What do we still need? Aka The never ending story

Nytram Shakes said:
What's the point of getting the ball forward if we struggle to finish.
Click to expand...

Generally we don't. We score a lot of goals. Mason's chance conversion is 1 in 3, Bruno's goalscoring rate is ridiculous. Rashford also scores tons of goals, and has been doing so injured.

Our issue is failing to control games for long periods. We don't exert enough pressure on lesser teams to make them crack. We have spells of 10-15 minutes in games where we're on top. But then we lose control of midfield and it all peters out. We need a better midfield.
 
croadyman said:
Yes I will admit some still have valid concerns about the goalkeeper situation as well but would put those above it
Click to expand...
My biggest and only concern about De Gea is his addiction not to venture out of the area when needed. He got Lindelof in trouble on Sunday when it was obvious De Gea should have claimed the ball. Happens too many times.
 
#07 said:
Generally we don't. We score a lot of goals. Mason's chance conversion is 1 in 3, Bruno's goalscoring rate is ridiculous. Rashford also scores tons of goals, and has been doing so injured.

Our issue is failing to control games for long periods. We don't exert enough pressure on lesser teams to make them crack. We have spells of 10-15 minutes in games where we're on top. But then we lose control of midfield and it all peters out. We need a better midfield.
Click to expand...
I don't really disagree we need a midfielder, but we have also struggled with breaking teams down, which you argue has as much to do with our attacking players.

I would also say Wolves biggest issue for the last 3 seasons has been when teams sit behind the ball, and Neves has really struggled in those games to have any real impact, so he isn't guaranteed to fix our issues. And Camavinga as good as he looks is he likely to walk into the team and be a starter .. I dunno maybe but it's not definite.

But I don't disagree we need a better balance in midfield playing 2 solid box to box type players does provide the right balance creatively or defensively, but I just think massively overspending this summer so we have no money until the summer of 2023, is a huge gamble especially when we know Cavani will likely leave, we may lose Pogba and we don't know how Greenwood is going to progress. Not to mention other issues that may come up, what happens if Wan Bissaka gets involved in a bad tackle and is sidelined for a year?

I'm much more in the camp if don't have the money, which looking at our finances and increasing debt it's reasonable to say we don't especially considering we spent 110 million already, then we shouldn't buy anyone. Clubs spending money they don't have rarely ends well.
 
Nytram Shakes said:
I don't really disagree we need a midfielder, but we have also struggled with breaking teams down, which you argue has as much to do with our attacking players.

I would also say Wolves biggest issue for the last 3 seasons has been when teams sit behind the ball, and Neves has really struggled in those games to have any real impact, so he isn't guaranteed to fix our issues. And Camavinga as good as he looks is he likely to walk into the team and be a starter .. I dunno maybe but it's not definite.

But I don't disagree we need a better balance in midfield playing 2 solid box to box type players does provide the right balance creatively or defensively, but I just think massively overspending this summer so we have no money until the summer of 2023, is a huge gamble especially when we know Cavani will likely leave, we may lose Pogba and we don't know how Greenwood is going to progress. Not to mention other issues that may come up, what happens if Wan Bissaka gets involved in a bad tackle and is sidelined for a year?

I'm much more in the camp if don't have the money, which looking at our finances and increasing debt it's reasonable to say we don't especially considering we spent 110 million already, then we shouldn't buy anyone. Clubs spending money they don't have rarely ends well.
Click to expand...

Part of the reason we struggle to break teams down is because the midfield is dysfunctional. How do you break down a team if your midfielders take five touches and then go sideways? It gives the opposition ample time to regroup, set up to defend and then you're just relying on Bruno or Pogba to do something special to break the deadlock.

We don't play with enough pace and we can't because our midfield is ponderous. Fred's mid to long range passing is erratic. Matic takes too long to make up his mind. McTominay is willing but he's not exactly Xabi Alonso or Michael Carrick. Van de Beek is a ghost.

I don't worry about replacing Pogba too much because he's playing inside left right now and Rashford will eventually want that spot. Cavani, yes, will be a loss. However, we really, really need a better midfield. I would say that Liverpool have three or four midfielders who would start in our double pivot, City the same, Chelsea the same. Its not sustainable if we want to challenge for the title.
 
