Your ideal 11 - 2018/19 and outs (being realistic)

Bearded One said:
Ideally I'd love to have this sort of starting 11:

Sanchez Lukaku Willian
Pogba Draxler
Matic
Sandro Baily Alderweireld Cedric
De Gea
​
At right central midfield there wouldn't have been a better choice than Thiago Alcantara but not sure we can lure him away from Bayern but the few times I saw Draxler play deeper than normal, I was impressed and I reckon he can play the same role for us. I'd also love us to have a deep lying playmaker but we cannot have it all now, there will always be a next season where we can get Matic to have a bit of competition.

I normally would love to see Douglas Costa here but not sure Juve will agree to release him and Sandro in the same window. Willian would fit us like glove but will Chelsea sell to us? The next option is Mahrez but I learnt he's off to city. Can we beat them to signing him Sanchez style? Bet we can.




​
Click to expand...
Totally agree with your point on Draxler, we need a creative player such as Eriksen/Fekir/Draxler. Also Thiago, Verrati, Keita or Kross could be ideal to bring balance to our midfield.

I would go for Tierney instead of Sandro. I have been more impressed with Tierney this season. For the RW, someone like Dembele, Costa, Coman, Mahrez would be great.

I'm with you on Alderweireld, it seems like a good oportunity we should not let pass. I still have my doubts on the RB position, IMO no one is outstanding but Meunier, Cedric, Florenzi, Cancelo, etc any of them would improve Valencia.
 
Rasfene said:
Why am I?

I cannot be entitled to my own opinion?

Where was ddg when the penalty was awarded?

Where was ddg during extra time when united has a corner?

Peter schmeichel has scored 10 goals in his career, how about ddg?

Ddg almost conceded a soft goal against hazard. He needs to go asap.
Click to expand...
So were you happy We sold Jaap Stam?
 
Board Budget
TOTAL: £175m

Out
> Fellaini (release)
> Shaw (release)
> Romero (£10m)
> Darmian (£10m)
> Jones (£15m)
> Blind (£15m)
> Martial (£60m)
TOTAL: £110m

In
> Alex Sandro (£30m + Darmian)
> Toby Alderweireld (£40m)
> Thomas Meunier (£35m)
> Fred (£53m release clause)
> Sergej Milinkovic Savic (£80m)
> Willian (£35m)
TOTAL: £273m

Net Spend
TOTAL: £163m

ST: Lukaku / Rashford
LW: Alexis / Lingard
RW: Willian / Mata
CM: Pogba / Herrera
CM: Savic / McTominay
CDM: Matic / Fred
LB: Sandro / Young
CB: Alderweireld / Smalling
CB: Bailly / Rojo / Lindelof
RB: Meunier / Valencia
GK: De Gea / Pereira


433 vs. weaker sides
Alexis —— Lukaku — Willian

——— Pogba —— Savic
————— Matic/Fred

Sandro - Toby - Bailly - Meunier

433 vs. stronger sides
Alexis —— Lukaku — Willian

————— Pogba
Matic/Fred —— Savic/Fred

Sandro - Toby - Bailly - Meunier

4231 vs. weaker sides
—————— Lukaku

Alexis ——— Pogba ——— Willian

—— Matic/Fred —— Savic

Sandro - Toby - Bailly - Meunier

4312
——— Alexis —— Lukaku
—————— Pogba

—————— Savic
————————— Fred
————— Matic

Sandro - Toby - Bailly - Meunier

352
————— Alexis - Lukaku/Willian

———— Pogba ——— Savic
Sandro ————Matic ———— Meunier/Willian

———- Smalling - Toby - Bailly
 
Sanchez--------Lukaku--------Willian
-----------Pogba---------SMS---------
----------------- Matic------------------
Alex Sandro---Smalling-----Bailly-----Tony
------------------De Gea------------------

Maybe not the best one but absolutely realistic. And i think upgrade to 17-18 team. In a ideal world we would buy number 1 world class CB, new RB and somebody better than Willian. But is that realistic? For me the most important things are new LB (AS) and world class midfielder.

e.

In: Savic, Sandro, Willian and maybe one more MF (and CB). 3-5 players, we will not sign 6 so you can forget RB.

Out: Fellaini, Shaw, Carrick, Martial and one CB if we will sign Alderweireld or somebody else.

