I'd prefer to keep Zaha any day over Nani because although Nani is more developed than Zaha...at least Zaha would not stick around just for the money like Nani is doing
Wilfried Zaha - Sold to Crystal Palace
- Thread starter Baby Faced Assassin
- Start date
- Status
Didn't have a very good game today, especially not good enough in one on one situations he got today particularly the one vs Pepe in the first half. I do think that he's got potential and should stay over Nani but even so there's still too much competition here for him right now. I think that he has all the tools he just needs to figure out how to use them.
Oh dear
Not good enough in 1v1 situations which is unlike him so I can overlook that as an off aspect, I felt he worked hard though, not as forceful as Welbeck in winning the ball up high but showed good positional awareness and took away a lot of passing lanes.
At least that is what it looked like on first viewing, I'll have a second butchers once it's done downloading.
At least that is what it looked like on first viewing, I'll have a second butchers once it's done downloading.
you think? Im not so sure,the ever present tony v,young and raf and maybe lingard will keep him out off the team,and with our front four pool of strikers i hope he goes out on loan too.
In this new system i dont see any potential for him playing,and if im honest,ive never seen much in the way of potential in him from the off.
The idea of just polarizing Zaha or any other players performances is pretty pointless. Just look at the posts about Young, 99% wanted him gone and now found a position that he appears to excel in. Last game Zaha was pretty decent, today was up against a world class defender was less so. People talked about his attitude and being lazy, he worked really hard and gave 100% commitment today.
Can't Zaha and Januzaj be our specialist wingers that LVG talked about?
I think he will be sold. He simply doesn't have the basic attributes needed to become a top-class striker and what's the point of sending him out on loan when we've already got RVP, Rooney and Welbeck (I'm assuming Hernandez will go) and Wilson and Keane to come through? It would make no sense from either his perspective or ours. Best for him to go somewhere he'll get a regular game as a winger.
People are going way over board on Zaha, guys a rookie playing in a total new position.
Chill the fcuk out guys.
Chill the fcuk out guys.
Simply pointing out he'll never make it in that position and it'd be best for him to go somewhere he'll get played in his preferred position - where he's no better than average anyway.
Way too early for that assessment.
Not it's not, he hasn't even got the basics for a striker - let alone a striker worthy of a place in our team.
I felt the same, yesterday he had a 1 on 1 vs Pepe where i thought he was favourite to the ball but he showed too much of it to Pepe who managed to get a foot in. There were also a few times when he was 1 on 1 vs a fall back and never got past them. Ive not seen much of him since he signed (didnt bother watching Cardiff or Palace) but the time i have he has looked really off the pace and he always looks like hes trying to force the issue which looks unnatural
The lad has talent I dont think this can be denied but he really needs to work on his decision making, has to know when to pass and to whom.
Loan or sell. He won't get much chances here at all as a striker.
Good show of confidence on him by van Gaal. Won't be surprised if he stays here and continues to be in the squad as our fourth striker.
Forums are funny, a half decent game against inter, lots of positive post, lesser game Real, he's back to rubbish. He obviously is trying to impress and worked really hard closing people down but there's no mention of this just he's not a striker.
Also, he played 5 mins with in essence is the starting 11, and then 45 mins with a team that was obviously much weaker. The game was more of a defensive performance by that time. He was almost playing like a lone striker which is a art for the most experienced of strikers.
Let's also be fair, like Keane won't be playing against Bale every week and Zaha won't be playing against Pepe, one of the best defenders in the world?
Also, he played 5 mins with in essence is the starting 11, and then 45 mins with a team that was obviously much weaker. The game was more of a defensive performance by that time. He was almost playing like a lone striker which is a art for the most experienced of strikers.
Let's also be fair, like Keane won't be playing against Bale every week and Zaha won't be playing against Pepe, one of the best defenders in the world?
