Wingers/Wide Forwards - Our best options?

I don't see any point in investing time muppet dreaming of Reus, we don't seem to even be in the equation, but most agree Di Maria needs to move back into the midfield 3 and that means we are short of wide options for LvG's 4-3-3 as he seems to see Valencia as a defender and Young will most likely be off, perhaps even in January.

So that leaves us with Januzaj and perhaps Lingard, and I know some fans want Nani to make a return, but I still think we need at least one good wide man in, the questions is who?

The most obvious one for me is Memphis Depay, he's fast, strong, can dribble and scores goals, plus he seems to have a great work ethic and attitude to his career, however I know some here don't think he's much, but LvG did use him at the World Cup and he performed pretty well on that huge stage.

A couple of others I've seen that impress me are Karim Bellarabi from Bayer Leverkusen and Timo Werner from Stuttgart. The argument against the former is he doesn't score much, the argument against the latter is he'll only turn 19 next year but I'd argue he is built to cope with the PL.
 
It would be great to have another avenue of goals from the team, as aside from our forward players there isn't an abundance of goals from any other area. Mata's future here is seemingly bleak and despite having a positive start in terms of his goals tally, he looks like he's even waning in that respect of late; Fellaini offers us something unique and could possibly offer us 5-8 goals or so due to his aerial threat and power, but like Mata, he might be in and out of the team; di Maria is more of a creator and our defense contributes very little with goals.

With all that in mind, and even though I've gone off on a bit of a tangent, I would like to see us bring in Depay. A great alternative to Januzaj and very contrasting in styles, I think he is starting to outgrow the Eredivisie with his goalscoring exploits in that league and United or any other Premier League side would be the logical step-up next season.

I can't see us signing him in January and I don't see the position as an immediate concern for the anyway, but as we start to transition to a more winger-based system over the course of the season (which I expect van Gaal to do) we will need one for the forthcoming season, especially if we are playing far more games.

Deploying the 4-3-3 on a regular basis is probably van Gaal's long-term vision for the team, so while it would offer far more balance, our attacking threat and capabilities in front of goal might become reduced. Depay is someone with blistering pace and can score from range and would compliment the team greatly while we have a more assisting player like Januzaj on the opposite flank.
 
Devil may care said:
I don't see any point in investing time muppet dreaming of Reus, we don't seem to even be in the equation, but most agree Di Maria needs to move back into the midfield 3 and that means we are short of wide options for LvG's 4-3-3 as he seems to see Valencia as a defender and Young will most likely be off, perhaps even in January.

So that leaves us with Januzaj and perhaps Lingard, and I know some fans want Nani to make a return, but I still think we need at least one good wide man in, the questions is who?

The most obvious one for me is Memphis Depay, he's fast, strong, can dribble and scores goals, plus he seems to have a great work ethic and attitude to his career, however I know some here don't think he's much, but LvG did use him at the World Cup and he performed pretty well on that huge stage.

A couple of others I've seen that impress me are Karim Bellarabi from Bayer Leverkusen and Timo Werner from Stuttgart. The argument against the former is he doesn't score much, the argument against the latter is he'll only turn 19 next year but I'd argue he is built to cope with the PL.
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Yes, Di Maria obviously seems better in centre midfield, although I doubt Van Gaal will play him there now, especially as we're short on top quality wingers. I also see Lingard as more as a centre/attacking midfielder, which would probably mean needing at least one top quality winger if Nani and Zaha don't come back next season, leaving us with only Di Maria and Januzaj.

I personally think we could do with a winger who will guarantee us 10-15 goals from the wing, as Januzaj and Di Maria strike me as more creating wingers, rather than goalscoring ones. I also think we need someone who is capable of playing, both on the left and right.

I think Depay's a good shout, but I wouldn't mind seeing Pedro from Barca. At 27, he's got bags of experience at the top level, wouldn't cost a lot, scores his fair share of goals from the wing, and I feel he would be up for a move, seeing as he spends a lot of time on the bench, especially now with the addition of Suarez.

