What do we still need? Aka The never ending story

I keep thinking about this a lot and I would actually be OK for next season if we only signed Sancho and then did some smaller business for the future like Bellingham - assuming we keep Pogba, otherwise I think we'd need to invest some of that money on a midfield player. We're obviously not massively blessed at CB, but I would be fine with trying Lindelof, Bailly, and Tuanzebe next to Maguire in the coming season to see if any of them can really cement that place. Again at Left Back, I'd give Shaw & Williams another full season to battle it out. We can generate decent money to keep some in reserve for future signings with the likely departures to happen over the next few windows, so getting Sancho with our usual budget should be pretty straightforward assuming the clubs involved want to do the business and he actually does want to come here.

Here's how I am thinking our squad could be next term:

GK: de Gea, Romero, Grant
FB: Wan-Bissaka, Shaw, Dalot, Williams
CB: Maguire, Lindelof, Tuanzebe, Bailly, Jones
MF: McTominay, Fred, Matic
AM: Fernandes, Pogba, Mata, Lingard, Andreas
FW: Rashford, Martial, Sancho, James, Ighalo, Greenwood

Greenwood & Williams don't need to be registered, neither would Chong or Gomes depending what happens there. We'd have four promising goalkeepers on loan and might loan out some more players. So, there is room for at least one additional player assuming we sell all of Sanchez, Smalling, and Rojo. We obviously might sell some of the above players, I have said previously that come the end of the 21/22 season I don't expect Grant, Jones, Matic, Mata, Lingard, Andreas & obviously Ighalo to be there and there's always going to be the discussion around Pogba. That is the kind of thing that would fit our usual transfer pattern under Fergie with 2-4 changes per season for example if we phased out the aforementioned players.

But yeah, for next season unless there is a bigger exodus than I expect (four players leaving at most), I only think we'll sign two or three players if we get the big transfer done and I think that will be enough to meet the target I assume has been set (finish in the top four).
 
King Andow said:
First one looks neat. I'm a fan of Guimarães' game for some time and wanted him before the Lyon move. Maybe it's unrealistic but he would definitely be my first option for that role too. Sancho and him would be great business.

GK: De Gea, Romero, Grant/Bishop
RB: AWB, Dalot
LB: Williams, Shaw
CB: Maguire, Lindelöf, Bailly, Tuanzebe, Mengi
CDM: Guimarães, Matic
CM: Pogba, Fred, McTominay
CAM: Fernandes, Gomes
RW: Sancho, (Greenwood), (James)
LW: Rashford, (Sancho), James
ST: Martial, Greenwood, Ighalo

- Kids like Devine, Puigmal, Traore and Mejbri could be options for rotation on easy cup ties and in an injury crisis, always good to see more of the youngsters.
- I'd look to sell (they're not going all in one window but still): Joel Pereira, Bernard, Jones, Rojo, Smalling, Pereira, Lingard, Mata and Sanchez
and...
Loan To EPL:
Henderson (extend);
To Championship or another competitive league where they get to play:
Kovar, Laird, Fosu-Mensah, Garner, Galbraith, Levitt, Chong and Ramazani.

- Would give a chance to Dalot, Bailly and Tuanzebe to establish themselves, in case they fail buy an experienced RB like Stefan Lainer and a CB better than Lindelöf and Maguire. I hope Gomes extends, the talent is there, I'm curious to see what he can do at this level, playing in his natural position and around good teammates. A proven backup/competition for Bruno wouldn't hurt though (wanted Dani Olmo before), same with a left-footed RW like Ferran Torres.
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I definitely want to see if Bailly or Axel can stake a claim for spot pertnering Maguire, they both have attributes that compliment what he brings but they need to establish themselves next season IMO. Dalot is an interesting one, there are flashes of his potential but not sure where he fits in long term.

If Gomes stays and we get Sancho I would hold off on a Bruno cover and give Gomes those games as I think M<ata will still be here as well.
 
Szoboszlai would be a perfect signing. Could play the 8, the 10 and LW. He would be the cover for Pogba and Fernandes. At moment he is destroying the Austrian Bundesliga for Salzburg at 19. 5 assists and 4 goals in 3 matches. His free kicks & corners are a weapon. His body is made for the PL and he is used to work as every Salzburg player. At the moment Milan and Napoli are sniffing around. But this should not be a problem for United as he is available for just about 20 millions. Rose and Marsch see Szoboszlai and Haaland on the same level. So he should be a good investment.

Upamecano is a greatplayer but needs to use his brain more often. So much potential not so much intelligence on the field but intelligence is not the most important for footballers, or? Still he would be a great singing...

For me a DM is the nr. 2 priority, pressing and "Gegenpressing" need active and mobile DM, Matic does not provide this.
 
