British Core

[roonster09]

We currently have 3-4 in our ranks I think.

Shaw and Rashford seems nailed on starters. Smalling for lack of better alternatives would start in most of the games. We also have Lingard, Jones, McTomminay on the fringes. To me we are looking at 5-6 or even 7 regular starters as a plan.

The interesting part is that we haven't really been linked to a striker so far. Few names would give us a hint of whether we're right or not I guess.

We are linked with striker, Ben Yedder and reports that he will be signed if Lukaku leaves.

Also like I said, having players for the sake of it is bad, which is what we have now. Previously we had players who were very good, now we have average players.

 

[Hammondo]

It all comes back to not trusting the manager? We have to let Ole pick his CB and then judge. Mou wanted this guy, Pep wants this guy, so would Klopp if he could get him........Hell even Gary Neville said what we all know..every club would want him. Stones had it all to prove when he moved to City. Maguire is 26/27 and our best international defender!

You do not know any of this. How do you know Klopp and Mou want him?

 

[RedorDead21]

All I am saying is that our CB's success rate isn't very high. The only difference is that while Shitty can tank a 70m failure, I doubt we can say the same for us. I mean look at Jones. He's been shit for us for most of his career and he's still here.

If we can't afford to tank it then the club has to get it right. Pretty sure this guy is one of the best names they could come up with within this price bracket. Perhaps not the best but none of them would come here! The club should know after several failed CB signings the importance of changing that tide. Agree on Jones I would have moved him on long ago and perhaps that may happen this summer if anyone was crazy enough to try.

 

[RedorDead21]

You do not know any of this. How do you know Klopp and Mou want him?

Mou was linked to him pretty widely and under his tenure we didnt exactly act covertly on transfers. I don't know but I'd wager he was. He's the obvious choice for some time now! He'd walk into Liverpool's defence.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Please don't put Bruce at the same level of Irwin. The latter was WC something Bruce never was.

If we sign Maguire up then I hope he's a massive success. There's no doubt about that. Actually I have an idea of how Maguire can be a success in our defence and in many ways we've already had done most of the arrangements to make it work. However as said, we shouldn't be making accommodations to turn a 70m rated CB into a success.

If be pretty happy to have Steve Bruce Mk2 (if that’s what your calling him - even though he’s been to a WC, a first team International and Bruce never won a cap [even though he did deserve to]) in the team, and leading us to a PL and FA Cup double!

We don’t need to accommodate Maguire - he’s a player who can slot straight in.

 

[devilish]

If be pretty happy to have Steve Bruce Mk2 (if that’s what your calling him - even though he’s been to a WC, a first team International and Bruce never won a cap [even though he did deserve to]) in the team, and leading us to a PL and FA Cup double!

We don’t need to accommodate Maguire - he’s a player who can slot straight in.

That squad would win irrespective of whether Bruce was in it or not. Actually I think he was one of the weakest links in it.

 

[R'hllor]

Domestic, foreign. does it even matter really in our situation.

 

[bond19821982]

Maguire is the best english CB now and is a captain material. Longstaff looks to be a smart signing which is also fine.AWB was the best FB last year .

Sancho would be brilliant too. So nothing wrong in targetting the best talents from EPL. You will end up paying a premium but will be worth it in the long run.

The last player english player we signed was Shaw and he was one of the best that year. So its not like we are spending huge money on dross.

 

[Harry190]

I'm sure it's not true but every time I hear someone talk about wanting a "British core" to a team I just assume they're the kind of person who voted for Brexit and claim to have attended the "University of life".

Neither true nor very smart. Non-Brits will tell you just as much, regardless of creed.

 

[Hammondo]

Mou was linked to him pretty widely and under his tenure we didnt exactly act covertly on transfers. I don't know but I'd wager he was. He's the obvious choice for some time now! He'd walk into Liverpool's defence.

Linked me meaningless.

 

[RedorDead21]

Linked me meaningless.

well we bought far worse CBs under Mou regardless. Being linked with this guy would have been an improvement on its own.

 

[johanovic]

Is buying British perhaps also smart because of Brexit? Will that not have a huge effect on the PL?

 

[sunama]

My point exactly

For every Worldie, you need 2/3 water carriers

Bear in mind, Gary Neville was one heck of a water carrier.
Ole would donate his left nut, for a few players of Neville's quality.
The likes of our current squad are so dire, none of them would get into the starting XI of the 1999 (important) games. In particular our attackers right now are so poor, none of them would make the bench. None of them.

 

[sunama]

I would still look to sign the best British talent. But only the ones with the ability to play for the club, I don’t think I could take another Smalling, Jones or Young!

I agree with you. The problem is that we have signed a player from the Championship, who I've not seen play, but can't imagine is good enough to play for MUFC (yet). Bissaka should go straight into our first team, though.

 

[Hammondo]

well we bought far worse CBs under Mou regardless. Being linked with this guy would have been an improvement on its own.

