Rolaholic
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McTominay, AWB and one of Lindelof or Maguire going would make 2 midfielders a lot more possible.Reckon that would take around roughly £65m
McTominay, AWB and one of Lindelof or Maguire going would make 2 midfielders a lot more possible.Reckon that would take around roughly £65m
This!!!People on this thread live in Football Manager fantasy land. Common sense isn't allowed.
At that price point, for rotation and with potential upside in mind you could take a punt.
However, he is nowhere near ready to be a regular starter in the Premier League, let alone for us.
Flamengo took a punt and hardly played him. He has gradually earned a place as a starter for Palmeiras and the NT, but the downside of his background is quite evident.
You have to remember futsal is played in tiny pitches at high intensity in two 20 minute halves. So yes, he will go all guns blazing and manages tight spaces very well, but by the 60' mark is completely knackered.
I only watched him in three Copa games and he got subbed off in all of them.
Yeah, as I said, if that were the scope he should be fine and there's upside to work on/unlock, so worth a punt in the 15M region.Can he be a bench option and for games against smaller teams in cups?
Reading the links to various midfielders and it seems to be that there isn't a player out there that can satisfy everything we need to make a perfect midfield composition.
Now I'd say Mainoo and Bruno are amongst our best players, but to complete a midfield next to them is extremely tough. With those 2 as a starting point we are basically lacking...
Besides Rodri I'm not sure that player exists in world football at the moment so the question for me this summer is which of those traits do we most desire.
- A dictator from deep (I personally believe Mainoo could develop into this, but it might be idealism as he seems to be deployed higher by both Ten Hag and Southgate)
- A shielder of the defence (Someone to sit in front of the defence and win the ball back constantly)
- A player that can progress the ball through the lines with ease (Basically ties into the dictator part, but they need to be less limited on the ball than simply recycling it)
For me with Yoro coming in, Martinez not missing as much football and Mainoo hopefully developing more we have got a lot of the dictating games coming from within the squad, but we lack that great defensive powerhouse. Ugarte has a lot of those qualities, but my main worry with him isn't him being limited on the ball, but rather the fact he's a terrier that chases high, rather than just a shield in front of the back line. I think I'd rather we sign a pure defensive midfielder and allow the team to develop the areas we are lacking in.
a CM of Kobbie, Ugarte, Bruno, McT and Richard Rios sure looks a hell of a lot better than
a CM of Kobbie, Eriksen, Bruno, McT and Casemiro
assuming we keep McT
a CM of Kobbie, Ugarte, Bruno, McT and Richard Rios sure looks a hell of a lot better than
a CM of Kobbie, Eriksen, Bruno, McT and Casemiro
assuming we keep McT
Swap McTominay for Xavi SImmons and I'm in
It's not so much needing a Rodri, its getting the balance in midfield right. Madrid have a multitude of options, but the thing they have is they can all pass a ball through the lines. It makes the rest easier to knit together. If a midfield featuring Bruno and Mainoo is ever going to truly flourish it requires Mainoo to develop his game to pass between the lines better. Otherwise you replace Bruno with someone capable of doing so and allow Mainoo to build his game around his dribbling skills.THere's only one Club in the whole world that has Rodri, and that Club doesn't dominate the Europe. Also Spain in Euro Final didn't miss Rodri an awful lot. So it's obvious that we don't need Rodri's type and/or class to win top trophies.
Three completely different profiles and styles of midfielder.
Joao Neves fits the ball. He was heavily scouted by us last year but it seems we’ve been priced out of the race for him.Reading the links to various midfielders and it seems to be that there isn't a player out there that can satisfy everything we need to make a perfect midfield composition.
Now I'd say Mainoo and Bruno are amongst our best players, but to complete a midfield next to them is extremely tough. With those 2 as a starting point we are basically lacking...
Besides Rodri I'm not sure that player exists in world football at the moment so the question for me this summer is which of those traits do we most desire.
- A dictator from deep (I personally believe Mainoo could develop into this, but it might be idealism as he seems to be deployed higher by both Ten Hag and Southgate)
- A shielder of the defence (Someone to sit in front of the defence and win the ball back constantly)
- A player that can progress the ball through the lines with ease (Basically ties into the dictator part, but they need to be less limited on the ball than simply recycling it)
For me with Yoro coming in, Martinez not missing as much football and Mainoo hopefully developing more we have got a lot of the dictating games coming from within the squad, but we lack that great defensive powerhouse. Ugarte has a lot of those qualities, but my main worry with him isn't him being limited on the ball, but rather the fact he's a terrier that chases high, rather than just a shield in front of the back line. I think I'd rather we sign a pure defensive midfielder and allow the team to develop the areas we are lacking in.
Heart-breaking the state the Glazers have put the club in.Joao Neves fits the ball. He was heavily scouted by us last year but it seems we’ve been priced out of the race for him.
Heart-breaking the state the Glazers have put the club in.
If it wasn't for the ridiculous debt situation, I'm sure players such as Neves, Wharton, Branthwaite, Ugarte and De Ligt could all be here by now, ready for the new season.
