There were already a lot of games last season where the opposition struggled to control our attack but our finishing let us down, something Mourinho repeatedly alluded to. Strengthening defence and midfield would undoubtedly improve our overall performance but it won't suddenly turn the attackers we have into more clinical finishers.
Would you be happy with Morata, Fabinho, Lindelof and Perisic?
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There were already a lot of games last season where the opposition struggled to control our attack but our finishing let us down, something Mourinho repeatedly alluded to. Strengthening defence and midfield would undoubtedly improve our overall performance but it won't suddenly turn the attackers we have into more clinical finishers.
I agree goals would be a concern however that's not to say the team would lack balance. I think the 4 signings would give the team tremendous balance something like this when on the ball
-------------De Gea-------------
----------Bailly--Lindelof--Blind
-------------Fabinho-------------
------Herrera------Pogba------
Valencia---Mkhitaryan---Perisic
-------------Morata-------------
(And then obviously a standard 4-3-3 when we dont have the ball with Valencia back in his normal RB position)
That XI gives you width on both sides of the field with 4 defensive players covering any counter attacks, Herrera being the B2B, Pogba and Mkhitaryan with a somewhat of a free role and Morata as the focal point
Griezmann would be the dream to take the Mkhitaryan position given his goal return but that'll have to wait till another transfer window
EDIT: you could argue Darmian for Blind at LB and Mata for Mkhitaryan not to mention Rashford and Martial on the bench as well. Lots of options!!
I seriously don't think we'd have enough goals in the team. We need wide attackers who score goals. Miki and Martial are our current first choice. They are backed up by Lingard, Rashford and Mata. None of them are scoring the goals. Regardless of 4231 or 433 we need to upgrade. Would Perisic get us those goals? I'm not sure, I don't know enough about him. I think our best shout would be Sanchez or someone of that mould, maybe Bale?
Long term though we need 6 we can rely on.
Morata/Rashford
Martial/??
Miki/??
I'm assuming based on investment/potential that Mata and Lingard might make way. Alternatively Lingard could be the 7th player we have for 3 positions.
Long term though we need 6 we can rely on.
Morata/Rashford
Martial/??
Miki/??
I'm assuming based on investment/potential that Mata and Lingard might make way. Alternatively Lingard could be the 7th player we have for 3 positions.
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This. We are still too thin on midfield and we need to upgrade LB and also think about RB (next window perhaps).
Although, six signings is too many in a window, so pretty sure Mourinho would consider that before buying too many players. If rumors that we are trying to promote Periera are true, maybe we could do without Perisic and buy another CM instead.
I think we lack mobility in midfield and we struggle to carry the ball forward quickly in transition. By the time we launch our attacks the opposition defence is often well established to negate. That's why I wanted Naby Keita. We can't just expect Fabinho to consistently find the space to deliver Hollywood passes to our forwards on a consistent basis, and that's also contingent upon our forwards being able to find the channels to move into at just the right times.
I don't believe we have a bona fide RW. I regard Mata & Mkhitaryan as makeshifts, players who operate more consistently in central roles. That's why I wanted Christian Pulisic.
With a front 3 of Perisic, Morata and Mkhitaryan we're lacking in firepower and a midfield 3 of Fabinho, Pogba and Herrera does not contain quite enough attacking prowess to compensate for that. Maybe Pereira will help to alleviate this problem. I could see Rashford demanding a regular place in this scenario though as well because he'd definitely be needed.
But the 4 signings aren't too bad though.
I don't believe we have a bona fide RW. I regard Mata & Mkhitaryan as makeshifts, players who operate more consistently in central roles. That's why I wanted Christian Pulisic.
With a front 3 of Perisic, Morata and Mkhitaryan we're lacking in firepower and a midfield 3 of Fabinho, Pogba and Herrera does not contain quite enough attacking prowess to compensate for that. Maybe Pereira will help to alleviate this problem. I could see Rashford demanding a regular place in this scenario though as well because he'd definitely be needed.
But the 4 signings aren't too bad though.
That is the funniest thing you have ever posted.