I think we have a decent squad. A squad that can actually get into the top 4 easily next season. The recoveries of Pogba and Rashford will help a lot but what concerns me a lot is when we have do have injuries next season, we need decent players to cover those areas. Say Sancho comes in and plays as a RW and we get a striker like Werner, James and Martial can cover for them. What worries me the most is, Martial needs to play every match and also we need to develop Greenwood and nothing more helps a player in development than actually going out there in a league, cup or CL match and facing the challenges as they come. Right now i see James, Periera, Lingard, Mata, Dalot, Jones and players as such as players who cover for the actual playing XI but when an injury occurs in any part of the pitch, can they help the team win a title. Well! i don's think so. Maybe James will work out his ways during his time at Man Utd and Mata will be himself and beautiful till his contract ends but i do not believe Lingard, Pereira, Jones are United quality players and i hope Ole finds a way to offload them in the near future. Forgot to mention Dalot, he's a great player but still in the making and needs time plus he has amazing competition in Wan Bissaka. I'm sure he'll learn a lot and improve immensely. What i'm trying to say is, we need 3-4 players who can give this team a different style or a different formation change when called upon. Hernandes comes to mind when i think of impact subs. Ole himself of course. Ighalo is good but he's not here for long. Greenwood can give us that change but somewhere down the line, he's a definite starter. So for now, we need Sancho, Van de Beek and we're good. Matic has to go too. Fred and Mctominay are good enough as DMs. Pogba, Bruno, Mata and Van De Beek should be good enough as #8s and we need to get rid of the rest.
 
I don't think we need much. The first XI and bench for Spurs is going to be the strongest we've had since Ferguson (IMO), so the question for me is where are the positions that can most obviously be improved. Obviously we will suffer from injuries, but look at tomorrows match squad and the following players probably won't figure:

Jones
Tuanzebe
Dalot
Lingard
Pereira
Mata

Plus the loanees Smalling, Sanchez, Rojo, Henderson

Im probably missing a player or two, and I'm not listing the youth players such as Garner, Chong, Gomes etc, but the point is we still have some surplus here we could do with shifting.

For me RW (Sancho) is the really obvious position. I like James a lot, but he is young and we need competition there. That aside I would prefer that we just concentrate on scooping up some of the promising youth out there such as the likes of Bellingham. This should be a summer of going all-in on Sancho and blowing any competition out of the water. Theres no need for a massive net spend. That can and should come next summer.
 
Resch said:
Szoboszlai would be a perfect signing. Could play the 8, the 10 and LW. He would be the cover for Pogba and Fernandes. At moment he is destroying the Austrian Bundesliga for Salzburg at 19. 5 assists and 4 goals in 3 matches. His free kicks & corners are a weapon. His body is made for the PL and he is used to work as every Salzburg player. At the moment Milan and Napoli are sniffing around. But this should not be a problem for United as he is available for just about 20 millions. Rose and Marsch see Szoboszlai and Haaland on the same level. So he should be a good investment.

Upamecano is a greatplayer but needs to use his brain more often. So much potential not so much intelligence on the field but intelligence is not the most important for footballers, or? Still he would be a great singing...

For me a DM is the nr. 2 priority, pressing and "Gegenpressing" need active and mobile DM, Matic does not provide this.
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Totally convinced now that Ole is definitely not interested in signing a DM
 
What we need is to sell players, This is the list of players who will be on our first team books next season as it stands:
De Gea/Henderson/Romero/Grant
Wan Bissaka/Dalot, Lindelof/Smalling/Jones, Maguire/Tuanzebe, Williams/Shaw
Fernandes/Periera, Mctominay/Matic, Pogba/Fred
James/Mata, Martial/Greenwood/Ighalo, Rashford/Sanchez​
That's even without listing youth players.
Who of those are we going to get offers for in the current climate? Henderson? Smalling? even if they both left we wouldn't need to replace them,
 
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If we are talking about a title challenging side, sorry I disagree that we dont really need much.

DeGea has been a very good keeper for us, but tonights mistake is one of many since his world cup howlers. Actually starting to have doubts over him. Romero has been fantastic and we have Dean Henderson so dont need to sign a keeper, but do we gve him one more year considering how good he has been over the years or consider a sale?

Luke Shaw - I actually like him and think he has been overly criticised and again we have Brandon Wlliams who looks a real prospect. But Shaw seems to get caught cutting inside far too much defensively and leaving space behind him and though he has been ok since the horrific injury he has only really had the 2months before it where he has looked like the plaer we thought he could become.

Centre Back - We have thrown a fair chunk of money at this position over the last few years and are still short. Maguire is a good centre back but certainly not a great one, he can get caught on the turn a bit like Vidic used to, difference was he had a great partner in Ferdinand to cover for this an dhis other weaknesses and vice versa. We just dont have that partner for Maguire to actually make him a better defender yet from evidence. Smalling, Rojo and JOnes need to go obviously. So does Lindelof for me, he is so so average overall and so weak in other areas, he just isnt a United player at all for me nd its only the injury problems of Tuanzabe and also Bailly an dhis inconsistency that is getting Lindelof games. I actually like Bailly and Tuanzabe but the injuries are a concern. We do have Menghi coming through but we definately need a centre back signing.

Central Midfield - McTominay is great at breaking up play but weak distributing the ball, Fred has become decent but is little more, you can see the difference in quality when Pogba came on this evening but of course there are loads of other questions to ask about Pogba. Perreira hasnt really delivered and it is still early days with Fernandes as good as he has been so far and I think he will continue to be (But DiMaria and Veron started off well lets not forget). Matic we need to see if the legs have gone or not but is certainly a good squad option for next season anyway. But I am still not convinced we have the right box to box midfielder or defensive one, we certainly need at laest one midfield addition.

