The sheer meltdown on here will be worth it.
Which of our player's fit Amorim's style/tactics particularly well or poorly?
- Thread starter bb8
- Start date
If it was that simple. First of all, ten Hag had ties with Zirkzee, he is dutch, normally it was perfectly enough for ten Hag to sign someone regardless if he can play football or not, see Weghorst or Malacia. Other. Good age, good quality. Really? I've read an interview with Rio Ferdinand. He wasn't really happy about De Ligt. He explained, if you look at de Ligt's career since he left Ajax at the age of 20, you see a constant decline in performance, value, every way. He said when de Ligt played for Ajax he was a monster, one of world's most dominant centre backs, now he is nowhere near to that. Juventus paid 85 million for him but due to his mediocre performance they could sell him for a lot less 67 million to Bayern where he also underperformed and got sold for only 45 million. He lost almost half oh his real value within a few years for a reason. At the age of 25 it isn't a good sign at all. Max Eberl, the director of sport at Bayern Munich stated after the the deal was done that they were actually happy to let him go as they think de Ligt isn't playing aggressively enough, both Kim and Upamecano are better options. And i see what he was talking about, honestly I'm not entirely happy with him. Mazraoui is a different story. He simply couldn't cut the mustard at Bayern, played 58 Bundesliga matches averaging 57 minutes and you can see why. Although he is a better offensive player as Wan-Bissaka, he has his limitations in defense. At least he was cheap, but there's a reason why the germans did't want to keep him. Anyway, we paid a good price for them but "you get what you paid for", i can see their shortcomings already. I'm not entirely unhappy with them though, they are definitely better than Maguire, Lindelöf, Wan-Bissaka, let's see how they will perform under Amorim. Hopefully de Ligt will revive his career in Manchester.
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I was hoping someone would give analysis of which youth player might thrive under the he new manager. Thank you for that.Interested in seeing which of the academy lads get a chance under him!
A few of them are reasonably well suited to his tactics, in theory...
Harry Amass is a bit trickier to assess, even though he's one of the best youth players at the club, as he's a conventional, technically superb left back in a Back 4. Could he successfully transition to a possession-oriented wingback role?
- Shea Lacey and Amir Ibragimov seem natural fits as the twin No. 10s who mostly operate in the half-spaces.
- Chido Obi Martin as the mobile, all-purpose center forward with a well-calibrated eye for goal.
- Bendito Mantato has experience as a winger (his best role, for now) and wide defender, perhaps he could be developed as a wingback.
- James Overy and Dante Plunkett, also as wingbacks on the right and left flank respectively.
- Jack Fletcher and Jim Thwaites as the playmaking midfield pivot.
- Tyler Fletcher and Jayce Fitzgerald as the defensive minded midfield pivot.
- Godwill Kukonki as the left centerback. Consistency and ball usage seem improved, and he is athletically capable to boot.
- Elyh Harrison as the sweeper keeper who doubles up as an outfield player. It's very hard for youth goalkeepers to make it at big clubs, but you never know.
If even 3 of them establish themselves as key squad members, let alone first team starters, I'm going to be a very happy chappy.
There’s your problem. While I enjoy his podcasts and appearances for the candid stories from the Fergie era, his footballing opinions are bizarre at times. Both de Ligt and Mazraoui were smart signings for the club in our current position - both financial and footballing wise. I actually think de Ligt is starting to look very good, Maz is a reliable , technically sound option for RB, I’m happy with both. Zirkzee on the other hand…
Did you read the rest of his post? What do you think about the constant decline in value that he pointed out?
I was excited about the De Ligt transfer initially but now I am not sure what the fuss was all about. We leaked goals so ETH went out and got the highest profile defender that was available in the market. But the trend of his decline is for all to see.
We have become a semi-retirement home actually. The only defender we bought while his stock was going up was Maguire and we all know how that turned out.
I am far from an Amorim expert but I watch many variants of 3-4-3/3-4-2-1 system and here's whom I think will benefit the most
CB: Basically all of our CBs especially Martinez and Maguire/Evans. The former will benefit greatly from having two tall CBs near him that will shield him from the physical aspects of the game while the latter will enjoy having a runner close to them (Yoro) on top of another CB.