I hope Martial will stay but i guess he's almost gone.
 
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Rasfene said:
Why am I?

I cannot be entitled to my own opinion?

Where was ddg when the penalty was awarded?

Where was ddg during extra time when united has a corner?

Peter schmeichel has scored 10 goals in his career, how about ddg?

Ddg almost conceded a soft goal against hazard. He needs to go asap.
Click to expand...

This has to be stickied on a Real Madrid forum
 
It's extremely important to have academy graduates in the team, and the squad in general. Players like Rashford, McTominay, and Lingard all need to continue being important parts of the squad, with the likes Tuanzebe, Williams, Gomes, Mitchell, Gribbin, Galbraith, Greenwood, Chong, Fosu Mensah, O'Connor and plenty of others should all have a clear path into the first team squad in the next 3-5 years.

For that reason, the players we sign should be experienced and in their prime, to bring about a natural progression.
 
The trouble with these threads is people always gravitate to buying and selling players we are most recently linked with, as opposed to just listing players they want.
 
GK: De Gea
RB: Valencia
CB: Smalling
CB: Bailly
LB: Sandro
DM: Matic
CM: Pogba
CM: Savic
RF: Sanchez
LF: Rashford
ST: Lukaku
Subs: Romero, Young, Jones, McTominay, Herrera, Mata, Lingard
 
I will try to propose different players excluding Alderweireld, Sandro, Fred, Savic, Talisca, William.

GK: De Gea/Romero
RB: Florenzi/Valencia
CB: Bailly/Smalling/Lindelof
CB: Koulibaly/Jones/Rojo
LB: Tierney/Young
DM: Matic/Neves
CM: Pogba/Herrera
CAM: Draxler/Lingard
RF: Dembele/Mata
LF: Sanchez/Martial
ST: Lukaku/Rashford
 
JakeC said:
It's extremely important to have academy graduates in the team, and the squad in general. Players like Rashford, McTominay, and Lingard all need to continue being important parts of the squad
Click to expand...

They have no business being 'important' players here. They're not good enough. None of them would even get into City's squad so no idea why we would limit ourselves with them.
 
An Irish Red said:
They have no business being 'important' players here. They're not good enough. None of them would even get into City's squad so no idea why we would limit ourselves with them.
Click to expand...

We're not City and we never will be. We're much bigger and have a much greater tradition of nurturing young talent.
 
Raoul said:
The trouble with these threads is people always gravitate to buying and selling players we are most recently linked with, as opposed to just listing players they want.
Click to expand...

This is true, although I’m going to try and strike a balance between improbable & impossible, picking “ins” that I can see working in a Mourinho system without resorting to all the obvious media links.

Who I think will leave:

Darmian
Blind
Jones or Rojo
Fellaini
Mata
Martial
Tuanzebe - loan
Mitchell - loan
Pereira - sale

My “ins”

Sessegnon - Yes, there are safer, smarter options but he’s fun to watch and has a higher ceiling than most. Let’s face it, if we don’t sign him then Spurs inevitably will. They’ll then turn a £50 mil profit on the kid when they offload him to City in a few years. I’d give Luke Shaw until January to fight with Sessegnon. Young as back-up. Bonus points for being able to play further forward when Pogba/Sanchez get benched.

Toby Alderweireld - No problem paying Levy tax to get him in. Even at 30. Need experience back there. Partner him with Smalling until Bailly/Lindelof settle.

Milinkovic-Savic - Fellaini 2.0. Mourinho will definitely be balls deep in this guy. Multifunctional in a good way. Only started watching him last few months, like what I see. Can play double-pivot but drifts left and does the whole chest & head thing with surprising elegance. And scores goals. Our teachers pet is his National team buddy. Interested to see them in action next month. Think we could get him cheaper than what’s rumoured, and certainly less than my next choice.

Paulo Dybala - Love him. Skilful & tenacious. Don’t really know what his best position is but I’ve sold Mata & Martial so he’ll play inside-right and cut-in to his left or roam free depending on formation. Yes, Jose will more than likely buy someone like Perisic or William for the right, but we WILL buy someone to play there. (Sanchez is the Martial replacement, we never got our right sided attacker last Summer.)

4th/5th choice centre-mid - Don’t know who, but a more mobile passing option than Matic/Pogba/Savic. A younger player who can ride the bench for a lot of times, won’t command starting every match.

