If we sign Renato Sanches, we could have a good midfield of 2 for the future. Mainly if TFM and Sanches fulfill their potential.
24
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 9
- Clean sheets
- 4
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 1
- Status
It's interesting that there seems to be a feeling that TFM's passing might not be good enough for central midfield. I've never really seen that from him in the u18s or u21s. He might not be Scholes or Carrick in his range of passing - he's definitely much more defensive. But he's always looked fine in midfield to me. Is say Schniederlin a much better passer? I don't think so.
Would be fantastic to see him in there bringing some muscle and energy. We haven't had that in midfield for it must be a decade? Which is frankly beyond ridiculous.
Would be fantastic to see him in there bringing some muscle and energy. We haven't had that in midfield for it must be a decade? Which is frankly beyond ridiculous.
Maybe he can develop into Paul Ince kind ofcomplete midfielder. Not exactly Makelele and not exactly Scholesy. Somewhere in between.
I think his passing is a little underrated, he seems a little save/nervy in possession right now which is understandable. We've seen for the under 21s. Sort of thing he's capable of:
I don't think that's a particularly amazing pass, it certainly benefits from poor defending and strong play from the forward. But I'm not suggesting he's incapable of passing, more that he's not very consistent at it.
It's a pretty decent pass, not too many players can Comfortably pick that out. It's just one example. All I'm saying is don't judge him on the few games he's had for the first team, he's capable of more.
I disagree, most professional footballers can pick that out under little pressure. Even Fellaini sometimes plays very nice passes. Doesn't make him a good passer in my book.
Moreso in this first team, under this manager!
Since when were papers just lifting comments off of the CAF?
They cant be for real
Since when were papers just lifting comments off of the CAF?
They've been in the last two Saturday papers but I forgot to take a picture.
What paper is that from?i has a Saturday roundup of things fans are saying, so they lift random quotes from places like this.
Man Utd 1:0 Aston Villa
Quoted in Today's i newspaper.
Is this real?! How dare they infringe my patented text! Which paper is this?
No way
I feel sorry for the person they have trawling the caf.
Incredible.I've always wanted him to develop into a CB, but I have to admit, he did impress me in that 5 min cameo in midfield.
Futsal Monster
Wish we had two or three more of him to fill up positions in our starting lineup. Absolute beast of a player who will develop into something great, if given a chance.
Timothy has the tools. I'm not sure which position is best suited to him, but we do have to make sure we don't turn him into the next Phil Jones, court jester of many tricks but master of none.
I would like to see him as a box to box Vidal type of role in midfield. He's too good to just be a cb - his attacking play is actually good and he could be a real presence in midfield.
This. He is made for that role. Hard in his tackle and uses his body strength well. Has a good engine in him too. Right back or centre back could be a waste of his talent.
Don't think he has the attacking game of a Vidal or passing range.
He'd be more of a Essien/Schneiderlin type shuttler whose ideally suited between a Defensive mid with passing range and a more attacking midfielder.
He'd be more of a Essien/Schneiderlin type shuttler whose ideally suited between a Defensive mid with passing range and a more attacking midfielder.
Schneiderlin has passing range?
What is Fosu-Mensah's best position?
The 18-year-old is very much the kind of "multi-functional" player so admired by Louis van Gaal after initially starting out as a schoolboy striker. Originally signed as a centre-back from Ajax, he also looked adept in a holding midfield slot for the Under-18s.
Reserves coach Warren Joyce tried him out in a no.10 role in pre-season but he produced some stunning performances at full-back for the Under-21s, before making his senior debut on the left hand side of defence as a substitute for Marcos Rojo during the 3-2 triumph over Arsenal.
A maiden first-team start at centre-back against Watford followed but he has since earned plaudits for his work in both full-back positions, including when performing on opposite flanks during the course of the Emirates FA Cup success at West Ham United in midweek.
Some feel the teenager could develop into a box-to-box midfielder due to his physique and stamina, and he admits the question about his best position in the future is a hard one to answer, particularly as he is simply enjoying his breakthrough at the moment.
"It’s a difficult question," Fosu-Mensah told ManUtd.com. "I think I’ll just be keeping my options open. Centre-back or midfield, I think that is the most chance. However, as I’ve said before, wherever the manager wants me, I will play there.
"I had the pre-season with the Under-21s. Warren Joyce helped me very much, particularly in the aspects I was not so good at. He helped me on it and tried to make me a better player. I’m happy he has been able to do that. I played no.10 in pre-season and scored a goal from there as well so I was very happy!
"I think that experience helped me. As an attacking midfielder, you come into positions where you have to think and think as an attacking player as well. When you go back to being a defender, it helps you think how attackers think – about where they’re moving to and what they have to do before they receive the ball. So it definitely helps your game when you play in other positions.
"I think, when you’re young, it’s important you can play in as many positions as you can so, wherever the manager wants you to play, you have more experience in every role."
Van Gaal was asked by MUTV on Friday for his prediction as to which position will best suit Fosu-Mensah as the youngster looks to cement his place in the first-team squad.
"That’s difficult to say because it is also the vacancy in the team, where we need a player the most," said the boss. "You have seen this season that a lot of players have played in the full-back position because we have a lot of injuries in that position.
"So you cannot cope with it and then you give players a chance to show their abilities. Fosu-Mensah has played in the Netherlands in the youth systems at centre-back and also in midfield. I made him play at left and right full-back because he has the qualities to play there.