WB: Both will benefit as they can now go up and down with less care of the defending aspect of the game.
DM: ETH wanted a high line defense with CBs being close to defense and WB's bombing the flanks He was also not keen playing a dedicated defensive midfielder in midfield (ex Ugarte). That lead to a mess. Our CBs were simply too slow to constantly go up and down the pitch. Being CBs they prioritized defending which meant that the CMs were often isolated while Eriksen/Casemiro lacked the legs to cover the huge swathes of pitch expected in that system. Amorim use a similar system but with slight modifications to it. Thanks to an extra CB, defense will have the tools to help midfield more, Amorim will use Ugarte more, possibly alongside Mainoo/Casemiro which in turn will give us better solidity in CM. The winners in this will be Casemiro and Mainoo while the biggest losers will be Eriksen and Mount whom I very much doubt, will play in the base 2 role.
AMC: Amorim tend to use a conventional no 10 and a converted winger who can help in the middle and then shift on the flank. Ole's Bruno would benefit greatly out of such system. The other role will be pitting Garnacho, Amad and Rashy against one another. Garnacho/Amad are young enough to adapt. I wonder if Rashy has the workrate and the skills to play in a more central role: Winner: Bruno. Loser: Rashy
STK: Amorim loves a goalscorer. Hojlund will benefit on that to the expense of Zirkzee. Though keep an eye on Chido Obi Martin
CB: Basically all of our CBs especially Martinez and Maguire/Evans. The former will benefit greatly from having two tall CBs near him that will shield him from the physical aspects of the game while the latter will enjoy having a runner close to them (Yoro) on top of another CB.
WB: Both will benefit as they can now go up and down with less care of the defending aspect of the game.
DM: ETH wanted a high line defense with CBs being close to defense and WB's bombing the flanks He was also not keen playing a dedicated defensive midfielder in midfield (ex Ugarte). That lead to a mess. Our CBs were simply too slow to constantly go up and down the pitch. Being CBs they prioritized defending which meant that the CMs were often isolated while Eriksen/Casemiro lacked the legs to cover the huge swathes of pitch expected in that system. Amorim use a similar system but with slight modifications to it. Thanks to an extra CB, defense will have the tools to help midfield more, Amorim will use Ugarte more, possibly alongside Mainoo/Casemiro which in turn will give us better solidity in CM. The winners in this will be Casemiro and Mainoo while the biggest losers will be Eriksen and Mount whom I very much doubt, will play in the base 2 role.
AMC: Amorim tend to use a conventional no 10 and a converted winger who can help in the middle and then shift on the flank. Ole's Bruno would benefit greatly out of such system. The other role will be pitting Garnacho, Amad and Rashy against one another. Garnacho/Amad are young enough to adapt. I wonder if Rashy has the workrate and the skills to play in a more central role: Winner: Bruno. Loser: Rashy
STK: Amorim loves a goalscorer. Hojlund will benefit on that to the expense of Zirkzee. Though keep an eye on Chido Obi Martin
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Inclined to agree with you. Our wingers aren't suited to hugging the touchline but were usually asked to do so due to the need to invert our fullbacks. Amorin gets his width from the wingbacks, so our wingers (who are all inside forwards, really) should be happier playing closer to goal.
The only issue I can see is when he inevitably tries to play one of them as a wingback to fit more of his best players in. If he doesn't sell that well there's a potential fallout there. I mention this because we've seen what happened when Rashford was asked to play LWB under Rangnick, or more recently Antony at fullback in the dying stages vs Arsenal.
The hot counter offers fantastic value. It's the one reason to go there.
If we do knock OT down and convert it to a Morrisons though, will our catering staff be trusted to cook several hundred whole chickens a day to juicy perfection? I would guess not.
Asda is, therefore, the better fit.
