Rooney's best position hasn't been "off the front" since about 2007 and playing him there has been detrimental to the team. He should either be upfront on his own or doing a job out wide.
Unpopular Opinions Thread
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It could partly be down to not having seen all of the ones you mention consistently as kids. I'd say my watching of teams week in week out is mostly restricted to he premier league.
But I watched a lot of shaw last season and he was incredibly complete for a teenager. His intelligence, positioning, maturity was very very impressive. Varane has looked a stunning young defender at times for madrid but he doesn't play consistently the way shaw did last season so it's harder to judge. He does seem to be rated as the next great defensive talent.
januzaj should be loaned to a premier league club- im sure everton would suit him. like sterling he needs to start games regularly to get better at his trade. if we arent going to start januzaj regularly then its a waste of his talents.
next summer we should buy barkley and ship out mata for pogba.
only reason we should bring back ronaldo is to be an ambassador for the club (in the future) not as a player...unpopular enough?
Thats a bit better yea mate.januzaj should be loaned to a premier league club- im sure everton would suit him. like sterling he needs to start games regularly to get better at his trade. if we arent going to start januzaj regularly then its a waste of his talents.
next summer we should buy barkley and ship out mata for pogba.
only reason we should bring back ronaldo is to be an ambassador for the club (in the future) not as a player...unpopular enough?
United fans should stop with this whole excuse for every one of our own players playing average for reasons to do with the players around them. With players playing well in lesser teams its always "its not hard to shine there" but with our own its "well course our strikers are playing shit the delivery is woeful".."course the defence is crap look whats infront of them"..."kagawa needs this and that to (oh no he's been sold)"...."Mata needs to play Central otherwise he's obviously going to have zero impact"....Its beyond a joke. How about they stand up and be counted and play head and shoulders above those around them as there fee's and ability dictate they should!!
This. Luke Shaw will be fantastic for us
According to various reports we paid £27-28m for shaw, so £25m and £28m are similar fees no?
Fair point midfielders usually cost more than full backs but the majority of premier league clubs are loaded compared to mid-table spanish clubs so obviously Southampton were going to hold out for a huge fee for a talent like Shaw.
I wouldn't mind moving Rooney on.
I'd be happy keeping Young as a backup.
Didn't think Fellaini was awful at all when he played for us last season.
Mata did not flop at all, his stats tell you everything.
We're only 2 players short of a title-challenging squad.
I'd take Strootman over Vidal.
I don't want us to sign Reus next window.
Falcao could be our Suarez.
And finally, despite still 2 big holes in defence and midfield I feel like we're building one hell of a team.
I'd be happy keeping Young as a backup.
Didn't think Fellaini was awful at all when he played for us last season.
Mata did not flop at all, his stats tell you everything.
We're only 2 players short of a title-challenging squad.
I'd take Strootman over Vidal.
I don't want us to sign Reus next window.
Falcao could be our Suarez.
And finally, despite still 2 big holes in defence and midfield I feel like we're building one hell of a team.
The same excuses we gave for Kagawa are now being recycled and used on Mata.
Mata's been very productive though.The same excuses we gave for Kagawa are now being recycled and used on Mata.
He has stats in his favour, which is a bit ironic, as people purposely deny Rooney when stats are used to defend him. Seeing as I am in the unpopular opinions thread... Mata is a hinderance due to his lack of pace and inflexibility. I'd sell him and revert to a dynamic 4-3-3 with two energetic box-to-box midfielders in front of a #6 (Blind).The same excuses we gave for Kagawa are now being recycled and used on Mata.
I don't think we'll finish in the top four this year. Realistically I think the top three will contain the same as last year (City, Chelsea and Liverpool - not sure on the order) and Arsenal have strengthened again.
I hope I am proved totally wrong.
I hope I am proved totally wrong.
From what I've found, various newspapers like the guardian reported a 30-32 million pound fee including appearance tax/add ons.
No doubt he's a good and talented player and I'm pretty sure that he will do well for us. But he's not even fully grown physically, yet his position demands a very high level of fitness (according to Van Gaal the fullbacks had to be the most fit players for Holland at the World Cup). Some players, like Alaba, seem super fit and physically ready to play 40+ matches a season while being young.
But if you look at our young and talented defenders and the intensity of the league we play in, how much can you expect from a 19 year old? Looking at young and talented defenders like Rafael and Phil Jones, they've struggled with injuries a lot. Let's just hope Shaw doesn't have the same problems, but his age and recent injury suggest otherwise. This was a concern I posted about before we signed Shaw by the way.
So the way I see it, we payed 30+ million pounds for a player off who I'm not sure he has a higher 'ceiling' in terms of ability than say Ricardo Rodriguez, who did an excellent job for Wolfsburg and Switserland, or Fabio Coentrao who's been very decent at times for Benfica and Madrid. Both were realistic options for us, cheaper than Shaw I assume. Older but not too old, meaning more experienced and more likely to be physically ready.
