Is that Tahith Chong? He is 16, he won't be anywhere near the first team. He is also a winger not a midfielder.What do we still need? Post Summer 2015 edition.
- Thread starter Yorkeontop
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Is that Tahith Chong? He is 16, he won't be anywhere near the first team. He is also a winger not a midfielder.Exactly, he's for the academy not the first team.
This guy gets it.
So why are you putting him on your list? This thread is about the first team so you just throw in a random u18s signing? Why didn't you add Lee O'Connor and Nishan Burkhart? It makes absolutely no sense to just throw Chong's name out there for no reason.
I put him there because my list comprised of players I think we will sign. Reports say a deal is close to bring him in.
As far as the first team, I'm aware that he's only 16, (he turns 17 in December) but my point is he could feature quicker than we think because reports say Feyenoord are trying to entice him to stay for first team football next season. Why would he leave Feyenoord next season and first team football if he didn't think that opportunity existed at United? He probably sees the progress and opportunities that Fonsu Mensah and Rashford have received. Now whether Jose will allow it giving his youth record is another discussion.
1. A lead striker with goals, pace and power. 2. A consistent class wide player/ a world class with pace. 3. A Carrick replacement who is young and has power. 4. Possibly a speciist left side center half to partner Smalling
- Defender
- Midfielder
- Right Winger
- #10
- Striker
What we need is an actual football plan, a clear vision of where we want to be as a club and how we are going to get there. As long as that is not there we will sink a billion pounds into this team and still find ourselves languishing in midtable.
A new manager!
Zlatan
Martial Isco Mahrez
Morgan Sanches
Shaw Koulibaly Smalling Vale
DDG
Looks good.
Looks good.
Stones, Koulibaly and if PSG are willing to sell I think Marquinhos would be an option. We might look older though given we have Fosu-Mensah and RoShaun Williams coming through.
The thing with Blind is that if he plays in midfield he faces the press a lot more than he does at CB where he has more freedom and time on the ball to pick his passes. I'm just not sure he can be as effective as a #6 because of his lack of agility to operate under the press, but I wouldn't be against us trying it, I just have my doubts.
I just don't want us buying any more players that have no athleticism, and Kroos has no agility at all, I just don't think he's a good fit for the hustle of the PL.
That's how I'd use him as well, as Martial's back in the LWF role in a proper 4-3-3.
I think Dembele is another Martial level talent, the question mark is whether we need someone more proven for the first team.
If we pay £60M for Lukaku he will be the starting #9 for the bulk of games IMO, that will block Martial from developing into that role and I think long term that would be a mistake.
That's a good observation. We have young CBs, so an experienced defender could be a better option. Hummels said that he has to take a big decision this summer, if he becomes available he would be perfect for us because he has a good passing ability. Also Koulibaly technique is not that bad, I have seen him making some long passes.
You may be right. But I would like to see him some games in front of the defense to see if he is able to cover that position or not. I remember that he played well in that position.
Yes, that's why I prefer a Modric's type of player, someone like Gundogan would be perfect. If we sign Renato Sanches, I'm also okay with that. But Kroos is a top midfielder even if he lacks of agility.
I could be wrong, but I prefer Martial as a left wide forward in a 433 than as our main striker. That's why I would sign a top striker.
Having "another Martial" wouldn't be bad in my opinion. Moura is happy in PSG, Sane dreams with Barca and I would like Mahrez to stay 1 season with Leicester and play Champions League. That's why Dembele would be my 1st choice, but any of them would improve our team.
If we want to compete with the likes of Barcelona, Madrid and Bayern, having a player like Lukaku who can offer something different to Martial and Rashford it's not bad at all. We have played this season with academy players in the striker position like Keane and Rashford, and even Fellaini and Young. I would like to see Kane here, but he will cost too much, and I'm not sure Levy wants to sell him to a premier league club. With that money, we can buy 2 quality players like Lukaku and Dembele.
There has always been a question mark over Hummels pace but he has been back to his best this season and might be a good option. I think Koulibaly will be the easiest to get of the CB's this summer.
He may well get a chance, I imagine it will depend on if we do get a new CB and if Jose is our manager.
It seems we want Renato Sanches to continue to build what the club feels is a strong young core of potentially world class talent, but we could still do with another more experienced CM to add to the mix.
I can see the logic but I think the top striker needs to be older, I look at Martial central in the 2nd half tonight, dropping deeper and feeding the wide attackers and I want to see him eventually become our #9.
Dembele looks like a very special talent and being two footed makes him a great versatile option, but it would be another 18 year old added to an already young attack. I think Lucas Moura might be a possibility given how he's mostly a sub for PSG.
