Which good players need to be upgraded for us to keep progressing?

I think there's too big a gap between the first 11 and the other squad players.

Remove casemiro, is mctominay good enough? No
Remove Fernandes, is vdb good enough? No! Either CB out, Reserves good enough? No etc etc throughout the team.

We need situations like Shaw and malacia all over the pitch. A good ,"reserve" trying desperately to dislodge the current first teamer
 
Pogue Mahone said:
It's too early to write Antony off. Partly because you just can't give up on that much investment so soon but mainly because it's his debut season and loads of new signings over the years have only really looked the part from second season onwards.
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He could prove me wrong but for any wide player to be as uncreative as he has been is extremely rare. He hasn’t created a single big chance in the Premier League. That would be abysmal for a winger who cost an 8th of what Antony did. Sometimes you can just tell. It was obvious with Van de Beek and we’d be in a better position if we’d cut our losses and moved on.
 
Eriksen unfortunately, he can't play every game in the PL anymore. Casemiro needs a no.8 with a good engine next to him, who is also a better footballer than McTominay and Fred obviously.
 
bosnian_red said:
If we buy a starting CM then Eriksen and Fred are both squad players (for CM and #10 depending on game). McTominay needs swapping for a real DM who is young with potential, but just need the 1 starter CM for sure. RB also is pointless. Dakota is very good, Wan Bissaka is very good. Right back is as set as LB is.

Also you're missing CB. We need a younger CB to cover for Varane properly to replace Maguire.
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Second reserve was meant to be CB, my bad, whilst I think Dalot/AWB is fine, it could be upgraded upon.
 
De Jong is a must in my eyes. I have seen enough of him to conclude there’s no other midfielder like him. Carrying the ball, beating the press, breaking the lines, slowing the game down when necessary and controlling the tempo all in one player. Partnering him with Casemiro would elevate us to title winning levels. If we get new owners we have to break the bank for him. Wouldn’t mind kessie too, huge fan of him.

Another must is Kane. I wouldn’t want anyone but him for the striker role. A brilliant goal scorer and so well rounded as a footballer. Still has 3-4 yrs no matter what anyone thinks.

Get that shithouse Martinez too as a goalkeeper if not then Robert Sanchez. Raya is too timid for me between the sticks.

Sell Martial
Keep but Upgrade on Bruno
Not convinced by RB position too, decent but not elite.
Backup for Casemiro

Kane
De jong
Joao Felix
Joao Palhinha
Timber
Sanchez/Martinez
 
De Gea, Eriksen, Fernandes, Martial.
 
I think we have three categories. Positions that aren't covered properly, positons that need upgrades and positions that need backup players.

In the first category is the striker position. I'd argue none of our players are of sufficent quality for success in that position. Martial isn't clinical enough and has injury issues. We probably need two for that no 9 role. I think we need 3 strikers to compete on all fronts, and Martial is probably good enough to be one of the three - but we still need two new ones.


In the second you have Eriksen, De Gea, Dalot/AWB. Eriksen is a wonderful player, but we probably need an upgrade. De Gae is a world class shot stopper, but his ability on the ball and distribution is not good enough compared to some of the other goalkeepers at the very top. The right back position is s bit of a mystery, I personally think we could do with an upgrade, but we might be fine on that front.

Sancho should be an upgrade on Antony when he gets back to it. Plus they are both young players with bags of potential.

Then you have positions that are good enough, but that needs better backup. Casemiro is exceptional, but we need someone better than McT and Fred to cover that position when he isn't available. We need two centre halfs as neither Lindelof nor Maguire are good enough. We also need to upgrade our backup for Bruno as Van de Beek really hasn't done anything noteworthy. Garnacho covers well for Rashford, and is just going to get better.

That leaves us with this team

2 new strikers + Martial
Rashford, Garnacho, Sancho, Antony
3 new midfielders, Bruno, Casemiro, Eriksen.
2 new CBs, Shaw, Malacia, Varane, Martinez, AWB?, Dalot, New RB?
New GK, W/e backup.

I think that is good enough to challenge for multiple honours.
 
1st team - DDG, Antony, Martial
Substitution - Maguire, McTominay, Elanga
 
De Gea, Eriksen and Martial from the first teamers.

I'd like us to be proactive in getting good cover for Varane and Casemiro in as well though, the drop off from those two players to their replacements is pretty significant. Ideally a couple of younger players who can take rotational minutes from them initially with the view to take their positions in the team as they begin to get phased out.
 
Eriksen should be upgraded on so that next season he’s a sub / rotation player.

If Rashford keeps playing as he does, then make Rashford the number 9 and buy a WC left winger.
 
CF
Ball carrying midfielder (first choice for Eriksen)
Possibly Casemiro understudy

Sell
Maguire, McTominay, Elanga, van de Beek, Martial (who I rate, but can't be relied upon).

