[kietotheworld]

Originally Posted by Irwin

Well if you think Scott Parker is good enough then yeah it's not hard

He's certainly good enough to replace Darren Fletcher, who a lot of people have talked about as being a major loss. He's a better CM than Park Ji Sung and Phil Jones as well.

[Irwin]

Originally Posted by bosnian_red

What about sahin? Or ozil? Or Martinez? We could have at least tried with the first two, went for a combined 20mil and Martinez probably wont go for a huge amount either. Fact is we aren't trying hard enough to get a midfielder.

There's been hundreds of midfield flavours of the month on here, Sahin, Ozil, Martinez, Hazard, Gotze, Nasri, Sneijder, Hamsik etc... What do you think is more likely... Fergie's tried to sign a midfielder but hasn't been able to get who he wants for whatever reason, or the greatest football manager of all time isn't trying hard enough.

[Irwin]

Originally Posted by kietotheworld

He's certainly good enough to replace Darren Fletcher, who a lot of people have talked about as being a major loss. He's a better CM than Park Ji Sung and Phil Jones as well.

Parker wouldn't have made our team ahead of either Carrick or Scholes this season so I don't see how he would have made much difference. Same reason we were still weak in midfield before Fletcher's illness.

[Antisocial]

Originally Posted by Irwin

As if Fergie doesn't already know we are weak in midfield. It's probably quite hard to find someone who's good enough, proven in a top league, has the right attitude, available, wants to come to us and wont cost a fortune.

It is hard, especially if the targets are "young Roy Keanes and Bryan Robsons".

But think about all the central midfielders that have moved clubs since we bought Hargreaves in 2007 - or even after the Rome final - not one of them could've brought something to the club and be persuaded to sign for us?

[Irwin]

Originally Posted by Antisocial

It is hard, especially if the targets are "young Roy Keanes and Bryan Robsons".

But think about all the central midfielders that have moved clubs since we bought Hargreaves in 2007 - not one of them could've brought something to the club and persuaded to sign for us?

I think it's likely that we tried to sign Ozil, Nasri and Sneijder but couldn't push them through for whatever reason. There's not been many available players in that bracket that would have been open to a move to United.

[Edmeiste]

Originally Posted by Cina

It's all well and good saying how good Scholes has been but he had a 6 month break and he's 38 next season. He's my favourite player ever but I do not want us to be in any way reliant on him next season at all. If he's here, it should be as a backup or alternative option, not like now where we are completely incapable of doing anything in matches without him in the midfield. it's fucking ridiculous.

It's a strange situation to say the least

[Beachryan]

I think Fergie has to take the blame here. I'm not looking for us to have necessarily signed the greatest player in Europe or anything, but we have had to put Park Ji Sung in central midfield several times this season. To be perfectly honest, De Gea would possibly have brought more there in terms of possession and passing.

I don't need a Roy Keane - I'd settle for a Phil Neville. Even THE Phil Neville. If we don't get a quality, ready to start midfielder this summer I will take it as a sign Fergie is determined to revolutionize football by playing without a midfield.

[bosnian_red]

Originally Posted by Irwin

There's been hundreds of midfield flavours of the month on here, Sahin, Ozil, Martinez, Hazard, Gotze, Nasri, Sneijder, Hamsik etc... What do you think is more likely... Fergie's tried to sign a midfielder but hasn't been able to get who he wants for whatever reason, or the greatest football manager of all time isn't trying hard enough.

If he's really tried I'm sure we would have had a quality replacement by now. And all of those hundreds of flavones of the month would all be brilliant for us, and all of them would be an improvement on what we currently have.

I think he has considered signing one, but has decided that since he would rather get cover on the wings or defence because he has players who can do an okay job in midfield. I think he was simply going for the league this year, and was not really giving the champions league much thought. He probably thought pogba, cleverley and Anderson would all step up this season, and even though it worked in the past it hasn't this season and we had to rely on bringing scholes back. Pogba will most likely leave, Anderson and cleverley seem very injury prone so I will be very shocked if we don't sign a new midfielder this summer.

[sdb4884]

Call it unrealistic if you want but 70-100 million spent
In the right areas and we'll be back to our elite best.

[NoLogo]

I think Carrick actually was quite okay today he seamed like the only one in midfield up to the challenge.

Nothing against Scholes but he isn't the same he was a few years back and is getting slower by the minute as it seams the same goes for Giggs he has defied his age for the longest time but against a physical dominant side like City it shows that he isn't the player he used to be anymore.

I also have no clue what Park was doing in that team having barely played a game this year. Of course he has been one of our "big game" players in the past but how can we expect a guy with almost no match practice this season to do the job in such an important game?

The entire setup for that game showed how desperate our situation in midfield really is and we need to do something about it.

Imo we need a player that can do Fletchers job and be the workhorse next to Carrick and in front of them we need a creative player that can increase our threat through the middle.

[iAm20Legend]

Originally Posted by NoLogo

I think Carrick actually was quite okay today he seamed like the only one in midfield up to the challenge.