Why bizarre? He is absolutely right about de Ligt. Numbers never lie. At the age of 20 he was one of, if not the most expensive, sought after centre backs on the planet. That's why Juve paid 85 million. Poor performances in Torino. Bayern paid 67 million. Poor performances in Munich. United paid 45 million. From 85 to 45 within a few years. Do you think that the huge decline in his value was due to his amazing form, good performances? Of course not. He reached the point when Bayern were actually happy to sell him and they did not even deny that. Anyway, for 45 million he was an ok signing but let'see on the long run, i hope he will be fine but considering that he failed in two weaker leagues already, I'm not a 100 percent optimistic.
Will we see a reduction in the amount of injuries, that would at least give our new guy more selection choices.
If Mount ever gets fit I think he works very well in those advanced forward roles. The problem is his availability he's just never able to actually play a match!
Genuinely think Rashford is going to really struggle in this team except for as the lead striker, and I think him and Hojlund will be competing for that spot with Zirkzee relegated to cameos.
Genuinely think Rashford is going to really struggle in this team except for as the lead striker, and I think him and Hojlund will be competing for that spot with Zirkzee relegated to cameos.
Agreed. Mount's best time at Chelsea was under Tuchel when he played a back 3 as well and he played in the 10 behind the striker. I feel as though, Amorin's system actually suits Mounts biggest strength which is taking the ball on the half turn, lets be honest he can receive a pass really well.
He will be closer to removing Bruno from the team than he ever has been, I believe.
Rashford, like you say, imo can only play the 9 role and Zirkzee looks like he is struggling with the pace of the PL, he wants more time than he will get on the ball, this is not Serie A.
No idea, never heard of the guy and I'm sure a large majority of the fanbase haven't (well those not pretending to royally follow the Portugese, Dutch, Norweigan etc leagues anyway)
What I do know is his "tactics", "philosophy", "style" etc mean little to nothing now that he's in the PL. People were ranting about Ten Hag's tactical genius as well when he first arrived.
Just hope he's an improvement on Ten Hag and can get the team competing again. A clear out is needed of course. A capable team wouldn't be mid table in the league after 10 games regardless of manager.
What I do know is his "tactics", "philosophy", "style" etc mean little to nothing now that he's in the PL. People were ranting about Ten Hag's tactical genius as well when he first arrived.
Just hope he's an improvement on Ten Hag and can get the team competing again. A clear out is needed of course. A capable team wouldn't be mid table in the league after 10 games regardless of manager.
I just cant see Garnacho as a wing back. He cant defend and he cant cross. You might get away with it in the Portuguese league but Id be shitting myself coming up against the likes of Salah. I think Amorim needs to adapt. The Premier league is a different beast. Mazroui and Dalot have to be the wing backs until we sign new wing backs in the summer. And those wing backs have to be proper wing backs - Frimpong etc and not wingers converted to wing backs. Garnacho and Rashford are fkd in this system and we should just accept that. We have made this mistake for the last 10/11 years. We get a manager and ask them to fit the players into a system instead of getting players that fit his system. Saying that until we get those proper wingbacks the best fit for wingers that can play wing back is actually Amad and Antony. But thats just in an emergency.
On another note I actually think Zirkzee could play as one of the 10's. From what I understand of Amorims teams the CB's try to find the 10's quickly. This means the need to be mobile to find space and be able to take a long ball, turn and get it forward. Plus contribute to the attack. Yeah he looks sht now. But I can see he has the attributes to do it. He just needs time to come to terms with the pace of the league.
With the CB's they lack pace. Which is why I never understood the De Ligt signing. Hopefully Yoro can help with that but he is still a kid so not sure how he will step up or is he needs time.
Considering Mount and Shaw are dead I would see the below as the best fit with the players we have right now. However considering the wingbacks arnt actually wingbacks and our inability to score Amorim might need to try squeeze a Garnacho/Rashford in somewhere. Maybe as a 10?
