Which midfielder do you prefer?

I look at Jorginho and think that type of tempo setting ball player is just as important as a traditional CDM. I then look at the quality of Barella and Locatelli on the ball, their ability to press and most importantly their willingness to accept the ball and want the ball. It’s been a long time since we have had a centre midfielder that dictates a game, demands the ball, shows up when we need someone to take the ball in tight areas and get us out. Obviously Veratti but that’s just not going to happen.
 
There aren't a lot of pivot combinations we can play considering Bruno will be the 3rd midfielder. Tielemans and Rice behind Bruno does sound tasty though. Tielemans DeJong would be delicious.
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
Ndidi seems a rare find tbh. I did some research and stats wise nobody matched Ndidi defensively. The ones that came close were Tchouameni, Pahlinha and Sangare and they all play in lesser sides too
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vva said:
I used to express my opinion in another post. If we want a strength DMC who could be XI in Man United, I'll choose Ibrahim Sangare'.
He's got quite good skill on everything you need in this role including tackling, intercepting, heading, passing and dribbling.
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VanDeBank said:
The only way Sangare and passing or dribbling go in one sentence is if the word "shit" is in there. One of the worst midfielders on the ball to ever play for PSV. The amount of time he passes the ball to the opposition while not being under any sort of pressure is stunning. He's great defensively.
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This Sangare was hot garbage last season, but he's done a complete 180. He was already a good destroyer, but now he's finding his teammates with passes and scoring thunderbolts. Definitely in contention for best midfielder in the league and easily the best DM.

I hope he's on the radar. Destroyers are exactly the type of players you want to scout early from a lesser league, rather than getting fleeced by Leicester and West Ham.

Bit of an old comp (lemme know if its available). There's bound to be a new one if he keeps playing like this:
 
Konrad Laimer in January? Contract till 2023. Fairly cheap.
Still allows the club to buy a "big fish" in summer.
 
If ETH is coming this summer, we may go for Edson Alvarez.

If it’s Amorim, then Palhinha would be logical.

Both can play CB, and could allow us to switch to a back 3 from time to time.

Sell Pogba, and get Kessie on the free.
 
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VanDeBank said:
This Sangare was hot garbage last season, but he's done a complete 180. He was already a good destroyer, but now he's finding his teammates with passes and scoring thunderbolts. Definitely in contention for best midfielder in the league and easily the best DM.

I hope he's on the radar. Destroyers are exactly the type of players you want to scout early from a lesser league, rather than getting fleeced by Leicester and West Ham.

Bit of an old comp (lemme know if its available). There's bound to be a new one if he keeps playing like this:
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He has definitely stepped up his game and looks to be very important for PSV. I haven't however seen him ''do it' yet in the bigger matches for PSV to the extent I feel he deserves a mention here..
 
Having watched (only a few matches so I could be off) Atletico this year I feel we missed out on Rodrigo de Paul..
 
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I know he got sent off today, but Barella? If Inter are still clearing shop, I think he'd be fantastic.
 
After this sesson I don't see Pogba and Matic still being here and it's possible Van de Beek will be gone. That leaves us with Mcfred as our only midfielders so we need 2. I think we'll get 1 in January, might be the RB Leipzig guy or hopefully Tchouameni and I wouldn't rule out a move for Kalvin Phillips. That'll give us 3 hard working midfielders so hopefully we can add a top #8 playmaker in the summer, Frenkie de Jong would be my favoured choice and despite Barca's posturing they are in need of money if they want to sign Ferran Torres. Other options would be Tielemans or Fabian Ruiz as I think it'll be summer 2023 before Bellingham is an option.
 
If we are talking about realistic, easily available targets then Zakaria or Haidara.
 
De Jong would be the dream, but I cant see Barca letting him go for less than 60-70M.
 
kthanksbye said:
There aren't a lot of pivot combinations we can play considering Bruno will be the 3rd midfielder. Tielemans and Rice behind Bruno does sound tasty though. Tielemans DeJong would be delicious.
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Rangnick's 4-2-2-2 fixes the Bruno being a 10 and nobody playing 10s anymore issue thank god. Just a matter of getting a good deep midfielder and having one of Fred or VDB thrive in the system now.
 
Tielemans will only have a year to go on his contract in the summer…
 
Kalvin Philips is the perfect system player to suit this style of play. However, we don’t really know how we will shape up next year until we sign a coach. If it’s Ten Hag then a more creative player would be needed. If it’s Poch, then Philips would be perfect.

Barca are in serious danger of not qualifying for champions league next season, IF we do manage to make top 4, we need to go in hard for De Jong. Barca are insistent that they won’t let him go but they need money and we have it.
 
Edson Alvarez for DM, especially if we’re looking at Ten Hag. He probably would be the cheaper option out there, and would already be familiar with Ten Hag.
Pair him up with either Fred or Haidara.

I think we can get both Haidara and Alvarez for 60 millions combined.
 
reddevilz007 said:
Edson Alvarez for DM, especially if we’re looking at Ten Hag. He probably would be the cheaper option out there, and would already be familiar with Ten Hag.
Pair him up with either Fred or Haidara.

I think we can get both Haidara and Alvarez for 60 millions combined.
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I'm Mexican so I watch Alvarez regularly, while he is solid he's no where near the level required for a top team. We need way more than what he can offer, he's solid defensively but lacks distribution and is absolutely useless in attack.
 
AussieDevil said:
Kalvin Philips is the perfect system player to suit this style of play. However, we don’t really know how we will shape up next year until we sign a coach. If it’s Ten Hag then a more creative player would be needed. If it’s Poch, then Philips would be perfect.