"Until now, he has shown his qualities, so I am very happy for him but, normally, players shall be seen everywhere with their position that they have played in youth. But it’s not like that, it’s about vacancies in positions."
http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-F...ensah-best-position-at-manchester-united.aspx
The 18-year-old is very much the kind of "multi-functional" player so admired by Louis van Gaal after initially starting out as a schoolboy striker. Originally signed as a centre-back from Ajax, he also looked adept in a holding midfield slot for the Under-18s.
Reserves coach Warren Joyce tried him out in a no.10 role in pre-season but he produced some stunning performances at full-back for the Under-21s, before making his senior debut on the left hand side of defence as a substitute for Marcos Rojo during the 3-2 triumph over Arsenal.
A maiden first-team start at centre-back against Watford followed but he has since earned plaudits for his work in both full-back positions, including when performing on opposite flanks during the course of the Emirates FA Cup success at West Ham United in midweek.
Some feel the teenager could develop into a box-to-box midfielder due to his physique and stamina, and he admits the question about his best position in the future is a hard one to answer, particularly as he is simply enjoying his breakthrough at the moment.
"It’s a difficult question," Fosu-Mensah told ManUtd.com. "I think I’ll just be keeping my options open. Centre-back or midfield, I think that is the most chance. However, as I’ve said before, wherever the manager wants me, I will play there.
"I had the pre-season with the Under-21s. Warren Joyce helped me very much, particularly in the aspects I was not so good at. He helped me on it and tried to make me a better player. I’m happy he has been able to do that. I played no.10 in pre-season and scored a goal from there as well so I was very happy!
"I think that experience helped me. As an attacking midfielder, you come into positions where you have to think and think as an attacking player as well. When you go back to being a defender, it helps you think how attackers think – about where they’re moving to and what they have to do before they receive the ball. So it definitely helps your game when you play in other positions.
"I think, when you’re young, it’s important you can play in as many positions as you can so, wherever the manager wants you to play, you have more experience in every role."
Van Gaal was asked by MUTV on Friday for his prediction as to which position will best suit Fosu-Mensah as the youngster looks to cement his place in the first-team squad.
"That’s difficult to say because it is also the vacancy in the team, where we need a player the most," said the boss. "You have seen this season that a lot of players have played in the full-back position because we have a lot of injuries in that position.
"So you cannot cope with it and then you give players a chance to show their abilities. Fosu-Mensah has played in the Netherlands in the youth systems at centre-back and also in midfield. I made him play at left and right full-back because he has the qualities to play there.
"Until now, he has shown his qualities, so I am very happy for him but, normally, players shall be seen everywhere with their position that they have played in youth. But it’s not like that, it’s about vacancies in positions."
http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-F...ensah-best-position-at-manchester-united.aspx
I think what he's trying to say was Schneiderlin is suit in midfield three that has a defensive midfield with passing range like Carrick and attacking mid like Iniesta. Basically a ball winning midfield. It's similar with when we have Hargreaves in between Carrick and Scholes in 2007/2008 final Champion League.
Hargreaves played right wing in Moscow.
So what people seem to be saying is that he's a great tackler, strong, quick and decent on the ball, but not a quality passer or exceptional defensively. How about fullback in that case?
That would mean agreeing with LVG. Can't see it happening.
Shifting TFM about is almost like we haven't learnt from Jones and Smalling.
I think Smalling benefited from his positional play from playing full back, Jones though I agree with, he seemed to learn very little being constantly shifted about.
It's such an annoying thing that Fergie used to do it seems United do it more than any other club, from Brown to O'Shea to Smalling to Jones. Hardly does a CB become world class after being shifted about as a secondary FB. Imagine if Rio and Vidic or Terry spent half their time at RB. That's the reason I feel for Marquinhos, he needs to leave.
Sure he does, it's supposed to better them as a footballer because you're supposed to play a lot more football in other positions. Terry was such a limited player, wasn't good with the ball. Rio was but Rio also grew up playing up front and was only moved back because of the old-school way of thinking that big players are center backs. If you think Smalling is poor on the ball now imagine him worse.
Fosu-Mensah almost never played in defense before he played there for the first team. He's usually been in midfield so yesterday's substitution wasn't a bad one for him. If he wasn't being played in the back 4 he wouldn't be playing at all.
This is difficult when we have a manager who I'm no longer convinced that he can still make players better as individuals. Remember McNair, he came through as a somewhat promising CB, a few games later LvG suggest he could be the future RB of the club. Now the lad wants a shot at the #6.
I'm all for the different positional disciplines at youth level with the view of improving the player as an individual rather than trying to forcefully add a new position to their game. Jack of all trades comes to mind. For example, having a naturally deep player like Sean Goss playing higher the pitch to help him learn a few AM attributes like getting into the box, final passes around the box, more composure in shooting etc seems much better than saying Goss is a DM and maybe he can be an AM too. A DM with an expansive skill set is much more valuable IMO than an average multi-functional player.
I just fear that a lot of potentials have not been realized due to this kind of coaching. If that makes sense.
I think any player can get some benefit from playing in another position if they are intelligent. For example, a CB who does some time as a FB may/will/should come to appreciate the circumstances a FB finds himself in, what he [the FB] wants from his CBs and so forth. Having an understanding of the role of the players playing next to you can be very helpful.
Additionally, at this stage in his development I think the most important thing for TFM is simply getting minutes in the first team. Once he is a bit more established then absolutely, start developing him in his 'final' position, but for now I think just getting as much gametime as possible is the biggest benefit.
Additionally, at this stage in his development I think the most important thing for TFM is simply getting minutes in the first team. Once he is a bit more established then absolutely, start developing him in his 'final' position, but for now I think just getting as much gametime as possible is the biggest benefit.
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