Why aren't we being linked with any technically great players?

When Modric was available the majority of this forum dismissed him completely and wanted us to sign De Rossi or Strootman.
 
Hawks2008 said:
Because Mourinho only wants players with 'presence' and dogsbody types who look busy but offer nothing outside that. Willian and Mahrez will both be available this summer, have we been linked to the greater technician and or the one that runs around a lot?
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There's absolutely no doubt Mahrez is the better player. Technically gifted, beats players for fun, scores more, assists more. Willian is a good player but I've only seen him play good when he has space to run into. Otherwise he's largely ineffective.
 
abdo99 said:
There's absolutely no doubt Mahrez is the better player. Technically gifted, beats players for fun, scores more, assists more. Willian is a good player but I've only seen him play good when he has space to run into. Otherwise he's largely ineffective.
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He knows Willian would do a better job playing wing back in a 6 man defence away at Anfield.
 
luke511 said:
He knows Willian would do a better job playing wing back in a 6 man defence away at Anfield.
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Even some Chelsea fans don't think he's all that. There's a reason he hasn't been first choice for two seasons straight under Conte. Very inconsistent. Is he the type of player that will bring us closer to City? Don't think so. He has a good shot, set piece specialist but there are plenty of wingers out there that are better. I'm not excited one bit.
 
Isotope said:
Yeh. Just look at our best counter attacks. It's all about clever midfield and good attack.

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Wow, goalkeepers starting a quick counter-attack. No wonder, Ederson is important to City
 
deafepl said:
Wow, goalkeepers starting a quick counter-attack. No wonder, Ederson is important to City
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Yeh. That's Schmeichel for you. Other than being so good in goalkeeping, he has vision for counter-attack, that long throw. He had that presence in the box, and let everybody knew he fecking owned it.

Imho DDG, as much as I love him, is still a level or two below the Great Dane.
 
Isotope said:
Yeh. That's Schmeichel for you. Other than being so good in goalkeeping, he has vision for counter-attack, that long throw. He had that presence in the box, and let everybody knew he fecking owned it.

Imho DDG, as much as I love him, is still a level or two below the Great Dane.
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I was wondering if DDG can develop like this? Still young and plenty of improvement. It could work if De Gea can do it when we don't park the bus. Other than long throw and vision, DDG has super long ball kick that won us, Liverpool. I need him to do more like Schmeichel.

However, I hope our team can learn from that corner and direct free kick defending, turn it into a quick counter-attack. NO stop, just keep running.
 
What technical player would want to play under this team 'philosophy'? I don't blame them for not wanting any part of this bore fest that's going on.
 
Judas said:
That didn’t happen, why make it up. This place has nearly always been totally indifferent to signing Strootman for one thing.
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Yes it did, go read the threads about Modric back when he was at Spurs. People on this board had a major hard on for strootman.
 
Matthaus even wants Bayern to listen to bids for the midfielder, who is wanted by Manchester City and has previously interested Manchester United.

“Thiago has not made the difference in the big games so far,” he told SportBild. “I actually like him, but he was a shadow of himself. Thiago has disappointed me in recent weeks.

“I do not know where he is with his head. With these issues, he is not a player for Bayern Munich

“If there is an appropriate offer, you can think about it. Especially since Bayern have Thomas Müller, James Rodríguez and Leon Goretzka for the same position. ”
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I really think we need to go for him if given the chance.
 
I created thread about this. Because we love hard working players who run much and open space .....for other players who run much and open space.
 
Andycoleno9 said:
I created thread about this. Because we love hard working players who run much and open space .....for other players who run much and open space.
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Runners is one of our biggest problems. Nowadays with three midfielders in most teams you need genuine width from full backs. We are lacking here but I’d imagine Jose will at least upgrade the left back position and right if he has enough budget. I read Cedric from Southampton maybe on our radar (Transfer forum rumour). If so he’d be a good addition although and I don’t care not sexy enough for some but the lads a quality player.
 
Sayros said:
What technical player would want to play under this team 'philosophy'? I don't blame them for not wanting any part of this bore fest that's going on.
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Wind your neck in most players would jump to play for United. We just signed Sanchez over City Pogba over everyone and shifted Matic a main stay and long term player from one of our rivals. Who do you want us to sign?
 
luke511 said:
These are the kind of players we're missing the most in our side at the moment. The Thiagos, Modrics, Scholes' etc. We need more players that never lose possession or miss a pass, can play football in the tighest of spaces and dictate a game. I don't see us in the market for any of these types of players at the moment and I don't think our team will progress until we are.
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The player you mentioned is very hard to find. The only one i know of that outside of Iniesta/Xavi can play this role is Carzola. There is no coincidence that since he was out injured Arsenal turned into sh**.
 
Moyes tried to target technically great players. He wanted Fabregas, Thiago and eventually got Mata. Fellaini was the fallback option.
 
