Which position should Ole prioritise in the summer?

flappyjay said:
RW, when Pogba leaves get another creative cm or an attacking midfielder nd a dm. Then a back up striker. Will look at defense again summer 2021.
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Yep agree. Would be good to have a Partey but if Fernandes is out of form or injured then we are stuck in the mud again. We can cope defensively in midfield but we cannot cope without a Pogba or Fernandez.

It is the top priority for me. Personally have my eye on Havertz. Then if you add Partey and a striker/RW and we are looking a top top side again.
 
I wonder how Liverpool cope with missing their creative midfielder in the last 2-3 seasons.
 
RW Striker and DM are 3 positions that need to be addressed.

Pogba needs to be replaced if he leaves.


Then after that we could look at CB.
 
Isotope said:
I wonder how Liverpool cope with missing their creative midfielder in the last 2-3 seasons.
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They are cope with their attacking full back who are considered to be creative players. Just look at both TAA & Robertson assists.

Unfortunately, not many attacking full back with great end product similar to them are existing nowdays in the market. That's why most team rely on midfielder as their creative source.
 
UNITED ACADEMY said:
They are cope with their attacking full back who are considered to be creative players. Just look at both TAA & Robertson assists.

Unfortunately, not many attacking full back with great end product similar to them are existing nowdays in the market. That's why most team rely on midfielder as their creative source.
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I think it's more like Klopp style on his FBs, not really about "nowadays market". In Dortmund, he had Piszczek and Schmelzer bombing forward. Now TAA and Robertson. I don't think that's coincidence he found these "gems" on his two teams while spending pennies. It's just a matter of preference on team style. I mean, we spent almost world record fee on non-attacking FB.

So maybe the United system should be better off to not rely on one position for creativity. People point finger Lingard, Pereira, and Mata for lack of creativity, but you know also, creativity could come from any other positions also.
 
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Priority 1, 2 and 3 is first 11 goal scoring right winger. It is a deal which we must do at all cost.
Defensive midfielder, and attacking left full back would be nice also but class right winger is a must.

If Pogba leaves we will need also another central midfielder of course
 
Isotope said:
I think it's more like Klopp style on his FBs, not really about "nowadays market". In Dortmund, he had Piszczek and Schmelzer bombing forward. Now TAA and Robertson. I don't think that's coincidence he found these "gems" on his two teams while spending pennies. It's just a matter of preference on team style. I mean, we spent almost world record fee on non-attacking FB.

So maybe the United system should be better off to not rely on one position for creativity.
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Of course it has something to do with it. They are very fortunate to signed Robertson cheap & at the same time lucky enough to have a midfielder who can operate as full back in their academy. If he doesn't have similar quality of end product as good as those two, Klopp will obviously make a bit of change in his system. Neither Piszczek & Schmelzer had similar quality that can be relied as main creative player in the team as Liverpool's current full back.

In Dortmund he had Kagawa & Reus as his no 10 creative attack mid, that's where his main creative player. He used 4231 in Dortmund.

Unlike in Liverpool, he used 433 as his most used formation. With Liverpool, he had TAA & Robertson as his main creative players.
 
UNITED ACADEMY said:
Of course it has something to do with it. They are very fortunate to signed Robertson cheap & at the same time lucky enough to have a midfielder who can operate as full back in their academy. If he doesn't have similar quality of end product as good as those two, Klopp will obviously make a bit of change in his system. Neither Piszczek & Schmelzer had similar quality that can be relied as main creative player in the team as Liverpool's current full back.

In Dortmund he had Kagawa & Reus as his no 10 creative attack mid, that's where his main creative player. He used 4231 in Dortmund.

Unlike in Liverpool, he used 433 as his most used formation. With Liverpool, he had TAA & Robertson as his main creative players.
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His main creative player is Firminho. The way their FBs function are quite similar in Liverpool and Dortmund.
 
Sancho and Grealish.

If Pogba goes replace him with Maddison.

Grealish and Sancho free up Rashford and Greenwood if they need to play as a striker.

Grealish can also play as a 10 to allow Bruno to play deeper and get on the ball more or false 9 while Bruno and Maddison are box to box in a diamond. Grealish could also do the box to box role if needed.

Basically they would be massive upgrades and give us so many better options in the formations we play.
 
Isotope said:
His main creative player is Firminho. The way their FBs function are quite similar in Liverpool and Dortmund.
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Firmino is the link not exactly the creator. You can't call it similar if Robertson can get you 7 or 10 + assists in a season while TAA already got 14 assists in the league. Their contribution are not similar.
 
If Pogba leaves, we would only have Bruno being the only creative source in the team. Inevitable injury and we are screwed. In this scenario, priority has to be a central creative midfielder.

If Pogba stays, a forward player, ideally right-wing.
 
