rashford won't lead the line, he is better coming in from the left and i assume that is where he will play. these timo werner links make sense when you think of that.
Which striker should we sign this summer?
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He's a 1 in 2 goal game striker and scoring plenty against the big sides. I'd say that's not a bad record? just needs to work on being more consistent to reach the very top levels.
This season he's 2 in 3 goals/assists, scoring in big games and he's still improving probably about to enter his prime.
Check how many strikers throughout Europe putting his numbers and you'll realize he's actually putting great number despite the Caf tendency to underrate him for some reasons.
I would go for Mousa Dembele.
ighalo or Abumayang as shot gap solution
What you guys think of either Victor Osimhen (Lille) or Jonathan David(Gent)
What you guys think of either Victor Osimhen (Lille) or Jonathan David(Gent)
Victor Oshmen? He is an young Nigerean Striker doing well at Lille and he also sees Oghalo as his god father. They both had a good relation.
Tall for a striker, Osimhen stands at 6’1″. Strong and agile, he is a tough man to get off the ball. A low centre of gravity allows a good change in direction and creates problems for opposing defenders.
Averaging 3.3 shots per game, the striker does not have a high number per game. Instead choosing his shots and being clinical are the strikers game (at the time of writing, Aguero, Harry Kane and Antoine Griezmann are averaging the same number of shots). A smart finisher.
Tall for a striker, Osimhen stands at 6’1″. Strong and agile, he is a tough man to get off the ball. A low centre of gravity allows a good change in direction and creates problems for opposing defenders.
Averaging 3.3 shots per game, the striker does not have a high number per game. Instead choosing his shots and being clinical are the strikers game (at the time of writing, Aguero, Harry Kane and Antoine Griezmann are averaging the same number of shots). A smart finisher.
Just keep Ighalo. Any other player will be more expensive, may take time to settle into a new league and shall hamper the development of Greenwood. Ighalo for a couple of years, and then break the bank for Haaland (if he hasn't moved on from Dortmund yet) and assuming that we also perform well for the 2 years.
That's the problem. He's not a title winning striker. I think he's good enough to keep us in top 4 but the aim is to actually return to our glory days. You're not going to find Martial in Madrid or Barcelona or Bayern. But then again a couple years back Salah Mane and Firmino were not Barca or Madrid quality now look at them.
I think we can make do with him and Ighalo especially when we have other goalscorers like Bruno, Rashford and Greenwood. But in maybe 2 years when it's time to go for the big trophies we would need a 20 goal per season striker by then whether that is Martial or not
Ighalo.
You're not wrong. Comparing his stats to other strikers we've been linked with.
Martial - 14 goals in 26 games (first season in a long time as a striker)
Jimenez - 16 goals in 35 games
Dembele - 17 goals in 32 games (playing in the French league)
Edouard - 28 goals in 43 games (playing in the Scottish league)
Maxi Gomez - 6 goals in 22 games
Calvert Lewin - 13 goals in 23 games
There is no point getting these type of B list strikers that will cost money when Martial is putting up similar and better numbers than them and Ighalo and Greenwood are also performing. I just think that two seasons from now, when it's time to start winning the biggest trophies we would need a Harry Kane or Suarez type of quality leading our line. That could be Martial or maybe not
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I like Jonathon David, But heard he was going to Bayern in Summer. Have to see.
Werner or Jovic
Dependent on price and what other targets that are available in other positions. Osimhen is a much more finished article than David, and we got Greenwood as well.
Odion Ighalo fits so well in Ole's attack because his quality hold up play allows him to make key passes and assists that lead to goals. I know the level of competition is a factor, but Odsonne Edouard has 19 assists to go with his 27 goals in just 3661 minutes played so he is a prolific creator of goals as well as a scorer of goals.
Jimenez! Or go all out for Haaland.
None.
Just keep Ighalo. Why fix something that’s not broke? Ighalo has fit like a glove in Ole’s setup as a backup striker.
Ole and Man Utd fans believe Ighalo fits Ole's setup very well. Since Man Utd's other center forwards don't play the position with the same strength, ball control, and passing ability as Ighalo does, that would imply that Ole needs 2 center forwards to fill the position with players that are good fits for his setup. So sign the proven good fit, veteran Ighalo (15m), and a potential good fit, emerging star Odsonne Edouard (25m).
What? Rashford, Martial, Ighalo, Geeenwood and another striker? Those many strikers in the team won't make sense.
IMO, only Ighalo combines the back to goal hold up play, ball control, passing ability, and scoring ability to be the focal point of the attack in Ole's setup. Haaland has that but Woodward screwed it up. Rashford, Martial, and Greenwood are best suited facing goal as wide forwards or wide attacking midfielders in Ole's setup. Greenwood would be a very good center attacking mid in a 4-2-3-1 as well. Edouard is a bigger, stronger, faster, quicker and younger version of Ighalo and would give Ole 2 players that fit in his setup at CF.