Fosu-Mensah - Return from loan and support Valencia at right-back.

That’s it. 6 ins, 8 out.

Defence better with Sessegnon, Alderweireld and Fosu-Mensah in for Blind, Darmian and one of Jones/Rojo.

Savic + 1 in for Carrick, Fellaini & Pereira.

Dybala for Martial & Mata.
 
haram said:
He is still in contract after this summer so we should get some money for him.
Click to expand...

Oh, I was not aware.

Thought it was over after the season for some reason but even better, more money to recoup :]
 
Out: Johnstone, Henderson, Darmian, Blind, Jones, Fellaini, Wilson

In: Sidibe, Alex Sandro, Alderweireld, Fred, Willian, Anderson Talisca

Promoted: Fosu-Mensah, Pereira,

Loaned: Mitchell, Tuanzebe

Squad:

Keepers : De gea, Romero, Pereira

Right backs: Sidibe, Valencia, Fosu Mensah

Leftbacks: Alex Sandro, Young, Shaw

Centerbacks: Aldererweireld, Bailly, Rojo, Smalling,

Defensive Holding midfielders: Matic, Fred, Mc Tominay
Creative holding midfielders: Pogba, Herrera, Pereira

Number 10s: Anderson Talisca, Lingard


Right wingers: Willian, Mata

Left wingers: Alexis, Martial

Strikers: Lukaku, Rashford
 
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Out:

Fellaini/Carrick (contract - retired), To be sold = Shaw, Blind, Darmian, Jones, Mata, Martial

In:

Toby, Rose, Soares, Bale (Willian), Ramsey, Fred

Squad
GK - DDG/Romero
FB - Young/Valencia/Rose/Soares/TFM
CB - Smalling/Toby/Bailly/Lindelof/Tuanzebe
Midfield - Pogba/Matic/Fred/Ramsey/Herrera/McTominey/Periera
Attack - Lukaku/Rashford/Bale (Willian)/Sanchez/Lingard

That's 6 sold, I would potentially see Herrera/Smalling/Young being sold in the January or next window due to lack of game time with the incomings. I would love to just wipe our hands of sanchez this early cos it has not worked but that wont happen.

I'd also love to see Shaw staying and no Rose incoming, but Shaw is done under Jose
 
Ideal Harry Redknapp wheeler dealer style:
Out:
Mourinho: No developement of players with such a negative/defensive approach to games, and lack of focus on attacking play in training as stated by some Real M players.
Smalling:Mistakes and abysmal ball control and passing.
Jones: 1 major mistake per game on average. Injuryprone.
Rojo: Reckless, injury prone. Give Tuanzebe a chance instead.
Darmian: Shit.
Blind: Slow and weak. Not ideal for a defender.
Herrera: Will not be a backup player for another year. Tired of his "innocence acting" towards the ref after a tackle.
Mata: Hobbit. Slow and weak. It is like playing with 10 men when of the ball.
Sanchez: Can't play as a part of a team. Pressing alone and running around like a headless chicken. When on the ball in attack it is cut inside, dribbledribble until backpassing or shot or long pass to Valencia. Disrupt the rest of our "attacking play".
Romero: To good to be a 2. choice. Never complains and does his job. Deserve more if he is not after the £££.
Lukaku: Not a striker to make us contend for CL or PL. The top modern striker is a balanced hard working player with no apparent weakness like Firminho, Kane, Benzema, Suarez and Cavani.
Mctominay: 21 years old, and don't understand why people rate him(English bias?).
Shaw: Injuries and does not seem to cut it.
Valencia or Young: Aging, and neither should be in the starting 11.