----------------------Onana
-------Yoro------De Ligt---Martinez----
Dalot-----Ugarte-----Mainoo/Case------Mazroui
--------------Bruno------Zirkzee/Eriksen
--------------------Hojlund
On another note I actually think Zirkzee could play as one of the 10's. From what I understand of Amorims teams the CB's try to find the 10's quickly. This means the need to be mobile to find space and be able to take a long ball, turn and get it forward. Plus contribute to the attack. Yeah he looks sht now. But I can see he has the attributes to do it. He just needs time to come to terms with the pace of the league.
With the CB's they lack pace. Which is why I never understood the De Ligt signing. Hopefully Yoro can help with that but he is still a kid so not sure how he will step up or is he needs time.
Considering Mount and Shaw are dead I would see the below as the best fit with the players we have right now. However considering the wingbacks arnt actually wingbacks and our inability to score Amorim might need to try squeeze a Garnacho/Rashford in somewhere. Maybe as a 10?
----------------------Onana
-------Yoro------De Ligt---Martinez----
Dalot-----Ugarte-----Mainoo/Case------Mazroui
--------------Bruno------Zirkzee/Eriksen
--------------------Hojlund
Left wing back seems the biggest issue.
If dalot and Mazraoui end up being our wing backs I just don't see where the creativity will come from. Neither of them are particularly great players
My worry about the three at the back system at the moment is that it helps cover the deficiencies of our centre backs but we have even less control in the middle of the park and continue to struggle to score goals
To be fair I am not sure Maguire is any worse than de ligt, and if he is it isn't by much. Hardly enough of an upgrade for 45m whilst we still don't have a left back
De Ligt didn't really decline, it's just that he never really improved either. He certainly wasn't one of the world's most dominant centre backs at Ajax, it's just that he was so good at such a young age that it was expected he would continue improving and develop into that. Hence the price tag at the time (the most expensive defender in history until Maguire broke it a few weeks later). At Juve, after a shaky first few months, he then got back to a similar level again. After three years he refused to sign a new contract and wanted to leave, Juve were having financial problems so couldn't afford to let him run down his contract, and a 23yo De Ligt wouldn't go for the same price as a 20yo De Ligt. So of course he ended up going for a bit less than his original price tag (although it was still the 6th highest fee ever paid for a defender).
From memory it went the same way at Bayern, with a slightly shaky start for a month or two before then getting back to the same level that he showed at Ajax and Juve. His second season there is about the first time that you could say that he perhaps declined, but that season was broken up with injuries and a manager who preferred the strengths of Kim and Upamecano (even though De Ligt still outperformed them when he played). That's the point where we come in. A 25yo De Ligt who is largely the same player he was as a teenager, who had just come off one season where he had struggled a bit, and at a club that was prioritising the speed and ball-playing ability of others, means that of course he's going to go for less again. That doesn't mean that he's declined, it's just that when he was younger teams were paying overs on the basis of his potential (that he never ended up reaching).
The one thing I will say is that the two aspects that are increasingly looked for in centre backs in the modern game (pace to play a high line and ball-playing ability) are things that he's not great at. He's probably below average pace for a centre back, and while he is fairly good on the ball it's not something that is really a standout. It's why it wouldn't surprise me if we eventually look to upgrade further on him with someone who brings those aspects, and at that time we'll get less for a 27 or 28yo De Ligt than what we paid (based on him continuing to be the same player, rather than improving or declining). But considering the fees that players are going for these days, what we paid for De Ligt was quite good value (remember Everton wanted almost double for Branthwaite). That goes for Mazraoui as well. He's not world class, but good luck finding a better option for the fee we paid.
Does it really need saying that a player’s transfer fee is an awful proxy for how good they are?
Have a look at the Bayern sub on Reddit for when his move was being confirmed. Not only did many people say he was their best defender, they couldn’t believe was going for so cheap.
There are loads of things that affect a player’s price, beyond quality. Their age, contract length, desire to leave and both the financial needs and squad composition of the selling club are just as important.
I thought this too. At first I thought this could be one of those moments which could change a players fortunes at a club, a chance to reinvent himself. Antony would be a good fit for a left wing back imo.
But then I remembered he threw a tantrum the once or twice he was asked to play there during a game - so feck him.