Edouard is pretty much unproven and will be an expensive buy. Tierney while being injured was sold for 25 million and he's a left back. I am not sure how Woodword screwed the Haaland deal up. In my opinion, we should give Ighalo a 2+1 year deal, and use the saved up money for Sancho and a DM. Haaland may become available again in the next 2 years. But then, I am just another fan with just another opinion. I sincerely hope that the management at United now have their heads screwed up correctly and arrive at a good decision.
This!! Also to add, we should sell Rojo, Jones and Smalling... then buy Koulibaly on top of the above.
Once again, none. How hard is it to buy a RW and fix a position that has been terrible for 6/7 years. At least we got players scoring at CF why should we mess around with it?
If we are buying a striker that isn't cheap it better be a significant upgrade on Martial. Jimenez and Dembele are mentioned by some here and will be costly. However both these players are putting in similar stats with Martial
Martial - 14 goals in 26 games (first season in a long time as a striker)
Jimenez - 16 goals in 35 games
Dembele - 17 goals in 32 games (playing in the French league)
Martinez - 18 goals in 31 games
None of Jimenez Dembele and Martinez are significant upgrades on Martial and both of them would be costly. I think we can do with a cheap back up "for now". With Martial Rashford Greenwood Bruno and Ighalo , we have enough goalscorers in the team "for now" so we should be looking at other pressing positions. I say for now because we're still not ready to compete for the big trophies like the champions league. But when its time for that in two season maybe, we should have a consistent 20-30 goal a season striker whether that's Martial or Greenwood or getting a new striker
Martial - 14 goals in 26 games (first season in a long time as a striker)
Jimenez - 16 goals in 35 games
Dembele - 17 goals in 32 games (playing in the French league)
Martinez - 18 goals in 31 games
None of Jimenez Dembele and Martinez are significant upgrades on Martial and both of them would be costly. I think we can do with a cheap back up "for now". With Martial Rashford Greenwood Bruno and Ighalo , we have enough goalscorers in the team "for now" so we should be looking at other pressing positions. I say for now because we're still not ready to compete for the big trophies like the champions league. But when its time for that in two season maybe, we should have a consistent 20-30 goal a season striker whether that's Martial or Greenwood or getting a new striker
Get Sancho, he will be scoring goals and putting up assists. Football is rarely these days about the striker up top scoring all the goals. its spread out the front 3. Rashford, Martial and Sancho all getting 15 each is better than 1 striker getting 45. If that 1 striker gets injured, then the team is screwed
If we are getting a striker, then five strikers don’t really make sense.
What would make more sense would be to improve the quality and dynamism of our forward line without hampering our youth progress.
I feel it’s a fine balance however if we want another striker it won’t be to replace ighalo I feel it will be to replace martial.
something like Martial out Haaland in which transcends to:
Haaland Ighalo Greenwood Rashford.
The above does feel a lot more balanced in terms of skill set and quality.
What would make more sense would be to improve the quality and dynamism of our forward line without hampering our youth progress.
I feel it’s a fine balance however if we want another striker it won’t be to replace ighalo I feel it will be to replace martial.
something like Martial out Haaland in which transcends to:
Haaland Ighalo Greenwood Rashford.
The above does feel a lot more balanced in terms of skill set and quality.
None. I rate Martial as excellent no9 so we have him as first choice and Greenwood as backup. I would not mind keeping Ighalo as backup but that is it.
We need right winger and it is Sancho.
We need right winger and it is Sancho.
If we keep Oghalo I would rather give Greenwood and Martial their heads and spend the money on securing Sancho, Sancho + those 3 Rashford and Bruno is pretty hefty, as much as I dislike the pratt add in Pogba if he stays, or Grealish if not, + Bellingham for backup I think Oghalo aside buying a striker has to be 4th or 5th down the list, of course if we cannot get Sancho then it's all change, it would then depend on if we can identify another RW that is available, willing to come, surely Sancho is going to be the most expensive player out there for us to reasonably buy so I cannot see an impediment to resolving the right wing issue, if Woodward can get his Sh!t together for a change
I kind of see your logic but have to disagree.
Yes Ighalo is currently the only "classic" form of striker we have, but Ole uses him in cup games or as an impact of the bench. Ighalo IS the backup option, so we dont need a back up of the back up if that makes sense?
Woodward takes a lot of flak but you cannot blame him for "messing up the Haaland" deal. Haaland chose Dortmund for 1st team football, he also choose it because they have a world class reputation for playing younger players and elevating them up a level. Also issues with his agent and clauses. It wasn't on Ed that one, its just a deal that wasnt right for us at that time.
Martial is Ole no.9. Ighalos is Martial's replacement. Rashford is our wide forward, as is James. Greenwood fills the gaps inbetween while learning his trade, but is mostly used as a wide forward.
