He's a baller but he plays exactly like Bruno. High volume creater from anywhere on the pitch. I think it would be overkill to have both of them on the pitch together.
What do we still need? Aka The never ending story
- Thread starter Devil may care
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He's 99th percentile for progressive carries though, and 90th for shots created after take-ons so looks like he can dribble and beat players in a way Bruno doesn't?
With Bruno playing deeper and a more cultured sort of role, being a bit more careful with the ball these days it could maybe work? United are crying out for creative ball carriers in those #10 positions.
For the last couple of season our biggest issue has been our pitiful attack. The problem is a lot of fans are incredibly invested in both Garnacho and Rasmus. however if they're starting next season and play like they have this we will still not be scoring and struggling in the bottom half.
I'd leave Bruno next to ugarte, have amad rwb and bring in an attacker. Cherki could be wildcard or even arda gulan as he's not getting enough minutes in madrid. In an ideal world we could bring in 2 quality 19s and a quality striker but we obviously can't afford that
I'd leave Bruno next to ugarte, have amad rwb and bring in an attacker. Cherki could be wildcard or even arda gulan as he's not getting enough minutes in madrid. In an ideal world we could bring in 2 quality 19s and a quality striker but we obviously can't afford that
Fbref compares him to midfielders because he starts as the left midfielder in a 4-4-2. Compared to Att. Mid. he's slightly below average in progressive carries and take-ons. He is the better dribbler compared to Bruno but I wouldn't call it a strength while it's also not a weakness. I actually find it crazy how similar they are. Looks, physical build, ball striking, style of play.
Bring him here if Amorim can make it work. I'm just not sure.
Preach it, brother. Bruno was the obvious case of how buying a good attacking player could immediately transform United, when Ole was here. No more bullshit about prioritizing CB or midfielder or other positions.
Unless of course if we have a chance to sign player in Xavi or Modric class. Which we won’t.
Still not entirely sure what Bruno’s long term position is whether one of the 10s or CM.
The reports coming out that we will only get a central midfielder if Casemiro is sold suggests to me that Bruno will keep playing CM come next season. While I like how he dictates play from deep, his lack of defensive ability makes our midfield easy to bypass for any decent ball carrier
The reports coming out that we will only get a central midfielder if Casemiro is sold suggests to me that Bruno will keep playing CM come next season. While I like how he dictates play from deep, his lack of defensive ability makes our midfield easy to bypass for any decent ball carrier
Playing Bruno as CM works when you have three young mobile physical Centre Backs. And Ugarte/Collyer have the lungs and legs to sweep up, he’s much better in a deeper position dictating the play and not being as wasteful with the ball in more advanced positions. If he can still get 15 Goals and 15 Assists from a deeper CM position and we add a 10/SS and a genuine number 9 like Semenyo/Brian Mbeumo and V Osimhen/V Gykores, the team automatically adds 20 PL goals to the squad in a 38 game season and 65-75 PL goals gets you in the CL top 4 as the defence should be only conceding 32-37 goals next season.
Bruno is better in midfield as he has the whole game in front of him which he loves so he can play his Hollywood passes and use the pace of others in front of him, as long as he has Ugarte or someone with great ball winning ability and stamina Bruno is better there than as a 10.
Must be bullshit surely.
If he wants to go they really need to sell him this summer given his contract situation, and nobody is gonna pay north of half that for a player who's flashed potentially but not much more.
I do wonder how much he will actually press for a move though given what happened when he went to Chelsea. We always assume players will want the biggest move possible, but maybe he's just one who enjoys playing in a comfortable surrounding and with a bit less pressure.
Must be bullshit surely.
If he wants to go they really need to sell him this summer given his contract situation, and nobody is gonna pay north of half that for a player who's flashed potentially but not much more.
I do wonder how much he will actually press for a move though given what happened when he went to Chelsea. We always assume players will want the biggest move possible, but maybe he's just one who enjoys playing in a comfortable surrounding and with a bit less pressure.
I really need what those journalists are smoking...
Whilst Dibling may be a good talent, there has been nothing this season to suggest his fee should be anymore than 30/40m. His output isn't good enough to warrant such a fee, its only that because of the hype.
