[Wednesday at Stoke]

Really happy with how he played yesterday, loved his composure and skill getting out of tight situations.
You’d think Mctominay won’t get many minutes this year.

Pogba - Fellaini / lingard
Matic - Andreas
Fred - Herrera / Mctominay

Plenty options in the middle this year. Shame about our RW.

McTominay feels like Fellaini's spiritual successor, a player only the manager loves.

 

[Devil81]

If anything he's giving Mourinho bit of a headache, I understand it's a long season but we have so many midfielders now it's going to be hard to keep everyone happy.

Holding midfield - Matic/Pereira/Mctominay
Midfield - Fred/ Pogba/ Fellaini/Herrera/Mctominay

 

[Trigg]

Good under pressure and in tight spots, passed the ball well, looked disciplined in the holding role and likes a tackle too! Was my Man of the Match.

 

[haram]

Matic pre Christmas and Matic post Christmas were 2 different propositions. Perreira should be used as a rotation foe him, not shunted wide.

I mean, he can play both positions.

 

[CM]

I really like Pereira in that #6 role. He looked very assured all game and his mobility is a huge advantage, he dealt with Leicester's press very well.

He's got a great range of passing, though I think most of us know that by now, and he always looks for the forward pass. He's a diamond in the rough, hopefully having Carrick in the coaching set-up will help him master that role.

 

[Kaizane]

With his two-footedness I think he'd be suited in the middle of a flat 3 enabling him to find short passes left and right to Pogba and Fred while rotating with Matic. Then, going forward depending on the situation and opposition, one sitter and two on the attack all interchanging roles at any given moment. It would bring us back some dynamism and a degree of unpredictability. All three of those players have the qualities to play that set up easily.

Fred is a horrible player to play against, always pops up where opposition don't like and at the same time able to get attacks going but he will need time to adapt. Pogba looked like a man apart last night, the complete midfielder and Pereira oozes calm like Carrick but with even more technical ability. Mourinho needs to give this kid regular games this year, I definitely want to see more of those 3 playing together albeit with less rigidity and more dynamism.

 

[JMack1234]

He should be one of the first names on the team sheet.

You seriously think he'll start over Matic?

 

[Sunny Jim]

You seriously think he'll start over Matic?

He wont, but that does not mean he shouldnt

 

[thegregster]

If anything he's giving Mourinho bit of a headache, I understand it's a long season but we have so many midfielders now it's going to be hard to keep everyone happy.

Holding midfield - Matic/Pereira/Mctominay
Midfield - Fred/ Pogba/ Fellaini/Herrera/Mctominay

Good. If that turns out to be the case it means the nightmare of CM is over.

We should have the problem of keeping good players happy all over the pitch.

 

[Sunny Jim]

If anything he's giving Mourinho bit of a headache, I understand it's a long season but we have so many midfielders now it's going to be hard to keep everyone happy.

Holding midfield - Matic/Pereira/Mctominay
Midfield - Fred/ Pogba/ Fellaini/Herrera/Mctominay

Mctominay is not a patch on Pereira.

 

[MDFC Manager]

He wont, but that does not mean he shouldnt

I think he shouldn't either. He had a good game on the ball, but off it, his positioning wasn't all that great. Matic is far superior in that respect.

 

[TwoSheds]

He wont, but that does not mean he shouldnt

The fact that Matic is really good means he shouldn't?

 

[Laurentiu amt]

I said it before, there s some Scholes in him.

He knows he won t play every game, but if he gets 20 games in the 6 position this year, next year he ll get more and will start replacing Matic in the 1st eleven, the kid s not stupid.

 

[MattyB1986]

He should play in the games we are expected to dominate, smaller teams - he's a lot more mobile than Matic, two-footed, good range of passing, composed. I rate this kid. Obviously wants to make it here at United as well, so would look to see him play more against those sides for sure.

 

[Fortitude]

Should be noted that it's a really big deal for Mourinho to play him in the most important role in midfield.

A position where mistakes cost games and he's put Pereira there. Impressive.

 

[.Rossi]

Didn't see anything bad.

 

[SteveW]

Great to see this lad playing. He's always been most suited to no 6 or 8. Amazing to me that so few could see it.

 

[meamth]

Your last point...I didn’t understand this at all. At last we have three players in midfield who all want the ball, are all comfortable on it, but we had them dropping back and letting Leicester control. It made no sense.

Because Mourinho's tactic is not trying to control the game and opposition teams sitting back crowding their box.

Let them have the ball, we absorb your attack and when we snatch it back from our box we do a fast break attack.

 

[Mr.Ridiculous__]

He is a midfielder. Too slow to be a winger and his dribbling is not 1vs 1, but more getting out the press or dribbling out of a crowd. Nobody would come to the idea to waste Scholes, Carrick, Thiago or Verratti on the wing. His qualities are in the center of the field, no doubt

I remember a certain England national team manager.

 

[Cro]

Really impressed with him. He looks to have matured a lot on his loans, is calm as feck with the ball, great close control, good vision and sublime passing. Definetly the winner of preseason for me. His attitude seems also right, as I'm sure that Jose loves that he doesn't moan playing deeper and just gets the job done. Apart fron his obviously talent, his versatility should guarantee him some game time this season.

 

[Loublaze]

You seriously think he'll start over Matic?