In:
DOF: Assisting the manager with player recruitement and take of some of the workload so that he can focus more on training and improving the players.
Manager: Eusebio De Francesco (Roma): Attacking and entertaining football. Mauricio Poch: Fairly well balanced approach attacking/defensive wise, and have shown evidence of developing players over time.
Pereira and TFM back from loan.
CB: Tobi A or Koulibaly: as the calm "Rio esque" partner besides Bailly. (Preferably Koulibaly, but Napoli might charge too much. £90m is roumored.)
CB backup: Evans or Maguire: as backup / rotating alongside Tanuzebe.
LB: Tierney or Sandro: Attacking LBs. Sandro is the better one, but Tierney is young and can still improve. Both better than our current options.
RB: Mitchell Weiser would have been perfect, but signed for Leverkusen a week ago. Mounier is the next available option and not a bad fit.
CM: Leon Goretzka would have been perfect, but we all know where young german star players on outgoing contracts goes. Fred or Brozovic both good box to box midfielders and would help us to play a balanced 3 midfield.
CM backup: Kai Havertz or Lo Celso would be perfect but will be to expensive for a backup player. Young player with potential like Pellegrini(Roma), Lucas Torreira(Sampdoria), Aouar(Lyon) or Cyprien(Nice) would do a sufficent job.
RW: Dybala. Class. Marque signing.
ST or LW: Timo Werner is an option alongside our current players Martial and Rashford. Or Leon Bailey. Can play on both wings.

1. (2.) 4-3-3:
DDG(J. Pereira)
Mounier(TFM) - Bailly(Maguire) - Alder/Koulibailly(Tuanzebe) - Tierney/sandro(Young)
Fred(Pereira) - Matic(young CM backup) - Pogba(Young CM backup)
Dybala(Lingard) - Martial/Timo Werner(Rashford) - Martial/Leon Bailey()

Realistic:
Out: Shaw, Martial, Darmian and Blind, Fellaini.
Inn: Willian, Tobi Alder, Sidibe and Fred.

1. Mourinho coach of an aging experienced squad, playing slow defensive buildup play, with two tactics: Willian or Sanchez try to create something on their own or play hoofball to Lukaku and pray for something to happen. The experience in the aging players to counteract for Mourinhos lack of attacking instructions.
DDG
Sidibe - Smalling - AlderW - Young
Fred - Matic - Pogba
Willian - Lukaku - Sanchez
 
Outs:
Darmian - looks the most out of sorts in a misfiring team.

Mctominay- (Loan)

Fellaini - The old hat bashing aside, I think Fellaini's time at the club has come on gone.

Jones (Buyback) - injuries aside, I think some time away from the club might help Phil grow into his immense promise.

I have watched a lot of Serie A this year so most of my picks may come from that league

Ins:
Lucas Torreira (Sampdoria)- I honestly do not know how this kid is not on top of every club's wishlist, defensively sound, great passing range and can control the tempo of a game. the lad has all the makings of a world-class deep-lying playmaker.

Lorenzo Insigne(Napoli)- A quick and tricky wide forward, who can deliver a great ball from open play or from a set piece. the only gamble would be whether or not he can be as effective on the rightwing.

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio) - Great bombing forward, not shy about doing his defensive duties and can pick a pass on the half turn which would make our counter attacks deadly as hell.

João Cancelo ( Valencia) - showed a lot of growth during his loan spell with Inter, He also happens to be more comfortable on the ball than our current RB.

Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona) - watching Barcelona defense in action without him is telling of just how good the lad is.


DDG
João Cancelo
Eric Bailly
Samuel Umtiti
Luke Shaw
Lucas Torreira
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic
Paul Pogba
Lorenzo Insigne
Alexis Sanchez
Romelu Lukaku
 
D. Grayson said:
Outs:


Ins:
Lucas Torreira (Sampdoria)- I honestly do not know how this kid is not on top of every club's wishlist, defensively sound, great passing range and can control the tempo of a game. the lad has all the makings of a world-class deep-lying playmaker.

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio) - Great bombing forward, not shy about doing his defensive duties and can pick a pass on the half turn which would make our counter attacks deadly as hell.

João Cancelo ( Valencia) - showed a lot of growth during his loan spell with Inter, He also happens to be more comfortable on the ball than our current RB.

Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona) - watching Barcelona defense in action without him is telling of just how good the lad is.
Click to expand...

Lucas Torreira: Only seen a couple of games with Sampdoria, but from what i have seen i 100% agree with you. You forgot to mention 2 footed, agile and fast for his stature. Still unlikely that we will buy him due to his height(170cm ish), age(21?) and not a "known" player. Will most likely go to Juventus or Ateltico Madrid for £20m, and in 12 months time be valued at 4-5 times what he is now. Still would fit well in besides Matic and Pogba, and rotating with Matic for the CDM.

