What do we still need? Post Summer 2016 edition

Rhyme Animal said:
Of course we will invest, of course we need to. But we need 2 World Class starters in midfield!? That's utterly ridiculous.

The last month Pogba has shown that he's a deserved starter, Herrera has done the same all season, and, again, we don't always even play 3 midfielders!

Fellaini's been given a contract extension so will still be here, and he is useful, very useful.

And then what about youth coming through? You buy 2 World Class midfielders on top of the above and you've got no chance of bringing anyone through.

Wanting a better squad and making daft demands that are never gonna happen are 2 very different things.
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Yeah, I've been a believer in us signing both a 6 and a player to cover Herrera and Pogba as box to box types, but it's tough to argue that even if one of Herrera, Pogba and 3rd midfielder X are out injured or suspended, that we wouldn't be alright playing either a 10 type like Mata or Mkhitaryan (or Griezmann if we do sign him), 2 up front (again Griezmann, but or just plugging in Carrick for an hour til he fades like Xabi Alonso has often been used recently, or a Fellaini appearance if it's the right opponent, or maybe Pereira, now 21 and coming off apparently a pretty good season at a La Liga side, will shine immediately.

Herrera doing well as a 6 helps too.

I do think we've been lucky that he and Pogba have been so healthy. If one had been out for say 6-8 weeks, I think we'd probably be either out of the Europa League or sitting a couple points behind Arsenal, right?
 
Rhyme Animal said:
I'm sorry, but to come in sniveling about 'we need' this or that, after just taking a point from City with an injury decimated squad is the perfect embodiment of the spoiled, modern footy fan.

This is a squad that will finish above City and Liverpool if we take our games in hand, and we were playing with 10 men FFS.

Should be proud of this team atm, not demanding what we need like a spoiled kid.
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Brilliant post absolutely spot on. I have a few players I don't fancy but right now we have been awesome (the manager especially) they deserve massive kudos for the last couple of months.
 
Judging by the way we were hoofing the ball and losing possession so easily we need players more comfortable on the ball.

May be the tactics though. Everyone seemed isolated.
 
Battling performance yes given the circumstances, but the squad is way short of the quality needed to impose ourselves on these games.

In terms of investment we do need the following followed by my preference

Lb-
Cm-
Cm-
Centre back-
Forward
The
 
Rhyme Animal said:
I'm sorry, but to come in sniveling about 'we need' this or that, after just taking a point from City with an injury decimated squad is the perfect embodiment of the spoiled, modern footy fan.

This is a squad that will finish above City and Liverpool if we take our games in hand, and we were playing with 10 men FFS.

Should be proud of this team atm, not demanding what we need like a spoiled kid.
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I like the sentiment. But I think its slightly misplaced. You cannot stand still, you move forward or you die, so yes, the squad needs investment because we are not where we need to be yet and our rivals will not be standing still.

We need to sack off Jones and Smalling and get at least one dependable first choice-level centre back, for a starter. Because those injuries you mentioned, they happen every year and it is usually these two who are first out.

We also need a new centre forward in all probability, and a natural winger.

None of that detracts from the fact that our injury decimated squad held out admirably and secured a well fought point. But I reserve the right to dream of a time when we might set our sights slightly higher than that again.
 
We need two strikers. One to replace Zlatan and the other to replace Rooney. It would be ridiculous for us to go into next season with only two forwards in the squad. Our lack of options this season has been very costly.
 
Acole9 said:
I agree, I don't buy into all this over saturating the midfield business.
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im not sure we would be saturating the midfield, Schniderlin and schweinsteiger have left this season, Carrick still hasn't signed on for next year, which currently leaves us with Herrera, Pogba and Fellaini and our only real senior centre midfielders.
 