I think he's turning out like the rest.

 

[Denis' cuff]

That squad would win irrespective of whether Bruce was in it or not. Actually I think he was one of the weakest links in it.

Apart from the fact he scored nearly 20 goals and was an inspiring leader, which is something you can see lacking right now. He marshalled the defence like a true captain but what did Fergie know?

 

[matt10000]

Apart from the fact he scored nearly 20 goals and was an inspiring leader, which is something you can see lacking right now. He marshalled the defence like a true captain but what did Fergie know?

Exactly, you build a team with a diverse range of skills rather than just collecting individuals. What Bruce lacked in some areas he made up for in others.

 

[devilish]

Apart from the fact he scored nearly 20 goals and was an inspiring leader, which is something you can see lacking right now. He marshalled the defence like a true captain but what did Fergie know?

I'd suggest you go and watch the videos. His lack of speed meant that he left acres of space for players to exploit. Romario and Stoichkov literally wiped the floor with Dolly and Daisy. It wasn't even funny.

There again, it was a different time when the EPL wasn't as rich as it is now, there were 3 foreigners rule and everyone worked with what he had. I don't blame Sir Alex for using Bruce but I can't say the same with Ole if he spends 70m on his slightly better upgrade.

 

[Escobar]

Buying British is fine as long as it is top talents obviously. Buying British for the sake of it is stupid and you need "international" flair to top it up for sure. Instead of buying British, we should approach the best young players all over the world

 

[He'sRaldo]

Lukaku has himself to blame. He still has too much muscle on him.

Suspiciously similar to Memphis, Pogba, Martial, and now Rashford. I think we encourage players to put on upper body mass, for whatever reason.

 

[Raees]

Suspiciously similar to Memphis, Pogba, Martial, and now Rashford. I think we encourage players to put on upper body mass, for whatever reason.

Increases shirt sales.

 

[He'sRaldo]

Increases shirt sales.

That would be absolutely ridiculous if true, wouldn't put it past us; surely it can't be the reason though.

Nowadays the focus is on agility, balance, stamina, acceleration, etc. as opposed to upper body strength. I have a feeling the fitness staff isn't modern enough to recognize that.

 

[Inter Yer Nan]

We aren't and won't be starting a no foreigners policy. That will never happen. I just feel at the moment we are a bit of a mess and we've spent a lot of money on some players that haven't given in their best once they've joined. I don't think we can accuse the likes of Mata, Herrera and Zlatan of this but we've had a number that seem to be using United for the image and haven't dug deep when things haven't gone well. Out 1994, 1999, 2008 teams are widely seen as our best in the last quarter century and whilst foreign players took us that extra level further it never hurt to have at least a very British feel. After all, it's an English club. We've probably recruited poorly and sold players the wrong ideas and that comes down to Woodward IMO. I also believe British players likely view the likes of United as the pinnacle and won't be itching to move abroad or try something new and have a sneaky agent trying to engineer their next move all the time.

I like the signings of James, Wan Bissaka and a possible arrival of Maguire and Longstaff. They are all young and in the case of everyone bar Maguirre - very young and talented. AWB improves us immediately with his talent, he's taking over from our worst player and he has a lot of room to improve. James is exciting and give us an extra dimension in a problem era as would Longstaff and both could prove mid/long-term bargains, Maguirre improves us a lot and right away. I don't see these signings/targets as buying for the sake of being British but being the best fit of what are available and the vision of the club. I'm sure we won't turn down a top foreign talent who's eager to join and help out.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

Romario and Stoichkov literally wiped the floor with Dolly and Daisy. It wasn't even funny.

They were clearly not ideally suited to stop Romario and Stoichkov, but that doesn't mean they were poor defenders.

And Bruce was 34 at the time.

The same pair did well enough against a different Barca vintage three years earlier, Bruce being instrumental in that win.

 

[devilish]

They were clearly not ideally suited to stop Romario and Stoichkov, but that doesn't mean they were poor defenders.

And Bruce was 34 at the time.

The same pair did well enough against a different Barca vintage three years earlier, Bruce being instrumental in that win.

As said, it was a different football mentality back then. The EPL's lack of financial power + the dreaded 3 foreigners rule meant that clubs had a very limited pool of players to work with. Having said that, I can't see SAF going for Bruce in today's football as much as I can't see him spending 70m on Maguire. We're talking about a man who struggled justifying spending 18m on Rio Ferdinand.

 

[Moriarty]

Increases shirt sales.

And sizes.

 

[0le]

Suspiciously similar to Memphis, Pogba, Martial, and now Rashford. I think we encourage players to put on upper body mass, for whatever reason.

Rashford and Martial were gangly and needed to improve their strength. I'm not sure about Memphis but I don't think the reasons he failed are because of gainging body mass. Pogba has had some brilliant performances, his issue continues to be inconsistency.