SMS: I don't disagree that he is a great player, but from those Lazio matches i have seen he has also been on the lazy side of his defending duties and very similar to Pogba in many ways. And he is not really what we need. But if you have seen many matches with him, maybe you could elaborate more on his strengths and weaknesses, seeing as he is one of our prime targets.

Cancelo: Recently signed a new longterm contract with Valencia. So the price has increased significantly.

Umtiti: Have read somewhere that his clause is somewhere around £50m. Around the same as Alderweireld. If i could chose between Umtiti and Alderweireld for the same price i lean towards Samuel.

Also, whats your opinion on Dybala?
 
I think realistically we are looking something like this:

DDG
Cancelo Bailly Alderweireld Sandro
Matic Pogba
Mahrez Talisca Martial
Lukaku

Which I think will be able to score the goals we need. We can't just play 3 in midfield every game. The team needs more of a goal threat. My preference is for Martial to stay and to play over Sanchez but it's very unlikely. I would also like us to gazump City for Mahrez instead of buying Willian. Why should he go there to be another rotation option when we he can just walk into the hole that is our RW and solve all the problems we've had? It'll probably be Sanchez and Willian though.
We should also buy Fred to give us that option to play 3 in bigger games. Otherwise I would be very happy if we can get these players signed.​
 
Are people honestly happy with not having a single British player, never mind English, never mind homegrown (disregarding pogba, who we brought in from france) , in our starting XI? I know it's a squad game, and players like Rash and Lingard have important parts to play, as well as the fact that football is becoming an increasingly globalized game, but surely we should be nurturing the likes of Rashford, McTominay, and Tuanzebe into become United players instead of signing more young players to take up their minutes.

I think what the team lacks now is leadership and experience to help these players, so I'd have no issues with bringing in a few players in their prime to drive the team on and hopefully create a natural progression in 4 or 5 years, but surely it's possible to bring these players in without abandoning our identity as a club.
 
Out
> Fellaini (free)
> Carrick (retired)
> Shaw (£20m)
> Darmian (£10m)
> Jones (£25m)
> Blind (£10m)
> Martial (£50m)
> Pogba (£100m)
> Andreas (£5m)
TOTAL: £220m

In
> Sandro (£50m)
> Umtiti (£50m)
> Florenzi (£30m)
> Fred (£45m)
> Savic (£80m)
> Ndombele (£40m)
> Diop (£20m)
> Mertens (£25m)
TOTAL: £340m

Net Spend
TOTAL: £120m

4312 Formation
LS: Sanchez / Mertens
RS: Lukaku / Rashford
AM: Savic / Mata
LCM: Ndombele / Lingard
RCM: Fred / Herrera
DM: Matic / Mctominay
LB: Sandro / Young
LCB: Umtiti / Rojo / Lindelof
RCB: Diop / Bailly / Smalling
RB: Florenzi / Valencia / Mensah
GK: De Gea / Romero

Line up
------------------------DDG----------------------------
-------------Diop----------------Umtiti-------------
Florenzi-----------------------------------Sandro
-----------------------Matic---------------------------
-------------Fred--------------Ndombele--------
------------------------SMS---------------------------
------------Lukaku---------Sanchez------------
 
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I love this fantasy team selection, but I just don't get those who suggest Pogba could/should leave, if anyone should go it should be Sanchez !
He's thrown the whole balance of the team out (not that we had much any way)

Out: usual suspects plus Sanchez
In: Meunière, Alderwiereld, Sandro, Jorginho, SMS, Marhez

DDG
Meunière - Bailley - Alderwiereld - Sandro
SMS - Jorginho - Pogba
Marhez - Lukaku - Martial
 
MaNeves said:
Out
> Fellaini (free)
> Carrick (retired)
> Shaw (£20m)
> Darmian (£10m)
> Jones (£25m)
> Blind (£10m)
> Martial (£50m)
> Pogba (£100m)
> Andreas (£5m)
TOTAL: £220m

In
> Sandro (£50m)
> Umtiti (£50m)
> Florenzi (£30m)
> Fred (£45m)
> Savic (£80m)
> Ndombele (£40m)
> Diop (£20m)
> Mertens (£25m)
TOTAL: £340m

Net Spend
TOTAL: £120m

4312 Formation
LS: Sanchez / Mertens
RS: Lukaku / Rashford
AM: Savic / Mata
LCM: Ndombele / Lingard
RCM: Fred / Herrera
DM: Matic / Mctominay
LB: Sandro / Young
LCB: Umtiti / Rojo / Lindelof
RCB: Diop / Bailly / Smalling
RB: Florenzi / Valencia / Mensah
GK: De Gea / Romero

Line up
------------------------DDG----------------------------
-------------Diop----------------Umtiti-------------
Florenzi-----------------------------------Sandro
-----------------------Matic---------------------------
-------------Fred--------------Ndombele--------
------------------------SMS---------------------------
------------Lukaku---------Sanchez------------
Click to expand...