In the words (almost) and passion of Marlon Brando, "we could have been a contender..."
Ah well.
In an ideal world we would swap Ugarte with Sancho or sign him on loan with buy option/obligation and sign Zubimendi with the money we saved. But we will likely get one of them.
I am nowhere near an expert on him but I watched the Uruguay v Brazil Copa America QF (I think? maybe a semi-final?) and Ugarte was definitely defensive-oriented and wasn't chasing high at all. It looked to me like he was a destroyer, snapping into tackles and winning the ball back, then passing it quickly forward.Reading the links to various midfielders and it seems to be that there isn't a player out there that can satisfy everything we need to make a perfect midfield composition.
Now I'd say Mainoo and Bruno are amongst our best players, but to complete a midfield next to them is extremely tough. With those 2 as a starting point we are basically lacking...
Besides Rodri I'm not sure that player exists in world football at the moment so the question for me this summer is which of those traits do we most desire.
- A dictator from deep (I personally believe Mainoo could develop into this, but it might be idealism as he seems to be deployed higher by both Ten Hag and Southgate)
- A shielder of the defence (Someone to sit in front of the defence and win the ball back constantly)
- A player that can progress the ball through the lines with ease (Basically ties into the dictator part, but they need to be less limited on the ball than simply recycling it)
For me with Yoro coming in, Martinez not missing as much football and Mainoo hopefully developing more we have got a lot of the dictating games coming from within the squad, but we lack that great defensive powerhouse. Ugarte has a lot of those qualities, but my main worry with him isn't him being limited on the ball, but rather the fact he's a terrier that chases high, rather than just a shield in front of the back line. I think I'd rather we sign a pure defensive midfielder and allow the team to develop the areas we are lacking in.
Zubimendi, Ugarte, Neves.
Problem is knitting this player in with Bruno and Mainoo. We can't leave that massive empty space between attack and defense this time, whichever midfield upgrades we get hopefully have more positional discipline.
We've got Mount, whose role is still amorphous. Collyer looking to be a 6 understudy. Still have McT, Eriksen, and Case on the books.
The midfielders are being linked with are quite boring tbh.
We'll never get the midfield metronome this forum has been obsessed with for a decade + and has been part of the greatest sides of the last 15 years.The midfielders are being linked with are quite boring tbh.
It will be Ugarte and Amrabat in a cheap loan. We just don't have the money for anything else other than de ligt.As Neves seems to be heading to PSG, let's hope they will now lower their demand for Ugarte. I also wouldn't mind Fabian Ruiz. I have always wanted him here since he was at Napoli.
We could go for Wharton next summer.
It will be Ugarte and Amrabat in a cheap loan. We just don't have the money for anything else other than de ligt.
If memory serves me right Rodri was nowhere near the player he is today when City activated his release clause. He developed into elite level at City and is playing at very high level almost all of the time now. But he was not so sought after when they bought him?Yeah like you say unfortunately we didn't have the right people in place when City activated Rodri release clause for €63m (grrr absolute bargain). So we will need to sign a pure DM and find that high volume passer who can dictate the tempo too. No doubt finding the latter is going to prove very difficult indeed.
I wonder if Ugarte as the destroyer DM and this Rios in a playmaker role could work for now,however feel we would still need to find that passing tempo controller as well.
Because signing two or three CMs isn't the priority for the club, apart from on this thread. Priority is de ligt and Ugarte plus a right back if they can shift AWB.we need to sign two CM's....that should be the only priority at the moment. if you don't have a proper engine room, the rest of the team will struggle and we clearly don't given our performances from last season
don't understand why we are fecking about and not just getting deals done
Because signing two or three CMs isn't the priority for the club, apart from on this thread. Priority is de ligt and Ugarte plus a right back if they can shift AWB.
Deals aren't getting done, because
a) we need to shift players out, but they are all on stupidly good wages and don't want to take pay cuts to play elsewhere.
b) we need to generate sales for UEFA FSR and PL PSR rules before we can buy.
c) we are playing hardball with clubs in their asking price as we know need to make sales in order to get the players in they want.
All of this takes time. The transfer window is open for months and the two players who we want both played international football and are on their summer breaks. So what's the rush?
The rush is probably because our current midfield is very poor, we are pretty desperate for at least two players in midfield. Unfortunately it’s very likely we will be starting the season with a weak midfield but by the time the window shuts I’m expecting us to be in a better position.
Because signing two or three CMs isn't the priority for the club, apart from on this thread. Priority is de ligt and Ugarte plus a right back if they can shift AWB.
Deals aren't getting done, because
a) we need to shift players out, but they are all on stupidly good wages and don't want to take pay cuts to play elsewhere.
b) we need to generate sales for UEFA FSR and PL PSR rules before we can buy.
c) we are playing hardball with clubs in their asking price as we know need to make sales in order to get the players in they want.
All of this takes time. The transfer window is open for months and the two players who we want both played international football and are on their summer breaks. So what's the rush?