Assuming Zaha and Nani don't come back next season, that will leave us with:

Januzaj
Di Maria
Pedro
Valencia

Valencia can be used in big games - similar to how Mourinho puts Ramires on the wing to solidify the right hand side.
 
Depay certainly ticks a lot of boxes. Reus was the first name on many people's tongue prior to Falcao, but at this point how do you bring in another nailed-on first choice attacker without putting RVP or Rooney out to pasture...?
 
Pedro is a decent shout, if he's looking to leave. I'm of the sad belief that Madrid or Barca will demand and get De Gea from us this summer, so maybe we could have him or, preferably, Jese or Illaramendi come back.

Good thread idea.

Tadic has been really impressive so far. Fantastic vision and passing ability from a wide position, though not so pacey or a goal threat.

Nani is playing well, and ironically looks like one of the wide talents who would make sense. Why is he on loan again?

Draxler just got hurt, but should be fine by this summer. No idea how he's doing this year.

If Reus goes to Bayern, maybe we can grab Shaqiri or Robben. Ribery is on record as hating life under Van Gaal.

Nobody really comes to mind in La Liga like Griezmann last year. Nolito was excellent against Barca this weekend and had 14 in 35 last year for Celta Vigo and has 5 already this year and he wouldn't cost an insane amount (presumably), but he's 28, so that's hard to see. Anyone seen more of him?

Lacazette has 10 already (most in France), and I've been impressed with his overall game when I've seen him over the years. He plays up front a lot but started as a wide player and scored a lovely goal this weekend starting from the left wing. I could see him narrow on the left with Di Maria behind him, a 9 in the middle and Januzaj on the right. Be interesting to see if he ends up starting for France on the left with Benzema in the middle and Griezmann on the right with Ribery having retired. If he impresses there, I could see a few big teams looking for a threat from out wide going after him, like us, Dortmund post-Reus or Roma (if Totti retires they'll need an attacker and Garcia's whole career before was in Ligue 1).
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
Yes, Di Maria obviously seems better in centre midfield, although I doubt Van Gaal will play him there now, especially as we're short on top quality wingers. I also see Lingard as more as a centre/attacking midfielder, which would probably mean needing at least one top quality winger if Nani and Zaha don't come back next season, leaving us with only Di Maria and Januzaj.

I personally think we could do with a winger who will guarantee us 10-15 goals from the wing, as Januzaj and Di Maria strike me as more creating wingers, rather than goalscoring ones. I also think we need someone who is capable of playing, both on the left and right.

I think Depay's a good shout, but I wouldn't mind seeing Pedro from Barca. At 27, he's got bags of experience at the top level, wouldn't cost a lot, scores his fair share of goals from the wing, and I feel he would be up for a move, seeing as he spends a lot of time on the bench, especially now with the addition of Suarez.

Assuming Zaha and Nani don't come back next season, that will leave us with:

Januzaj
Di Maria
Pedro
Valencia

Valencia can be used in big games - similar to how Mourinho puts Ramires on the wing to solidify the right hand side.
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I think the sooner we get another winger the better as we are wasting Di Maria right now, and with Valencia I think he'll be phased out over the next year, he just doesn't offer anything in attack anymore. As for Lingard, I admit I haven't seen a lot of him but I thought he had played as a wide attacker in a front 3 when he was on loan?

Pedro is a good shout, he'd offer a lot from the left side of the attack and has a good goal scoring record. The one issue might be that Barca are transfer banned until 2016 but with Munir and Sandro as backs to the Messi/Neymar/Suarez trident they may be willing to sell.
 
Its the same as before really. Ideally, in the best case scenario, we bring in reus and have him and Januzaj on the wings as inverted wingers, with Di Maria part of the midfield 3. If not Reus, then Depay on the left. Nani to rotate with Januzaj for the other wing if we don't sell him which I hope we don't.
 
NoPace said:
Tadic has been really impressive so far. Fantastic vision and passing ability from a wide position, though not so pacey or a goal threat.
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I thought he'd get mentioned given his good start. He turns 26 later this month but if he keeps performing for the rest of the season he may be a back-up option.

