I think it's time to get rid of some too.
One thing we can count on Mourinho for is being ruthless in the market. He will make an improvement if he sees the chance at the expense of anyone.
Toby Alderweireld
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I think it's time to get rid of some too.
One thing we can count on Mourinho for is being ruthless in the market. He will make an improvement if he sees the chance at the expense of anyone.
Yes, he is considered more of a LB. He played several times as a CB in the last 2 years - I think less than 5 times, but even if it has been very rare, he still provides the cover if needed.
Also Darmian has mostly played LB and RB, but he still provides cover for CB - I think he played just a few times there as well.
If both leave we will lose 2 players who can cover CB. We need to bring a replacement CB just to keep the depth - I still remember how the last several seasons were derailed partly because we had an injury crisis in CB every time.
So if we are going to bring CB cover I would rather bring someone who will actually improve us, like Toby.
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We’ve got 5 CB’s for two positions and both Blind and Rojo have barely played in months yet we have been fine at the back. We really don’t need another CB before we address other positions.
I agree we shouldn't get a CB at the expense of other more urgent positions, but I have to disagree that our 5 CBs are enough. Out of the 5 only Smalling is consistently playing - the others are constantly in and out of the team. Bailly, Jones and Rojo have spent more time injured than fit and Lindelof is still a work in progress. This season we had the option to bring Blind, Darmian or even Carrick to cover in case it was needed, but if we lose all 3 of them we will be too short in CB numbers in my opinion. 5 CBs sounds like much, but in our case we rarely have more than 3 fit ones at the same time - just not enough with the amount of games we play.
Also, if we lose Blind, Darmian, Shaw and bring Toby, an LB and TFM this will almost break even financially, especially in terms of salary, so it shouldn't affect our ability to sign couple more players in more needed positions.
Fosu Mensah and Tuanzebe need to go and play for a weaker team because they are not good enough for Man United atm.
Just get rid of Jones, the guy is never fit anyway. Some English club will give us £20 million for him. Blind is done as well.
A good player, but the centreback position isnt a problem in United. Least amount of conceded goals in PL. Save the money and give them to DDG instead. Him staying would have much more impact. Also, reocurring hamstring injury, could turn out well, but also a risky investment.
Get him in and get rid of Rojo, Blind and Darmian at a minimum.
We can assume most people on this forum isn't United fans then.
Think some City fans said around January that Lee is a United supporter who works close to City. And most people seem to fawn over their football, so wouldn't put stock in that.
Blind and Rojo out, Alderweireld in. Sorted.
Yup.
Ship out Jones as well. There is seriously no point in him anymore, getting to the point of ridiculous with the injuries now.
How long did he last this time? One or two matches? And it won't get better with age.
If he wants to remain then he should only be kept on a pay-as-you-play contract.
I like Jones but he spends too much time injured to be considered reliable.
I felt the same way about Raphael...he was an amazing right back but too injury prone to be depended on.
Blind and Rojo aren't good enough for United, so that's 3 CB's that need to be moved, which leaves plenty of room for Toby.
Rojo has just signed a new contract i doubt he will leave. The first defender out the door needs to be Jones, he can't stay fit.
My biggest qualm. Good to know. Cheers for finding that
Bailly isn’t going anywhere.
Rojo just signed a new long term contract.
Lindelof I think Jose will give another season too (although I wouldn’t).
One of Jones/Smalling will be leaving - most likely Jones. Wouldn’t be adverse to both going.
Rojo just signed a new long term contract.
Lindelof I think Jose will give another season too (although I wouldn’t).
One of Jones/Smalling will be leaving - most likely Jones. Wouldn’t be adverse to both going.
Rojo should leave. He’s barely played where as Smalling has. So strange we gave him a new contract.
He’s found it hard to come back from his injury last year, but he’s got the right level of thuggery for a Jose CB. Would be very surprised if Rojo left.
Fairly sure Rojo has been out injured more than Jones this season. The problem with selling Jones is that other clubs will see his injury record and think that spending a decent fee on him is risky. We won't get much for him if we were to sell and when he's fit, he's a cracking defender. Arguably the best English CB and only just turned 26. Rojo did recently sign a new contract, but he's 2 years older, arguably not better and we could likely sell for more. That's not even factoring in Jones being a homegrown player.
It's a problem position however you look at it; we've a lot of good/decent CBs but no top quality ones. Our best one is probably Jones and he's a sick note. Bailly and Rojo both have plenty of ability but are prone to mistakes, they're as hot and cold as they come. Smalling can defend but apart from that he's nowhere near where we need to be, can't play out from the back/organise the rest of the defence and he's our most senior CB.