Our wide options are good enough, no way we're buying another high profile right winger. Antony, Sancho, Pellistri, Amad - one of them needs to break through.
 
Red the Bear said:
It's too soon for this kind of talk.

As of now our priorities should be getting a number 9 and cm in for the summer, we could move on from there.
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I love comments like this; as if we have some kind of role in the decision-making! It's clearly a topic for discussion, so nothing 'too soon' about it.
 
Based on a quick count of first team players being mentioned so far, the order seems to be:

1) Eriksen - easily the name being mentioned the most.
2) De Gea & Antony - neck and neck with each other.
3) Dalot
4) Bruno

Not counting CF because that's an obvious actual weakness and the consensus #1 priority.
 
Bruno, Eriksen, DDG, Antony, Martial
 
There is huge scope for improvement.

This is what I consider our first 11.

DDG
Dalot Varane Martinez Shaw
Casimero Eriksen
Antony Fernandes Rashford
Martial

I think in our first team we need a striker as priority, it's a clear and obvious flaw. Other than that our starting 11 is pretty decent.

However we know it's a squad game. Our second 11 is pants.

Heaton
AWB Maguire Lindelof Malacia
Fred McT
Sancho Beek Garnacho
Wout

Then we have prospects and rubbish after that.

We need a GK to challenge/replace DDG. I don't think Henderson is the man. Whoever we buy needs to be good enough to take the first team slot.
We could upgrade AWB easily, although he's on good form atm.
Maguire has become a liability in our team, Lindelof is mid-table at best. We need someone who challenge our first 11 defenders for a spot.
Fred could stay as a squad player, McT and DVB both need to be moved on. We should by challenger/cover for both eriksen and Casimero.
Our striker is a loan from Burnley - we'll have to see how that goes, but he should be third choice at best. We need a world class striker so we can put Martial in the second 11, or ship him off in the future.

Will anyone ever take Jones? Can we expect Elanga to make it big for us? it's a wait and see type situation, maybe send him on loan somewhere. Taunzebe needs to go aswell, he's spent too much time with Jones.
 
Zlatattack said:
There is huge scope for improvement.

This is what I consider our first 11.

DDG
Dalot Varane Martinez Shaw
Casimero Eriksen
Antony Fernandes Rashford
Martial

I think in our first team we need a striker as priority, it's a clear and obvious flaw. Other than that our starting 11 is pretty decent.

However we know it's a squad game. Our second 11 is pants.

Heaton
AWB Maguire Lindelof Malacia
Fred McT
Sancho Beek Garnacho
Wout

Then we have prospects and rubbish after that.

We need a GK to challenge/replace DDG. I don't think Henderson is the man. Whoever we buy needs to be good enough to take the first team slot.
We could upgrade AWB easily, although he's on good form atm.
Maguire has become a liability in our team, Lindelof is mid-table at best. We need someone who challenge our first 11 defenders for a spot.
Fred could stay as a squad player, McT and DVB both need to be moved on. We should by challenger/cover for both eriksen and Casimero.
Our striker is a loan from Burnley - we'll have to see how that goes, but he should be third choice at best. We need a world class striker so we can put Martial in the second 11, or ship him off in the future.

Will anyone ever take Jones? Can we expect Elanga to make it big for us? it's a wait and see type situation, maybe send him on loan somewhere. Taunzebe needs to go aswell, he's spent too much time with Jones.
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First team is crying out for progressive CM because have no control of games for 90 mins
 
Rashford, Bruno, Martial (CF) and backup/successor to Casemiro.

I would have said Dalot but AWB has been immense recently.
 
The core question asked in this thread isn't much different than all the other threads on the caf, but it's a good time nevertheless to take stock of where we are and where upgrades are needed.

As proven yet again last night, above all else we need a proper CF. Martial isn't up to it and Wout is at best a suitable cover for a proper CF and I'm not even sure about that, let alone Martial being a suitable cover for either a proper CF or for Wout in the event Wout goes down with injury.

Who for CF is a different thread, but it's light years beyond any question that we need to bring in a CF.

A backup for Casemiro, for sure. And I'd say a backup for Bruno, who can be outstanding at times but does go through dips in form at times and in any event can't play 50+ matches a season. I like Eriksen, but his clock is winding down.

Fukk the talk about getting rid of De Gea. No chance can Raya and Pope make the kind of saves that De Gea routinely makes. if we want to bring in a keeper to "challenge" De Gea, that's fine, but the question being posed here essentially asks who can we bring to fill out the first 15-16 spots in the squad to enable us to compete for a PL trophy. We're set and have good depth in several positions, but we're desperate for a CF and could use a solid backup CDM. Beyond that, there's always squad management in and out, such as finding a new home for McTominay and giving a few young players their shot and so on, but they're not the kind of players who can elevate us to competing for the PL trophy.
 