I genuinely think that Amorim first meeting with the players will be to show and describe the current weaknesses of United!
The reason why they can’t score more than 1 to 1.5 league goals per game over the last 3-4 years, the reason why they concede more than 1.2-1.3 goals and this stats will always mean that they are 4th to 8th and can not enjoy their football in the PL because the team is always under pressure!
He will say I had the same problem at sporting and even in his first season he won the Portuguese league, his team was far from free scoring they won the league with 65 goals scored from 34 games, 1.91 goals per game!
However his squad bought into his methods and last year they scored 94 goals from 34 games or 2.76 goals per game and this season they have 27 from 9 games or 3 goals per game. He’s going show them how his system produces wining football, but every single player in the squad has to buy into it and work hard.
Ruben Amorim System is 3421, sometimes 343 or 3412, he can tinker with the front three but not very often, he never tinkers with the 3 in defence, the 4 in the second line and he’s happy to play a winger as a wing back on one side but not both unless he expects to batter the opposition. His biggest asset is he’s incredibly flexible with that system to try and nullify the opposition so when he attacks, it becomes more like a 1325 where the keeper comes high near the CB’s, this then develops to a 3-3-5 as a CB moves into Midfield and the keeper moves into a sweeper role.
I think he’ll want as many as 5/6 new players with 2 in January and 3/4 in the summer to implement his style of football. I’m going to list players that I think he will want and who might be sold to help facilitate these transfers.
Players Out.
Antony(£20m)
M Rashford (£60m)
J Evans (Retired)
C Eriksen (Free)
Casemiro (£20m)
T Mallacia (£5m)
J Sancho (£25m)
Ok they are not all going in winter window but I expect all of them to be gone by Summer 2025.
Players in
Victor Gyokeres (£65m)
A Fernandez (£16m)
A Gomes (Free)
J Branthwaite or M Gheui (£60m)
M Hjulmand (£50m)
C Rigg (£25m)
Net Spend of £95-100m
We can’t sell Shaw, no one will take him on his wages, V Lindelof will get a new contract as he’ll be perfect in a back 3 as back up to Lenny Yoro and I can see a lot of youth maybe featuring.
Amorim’s preferred Squad
First 11. Alternative 11
Onana A Bayinder
L Yoro. V Lindelof / N Mazraoui
M De Ligt. H Maguire
J Branthwaite. L Martinez/ L Shaw
D Dalot N Mazroui
M Hjulmand. M Ugarte /T Collyer
K Mainoo. A Gomes/D Gore
A Fernandes L Shaw/H Amass
Bruno. M Mount/C Rigg
Garnaucho J Zirkzee/ S Lacey
V Gyokeres. R Hojlund/Wheatley/COM
Maybe we sign none of these players maybe we sign 1 or 2 but players like Marcus who I love and still defend him!
I just can’t see where he or Garnaucho will feature in this formation, I hope to be proven wrong. One signing is absolutely necessary, however is our first signing on January 1 must be a left footed wing/left back.
The reason why they can’t score more than 1 to 1.5 league goals per game over the last 3-4 years, the reason why they concede more than 1.2-1.3 goals and this stats will always mean that they are 4th to 8th and can not enjoy their football in the PL because the team is always under pressure!
He will say I had the same problem at sporting and even in his first season he won the Portuguese league, his team was far from free scoring they won the league with 65 goals scored from 34 games, 1.91 goals per game!
However his squad bought into his methods and last year they scored 94 goals from 34 games or 2.76 goals per game and this season they have 27 from 9 games or 3 goals per game. He’s going show them how his system produces wining football, but every single player in the squad has to buy into it and work hard.
Ruben Amorim System is 3421, sometimes 343 or 3412, he can tinker with the front three but not very often, he never tinkers with the 3 in defence, the 4 in the second line and he’s happy to play a winger as a wing back on one side but not both unless he expects to batter the opposition. His biggest asset is he’s incredibly flexible with that system to try and nullify the opposition so when he attacks, it becomes more like a 1325 where the keeper comes high near the CB’s, this then develops to a 3-3-5 as a CB moves into Midfield and the keeper moves into a sweeper role.
