Great compilation. Was about to post it after watching it on Sporting´s forum. You don´t even notice the 20 mins go by 
William Carvalho
- Thread starter Rozay
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He's a monster and would love to see him here. Would be great protection for what will likely be a very young and inexperienced back 5.
Watch his price sky rocket after the WC and a giant come in and snap him up when he could have been a United player by now.
Seems to be the way it's going with us at the moment..
Seems to be the way it's going with us at the moment..
Problem with Carvalho is that it may take him a year or two to positionally learn the discipline for the role and would take him a season or two also to get used to the pace of the PL......Van Gaal is probably thinking it maybe be too risky to get him for that role considering it's top 4 or bust next season.....Many tough kids with huge reputations and who looked world class at smaller clubs have often not looked quite the part when moved to bigger clubs as they start out....such as David Luiz, Phil Jones, Matija Nastasić, Anderson, Etienne Capoue, Gervinho, xherden shaqiri, Chris Smalling, Kezman, Wright-Phillips, Zaha etc
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Perhaps van Gaal wants a different kind of player for that role which is fair enough and it is true that it'd take him some time to adjust, but I don't think it's fair to say he needs to learn the positional discipline for a role he clearly excels in already.
United won't want to risk buying an unproven player. Everyones necks are on the line right now as the supporters grow tired of the cock-ups. If they don't get it right this season then the shit will hit the fan. This is why we won't risk a player like Carvalho.
I agree with Brwned post. Besides Mónaco, the Carvalho rumours have died down a bit. If he doesn´t have a brilliant world cup, i think he will stay one more year and prove himself in the Champions League. And perhaps that´s the best option for his career. Even so it´s though to call what will happen since we already bought two midfielders (Slavchev the so called Bulgarian Lampard and Oriol Rosell a former Barcelona youth rank player). That and the fact that he has Jorge Mendes as Agent.
Starting for Portugal against Ireland tonight. Kicking off any second now.
Hasn't looked like anything special so far. Not bad, just barely involved.
Walters is beside him almost every time he comes looking for the ball. Hasn't had a chance to shine.
The fact Walters is stifling him answers the question of whether he could do it on a cold, wet, Wednesday night in Stoke.
Ireland are waltzing through at will when they attack. He doesn't exactly provide much of a screen for the defence.
Looks languid in possession as well.
This is a friendly though and only a single match so can't draw too many conclusions.
Looks languid in possession as well.
This is a friendly though and only a single match so can't draw too many conclusions.
Cant believe Postiga still managed to make it. Very nice touch and a good left footed cross for a goal there from Nani
He's looked amazing tonight.
He watched Nani play a nice pass to set Coentrao up for his goal
Overstatement perhaps, probably due to the fact anyone of those players in midfield are better than that shower of shit we have currently
What a goal from Nani. We should sign him
Who's that Nani lad? Sign him up
It was a performance in line with the last games of the season. It was a friendly before the World Cup and players are saving themselves. I believe he is also getting a little nervous. Just his 5th or 6th game in the national team and about to play in a World Cup. He will improve when the tournament starts.
Good performance by Nani, the usual in the national team. You can see why Paulo Bento trusts him.
Good performance by Nani, the usual in the national team. You can see why Paulo Bento trusts him.
Didn't watch, but to be honest I wouldn't treat someones national team performance as the same as club level, otherwise David Healy would of been a top top striker.
Top top player
was he very bad? didnt see the match
He wasn't bad, je just didn't live up to the expectations. Only way I can see him functioning is in some kind of 3 man midfield. He seems way too limited (or perhaps reserved?) on and off the ball to be all round midfielder. Now, is he the type of a player United needs? Maybe, depends on what VG wants. I wouldn't be too dishearted if he doesn't join United.
i was saying alright that he would find it hard to live up to expectations if he came to united.
What happens is a MF gets linked to us and we watch all these youtube videos that are like film trailers, that make any player look good and then when we actually see him, he doesnt do as well. Its these videos that condition us to think players are better than they actually are.