DM
Winger
ST
CB

With 4 additions I really believe we are challenging for the title

I disagree that we need a LB because I am sure Shaw will come good
 
Nytram Shakes said:
im not sure we would be saturating the midfield, Schniderlin and schweinsteiger have left this season, Carrick still hasn't signed on for next year, which currently leaves us with Herrera, Pogba and Fellaini and our only real senior centre midfielders.
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Exactly they both left because they rarely played. One centre midfield signing plus the return of Pereira and we'll be fine.
 
Acole9 said:
Exactly they both left because they rarely played. One centre midfield signing plus the return of Pereira and we'll be fine.
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depends what the system we want to play, ive allways thought you should have 2 players and a young player to back up in each position, so if where sticking with the 2 man midfield we have used for most of this season what you suggest would be fine.

but if we decide togo down the 3 man midfield route to try and get the best out of Pogba then i think we would be a little short.
 
I forgot a midfielder, we definitely do need another midfielder.

For me that makes four: a centre back, centre mid, winger and striker.

Its not ideal to have another summer of such high squad turnover, hopefully it wont be too disruptive and we wont start the season so slowly again. Hopefully after this summer we'll be quite a strong and well balanced squad and after that we can go back to making one or two signings per window, rather than changing half the first team every summer.
 
Honestly I think we still need quite a few players to have a squad capable of challenging the very best. I expect it'll be a phased approach though. Immediately we need to replace Rooney, Ibra, Carrick and get in another CB. That will probably be our summers spending. If it was up to me, we'd get a winger for the left hand side too.

What we need is;

  • 1 RB - to compete with/cover for/replace Valencia. I think long term this could be TFM but until he is established we need a proper player for that role. Darmain in my mind is not good enough.
  • 2 CB - to replace Jones and Smalling. 1 has to be World class, the other should be Taunzebe
  • 1 CDM (Carrick replacement)
  • 2 CM (Periera + Fellaini replacement). We currently have 4 real central midfielders. Pogba, Carrick, Herrera, Fellaini. As mentioned Carrick should be replaced this summer. Eventually though I'd like to see Fellaini replaced too. Also I think we should have 5 central midfielders, as we often play with 3 in the middle.
  • Left winger - We play Martial here, we need an established competitive player to compete with him, especially if he moves centrally.
  • Rooney replacement - our next 10/striker, hopefully this will be Greizmann. I expect Miki to continue to play on the right, if he becomes our rooney replacement than we need to bring in a right winger.
  • Ibra replacement - everyone will say we've got Rashford and Martial, but neither of them are ready yet. I think another striker who could play for a couple of years and rotate with Rashford/Martial would be perfect. We don't need to put the pressure on our younger players, especially considering how many games we play. If Real Madrid sign Aubameyang, I'd love to see Benzema leading our line. He's got an eye for goal, still a good age (at least another 2-3 years at the very best of his game).

I don't expect much of this to be done this summer, perhaps upgrading the youth and the 4 essential signings i've mentioned before, but long term this is what I hope to see anyway.
 
Adebesi said:
I forgot a midfielder, we definitely do need another midfielder.

For me that makes four: a centre back, centre mid, winger and striker.

Its not ideal to have another summer of such high squad turnover, hopefully it wont be too disruptive and we wont start the season so slowly again. Hopefully after this summer we'll be quite a strong and well balanced squad and after that we can go back to making one or two signings per window, rather than changing half the first team every summer.
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I don't think 4 new players is such a high turnover. I think those positions will be the ones we will address in Summer. I can easily see us signing 5 or 6 depending on how many we let go.
 
Why can't fans applaud and see the positives of a 0-0 draw in an extremely difficult away game amidst an injury crisis? I mean, people are talking as if parking the bus simply meant putting all the players behind the ball and praying for the best. The hardwork in preparation, workrate and discipline have to be unbelievably high and personally i think learning from games like these are education towards making an impact in the Champions League. Jose knows how to win or vary his tactics. The same group of fans whinning would have complained as well had we gone gungho only to lose 5-4. That smacks of naviety and reminisce of Fergie's tactics in the 90s to mid 2000s before tweaking to a continental approach in our CL.
 