I really have not seen much football this season so I'm in the dark about this.
Am somewhat surprised by so many mentioning Grealish.
Is he that good lads?
 
We have been crying out loud for a RW for many years until now where I think is no longer my priority. We need a striker who will give us 25-30 goals a season. Martial is not the answer and neither is Rushford and Greenwood. Sir Alex has always bought a top striker, Ruud , Cole, Yorke, Cantona and others. We need someone who knows where is the goals. Biggest regret that I have is we let Aguero join City. That guy is a goal machine. Striker, CM and RW based on priority.
 
A central defender to replace Lindelof, 2 midfielders and a right-winger.
 
We do need to upgrade on Lindelof this summer. It would be fantastic if that player turned out to be Tuanzebe, og maybe even Bailly or Smalling though I strongly doubt they are the answer.

On one hand i fear Ole is satisfied with the Swede but on the other hand there were signals in sep/oct that Tuanzebe was preferred over Lindelof in a few matches. Then of course he got injured. :(

If we need to dip into the marked for a CB I have no suggestions.
 
Floyd said:
We do need to upgrade on Lindelof this summer. It would be fantastic if that player turned out to be Tuanzebe, og maybe even Bailly or Smalling though I strongly doubt they are the answer.

On one hand i fear Ole is satisfied with the Swede but on the other hand there were signals in sep/oct that Tuanzebe was preferred over Lindelof in a few matches. Then of course he got injured. :(

If we need to dip into the marked for a CB I have no suggestions.
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What about Ben Godfrey? Looks like Norwich are certain to be relegated so should be quite cheap. He's fast and good on the ball. Not the tallest but he can head it. Still only 22.
 
Right wing, Sancho.

Seriously, I'd shake on Sancho in and no other signings right now. I think he could be that important.
 
sp_107 said:
If it's between Grealish and one of VanBeek/Odegaard, which one you would go for?
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Good question, and not wanting to just say Grealish because he's British but he fits what we think are the current strategy for recruitment, i.e. young, talented, hungry, British, etc etc so i think it would be him. Added bonus on Grealish is we've seen what he's capable of in the EPL already.
 
Sancho, Matic replacement, Grealish and a backup striker. Should be enough.

Sell Lingard, Pereira, Rojo and Jones. Get Smalling back from loan.
 
Get a new CB: Lindelof not developing and he still has some market. Upamecano would be a dream signing, but will cost an arm and a leg. I actually really like Niko Elvedi and I think his club can't impose a big fee.
 
The Brown Bull said:
I really have not seen much football this season so I'm in the dark about this.
Am somewhat surprised by so many mentioning Grealish.
Is he that good lads?
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Top player! Hes playing left wing for Villa and literally carrying them. He has progressed very well since their promotion and has not only proved he's PL quality but hes made for a top team.

His stats are very impressive. Most fouled player in the league meaning hes running at defenders and being a nuisance. His chances created stats are great for a team fighting relegation. He's 4th in that table. 69 chances created (2,244 minutes).

His ball retention is very good and has scored some bangers. He would get in any PL team except man city I think, only due to their huge squad.

He prefers to play as a #8 as he stated recently but can play left wing too. He could be available for £50-60m and with villa looking vulnerable in their league position, he could be got for cheaper should they go down.

He should be our top midfield target in my opinion
 
André Dominguez said:
Get a new CB: Lindelof not developing and he still has some market. Upamecano would be a dream signing, but will cost an arm and a leg. I actually really like Niko Elvedi and I think his club can't impose a big fee.
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Upamecano: Not his biggest fan; because his injury record is a worry. I prefer the other: Nico Elvedi. Still not perfect injury record but not verging on the disastrous like Upamecano.

I'd prefer Ben Godfrey to either.
 
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Suvvernmanc said:
Top player! Hes playing left wing for Villa and literally carrying them. He has progressed very well since their promotion and has not only proved he's PL quality but hes made for a top team.

His stats are very impressive. Most fouled player in the league meaning hes running at defenders and being a nuisance. His chances created stats are great for a team fighting relegation. He's 4th in that table. 69 chances created (2,244 minutes).

His ball retention is very good and has scored some bangers. He would get in any PL team except man city I think, only due to their huge squad.

He prefers to play as a #8 as he stated recently but can play left wing too. He could be available for £50-60m and with villa looking vulnerable in their league position, he could be got for cheaper should they go down.

He should be our top midfield target in my opinion
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Cheers.
 
It's got to be RW and CM.

Pogba situation will dictate what we do. We need a backup DM for Matic, McTominay will continue to be starter so just someone to compete for a place with him.

RW obviously an issue, Sanchez will come back but I cannot believe we will continue with him.

I think the very likely scenario is we just sign a midfielder.
 