I definitely have no objection to a striker coming in this summer but I just want it to be someone that wont be in the way of Martial and Rashford's potential to be our long term #9, something I think signing Lukaku would do.
Working premises, as of today:
1. Van Gaal should go. 39 goals in 32 games, 7 in 6 CL matches speak for themselves. It's great that he likes young players, but Van Gaal is 64 and clearly flawed and if we keep building slowly and have a fine team by 2019 he'll have fallen out with half the players he's developed and Martial, Shaw and De Gea will have forced moves to get CL football.
2. We have generally looked best with Herrera and a partner going box to box.
3. Martial at LW makes the most sense, as he's scoring a lot of goals for a wide player and that's basically something you need to have a great attack. It can be done without wide goalscoring (Bayern do it when Costa and Coman are the wingers, Citeh have done it in the past) but it's really damn hard.
4. Shaw, Smalling, Herrera and De Gea pick themselves. Fosu-Mensah and Rashford have shown a lot too, but are too young to not have strong competition/backup. Blind is a good player, Schweinsteiger is a great pro who has won damn near everything and Memphis, Darmian and Schneiderlin just got here and are not old and get actual playing time for Netherlands, Italy and France so probably deserve a 2nd season unless we're sure they won't fit in here and a great offer comes in.
5. Time will continue in a linear manner, so young > old
6. Continuity is better than change, all things being equal. And transfers are hard to do, so we likely aren't selling 10 players and signing 8 new ones. So for now, let's leave guys like Fellaini and Jones who are not good enough in
7. We only need one of Valencia and Young to cover wide positions. I have no preference, or if I do it changes weekly. Let's say Valencia stays for today.
So, that sets up like this for the summer and '16-'17:
-----------ST------- (Rashford, Wilson/Keane)
Martial-----------RW (Memphis, Pereira/Januzaj, Valencia)
----Herrera--CM---- (Lingard, Fellaini)
-----Schneiderlin--- (Schweinsteiger, Blind)
Shaw------------TFM (Rojo, Darmian, CBJ, Varela)
----LCB--Smalling--- (Blind, Jones)
--------De Gea------- (Romero)
with Rooney, Mata, Young being sold to generate funds and clear wages.
Then, if possible, I'd sell Fellaini and Jones to cash-rich Prem teams and get more technically skilled replacements.
But for now, if we get the right 4 players in, that looks solid enough. Every other young player not still needing U-21 time gets a loan. One of Pereira/Januzaj and Wilson/Keane gets a loan until January or May and the other stays and makes the squad.
I know our board isn't brilliant but that seems doable, right?
Manager - Mourinho is fine, but I wanted Pochettino in 2014 and I still think he's the right guy. Spurs' peripheral numbers are even better than Leicester and he's great with young talent. Blow him away with a ludicrous amount of cash.
ST - Can be older since Rashford and Wilson have potential and if Memphis comes good, Martial will go back up top. So, most important thing here is an immediate goalscorer. Ibra is a dick but he is one of those. Don't think he wants to miss out on a chance at his first CL, though. So if we miss out on that, I'm not sure where we should look. We really should have just kept Chicharito, despite his awful link up play. As much as we need a guy here, I have this 3rd or 4th in priority behind manager and the next two positions.
RW - Dembele looks incredible and has the numbers to back it up. 12 goals in 17 starts and 4 subs in Ligue 1, from the wing, is incredible for a 28 year old, never mind an 18 year old. We can offer him playing time and he's too young to have CL football next year as a dealbreaker. Seems like along with Pochettino, this is where we should overpay, even if it means skimping elsewhere. Mahrez we know is a fine dribbler and gives Prem fullbacks trouble. Might not want to give up CL football, but generally you'd think we can get it done. Leroy Sane looks a solid option too. I think City, if they edge us for 4th, with Pep, will have have first choice at this position. Arsenal should sign really sign one too. This is the position I think we have the least hope in, so should be the one we are happy to spend most in.
CM - This is a close 2nd, though. Our best XI last year was with Fellaini and Herrera going box to box. Even Lingard has done well centrally. A box to box player with some technical skills would be great. Saul has really improved on the ball and works his ass off (I guess all Simeone players do), but I doubt he will leave. Gabi can't go on forever and Saul has a contract until 2020 so Atletico can wait until 2018 to sell him off anyways. Kante would also be a nice option. Can't hurt to have the hardest working man in football around the youngsters, even though I'm not sure about his offensive game. A prime Vidal or Ballack type would be ideal, stylistically, if we think there's a new one out there.
LCB - Smalling needs a partner. In theory it could wait a year, but if we don't have as much possession next year, Blind might struggle. Besides, his versatility is part of what makes him useful and it's nice to know we'll have a pairing that works even if the LCB is out.