Please identify the workman among each of the following attacking trios
1. CR7, Benzema, Bale
2. Neymar, Suarez, Messi
3. Lewandowski, Ribery, Robben
4. Kane, Alli, Eriksen
5. Hazard, Costa, Pedro
6. De Bruyne, Aguero, Sane
Thin in midfield? We'd have Fabinho, Herrera, Pogba, Carrick and Fellaini and that's without dipping into the academy and players like Fosu-Mensah and Tuanzebe in an emergency
This too, that's like a new signing as we won't be playing 10 vs 12 in games. (Rooney is like playing with 10 and opposition gets an additional DM that's excellent at breaking plays)
I would be insanely disappointed.
Four possibly decent to "good" foreign players at high fees.
I could not be less inspired for next season.
Missing out on Griezmann was basically game over for an ambitious summer window.
Four possibly decent to "good" foreign players at high fees.
I could not be less inspired for next season.
Missing out on Griezmann was basically game over for an ambitious summer window.
Well, quality wise, I think we need another addition. But we can wait till next year. Carrick and Fellaini are both good players and the young ones are not too bad.
This quartet feels like SAF signings: ie well scouted, slightly unfashionable and below the radar who all have something to prove. The likes of Vidic, Evra, Saha, Carrick and Nani were similar and all proved to be effective team players that champion teams are built upon. Likewise, assuming all are his preferred no 1 option for each slot, I have 100% confidence that Mourinho knows exactly what he needs to make his league winning algorithm work.
My only reservation is all league winning United teams still required an x-factor type striker: Hughes, Cole, Yorke, Ruud, Rooney Van Persie to name a few were ready-made world class strikers who guaranteed goals galore. We are still short on that front and I am still asking how we guarantee the 70+ goals required to win the league. Maybe that's where Griezeman fits in but it sounds like he is off the radar for the time being.
My only reservation is all league winning United teams still required an x-factor type striker: Hughes, Cole, Yorke, Ruud, Rooney Van Persie to name a few were ready-made world class strikers who guaranteed goals galore. We are still short on that front and I am still asking how we guarantee the 70+ goals required to win the league. Maybe that's where Griezeman fits in but it sounds like he is off the radar for the time being.
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We still need Bale and Belotti
Yep, at least it would offer a serious game plan for our team. Players roles would be pretty clear and there'd be a solid defensive balance. Almost looks like a perfect big-game lineup.
But my worry is that there is a lack of - risk/goal scorers to unlock opposition defences consistently during a league campaign. Can already feel that we're going to have a few of those dry 0-0 games.
We have Lingard and Rashford as key players and people think adding Perisic (who is comparably average) to our attacking midfield options will suffice. It's crazy.
I would definitely be happy with Morata Fabinho and LindelON. In my opinion however our attack needs another attacker who can score goals. Saying Morata replaces Ibra's goals, we still weren't scoring enough last season, and these 4 players only wouldn't solve that issue. I can assume Pog will become more productive with Fabinho freeing him up, but our other attackers haven't stepped up last season, and I think it's a dangerous game counting on them alone to make the difference this season.
This is what I had hoped Blind would be for us, but Fabinho would be a huge upgrade on Blind at DM and a great long term successor to Carrick.
Lindgard and Perisic don't belong in the same sentence imo.
Haha you self defeated your argument.
Do any of these players have defensive duties to follow? None, While united's did all season and struggled same way full backs have offensive duties to follow which valencia did all season but shaw could not .
So either you free your attacking players from defensive duties or you play players which can handle them and yet be effective for a job assigned in attack.
You missed the crux of the argument completely.
Absolutely. If I was gonna be greedy and go full Muppet, I'd like Naingollan. I think that instantly turns our mf into one of the best units in Europe.
Though I would have preferred:
Kane (Morata), Naingollan (Fabinho), Varane (Lindelof) and Bale (Perisic)?
a pipedream I know, but that's the quality we need for immediate upgrades.
Kane (Morata), Naingollan (Fabinho), Varane (Lindelof) and Bale (Perisic)?
a pipedream I know, but that's the quality we need for immediate upgrades.
It's always interesting and good to get an opposition view. I think opposition fans overlook how much Zlatan missed last season, his conversion rate was horrible. I'm not blaming Zlatan, the rest of the team were wasteful too. Morata in my opinion would be much more clinical, he would add so much zip to our play too.