  • GK (if DDG goes)
  • CB to partner Bailly (Starter)
  • LB (starter)
  • RB (Starter/Competition)
  • CDM (Starter)
  • CM (who can control games)
  • LW (Move Rashford/Martial as rotation options for CF position)
  • RW (Lose either Mata or Mkhi and get a wideman in)
  • CF (Get in our version of Aguero/Lewa/Suarez)
We need 8 signings minimum to return to a top level side, that is how bad our squad is.. obviously we can grind through like we have this season, but if we want to be properly competitive and go toe to toe with big sides, we need that level of investment. I doubt all of it will be done in one window even with a guy like Jose in charge.. but I do envisage 5-6 signings minimum in summer and maybe another two in January.

Priorities are CB, CDM, LB, wingers and a CF.. which will take our attack to a new level on the counter. I'd be relatively happy with that.
 
Raees said:
  • GK (if DDG goes)
  • CB to partner Bailly (Starter)
  • LB (starter)
  • RB (Starter/Competition)
  • CDM (Starter)
  • CM (who can control games)
  • LW (Move Rashford/Martial as rotation options for CF position)
  • RW (Lose either Mata or Mkhi and get a wideman in)
  • CF (Get in our version of Aguero/Lewa/Suarez)
We need 8 signings minimum to return to a top level side, that is how bad our squad is.. obviously we can grind through like we have this season, but if we want to be properly competitive and go toe to toe with big sides, we need that level of investment. I doubt all of it will be done in one window even with a guy like Jose in charge.. but I do envisage 5-6 signings minimum in summer and maybe another two in January.

Priorities are CB, CDM, LB, wingers and a CF.. which will take our attack to a new level on the counter. I'd be relatively happy with that.
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Six new starters you mean? Then we would give them an year to settle because clearly players need a season to settle in the premier league.

Then half of them won't work out, so we'll need another three along with 2 or 3. When do you think this perpetual cycle will end?

Martial is fine for the left attacking position. It's better to sell him than have him as a rotation player.
Shaw is also fine as a LB. Jose can keep Darmian for games where he wants to park the bus.

Two attackers, a CB and CB of top quality should make us title challengers.
 
Insanity said:
Six new starters you mean? Then we would give them an year to settle because clearly players need a season to settle in the premier league.

Then half of them won't work out, so we'll need another three along with 2 or 3. When do you think this perpetual cycle will end?

Martial is fine for the left attacking position. It's better to sell him than have him as a rotation player.
Shaw is also fine as a LB. Jose can keep Darmian for games where he wants to park the bus.

Two attackers, a CB and CB of top quality should make us title challengers.
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The way Jose plays, it is not that hard to integrate new players and the players he will target will be those he feels are ready made to excel as soon as possible.

He's a master at second season signings and usually does extremely well with new players in a second season transfer window and his inter side had 6 new first teamers and won the CL. That shouldn't scare us off new players at all.

The team needs major surgery.. he is doing very well with a pitiful squad in many respects. It was bloated with numbers but possessed very little ready made quality for the positions we needed.

If you think we can afford another season of Shaw/Darmian, you've got another thing coming.. no way Jose will allow that happen for a second season in a row.. he doesn't take chances like that. He knows Darmian is a very limited player and because of him we lack zero counter-attacking threat and are very predictable down the right - he won't trust him as a starter again for all of next season. He doesn't like Shaw and yes he might give him another chance, but he sure as hell won't put all his eggs in the Shaw coming good basket.. he'll go out there and buy a new LB, I would bank on that as one of the definite signings.

Out wide, we are very static and lack proper dribblers who can beat players for fun.. as talented as Martial/Rashford are, if you compare them even to someone like Mahrez, there is a world of difference to how he will constantly beat full backs and the footwork/flair he demonstrates out wide compared to these two, who are very much strikers in the way they run at players.. they don't have that elasticity, twisty dribbling style you want from a winger or the box of tricks you need to outfox a full back time and time again. They're not awful at it, I mean we can afford to give them another chance out wide next year and focus on the right wing but ideally you want proper wide men next year and transition these two into more central roles. I envisage one of those two staying here as a CF of the future, while the other one eventually moves on. But for the years to come, they'll be LW/CF options but ideally we have a proper tricky wide-forward in the side like a Hazard/Neymar style player.
 