Wingers - Mata just isnt winger, Chong I am not convinced by, James is nowehere near good enough for a squad place let alone starting, Lingard has never been anymore than a squad player, Greenwood is hugely talented but not a wide player for me and Rashford is very talented and makes things happen....but lets be honest, he is over rated, future "Ballon D'Or" winner, never.

Strikers - i have high hopes of course for Greenwood, Martial drives me insane though, talented but just doesnt do enough and Ighalo is just a short term option.

For me we have a huge squad and a few genuinely promising youngsters coming and to come through as well, but as it stands in terms of a title challenging first eleven, we are at least four players short in my opinion and our squad has 9/10 players in it that for me are just not good enough or should be moved on for other reasons.

If we were to sign Sancho and one other maybe as some suggest, we will of course be in a better position....but I still feel we would be challenging for the top four rather than making any sort of title challenge. Here is hoping the remaining fixture list enables us to sneak in to the top four as we have the easiest run in on paper at least now as we only have Leicester and SHeffield United to play, the others have to pretty much all play each other and/or City/Liverpool.

Personally I hope for Grealish, Sancho and Upamecano but we are probably talking north of £200m which is only happenign if we sell several players mentioned above or Pogba
 
Nytram Shakes said:
What we need is to sell players, This is the list of players who will be on our first team books next season as it stands:
De Gea/Henderson/Romero/Grant
Wan Bissaka/Dalot, Lindelof/Smalling/Jones, Maguire/Tuanzebe, Williams/Shaw
Fernandes/Periera, Mctominay/Matic, Pogba/Fred
James/Mata, Martial/Greenwood/Ighalo, Rashford/Sanchez​
That's even without listing youth players.
Who of those are we going to get offers for in the current climate? Henderson? Smalling? even if they both left we wouldn't need to replace them,
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Well the current climate is the main sticking point, but with some of the youth talents we have not far away if there were intersted parties in all honesty there are reasons to consider selling many of them, wuthout saying why....

DeGea, Grant, Dalot, Lindelof, Smalling, jones, Perreira, Pogba, James, Sanchez AND Lingard, Fosuh-Mensah...sadly I would be happy to see the majority of them leave as well
 
Last nights result was a sobering one. I was convinced Rashford was going to score 2 pre-game. Not going to go overboard as it’s first game in a while but there are some ongoing concerns for me

GK - has DeGea already peaked? Is this a loss of form or decline?

CB - maguire needs a high level player who can cover for him, like Rio and Vidic used to do. Dunno who though.

CM/CDM - I’d like to see Donny VdB come in. Someone who is an all rounder but has much better ability on the ball. Fred and McT have their limitations.

RW/RwF - obvious.

CF - not going to challenge for the title with martial as CF. Just doesn’t score enough goals. Need a proper goal scorer who will take half chances and convert draws into wins out of nothing. Not really sure who, but I quite like Ben Yedder

Squad is definitely stronger but still much to do
 
CB - Upamecano. We need pace and quality to cover whichever of the slow CB's we start alongside him.
LB - Telles. At least one of our fullbacks has to offer an attacking threat and Wan-Bissaka is a better defender than Shaw or Williams, plus we have Laird coming through on the right so I'd upgrade LB.
DM - Tonali. Offers the right mix of dicipline, tenacity and passing ability to thrive behind Pogba and Bruno.
RW - Sancho. The answer to the RW question we've been asking for a decade.
 
Tel074 said:
United have one of the best defensive records across Europe this season so Lindelof isn't that bad . If you have seen Jones play and think he's better then I give up. I would agree to get back to the top we need another quality CB but for me Lindelof is a player worth keeping
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Sorry a bit of a late response, but seriously you are trying to credit Lindelof for the defensive record we have? This is a bloke who can't head a ball if he was left all alone without anyone near him. Have you seen the panic when the ball is crossed into our box? Jones has become a sort of a joke recently, but he has been quite a good player over his career at United. If you've started to follow United recently I don't expect you to know that.
 
ghagua said:
Sorry a bit of a late response, but seriously you are trying to credit Lindelof for the defensive record we have? This is a bloke who can't head a ball if he was left all alone without anyone near him. Have you seen the panic when the ball is crossed into our box? Jones has become a sort of a joke recently, but he has been quite a good player over his career at United. If you've started to follow United recently I don't expect you to know that.
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I've been a season ticket holder for over 20 years so your sarcasm is lost . Lindelof is part of the defence who has that record and like him or not he's played his part . To say Jones has been a good player over his career is strange.
Also anyone who supports United the past two years or 10 years knows Jones shouldn't have been and the club the past 5/6 years so that's also a strange statement
 
diarm said:
CB - Upamecano. We need pace and quality to cover whichever of the slow CB's we start alongside him.
LB - Telles. At least one of our fullbacks has to offer an attacking threat and Wan-Bissaka is a better defender than Shaw or Williams, plus we have Laird coming through on the right so I'd upgrade LB.
DM - Tonali. Offers the right mix of dicipline, tenacity and passing ability to thrive behind Pogba and Bruno.
RW - Sancho. The answer to the RW question we've been asking for a decade.
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I don't know much about all of these players but do very much agree with each position, the logic and the type of players we need.
 
golden_blunder said:
Last nights result was a sobering one. I was convinced Rashford was going to score 2 pre-game. Not going to go overboard as it’s first game in a while but there are some ongoing concerns for me

GK - has DeGea already peaked? Is this a loss of form or decline?