With roughly 48 hours left we have 26 players to register not including Jones, we need to sell James and Lingard, loan Vdb and buy a midfielder, hopefully on loan Donny can get his value back for a sale as he's clearly not to Ole's liking.




If we have that starting line-up i think we could put in a challenge, then next season Cavani, Mata, Matic and Pogba are all going to leave on a free, and we'll need to sign another #8 and probably a striker with hopefully Amad, Hannibal and Elanga are really intergrated next season, we aren't far off now imo.
 
Personally think rebuilding this midfield with DM & CM needs to be top priority now but don't see that until at least January
 
Isn’t there anybody in the reserves or youth setup that is a specialist DM to fill in? It really takes nothing to be an upgrade on Fred at the moment. Yesterday it was almost like playing with 10 men with him in the lineup.
 
Ralph1386 said:
Isn’t there anybody in the reserves or youth setup that is a specialist DM to fill in? It really takes nothing to be an upgrade on Fred at the moment. Yesterday it was almost like playing with 10 men with him in the lineup.
Click to expand...

Yeah only having ONE proper DM in the whole squad just seems so negligent to me, PSG would never sell him in a million years but my dream midfield signing is easily Verratti and happily break the bank for him next summer
 
Just need to convince Haaland to come and play in the same team with Ronaldo and Jadon. Almost there.
 
Why in the hell this team needs Haaland? I don't understand it.

United need to aim for Rice/FDJ (this might be too ambitious, I know) and Bellingham/Barella (for example).

Still think Pogba leaves and goes to Real next year. Some players just dream about Real and there's nothing you can do about it.
 
Cannot believe we are heading into the season with Fred and Pogba as the midfield 2. Until McT comes back we are going to be shite!
 
lenny_1248 said:
Why in the hell this team needs Haaland? I don't understand it.

United need to aim for Rice/FDJ (this might be too ambitious, I know) and Bellingham/Barella (for example).

Still think Pogba leaves and goes to Real next year. Some players just dream about Real and there's nothing you can do about it.
Click to expand...
Haaland for 200 mil, then no he’s not a priority. Haaland for the 60/70 mil release clause next season then he’s a must buy. If we could get him and Rice for 120 mil next summer then it would be a great window again.
 
GBBQ said:
Haaland for 200 mil, then no he’s not a priority. Haaland for the 60/70 mil release clause next season then he’s a must buy. If we could get him and Rice for 120 mil next summer then it would be a great window again.
Click to expand...
What are we doing with Ronaldo, Sancho, Rashford, Greenwood, Haaland and then even Martial, Lingard, Elanga, Diallo, Shoretire, Pellistri. It is completely unnecessary.

Especially whilst we have no DM, Pogba is looking to leave and it remains to be seen whether de Gea/Hendo are good enough.
 
AjaxCunian said:
What are we doing with Ronaldo, Sancho, Rashford, Greenwood, Haaland and then even Martial, Lingard, Elanga, Diallo, Shoretire, Pellistri. It is completely unnecessary.

Especially whilst we have no DM, Pogba is looking to leave and it remains to be seen whether de Gea/Hendo are good enough.
Click to expand...
It’s not completely unnecessary. First of all we need a big squad to cope with 4 competitions.

I doubt martial and Lingard will be here at the start of 22/23 season and at least two of Elanga, Shoretire, Amad and pellistri will go out on loan. They won’t all make it but they could easily be sold for profit (bar Amad based on the high transfer fee).

We’ve invested in exciting young talents in all positions to remove the need to have to buy big for every position in the team but also in the knowledge we can sell some of them on eventually. If we get 4 or 5 first teamers from this current crop (which seems very doable with some of the talents coming through) and sell the rest for a profit then the model works. It shouldn’t negate the need to buy a Haaland available for a good price though.

I agree about DeGea and Henderson but I also think that with a settled defence in front of them that neither will face as many issues as they have in the past few years.
 
I am not too concerned about Pogba leaving since he is competeing with Rashford and Sancho and rarely excels in a two man midfield, and we have Hannibal and Donny as well.