Nothing against Scholes but he isn't the same he was a few years back and is getting slower by the minute as it seams the same goes for Giggs he has defied his age for the longest time but against a physical dominant side like City it shows that he isn't the player he used to be anymore.

I also have no clue what Park was doing in that team having barely played a game this year. Of course he has been one of our "big game" players in the past but how can we expect a guy with almost no match practice this season to do the job in such an important game?

The entire setup for that game showed how desperate our situation in midfield really is and we need to do something about it.

Imo we need a player that can do Fletchers job and be the workhorse next to Carrick and in front of them we need a creative player that can increase our threat through the middle.

Hit the nail on the head there. Scholes and Giggs will boss it against a large percentage of other opposition. They're not bad.
But if you put them in front of a young bunch who're stronger, faster, just plain physically superior, and are loaded with talent to to boot - then experience will not always help.

[roseguy64]

Originally Posted by evra

If this was him playing well I'd hate to see him playing poorly, the guy has nothing when he's pressed. Give him acres of green grass and he's a player but close him down and he's mid table standard.

What? Mental. He was doing all the defensive work out there. That's because the rest of the midfield was getting overrun. He put himself about and went head to head against their players winning a good amount of the battles he was in. We were just so insipid going forward and controlling the game that we didn't get to see him affect the game going forward. Otherwise, he was one of the reasons why City were limited in their chances.

[Freak]

Value.

[Varun_Utd]

Thing is, our game has been designed to have a solid central core and have creativity from the flanks. All that is well and good when the CMs have the bollox to atleast hold their own and distribute the ball out wide. That is not the case here in big games and we simply get raped in CM.

The wide play style also makes it a tad predictable and our games goes to the dogs if our wingers are taken out of the equation. That simply put, is too one dimensional for a team of our stature.

We need to get some creativity from the middle and have someone who can play through opponent defences from the middle of the park. Also a proper CM who can hold his own there.

We need investment there, its for everyone to see for a while now. Whether SAF does it is another matter.

[gooDevil]

I was just wondering if I was wrong to pick Rooney over Carrick for player of the season. I thought, well, take Rooney out and we're in trouble, his replacement isn't nearly as good and everything goes through Rooney. Take Carrick out and...huh, out of midfielders.

We could really use another midfielder.

[Twigginater]

As I said at the start of the season, and still feel now, I think our full back area is currently much more troubling, and I think our full backs cost us the title more than any other position.

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

Originally Posted by Hectic

What is the point in selling him now? He's rated extremely highly by the manager, we've seen his potential with our own eyes. Yes his fitness is awful, but by selling him we aren't going to be able to recoup that fee, so what purpose is there in selling him now? Keep him, nurse him back to fitness where he will either become the player we thought he would, or where we can release him for a better fee having actually played some football. Selling him now makes no sense at all.

Spot on

[giggsyflying]

carrick is a good player but not good enough and may not be the type of players we need the most. we need a fletcher player. the defeats to barcelona proved that. we also need a creative player with box of trick while carrick was also not one. see silva and tevez bring to city, suarez to liverpool, mata to chelsea and u will know what we need

[Cina]

Originally Posted by giggsyflying

carrick is a good player but not good enough and may not be the type of players we need the most. we need a fletcher player. the defeats to barcelona proved that. we also need a creative player with box of trick while carrick was also not one. see silva and tevez bring to city, suarez to liverpool, mata to chelsea and u will know what we need

A cunt?

[Twigginater]

Suarez has joined a Liverpool side as they are in decline, Mata has helped Chelsea to their worst league finish in about 10 years I think and Tevez got subbed yesterday when City needed their goals.

[Cina]

Oh come on, that Mata comment is ridiculous, god knows where they'd be without him this season, he's been their best player.

[Twigginater]

Originally Posted by Cina

Oh come on, that Mata comment is ridiculous, god knows where they'd be without him this season, he's been their best player.

Well yeah but they've not exactly had a good season with him. They've been shite all season.

[Cina]

That's stupid logic. They could end up winning the CL and they won the FA Cup, if they do win it and get into it again next season then that's probably a better season than we've had, and Mata has been instrumental for them, infact he was probably one of a select few who was excellent throughout.

Seriously, you're basically saying that despite him playing excellent all season he has been a poor signing because they haven't done well in the league...

[Twigginater]

He's not a poor signing. I'm questioning giggsbeckhams terrible logic that we need one of those players. There's not one type of player any team needs. Believe me I think he's been a fantastic signing.

[Cina]

Very strange way of putting it.

I wouldn't mind Mata in our team but I do agree a player of his mold shouldn't be a priority. A defensive midfielder and full back are what's needed more than anything.

[DevilRed]

Originally Posted by Cina

Very strange way of putting it.

I wouldn't mind Mata in our team but I do agree a player of his mold shouldn't be a priority. A defensive midfielder and full back are what's needed more than anything.