CB - maguire needs a high level player who can cover for him, like Rio and Vidic used to do. Dunno who though.

CM/CDM - I’d like to see Donny VdB come in. Someone who is an all rounder but has much better ability on the ball. Fred and McT have their limitations.

RW/RwF - obvious.

CF - not going to challenge for the title with martial as CF. Just doesn’t score enough goals. Need a proper goal scorer who will take half chances and convert draws into wins out of nothing. Not really sure who, but I quite like Ben Yedder

Squad is definitely stronger but still much to do
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Nailed it buddy.

Something is up with De Gea. He is losing concentration way too much. We need a fast partner for Maguire. Some who can tackle and also head the ball. We don't necessarily need a Benckebauer, but someone who can defend.

In midfield, we certainly do need more class. Just being a workhorse will not get things done. McT and Fred become bench players with technically better first teamers coming in. As for James, unless he learns how to get past a player with skill and not just pace, he will need replacing as well.

For CF, yes you're spot on again with Martial. He just will not become the player we all thought he would. He is a great player when it suits him, but that is once so often. He just does not bust his guts to get into scoring positions. Everyone one of them needs to watch a video of Ronaldo and see how he makes a living out of following up at the far end of a shot by a teammate. I would sell him to fund a move for Carlos Vinicius is possible.
 
Left back is a serious issue. AWB has a questionable output going forward, which wouldn’t be the end of the world if he had a creative and dynamic player in front of him, and if his defensive nature left our LB with more license to get forward.

That RW is hopefully coming, but we need a proper LB who can get up and down and contribute in all phases of play. Shaw has had his chance and isn’t good enough.

RW, LB and CF would by my signings, with a CB and DMC the next summer.
 
diarm said:
CB - Upamecano. We need pace and quality to cover whichever of the slow CB's we start alongside him.
LB - Telles. At least one of our fullbacks has to offer an attacking threat and Wan-Bissaka is a better defender than Shaw or Williams, plus we have Laird coming through on the right so I'd upgrade LB.
DM - Tonali. Offers the right mix of dicipline, tenacity and passing ability to thrive behind Pogba and Bruno.
RW - Sancho. The answer to the RW question we've been asking for a decade.
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Tonali from the little I have seen of him looks the perfect signing for us, also seems very much like he wont be leaving Italy sadly, think we missed a trick with Barella going to Inter and this will be anoter Italian one we probably miss out on
 
diarm said:
CB - Upamecano. We need pace and quality to cover whichever of the slow CB's we start alongside him.
LB - Telles. At least one of our fullbacks has to offer an attacking threat and Wan-Bissaka is a better defender than Shaw or Williams, plus we have Laird coming through on the right so I'd upgrade LB.
DM - Tonali. Offers the right mix of dicipline, tenacity and passing ability to thrive behind Pogba and Bruno.
RW - Sancho. The answer to the RW question we've been asking for a decade.
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Upamecano has been making too many mistakes for my liking. If he repeats the amount of mishaps he's had at RB Leipzig this season at United he will be written off rather quickly.

I've mentioned it constantly on here but the solution to our CB conundrum next to Maguire lies with Upamecano's French compatriate at RBL. You just have to see the difference between the defensive records with Upamecano this season and with his compatriot last season to see how badly they've missed the ex Sochaux youth player.
 
Adnan said:
Upamecano has been making too many mistakes for my liking. If he repeats the amount of mishaps he's had at RB Leipzig this season at United he will be written off rather quickly.

I've mentioned it constantly on here but the solution to our CB conundrum next to Maguire lies with Upamecano's French compatriate at RBL. You just have to see the difference between the defensive records with Upamecano this season and with his compatriot last season to see how badly they've missed the ex Sochaux youth player.
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Yes I've noticed alot of people want Upamecano but I've heard from people that watch him that he isn't consistent and hasn't been doing so well since he came back for injury. It's why I'm ok with Lindelof. I just don't think there's a cb available right now that significantly better than him. Is Konate significantly better? Also How's Milenkovic these days?
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
Yes I've noticed alot of people want Upamecano but I've heard from people that watch him that he isn't consistent and hasn't been doing so well since he came back for injury. It's why I'm ok with Lindelof. I just don't think there's a cb available right now that significantly better than him. Is Konate significantly better? Also How's Milenkovic these days?
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Konate is better IMO. I started following RBL last season because of Upamecano but quickly realised that Konate was special. Konate marshalled the RBL defense last season in Upamecano's absence and they ended up having the best defensive record in the league. He just doesn't have any weaknesses imo and is gonna be one of the best CBs in the world. To be a 6'4 brute with his aerial threat in both boxes and the ability to play the ball is quite unique for a young CB. I've never seen a young CB to be as complete as he is at such a young age. He would be the absolutely perfect partner for Maguire in every sense. We did try to sign him from Sochaux when he was 17 but got beaten to the punch by RBL according to reports. He's much better than Lindelof in every key aspect of CB play.