Haaland is much less of a need than a world class CDM, and we cannot afford both next summer.
 
So, I'd like to see something like this hopefully:


-----C.Ronaldo------------------Haaland--------------------Jadon Sancho
-------------------------------Bruno Fernandes---------------------------------
--------------Frenkie De Jong------------Aurelien Tchouameni-----------
Luke Shaw--------Harry Maguire-------Raphael Varane-----AWB-----


You all know this is what we need! :D
 
Cathy Ferguson said:
I am not too concerned about Pogba leaving since he is competeing with Rashford and Sancho and rarely excels in a two man midfield, and we have Hannibal and Donny as well.

Haaland is much less of a need than a world class CDM, and we cannot afford both next summer.
Click to expand...

Yeah with Ronny there I would prioritise a top CDM next summer over Haaland any day of the week and of course we need to bring in a Pogba replacement when he inevitably runs down his contract, IF there is anything left then could ideally do with an attacking RB but DM & playmaking CM simply has to be the order next summer.
 
We should still go for Haaland along with a midfielder with a strong defensive game IMO. I think it would be naive to rely on a 37 year old Ronaldo to play every game next season, and Haaland for me is a must for now and the long-term.
 
Quick look for summer '22

Outs:
Mata - Free
Cavani - Free
Lingard - Free
Matic - Free

Ins:
Haaland - £65-78m, whatever his release clause is (75-90m EUR)
Rice / Ndidi - £60m (assuming Rice doesn't sign a new deal and Leicester don't improve, leading to Ndidi wanting to leave)
Another RB

Squad:

GK: DDG / Henderson
RB: AWB / New RB
CB: Varane / Lindelof / Tuanzebe
CB: Maguire / Bailly
LB: Shaw / Telles
CM: Ndidi/Rice / McT
CM: Pogba / Fred
RW: Sancho / Greenwood
AM: Bruno / DVB
LW: Rashford / Martial
ST: Haaland / Ronaldo


That's a squad that should be winning league titles and Champions Leagues.
 
Jericholyte2 said:
Quick look for summer '22

Outs:
Mata - Free
Cavani - Free
Lingard - Free
Matic - Free

Ins:
Haaland - £65-78m, whatever his release clause is (75-90m EUR)
Rice / Ndidi - £60m (assuming Rice doesn't sign a new deal and Leicester don't improve, leading to Ndidi wanting to leave)
Another RB

Squad:

GK: DDG / Henderson
RB: AWB / New RB
CB: Varane / Lindelof / Tuanzebe
CB: Maguire / Bailly
LB: Shaw / Telles
CM: Ndidi/Rice / McT
CM: Pogba / Fred
RW: Sancho / Greenwood
AM: Bruno / DVB
LW: Rashford / Martial
ST: Haaland / Ronaldo


That's a squad that should be winning league titles and Champions Leagues.
Click to expand...

What about if Pogba leaves?
 
Transfer window closed with 3 excellent signings but the midfield remains a mess and we still have too much excess. Cavani is obviously gone at the end of the season and surely we won't give Mata, Matic and Lingard another contract. Pogba will still go on a free imo, long term there's no way to consistently fit him, Rashford and Bruno in and none will be satisfied with a lot of bench time. So no money coming in there but obviously a massive reduction to the wage bill.

On the sales front I think Henderson will go and maybe Bailly who we can just replace with Axel, then the end of Donnygate will surely be upon us, there should be a good £100M for those 3 which leaves us with the below.

GK
De Gea
Heaton

CB
Varane
Maguire
Lindelof
Axel

FB
Shaw
AWB
Telles
Dalot

CM
McTominay
Fred

FW
Ronaldo
Bruno
Greenwood
Rashford
Sancho
Martial
Amad
Elanga


That leaves us looking like this.




Pretty obvious where we'll need to buy.


#6
Tchouameni
Bissouma
Rice
Ndidi

#8
Barella
Tielemans
Caqueret

Not saying all of those 6's would be on my list but I'm sure the 2 PL cloggers will be on Ole's, and I've not added Bellingham to the #8's as Dortmund won't sell him next summer as they'll balance the books with the Haaland sale.
 
