had Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta. Someone would have to go and probably I'd send McTominay on loan because he isn't good enough to be in the squad yet.
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