Draxler just got hurt, but should be fine by this summer. No idea how he's doing this year.
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I think he needs to up his workrate and he seems to want to be a #10 so I'm not sure he'd be a viable option, especially at the price.
 
I admit this is total muppetry but the other day I read an article about the 40 top young prospects in world football, the only two I'd heard of were Youri Tielemans and Ruben Neves as most had not played any senior football. One other lad who had though caught my eye, Ante Coric, a young Croatian.

 
Depay will never become as good as Ronaldo (who will), but I think he's got a bit of Ronaldo about him. He's the one I'd be signing if I was van Gaal. I knee some are skeptical about signing players from the Dutch league, but I think Depay will be a star.
 
Hoping for Depay to be honest. Although it would be yet another Dutch player, adding to the (perceived) Dutch bias LvG seems to have. I like Draxler, but he's not that much of a winger is he? Not to mention him being out for quite some time now.
 
Devil may care said:
I thought he'd get mentioned given his good start. He turns 26 later this month but if he keeps performing for the rest of the season he may be a back-up option.
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I loved Tadic's comment on MOTD that "in every country I played I was king of the assists and hopefully it will be the same here." If we can't get a Bale or Reus, he'd be an interesting option. He seems have the vision and technique to get the ball to RVP, Falcao and Rooney in good positions, and they are all great in the box.

Doesn't seem like LVG's kind of winger, though, right? He's not that explosive and benefits from drifting.
 
NoPace said:
I loved Tadic's comment on MOTD that "in every country I played I was king of the assists and hopefully it will be the same here." If we can't get a Bale or Reus, he'd be an interesting option. He seems have the vision and technique to get the ball to RVP, Falcao and Rooney in good positions, and they are all great in the box.

Doesn't seem like LVG's kind of winger, though, right? He's not that explosive and benefits from drifting.
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Ye, this is what I was thinking. In Januzaj and Di Maria, although they can be direct, we already have two wingers who can spot a pass.

If we were to sign another winger in Jan/Summer, I'd prefer him to be direct, have blistering pace and be able to score goals.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
Ye, this is what I was thinking. In Januzaj and Di Maria, although they can be direct, we already have two wingers who can spot a pass.

If we were to sign another winger in Jan/Summer, I'd prefer him to be direct, have blistering pace and be able to score goals.
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Valencia ?

No, to be honest, I would prefer us to play Di Maria and Januzaj wide, only if we can add two world class midfielder like Vidal/Khedira/Strootmam (the 3 of them with a knee injury haha). I see a huge potential in Januzaj. Don't forget that this boy is 19, he played his first WC this summer, and missed the pre season in a club who bought talent upfront.

I know that ADM is better inside, but with a strong midfield he can come inside easily without changing the balance of the team (like CR7 does at Madrid)
 
I also tend to think we'll end up playing a sort of 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 mix. Rooney is clearly going to be deployed as a #10 under LvG.

di Maria - Falcao - Januzaj
Rooney
Blind - Herrera​

Get another top class winger in to cover/compete for di Maria/Januzaj/Rooney and we'll be set.
 
Bwuk said:
I also tend to think we'll end up playing a sort of 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 mix. Rooney is clearly going to be deployed as a #10 under LvG.

di Maria - Falcao - Januzaj
Rooney
Blind - Herrera​

Get another top class winger in to cover/compete for di Maria/Januzaj/Rooney and we'll be set.
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No we won't be set lol or whatever that means, that midfield is terrible, januzaj isn't even that good on the wing and di maria is 3x the player in cm.
 
Chaky_Best said:
I know that ADM is better inside, but with a strong midfield he can come inside easily without changing the balance of the team (like CR7 does at Madrid)
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I'm not sure if I get the logic behind this. In general we've been playing with Blind as defensive midfielder, Herrera as a box-to-box midfielder and Di Maria as a more offensively-minded midfielder.