I just don't see the upside in signing Shaw compared to those guys I mentioned, or other talented left backs in the 21 or 22 + years of age category, except for the fact that he's British. He could possibly turn out to become a better player than Rodriguez or Coentrao, but those two could also turn out to be better players than Shaw in the next five years. Same goes for Shaw being our left back for 30+ matches next 5 seasons, that's possible. But injuries and having to adapt to playing at one of the best clubs in the world, can also have him following the same scenario as Rafael underwent, making the 30+ million a ridiculous amount of money.
But maybe I should've posted this in the Shaw thread.
Yeah he's still very young, but he's proven decent/excellent in the EPL so hopefully he can push on.
Not sure if it is unpopular but I think we should have signed Sanchez instead of Shaw as they cost basically the same amount. Him and Di Maria out wide in a 3-5-2 would have been bloody brilliant both offensively and defensively.
We could still play with two full-backs by just playing Blind as a LWB or Rojo as a LB.
Still, can't wait until we get to see Rafael and Shaw out wide. I think both of them will develop for whenever we play them as regular full backs again.
We could still play with two full-backs by just playing Blind as a LWB or Rojo as a LB.
Still, can't wait until we get to see Rafael and Shaw out wide. I think both of them will develop for whenever we play them as regular full backs again.
We won't get into the Top 4 this season. But we'll win the league next year.
David de Gea is not a top3 goalkeeper.
In the case of Mata I will give an example: Ronaldo only likes playing from the left and is ineffective in central areas. Hence why you always see him start of the left no matter how shit Portugals strikers are.
So if someone says Ronaldo cant play centrally, its not an just an excuse.
I pretty much agree with this. The two players you mentioned havent really performed and making excuses of them being playing out of position, still having decent stats, look at how they performed at Dortmund/Chelsea etc etc.
In a few of the cases, you would have to argue, if they cant fit in to the side, or its the players around them, then why were they signed in the first place, surely to improve the side?
Its ironic some people saying we have strengthened in the wrong areas, signed the wrong players (which I dont agree with) and then defending several other recent signings that I feel were signings either in the wrong areas or the wrong players. Moyes two transfers last year were both unsuitable signings as generally were Fergies in his last couple of years:
Shinji Kagawa
Angelo Henriquez
Robin van Persie
Alexander Buttner
Wilfried Zaha
Guillermo Varela
David de Gea
Frederic Veseli
Nick Powell
Thats almost £150m spent the last 3 summers so almost as much as we have spent this year on 11 players and only RVP and DeGea as of yet can be considered to have been good signings. The last great team Ferguson built was the 2008 cl winning side which he was very unlucky with really as Hargreaves ended up injured, Nani and Anderson never progressed, Tevez left after his loan, Ronaldo wanted to realise his dream of playing for Madrid so sadly we only briefly saw the fruition of that side as it broke up so quickly, could hav ebeen his best side.....but I would say Ferguson suceeded from there to retirement with his experience and amazing man management skills, he spent about £90m between 2006-2008 and only Carrick has remained a success long term with us.
Personally I think transfer wise 2005-2006 was his last very good transfer window, which is a long time ago now, when he signed Evra/Vidic. His record then and before transfer wise has been generally excellent, I think since it has actually been very poor and why with our top players from 2008 slowly retiring, holding on to a lot of dead wood and making a lot of pretty poor signings, somebody without the brilliant management skills of Ferguson would struggle to keep his success going, as Moyes most certainly did.
We await to see how successful this summers signings will be but blimey, they were needed
- We wont win the league for four or five years, unless Mourinho moves. I think he's the best manager in the league, Chelsea's first team is ridiculous, and I don't see them getting weaker in the near future. He's so specific about who he signs, and Chelsea are also very well run these days - more so than when he was first here.
- Mata isn't a proper number 10, and isn't somebody to build a solid, successful team around.
His best stuff came largely under Di Matteo in a gung-ho Chelsea side, where he had no defensive duties and the team had no solid structure. He lacks physicality, and is too instinctive and direct by nature to play the role properly.
He'd work in 4-2-3-1 side who don't suffocate the opposition. But people who think he'll ever look like Silva are mistaken - they're not really alike.
- Mata isn't a proper number 10, and isn't somebody to build a solid, successful team around.
His best stuff came largely under Di Matteo in a gung-ho Chelsea side, where he had no defensive duties and the team had no solid structure. He lacks physicality, and is too instinctive and direct by nature to play the role properly.
He'd work in 4-2-3-1 side who don't suffocate the opposition. But people who think he'll ever look like Silva are mistaken - they're not really alike.
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Here's a Unpopular Opinion these days -
Our squad is more than good enough to finish top 4 comparing with Rivals. And if we don't i think LVG would have failed this season just like Moyes did last even more so having spent the money he did.
Was thinking and our third/4th choice AM who we sold as deadwood is gonna be a starter for Dortmund probably who should be challenging for the Bundesliga and are a team which most right now would think would spank us if were to face them.