Kagawa seems like the same type of player as mata and silva. The more I see of him in the Bundesliga the more I want us to sign him. He gives us something different which no player on our team currently can. Giggs has done okay in that advanced midfielder role but he isn't a natural at that position.

I do agree though that we will probably need to shore up our defence again. With Vidic out of preseason tour and Rio/Evra not getting younger we need reinforcements.

Would be great if we signed a defensive midfielder but you'd hope Darren Fletcher should be back next year to fill that need. Unless Fergie sells, Scholes/Giggs retire, or Pogba leaves then we probably will only sign one midfielder rather than two?

[Cina]

I hold little hope of Fletcher returning, and it's a bit of a myth that he's a defensive player. We simply have to buy someone in that position.

I'll be happy with Kagawa, 7m and he's a quality player, capable of playing in a 4-3-3 system with Rooney upfront.

[apotheosis]

Originally Posted by Cina

I hold little hope of Fletcher returning, and it's a bit of a myth that he's a defensive player. We simply have to buy someone in that position.

I'll be happy with Kagawa, 7m and he's a quality player, capable of playing in a 4-3-3 system with Rooney upfront.

I'll happily take Kagawa, but the 4-3-3 you are on about requires 2 holding players really, we still only have one. The priority must be there imo. Having just one more defensive minded player would mean we could change our formation and still be effective, which is currently not the case.

[Cina]

Originally Posted by apotheosis

I'll happily take Kagawa, but the 4-3-3 you are on about requires 2 holding players really, we still only have one. The priority must be there imo. Having just one more defensive minded player would mean we could change our formation and still be effective, which is currently not the case.

Of course. We need someone to sit alongside Carrick.

[gooDevil]

433 requires 2 holding players? So is Iniesta the holding midfielder along with Busquets or is it Xavi?

[Cina]

Originally Posted by gooDevil

433 requires 2 holding players? So is Iniesta the holding midfielder along with Busquets or is it Xavi?

It depends. You can't compare anyone to Barca because the ball retention of their midfield is just ridiculous, and Xavi tends to put in a good shift defensively himself. Real Madrid are a better example.

[gooDevil]

So...it doesn't require 2 holding midfielders.

I'm not sure Barca's quality means I can't compare anyone to them, though I wouldn't expect us to look as good as them in a 433. I would certainly expect all 3 midfielders to do their defensive share. Even with their tiny players Barca have a fantastic defense, it's really quite impressive how good they are at harassing the man with the ball while being relatively small players.

[Cina]

Originally Posted by gooDevil

So...it doesn't require 2 holding midfielders.

Not what I said. Unless you want to find us players as good as Busquets. Xavi and Iniesta.

Real play 2 holding midfielders and then rely heavily on their wingers and the playmaking of Oezil, that'd be similar to us. Carrick is quite like Alonso, though not as good. Sits deep and passes well to the attacking players.

[Sam]

The thread title's right, "We Don't Actually Need A Midfielder" ...We need two.

[FlawlessThaw]

Well we need to get rid of a couple of players in midfield before we get anyone in.

[Cina]

Originally Posted by FlawlessThaw

Well we need to get rid of a couple of players in midfield before we get anyone in.

We're probably going to lose Pogba, Fletcher isn't likely to return, Giggs and Scholes won't play more than 15-20 games a season, Anderson and Cleverley look injury prone, which leaves Carrick as our only 'reliable' midfielder.

I don't think we need to get rid of anyone, we can definitely afford to bring 2 more in and still offer the others plenty of games.

[RedRover]

Originally Posted by Irwin

There's been hundreds of midfield flavours of the month on here, Sahin, Ozil, Martinez, Hazard, Gotze, Nasri, Sneijder, Hamsik etc... What do you think is more likely... Fergie's tried to sign a midfielder but hasn't been able to get who he wants for whatever reason, or the greatest football manager of all time isn't trying hard enough.

...or he has no money to spend, and therefore has to make do.

[Smores]

Originally Posted by RedRover

...or he has no money to spend, and therefore has to make do.

Jones and Young were fairly luxury signings at the time so that argument doesn't really hold up.

[gooDevil]

Originally Posted by Cina

Not what I said. Unless you want to find us players as good as Busquets. Xavi and Iniesta.

Well, apotheosis said, "The 4-3-3 you are on about requires 2 holding players really, we still only have one." and you bolded that part and responded, "Of course."

Not sure how else to read that.

Originally Posted by Cina

Real play 2 holding midfielders and then rely heavily on their wingers and the playmaking of Oezil, that'd be similar to us. Carrick is quite like Alonso, though not as good. Sits deep and passes well to the attacking players.

Right, but don't Real play 4231? I don't have any problem with playing 2 more defensive minded midfielders in a 433, I was just disagreeing that it requires 2 holding midfielders. How exactly SAF will flavor his 433 I can't tell you, but he recently commented that he doesn't think he plays defensive midfielders and never has, iirc.

[Cina]

Carrick isn't a defensive midfielder?

Most 4-3-3s involve 2 deep players and an attacking player, that's what we did too when we were are our best from 07 - 09.