IF we make Ighalo's move permanent, we are simply not signing another out and out No.9 style striker. This is party due to the fact that:
A) We wont need 3 out and out no.9's to cover 1 position
B) Rashford & Greenwood can also fill the central striker role should Martial & Ighalo be injured
C) Budget. We need at least 3 signings, possibly 4 or 5. Not logical to sign TWO central strikers when we need an AM, a DM and a RW. If we sign Sancho for example, thats a big hit on the budget,
I'd expect our summer to go:
Ighalo
Grealish
Sancho
Bellingham
Zakaria
Thats a hefty summer without adding a 2nd striker in to the mix.
Ighalo at this point represents good value for money and we know he works well within the team. We know he's not the answer long term but for a season or 2 he allows Greenwood time to develop, he allows other areas of the squad to be improved and he allows us time to scout for the next No.9 we need
Losing Ighalo and singing some names being mentioned like Dembele will blow about 50-60 mil that we simply need to use elsewhere within the squad.
Someone like Law. Skilful, hardworker, tenacious, and deadly.
Ighalo has done well but he's only scored against the likes of Brugge, Derby, and LASK.
He's done what he was brought in to do which is play against the weaker opponents for the rest of the season and give Martial a rest, scoring a few goals in the meantime.
United should realistically be aiming for better though, and if they're in the Champions League next season then they'll need a far better alternative or back-up to Martial than Ighalo, especially as Martial is prone to knocks and niggly injuries.
I'm torn. I don't think we should be splashing cash on strikers like Jimenez or Dembele when we have Martial with similar goalscoring stats to them this season. And we also have other positions that need filling right now to be splashing cash on a forward which is not a necessity at this point.
We need a cheap back up that adds another dimension to our game. So do we get a cheap young gem eg Edouard, Jonathan David or an experienced striker
We need a cheap back up that adds another dimension to our game. So do we get a cheap young gem eg Edouard, Jonathan David or an experienced striker
Ighalo
Spend the big money elsewhere. Striker is like 5th priority
Spend the big money elsewhere. Striker is like 5th priority
Isn't Martial on 16 goals in 34 apps?
And I think it's safe to say Greenwoood is our likeliest player who isn't already a starter to become a good starting quality player for us (James and McTominay are solid but don't scream star like he does) and I think it's clear he's a centre forward, great shooter with both feet and struggled to get on the ball out wide, not lightning quick.
The players we can probably count on to be first choice quality the next 2-3 years are Martial, Greenwood, Rashford, Bruno, Fred, Maguire, Wan-Bissaka and De Gea. That's 3 forwards, 2 central midfielders probably a #10 and a #8 and then a right back and a center back. Shaw, James and McTominay probably one gets to that level, one has already played their best football for us, and one becomes just a quality squad player, but let's put them in the squad too, along with one of the 3 center backs (Lindelof, Bailly, Tuanzebe) and let's say Dalot and Williams combine to be one right back (I know he's played much more LB but he's right footed and 98% of fullbacks play on their "correct" side).
So you look at that list and it shakes out like this:
(2)ST: Martial, Greenwood
(3)W: Rashford, RW, James
(5)CM: Bruno, Fred, DM, AM McTominay
(4)FB: Wan-Bissaka, Shaw, LB (Dalot/Williams)
(3)CB: CB, Maguire, (Lindelof/Bailly/Tuanzebe)
(2)GK: De Gea, Romero
So then the current options for those 5 holes on the squad, assuming Pogba is gone, otherwise cancel out the AM spot presumably.
RW: Chong, Gomes
AM: Gomes, Pereira, Mata, Lingard
DM: Matic
LB: Williams
CB: the 2nd best option from Lindelof/Bailly/Tuanzebe
So if we can only sign 3-4 players, who would you most want filling a role? I'd say the CB, Williams (really banking on Shaw and AWB playing 40+ games each) and one final year of Matic are all reasonably options but AM and RW are the worst options. And when you consider that one player could likely fill both if Rashford can stay healthy and James progresses, I think it's clear the #1 need is for a creative RW/M type like Sancho and then it gets more debatable.
Milenkovic Savic scored nearly 20 goals in a season not so long ago so maybe we could play him as a second striker or as a target man in the same way LVG and Jose used Fellaini.
He has been one of the best midfield players in Italy for some time now so we would be getting a player that covers at least three positions.
He has been one of the best midfield players in Italy for some time now so we would be getting a player that covers at least three positions.
Q: Which striker should we buy?
A: Buy a bang average midfielder and use him the way LVG did Fellaini.
Q: So why would a “Bang average” player have a price tag of 100 mil?Q: Which striker should we buy?
A: Buy a bang average midfielder and use him the way LVG did Fellaini.
A: He is not average but one of the best midfielders in Serie A who is multi functional.
Anyone can see that Ole views Martial as his number nine so there is no way Ole is going to spend big money on another one as a bench option.
Just thinking outside the square and of another way the team can play when what is on the pitch is not working.