Big advocate for Jackson Martinez. 28 years old, physical presence and a good scoring ratio (67 -89 apps). Has that killer instinct and at the same time the abilities to hold up play and utilise his physical ( 1.86) attributes to shake defenders off.
We need a new striker
- Thread starter RDCR07
- Start date
I imagine Rooney will play as a 9,10 and in midfield and he will push fellaini further down the pecking order, if we don't get a new striker we aren't winning anything next season, I am sure LVG will find ways to play Rooney in different roles.
I proposed it another thread, but I'll throw it out there in here: I think we should get Bale and play him as a striker. Or as some weird, false, but kinda true #9 hybrid striker. I genuinely think it would work. His best games for Spurs came through the middle.
Martinez
Herrera - ADM
Mata - Bale - Depay
Of course, there's the whole getting Martinez issue, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.Herrera - ADM
Mata - Bale - Depay
Who can we get though? I really can't think of anyone attainable who has the right quality other than Kane and potentially Dybala who looks like he is joining Juventus.
There are guys like Vietto and Icardi who look like they are breaking through nicely, so maybe we can take a punt on one of those guys, even Benteke perhaps?
There are guys like Vietto and Icardi who look like they are breaking through nicely, so maybe we can take a punt on one of those guys, even Benteke perhaps?
A good striker can create opportunities for himself. You can't just pass the ball to a striker, he needs that burst of pace to get on the end of passes like the one Rooney didn't reach today from Mata. Put Aguero or Suarez instead of Rooney and we would have scored there.
A striker makes a difference with the way he runs, how defenders set up themselves to handle him and many other things which make a huge difference for a team. With Rooney they can defend how they want because he's not fast enough to really make them struggle if we play something behind their back 4 and he doesn't have the skill set to go past players if we play into feet. If I was a defender I would be very happy playing against one of our strikers right now.
Take Chelsea for example, they really struggled to create goalscoring opportunities and score goals last year. They added Diego Costa and were almost scoring goals for fun. They went back to finding it difficult to create chances after he got injured.
No chance that's going to happen, van Gaal doesn't even like Messi as a false striker - he said that himself. If Bale wants to play as a striker he will need to adapt and play like Lewandowski/a prime RvP, and I wouldn't want to pay 80m for a player out of position.
Memphis Depay:
Read into that what you will...
Read into that what you will...
hmmmm
I'm hoping he's talking about Depay linking up with Rooney whilst playing wide in a front 3 with perhaps Rooney and Di Maria
after signing those midfield players and a right back I thought we'd seen the end of square pegs in round holes....
Is Rooney going to score enough for us to challenge for the league.....I'm not confident and I'd predict around 17/18 goals if he keeps fit
that puts a fair bit of pressure on Depay and the other attackers to chip in with a right few goals too
our biggest issue last year was fluency of attack and creating chances - this resulted in less goals than under Moyes - surely he's considering another pacey striker unless Wilson will step up
after the last two preseason games, i can now understand why we are chasing muller if the rumor is true. it looks like he is the missing piece
I don't think it matters that much. We're talking about 10 goals for one player more or less, that's one goal per season extra for the rest of the players. If it moves like a clockwork, that's not a lot. In the past Van Gaal's teams have scored loads of goals with the central striker just scoring between 12 and 22 or something like that, really not a lot for a striker in the Dutch league, it was almost the same in La Liga and I can't remember his striker scoring around 30 in Germany either.
If his system is running smoothly, goals will be spread among all players, not just the wingers and attacking midfielders.
The problem/or best thing about having Wayne Rooney as your lone centre forward is that he is he constantly drawn towards the ball, rather than being the sort of striker who will play on the shoulder and look to run in behind like Aguero or Suarez
The reason I can't make my mind up about whether this is a good thing or not is that it very much depends whether other players can go beyond him/get into the box and chip in with goals. Last year there were still not enough goals coming from midfield/wide areas to compensate for not having a 30 goal a season man or two centre forwards playing together which seems to have gone completely out of fashion
By the looks of things, Depay is a much better all-round footballer than I had expected and I think out of all of our players he will probably spend the most time closest to Rooney, which is what I think he meant by the "we must learn to work as a duo". This doesn't necessarily mean Herrera, Mata, Di Maria etc...won't also be playing off Rooney in a similar fashion, just think it comes more naturally to Depay to hunt out goals
The reason I can't make my mind up about whether this is a good thing or not is that it very much depends whether other players can go beyond him/get into the box and chip in with goals. Last year there were still not enough goals coming from midfield/wide areas to compensate for not having a 30 goal a season man or two centre forwards playing together which seems to have gone completely out of fashion
By the looks of things, Depay is a much better all-round footballer than I had expected and I think out of all of our players he will probably spend the most time closest to Rooney, which is what I think he meant by the "we must learn to work as a duo". This doesn't necessarily mean Herrera, Mata, Di Maria etc...won't also be playing off Rooney in a similar fashion, just think it comes more naturally to Depay to hunt out goals
Muller could possibly be the signing of the century for us. All those crap transfers windows would be worth it if we could wrap up a deal for him. Can't see Bayern selling though, would be a catastrophic mistake IMO.