Our 5th choice striker is gonna be 2nd choice striker at the European champions atleast.
Our 4th choice striker who we sold is gonna be a starter probably for one of the rivals for top 4.
Even the much rubbished Cleverley (Our 5th choice CM) was wanted by several clubs including Everton, Valencia.
Quite confident our 3rd/4th choice CB in Smalling would have been starting for Arsenal in little time as well if we did that weird swap for Vermaelen.
The point is we had many good and very good players last season and have spent huge money on top of that even upgrading. Now need the manager to settle the team, improve players an get them performing to their capabilities. (See Simeone at Atletico and Rodgers at Liverpool and they didn't even spunk so much money and went higher.)
Our squad is more than good enough to finish top 4 comparing with Rivals. And if we don't i think LVG would have failed this season just like Moyes did last even more so having spent the money he did.
Was thinking and our third/4th choice AM who we sold as deadwood is gonna be a starter for Dortmund probably who should be challenging for the Bundesliga and are a team which most right now would think would spank us if were to face them.
Our 5th choice striker is gonna be 2nd choice striker at the European champions atleast.
Our 4th choice striker who we sold is gonna be a starter probably for one of the rivals for top 4.
Even the much rubbished Cleverley (Our 5th choice CM) was wanted by several clubs including Everton, Valencia.
Quite confident our 3rd/4th choice CB in Smalling would have been starting for Arsenal in little time as well if we did that weird swap for Vermaelen.
The point is we had many good and very good players last season and have spent huge money on top of that even upgrading. Now need the manager to settle the team, improve players an get them performing to their capabilities. (See Simeone at Atletico and Rodgers at Liverpool and they didn't even spunk so much money and went higher.)
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Here we go then...let's test this very unpopular opinion of mine
Januzaj will be nothing more than a mediocre player and not the world beater many expect him to become.
He will be sold within a year or two.
Januzaj will be nothing more than a mediocre player and not the world beater many expect him to become.
He will be sold within a year or two.
Glad you bolded the word opinion, we may have mistaken it as a fact, considering how likely it is to be true.
would be good if people explain their reasoning behind their opinion.
Define Mediocre ?
You know if Adnan doesn't go on to become at least a player of Ozils level I will have absolutely no eye for talent in football.
Rooney looks extremely one-footed nowdays. I know he always used his right foot more often than not but nowdays, I feel there is a chronic neglect of his left foot. It makes his game more predictable which is aggravated by the fact that he has lost some of the explosiveness that he used to possess. Whenever he gets the ball he shifts the ball onto his right or sidesteps if there is someone near him and then looks to ping a ball to the right wing more often than not. I could be wrong but that is the impression I get from watching him recently.
He always will be, he is the type of ten who will put up the productivity stats but he doesn't dictate or influence games enough.
No way would Smalling start for Arsenal. Our squad is top heavy, In terms of the attacking positions we have a lot of quality still missing a wide forward imo but we have 3 number 9's. We still need another cm in my opinion and an established top cb. In terms of the defence we have the numbers, LVG and the coaching staff need to start getting the best out of the players. Jones and Smalling need to kick on now.
Either you seriously underrate Ozil or seriously overrate Januzaj's potential.
For you, I'm over-rating Januzaj because I think he can go much further than Ozils level. I can't name many young players I've seen at United better than him at his age apart from Rooney or Ronaldo.
Much further than Ozil? I see it's a case of you seriously under rating Ozil then.
Well Ozil isn't a world class player in my opinion and Januzaj has the potential to be one.
So he'll regress? Because he is already better than mediocre.
I don't think we'll play much better even with all these new signings.
We'll continue to leak goals due to defensive mistakes and weak shielding from the midfield.
We'll continue to leak goals due to defensive mistakes and weak shielding from the midfield.
I still think our world-class players are going to look like shit when playing as a team
He needs a chance to shine first. Last season when he had a that run of games through winter he was by far our best player. Young players play on confidence much more than seasoned pro's imo so when Moyes just dropped him after Matas arrival, he was then only used sparingly so his form was never the same.
At the end of the season when Giggs was the manager he had a brilliant game at OT so once again showed us what he was all about which is way above mediocre.
I'm actually surprised by how well Sterling is doing right now but Liverpool are reaping the rewards due to showing faith in him. If we do the same I have no doubts that Januzaj will become just as effective.
The only problem being if LvG sticks to his 3412 I see little game time for him especially as we are now out of the league cup. His appearances as a number 10 have been pretty poor this season but he is not there yet, he needs to stick out wide for now but I do see him adopting that role in a few years time and hopefully that will be with us.
I have seen a few that say the same mate, but the BBC reported the Shaw fee as £27m rising to £31m. No doubt there will be extras eventually added to the Illarramendi fee in time too. The BBC reported that transfer as being as high as £34m:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23288764
shaw will hardly get a game at united, rojo and blind will play LB
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I quite like Neil Warnock.
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