 

[He'sRaldo]

Rashford and Martial were gangly and needed to improve their strength. I'm not sure about Memphis but I don't think the reasons he failed are because of gainging body mass. Pogba has had some brilliant performances, his issue continues to be inconsistency.

Besides Pogba, their effectiveness all lie in acceleration and agility which to my eyes notably went down as soon as they built up that mass. This unfortunately affected their dynamism and especially their dribbling ability due to the slower change of pace and direction. Obviously also affecting Martial and Memphis' stamina (Rashford is a beast in this regard).

As for Pogba, his inability to go from box to box (which he catches flack for) and press intensely can be attributed partially to the loss of dynamism and stamina associated with gaining that mass. Same with Lukaku and his famous much-reduced work rate. Of course they're both quality players so they'll still have excellent performances, but that limitation will always be there until they work on it.

Upper body mass (not to be confused with strength) although sometimes good, can be detrimental if it's not done correctly. A good example would be Ronaldo before and after he went beast mode to win 3 CL's. He slimmed down from the bodybuilder physique he had previously and gained back some of his more dynamic qualities, to his and his team's benefit.

 

[cyberman]

With the rumours of the Southampton player coming to us, rumours of replacing two foreigners in Lukaku and Pogba with more foreigners, can we put a pin in this Brexit FC bullshit?
Or is the meme planted so deeply in posters heads that they can't let it go?

 

[charlenefan]

Dreaming of what could be...

-------------De Gea-------------
AWB--Lindelof--Maguire--Shaw
----McTominay--Longstaff----
-------------Pogba-------------
Sancho--Greenwood--Rashford

Ok not entirely sure about the two CM's but tried to keep in in line with the thread

 

[bosnian_red]

Dreaming of what could be...

-------------De Gea-------------
AWB--Lindelof--Maguire--Shaw
----McTominay--Longstaff----
-------------Pogba-------------
Sancho--Greenwood--Rashford

Ok not entirely sure about the two CM's but tried to keep in in line with the thread

Swap Pogba with Angel Gomes since Pogba isnt staying forever, Lindelof with Tuanzebe, De Gea with Henderson and you have a full brexit fc

Tbh though, if Tuanzebe, Gomes, Greenwood and McTominay all progress into regular starting players, we'll definitely be almost full British considering we'll have Wan Bissaka, probably Maguire, Shaw, Rashford and will go all out with Sancho. 9/11, the other 2 being the holding midfielder we go for and De Gea if he stays.

 

[matt10000]

Well buying British may make a lot of sense considering Brexit. If end of freedom of movement impacts football then players from EU may be treated in the same way as non-EU or (European Economic Area (EEA) footballers currently are.

That means they will have to satisfy certain criteria or receive an exemption in order obtain a work permit, which would then allow them to work in the UK as employees of a football club.

This would push up the price of British players even more and so if we have already bought all the best talent we arw quids in

 

[steve.crowford]

Some massive star from EU should be in a team ) DeGea ,Pogba , Martial and maybe some super star CB
-------------De Gea-------------
AWB--Lindelof--Maguire--Chilwell
----McTominay--Longstaff----
-------------Pogba-------------
Sancho--Martial--Rashford
That team can win Champions League )

 

[Bwuk]

Some massive star from EU should be in a team ) DeGea ,Pogba , Martial and maybe some super star CB
-------------De Gea-------------
AWB--Lindelof--Maguire--Chilwell
----McTominay--Longstaff----
-------------Pogba-------------
Sancho--Martial--Rashford
That team can win Champions League )

No it can’t.

 

[TRUERED89]

Some massive star from EU should be in a team ) DeGea ,Pogba , Martial and maybe some super star CB
-------------De Gea-------------
AWB--Lindelof--Maguire--Chilwell
----McTominay--Longstaff----
-------------Pogba-------------
Sancho--Martial--Rashford
That team can win Champions League )

I'm not sure about that ^^^

 

[steve.crowford]

I'm not sure about that ^^^

Ок, if that team can't win CL, then British way it's not our way )
-------------De Gea-------------
AWB--Skriniar--Maguire--Shaw
----McTominay--Pogba----
-------------Eriksen-------------
Sancho--Martial--Rashford

Sancho+Skriniar would be 300mln euro Eriksen for free, that team could win.

 

[SCJY]

Ок, if that team can't win CL, then British way it's not our way )
-------------De Gea-------------
AWB--Skriniar--Maguire--Shaw
----McTominay--Pogba----
-------------Eriksen-------------
Sancho--Martial--Rashford

Sancho+Skriniar would be 300mln euro Eriksen for free, that team could win.

What you on about, mate? You think just throwing money at building the team will bring us any closer to winning the CL?

 

[Shaw Mee Tah Mané]

Liverpool won CL with Henderson, Wijnaldum & Matip in the starting 11.

It’s not the strongest 11 on paper that’s most important. Far from it.