Our lack of firepower is starting to worry me. Both in terms of creativity and end product. A front line of Mata/Rooney/Young is simply not going to create, or score, enough goals to win the league. If we lose Di Maria, then we're going to have to bring someone of serious quality in, and hope that Memphis can settle ASAP.
Would Pedro/Memphis/Mata/Rooney/Young make and score enough between them? I'm not so sure. There's very little creativity there.
Would Pedro/Memphis/Mata/Rooney/Young make and score enough between them? I'm not so sure. There's very little creativity there.
Even if Rooney spends the entire season up top and largely injury-free, we still need to buy another forward.
But let's face it, when was the last time he played a full season without spending at least a few weeks on the sidelines? Can't be arsed looking up any stats, but it's been a while. It also tends to take him the best part of a month getting back any semblance of sharpness when he returns.
What do we do if he picks up a bad injury? Wilson? Depay? Hernandez? One's nothing more than a prospect right now, and the other 2 aren't suited to that role. Christ, we might even see Fellaini starting games as a striker.
I reckon we'll do alright for goals from elsewhere... the likes of Herrera, Mata and maybe Depay will be good for about 10 goals +, but going into the next season without another proven forward (capable of working as a lone striker) is a bit mental.
But let's face it, when was the last time he played a full season without spending at least a few weeks on the sidelines? Can't be arsed looking up any stats, but it's been a while. It also tends to take him the best part of a month getting back any semblance of sharpness when he returns.
What do we do if he picks up a bad injury? Wilson? Depay? Hernandez? One's nothing more than a prospect right now, and the other 2 aren't suited to that role. Christ, we might even see Fellaini starting games as a striker.
I reckon we'll do alright for goals from elsewhere... the likes of Herrera, Mata and maybe Depay will be good for about 10 goals +, but going into the next season without another proven forward (capable of working as a lone striker) is a bit mental.
100% right, you could argue we need 2. Wilson needs a loan move, Hernandez I think will be sold anyway and only really offers coming off the bench when he was at his best anyway....Fellaini again no issue last 5 mins when you need a goal but that aside No. Aside from anything else we need a genuine striker with speed.
You forget the impact herrera will have on the team, he is one of united's most creative players, the backbone of the team is starting to shape up very nicely, and if the team stays fit overall, we can easily make our mark on the title this season
To be fair, if you get the creativity and balance right in the other positions you don't always need loads of firepower. Chelsea didn't do badly...
Chelsea had Fabregas/Hazard/Costa for firepower.
Mourinho recognized the need for a striker 2 seasons ago (recall his notorious dig on Eto'o). So he brought in Costa.
You need a top striker to win titles.
We need a striker that'll get at least 30 goals in all competitions, not 20.
Is there one available like that though? I think we may just have to stick with Rooney and hope those around him get the goals when he goes on the 10 game goal drought.
Is there one available like that though? I think we may just have to stick with Rooney and hope those around him get the goals when he goes on the 10 game goal drought.
Now that Rooney has a decent midfield behind him, he can easily score 25+ goals.
ADM, Mata, Memphis, Herrera can add 10+ each.
ADM, Mata, Memphis, Herrera can add 10+ each.
So, nothing to the Llorente rumour?
Hopefully that rumor will go away fast.. i really dont want him at United.
Yeah, I've said several times I'd like to see united keep Rooney up top this season and get a bright talent like Berahino in, or even push the boat out and get Morata or someone who will hopefully be excellent in a year or two when Rooney is properly on the decline.
I would say Rooney is already on the decline as a striker.. How many times has he scored 30 goals or more in a season for us? And even when we had a good midfield, Scholes and Carrick together.
Rooney has scored 170 goals in 340 appearances for us.
And he has played left wing, no 10, even DM!
If you think it is easy to find someone better, then...
Yeah he has scored that in the past. But can he good enough as a striker we wants right now? RVN scored a lot too. Maybe we should get him back.
None of your strikers did well last season. And I know the last two games has been preseason games but Rooney and Wilson hasn't impress me in them.
That's where they've got us beat. Not Fabregas as we have plenty of quality in midfield now. But Costa and Hazard are two of the best in their positions. Our options are vastly inferior in the same areas. We don't have that top attacking midfielder like hazard, or that one top centre forward like Costa.
I'm hoping maybe Rooney can bring his 09 form back and Mata his Chelsea form. Would solve a lot of issues for us.