8 players in, with 7 of them in the starting line up? This is not FM, mate.
 
realistic

DDG
Valencia - Bailly - Alderwiereld - Sandro
Fred - Matic - Pogba
Willian - Lukaku - Sanchez

enough? I don't think so.
 
Definitely more out than in. OUT:- Jones, Darmian, Lindelof, Martial, Mata, Fellaini, Carrick, Shaw, Herrera.

IN:- Fred, Sandro, Fabian Ruiz, Alderweireld, and a RB.
 
@Fosu-Mens

Lucas Torreira- you are right, this guy playing for us next season is just pie in the sky at this point, I just hope another PL team does not snap him up before United have had a look in.

Milinkovic-Savic - He has everything you expect of a player of that size and strength, physicality, aerial ability, but also he the dexterity, vision, and technique you associate with smaller players in that position. Pogba is likely quicker and better at beating a man but Milinkovic-Savic is better at picking an effective pass. He also did not shy away from his defensive duties earlier on in the season but after Felipe Anderson got injured Simone Inzaghi used him as an out-ball of sort in the same way LVG use Fellaini for use a while back so tracking back would have been counterproductive to him being the focal point of Lazio’s counter attack. Overall he is not as naturally gifted as Pogba but put in a better graft.
 
Dennis Viollet said:
realistic

DDG
Valencia - Bailly - Alderwiereld - Sandro
Fred - Matic - Pogba
Willian - Lukaku - Sanchez

enough? I don't think so.
Click to expand...

Think your bang on the money with what will happen, although I think Sandro might prove hard to get and we'll end up with someone else.
 
D. Grayson said:
@Fosu-Mens

Lucas Torreira- you are right, this guy playing for us next season is just pie in the sky at this point, I just hope another PL team does not snap him up before United have had a look in.

Milinkovic-Savic - He has everything you expect of a player of that size and strength, physicality, aerial ability, but also he the dexterity, vision, and technique you associate with smaller players in that position. Pogba is likely quicker and better at beating a man but Milinkovic-Savic is better at picking an effective pass. He also did not shy away from his defensive duties earlier on in the season but after Felipe Anderson got injured Simone Inzaghi used him as an out-ball of sort in the same way LVG use Fellaini for use a while back so tracking back would have been counterproductive to him being the focal point of Lazio’s counter attack. Overall he is not as naturally gifted as Pogba but put in a better graft.
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Atletico just signed Rodri, so they will not go for Torreira. City signing Jorgino so they are out of the picture. Napoli signing Vidal so they are out. Arsenal going for Seri.
This leaves Chelsea, Liverpool and Juventus. Hopefully Liverpool are satisfied with Keita, and Juventus splashes the cash on Morata(Having signed D. Costa already.)
Sarri(former Napoli manager) will certainly know who he is, but they already have Kante. So your wishes might come true, and i'm pretty sure he our scouts know off him at least. Unless we sign Pellegrini, and Roma uses the money to buy him.

SMS: I have not seen that many games with him, but if you say he can do his share of defensive work i will take it.
 
What do you think of 4312 formation?

IMO we the players we have, it could be a interesting alternative (I will add the players we are linked).

Sanchez - Lukaku
New No.10
Pogba -Matic - Fred
Sandro - Alderweireld - Bailly - NewRB
De Gea
​
The No.10 would be our top signing, someone like Eriksen, Dybala, Draxler, Fekir.
 
-------------------------------------Lukaku--------------------------------------

----------------------------------Sanchez----------------------------------------


------------Pogba-----------------------------------Sergej-----------------------



--------------------Matic----------------------Fred--------------------------------


Sandro--------------------------------------------------------------Sidibe--------


---------------------Alderweireld----------------Bailly-----------------------------



-----------------------------------De Gea-------------------------------------------


This way we never have to worry about getting overrun in midfield.
 