Last edited:
Nope, can't agree with that. One of the main concerns in this game for me is that he didn't press anybody. While it's understandable to me that he didn't do much fire up-front with tricks and stuff, after all he wasn't playing against some shite defence and we were more on a back-foot in the second half, his lack of pressing and attacking the players when we're off the ball was annoying and I've pointed it out during the game. One of the reasons why we were worse in the second half ( bar obvious loss of midfield control ) was lack of pressing from the up-front. Rooney and especially Danny were doing immense job in the first half, Danny's dispossessed their midfielders/defenders couple of times in the first half and we could start over with building our attack.
While I can understand lack of scoring or getting into good positions against RM, I can't accept lack of commitment and for me, that's exactly was has happened. He should be running a lot more, especially that he's not played full 90 minutes where he'd have to conserve his energy or so. And he'll be up playing against far, far better defenders than Pepe.
He has a slightly similar problem to what Ashley Young has IMO had during most of his time here. He's best in a position where we've got a number of better players so he'll struggle to get game time.
For Young I think he's best as a forward (although if he can work out as a wing back I'll be delighted) and, simply put, there's no way he's getting in the team ahead of Rooney and Van Persie (and most likely Welbeck and Hernandez too).
For Zaha he's best as a right winger, a position we don't appear keen to play this year anyway, and at this moment he's not as good as Januzaj, Young or Valencia either. Again, as a striker he's no chance of making it here as he's behind any number of players - Rooney, Van Persie, Welbeck, Hernandez, Young, Januzaj, arguably Wilson...
For Young I think he's best as a forward (although if he can work out as a wing back I'll be delighted) and, simply put, there's no way he's getting in the team ahead of Rooney and Van Persie (and most likely Welbeck and Hernandez too).
For Zaha he's best as a right winger, a position we don't appear keen to play this year anyway, and at this moment he's not as good as Januzaj, Young or Valencia either. Again, as a striker he's no chance of making it here as he's behind any number of players - Rooney, Van Persie, Welbeck, Hernandez, Young, Januzaj, arguably Wilson...
I don't see the point in him supposedly being able to do a load of tricks and flicks if he can't actually use any of them in a game to evade his marker. Was dispossessed far too easily any time he tried to run with the ball in the oppositions half. I was of the opinion that we shouldn't be writing him off too quickly but I don't think he's ready for the first team. He doesn't seem to think about football very intelligently which is probably the main difference between him and someone like Lingard.
The English Bebe.
It's not always easy to come off the bench and fit into the pattern of the game. We need to sort out his final ball but would keep him at the club. Has a lot of potential but we'll need to fine tune it. I think that one vs one came too soon for him. Good to see LVG trust him though when Danny picked up the knock.
Complete rubbish. I cant see where his lack of commitment comment was from. You cant throw in the 'obvious loss of midfield control' comment like it is not the significant factor in the second half. We had control first half but second was a completely different game. Also it was clear who was playing up front when Rooney and Danny was pressing, but who was playing with Zaha? Finally, if Pepe become available to transfer, you have to pay over 30m for his services. Aside from his discipline record, there not many better CB's in the world.....
His hard work was atleast there. Sure some of his move's didn't come off, and the 1 on 1 with Pepe could have been dealt with better - but that is something he needs to learn.
Apart from that though he ran his socks off and put himself about well, he had Ramos and Pepe scared of the ball over the top.
Apart from that though he ran his socks off and put himself about well, he had Ramos and Pepe scared of the ball over the top.
I often find it funny the way people react to a player leaving / staying at a club. If a player leaves, fans will complain about a lack of loyalty etc etc. Or that he went for the money.
Then a player like Nani is staying, and you claim he's only staying for the money. Do you have inside knowledge about the guy? Maybe, just maybe, he likes the area? Loves the club? Is settled and has great friends in the squad? Wants to fight for his place in the team because he loves pulling on the red shirt?
Again, all guess work on my part, rather than stating he's only staying for the money.