Lawman said:
Wind your neck in most players would jump to play for United. We just signed Sanchez over City Pogba over everyone and shifted Matic a main stay and long term player from one of our rivals. Who do you want us to sign?
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There's already been players who turned down the opportunity. Matic is not a creative player, I could see him jumping at the idea of playing for Mourinho. Pogba came in at the same time as Jose, so that doesn't really count. Sanchez came because of that fat contract and the fact he would be a guaranteed starter no matter how crap his form would be (and he's extensively tested that theory). Don't get me wrong, I think the history of this club is a draw for certain, but the style of play is not something exciting for young creative prospects who want to develop and have the freedom to express themselves. Every big club often has to pay more than they normally would to bring in a player, but United will have to pay even a little bit more extra than the rest to convince a creative player to come play under Mourinho. Mbappe has turned it down, Griezmann was supposed to be coming to United for certain for the last year and a half, since then it's been Barcelona or bust, despite his bestie in Pogba being here.

Just take yourself out of being a United fan for a minute, you're a creative player, would you really want to play for this current United side when you have other suitors who are just as successful if not more?
 
Our technically great players have obviously bossed the league. Mata, Martial, Pogba, Lindelof. All world class performance levels
 
Sayros said:
There's already been players who turned down the opportunity. Matic is not a creative player, I could see him jumping at the idea of playing for Mourinho. Pogba came in at the same time as Jose, so that doesn't really count. Sanchez came because of that fat contract and the fact he would be a guaranteed starter no matter how crap his form would be (and he's extensively tested that theory). Don't get me wrong, I think the history of this club is a draw for certain, but the style of play is not something exciting for young creative prospects who want to develop and have the freedom to express themselves. Every big club often has to pay more than they normally would to bring in a player, but United will have to pay even a little bit more extra than the rest to convince a creative player to come play under Mourinho. Mbappe has turned it down, Griezmann was supposed to be coming to United for certain for the last year and a half, since then it's been Barcelona or bust, despite his bestie in Pogba being here.

Just take yourself out of being a United fan for a minute, you're a creative player, would you really want to play for this current United side when you have other suitors who are just as successful if not more?
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Yeah, we're man utd under one of the most successful managers so of course they would. Man City or Barca might be preferred but thats the same with all players.

You'd think Pogba and Sanchez never tried to express themselves creatively going off how some of you watch our matches through hatred. Sanchez if anything is given too much freedom.
 
deafepl said:
Wow, goalkeepers starting a quick counter-attack. No wonder, Ederson is important to City
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DDG can do this with kicking and has shown it a few times. Maybe not with quite the same intensity as a Schmeical throw, but I bet he could do it more if played like that
Isotope said:
Yeh. Just look at our best counter attacks. It's all about clever midfield and good attack.

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God damn, we've played some good football. We were clinically good at the basics, to the point where you didn't question them. So many times I'd see a run on tv and know that person is getting passed to. I'm watching that imagining us now, and thinking a pass would be astray and slow it down, or one would be overhit, or someone would hesitate with it when they saw a run.
 
Smores said:
Yeah, we're man utd under one of the most successful managers so of course they would. Man City or Barca might be preferred but thats the same with all players.

You'd think Pogba and Sanchez never tried to express themselves creatively going off how some of you watch our matches through hatred. Sanchez if anything is given too much freedom.
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You're right about Sanchez and Pogba to some extent (although I believe he has more instructions to deal with), maybe freedom isn't the right word but rather tactics that benefit creative players, and that involves the rest of the team offering options, making runs, being able to connect passes and release the creative players in dangerous situations. There isn't much of that, we saw more of it early in the season but the second half has been a clear lack of cohesion which is stifling creativity.
 
Sanchez and Fred were both City targets. Have people seen Savic play? Bunch of garbage posts in here.
 
We have some excellent technical players.

A better question would ponder at why we strugggle to sign technical players who have that impeccable reliability in their circulation, retention and distribution of the ball I.e playmaking. Like Kroos, Modric, Silva, KDB, Veratti (?), Scholes, Pirlo etc. For example Pogba is technically brilliant but more so in a creative sense, but he isn't that player who can run the show in midfield, the one you know wil keep the ball and always retain is superbly. He's too unpredictable in certain aspects.

If we look at our buys in recent years we tend to go for a lot of second strikers or thereaboubts rather than 10s/genuine playmakers. Rooney (who was already here) Kagawa, Mata and now even Sanchez is a bit like that. In midfield our buys have been Schweinsteigher, Schneiderlin, Pogba, Matic and Herrera. Again, players who are either defensive, box to box or flair players. None of them are the metronomic CMs.

It suppose it has to do with ideas on football. But to me it is a little odd that over 5 years we haven't managed to sign a midfielder or number 10 of this ilk.
 