We lack leaders and players capable of playing out from the back which limits the sort of football we can play, no one can organise the backline and it's clear as day that it needs upgrading. For the last couple of years we've had a low number of goals conceded, not due to the quality of defence but due to a combination of de Gea (let's not kid ourselves, without him we could easily have conceded another 10 or so goals) and playing defensively. City have least goals conceded, by the way.
A few teams around us have quietly (or not so quietly) been building very good defences; Liverpool have Van Dijk, Robertson and Clyne who are all very solid players, TAA also looks promising. City have Mendy, Kompany, Otamendi and Walker with some very good back ups in Stones and Laporte. Tottenham may lose Alderweireld but already have Vertonghen and Sanchez along with some solid full backs in Davies, Rose and Trippier. Chelsea have Rudiger, Christensen, Alonso, Azpilicueta and are linked with Koulibaly. On paper I'd say that our defence may be starting to fall behind.
We need to be careful by saying "well we've conceded least goals so CBs are fine" but in my opinion they're very clearly not fine, I think our defence needs reshaping big time but it's tricky doing it all at once. Years of neglect have left us with two ageing wingers as our first choice full backs and an endless string of rotating CB partnerships that change weekly due to injuries/form/mistakes whatever.
How is he at LCB? I'm asking because I see huge potential in Bailly, but he only seems to play on the right. I suppose we might see Bailly at RB if we were to sign Alderweireld and a really adventurous LB.
It is crazy that Ajax team we played in the Europa league knockouts the year before Sir Alex left had Toby in it. But somehow we missed out on Vertonghen, Alderweireld and ended up with a player infinitely worse in Dailey Blind who turned out to be a total disaster for us playing at CB in LVG's final year.
Wouldn’t surprise me if this happened, didn’t Lukaku say he knew that the club was signing some quality players in the summer? I’m pretty sure Woody wouldn’t sit down and talk transfers with the big fella but he may know the players coming in on a personal level i.e. international team mates.
Will end up in Spain imo
Was Blind really a total disaster? I don’t ever recall him being labeled as such. Definitely not good enough as a starter, as much as I like him.
Think that’s a bit harsh.
I don't disagree that Vertonghen and Alderweireld are better defenders than Blind but it's hardly a fair comparison. Blind was bought as a utility player and was essentially made to play there because van Gaal didn't want to sign anyone else.
Blind also contributed to the joint-best defensive record in the league that season, not bad for a player who was a total disaster and infinitely worse than his counterparts.
Blind had some very good performances. Not his fault where he was being played I think he is very underrated.
Trafford Beach
We usually do every summer to be fair. He could just be guessing.
Agree. Every week Blind played at CB he was apparently going to be found out for pace or out-muscled but he never was because he read the game well and Smalling complemented him. He was certainly not found out under LVG because he is a player that suits a possession based system and could play out from the back. He'll probably move on because that's not Jose's style and I'd wish him well but I could see him at top club. I'd definitely have Alderweireld though, I think he is what we need.
Half our forum gushes over Pep.
Fully agree.
Let's get Umtiti too. Alderweireld and Umtiti in; Rojo, Blind, Smalling and Bailly out.
Yes. I've just labelled him, a disaster. As I would have done if I had signed up on the forum in LVG's last season. I also like him, but Smalling spent much of that season babysitting him for the fact that he could not defend one vs one and track players in the box for toffee. Culpable for a good 8-12 goals, three on one crucial night alone at the pointy end of the season.
We moved on, and sharpish. Jose know's his defenders who can actually defend and I am glad that he does.
Can Alderwierald shift at full back if needed? I haven't seen much of him
Ship out 3 CBs and bring 1 in? Sound advice.
Blind is a disaster because you have labelled him so. Who are you?
Don’t really feel venom towards Blind is justified. He’s no world beater, but he served his purpose while he’s been here. We’ve just rightfully should be moving on to better players as we try to get back to somewhere close to our best.
I believe you've had a bit of a mare there. The OP said he didn't remember anybody labeling Blind a disaster, to which I replied that if I had have been on the board then I would have labelled him a disaster. As it was quite obvious he could not defend one vs one or in the box.
I do remember that noodleboy or whatever their username is shared a similar sentiment not to far back.
Blind will probably leave, Lindelof will go on loan and I won't lose any sleep is Smalling, Jones or the Argentinian mess left
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