It's easy to say we were fine at the back but we chopped and changed all season. Stability comes from a settled side, this starts at the back with a regular pairing. I think people underestimated how much the EL effected our league form. Man United need the transition from back to the front to be better. Fabinho would speed up our play in midfield, Fellaini slows us down and is a bench player. Perisic has a hard edge and better delivery from the wing than anyone we have currently. This combined with a settled Pogba and Miki and we will score more in my opinion.
Every team has issues to address. Liverpool need to add much more depth to the squad now with European football. I think people would say the goalkeeper and defense positions need strengthening. I'm much more comfortable going forward addressing our issues. We also bring a bit of confidence from winning the EL at end of the year. I would be much more worried if I was a Liverpool fan to be honest, youse need to bring in a lot more quality to be successful. I think we need another forward though if Rooney leaves. Just my opinion though.
We have them and should add 2 more , provided they are freedom from defensive duties and not forced to run 100 m up and down and stay high for counter attack, Or have work horses who could handle the job of running 100 m up and down and yet be effective in attack.
Pure case of grass is greener on the other side
Need another attacker especially with Ibra gone.
What defensive duties? even in the games we dominated we failed to score as many goals as we should. It is only in your imagination that they failed to score due to defensive responsibilities.
Our attackers spent enough time in the opposition half, but we failed to break down the opposition often enough, and when we eventually did so, we did not convert our chances at a high rate.
What I have given you is a list of what quality attacking trios look like and what we currently have is below that level. If you want a more potent attack , we need better quality upfront.
Yea. That's what I was thinking. Although, if let's say Morata gets 12 league goals, Rashford 8, Martial 12, Mata 10, Mikhi 5, Pogba 12(assuming he'll take PKs and Fks), Perisic 5, plus contributions from Hererra, Fabinho, Lingard, and our defenders will take us there. This of course depends on Morata settling in and Most of our players stepping up a little. SAF's teams somehow managed to have one phenomenal scorers but Mou Imo can rely on several attackers and Midfielders
Lampard was the top scorer in the league with 13 goals in Mourihho's first season with Chelsea, and Drogba scored 10. The key is defensive stability and attacking cohesion that will allow us to grind 1-0 and 2-0 wins.
Fees are not high for the current market and Mourinho won the league with similar signings in 20014. See sammsky1's post.
This. The expectation before was that we were signing Griezmann, so to not sign him this summer and lose Ibra (at the same time), I'm worried about the goals in this team. Morata can maybe replace Ibra's goalscoring but we need another attacking player who can give us 15-20 goals at least. Perisic is not the answer.
Yep, pretty much
I think most will improve the first team. All will improve the squad by a fair margin.
I think its worthwhile having a bit of faith in Rashford, Martial and Shaw.
I expect better from Pogba and Mkhitariyan next season too.
We have to start building on a team rather than ripping it up and cobbling a new one together every season..
Rome wasn't built in a day.
I think all 4 are good buys and adding much if any more will just disrupt us and give us a slow start with players settling and all that junk
Obviously you'd make an exception for Neymar or something
I think most will improve the first team. All will improve the squad by a fair margin.
I think its worthwhile having a bit of faith in Rashford, Martial and Shaw.
I expect better from Pogba and Mkhitariyan next season too.
We have to start building on a team rather than ripping it up and cobbling a new one together every season..
Rome wasn't built in a day.
I think all 4 are good buys and adding much if any more will just disrupt us and give us a slow start with players settling and all that junk
Obviously you'd make an exception for Neymar or something
No way. Only one of them is top class.
Please stop changing the goal post of the argument. Its not about quality.
Because we lacked counter attacking dynamics in our passing play and ball circulation style, We lacked energy and passing range in midfeild with fellani always playing safe, We lacked a Ball playing defender. Our focal point Ibra always dropped deeper to recive the ball so the focal point failed to stretch the defense and get on one one one with the keeper. Our wings could not attack the space and beat their man because they were too deep for defensive duties , they needed to push higher in offensive organization and make off the ball attacking runs, Left full backs struggled to cope with work rate demands for offensive overlap for being fear of being caught out of position. Both Inside cutting wingers dont offer width in attack so the defensive organization which is narrow and deep is difficult to breakdown because the defensive to offense transition is very slow with lack of energy in mid and wide areas and wingers with lackof width.