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Ødegaard said:
First off, under Mourinho we've signed:
Alexis Sanchez, Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Romelu Lukaku, Nemanja Matic, Eric Bailly & Victor Lindelöf.
The 3 first being technically great players and the last was supposed to be great for a player in his position.

The rumour-mill is ran by journalists who know feck all, but even then Willian is one technically gifted player we're linked with.
He is a hard-working player but that doesn't mean he isn't technically great.
Alderweireld is another who we're linked with who is technically great for his position.

We do have quite a few technically great players who need a better platform to play on (both in terms of defense and midfield quality & tactically), so signing players in other positions who aren't technically great can improve upon those who should be doing the job currently.
SMS as a signing could free up Pogba more, Alex Sandro could free up Sanchez or whoever plays on the left, good CB's can push our play higher or just push the ball faster through the midfield line. It's not all about signing attacking-talent to make a team more attacking.
Just let the rumour-mill go and don't put too much stock into it.
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Nah man, you're wrong. We are "not entertaining" because "Mourihno's tactics are outdated." Nothing more to it. "Pep would have won Intergalactic Cup with these same players."
 
amolbhatia50k said:
We have some excellent technical players.

A better question would ponder at why we strugggle to sign technical players who have that impeccable reliability in their circulation, retention and distribution of the ball I.e playmaking. Like Kroos, Modric, Silva, KDB, Veratti (?), Scholes, Pirlo etc. For example Pogba is technically brilliant but more so in a creative sense, but he isn't that player who can run the show in midfield, the one you know wil keep the ball and always retain is superbly. He's too unpredictable in certain aspects.

If we look at our buys in recent years we tend to go for a lot of second strikers or thereaboubts rather than 10s/genuine playmakers. Rooney (who was already here) Kagawa, Mata and now even Sanchez is a bit like that. In midfield our buys have been Schweinsteigher, Schneiderlin, Pogba, Matic and Herrera. Again, players who are either defensive, box to box or flair players. None of them are the metronomic CMs.

It suppose it has to do with ideas on football. But to me it is a little odd that over 5 years we haven't managed to sign a midfielder or number 10 of this ilk.
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My point exactly in the OP, our side has been starved of this type of player in recent years and it's painfully obvious it's a biggest problem at the moment when it comes to playing football at a more entertaining pace. Hence the mystery/questioning why we are potentially going to go another season without at least trying to sign a proper playmaker.
 
Lawman said:
Wind your neck in most players would jump to play for United. We just signed Sanchez over City Pogba over everyone and shifted Matic a main stay and long term player from one of our rivals. Who do you want us to sign?
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No one is doubting United/Jose can attract and sign some of the best players available, it's what we're consistency unable to get from the that is more concerning, if you'd said a few years back that we'd have signed ADM, Pogba, Sanchez, Ibra, etc, I'd have visions of us playing fantastic football & swatting most teams aside, yet we are where we are.

The above is why this summers transfer market is hard to get too involoved in the excitement, forced outgoings aside, under Jose we may just be better off sticking with what we've got, and try to improve them with this new coaching set up, rather than ripping it up again.
 
We will need to get a magician or two in, this summer. We are lacking in creative players who can turn games around. A couple of Brazilians who can carry the ball, dribble past players, and score goals would light up the place.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
We have some excellent technical players.

A better question would ponder at why we strugggle to sign technical players who have that impeccable reliability in their circulation, retention and distribution of the ball I.e playmaking. Like Kroos, Modric, Silva, KDB, Veratti (?), Scholes, Pirlo etc. For example Pogba is technically brilliant but more so in a creative sense, but he isn't that player who can run the show in midfield, the one you know wil keep the ball and always retain is superbly. He's too unpredictable in certain aspects.

If we look at our buys in recent years we tend to go for a lot of second strikers or thereaboubts rather than 10s/genuine playmakers. Rooney (who was already here) Kagawa, Mata and now even Sanchez is a bit like that. In midfield our buys have been Schweinsteigher, Schneiderlin, Pogba, Matic and Herrera. Again, players who are either defensive, box to box or flair players. None of them are the metronomic CMs.

It suppose it has to do with ideas on football. But to me it is a little odd that over 5 years we haven't managed to sign a midfielder or number 10 of this ilk.
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Good post. I think one of the reasons is that only few such players are around and they are immediately snatched up by the likes of Madrid and Barca. Kroos and Modric were both our transfer targets before Madrid swooped in. We wanted Ozil after the 2010 world cup but he chose Madrid. Thiago moved to Bayern. Silva and KDB are two players we clearly missed out on as we didn't even show interest.

The players will also feel comfortable moving to a club that will suit their style of play. We don't play in a way which would be appealing to these players. The only way we can get such players is to catch them young and then let them slowly come into their own at our club. But the constant demand for instant results gives players very little time to settle.
 