The three you've mentioned are all far more suited to Herrera's role than Di Maria's in this system, it's pretty much beyond debate that Di Maria is better offensively than any of Strootman, Vidal and Khedira, so why bother forcing him out of position to accommodate a lesser player when we could just spend the money on a top winger?
 
jeff_goldblum said:
I'm not sure if I get the logic behind this. In general we've been playing with Blind as defensive midfielder, Herrera as a box-to-box midfielder and Di Maria as a more offensively-minded midfielder.

The three you've mentioned are all far more suited to Herrera's role than Di Maria's in this system, it's pretty much beyond debate that Di Maria is better offensively than any of Strootman, Vidal and Khedira, so why bother forcing him out of position to accommodate a lesser player when we could just spend the money on a top winger?
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And Herrera is more suited to Di Maria's role. With Di Maria AND Herrera in CM, we won't control the ball cleanly.
 
JPRouve said:
And Herrera is more suited to Di Maria's role. With Di Maria AND Herrera in CM, we won't control the ball cleanly.
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I'm not sure I see where you're coming from, are you saying you'd like to push Di Maria out wide, move Herrera into his role and sign Strootman or whoever to play the box-to-box?

Still seems a massive waste of a player we spent 60m on.

edit - fwiw, I don't agree with you at all on the Herrera point, but that's not central to the point I was making
 
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Bwuk said:
I also tend to think we'll end up playing a sort of 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 mix. Rooney is clearly going to be deployed as a #10 under LvG.

di Maria - Falcao - Januzaj
Rooney
Blind - Herrera​

Get another top class winger in to cover/compete for di Maria/Januzaj/Rooney and we'll be set.
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I have been saying this too. I think getting a new winger (Reus/Cuadrado) in for Januzaj and a CM (Strootman) in for Blind and we will be set.
Then we could add squad players like Depay (cover for wingers) etc.

Falcao
Di Maria..................Cuadrado
Rooney
Strootman....Herrera​
 
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wiz4231 said:
I have been saying this too. I think getting a new winger (Reus/Cuadrado) in for Januzaj and a CM (Strootman) in for Blind and we will be set.
Then we could add squad players like Depay (cover for wingers) etc.
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Depay is far removed from being a squad player. As one of the biggest talents in football and almost 21 years old, I doubt he joins until given assurances over substantial playing time and a starting spot to further his progress as a player. Footballers like that aren't happy with squad or sub roles, even at a club of United's standing.
 
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jeff_goldblum said:
I'm not sure I see where you're coming from, are you saying you'd like to push Di Maria out wide, move Herrera into his role and sign Strootman or whoever to play the box-to-box?

Still seems a massive waste of a player we spent 60m on.

edit - fwiw, I don't agree with you at all on the Herrera point, but that's not central to the point I was making
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Di Maria is still a world class player when on the wing, and I think that he can emulate Robben on the right wing.
Now, we can also push Herrera on the bench and bring a player who is more suited to the possession game. But if we do that we will need a cm AND two wingers.
Or we can find the new Makelele, but we won't.

And you don't agree that Herrera is more comfortable in the last 30, and that he is/has been an attacking dynamo most of his career ? I know that he can put a shift defensively and that he is not a liability there, but in Herrera we have a player who likes taking risks, he is not a tiki-taka player and Van Gaal is very close from that philosophy.
 
Chaky_Best said:
Valencia ?

No, to be honest, I would prefer us to play Di Maria and Januzaj wide, only if we can add two world class midfielder like Vidal/Khedira/Strootmam (the 3 of them with a knee injury haha). I see a huge potential in Januzaj. Don't forget that this boy is 19, he played his first WC this summer, and missed the pre season in a club who bought talent upfront.

I know that ADM is better inside, but with a strong midfield he can come inside easily without changing the balance of the team (like CR7 does at Madrid)
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:lol:

I'd also prefer us to play Di Maria and Januzaj wide, but I feel we still need another top class winger, in order to rotate with the two.

I don't expect Nani, Young and Zaha to be here next Summer, unless one of them seriously impress between now and the end of the season, and Valencia is no longer a top winger, in my opinion. I'd still keep him, though, as he's a great squad player to have.
 
I don't get the obsession with wingers especially when we have played our best football this season setup without them (in the traditional sense).