Give it a season, his fee will be 20m.
His off field issues need to be considered, no point spending money on a player who in a few months becomes home sick, then we will loan him back to Southampton.
This makes no sense. Even if we are not in Europe we still need to get into Europe. The squad size is still the same whether we are in Europe or not just that they will do less work but its not as if we only need 12 players. Going from 15th to 4th/5th is going to take some doing and its not the numbers we need but the quality. Why has everyone just given up and accepted to be sht. Yes we have been sht or 12 years but at least we spent money and tried. Now everyone doesnt even want to do that. It should be the complete opposite. When you fail spectacularly then you spend money to get back. If Real/Bayern etc came 5th never mind 15th what do you think the response would be? Save cash and buy a load of budget 18 year olds? I think not. No big team would fail to respond. And Im not having this we have no money. Find it. Rashford 40, Sancho 25, Antony - 25 etc we can sell 100 mill easily. Spend 200 net 100. That is a minimum any big club would do to react to a poor season. If Ineos cant do this then they need to get the fk out.
If you have European football, you have to rotate more. Players get more injuries, and you have less a starting 11 and more a group of 16ish players who could all start.
With no European football, you just have 1 game a week, so you really don't need much depth. Too much depth leads to players being unhappy with playing time and a decrease in squad morale. You basically never have to rotate as fatigue doesn't really become a thing over the season.
You can't just say "spend money, we are shit". The money needs to come from somewhere, and if you aren't in Europe, you have less of it to spend. Hopes and dreams to say we'll get that much from sales rather than just loans and fake obligations to sign. So you prioritize key areas and look at what you can actually handle and defer some signings until future years.
And besides, a striker like osimhen makes a massive difference, and a more settled group gets us to a point where we can compete for that top 5 group
Actually this post makes not sense. If you have no Europe means you play 1 game a week, less rotation, less injuries, less fatigue.. If you take away 20 odd games in the season, it doesn't take a genius to work out that a smaller squad will suffice.
Real and Bayern operate in a league where they could have the same season we do and finish 3rd... comparing leagues doesn't work, they are 3 different leagues.
Regards money, real life football is not football manager where you transfer list a player for the figures you want and a buyer turns up...
Throwing money on players wouldn't automatically fix us, buying players, which we have in the past is a lesson, its not going to fix things.
Have you seen our injuries? 16 players would fk us and we wont get Europe next season. I can just say spend money. Thats just a fact. Either we accept we are a mid table sht team or we start acting like a big team. Its either or. Which one are we? There are top people in our team Barada, Wilcox etc whos job is to get this done. Either sell for decent fees and generate money or Sir Jim and the Glazers need to put money in the kitty out of their own pockets. If they really wanted to they would do it then they would figure it our easily. Its not a question of can they do it its a question of do they want to do it. What do you think the Real fans would accept in this situation and just say oh well we are not in Europe so lets spend less? Nope. There would be a riot. So why do United fans just accept it.
So you are saying that the top teams Real, Bayern etc would act like this in our situation? I'm 100 percent sure they wouldn't. Just because spending in the past has not fixed us it doesn't mean we should stop spending money. That makes no sense. It just means we should spend money better not just stop spending. No team in the history of football bar Leicester have succeeded on a budget. Man City failing this year - what did they do? Spend a sht load in January and probably in summer. Are all the other teams spending cash wrong and we are they wise ones doing it on a budget?
Yes, I am saying that. Go have a look at the net spend for Madrid, City, Bayern over the last 10 years compared to us... then look at the trophies won.. you will see its not most net spend = most trophies.
I tell you why... City were arrogant and decided they can sell Alvarez and the like without replacing him... again go have a look at their net spend.
Your squad is bigger than 16 but you have 16 main players usually. Them you have a group of around 6 who are a bit more fringe players and then a couple fringe youngsters and that's how you get a squad of 25. Nobody has 25 senior prime level players, it doesn't work due to the spread of minutes and is too expensive anyway.
If you're cutting 15 games from a season, it's literally common sense that you need fewer players. You're reducing your total games by 25% if not more. Fewer fixtures, fewer injuries, less rotation, smaller squad.