Milenkovic is garnering alot of interest among clubs in Italy currently and it seems Napoli are very interested in him to possibly replace Koulibaly.
 
Adnan said:
Konate is better IMO. I started following RBL last season because of Upamecano but quickly realised that Konate was special. Konate marshalled the RBL defense last season in Upamecano's absence and they ended up having the best defensive record in the league. He just doesn't have any weaknesses imo and is gonna be one of the best CBs in the world. To be a 6'4 brute with his aerial threat in both boxes and the ability to play the ball is quite unique for a young CB. I've never seen a young CB to be as complete as he is at such a young age. He would be the absolutely perfect partner for Maguire in every sense. We did try to sign him from Sochaux when he was 17 but got beaten to the punch by RBL according to reports. He's much better than Lindelof in every key aspect of CB play.

Milenkovic is garnering alot of interest among clubs in Italy currently and it seems Napoli are very interested in him to possibly replace Koulibaly.
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Heard good things about Konate. It's good he's not available now since I doubt we have the funds for a CB. Thinking about it there aren't really any reliable CBs that would be available in the market
 
I really think Shaw is at his best as a LCB in a back 3. I’ve been really impressed with his performances there, & I think he’s a large part in why the system works. I was quite surprised because I would have thought AWB was almost made for RCB (in a 3) but he ended up at wingback.Williams has done brilliantly, but unless Dalot or Laird really step up I’m not sure if we really have the cover we could use there. So an excellent attacking LB or LWB would be great.

Our midfield could do with a top quality DM, but I think Matic can go another season, & I can see McTominey growing into the role (but he’s not there yet). We might be able to wait a year, but if the right player becomes available we shouldn’t.

Right Wing... Daniel James, he deserves to be part of the squad, and performs a useful team role. That said, he is more of a Jesper Blomquist than a Ryan Giggs (he’s better than Obertain, Bebe, etc). We need a RW that frightens organised defences. We had Pogba out there for just a moment & won a penalty in our last game. Greenwood May grow into it, but he plays the role as a striker with a little extra space out wide rather than a winger.

CB - I like our options at CB, but in a 2, all of them can be a bit shaky. Bailly staying injury free long enough to build confidence & experience would go a long way. Not sure that’ll happen though. If someone like Koulibaly is available we should still consider it if the economics are favourable.

I really believe in Martial, Rashford, & Greenwood, but all are simultaneously too heavily praised and criticised depending on who you talk to & how the last match went. Forwards need chances, and we don’t create much from fullback and (until we had Pogba & Fernandez on the pitch together) there have not been many goals or assists coming from our CM or CB’s. It’s primarily been the responsibility of our 4 most attacking players to both create and score the goals. Variation & quality is what’s needed, so simply adding one really good player who can play on the right would be ideal. Sancho would obviously be the dream.

The right winger is the priority, with a left footed attacking LWB second. Obviously DM & CB after that.

RW: Sancho
LwB: Telles or Grimaldo?
 
Decomposing In Paris said:
I really think Shaw is at his best as a LCB in a back 3. I’ve been really impressed with his performances there, & I think he’s a large part in why the system works. I was quite surprised because I would have thought AWB was almost made for RCB (in a 3) but he ended up at wingback.Williams has done brilliantly, but unless Dalot or Laird really step up I’m not sure if we really have the cover we could use there. So an excellent attacking LB or LWB would be great.

Our midfield could do with a top quality DM, but I think Matic can go another season, & I can see McTominey growing into the role (but he’s not there yet). We might be able to wait a year, but if the right player becomes available we shouldn’t.

Right Wing... Daniel James, he deserves to be part of the squad, and performs a useful team role. That said, he is more of a Jesper Blomquist than a Ryan Giggs (he’s better than Obertain, Bebe, etc). We need a RW that frightens organised defences. We had Pogba out there for just a moment & won a penalty in our last game. Greenwood May grow into it, but he plays the role as a striker with a little extra space out wide rather than a winger.

CB - I like our options at CB, but in a 2, all of them can be a bit shaky. Bailly staying injury free long enough to build confidence & experience would go a long way. Not sure that’ll happen though. If someone like Koulibaly is available we should still consider it if the economics are favourable.

I really believe in Martial, Rashford, & Greenwood, but all are simultaneously too heavily praised and criticised depending on who you talk to & how the last match went. Forwards need chances, and we don’t create much from fullback and (until we had Pogba & Fernandez on the pitch together) there have not been many goals or assists coming from our CM or CB’s. It’s primarily been the responsibility of our 4 most attacking players to both create and score the goals. Variation & quality is what’s needed, so simply adding one really good player who can play on the right would be ideal. Sancho would obviously be the dream.

The right winger is the priority, with a left footed attacking LWB second. Obviously DM & CB after that.

RW: Sancho
LwB: Telles or Grimaldo?
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You do realise that Jesper Blomqvist was a fantastic young winger that caused Barcelona and Man United all sorts of problems as a youngster and helped his Gothenburg team top a champions league group consisting of United, Barca and Galatasary?

It was injuries that curtailed his career but he was naturally much more talented than Daniel James and was well on his way to becoming a world class player.
 