From what I've seen of him so far, I won't lose sleep if he's sold. Looked dismal yesterday, though at least he put in some effort. I don't think he'll ever amount to the level of player that we know Nani is capable of ... even if we're not sure Nani is capable of reaching that level again himself.
Uhm, as for the first bolded, I thought I've explained that further in my post. His pressing was rubbish. There was hardly any, he didn't do 1/10 of Danny's work to put it bluntly. I haven't downplayed loss of midfield in the second half but while it's easy to blame it all on Cleverley and say that we've lost it because of his lack of work, lack of pressing from the attacking players was just as important factor in losing the control. Sure, Hernandez doesn't press as much as Rooney but on the other hand we've had Kagawa who pressed more than Mata in the first half.
And just because you have to pay 'over 30m for his services' it doesn't make Pepe a top, top defender, after all 50 mln quid was thrown at Luiz who's a complete clown of a player. But that's for another thread really.
Its obvious that we'll have to agree to disagree, you must have been watching a different game to me. The idea however that Pepe isn't a top defender is an absolute joke. Just because you have a negative view of Zaha, doesn't mean you have to make ridiculous statements in order to back your argument up.
We don't finish seventh every season, Zaha should be nowhere near this first team
I thought he played alright, lets not forget he was up against a Champions League winning centre half pairing and is natural position is not as a striker.
I think the four places will be taken by Rooney, van Persie, Welbeck and Januzaj playing in a 'free role'. That would allow Kagawa to be Mata's immediate deputy and allow more balance in the squad.
Still think a move on loan is best for Zaha if he has any hope of making it here. He needs constant gametime, but he is far, far to raw to be afforded that here.
Not really, it's a bit harsh but it's true. He's not going to get games ahead of Rooney, Van Persie, Welbeck, Hernandez, or even Wilson and Januzaj up top probably. He can't play the wing back role, so really, he's just out of place here, unless we switch to a 4-3-3. He needs a loan for sure, somewhere he'll play every week and be first choice, so when we do get a more balanced team and switch to a 4-3-3, he's more developed and didn't just waste years in the reserves.
I think there's a good player in there, his athletisism is world-class, and he is a talented lad on the ball aswell. He needs mature and learn how to use his talents effectively and i'm sure that Van Gaal can iron out alot of the creases in Zaha's game if he finds it worthwhile. Not saying he'll ever become as good as Bale because he more than likely won't, but they share many of the same strenghts. Zaha is years behind in terms of experience despite only being 2 years younger and it's doubtful if he's got the determination to to reach such levels but if he becomes 3/4 of the player Bale is it'll be worth it. Nani's a lost cause though imo, while I still have hope for Zaha.
A championship standard winger, which will be revealed over time.
I only saw the second half but I completely agree with Kostur that he looked lackadaisical most of the time and didn't look like he was putting in 100% at all. The only other player that's looked as disinterested in pre-season is Nani. So in that sense even if he is doing something useful with the ball he's much less effective off the ball than any of our other forward options (Nani aside), so he has to be doing something really special in possession to justify his place in the team. I don't see that happening and can't see him staying here for very long.
Didn't see the match last night but I have never ever been that impressed by Zaha and don't think he has a future here.
Well no, they didn't play at that level during yesterdays game, otherwise we wouldn't have put 3 past them and possibly many more. He had a poor game and it ends at that
Yeah he doesn't fit in with LVG's preference for intelligent and disciplined players.
Personally I think everything that has come out since about zaha, whether from his own mouth or his other managers (from loan spells) just confirms that he's not mentally right for the kind of discipline and commitment required at Manchester United, yet, and vindicates Moyes' treatment of him.
Even in 3-5-2 the CF has to score. It's not like the only factor to take into account, but still the most important and relevant one. Zaha simply is not scoring enough and he never was. So loan or LVG is not happy with him i think we can sell him, his price is rather high still and with Lingard, Adnan we don't exactly have shortage in this position, type of player.
I think James Wilson will have something to say about that
- Status