Also... We aren't real Madrid. So stop comparing us to teams like that. You can't just buy endless players and spend money that you don't have and the regulations don't permit us to spend. You are saying we need to do the same shit that got us into this mess and what ended up being a waste of a billion pounds over 10 years. No, we can't and we shouldn't spend beyond our means just because we are currently shit. Going to take a bit of time to get the finances in order, move on some players who are on big wages, become a more attractive club for players and work our way up. It doesn't take much to become a top 5 level club anyway, and getting the right striker is signing wise honestly all we should need, for 1 year at least. Much more difficult to stay in it and build on that, but the 1 year bounce up in there when you don't have fixture congestion isn't that hard.
Everyone does it on a budget. Our budget is just shit since we wasted a shit ton without ever doing much in sales, so we need to get it in order before we can just spend big again. Barca literally mortgaged their future income to spend on shot transfers and are in constant court cases and can't register new signings, which is idiotic. Real Madrid over the past 5 or so years really don't spend much. Liverpool have worked their way up by spending smartly and within their means, same with Arsenal.
A club who has its shit together is able to spend big when they want to, if there is a player worth it. They don't just blow the whole budget and beyond so that they can't sign a player who is on the list because they ran out of money. That's our current state, and we need to stop the cycle.
Net spend means nothing. Its just an indication that we spent worse than they did and sold worse than they did. It dos not mean that spending money is a bad idea. They all spent a sht load of money. If you really want to check net spend. See as a whole where teams are that spend more compared to teams that spend less. If you can do it without money Ipswich et would win the league
So if we are not Real Madrid, Bayern level then who are we? Brighton? This is the standards of our fans now?
Barca did everything they could do to remain a big club. It is exactly what Im saying. They know that their brand means everything. If it was Ineos in charge they would have sold all the best players, sacked the staff, cancelled Christmas and languished in 10th for 5 plus seasons.
And Im not saying spend like idiots like we always have done. Im saying do everything you can to at least get us competing for 4th. Not in 5 years. Next season. If we can get 4th on 20 quid Im all for it. But I presume it will take a 70 mill striker, a 35 plus mill right back, a 50 mill midfielder and then a CB or number 10 depending on circumstances. If it takes 200 mill then find the money. We have to have standards and finishing 8th then 15th and then next year what 8th-10th? is not acceptable and should not be for any Man Utd fan
Yes because this is how football works
Barca actually just threw a shit ton of money away on mediocre players and the players who have gotten them to being a quality team again they just developed and would have gotten without doing all this shit. Which is my point.
So, you spend money = win the league... Spurs have spend sh*t loads of money, Newcastle, Manutd, Chelsea in the last 4-5 years, how many of them have won the league?
Liverpool spent 15m in the summer and are about to win the league...
All the above wipe out the logic that net spend means nothing.... I have not stated that you don't need to spend money... its kind of obvious you do because everyone does.
Your logic that spend the most = win the most is not true...
We have spent the top 5 most money in the league in the last 4/5 years and we are 15th...
When did I say spend the most = win the league?
Its about the attitude and the focus of the management team. Sure they have fkd up as well but at least they are trying. For the last 12 years we have been a joke but at least we tried and at least we spent money. Now we are saying we wont even do that. We have just given up and just accepting we are Brighton
Well you have said only way to win is to spend.... Liverpool showing you that you can win the league by spending 12m.
they did though. They spent in previous seasons. If they had the same net spend as Ipswich the last 10 years they wouldn't be winning the league this year that's for certain
Oh right, so the goal post moves, you have to spend for 10 years consecutively to win the league... fair enough.
I have never even said anything about winning the league so I didnt even set the goalposts in the first place. All I said was that we cannot be 15th and not respond to our worst season in history and accept another season not competing for the top 4 places. To do that I think we would need to spend money. Maybe Im wrong and we can just do it on a 12 million net spend like Liverpool but I doubt it
Okay... but using your logic... we spend money every season, we will spend money this summer as well. So what's the issue?
No. We are hopefully spending smartly and getting our shit in order so we can get back to a good place, even if it means a slightly slower rise back to the top. Because you aren't getting back up there without this
This is the thing, people think you have to spend bucket loads to win.. you can do it with clever spending. We look like we get it now, buy smarter rather than bigger.