Adnan said:
You do realise that Jesper Blomqvist was a fantastic young winger that caused Barcelona and Man United all sorts of problems as a youngster and helped his Gothenburg team top a champions league group consisting of United, Barca and Galatasary?

It was injuries that curtailed his career but he was naturally much more talented than Daniel James and was well on his way to becoming a world class player.
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I don’t think he’s saying anything other than that he wasn’t the same level as giggs. So he’s saying James is a level below giggs. But, duh. Most wingers were a level below giggs.

He could just say James is good but it’s a position that could be upgraded for sure
 
I see Some Real Madrid summer of '09 lists and I get it, if we pumped in all of the resources available we could put the team in full fighting shape, but I think we'll be looking at a slower roll than that to see what happens with certain players. I think this summer is about RW and Holding Midfield.


GK - I feel like we are locked into a marriage with big Dave at this point, but he really needs to cut out the errors as I don't think we'd buy a replacement but we have a homegrown keeper I see a number of United fans feeling could replace him.

CB - I said from the minute we bought Maguire that we didn't really have the ideal partner for him, I see defensive record stats and people arguing Lindelof vs Jones, which is like arguing Volvo vs 90's Alfa Romeo, what we need is a Ferrari or McLaren to go next to our Range Rover. We might have that Ferrari in house, I'm interested to see if Bailly or Axel can become that, if not then it will be a key position to address next summer.

Fullbacks - I see a lot of comments that AWB's lack of attacking quality will be ok if we get Snacho but the same doesn't apply to Shaw and Rashford on the LW? To me Shaw was coming into his best form prior to lockdown and we have Williams and Laird coming through, so at the moment fullback wouldn't personally be on my radar.

AM (cover) - Yeah, I know Mata is past his best and neither Lingard or Pereira are good enough, the question mark is over whether Angel Gomes can be this player? Hopefully he a signs a new contract, we sell 2 of the above 3 and give him plenty of game time to see if he can grab the spot.

Striker - Most seem to feel Martial isn't the answer and I'm not convinced either, but with Igalho's extension I think it's clear he's going to be given more time to see if he can cement the spot, and we also have to consider that if Sancho comes him and Rashford are going to start the bulk of games on the RW and LW respectively, so could Mason be the long term #9?
 
golden_blunder said:
I don’t think he’s saying anything other than that he wasn’t the same level as giggs. So he’s saying James is a level below giggs. But, duh. Most wingers were a level below giggs.

He could just say James is good but it’s a position that could be upgraded for sure
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Oh I see..
 
As some previous posters have said, we need a CH with legs to play next to Captain Maguire. The best partnerships that have worked for us have been the pallister bruce/ Vidic Rio combo. I like a couple of CHs who play for lesser prem clubs I’d go for or I would try bailly or axel but lindelof is a no no.
 
I want Sane now as well as Sancho. Can we get Sane on a free? Is that the issue on his deal?

Saint Maximin too.

Ship out James to Newcastle in a cash plus player deal?


Rashford
Sane Bruno Sancho
Pogba Scotty

Just flair, pace, skill
 
Adnan said:
You do realise that Jesper Blomqvist was a fantastic young winger that caused Barcelona and Man United all sorts of problems as a youngster and helped his Gothenburg team top a champions league group consisting of United, Barca and Galatasary?

It was injuries that curtailed his career but he was naturally much more talented than Daniel James and was well on his way to becoming a world class player.
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I thought he was excellent, but there was a massive difference between him and Ryan Giggs. I've read people comparing James' contribution with 2008 Giggs, and I've also seen him compared to Bebe, so I thought I'd split the difference. I didn't mean to cause offence.
 
Decomposing In Paris said:
I thought he was excellent, but there was a massive difference between him and Ryan Giggs. I've read people comparing James' contribution with 2008 Giggs, and I've also seen him compared to Bebe, so I thought I'd split the difference. I didn't mean to cause offence.
Click to expand...
No offense caused. please forgive me I misunderstood your post mate.
 
For United to start seriously competing for both the Premier League & the Champions League, they need to get another LB, 2 CBs, a DM, 2 CMs, 1 Winger & 1 Striker (1). Personally I would be looking to get Digne, Koulibaly, Škriniar, Ndidi, Maddison, Fabian, Sancho & Kane. Resulting in this sort of squad:

De Gea/Henderson
Wan Bissaka/Dalot - Škriniar/Bailly - Koulibaly/Maguire - Digne/Shaw
Fernandes/Maddison - Ndidi/McTominay - Pogba/Fabian
Sancho/Greenwood - Kane/Martial - Rashford/James

Additional Players: Romero (GK); Williams (LB); Tuanzebe (CB); Ighalo (ST);​

The fact that the Glazers will refuse to get all 8 shows why they are the biggest barrier to our club getting back to its best.

(1) These are bare minimum requirements by the way & assume that De Gea, Dalot, Bailly, James & Martial will all improve their form next season.