I think we need to sign some established players to improve our top level. I see a lot of fans criticizing Mourinho for spending big on older players, but I think this is exactly what we need to succeed in the long run. A lot of our younger players have been underperforming and not showed the development that was expected, but I think this is because we ask too much of them too early. The likes of Rashford, Bailly, Shaw, Lindelof, Martial and McTominay have been asked to go straight into our starting 11 and perform in the biggest games from day 1. It would have been far better for them to make their way slowly into a team that consist of world class players that could carry them. Instead, they have been thrown into the team in order to carry the likes of Smalling and Fellaini. Even big signings like Pogba and Lukaku would benefit from making their way into a stronger team. I therefore want to see us signing 4 established players this summer, being able to bring us short-term success. This will make us able to gradually include younger players in our starting 11 in the coming years.

In:
Alderweireld (50 mill)
Alex Sandro (40 mill)
Fred (50 mill)
Bale (80 mill)

Out:
Darmian (15 mill)
Blind (10 mill)
Jones (20 mill)
Martial (50 mill)
Fellaini (free)
Carrick (retired)

De Gea
Valencia - Bailly - Alderweireld - Alex Sandro
Pogba - Matic - Fred
Bale - Lukaku - Sanchez
 
Wallez said:
I see a lot of fans criticizing Mourinho for spending big on older players, but I think this is exactly what we need to succeed in the long run.
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This method would aquire heavy reinvestment each transfer window. And it is not a very sustainable transfer strategy, even with our revenue.
Even though your sentence is somewhat an oxymoron, what you say is true. For Mourinho to succeed, he needs experienced players to mitigate the cost of not having an attacking system or giving attacking instructions to players. Additionally, since he doesn't seem to be able to improve or develope our players, this is the most likely way to improve the top level of our team. In the long run however, this is not the way to succeed.

Wallez said:
I therefore want to see us signing 4 established players this summer, being able to bring us short-term success.
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Spot on! For Mourinho and Manchester united next season this is unfortunately the only way.

Wallez said:
A lot of our younger players have been underperforming and not showed the development that was expected, but I think this is because we ask too much of them too early.
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Other teams seems to be able to do this. It is difficult for young/inexperienced/attacking players to perform or develop in a team/under a manager that does not focus on attacking. Does not have a system for how to play attacking football, or give attacking instruction to players. I do not think it is to early for some of them to play first team football, it is more due to the manager/playstyle that some of these players struggle.
 
Fosu-Mens said:
This method would aquire heavy reinvestment each transfer window. And it is not a very sustainable transfer strategy, even with our revenue.
Even though your sentence is somewhat an oxymoron, what you say is true. For Mourinho to succeed, he needs experienced players to mitigate the cost of not having an attacking system or giving attacking instructions to players. Additionally, since he doesn't seem to be able to improve or develope our players, this is the most likely way to improve the top level of our team. In the long run however, this is not the way to succeed.
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My point is that we need to have a brilliant team in order to develop brilliant players. Throwing young players into a spine-less team is not a good way of developing talents. Of course, buying only older players is not a sustainable strategy, but this is not what I am suggesting. By spending big on established players this summer, we will be able to develop our younger players in the future. Once we are a world class team again, we can start implementing our talents into the team, and maybe see one player making his way into the starting 11 each season. This is what most big clubs do in order to remain at the top level for decades. Just look at Real Madrid, Bayern and Barcelona.

Fosu-Mens said:
Other teams seems to be able to do this. It is difficult for young/inexperienced/attacking players to perform or develop in a team/under a manager that does not focus on attacking. Does not have a system for how to play attacking football, or give attacking instruction to players. I do not think it is to early for some of them to play first team football, it is more due to the manager/playstyle that some of these players struggle.
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Mourinho has only one priority, and that is to win games. He doesn't trust our shaky defense, so he sees that he has to give defensive duties to his midfielders in order to maximize the opportunity of winning games. By bringing in players like Alderweireld and Alex Sandro, I think we will see a Mourinho that is far more offensive than he has shown this season.

Summary: I want us to buy established players in order to develop younger players, and I want us to sign defenders in order to improve our attack. It may seem stupid, but it will be our way out of the post-SAF misery.
 
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