For example, if we spent £80 on 2 players instead of Antony, some would say our squad would be better. So its not like we are going to be spending less, we just wont be spending ridiculous money on one player.
Instead of buying wingers that cant play, buy cheaper wingers who can improve.
Under Arnold or the like, we would go spend 60/70m on Kerkez, Ait Nouri in January with 200k wages or go all out getting Davies... but instead we opted for a cost effective Dorgu.
You can go either route. Our issue was we were spending big on unproven players. If you spend big, it better be on a proven player. If they are unproven, have to make sure they are on the cheaper side.
Rather than spending 70m on Hojlunds and another 35m on Zirkzee... Buy Osimhen for that bit extra. It's more of a guarantee and you always need some positions to be set with prime level players, especially CF.
The type of players who are actually worth 50m+ shouldn't want to play for us right now. If we're spending north of 50m then something has gone wrong.
In an ideal world:
GK Chevallier – Bayindir
LB Dorgu – Leon – Amass
LCB Martinez – Heaven - Kukonki
CB Oumar Solet – DeLigt – Maguire
RCB Yoro – Mazouroui
RB Vanderson – Roger Fernandes
DM Baleba – Ugarte - Collyer
AM Fernandes – Mainoo – Jack Fletcher
LW Mastantuono - ZIrkzee
RW Cherki - Amad
ST Ekitike - Hoijlund
Out
Onana
Shaw
Malacia
Dalot
Mount
Casemiro
Garnacho
Anthony
Sancho
Rashford
GK Chevallier – Bayindir
LB Dorgu – Leon – Amass
LCB Martinez – Heaven - Kukonki
CB Oumar Solet – DeLigt – Maguire
RCB Yoro – Mazouroui
RB Vanderson – Roger Fernandes
DM Baleba – Ugarte - Collyer
AM Fernandes – Mainoo – Jack Fletcher
LW Mastantuono - ZIrkzee
RW Cherki - Amad
ST Ekitike - Hoijlund
Out
Onana
Shaw
Malacia
Dalot
Mount
Casemiro
Garnacho
Anthony
Sancho
Rashford
So I've posted in the Hidden Gems thread that United should be seriously looking at signing Kevin Lopes who plays as a left winger for Shakthar Donesk and over the last number of months my conviction has only gotten stronger. I work in football data/analytics and to me he's by far the most standout option for United at the left 10 given his profile of age/ability/availability and potential. He's already better than any winger United have on the books and that's including Rashford/Sancho/Antony etc
I've spent the last couple of days watching all of his champions league games for Shakthar and made a compilation of his play, unfortunately I couldn't find the game vs Arsenal as this was copyrighted but opponents are: Bayern/PSV/Brest/Young Boys/Atalanta/Dortmund. I've tried to pick clips that highlight every area of his game from pressing opposition defenders, receiving the ball into space/running behind defensive line, receiving the ball into feet and taking on defenders, crossing left foot and right as well as goal scoring.
I know some posters will say anyone can look good in a highlight reel but bear in mind that the entire reel is taken from just 6 games and statistically he's incredibly impressive.
He's the #1 dribbler in the champions league this season with 5.1 per game, for comparison Garnacho averages 1.3 while Rashford is 1.6. Most elite level dribblers complete around 50%+ of dribble attempts (general guideline in analytics) Doku who is the best dribbler in the premier league averages 52%, Kevin is 59%. For comparison Garnacho is 33% and Rashford is 40%
In the Ukrainian league he has averaged 6.4 dribbles per game, Willian averaged 3.5 when he played for Shakhtar and Douglas Costa averaged 4.
He's 99th percentile for: Goals, Successful take ons, Carries into penalty area/progressive carries/non penalty goals
90+ percentile for: Goals+ assists, Through balls, crosses into penalty area, progressive carrying distance, shots on target/fouls drawn.
United rank 19th in the premier league from chances created from take ons. We went from being an average side in this department with Rashford/Sancho etc to a relegation level team. Which is a large part of why we struggle so badly to score goals and why our strikers have such poor returns.