The WC will be a good place to see his ability and the tough games are the ones id watch. Germany vs portugal is really his test. The other games i wouldnt read into. if portugal make the knockouts as well and are playing a good team, id watch that.
cheers anyhow
What expectations did you have about a friendly few days before the world cup? So he didn´t impress in a friendly but did impress in the official play off against Sweden. Which one is the real barometer? And he can only play in a midfield of 3? That´s funny because he was very good playing in a midfield of two when Sporting´s manager did that variation. Yesterday was not the real test. The world cup is. Limited? Not at all.
The friendly of course silly, specially the last matches watched by us expert caftards matter the most
Both games tbh. I didn't watch game against Sweden, I can only talk about game against Ireland and fair amount of Sporting games. Friendly or not, both teams tried really hard. They are hardly friendlies anymore.
Obviously not, but I'm talking about United team, not Sporting. I see him as not mobile enough to be part in 2 man midfield. He's not slow by any means, but you need pace in midfield. Unless United brings, let's say, someone like Vidal, then it could work, but those two doesn't fit in category of being creative midfielder. And United lacks creativity more than an enforcer.
Is it funny? Nonetheless, every time I saw Carvalho he was part of 3 man midfield. Or some shape of it. Formations mean a little today, it's all about shape. Speaking about United squad, only guy who could perform as such is Rooney, coming deep, trying to organize attack. And he's not good at it. And then it would be another problem to fit Carvalho in, just like United has problem to fit Fellaini.
Limited, or perhaps restricted ( in sense he was told to be conservative). But I have not seen any bursts going forward, at least not on consistent base. And thus he fails in another segment required for 2 man midfield, being offensive threat.
If United signs him, I hope I'm wrong and he'll be resurrected Roy Keane.
The problem is, that kind of logic is what got us Fellaini last summer.
There are many players who are better than what we have at the minute, but we need to get someone who is what we need and who can really lift us to the next level.
It's a complete myth that you need pace as a centre mid. Carrick-Scholes was our best partnership since Scholes-Keane. I'd say his goal against Pacos de Ferreira show he's capable of going forward too.
The problem isnt the logic, the problem is that he hasnt improved our midfield. If he did we wouldnt be so desperate for a new CM
You see you are talking about United but i´m talking about Sporting where he was really tested and where we are not speculating. And at Sporting he could play in a midfield of two with Adrien as a dynamic duo and with very good results, specially when we were chasing results. He is mobile enough when needed. Just because he played in a tactically strict enviroment, that restricted his movement, doesn´t mean that he isn´t mobile.
It´s funny because you probably haven´t watched him enough. There were plenty of times, he played in a midfield of two. You must have missed those games. Same thing with the bursts going forward. Again, it´s a question of us having a tactically strict manager. When we were playing for the Champions League direct qualification objective, Carvalho´s main objective was to provide defensive coverage and control the defensive end. When he had tactical freedom, he did plenty of forward movements and even scored goals thanks to his offensive runs. He scored more goals in 1 season as a DM than Fernando from Porto in practically 5 years. That shows his offensive threat. Also he has played in a midfield of two in Cercle Brugges and in our national teams.
He isn´t limited like i said. You just need to watch a single Sporting game highlight to understand that. Restricted i could agree (specially when we had Jardim as manager but who can blame him for that approach considering Sporting´s main flaw in the campaign where we ended 7th was our defensive end).
Maybe you didn't need it so much 6-7 years ago. Today you do need pace, due to tempo of modern football. Things are changing constantly, every season there are new inventions in football, or at least modernizing old ways. Look at any midfield in last 5 years. Everyone has pace. Maybe pace is the wrong word, it probably is. Mobility is the right world. You need mobile midfielders now days.
I can tell only from what I saw. I'm far from calming I'm an expert on Carvalho, I'm not. And from what I saw I can assume he fits better in midfield of 3.
Again, I don't know the player as you do ( you're Sporting fan IIRC), but I'm far from typical interent expert. At least that is what I'm telling myself. I watch lot of football because it's part of my job, sort of, so I have decent idea on quite a few players. I have to admit, I have never heard of Carvalho till this season, so I cannot say anything about his past and how he played in previous club. And I;m too lazy and trustworthy to google. Everything I posted so far here it was about United, and United only. How it could work for United. United has long history of playing in 2 man midfield and thus I think United can do better than Carvalho if VG decided to play some variant of 4-4-2. In 4-3-3, Carvalho as pivot, I wouldn't mind it at all.