1. Van Gaal should go. 39 goals in 32 games, 7 in 6 CL matches speak for themselves. It's great that he likes young players, but Van Gaal is 64 and clearly flawed and if we keep building slowly and have a fine team by 2019 he'll have fallen out with half the players he's developed and Martial, Shaw and De Gea will have forced moves to get CL football.
2. We have generally looked best with Herrera and a partner going box to box.
3. Martial at LW makes the most sense, as he's scoring a lot of goals for a wide player and that's basically something you need to have a great attack. It can be done without wide goalscoring (Bayern do it when Costa and Coman are the wingers, Citeh have done it in the past) but it's really damn hard.
4. Shaw, Smalling, Herrera and De Gea pick themselves. Fosu-Mensah and Rashford have shown a lot too, but are too young to not have strong competition/backup. Blind is a good player, Schweinsteiger is a great pro who has won damn near everything and Memphis, Darmian and Schneiderlin just got here and are not old and get actual playing time for Netherlands, Italy and France so probably deserve a 2nd season unless we're sure they won't fit in here and a great offer comes in.
5. Time will continue in a linear manner, so young > old
6. Continuity is better than change, all things being equal. And transfers are hard to do, so we likely aren't selling 10 players and signing 8 new ones. So for now, let's leave guys like Fellaini and Jones who are not good enough in
7. We only need one of Valencia and Young to cover wide positions. I have no preference, or if I do it changes weekly. Let's say Valencia stays for today.
So, that sets up like this for the summer and '16-'17:
-----------ST------- (Rashford, Wilson/Keane)
Martial-----------RW (Memphis, Pereira/Januzaj, Valencia)
----Herrera--CM---- (Lingard, Fellaini)
-----Schneiderlin--- (Schweinsteiger, Blind)
Shaw------------TFM (Rojo, Darmian, CBJ, Varela)
----LCB--Smalling--- (Blind, Jones)
--------De Gea------- (Romero)
with Rooney, Mata, Young being sold to generate funds and clear wages.
Then, if possible, I'd sell Fellaini and Jones to cash-rich Prem teams and get more technically skilled replacements.
But for now, if we get the right 4 players in, that looks solid enough. Every other young player not still needing U-21 time gets a loan. One of Pereira/Januzaj and Wilson/Keane gets a loan until January or May and the other stays and makes the squad.
I know our board isn't brilliant but that seems doable, right?
Manager - Mourinho is fine, but I wanted Pochettino in 2014 and I still think he's the right guy. Spurs' peripheral numbers are even better than Leicester and he's great with young talent. Blow him away with a ludicrous amount of cash.
ST - Can be older since Rashford and Wilson have potential and if Memphis comes good, Martial will go back up top. So, most important thing here is an immediate goalscorer. Ibra is a dick but he is one of those. Don't think he wants to miss out on a chance at his first CL, though. So if we miss out on that, I'm not sure where we should look. We really should have just kept Chicharito, despite his awful link up play. As much as we need a guy here, I have this 3rd or 4th in priority behind manager and the next two positions.
RW - Dembele looks incredible and has the numbers to back it up. 12 goals in 17 starts and 4 subs in Ligue 1, from the wing, is incredible for a 28 year old, never mind an 18 year old. We can offer him playing time and he's too young to have CL football next year as a dealbreaker. Seems like along with Pochettino, this is where we should overpay, even if it means skimping elsewhere. Mahrez we know is a fine dribbler and gives Prem fullbacks trouble. Might not want to give up CL football, but generally you'd think we can get it done. Leroy Sane looks a solid option too. I think City, if they edge us for 4th, with Pep, will have have first choice at this position. Arsenal should sign really sign one too. This is the position I think we have the least hope in, so should be the one we are happy to spend most in.
CM - This is a close 2nd, though. Our best XI last year was with Fellaini and Herrera going box to box. Even Lingard has done well centrally. A box to box player with some technical skills would be great. Saul has really improved on the ball and works his ass off (I guess all Simeone players do), but I doubt he will leave. Gabi can't go on forever and Saul has a contract until 2020 so Atletico can wait until 2018 to sell him off anyways. Kante would also be a nice option. Can't hurt to have the hardest working man in football around the youngsters, even though I'm not sure about his offensive game. A prime Vidal or Ballack type would be ideal, stylistically, if we think there's a new one out there.
LCB - Smalling needs a partner. In theory it could wait a year, but if we don't have as much possession next year, Blind might struggle. Besides, his versatility is part of what makes him useful and it's nice to know we'll have a pairing that works even if the LCB is out.
Is there no Griezmann thread? Should be our number one target imo
Griezmann should have been our #1 target last year, I hope Jose wants him as much as we do.