We’ll need at least two midfielders and a striker next summer. You’re essentially replacing Matic, Pogba and Cavani, who will all leave. Van de Beek will be up in the air, too.

I’d expect Mata and Lingard to move on but we’d essentially replace them in-house through the academy.

A big job yet again. I’d like to think the club will attempt to get ahead in January, especially if Pogba hasn’t signed a contract. We’ll see.
 
Kag said:
We’ll need at least two midfielders and a striker next summer. You’re essentially replacing Matic, Pogba and Cavani, who will all leave. Van de Beek will be up in the air, too.

I’d expect Mata and Lingard to move on but we’d essentially replace them in-house through the academy.

A big job yet again. I’d like to think the club will attempt to get ahead in January, especially if Pogba hasn’t signed a contract. We’ll see.
Click to expand...

It Would be ideal to get one of the midfielders in January, especially if we intend to pursue Haaland as the Striker.
 
Kag said:
We’ll need at least two midfielders and a striker next summer. You’re essentially replacing Matic, Pogba and Cavani, who will all leave. Van de Beek will be up in the air, too.

I’d expect Mata and Lingard to move on but we’d essentially replace them in-house through the academy.

A big job yet again. I’d like to think the club will attempt to get ahead in January, especially if Pogba hasn’t signed a contract. We’ll see.
Click to expand...

We will have to look elsewhere than Haaland for a striker if we brought in TWO midfielders next summer because unlike City/Chelsea/PSG where money just grows on trees and is if no object we have to still balance the books
 
Jericholyte2 said:
Quick look for summer '22

Outs:
Mata - Free
Cavani - Free
Lingard - Free
Matic - Free

Ins:
Haaland - £65-78m, whatever his release clause is (75-90m EUR)
Rice / Ndidi - £60m (assuming Rice doesn't sign a new deal and Leicester don't improve, leading to Ndidi wanting to leave)
Another RB

Squad:

GK: DDG / Henderson
RB: AWB / New RB
CB: Varane / Lindelof / Tuanzebe
CB: Maguire / Bailly
LB: Shaw / Telles
CM: Ndidi/Rice / McT
CM: Pogba / Fred
RW: Sancho / Greenwood
AM: Bruno / DVB
LW: Rashford / Martial
ST: Haaland / Ronaldo


That's a squad that should be winning league titles and Champions Leagues.
Click to expand...
Almost every club in Europe will be after Haaland, not least City and he will easily cost >100m. That rules us out.

Rice wants Chelsea and Chelsea want Rice so he will be very expensive as well.

Hopefully our scouts are up to something.
 
We had a good transfer window which we spoilt in the end because we did not buy a good midfielder.
Simple as that.
 
Cathy Ferguson said:
Almost every club in Europe will be after Haaland, not least City and he will easily cost >100m. That rules us out.

Rice wants Chelsea and Chelsea want Rice so he will be very expensive as well.

Hopefully our scouts are up to something.
Click to expand...

- Haaland's release clause kicks in next summer - most reports have it at 75m EUR rising to 90m EUR if certain criteria are met. Every major club in Europe will bid the release clause and then it's up to him and Raiola as to who he joins.
- I get Rice might prefer Chelsea, but (a) we don't know if they'll bid (this is, after all, a hypothetical) and (b) if they did then I'd go for Ndidi. To be honest I'd prefer Ndidi anyway as I think he has more to his game than Rice.
 
To those who see Matic leaving on a free next summer - he signed a 2 year extension. :)
Thats CDM sorted, right?
 
dejans said:
To those who see Matic leaving on a free next summer - he signed a 2 year extension. :)
Thats CDM sorted, right?
Click to expand...

Yeah.

Seriously, though - what we need is someone who can play regularly like Matic (still, actually) does when he's on song.

That would go a long way towards sorting out our (central) midfield issues. We have several players who might do well (enough) as a CM partner for that sort of player. But as it stands, all we have are potential sidekicks to a non-existent main man in the middle of the park.
 