Zen86 said:
Competition for Eriksen in CM and a CF should be the priorities. Beyond that, it's a pretty decent team.

We're not City at the end of the day, we aren't able to stack our squad to the same level as them.
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I agree with this. Priorities are exactly those. CF and the Eriksen position (fantastic though he is, competition / cover is essential).

After that we could do with an elite RB but we’re managing okay. Then I’d probably say yet another midfielder if McT is going to move on; I just think we are thin on quality in midfield.
 
OrcaFat said:
I agree with this. Priorities are exactly those. CF and the Eriksen position (fantastic though he is, competition / cover is essential).

After that we could do with an elite RB but we’re managing okay. Then I’d probably say yet another midfielder if McT is going to move on; I just think we are thin on quality in midfield.
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We are definitely thin on the ground in midfield quality outside of Casa & Eriksen
 
We desperately need a striker and a Back up CDM to rotate casamiro occasionally. I think we are covered in other positions including Right back now AWB is on fire.
players not good enough need to be sold. McTominay, Maguire, Elanga along with Jones top my list. The first three should recoup some decent cash. Id give Jones away.
 
We need a striker, of course. I would keep Rashford and Martial though. I can't see Weghorst staying beyond his loan.

I am still not totally convinced about right back but also not sure who is available who could improve us, and we have 2-3 decent and potentially improving players here in Dalot, AWB and Laird, so would probably leave alone.

I think we are well covered in central defence and left back. Lindelof and Malacia are good backup options. I would only sell Maguire if we get a good fee or if he absolutely insists on leaving; otherwise we might be short of cover since Jones and Tuanzebe will likely leave.

Central midfield always seems to need work. I would definitely look to sell Van de Beek if possible, but keep Fred and McTominay unless offered big money for either. Maybe get Tielemans cheap now or free in the summer as a backup for Eriksen.

Wide attack - we need to improve the players we have, especially Sancho and Antony, but not forgetting Pellistri and Amad who I still like. Elanga can go.

Keeper - I am fine with De Gea, I think he is being underrated by some. We should probably sell Henderson. Maybe look to buy a new youngish keeper to challenge and back up DDG - but one who doesn't necessarily expect to be in the team yet.

All in all, we don't seem to be in a bad position, but that striker is a tough one. We will probably have to spend big on Osimhen or similar.
 
I expect to see at least 2 of the young players to come through next season, we've had Garnacho this year and so i'm firmly expecting Amad and one of Hannibal or Iqbal to be part of the first team squad next year which would be great. They're not upgrades as such but would certainly provide options which we have a distinct lack of at the moment.

In terms of the of where i would be planning now is for both Casemiro and Varane, both phenomenal players who will be very difficult to replace so now is the time to be planning. Other than that and the obvious need for a no 9, i think the squad is starting to look in good shape, amazing the impact good coaching and decent results can have on the outlook!
 
Goalkeepers - fine
Defenders - it’s as clear as day to me that our first choice RCBs are Varane and Lindelof. Maguire is surplus to requirements and surely we can get 35 million for the guy from someone. Martinez is our LCB but we need a back up left footed CB and that will cost us an arm and a leg. Therefore, I would buy another LB allowing Malacia to cover on both flanks and we can use Luke Shaw as a back up LCB. So in defence, we need a new LB young or ageing that is happy with a squad role.
Midfield- Our 8 and 10 spots are covered by Bruno/Eriksen/Fred/Mebrij/Amad (at 10) and other youngsters. At 6 we only have Casemiro so we should flog McT for €25 million and spend whatever the difference will be on Caicedo.
Attackers - I would keep Rashford/Martial/Antony/Sancho/Garnacho/Amad. Unless Weghorst explodes into action - replace him with a definite starter (Osimhen, Vlahovic). Sell Pellistri- not because I don’t think he is good enough but we are stacked with wide players and potential 10’s. If we can pick up another squad attacker with experience (Reus been mentioned) so be it.

So out are McT, Maguire, Pellistri and Telles obviously. Should get at least €80 million for those no?

In are squad LB, squad attacker, Caicedo (€50 million) and Osimhen (€100 million) I would be over the moon! Net spend of €70 not bad for that
 
Priority should be:
1. Striker
1. CM
3. GK – genuine competition to De Gea
4. Replacements for anyone that's sold (e.g. AWB, Lindelöf/Maguire, McTominay)

This is how I think we should prioritize going forward, in the (current and) next transfer window:
The most obvious and glaring hole that needs to be covered is the striker position, that’s clear to see for anyone. Filling this need will be expensive and can easily cost us more than 100m to sort out. Martial provides adequate backup for next season, after all he is a good player that fits in well in our team when fit and is a player that has proven to be difficult to sell so likely to stay around. Weghorst is a stopgap for now.
The likes of Osimhen, Kane, Vlahovic, Martinez, etc. have been mentioned and they would all be massive improvements if you ask me.

