What do we still need? Aka The never ending story

Well we needed:

CB/RB/CDM/CM/RW/ST (If Lukaku goes)

Minimum.

We have with less than four weeks to go managed to purchase:

LW/RB

Excellent.
 
The only players I think we really need are a left sided centre back and a right winger.
 
Due not clearing rotten cnuts from the squad, doubt anyone will make much difference in a long run, at start of season they might look bright but later rot will do its job.

Otherwise, think DMC is a must, proper DMC, not AML turning into DMC or similar experiments, if we get into next season with only Matic, God help us.

Asking for RW is waste of time, seems we are not able to sign one of those but if that means more minutes for Greenwood, feck it. Other positions like CB, ST, MC i am not really sure about it.
 
People seem to forget how abysmal we were most of last season. I do think Greenwood and Gomes are worth of squad places this season and more starts for sure and I do think we have made a brilliant signing in Bissaka who was my number one signing at the start of the summer.

However, though we have Tuanzabe back, its too early to tell how good he will be, we dont have a single centre back of genuine quality, proven to me by how much people seem to be rating the extremely average Lindelof.

We also have an ageing Matic, a probably still toxic and inconsistant Pogba. ALso none of the left wingers in Martial and Sanchez have proven anthing.....yes we have James, and a new contract for Mata and still Lingard probably first choice on the right.

Best case scenario we need a one centre back and an anchor man.......but the real scenario for me is all the players who as of yet are actually still here! Young, Mata, Jones with the contracts are going nowehere.....but

Rojo, Darmian, Bailly, Sanchez, Lukaku at the very least should be moved on and as of yet, only one looks even semi likely. For me we still need to sign:

TWO Centre backs - Maguire, Godfrey, Romagnoli, Upamecano, Kimpembe, Konate, Koulibailly

Anchorman - I dont trust Matic, its too soon for Garner and though I think McTominay is good in bigger games, its in front of an anchor man and Perreira certainly isnt an anchorman. Step forward the ideal signing Ascacibar, not seen enough of Longstaff to judge him

CM - Well I would rather sell Pogba and sign two but it appears he may be staying and so far only Herrera really worked as a partner with Pogba and he was just average for me anyway. Now we have McTominay as possibly the best option as he is more likely to cover for him and do the legwork but Fred I dont see working and Perreira is more a squad option for me and Gomes probably cover for Pogba. Barella was the perfect option for me, I really dont know who now I guess it may be Fernandes who I have seen very little of.

An attacking player especially as Lukaku may be off. We have talented attacking players, but all a bit of a shambles. Martial for me isnt a left winger,Rashford I am not sure is consistent enough to be the main striker or a season I would actually rather they swap round. Lingard is a good squad player and Mata/SAnchez for all there talent are pretty much nothing players. Ideally for me we would have Rashford/James opn the left Martial/Greenwood fighting it out as the striker with all the talent they have and are natural finishers I would sign a top class right winger personally, wouldnt mind Pepe but as Rashford will be up fornt and maybe Greenwood on the right more likely to be another striker.....Moise Kean would be the signing for me

So basically I still think we need to be doing 5 ins and outs, but time is telling me half of this wont even happen and we will still be short, considerably short inf act
 
For top 4:

CDM or CM able to control the game and pass: Florian Grillitsch.

CB: Left sided/footed with some pace and mobility and not Smallingesque on the ball: Nathan Ake.

RW: Left footed that can create and finish: Hakim Ziyech.
 
Also as important as getting people in - we need to get people out. The likes of Taunzebe, Chong, Gardner, Greenwood, Gomes etc should be getting squad places and getting minutes in our first team. This is not possible when we have ineffective or aging players like Darmian, Rojo, Jones, Bailly, Young, Matic, Fred, Periera, Mata, Lingard, Sanchez stinking the place up.
 
This should ALWAYS be a never ending story. Any big, well-run club should always be looking to freshen up the team each summer by upgrading on any weak links or players that have clearly passed their best. And you will ALWAYS have those issues. However, these should be minor changes if you run your football club well – 1-2 signings in a summer window.

The issue arises when you constantly seem to have 5-6 big problems within the first team, let alone the squad. Which is where United constantly seem to find ourselves in recent times. A proactive club keeps on top of this type of thing to ensure wholesale changes are never necessary in an ideal world, not accounting for things like sudden injuries.