It simply won't be possible to replicate Amorim's Sporting style without at least 1 winger with this type of profile because that team had the #1 and #2 most creative forwards in Portugal playing alongside Gyokeres. With Rashford/Sancho and Antony all gone and none expected to return this position has to be priority #1 for United, and Kevin is an exceptional talent who would be a massive addition to any top team in Europe.
Take a look and let me know what you think.
I've spent the last couple of days watching all of his champions league games for Shakthar and made a compilation of his play, unfortunately I couldn't find the game vs Arsenal as this was copyrighted but opponents are: Bayern/PSV/Brest/Young Boys/Atalanta/Dortmund. I've tried to pick clips that highlight every area of his game from pressing opposition defenders, receiving the ball into space/running behind defensive line, receiving the ball into feet and taking on defenders, crossing left foot and right as well as goal scoring.
I know some posters will say anyone can look good in a highlight reel but bear in mind that the entire reel is taken from just 6 games and statistically he's incredibly impressive.
He's the #1 dribbler in the champions league this season with 5.1 per game, for comparison Garnacho averages 1.3 while Rashford is 1.6. Most elite level dribblers complete around 50%+ of dribble attempts (general guideline in analytics) Doku who is the best dribbler in the premier league averages 52%, Kevin is 59%. For comparison Garnacho is 33% and Rashford is 40%
In the Ukrainian league he has averaged 6.4 dribbles per game, Willian averaged 3.5 when he played for Shakhtar and Douglas Costa averaged 4.
He's 99th percentile for: Goals, Successful take ons, Carries into penalty area/progressive carries/non penalty goals
90+ percentile for: Goals+ assists, Through balls, crosses into penalty area, progressive carrying distance, shots on target/fouls drawn.
United rank 19th in the premier league from chances created from take ons. We went from being an average side in this department with Rashford/Sancho etc to a relegation level team. Which is a large part of why we struggle so badly to score goals and why our strikers have such poor returns.
It simply won't be possible to replicate Amorim's Sporting style without at least 1 winger with this type of profile because that team had the #1 and #2 most creative forwards in Portugal playing alongside Gyokeres. With Rashford/Sancho and Antony all gone and none expected to return this position has to be priority #1 for United, and Kevin is an exceptional talent who would be a massive addition to any top team in Europe.
Take a look and let me know what you think.
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ooo, ooo, I know this one: is the answer "pretty much everything"?
Outside of Bruno, Yoro, Dorgu, Mainoo I'd honestly say 7 new players if we want to be challenging for league titles again. Anyway team I'd like next season.
FC - Oshimen
AM - Bruno
AM - Cunha
CM - Mainoo
CM - Baleba
CB - Murillo
CB - Yoro
CB - Martinez
LWB - Dorgu
RWB - Jeremie Frimpong
GK - Onana
Subs - De Light, Heaven, Shaw, Dalot, Mazroui, Garnacho, Diallo, Zirkzee, Ugarte, Collyer,
Doubt we'll get Oshiman(Perhaps Hojlund swap), Cunha, Beleba, Murillo, Frimpong all one window anyway unless we get firm bids for Casmeiro(saudi), Rashford(40), Anthony (30), Maguire(10), Mount(15).
Could we get Cunha(40), Beleba(70), Murillo(40), Frimpong(45) all in one windows. Possibly.
I'd probably be happy with Frimpong, Oshiman and Cunha in all honesty. If we could pull that off be very happy.
FC - Oshimen
AM - Bruno
AM - Cunha
CM - Mainoo
CM - Baleba
CB - Murillo
CB - Yoro
CB - Martinez
LWB - Dorgu
RWB - Jeremie Frimpong
GK - Onana
Subs - De Light, Heaven, Shaw, Dalot, Mazroui, Garnacho, Diallo, Zirkzee, Ugarte, Collyer,
Doubt we'll get Oshiman(Perhaps Hojlund swap), Cunha, Beleba, Murillo, Frimpong all one window anyway unless we get firm bids for Casmeiro(saudi), Rashford(40), Anthony (30), Maguire(10), Mount(15).
Could we get Cunha(40), Beleba(70), Murillo(40), Frimpong(45) all in one windows. Possibly.
I'd probably be happy with Frimpong, Oshiman and Cunha in all honesty. If we could pull that off be very happy.
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