As a joint nr.1 on our priority list I’ve listed a new CM. I would argue that a CM should be a more imminent priority than a striker, i.e., a January-priority, especially now that we’ve signed a stopgap striker. Donny is out for the rest of the season (and has never really proved to be the signing we all hoped for), and our backups are limited to Fred and McTominay.
Eriksen has been a massive upgrade for us but he needs a rotational option for when he needs a rest but even for if/when Bruno is out and Eriksen can play the nr.10 role.
Would like to see a player in the same mold as Eriksen as our new CM, but younger and a bit more physical, and I believe Tielemans could be that player and potentially be a steal at a cut-price now in January or even on a free in the summer.

As for a new GK I’m a bit torn. I want to keep De Gea around as he's among the very best on what he's good at, but only on a significantly lower salary and if he accepts competition. We could use a more “rounded” GK with better passing/distribution, sweeper- and aerial abilities. David Raya has been mentioned recently for as little as 15m in the summer and I think he would be a good bet.

I think these are the three most important priorities that we should focus on in the summer.
In terms of other needs they will basically depend on who we sell; e.g. if we sell AWB we need a new RB, selling Maguire = a new CB, McTominay = a new DM etc. Some of those we sell can be upgraded on by younger players being promoted (e.g. Elanga with Amad), while others need to be upgraded on by buying their replacement.

We will also have to prioritize selling fringe players though, and the likes of Henderson, Telles, Bailly, Williams, one of Elanga/Pellistri should all be sold. Donny might be impossible due to his injury. Maybe we can raise somewhere in the region of 50m on those.

In terms of contracts expiring in the summer(2023) I assume we will let Jones and Tuanzebe go, and perhaps also Heaton if De Gea stays and we sign another GK (Butland can replace Heatons role). Ethan Laird I guess will have his optional year triggered and get chance to prove himself.
Looking at contracts expiring in 2024 we have Rashford, Fred, Shaw and Dalot where it’s our last chance of selling them this summer if we want to get a fee (without having to renew contracts). I think it’s only Fred out of those who’s not an obvious part of our long-term plan and might be sold this summer, and it might be an idea to sell in the summer to finance new players. Would probably fetch us around 15m.

That could leave us with this team (backups) for next season:
De Gea/Raya (De Gea/Raya)
Dalot (AWB) – Varane (Maguire/Lindelöf) – Martinez (Shaw) – Shaw (Malacia)
Casemiro (McT) – Eriksen (Tielemans)
Antony (Sancho/Amad) – Bruno (Eriksen/Amad) – Rashford (Garnacho/Sancho)
Osimhen/Kane/Vlahovic (Martial).

I genuinely believe that could be a title-challenging team. For a net spending of around 75m.
 
I feel one of Dalot/Wan-Bissaka needs to be upgraded on. We need to make a decision to sell one so we get an actual outlet on the right flank.

Eriksen, great player but if he can only last 60 minutes right now it's only going to get worse. We need someone who can control the game with 90 minutes worth of intensity.

We can get by with De Gea for another season but we should be looking at targets.

I don't think it's realistic we upgrade on Antony any time soon. We just have to hope one of Sancho/Antony/Amad makes it.
 
I’d say the weak spots at the moment are the centre forward position, the right sided centre back position (held by Varane) and the defensive midfield position (held by Casemiro).

We have no-one really suited to the centre forward position who we can deem reliable and dependable, and if Casemiro or Varane were not available for whatever reason, it would be a worry.

Jurrien Timber could be that guy to rotate in and out with Varane. No-one off the top of my head is jumping out for a defensive midfielder even though there’s plenty out there and I have no clue about the centre forward. Kane would be a ballsy move but no idea if Levy will sell to us and questions over fitness and injuries. He’d be a medium term buy who if all goes well gives us 3-4 years of goals.
 
In terms of upgrading, Antony, Bruno, and Martial. Don't think we're getting the level we want from them at all.

In terms of long term replacements, I think we need competition for Eriksen, De Gea, Cas, and Varane. They're all performing at a top level but we don't have an adequate back up and they're all in their 30s.

I also think we need to upgrade our bench as well. Maguire, Lindelof, Elanga, VDB, McTominay, and Martial need to be phased out of the club.

Even though we're doing well now, I don't think the squad will be recognizable in 2 seasons.
 
Another quality midfield option, striker, and probably a winger unless Sancho and Antony come good. We may also find ourselves needing a CB when Maguire goes. Torn on RB but doesn’t seem priority right now. We may also need a backup striker.
 
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