But then, we are not a proactive club, are we?
 
We don't NEED 4 more signings as fans are mentioning, fans WANT them.

Realistically, we only need a CB and a CM this summer, we have a very big squad albeit alot who need to go but we cannot just keep signing in quantity.

We are not getting anymore than 1 max 2 more signings.
 
Ole has recently suggested he wants a fluid front 3 capable of playing multiple roles. Between Rashford, Martial, James, Greenwood, Sanchez and Chong we could be ok....but only if they’re mobile enough and intelligent enough to operate the different areas at different times. A good opportunity to see how well they’re coached

Even in more advanced midfield roles we have options Pogba, Gomes and to a lesser extent Lingard, Mata and Pereira

Its CB (hopefully Maguire) and DCM that are hugely pressing areas we need to address. I can’t abide Matic and doubt if McT is ready for a full season.

We need to clear some squad numbers as well. Darmian, Rojo and 1 of Bailly/Jones (assuming Tuanzebe stays)
 
The only players I think we really need are a left sided centre back and a right winger.
The midfield? After Pogba, our midfield consists of McTominay, Fred, Andreas Pereira, and Nemanja Matic. We play a midfield 3, so with that in mind McTominay has looked decent but is hardly a world beater or shown he's a starting caliber player, but OK let's assume he's a starter with the potential to grow into a quality player. The 3rd midfielder though is going to be somebody who isnt good enough but also doesn't balance the midfield, and none of them even have the potential to be that. No control in midfield, Pogba the only actual quality player and hes always been inconsistent, and subpar defensive coverage there. Midfielder is an absolute must, more so than a right winger considering we signed James and we have a lot of youth there.

Dream for me would be something Maguire and then either a top class #6 or #8. McTominay can be the other, but not sure yet which one he'll develop as.
 
So you don't think we need any midfielders. The area where we were outplayed most last season.

The biggest problem in midfield last year was Matic, he was rubbish. I obviously wouldn't complain if we bought a new midfielder but I also wouldn't mind if we gave Fred or McTominay a chance to claim that position. They both played well at the end of last season.
 
The biggest problem in midfield last year was Matic, he was rubbish. I obviously wouldn't complain if we bought a new midfielder but I also wouldn't mind if we gave Fred or McTominay a chance to claim that position. They both played well at the end of last season.
Neither are good enough to hold down a position yet. More games could help, but we need to replace Matic and Herrera, with Top players.
 
The midfield? After Pogba, our midfield consists of McTominay, Fred, Andreas Pereira, and Nemanja Matic. We play a midfield 3, so with that in mind McTominay has looked decent but is hardly a world beater or shown he's a starting caliber player, but OK let's assume he's a starter with the potential to grow into a quality player. The 3rd midfielder though is going to be somebody who isnt good enough but also doesn't balance the midfield, and none of them even have the potential to be that. No control in midfield, Pogba the only actual quality player and hes always been inconsistent, and subpar defensive coverage there. Midfielder is an absolute must, more so than a right winger considering we signed James and we have a lot of youth there.

Dream for me would be something Maguire and then either a top class #6 or #8. McTominay can be the other, but not sure yet which one he'll develop as.

If we play 4-3-3 next season then yes we need another midfielder.

So far in pre-season though it's been 4-2-3-1 with Pogba playing the same role as he did for France in the WC. Matic is bobbins but I was impressed enough with Fred and McTominay under Solskjaer to let them compete for that other spot.

It would be nice if James or Greenwood or Chong could solve our right wing problems but it doesn't seem realistic at all.
 
I say we still need the following but understand we won’t get them all within the space of 3 weeks as 1. It’s unrealistic & 2. We need to ship some of our deadwood out which is very unlikely to happen:

CB
LB
DM
AM
RW
ST

Think we will get a CB & CM (don’t know if it’ll be a defensive or an attacking one) in this window.
 
Neither are good enough to hold down a position yet. More games could help, but we need to replace Matic and Herrera, with Top players.

I think we are both going to be very disappointed then. I want a right winger but we aren't being linked to anyone and you want a top defensive midfielder but we are only being linked to Longstaff.
 