One of:
  1. Haaland
  2. Mbappe
  3. Kane
Haaland will cost a fortune. I don't see us getting a DM in as well, unless we sell players like Martial, Lingard and VDB. With Pogba leaving, we should go for a DM that can pass a football and isn't a pure destroyer like Ndidi. McFred really doesn't work against low blocks.

I hope DDG keeps it up and Dalot or Laird prove they're a competent RB.
 
In order of importance, according to me.

Midfield: I think a lot of people seem to have forgotten about Jude Bellingham. There wasnt a chance Dortmund were going to sell him to us this summer with selling Sancho too and maybe the lad himself felt another season in the BL would be beneficial for him. We've been in for him before and, for me, he'll definitely be somebody we're in for next season. Fits the profile of what we're looking for and is young with plenty of time for development. Has a good defensive work ethic, can carry the ball and (on the admittedly few times ive seen him) seems happy to recycle the ball quickly and usually forwards.

Right Back: We'll still be looking for a rightback, but Trippier will be 31 next summer so it's not going to be him, so i'd guess we'll start to hear rumours on that in the next couple of months. If somebody emerges i could see us addressing that position in the January market. No idea currently who, but a new rightback will probably be more instrumental in getting the right side of our attack working than the signing of Sancho will be. I liked Hakimi when he was at Dortmund and we missed a trick twice allowing him to go to inter and PSG without putting a bid in for him. He's now unavailable, but if w're looking for a RB to rotate with AWB who offers something different, lets focus on somebody who offers a real attacking threat, rather than a Dalot who is a bit of a compromise.

GK: We need one of these in the Schmeichel/VdS mould. Somebody who can come out, claim a cross and start a quick counter. But primarily somebody who commands his box and organises the defence in front of him. Dave, as great as he has been for us, is one of the main culprits for why we concede so many goals from dead ball situations. Getting a set piece coach in will have helped with that, but a talkative keeper who organises the box will be the final bit of sorting that and hopefully adding more goal threat on the counter for us. I used to love big Pete's mammoth throws up towards and past the half way line.

Striker: Haaland will be a possibility, but given how Greenwood has started the season, it's possible we wont need him or another striker. We only play with one, and Ronnie/Greenwood should be ok cover in that position until 2023. Not sure how we'd accommodate Ronaldo/Greenwood/Haaland in that one position and Haaland's not a dead cert to carry over his form to the PL, whilst his transfer fee is fixed his salary expectations & associated costs are eye watering. Not sure we need a striker, but depends on how greenwood does.
 
BuzzKillington said:
In order of importance, according to me.

Midfield: I think a lot of people seem to have forgotten about Jude Bellingham. There wasnt a chance Dortmund were going to sell him to us this summer with selling Sancho too and maybe the lad himself felt another season in the BL would be beneficial for him. We've been in for him before and, for me, he'll definitely be somebody we're in for next season. Fits the profile of what we're looking for and is young with plenty of time for development. Has a good defensive work ethic, can carry the ball and (on the admittedly few times ive seen him) seems happy to recycle the ball quickly and usually forwards.
Click to expand...

Fantastic young player but Dortmund wont sell him and Haaland in the same summer.
 
Within the next 12 months…

In:

Kessie - FREE (just rejected a contract from AC)
Trippier - 20m
Haaland - 65m
Tchouameni or Rice - £35m or £65m

Out:

Fred - 30m / Loan to buy
Pogba - FREE
Lingard - FREE
Dalot - 15m
Martial - 40m / Loan to buy
Pereira - 5m
Bailly - 10m


Seems feasible, and with the youngsters coming through like Hannibal, Amad etc and getting another years experience, I think we still have decent depth.
 
I’d honestly rather we had a window of Rice/Tchouameni and Bellingham then Haaland.
 
With Pogba talking highly of Tchouameni and Romano saying we are interested in Tielemans I'd be happy to see us start the 22/23 season with this line up.


 
Devil may care said:
With Pogba talking highly of Tchouameni and Romano saying we are interested in Tielemans I'd be happy to see us start the 22/23 season with this line up.
Click to expand...

I think whichever midfielder we sign will be playing next to McTominay, he'll be given a more attacking box to box role when we get the right partner for him. I am pretty sure that McTominay will be a mainstay in the team for as long as Ole is here.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.