I think he’ll want as many as 5/6 new players with 2 in January and 3/4 in the summer to implement his style of football. I’m going to list players that I think he will want and who might be sold to help facilitate these transfers.
Players Out.
Antony(£20m)
M Rashford (£60m)
J Evans (Retired)
C Eriksen (Free)
Casemiro (£20m)
T Mallacia (£5m)
J Sancho (£25m)
Ok they are not all going in winter window but I expect all of them to be gone by Summer 2025.
Players in
Victor Gyokeres (£65m)
A Fernandez (£16m)
A Gomes (Free)
J Branthwaite or M Gheui (£60m)
M Hjulmand (£50m)
C Rigg (£25m)
Net Spend of £95-100m
We can’t sell Shaw, no one will take him on his wages, V Lindelof will get a new contract as he’ll be perfect in a back 3 as back up to Lenny Yoro and I can see a lot of youth maybe featuring.
Amorim’s preferred Squad
First 11. Alternative 11
Onana A Bayinder
L Yoro. V Lindelof / N Mazraoui
M De Ligt. H Maguire
J Branthwaite. L Martinez/ L Shaw
D Dalot N Mazroui
M Hjulmand. M Ugarte /T Collyer
K Mainoo. A Gomes/D Gore
A Fernandes L Shaw/H Amass
Bruno. M Mount/C Rigg
Garnaucho J Zirkzee/ S Lacey
V Gyokeres. R Hojlund/Wheatley/COM
Maybe we sign none of these players maybe we sign 1 or 2 but players like Marcus who I love and still defend him!
I just can’t see where he or Garnaucho will feature in this formation, I hope to be proven wrong. One signing is absolutely necessary, however is our first signing on January 1 must be a left footed wing/left back.
I heard one of the two attacking midfielders for Amorim is usually a wide forward who can play on the inside, think that suits Rashford. Initially I think he will start with Bruno and Rashford behind Hoijlund with Garnacho, Zirkee and Amad rotating in. I expect problems with Rashford on work rate and with Bruno on taking good care of the ball.
Eriksen is a perfect CM esp when playing in front of a back 3 so Ugarte, Casemiro, Eriksen and Mainoo will give us a varied but solid rotation for the midfield. You would expect Mainoo and Ugarte to eventually take over but Eriksen is the better playmaker now and Mainoo doesn't have too much of a physical edge on a declining Eriksen. Casemiro and Ugarte would be useful in games we expect to be dominated, Casemiro and Eriksen would work against fodder whilst Ugarte and Mainoo has the potential to be our starting midfield combo.
I agree that he shouldn't make the same mistake that ETH made in underestimating the dangers PL attackers pose. Dalot/Mazraoui as a RWB works because they do have the skills set, as a pair though I worry about creativity. I suspect that, given the relatively less defensive demands at WB as opposed to FB we will see Amass being trusted at LWB for his natural width and creativity.
Martinez, De Ligt (Evans) and Yoro look perfect on paper. Long term I expect us to upgrade on Martinez and De Ligt to increase the physicality in the team. I think we will sign Diomande (sp), Frimpong and, fitness permitting, we will use Shaw as an LCB.
- Onana, no brainer nothing will change for him
- De Ligt will be fine in the middle of a 3,
- Zirkzee is way too slow and cumbersome to press/be a dynamic inside forward, he may work as a striker but am yet to be convinced
- Eriksen and Case just do not have the legs, unless as back ups making up the numbers and playing bit parts, but both are too expensive to play that role for long.