Gonna have to be a big window unfortunately, especially with CL football on the horizon. Don't really care who comes in as trust Mourinho's judgement. But we need to replace Jones, Smalling, Rooney, Fellaini (please!!), Ibrahimovic (and De Gea if he decides to leave, which is looking very likely) at the very least. I suppose Carrick will make the numbers up next season but he needs to go as well. At least some of the outgoing players will generate/free up a significant amount of resources. Unlikely, I know that we'll do that much business in one window, but that's what we need.
 
Raees said:
The way Jose plays, it is not that hard to integrate new players and the players he will target will be those he feels are ready made to excel as soon as possible.

He's a master at second season signings and usually does extremely well with new players in a second season transfer window and his inter side had 6 new first teamers and won the CL. That shouldn't scare us off new players at all.

The team needs major surgery.. he is doing very well with a pitiful squad in many respects. It was bloated with numbers but possessed very little ready made quality for the positions we needed.

If you think we can afford another season of Shaw/Darmian, you've got another thing coming.. no way Jose will allow that happen for a second season in a row.. he doesn't take chances like that. He knows Darmian is a very limited player and because of him we lack zero counter-attacking threat and are very predictable down the right - he won't trust him as a starter again for all of next season. He doesn't like Shaw and yes he might give him another chance, but he sure as hell won't put all his eggs in the Shaw coming good basket.. he'll go out there and buy a new LB, I would bank on that as one of the definite signings.

Out wide, we are very static and lack proper dribblers who can beat players for fun.. as talented as Martial/Rashford are, if you compare them even to someone like Mahrez, there is a world of difference to how he will constantly beat full backs and the footwork/flair he demonstrates out wide compared to these two, who are very much strikers in the way they run at players.. they don't have that elasticity, twisty dribbling style you want from a winger or the box of tricks you need to outfox a full back time and time again. They're not awful at it, I mean we can afford to give them another chance out wide next year and focus on the right wing but ideally you want proper wide men next year and transition these two into more central roles. I envisage one of those two staying here as a CF of the future, while the other one eventually moves on. But for the years to come, they'll be LW/CF options but ideally we have a proper tricky wide-forward in the side like a Hazard/Neymar style player.
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I don't think it'll be easy to integrate 6 or 7 new starters in the team as easy as Jose's style is as per you. If it was, we would have gotten better results this season itself after spending 150m pounds.

The team needs players;it's not wise to get them all in one transfer window. Also, after what has transpired in the last three years, we should be vary of getting every player the manager wants or discarding everyone one he despises. What if Jose gets "his players" and still fails? Will the next manager again need 3 windows and "his players" to get us going? We should be making Manchester United caliber signings who are capable of delivering under any manager.

Martial is a tricky enough wide player as we saw last term. It would be a start to play him as one. Don't think a Neymar or a Hazard will shine much in a role that Martial had to play last night.

If Jose wanted to counter-attack from both sides, he would have played Shaw and let him overlap often. Most games his requirement is for a defensive left back as Valencia is the attacking FB on the right, and I think Darmian is okay for that role.

Anyway, which players do you have in mind? Which CB, CDM, LB, wingers and a CF?
 
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Insanity said:
I don't think it'll be easy to integrate 6 or 7 new starters in the team as easy as Jose's style is as per you. If it was, we would have gotten better results this season itself after spending 150m pounds.

The team needs players;it's not wise to get them all in one transfer window. Also, we should be vary of getting every player the manager wants or discarding everyone one he despises, after what has transpired in the last three years. What if Jose gets "his players" and still fails? Will the next manager again need 3 windows and "his players" to get us going? We should be making Manchester United caliber signings who are capable of delivering under any manager.