I don't think he will but he should IMO. Either way I think they'll both be heavily involved this season.

 

[meamth]

I can see where you are coming from and I agree with what you are saying.

His past loans he was being played as a winger, if I’m mot mistaken he played as a winger for the youth team a couple of times as well, so he won’t be in an unfamiliar position if we pushed him wide.

I don’t know exactly the role that Isco plays but to me he seems like he drives the team, keeps things ticking and always has the chance to drive forward with the ball (something that Andreas is very good at), putting Andreas in that position will help our attack and can also help us have a grip of the game. We can control the game better.

The biggest problem with the team is that we lose possession cheaply, our counter attacks are always ruined by a misplace pass or a bad first touch. Andreas solves that.

Having Adreas in the team solves 3 of the team’s biggest weaknesses (losing position cheaply, losing the middlefield battles and poor crosses into the box).

Mind you Real could have played a pure winger (Bale) but always opted for Isco, I think we should do the same.

I understand your idea, but Isco and Perreira is different kind of player in terms of their style.

Isco is twice more agile than Perreira and more capable taking on players with his dribbling skills.

Pereira is agile, but his ball control and dribbling skills is more similar to that of Verratti and Modric. Not saying he can't play that Isco role, but he could not be as effective as him.

The closest player that is similar to Isco is Bernardo Silva and that is rare.

 

[AR87]

Nobody would come to the idea to waste Scholes, Carrick, Thiago or Verratti on the wing. His qualities are in the center of the field, no doubt

Well, except for England

 

[diarm]

Can't stress enough how much I loved that midfield performance yesterday. 3 players who want to receive the ball, even in tight situations, and who are brave and creative enough to try something with it when they can.

The lad looked like he belonged there last night. I think I'm more excited about watching how he gets on this season than any other player in the squad.

 

[Silas]

Where are all the mardy sorts who kept trying to tell us his loan was a failure and Valencia picking him in wide positions must mean he couldn't hack it in midfield?

Really happy he's on track to prove all those people wrong. You don't have to go too far back in time to find a whole load of people writing him off without actually watching him.

 

[deafepl]

If you want to cede possession and play on the counter, then you have to set your team up to play rapid, incisive football with intelligent movement. You can’t cede possession and then play slow, ponderous football. So yes, almost everything about the way we play is embarrassing.

Sanchez killed many counter-attacking, he could have a couple of assist already but his pass messed up, so does Rashford, I think midfielder and defenders played so well, at 70% perfect.

 

[BluesJr]

Sanchez killed many counter-attacking, he could have a couple of assist already but his pass messed up, so does Rashford, I think midfielder and defenders played so well, at 70% perfect.

Correct. Had our front 3 been of any use last night we would have killed that game easily.

 

[Patrick08]

Was really impressed with his passing and coolness playmaking under press. He spread the ball really well. He could be a real asset in the midfield this season and help our midfielders some critical rest this season.

Also i'd try him on right on occasions.

 

[Summit]

Didn't see anything bad.

Not looked in the mirror lately?
sorry, couldn't resist. lol

 

[Red_Ramirez]

He was solid last night

He could read the game better though especially if he gonna play the Carrick role, he kept giving fouls away with late tackles

 

[haram]

The potential level he could reach is an example of why people should not worry too much about us signing players around the age of Matic. Pereira could be a hell of a player in 3-4 years. He has been working hard and our manager really appreciates this.

 

[Red_Ramirez]

Good under pressure and in tight spots, passed the ball well, looked disciplined in the holding role and likes a tackle too! Was my Man of the Match.

He kept mistiming them. Reading the game and tackling is not one of his strengths

 

[Revan]

If he performs on high level. Matic as fit should fight to take position back.

One season too early, Matic is still better, but I hope that Pereira manages to get 15-20 starts and some appearances from the bench.

 

[3KDré]

He kept mistiming them. Reading the game and tackling is not one of his strengths

Yet.

 

[Trigg]

He kept mistiming them. Reading the game and tackling is not one of his strengths

He didn’t win all of them but he won some.

And I didn’t see any obvious problems with his reading of the game. Especially when we had the ball. Made himself available and used it well, not bad for a player playing a new role and position.

 

[The holy trinity 68]

I think he shouldn't either. He had a good game on the ball, but off it, his positioning wasn't all that great. Matic is far superior in that respect.

Hopefully Pereira learns from Matic and becomes his successor when Matic starts to decline, probably a year or 2.

 

[.Rossi]

Not looked in the mirror lately?
sorry, couldn't resist. lol

I don't have to look in the mirror to know that I am an ugly looking cnut

 

[TehRed]

I'm excited to see the player he could become with Carrick and Matic there to learn from. He's already got good passing skill, hopefully he can develop the positional and more combative side of the game learning from those two guys and become our number 6 long term. I think he's got a high ceiling as a Carrick style deep lying passer and he has more pace than Carrick had for a long time.

 

[Who's Kissing Cameras?]

What a player.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Got to admire the transition to this role. He’s taken to it fantastically. Some harsh defensive criticism, think the tackling criticism is a little overboard, players like Scholes and Kroos have flourished in deeper roles without being able to tackle because of what they offer is that good. If Pereira continues to improve in that regard we shouldn’t even care about his tackling.

Leicester didn’t press him so much, he was playing some delightful long balls and he was full of energy. Will be interesting to see how he does against some intensity.