Overall its a lack of balance in the system.
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I guess no one believes the likes of Martial Mkhitaryan Pogba and Rashford will Improve their Goal tally next year?
If those 4 are who we will end up with and that's what Jose wants then Im happy with that. Don't want us to sign half a dozen players that don't know each other and we have a side of individual players and nit a team familiar with each other. The goals will come. The side will be more familiar with each other and with Jose.
If those 4 are who we will end up with and that's what Jose wants then Im happy with that. Don't want us to sign half a dozen players that don't know each other and we have a side of individual players and nit a team familiar with each other. The goals will come. The side will be more familiar with each other and with Jose.
I would be happy but still think we could use another winger and a left back.
I'm happy to give Martial, Mykhi, Mata, Perisic, Lingard, etc a chance at the wing for at least half a season though and I think between Shaw, Blind, Darmian and Rojo at left back we will be adequately covered though we could obviously do better.
I'm happy to give Martial, Mykhi, Mata, Perisic, Lingard, etc a chance at the wing for at least half a season though and I think between Shaw, Blind, Darmian and Rojo at left back we will be adequately covered though we could obviously do better.
It's not an unreasonable assumption to expect Mhkitariyan, Pogba, Rashford and Martial to significantly increase their goals contribution in a second season under Mourinho. I suspect some of last season's issues were because the team was geared purely to service Ibrahimovich who actually had a very poor conversion rate. I'm expecting these guys to mature into main men now Ibrahimovich is not around to dominate tactics and demands all assists. In some ways, it's like the season after Cantona left: the class of 1995 along with Cole and Yorke were liberated to make the team their own.
For that to work, we really need to get off to a flying start in the league, scoring goals aplenty from all over. That confidence will signal a change within the squad and provide the confidence required that we can score from anywhere. Pogba especially needs to lose his fascination for hitting the woodwork and I hope a coaching technique exists to make that possible.
Yep.
I'm not concerned that they're not the biggest names in the world. If they mesh with the team and fit into Mourinho's system, then I'm happy.
He is just a galactico type signing and not what the team needs right now .... we have plenty of no 10's! If he can play as an out and out no 9, then Id agree but I don't think he can and its a waste of his other considerable talents.
Looks a really good team to me.
Those 4 if signed will be a good summer IMO but how good will be determined by the performances of Pogba, Mkhitaryan and Martial. All 3 performed below expected standards last season. If they manage to go up a gear, I believe we'll have a very efficient Mourinho team.
I'd be happy with those 4.
Deep inside i hope Shaw can become the LB we hoped and thought when we signed him.
Deep inside i hope Shaw can become the LB we hoped and thought when we signed him.
True that but the same squad won the europa . This squad may not be the best but replacing 6 or 7 players at once cannot guarantee you a success . I feel we need gradual changes and not like what lvg did where he bought 6 players and sold most of his core players.
You are the one changing the goal post by dragging the entire team into your excuse of why our attackers are not scoring enough.
- All the attacking trio I listed cut in and do not provide width for their teams, so your excuse is moot.
- We dominated possession in most of our games, particularly in the first half of the season, so your excuses about LB, ball playing defender and other defensive issues are nonsense
- Fellaini started only 18 league games, with most coming towards the end of the season, so you cannot use him as an excuse for why we struggled to score goals for most of the season
- Ibra had to drop deep cos we lacked a quality #10 to create chance for him to get on the end of. This is further buttressed by the fact that Herrerra who played mostly as a DM led the team in assists
But enough of the digression and diversioon.
The fact of the matter is that we ranked 4th in total shots and shot on goal, but had a conversion rate of 13% which ranked us 17th, slightly behind Hull (13.1%) and above only Sunderland, Middlesborough and Southampton. 3 of those 4 teams were relegated! That is clear evidence of a lack of quality upfront (For comparison, Chelsea had a conversion rate of 21%, Arsenal 20%, Liverpool 19%, City 18% and Spurs 18%)
That is a simple fact and all your long winded narrations are simply nonsense in an attempt to obfuscate the truth and justify your incorrect view of what is wrong and/or needed by the team.
<eof>
Boring as feck