Barca are in serious danger of not qualifying for champions league next season, IF we do manage to make top 4, we need to go in hard for De Jong. Barca are insistent that they won’t let him go but they need money and we have it.
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Phillips is interesting because his value might have dropped a bit this year, from its absurd high after the Euros, but I could see him doing well in Rangnick's system as one of the 2 deeper midfielders. Leeds won't want to sell to us and he might not want to come.
 
AussieDevil said:
Kalvin Philips is the perfect system player to suit this style of play. However, we don’t really know how we will shape up next year until we sign a coach. If it’s Ten Hag then a more creative player would be needed. If it’s Poch, then Philips would be perfect.

Barca are in serious danger of not qualifying for champions league next season, IF we do manage to make top 4, we need to go in hard for De Jong. Barca are insistent that they won’t let him go but they need money and we have it.
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I read somewhere that he won't move to united out of loyalty to Leeds. But maybe if he actually had an offer on the table it may prove too tempting to turn down.
 
lenny_1248 said:
They are not even better than McFred, what's the point?
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McFred wouldnt even get in Ajax starting XI, who’s been dominating their CL group and their league respectively. In their current form, Ajax would dominate us.
It’s all about how players fit in a system.
Your boytoy Mctominay wouldnt even start for neither Leipzig nor Ajax.
And I certainly trust more Rangnick’s knowledge about Amadou than someone like you, thank you very much.
 
SAFMUTD said:
I'm Mexican so I watch Alvarez regularly, while he is solid he's no where near the level required for a top team. We need way more than what he can offer, he's solid defensively but lacks distribution and is absolutely useless in attack.
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but he’s an integral part of Ten Hag’s Ajax which just happens to dominate their CL group that included BVB. Those 2 clubs have been playing better football than us, and would dominate us. So you don’t consider them as top clubs, but we are?
You think we are a top club in Europe at the moment? Fascinating.
 
reddevilz007 said:
Your boytoy Mctominay
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reddevilz007 said:
And I certainly trust more Rangnick’s knowledge about Amadou than someone like you, thank you very much.
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Relax, kid.

reddevilz007 said:
but he’s an integral part of Ten Hag’s Ajax which just happens to dominate their CL group that included BVB. Those 2 clubs have been playing better football than us, and would dominate us.
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Borussia would dominate United? ahahaha
The amount of bs you write here...
 
reddevilz007 said:
but he’s an integral part of Ten Hag’s Ajax which just happens to dominate their CL group that included BVB. Those 2 clubs have been playing better football than us, and would dominate us. So you don’t consider them as top clubs, but we are?
You think we are a top club in Europe at the moment? Fascinating.
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Under that logic we should basically buy any starting player from ajax.

All I'm saying is Alvarez is not the required level for us, he's 24 so of course he can still improve but as I said I think we could/should get a better player.
 
I think it's crazy that so many people rate Frenkie De Jong.
He has no pre-assists, assists or goals, can't press, doesn't have long range of passing to destabilize opposition, no body force, no tacklings, no heading abilities, zero crossing, rather slow.
He is invisible in a game. I can't remember a moment of brilliance from him all these years at Barcelona, playing like a very, very, very poor version of Toni Kroos.
 
reddevilz007 said:
but he’s an integral part of Ten Hag’s Ajax which just happens to dominate their CL group that included BVB. Those 2 clubs have been playing better football than us, and would dominate us. So you don’t consider them as top clubs, but we are?
You think we are a top club in Europe at the moment? Fascinating.
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Van De Beek was also an integral part of the Ajax team and look how that has worked out for us.
 
I don’t want McGinn simply because Fergie might be pushing his envelope. Enough with these nepotistic hirings.
 
Reij said:
I think it's crazy that so many people rate Frenkie De Jong.
He has no pre-assists, assists or goals, can't press, doesn't have long range of passing to destabilize opposition, no body force, no tacklings, no heading abilities, zero crossing, rather slow.
He is invisible in a game. I can't remember a moment of brilliance from him all these years at Barcelona, playing like a very, very, very poor version of Toni Kroos.
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This.
 
AussieDevil said:
Kalvin Philips is the perfect system player to suit this style of play. However, we don’t really know how we will shape up next year until we sign a coach. If it’s Ten Hag then a more creative player would be needed. If it’s Poch, then Philips would be perfect.

Barca are in serious danger of not qualifying for champions league next season, IF we do manage to make top 4, we need to go in hard for De Jong. Barca are insistent that they won’t let him go but they need money and we have it.
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Agree on Kalvin Phillips. Ideal for this system. High energy and moves the ball quickly and efficiently with a good range of passing.
 
Reij said:
I think it's crazy that so many people rate Frenkie De Jong.
He has no pre-assists, assists or goals, can't press, doesn't have long range of passing to destabilize opposition, no body force, no tacklings, no heading abilities, zero crossing, rather slow.
He is invisible in a game. I can't remember a moment of brilliance from him all these years at Barcelona, playing like a very, very, very poor version of Toni Kroos.
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This is clueless from start to finish.
 
TheReligion said:
Agree on Kalvin Phillips. Ideal for this system. High energy and moves the ball quickly and efficiently with a good range of passing.
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This system is hopefully only till summer we should not be spending any money for this system in January .
 
RooneyLegend said:
This is clueless from start to finish.
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After 3? years at Barcelona, his face on my mind was still blurred before the game with Bayern few days ago. It's impossible not to form an opinion or simply remember a regular starter for a team you frequently watch if he stands out in any form.
 
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