- Amad does not have the physicality to play wing back and has never really shown any great prowess in defence, could be an inside forward, certainly can play as a 10
- Dalot is going to need to improve a lot in attacking situations
- Mazroui showed far more attacking capabilities prior to coming to Utd, I think that Amorim will unlock a fair bit from him
- Garnacho seems to be touted as a wing back option, I do not see that TBH, he is supposedly quite hard working but Rashford is not, from my point of view neither work particularly hard in defence (but then I want them in attack so do not have a problem with them not defending)
- Antony, unless he converts to WB he needs to go, he certainly has the defensive abilities, better than any of our other wingers, so he would add more value than he did in ETH's system but the WBs in Amorim's system need to either be beating a man, or firing in good crosses, Antony has shown little aptitude for either
- Martinez, obviously can play in the left of a 3 but as we have seen in recent matches struggles to cover that whole area without support, long term I can see him being replaced, or moved into midfield an option instead of Ugarte or alongside against tougher optonents.
- Yoro, no brainer will work
- Maquire, is a quality defender, problem is Amorim plays a high line, he can work as the middle of a 3, but Yoro and Maz will have to constantly be covering runners for him
- Lindelof, doesn't work in any system I like him but ultimately not good enough at this level
- Shaw, would be brilliant LWB but is never fit
- Malacia, if he ever gets fit may work, but TBH I cannot remember if he was any good coming forward, do not think it is his strong suit
- Mainoo, I will draw the wrath of many when I say Mainoo has been over rated, I think he can become a really good player, but do not think he has been consistently that great, obviously has a future but he needs to step it up and kick on
- Mount, if he can stay fit is an obvious fit as an inside forward
- Bruno, Inside forward all day long, however he is very wasteful, not sure that Amorim will put up with this, if Bruno responds well to the new system he could easily get back to his best
- Hoijlund, must be rubbing his hands, he has shown he has the tools to be a top striker, I am really excited to see Hoijlund under Amorim
- Amass, think he will quickly be promoted to the first team, within 18 months he will be nailed on starter
- Evans, similar to Maguire if he stays fit no reason he cannot play in the middle of a 3
- Collyer, like Amass I see Collyer becoming an important player for Amorim
- Ugarte, after Hoijlund Ugarte is going to be the next player to really gain
LCB - Martinez/ Shaw/ Maz
CB - De Ligt/ Yoro/ Martinez/ Maguire/ Evans
RCB - Yoro/ Dalot
LWB - Dalot/ Maz/
RWB - Shaw/ Malacia/ Maz/Amass
CM - Mainoo/ Ugarte/ Collyer/ Martinez
10 - Mount/ Bruno/ Amad/ Rash/ Garna
9 - Hoijlund/ Rash
Short term,
incoming, wing backs who can attack, cover for RCB, depending on Hoijlund I think we see another striker, and I think we need another CM
exits for Zirkzee, Anotony, Case, Eriksen (has had a great start to the season but still), Lindelof, Amad,
Long term,
Incoming, CB, cover for wing backs
exits for Maguire, Evans, Shaw, Bruno (think he will go back to Portugal after next season (25-26)
I think we have lots of good options at 10, I think elsewhere we are making do, if Amorim survives the next 18 months I think his team within 3 seasons will look very, very different to the one we have
Be interesting to see if Biancheri or Obi-Martin get call ups
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This won't be popular but I actually think Maguire would be a good fit in this system as that middle CB. High-line is always going to be a bit of an issue, but with pace and mobility either side of him I think he can stick to what he does best which is look to defend on the front foot and use his physicality to his advantage, and step out with the ball and carry it into midfield more as well.
The main issues with him to me seem to have been glaring errors as a result of him being somewhat indecisive in terms of whether he should step out and win the ball or defend space, with an extra CB to cover I feel like he can use him a bit more freely.
The main issues with him to me seem to have been glaring errors as a result of him being somewhat indecisive in terms of whether he should step out and win the ball or defend space, with an extra CB to cover I feel like he can use him a bit more freely.
That will be a huge mistake. Arguably the most technical player in the squad and has bags of talent. Need the right manager to get the best out of him.
He will thrive at another top club easily.
I kind of agree, but this is also kind of my hunch of what will happen, I would love to see Amad kick on as an inside forward, but there is something which gnaws at me that says he will not, I wish I could out my finger on it
This team is the most realistic for the squad we currently have at our disposal. I think Shaw will struggle playing as a LWB though as he doesn’t have the engine for it. I could see him playing far more as a CB. A left wingback will be a huge priority. He has a big problem fitting all our attacking players into this system. Garnacho in particular looks like an odd man out and he’s too good not to play.