That doesn't mean we don't use pace outwide, but with the players we have we can do alot better than have wingers hug the touch line, give em the ball and watch them go. Infact when we do that, we look like garbage.
 
Adebesi said:
Apparently there's some mumbo jumbo in The Express today about how we are going to sign Bale for £90m because he doesnt defend enough for Ancelotti's taste.
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About Bale i heard a few months ago that he wanted to comeback in Great Britain because he wanted to put his daughter in school in England.
 
JPRouve said:
About Bale i heard a few months ago that he wanted to comeback in Great Britain because he wanted to put his daughter in school in England.
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I dont believe that. He must have thought about what he wanted for his kids before he moved out there. I guess maybe he thought he would go there for two years and then come back but do people really move to football clubs like Madrid with a view to leaving after 2 years? I think if he didnt want to send her to an English language school in Spain he would probably have opted to stay in England in the first place.
 
Adebesi said:
I dont believe that. He must have thought about what he wanted for his kids before he moved out there. I guess maybe he thought he would go there for two years and then come back but do people really move to football clubs like Madrid with a view to leaving after 2 years? I think if he didnt want to send her to an English language school in Spain he would probably have opted to stay in England in the first place.
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Most of the managers do anyway.

I'd ignore it tbh. Not only would it take a huge change of heart, but it would also take a ridiculous sum of money.
 
Agreed, very little chance of it happening. I note there are no threads about Bale in the first page of the transfer forum and his name isnt mentioned on this thread much from the scan I just gave it. Presumably that means people dont think its a) likely or b) particularly desirable.
 
Adebesi said:
I dont believe that. He must have thought about what he wanted for his kids before he moved out there. I guess maybe he thought he would go there for two years and then come back but do people really move to football clubs like Madrid with a view to leaving after 2 years? I think if he didnt want to send her to an English language school in Spain he would probably have opted to stay in England in the first place.
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It was around his transfer it was explained that he wanted to stay 3 years and go. It's plausible.
 
JPRouve said:
It was around his transfer it was explained that he wanted to stay 3 years and go. It's plausible.
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I didnt know that. Well he'd better hope a British team will fork out some silly money for him then. Wouldnt advocate us shelling out that amount for him - though someone who watches Real more than me would be better placed to say whether he would be worth that kind of money.
 
Adebesi said:
I didnt know that. Well he'd better hope a British team will fork out some silly money for him then. Wouldnt advocate us shelling out that amount for him - though someone who watches Real more than me would be better placed to say whether he would be worth that kind of money.
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From what i saw last season, i would pay more than Di Maria's fee. But in the same time, United needs so much players that it would be wiser to buy 2 CBs, 1 RB and a CM, before spending 1 cts on an expensive winger.
 
We should be all over Bale (biiig if) he's available from Madrid, even for a world record fee. Just can't let a player of his caliber join one of our rivals, especially when we're enduring a rough patch. Also our new allies Adidas might be receptive to the idea of chucking a few millions in helping us finance the deal, given his growing popularity among football fans and the scope for merchandise sales. Sign Bale for the right wing, sign a pre-contract with Reus for the left wing and we're set for the next 5-7 seasons in that department. :cool:
 
Adebesi said:
Apparently there's some mumbo jumbo in The Express today about how we are going to sign Bale for £90m because he doesnt defend enough for Ancelotti's taste.
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They have looked pretty sharp in their 4-4-2 with Isco out left and James on the right rather than Bale gives them a bit more variety in positioning and spacing with Bale trying to penetrate in a way that Ronaldo and Benzema are already doing.

Bale can be 3rd option for the 2 wide spots, come off the bench for 30 minutes of running at tired defenders and starting every 3rd game and still end up with 40 or so starts and a normal season of playing time. Madrid played 60 times last year, and injuries happen.

Also, Madrid have no reason to raise money. Where do they need to buy, apart from keeper and maybe a right back and a top DM to give them a stronger case for 4-3-3 in big games (a formation that suits Bale better than Isco or James anyways)?

That said, if they come in for De Gea and we won't/can't stop him we should immediately push for something like De Gea + 30 million for Bale.
 
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