If we finish outside a CL place its hard to reason why we'd be at the top of his wish list and given the current Big 3 will all be going for him it would be foolish to spend too much time on it! Something we do each summer with Bale and Neymar already.
Fixed.
Unlike Bale and Neymar, he is a long standing MUFC fan. If we pay his release clause and pay him and his agent off handsomely, I dont see why we wouldn't have a shot at him.
What body of evidence is there he's a big fan? I heard that a lot and I'd still say we'd be no where near his preference IF we don't have CL football next season. I don't mind been in there at the outset to determine his interest just not a summer long wasted chase for the purpose of getting him a better deal elsewhere. We need players who obviously want to come to us during initial conversations not another Di Maria.
Will be hard to get Griezmann to Real Madrid though
We got ADM and Falcao with Champions League why not Griezmann?
His release clause is around €80m, its only a few teams can afford him and we are one of them.
He is a long standing MUFC fan, there are pictures of him floating around wearing out kit. His brother is a huge MUFC fan as well.
Do you really feel Jose will be managing RM with Ramos as captain?
I dont think so.
Yeah why not?
They hate each other, Ramos led the revolt against him at Madrid last time, him, Ronaldo and Cassilas.
Entire thread could basically be summed up as needing a whole new spine of better players. Ideally with a bit of strength and aggression. The squad is mostly average and easily bullied.
This
This.
I am fairly certain he will move to a PL team this season. They will double his wages, and he has a very reasonable release clause. Hopefully it is to us. We would be insane not to go for him.
Exactly. Only debate appears to be; do we need four players who would instantly be 4 of our 5 best players? Or do we need 5-7?
This squad is upper-midtable in quality. I don't think any manager would have a safe chance of making top 4 with this lot next season.
We need some big additions.
This squad is closer to being a good 4-3-3 team than a 4-2-3-1, we don't have wingers or a #10 for the latter, but players like Martial, Rashford, Lingard and even Memphis can work well as inside forwards or wide forwards if you like, either side of a #9, or on the case of Martial and Rashford as the actual #9.
The problem with the above options is only Lingard is comfortable on the right so first order of business is a player who is natural in that position.
In a proper 4-3-3 we miss a great creative AM, yes Ander can do a job and there is still hope for Pereira, but I think we need a player that can get double figures in goals and more importantly assists from the role, someone to craft chances for the 3 forwards, but also press and help the 2 CM's.
I'd add another box to box CM and a CB to those 2 buys and see where we are at then. I'm all for Ibra but to me that depends solely on what happens with Rooney.
The problem with the above options is only Lingard is comfortable on the right so first order of business is a player who is natural in that position.
In a proper 4-3-3 we miss a great creative AM, yes Ander can do a job and there is still hope for Pereira, but I think we need a player that can get double figures in goals and more importantly assists from the role, someone to craft chances for the 3 forwards, but also press and help the 2 CM's.
I'd add another box to box CM and a CB to those 2 buys and see where we are at then. I'm all for Ibra but to me that depends solely on what happens with Rooney.
You don't necessarily need wingers as such, good attacking wing-backs will do the job. You have one in Shaw, but could do with another at RB.
In 4-2-3-1 the 2 wider players often offer more width, in the 4-3-3 they are strictly wide strikers, I think that is what we should aim for with Shaw as you say giving us the width on the left, the right is trickier but I'd continue to blood in players like Fosu-Mensah and Riley next season rather than buy one in.
Good points, except the idea that Memphis is good in any position whatsoever. He has been atrocious and hasn't even shown glimpses of being sale to be a premier league winger, yet alone a top 4 team player.
Until we know if we will have European football to offer its really tough to suggest players as it's obviously going to change the level of player we can attract. We need top quality players like Greizmann, Pogba and Varane to get back to the level we should be at but no top four would mean we are way more likely to get Lukaku or Stones instead. Not many players who arr at clubs in the Champions League will leave to join us right now so it's difficult to think who we could realistically bring in to seriously improve the team. Getting a manager like Mourinho will help massively at least, can't see many players at all wanting to play for van Gaal or Giggs.
Absolute nonsense.
The idea that having CL football next season changes our recruitment options at all is misguided.
Even if we did have CL football, we would have zero chance of winning it.
It's all about money. If we pay the offer the right amounts, we will get who we want.
We do also need to show that we have a plan in the coming years to challenge for trophies. But next year means nothing.
We aren't Liverpool, Spurs or some other club dependant on CL football to attract big players. We're filthy rich.
Just having deep pockets and paying the right amountside is enough.
We also have a track record of success and a near unparalleled global fan base. And play in the increasingly most prestigious league.
We will have no problems whatsoever signing players this summer.
He's been crap this season, no argument there, I just don't think we'll cut him loose after 1 season in a new league given the current conditions out attack play under with LvG in charge.