Martial is a tricky enough wide player as we saw last term. It would be a start to play him as one. Don't think a Neymar or a Hazard will shine much in a role that Martial had to play last night.

If Jose wanted to counter-attack from both sides, he would have played Shaw and let him overlap often. Most games his requirement is for a defensive left back as Valencia is the attacking FB on the right, and I think Darmian is okay for that role.

Anyway, which players do you have in mind? Which CB, CDM, LB, wingers and a CF?
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If Jose brings in new players and they 'fail' so be it. One of the issues we have had at United is moving players on if they're a flop signing and being in this state of inertia where we don't seem to be willing to admit a player is a bad fit and that we spent badly.

Every signing is a risk, but if a player isn't the right fit.. then just move on and bring new ones. Eventually with a manager like Jose, you'll get more hits than misses.

Martial is one dimensional. Teams know exactly how to stop him now and his surprise factor down the left has gone. He has to add more to his box of tricks if he wants to be a more threatening player out wide.

No top side plays with such a shite possession player at full back and even classic Jose sides, have two very strong full backs who are balanced in defence and attack. Having such a lopsided side is hurting our ability to play out from the back when seeking to counter and at home we struggle to break down teams because they know we can't hurt them with overlapping full-backs on either flank. Whether he likes it or not, it is a dud move to put faith in Darmian and will make us an even more defensive side than we need to be in order to protect him from getting exposed (he's not even that good defensively and looks half ok because we're defending so deep).

CB.. ideal choice would be Varane but even someone like Van Dijk, could be a good asset if he was competing with Rojo for LCB position.

LB - Mendy would be a brilliant signing, but even someone like Juan Bernat/Alba would be decent signings here.

CDM - look no further than Fabinho here. Perfect fit in every single way.

Wingers - Douglas Costa and either splash out on an Ousmanne Dembele/Coman/Sanchez or scout a lesser heralded talent with lots of tricks, suitability for the other winger position.

CF - either go with Griezmann as a false 9, try Sanchez up top or gamble on a Lukaku/Morata/Icardi/Lacazette/Aubameyang.
 
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SouthPredators4 said:
Why can't fans applaud and see the positives of a 0-0 draw in an extremely difficult away game amidst an injury crisis? I mean, people are talking as if parking the bus simply meant putting all the players behind the ball and praying for the best. The hardwork in preparation, workrate and discipline have to be unbelievably high and personally i think learning from games like these are education towards making an impact in the Champions League. Jose knows how to win or vary his tactics. The same group of fans whinning would have complained as well had we gone gungho only to lose 5-4. That smacks of naviety and reminisce of Fergie's tactics in the 90s to mid 2000s before tweaking to a continental approach in our CL.
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There was nothing positve bar luck in last night's game, it wasn't just negative, it was poorly done, they were all over us and had loads of chances, it was their profligacy in front of goal that allowed us to get away with a point. We played negative away to Liverpool and did it well, they barely got a sniff, but last night showed where the squad is lacking, none of the back up strikers can hold the ball up to relieve pressure and act as a platform for the team, and without Pogba we lack anyone to link midfield and attack and anyone with the composure on the ball to get us out of trouble and stop the ball coming back time after time. I see nothing smart in ignoring what the game revealed and patting the players on the back because City wasted all of their chances.
 
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I think we only need three additions:

- Midfielder - a top player to partner Herrera and Pogba.

- Griezmann

- Another goal scoring attacker.

These three could cost £200m alone to get the quality we need.

Defence is fine. We barely conceed.
 
KingMinger22 said:
I think we only need three additions:

- Midfielder - a top player to partner Herrera and Pogba.

- Griezmann

- Another goal scoring attacker.

These three could cost £200m alone to get the quality we need.

Defence is fine. We barely conceed.
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Rojo might be out for the year and Smalling and Jones can't be relied upon. We're signing a defender.
 