Gomez and Chong are 2 young players who could be the ones to add that flair to our side. But I doubt if Mourinho would trust them right now. I do think that these 2 Will make it here eventually if they are kept, but not in Mourinho's time.
 
We have a few technically great players that currently don’t perform because we don’t have the foundations of a team around them

With the benefit of hindsight, after the debacle of Moyses’ season in charge it was foolish to believe that a few mediocre squad players (Schneiderlin, Herrera, Darmian, Blind etc...) and a bunch of “promising youngsters” (Shaw, Martial, Depay, Bailly, Lindelof etc...) where ever likely to provide the platform we needed to allow the likes of Di Maria, Sanchez and Pogba to flourish

Too often in games we are fighting for control in midfield and look vulnerable at the back, which means the likes of Pogba, Sanchez and Martial end up doing jobs they are not particularly good at

If we can get this platform right i.e. made up of proven top-class performers in their peak years, I am sure the flair players will finally come to the fore. At the moment, it’s a little bit like a castle built on sand, prone to collapses under the slightest pressure

What we need are a few more Matic-types. Solid. Dependable. Calm. Professional. Unflabbable. Consistent.
 
Bestietom said:
Gomez and Chong are 2 young players who could be the ones to add that flair to our side. But I doubt if Mourinho would trust them right now. I do think that these 2 Will make it here eventually if they are kept, but not in Mourinho's time.
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And nor should he trust them yet, they're not ready.
 
Lentwood said:
We have a few technically great players that currently don’t perform because we don’t have the foundations of a team around them

With the benefit of hindsight, after the debacle of Moyses’ season in charge it was foolish to believe that a few mediocre squad players (Schneiderlin, Herrera, Darmian, Blind etc...) and a bunch of “promising youngsters” (Shaw, Martial, Depay, Bailly, Lindelof etc...) where ever likely to provide the platform we needed to allow the likes of Di Maria, Sanchez and Pogba to flourish

Too often in games we are fighting for control in midfield and look vulnerable at the back, which means the likes of Pogba, Sanchez and Martial end up doing jobs they are not particularly good at

If we can get this platform right i.e. made up of proven top-class performers in their peak years, I am sure the flair players will finally come to the fore. At the moment, it’s a little bit like a castle built on sand, prone to collapses under the slightest pressure

What we need are a few more Matic-types. Solid. Dependable. Calm. Professional. Unflabbable. Consistent.
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I just want to expand on this whilst I have the time....

In the SAF years, especially during the period between around 2007-2012, when I felt we were as good as we ever where (consistently reaching European finals), the core of the squad was made up pf high-class, experienced, winners. This was supplemented of course by the unbelievable natural abilities of Rooney and Ronaldo.

This meant that when teams faced Utd, they where constantly under the pump and there was no let up. When the opposition did manage to repel an attack and clear the ball, a single opposition striker would be marshalled by Vidic and Ferdinand. Imagine how daunting that must be. I remember watching games at OT where I scarcely remember the opposition forward touching the ball in our half and eventually they would give up trying.

These days, we offer much more encouragement. The ball is hoofed up field and Jones mis-judges, lets the ball bounce and has to scramble to clear. The opposition advance 50-yards upfield with the ball and retian possession. We get the ball back but Chris Smalling with all his usual grace and poise shanks the ball into the stands when faced with a simple pass out to the wing. Next time, totally lacking in confidence now he doesn’t attempt the pass and the ball is played back to De Gea who has little option but too lump it forward where the opposition defenders are favourites.

Take the full-backs. In the SAF years, Evra and Neville would be reliably flying past the winger as soon as they received a pass. This opened up options for our wide-men. The defender would be forced to stand-off and cover the run, meaning our wingers could either cut inside and shoot or deliver a cross under little pressure. Alternatively, the opposition full back goes in tight and are left embarrassed by a quick trick from Ronaldo/Nani/Giggs et al. The point was this happened relentlessly for 90mins.

Consider our full backs now. Valencia is the oddest footballer I have ever seen. Moves only in straight lines, uses only one foot at all times and is very reluctant to get forward. On the other side, Young wants to cut inside every time, competing with our own wide players for the space to do so rather than providing width on the outside. Luke Shaw could possibly do this but is usually so full of chips and milkshakes he is standing with hands on hips on the halfway line (plus his positional sense defensively is dreadful but that’s not my point)

The issue is that our attackers aren’t getting anything from the rest of the team. Our centre-halves move the ball out so slowly and can’t pass between the lines. They give chances to the opposition and give up territory and possession too easily. Our fullbacks offer little going forward and do nothing to stretch the opposition. Matic does the job he is in the team to do but without a real partner in the middle ends up being dragged down with the rest of the plodders and passing sideways/backwards

It all adds up. Great defences and great attacks go hand in hand. Football is a team game and every player should offer something with and without the ball in great sides
 
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