Nytram Shakes said:
What we need is to sell players, This is the list of players who will be on our first team books next season as it stands:
De Gea/Henderson/Romero/Grant
Wan Bissaka/Dalot, Lindelof/Smalling/Jones, Maguire/Tuanzebe, Williams/Shaw
Fernandes/Periera, Mctominay/Matic, Pogba/Fred
James/Mata, Martial/Greenwood/Ighalo, Rashford/Sanchez​
That's even without listing youth players.
Who of those are we going to get offers for in the current climate? Henderson? Smalling? even if they both left we wouldn't need to replace them,
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Out of the players listed, Grant, Smalling, Jones, Rojo, Lindelof, Periera, Fred, Lingard, Matic, Mata & Sanchez need to go.
 
Mine recommendations to United as a freelancer scout. Players that will help United to become a better team and club.

Extern solutions:

+ RW/LW : Jadon Sancho, age 20 = around 100 £ mill
+ LW/RW/AMC = Federico Chiesa, age 22 = 50 £ mill. Has and good in everything with the attacking playing. Fast, skillful and hardworking player
+ CM = Jude Bellingham, soon 17 = 25 £ mill. Loan him back to Birmingham for a year, then back to United when Matic retire or leaving.
+ CM/DCM = Kristoffer Olsson, soon 25 = 25 £ mill. A hard working allround creative cm.

Trust me on this guy and Chiesa. United will not regret after buying Kristoffer Olsson. Top football vision, creative and passing foot. Quick and precise in head and feet. Olsson has the level of Bruno, Chiesa and Rashford. A regular central midfield general for the Swedish nation team. A Modric type of cm player and mould. He is one of the biggest reason why Sweden is still doing well without Zlatan. Got a spot in Euro 2020. He is controlling and dictating wherever he is playing. Will give United really good and flexible depth in central midfield area.

Here is the video link of him. Of his description:



And another positive point is. With Ollsson arriving, he will built a good connection and helping Lindelof as CB too. Have a player that he can deliver the pass to. A player that can control and dictate the game in front of the CBs.

Sum of spending plus & minus 200 £ mill

Intern solutions :

+ CB : Recall Chris Smalling

Then how you line up your extern and intern solutions?And here is theirs best positions on the pitch. And from what i have observed and analyzing United squad. 4231 and 442 are the formations that suit the new squad best. Again top team like United and City. A tight and aggressive 433/451 will suit too.

But first 4231 and 442 formation:

Bissaka/Dalot/Williams- Smalling/Lindelof/Bailly- Maguire/Jones/Tuanzebe - Williams/Shaw

Sancho/Chiesa - McTom/Fred/Matic/Olsson- Pogba/Olsson/Bruno - Chiesa/Sancho/James

AMC/Nr.10/Second CF = Bruno/Greenwood/Chiesa - Rashford/Martial

Then a potential 433/451 Line up against teams that might have more possession and the ball then United :

Same defend

Midfield 5 : Sancho - Bruno - Olsson - Pogba/McTom - Chiesa

CF = Rashford

There you have mine recommendations and where i would put them in United team, to strength and help United to become a better team. On a path to winning future big trophies.

Age of United squad. Give them 2-3 years and be patience and let them gel together. Maybe Liverpool is not as strong about 2/3 years time. So this new United are on their way up to the peak of their career.

Henderson = 23
Bissaka = 22
Maguire = 27
Lindelof = 25
Williams = 19
Sancho = 20
Olsson = 25
Bruno = 25
Pogba = 27
McTom = 23
Chiesa = 22
Rashford = 22
Martial = 24
Greenwood = 18

There are the age. Then we all can figure out with the new players arriving. When this squad will be at theirs strongest and peak. All between 2 - 4 years. So again, be patience with them. Let the gel, understand and become a strong unit. With same goal and direction = winning biggest trophies.
And the central spine with GK Henderson 23 - McTom 23 - Rashford 22. Then you adding really high quality and level in Bruno and Olsson at 25, and with Chiesa 22. You both look at short and longterm goal. Top 3/4 the next 2 years. Then premier league trophy after that.

So again. Those are mine best recommendations. I know and believe all of Sancho, Chiesa, Olsson, Bellingham and recalling Smalling back will strength United and make United become a better team. Much better that right now. Top 4 the next 5 seasons. And premier league title contender. Trust me. Those players have the qualities, abilities and mentalities United do need. They will lift United to the next and a level above. A more consistent really good football team ;)
 
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jamesjimmybyrondean said:
Yes I've noticed alot of people want Upamecano but I've heard from people that watch him that he isn't consistent and hasn't been doing so well since he came back for injury. It's why I'm ok with Lindelof. I just don't think there's a cb available right now that significantly better than him. Is Konate significantly better? Also How's Milenkovic these days?
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He is still a rough diamond Upamecano, but lets forget he is still very young for a centre back. He has been a bit like Bailly was in his first season with us, generally very good with the odd terrible rick or piece of positioning. He is a vast improvement on lindelof though, I woul dbe happy with him or Konate myself, though not as consistently solid, I do think he is the more talented defender in terms of defending.

As for a cb significantly better out there than Lindelof at the moment, what? We have two centre backs in our squad significantly better than Lindelof who have suffered a lot of injuries and not got a run of games together. That is the frustration, Tuanzabe hasnt proved himself yet, but I think he has the tools to be a good defender and Bailly has had lots of injuries and some terrible performances in between but could be a good partner for Maguire....but can we trust either to remain injury free?