I think we are both going to be very disappointed then. I want a right winger but we aren't being linked to anyone and you want a top defensive midfielder but we are only being linked to Longstaff.
Yeah, most likely, mate. Still 3 weeks though and anything can happen.
 
I don't think we will get a RW option, my guess is we want Sancho and hope to get back into the top 4 next season and buy him next summer. The attacker we buy will be Bruno if it's anyone, and he'll slot in at the tip of the diamond. Obviously we'll buy a striker if Lukaku goes as Ole confirmed this but my guess is it will be a cheapy like Ben Yedder as Ole is putting all his eggs in the Rashford basket. I do feel we'll get the Maguire deal done eventually, Leicester are just going to bleed us.

Worryingly there is no signs of Sanchez going.

With the 3 additions (I don't count James as he's an extra from the championship) that leaves two holes in the line-up below, I guess McTominay, Fred and Pereira can compete for the RCM role even though I don't think any of them are really starter quality, but we must get someone for that DM role, ideally we need someone in midfield that can control a game but given this is a side built purely for top 4 then that can wait, I think the DM we need has to be dynamic and cover a lot of ground to cover for the lack of pace our CB partnership will have.


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assuming we get our new center-back and Bruno. I think we still new a classy cdm but I wouldn't deem that a massively high priority and more importantly a right winger.
 
I don't think we will get a RW option, my guess is we want Sancho and hope to get back into the top 4 next season and buy him next summer. The attacker we buy will be Bruno if it's anyone, and he'll slot in at the tip of the diamond. Obviously we'll buy a striker if Lukaku goes as Ole confirmed this but my guess is it will be a cheapy like Ben Yedder as Ole is putting all his eggs in the Rashford basket. I do feel we'll get the Maguire deal done eventually, Leicester are just going to bleed us.

Worryingly there is no signs of Sanchez going.

With the 3 additions (I don't count James as he's an extra from the championship) that leaves two holes in the line-up below, I guess McTominay, Fred and Pereira can compete for the RCM role even though I don't think any of them are really starter quality, but we must get someone for that DM role, ideally we need someone in midfield that can control a game but given this is a side built purely for top 4 then that can wait, I think the DM we need has to be dynamic and cover a lot of ground to cover for the lack of pace our CB partnership will have.


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Yes your right these 2 spots need to be filled with dynamic players.
 
Our midfield squad is severely unbalanced.
We have a lot of offensive midfielders and then Matic.
Garner is 3-4 years from being ready to play as a sole No6 in the PL.
McTominay is better further up the pitch and not a natural DM and absoultely not a No6.
Fred cant play in anything but a double pivot with a dedicated DM nxt to him.
We have lost the two midfielders that Mourinho used to replace Matic with when he did not/could not play: Herrera and Fellaini.
I am very surprised that we are being linked so much with Bruno Fernandes, being a good player and everything, but he should replace someone like Pereira in the squad. Not be added to it.
We should be in for at least one more established DM and a prospect like Longstaff. If there is not someone available in the 25ish bracket, I would consider someone like Javi Martinez or Matuidi to take some minutes of Matic for a year or two.
And this said, Matic should have been phased out this season already, but thats not gonna happen now as it seems.
DM is a much more important position than RW for example IMO.
 
I say we still need the following but understand we won’t get them all within the space of 3 weeks as 1. It’s unrealistic & 2. We need to ship some of our deadwood out which is very unlikely to happen:

CB
LB
DM
AM
RW
ST


Think we will get a CB & CM (don’t know if it’ll be a defensive or an attacking one) in this window.
Could dream in getting players in all those positions mate but I think you've made a good assessment and if we did that it would fill all our holes :drool:
 
Despite all the talk, rumour, call it what you will, we have still only signed 2 players and sold none. More importantly we have not got near to fixing the CB and midfield areas that most people are worried about and have been for several years now. I cannot see that the two signings we have made will have an immediate impact on the side although I think both are good acquisitions. AWB is certainly an improvement on Young and James looks like a good prospect. However we should be moving some of the squad on NOW to reduce the wage bill and free up some room. Looks like may even start the season with a disgruntled Lukaku on the books.

Apparently we have had lengthy negotiations for Fernandez, SMS, and have been looking at/linked with numerous other midfielders and defenders. We also appear to be in a standoff with Leicester over Harry Maguire which will reach a climax when Leicester say that time is up on the deal.