Highlights and youtube clips shows only the best bits. Is he really technically and tactically gifted to be box to box ( at some extent), I doubt, but like I said, I don't know enough about him to claim that 100%. It could just be managers orders. There are plenty examples of that. Best one is Yaya Toure.
He fits better in a midfield of 3 but he can also play in a midfield of 2 and with a decent productivity. That was my point. You were claiming that he couldn´t play in a midfield of 2 and i just told you that he did plenty of times in the last campaign and in the past. So i was complementing your views since you clearly showed that you didn´t watch him enough.
I can understand you for not knowing Carvalho. I know him because i´m a Sporting fan and i follow my team religiously and knew him from the potencial he showed in the youth ranks. Then he was loaned to Fátima (lower league portuguese club) and Cercle Brugges (Belgian top division club) and he only really showed his potencial in the 2013 pre season. As someone who has watched him alot i think he can play in 4-4-2. Can United do better? Of course but i also think that Carvalho could be an interesting option. And you will see that as he keeps evolving and when he probably joins a bigger european club. I´m very curious to see him in a more demaning enviroment, under the guidance of a less tactically strict manager and surrounded with better players. I think he has the talent and potencial to become a very good player and have a very interesting career.
Highlights and youtube clips only show the best bits but you can trust my opinion. I saw all his games for Sporting and our national team (our home games at the stadium). He has good technic. About the Yaya Touré comparison i already gave my opinion on this. Carvalho is compared to Patrick Vieira and not Yaya Touré by most pundits and specially Boa Morte who played with and against him and i agree with that comparison.
Was that pure 4-4-2 or was one striker sitting up as attacking mid? I'm asking because I saw few games where there would be two nominal strikers, but they would use mostly Eduardo as link between attack and midfield. It's common now days that one striker sits deep in two striker formations. United has players to do so, and that could make Carvalho's potential job a lot easier.
Most definitely a talented player. The way he tackles look clumsy, it no one can argue about not being efficient. He strips the ball with ease. That what I like about him. Bare in mind again, I'm saying all this trough Uniteds point of view, or something similar, in the way I speculate, discuss about certain players and how could then, and would then fit into United squad. Whole this situation is drove by that, is he what United needs.
The reason I gave Yaya Toure compassion is simple. When Yaya was at Barca, he was restricted to defensive midfielder, used mainly because his defensive duties. That was waste of his talents. Maybe it's the same thing with Carvalho.
Pure 4-4-2 with Slimani and Montero up front. It was mostly when we adopted a more attacking stance and were chasing a result. Wilson Eduardo as link between attack and midfield? You must be confused. Wilson Eduardo can play in that position (played in that position at Académica and Olhanense) but he only played as right winger at Sporting. You must be confusing Wilson Eduardo with André Martins.
Oh by the way about last night
98% pass success rate with only one pass (to Ronaldo) missed.
98% pass success rate with only one pass (to Ronaldo) missed.
That's good to know. So he's probably more versatile than I thought. Sorry if I sound like "I know the best", but I tend not to trust people when it comes to young, relatively unproven players. Most of them just overrate them. That's why I sound stubborn.
I might mixed some players, Portuguese isn't my stronger side ( when watching streams).
No worries. I understand your point of view but i don´t think i´m overrating him at all. I agree that he is relatively unproven (he will probably be the player of the year in Portugal but it´s just one year of top flight), that´s why i´m very curious to see him in the World Cup and in the Champions League (if he stays another year with us). I´m very cautious when evaluating the player. Like i said in previous posts, i´ve watched alot of talented players come out from our Academy (players like Figo and Ronaldo for example) and he´s up there with the very best in my opinion. Whether he will continue to evolve and prove himself in one of the top european leagues, it remains to be seen but i´d bet that Carvalho will become a very important player for portuguese football in the future and have a very good career. We will be here to watch how it goes (probably not at United now that Moyes is gone).
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