If we stick with Lindelof as our first choice cb, we are not going to challenge at all next season, reagardless of who we buy. He is so poor in certain areas, so not the right partner for Maguire who lets not forget is a good defender, her isnt a great one, he really needs a good partner and ot certainly isnt Lindelof for me
 
This summer
  • Right Wing, not much to say that hasn't already been said. It has been a glaring hole in the squad for years and needs filling this summer.
  • Holding Midfielder, with the exception of Matic we have no one who is competent at defending space behind them and he isn't exactly in his prime anymore. I like Fred and McT but if we are going to make Pogba and Bruno work in the same team we need a third midfielder to properly compliment them. Someone who can shield the back 4 while being a strong user of the ball in deep areas would be ideal.
  • Left Back, Luke Shaw is just not a good player. He's as poor going forward as AWB, but doesn't have near the same defensive ability so he doesn't get a pass for me. Williams I like but he is still too raw. Definitely need to bin Shaw and bring in a LB who is capable defensively and can make an impact going forward.
Summer 2021
  • Striker, there just isn't enough goals in the team and Martial is too much of an 'almost' player to be relied on to win us games consistently. That said I think a quality striker is going to be hard to find this window and unless one suddenly becomes available I don't think it's a bad idea to wait til next year when there might be better options on the market.
  • Center back, Maguire is clear cut 1st choice CB and I dont think the likes of Bailly/Jones/Lindelof are good enough to partner him long term. Again, I'm not sure there's gonna be a lot of quality options available this summer so unless there is we should prioritise a DM/holding midfielder to help the center backs and then in a year look to add a CB that can compliment and partner Maguire.
 
jesperjaap said:
He is still a rough diamond Upamecano, but lets forget he is still very young for a centre back. He has been a bit like Bailly was in his first season with us, generally very good with the odd terrible rick or piece of positioning. He is a vast improvement on lindelof though, I woul dbe happy with him or Konate myself, though not as consistently solid, I do think he is the more talented defender in terms of defending.

As for a cb significantly better out there than Lindelof at the moment, what? We have two centre backs in our squad significantly better than Lindelof who have suffered a lot of injuries and not got a run of games together. That is the frustration, Tuanzabe hasnt proved himself yet, but I think he has the tools to be a good defender and Bailly has had lots of injuries and some terrible performances in between but could be a good partner for Maguire....but can we trust either to remain injury free?

If we stick with Lindelof as our first choice cb, we are not going to challenge at all next season, reagardless of who we buy. He is so poor in certain areas, so not the right partner for Maguire who lets not forget is a good defender, her isnt a great one, he really needs a good partner and ot certainly isnt Lindelof for me
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You say Tuanzebe has injury problems and has not proven himself so how is he better than Lindelof? Same thing goes for Baily who has been injured alot, hardly playing and has been inconsistent. I think you are judging based on ability rather than what you see on the pitch. Lindelof is our second most reliable after Maguire and was our best defender for much of last season but he still needs to be upgraded. If Baily and Tuanzebe were playing in other teams, going through the same injury problems and inconsistencies would you take them as big upgrades on Lindelof?
 
Just imagine this, we signed Daniel James, another player who was more comfortable on the left than on the right. I don't understand why the RW position is constantly being ignored by the club.
 
Andersons Dietician said:
DDG
Bissaka Konaté Maguire Shaw
Fabian
Aouar. Pogba
Sancho Martial Rashford

DDG
Bissaka Konaté Maguire Shaw
Saul Pogba
Sancho Havertz Rashford
Martial​
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Might as well update this ever changing thing.

DDG
Bissaka Konaté Maguire Shaw
Saul
Bruno. Pogba
Sancho Martial Rashford
​
I actually don’t mind Lindelof and am prepared to give him another season but I do think if we could get a fit Konaté in he’d be the perfect partner for Maguire.
Saul I’ve wanted since Fergie/Moyes time and still think he’d be the perfect signing for our midfield. Not a DM as such but more than capable of it. It’s not like I have anything against Fred and McT but to me Saul goes in that 3 and it’s an instant improvement.
RW- Sancho, no brainer really, needs to happen and if it doesn’t I’ll be very disappointed. Just can’t go another year without fixing this right wing slot.

I’d be over the moon with Sancho and Saul this summer but I doubt it’s possible.
 
Andersons Dietician said:
Might as well update this ever changing thing.

DDG
Bissaka Konaté Maguire Shaw
Saul
Bruno. Pogba
Sancho Martial Rashford
​
I actually don’t mind Lindelof and am prepared to give him another season but I do think if we could get a fit Konaté in he’d be the perfect partner for Maguire.
Saul I’ve wanted since Fergie/Moyes time and still think he’d be the perfect signing for our midfield. Not a DM as such but more than capable of it. It’s not like I have anything against Fred and McT but to me Saul goes in that 3 and it’s an instant improvement.
RW- Sancho, no brainer really, needs to happen and if it doesn’t I’ll be very disappointed. Just can’t go another year without fixing this right wing slot.

I’d be over the moon with Sancho and Saul this summer but I doubt it’s possible.
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So you think that the fullbacks are good enough going forward?
 
Need - Only RW. Then I think we could win the league.

Quite Important - CB & CDM

Oh and make Henderson our GK.
 
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