Good fit: Martinez, Yoro, De Ligt, Dalot, Maz, Ugarte, Bruno, Mainoo, Garnacho, Amad, Hojlund, Zirkzee, Toby, Amass, Onana
Maybe fit: Shaw (fitness), Malacia (fitness) Antony (LWB), Casemiro (slow), Altay
Poor fit: Rashford (physicality, work ethic), Evans (slow), Maguire (slow), Lindelof (lacks physicality), Eriksen (lacks physicality), Mount (fitness)
Maybe fit: Shaw (fitness), Malacia (fitness) Antony (LWB), Casemiro (slow), Altay
Poor fit: Rashford (physicality, work ethic), Evans (slow), Maguire (slow), Lindelof (lacks physicality), Eriksen (lacks physicality), Mount (fitness)
Evans is 36 so will be leaving soon anyway, Maguire is 31 so will be phased out, Eriksen is a free agent in the summer so that's an easy one to get rid of.
@top1whoisman any young CB (or CB's) from the academy that we can see making appearances under him as I cannot see us have more than 2-3 fit CB's available at the same time given their injury record.
I do agree Rashford is possibly the worst fit with Garnaucho who I just don’t see where he also fits in to 3421, both give the ball away far too much?
They dont mean nothing, it just means they have to be adopted to the league. It took even the great Pep, who was inheriting a good team, a year to adjust to this league.
Think you have Shaw and Dalot mixed up.
Shaw is a great LCB.
Dalot would be more comfortable at RCB (if he can play it)
I’d say Tyler Fredricson and Sonny Aljofree are the ones playing at the highest level at this moment but I don’t think either will eventually make it at United.
Out of the younger ones Louis Jackson is okay, Jack Kingdon a bit better in my opinion, but you might have to go as far as 17-year old Reece Munro or 16-year old Godwill Kukonki (who is mainly used as a LB this season) to find a CB who could have the potential to do it.
We haven’t been blessed with too many top CB talents to be honest. It’s been a while.
DOH!
Thanks.
So basically no one who can be useful this season when we don't have 3 fit CB's to field. I guess we'll have to bank on Shaw and Casemiro.
Excellent post, I agree with the majority but Amorim system suits Mainoo more than any other player, by making the formation more compact with a 4 Man box midfield that can rotate he will be less compromised in defensive transitions and due to his excellent ball control will be far more effective higher up the pitch, this kid was MOM in Euro SF against Holland, MOM in an Fa Cup Final against City and has just been voted the third best young player in the world, blasphemy to even suggests he’s not the real deal, but he’s a kid whose playing too much football and needs to develop!
I’d like to see us Sign Angel Gomes who also suits any of those 4 midfield positions on a free as C Eriksen replacement. Then sign Morten Hjulmand as rotation for Ugarte when we inevitably sell Casemiro, then we’ll cook if we get one more decent Wing back, also think that Gyokeres is going to be chased all January as he clearly wants him as his first signing to kick start his revolution.
Mengi was a good one but it didn’t happen for him here as often can happen.
I think he’d be involved now if we’d kept him.
Yeah perhaps an emergency debut for someone but I’d say you’ll have to wait a few years until one of them is ready. A tough position for a young player to break through in as well.
If we had a left-back who could play football every now and then, we’d have de Ligt, Martínez, Lindelöf and Evans fit at the moment. But one of them has been forced to play LB.
Dalot lacks concentration to play RCB, Shaw if fit would be an amazing LCB in that system and it might actually prolong his career. Mazraoui could easily play Right Wing Back or Right CB or even in the midfield 2, he’s that good technically.
I don't know if Ruby likes to give young players opportunity but it would be great if Amass can get a go as a LWB. Despite some of his defensive frailties I was impressed with him during the preseason. I think he can shine in that LWB role, atleast during the attacking phase of play as I found his ability on the ball to be excellent. Keeping my fingers crossed for him.