It is almost inconceivable that we will start the season in the position we are now at but still I worry. If we don't act soon it will be another 12 months before we get a chance to rectify the situation ( no value in the market in January !!! ) and prices will be higher still. Somebody needs to get a move on.
 
Personally think we need CB, CM and DMC. I am quite happy with Greenwood being giving his breakthrough season and playing on the right, Lukaku goes I think we have enough for an interchanging fluid front three with Sanchez Martial James Rashford Greenwood, I can see Chong going on loan, can see Gomes being given a breakthrough year. Plus you also have Lingard & Mata haha

If we can get Maguire over the line, go for Bruno Fernandes and buy a no nonsense DMC, would be buzzing.

RW I think Ole is happy until next year where he will make Sancho the main target and Greenwood will push Rashford for the No. 9 position.
 
Personally think we need CB, CM and DMC. I am quite happy with Greenwood being giving his breakthrough season and playing on the right, Lukaku goes I think we have enough for an interchanging fluid front three with Sanchez Martial James Rashford Greenwood, I can see Chong going on loan, can see Gomes being given a breakthrough year. Plus you also have Lingard & Mata haha

If we can get Maguire over the line, go for Bruno Fernandes and buy a no nonsense DMC, would be buzzing.

RW I think Ole is happy until next year where he will make Sancho the main target and Greenwood will push Rashford for the No. 9 position.
I would love Sancho next season as would probably a loy of people on here but what some don't realise is if he has a good season, next year he will probable get sold after the Euro's where I am predicting him to do well. Should this happen. His value will sky rocket and should he even decide he wants to come here his value will be atronomical and likely take up most of or even all our budget mate :)
 
Could dream in getting players in all those positions mate but I think you've made a good assessment and if we did that it would fill all our holes :drool:

I know mate. One can only hope! ;)

I can only see us bringing in a CB & CM in this window. Maybe a striker but reckon those two positions seem to be the priority.

Can’t see us going for a RW this summer as I think the club are hell bent on signing Jadon Sancho and can see us going all guns blazing for him next summer.

I would love to see us bring a LB in but we’ve not been linked at all to any LB this window. Probably one for next season then?
 
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I would love Sancho next season as would probably a loy of people on here but what some don't realise is if he has a good season, next year he will probable get sold after the Euro's where I am predicting him to do well. Should this happen. His value will sky rocket and should he even decide he wants to come here his value will be atronomical and likely take up most of or even all our budget mate :)

Haha yep, my worry as well mate, lets hope he has a nightmare season at Dortmund, doesn't make the Euro squad and we get him for about 50M haha, more than likely it will be 130M+ as you say, totally agree
 
I know mate. One can only hope! ;)

I can only see us bringing in a CB & CM in this window. Maybe a striker but reckon those two positions seem to be the priority.

Can’t see us going for a RW this summer as I think the club are hell bent on signing Jadon Sancho and can see us going all guns blazing for him next summer.

I would love to see us bring a LB back in but we’ve not been linked at all to any LB this window. Probably one for next season then?

Yeah I think RW and LB will be the two for next season, thats assuming we manage to get a CDM this summer as well as a CM and CB haha fingers crossed!
 
I know mate. One can only hope! ;)

I can only see us bringing in a CB & CM in this window. Maybe a striker but reckon those two positions seem to be the priority.

Can’t see us going for a RW this summer as I think the club are hell bent on signing Jadon Sancho and can see us going all guns blazing for him next summer.

I would love to see us bring a LB back in but we’ve not been linked at all to any LB this window. Probably one for next season then?
Totally agree with you whole post :) Think we might be able to get Tierney next year if Arsenal keep offering derogatory offers Celtic could well tell them to feck off. Although I would like Sancho as much as the next guy I think we will try next year but his value will increase so much. 'Hope' is a word if never used so much as I've used on this forum the last few weeks mate :lol:
 
Haha yep, my worry as well mate, lets hope he has a nightmare season at Dortmund, doesn't make the Euro squad and we get him for about 50M haha, more than likely it will be 130M+ as you say, totally agree
Really hope you're right on the first on the first part in bold :lol:. Although I think its highly unlikely we can hope mate.