Isotope said:
I think it's more like Klopp style on his FBs, not really about "nowadays market". In Dortmund, he had Piszczek and Schmelzer bombing forward. Now TAA and Robertson. I don't think that's coincidence he found these "gems" on his two teams while spending pennies. It's just a matter of preference on team style. I mean, we spent almost world record fee on non-attacking FB.

So maybe the United system should be better off to not rely on one position for creativity. People point finger Lingard, Pereira, and Mata for lack of creativity, but you know also, creativity could come from any other positions also.
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This is a mistake for me. Ole did fantastic by trying to solve that creativity issue and asking the full backs to do that job also, hence our 3/4/3 that involved the wing backs.
But having those wings backs or full backs + a creative midfielder would make our team even more superior. So it is the right call for me.
 
Isotope said:
His main creative player is Firminho. The way their FBs function are quite similar in Liverpool and Dortmund.
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No it's a proven fact that he solved the issue of creativity by asking his midfield to be functional and just stop the counter attacks, and distribute to the full backs to create. Firmino is a false 9, a la Martial, and that's about it. But he's not the creative player exactly, just a player who involves his wing forwards a bit more.
 
Godfrey is a good call actually, he can play DM as well I believe. Would be a good addition in the back.

Grealish would be my top target, I think having both him and Bruno would improve us dramatically. Not sure Sancho would be interested to come to United at this point, he could realistically go to other English clubs or one of the big guns in Spain too if he wants to. Maybe Real would be open to include Odegaard in a Pogba deal? Not sure he'd be up to it but would be a solid plan B.

Either way, money shouldn't be an issue if Pogba is sold.
 
Given we won't get the funds to complete a rebuild in the summer, I'd rather we concentrate the money into getting a quality RW and CF.

If pogba leaves then a replacement for him too. Otherwise, I think we'll have to make do with what we have in midfield and defence. But for our front 3 positions we will have only Martial, Rashford, James, Greenwood and Mata. Only 2 of those can really be considered good enough at the moment. Greenwood and James would probably benefit from being proper 2nd choice players at this stage.
 
Inverted right side attacker. A left footed Rashford is what we need.
The bar has been raised and Liverpool are playing with a perfectly balanced attacking front 3. A right footed left side attacker, a left footed right side attacker and a false 9. This gives them maximum attacking potential. Their attacking potential is never handicapped and this leads to almost flawless consistency. We are handicapped in almost every single game we play because we lack a balanced front 3 and so we are inconsistent and have to rely on individuals. We have no chance of competing for the title unless we have a balanced team.
 
as much as the RW is much needed, another creative midfield should be the top Priority (if Paul indeed leaves)...what will happen if Bruno goes down????!
 
The players he should prioritize are Grealish and, if doable, Sancho.
But the position we really need to improve is CB. Lindelof is killing us.
 
Le Red said:
The players he should prioritize are Grealish and, if doable, Sancho.
But the position we really need to improve is CB. Lindelof is killing us.
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Over everything else, you really think CB should be the focus? Didn't we have this exact thought process last summer? I don't rate Lindelof, at all really, but I'd be furious if we focused on that position again.
 
Judas said:
Over everything else, you really think CB should be the focus? Didn't we have this exact thought process last summer? I don't rate Lindelof, at all really, but I'd be furious if we focused on that position again.
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Not over everything else. Like I said, Grealish and Sancho should be top priority. These two names alone would take us a tier above. I wouldn't worry about qualifying for the UCL with these guys on the pitch, even with Ole's lackluster tactics.
I know it's annoying having CB after splashing the cash on Maguire but think with me: who is the weak link in our first eleven?
Our attackers are doing fine lately and Bruno will make it even better.
Our midfield looks very good now with McT back and the emergence of Fred.
Our defence is what worries me the most: lots of silly mistakes and inability to defend in the air. Even though all the defenders had their share of contributions to this issue, about half of them come from the awkward Lindelof. None of our substitute defenders are reliable either, for one reason or another.
I think there's no excuse for not buying Grealish. It's a golden opportunity on a silver plate. Other than that, a RW is needed (hopefully Sancho), but everyone knows that for years. But if those transfers are done, and we're looking for a 3rd, I really think a CB is priority.
 
croadyman said:
Maybe swap Lindelof for Koulibaly or when he gets fit again give Tuanzebe a chance to make that spot his own
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I don't see Koulibaly happening, hasn't had his best season and is turning 29 in June. Just doesn't seem like the kind of signing we should be going for.

Axel, on the other hand, could be an excellent player but I don't think he's shown enough in his cameos this year to suggest that he's better than Bailly/Lindelof. Lindelof's done really well over the last month and was fantastic for much of last year; I think w should give him and Maguire some more time together before writing him off:)
 
1. RW - We need to prioritise Sancho and Grealish in he summer.
2. CB - I'd take back Smalling in heartbeat in place for Lindelof. If this isn't an option we need to strengthen there IMO if we want to be solid at the top.
3. An attacking wingback.
 
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