Striker, Griezmann, defensive minded midfielder with ability to pass (=not Fellaini) and healthy CB.
 
We have a number of needs, not all of which can be addressed in one summer. I think we're signing two attackers, a DM and a CB at a minimum now with the injuries to Zlatan and Rojo. I hope we leave it at that and bring Pereira back and give TFM/Tuanzebe a reasonable chance to prove themselves in backup roles.
 
Rhyme Animal said:
Of course we will invest, of course we need to. But we need 2 World Class starters in midfield!? That's utterly ridiculous.

The last month Pogba has shown that he's a deserved starter, Herrera has done the same all season, and, again, we don't always even play 3 midfielders!

Fellaini's been given a contract extension so will still be here, and he is useful, very useful.

And then what about youth coming through? You buy 2 World Class midfielders on top of the above and you've got no chance of bringing anyone through.

Wanting a better squad and making daft demands that are never gonna happen are 2 very different things.
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I think you got too hung up on the "world class" label. I didn't say we "needed 2 WC midfielders". But we could definitely use a couple of very good midfielders - if we are to actually stand a chance of winning the title. Carrick is on his last legs. Fellaini isn't good enough, and was perhaps only given a 1-year extension (not a new contract as far as I'm aware) so that he doesn't leave for free.
The only decent youth ready for next season seems to be Pereira. We don't have a good DM coming through do we?
 
5 is the magic number.

1 CB
1 Full-back
1 CM
2 Attackers

This excludes youth activity, and I don't think Jose will let too many go. We need to retain the sizeable squad depth we already have. Our focus this window is to bolster our first XI and a few of the players playing regularly now will make way to become squad options for the new signings.

Hopefully De Gea doesn't leave, or if he does then we get a player back in one of the aforementioned positions. I wouldn't be adverse to going into next season with Romero as our new number 1. From what I've seen of him this season and last he is quite capable. Not a De Gea, but still very good nonetheless.
 
Griezmann
Midfield
Backup Striker
Left Back (May be traditional left back)
Top Keeper (If De Gea leaves)
Possible a new centre back (If we sell Smalling and Jones)
 
We need a couple of attackers in their prime and I think we could use another creative player added as well, and we really could use a couple of CM's and a CB with LB continuing to be a question mark as well.

CB - Whoever, might even be 2.
DM - Weigl/Fabinho/Casemiro
CM - Someone to cover Ander
AM - Bernardo Silva/James
SS - Griezmann/Mertens
ST - Belotti/Morata
 
Griezman
DM
CM (future prospect)
ST (in his prime)
LB (compete with Shaw and of course provide cover)
RB (future prospect who can cover for Valencia)
CB
RW (Option if we can find Mane type winger)
 
What we need are goals. We've got tne second best defence im the league but weve only scored one goal more than bournemouth. Id argue the midfield and defence are to all intents and purposes sound. Jose should focus on world class attacking players.
 
We'll get a striker, one or two center backs, a right full back and a midfielder.
 
LB: Telles
CB: Van Dijk
CDM: Fabinho
WM: Bernardo Silva
SS: Griezmann
FW: Morata


De Gea
Valencia -Bailly-Van Dijk -Telles
Herrera Fabinho Pogba Bernardo
Griezmann
Morata

Can also be seen as a 3-4-3 with Herrera tucking inside and Valencia overlapping with Bernardo on the otherside as a wide playmaker ala Giggs.


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MyOnlySolskjaer said:
LB: Telles
CB: Van Dijk
CDM: Fabinho
WM: Bernardo Silva
SS: Griezmann
FW: Morata


De Gea
Valencia -Bailly-Van Dijk -Telles
Herrera Fabinho Pogba Bernardo
Griezmann
Morata

Can also be seen as a 4-3-3 with Herrera tucking inside and Valencia overlapping with Bernardo on the otherside as a wide playmaker ala Giggs.


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Not a single Englishman. Sad times.
 
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