That’s also possible.Maybe we’re letting them, to help get Madrid to hurry the feck up.
No, indeed I dont see Ajax in general behaving like that to be honest.I don’t think Van Der Sar would use us like that.
I think United let Chelsea have a clear path to Werner in order to secure Sancho. If Chelsea hadn't signed Werner, they would go all guns blazing for Sancho. Also, Werner's playing style is very similar to Rashford/ Martial. Ole is clearly looking for a ST like Ighalo who could hold the ball up and bring the wingers into play and can score scrappy goals. Haaland fits that mould has well. I don't think ST is going to be a priority until Ighalo is done with this loan. We are going to prioritize an AM/ CM as well as Sancho (RW).It'll be strange if we sign him since we didn't go for Werner with a clear release clause, yet we seem happy to spend for a (granted very good) MF in the position we don't actually need (CDM).
Not underwhelming compared to the rest of the squad no, we are still weak in several areas. Weak in terms of being the most expensive player in our history and in terms of being supposedly world class and the player for us to build a team around. Remember a video of Lampard talking about Pogba a year or so ago and completley agree with what he said.As others have said, let’s not turn this into a Pogba thread.
All I’ll say again is, best numbers in assists and goals, yet apparently he is underwhelming- what then of the rest of the squad?
Nobody is telling me we are better off swapping him for this pair, as decent as they are. Decent being the key word.
Their midfield is a cause for concern.Because of course they are. What is with Juve wanting all of the midfielders in the world?
They've got to sell in order to buy anyone. They've got Ramsey, Rabiot, Matuidi, Pjanic, Bentancur, Can and Khedira playing in midfield for them. They'll need to sell before they buy anyone. That's what they get from hoarding all the players that join them on a free. I could see them using De Ligt to convince VDB. However, I think Van De Sar will be key to get this deal over the line.Their midfield is a cause for concern.
Juve won't have a problem shifting players. Paratici will have deals lined up for several out-goings imo.They've got to sell in order to buy anyone. They've got Ramsey, Rabiot, Matuidi, Pjanic, Bentancur, Can and Khedira playing in midfield for them. They'll need to sell before they buy anyone. That's what they get from hoarding all the players that join them on a free. I could see them using De Ligt to convince VDB. However, I think Van De Sar will be key to get this deal over the line.
If we let Lingard go and Matic after next season plus the always unsettled future of Pogba it makes sense. Plus Andreas isnt good enoughIt'll be strange if we sign him since we didn't go for Werner with a clear release clause, yet we seem happy to spend for a (granted very good) MF in the position we don't actually need (CDM).
I don't think Ole is on the "square peg in round holes" boat at all, judging on all his signings so far and how he has used the players that we have at the moment. I am sure he has a clear idea of where to play VDB when he comes and whether or not he will be a success in the no.6/double pivot role. I still think that VDB will be an excellent replacement for Matic when given more time and training in that role.Or better yet, we could buy a specialist for the deeper role. This is reminiscent of the suggestions to sign Adama Traore and Perisic as wing backs in the Mourinho days.
Can we spend 50 million on a squad player?As a squad player he’s an excellent signing. Fair price given his experience and versatility. He’s a Good age. Professional, strong mentally and won’t rock the boat if he’s not starting every game. He won’t be on huge wages. Signing him would also allow us to loan out Gomes Garner and Levitt with confidence that we won’t really miss them if there’s injuries. I reckon this means Bellingham is off to Germany though. I would have loved to watch another wonderkid develop here.
We're clearly not interested in a pure DM. Bellingham, Havertz, Grealish and van der Beek are the players we've been linked to and none of them consistently plays that role.It'll be strange if we sign him since we didn't go for Werner with a clear release clause, yet we seem happy to spend for a (granted very good) MF in the position we don't actually need (CDM).
Yup I don't think Ole believes in playing with a pure DM or outright destroyer to disrupt play in the middle of the park. He himself played with midfielders like Keane, Scholes, Veron, Carrick etc who could play in the deep-lying role while still contributing a lot to a team's attack.We're clearly not interested in a pure DM. Bellingham, Havertz, Grealish and van der Beek are the players we've been linked to and none of them consistently plays that role.
As evidenced with which players? Haaland is one for sure, but there aren’t many at all.Recently it seems we lose whenever there is tough competition for a player. Not getting my hopes up.
You could say that about Park Ji Sung and yet he started in some important games and won many titles including the CL.I dont think VDB is good enough to be a starter for a top team that has aspirations for titles.
He also has title-winning and lots of UCL experience at a young age, while still scoring some important goals in big games along the way. Also, how many midfielders are there out there we can get who are of world-class quality? None of the teams who have them will want to sell them.You could say that about Park Ji Sung and yet he started in some important games and won many titles including the CL.
None of them have not ever played there.We're clearly not interested in a pure DM. Bellingham, Havertz, Grealish and van der Beek are the players we've been linked to and none of them consistently plays that role.
They are very different.Over the last week, rumours have had us prioritising Grealish, and now discussing Van de Beek. Surely not both. They're rather pretty similar aren't they?
They are very different types of player . IMO we are dipping our toe with a,few players but I think our priority is Sancho anything after that is a bonus. Also alot of it will be newspaper talk as there is not a snowballs chance in hell of getting Sancho , Havertz , VdB and Grealish. 1 off that list would be great 2 would be amazing .Over the last week, rumours have had us prioritising Grealish, and now discussing Van de Beek. Surely not both. They're rather pretty similar aren't they?
This is it. I had a similar post to yours in the Grealish thread.Why are people talking about how he's high profile to be back up. Is he going to be a starter in Madrid's midfield, Barcelona, City, Bayern, Juve, Liverpool or PSG's??? If his aim is to be a starter then he's more suited to 2nd tier clubs like Tottenham and Arsenal.
if this is true then it makes sense to me. After back up ST and RW our weakest position is backup AM. We've sorted out backup ST with Ighalo and want to get Sancho as RW so that leaves back up AM.
Alot of people saying DM is more necessary but is it really to Ole? Our standard formation is a 4-2-3-1 and every time in this formation our two DMs behind the AM consisted of either Pogba, Matic, Fred or Mctominay and the attacking midfielder has been either Bruno Pereira or Lingard. If we were going by this then the position that needs upgrading the most in midfield is who plays back up to Bruno. We already know that in the pivot it's going to be Pogba and Fred/Mctominay with Matic and Mctominay/Fred as back up which is very solid. On the other hand we have Bruno as the AM with Lingard Mata or Pereira as back up which is quite awful because the three of them are not good enough to even be on the bench for a top team. This is where VDB comes in I think
Not sure but do you mean we don't need a CDM or we do? I think we lack a proper CDM, Matic is past it and we need a starting CDM. Whether that is van de Beek, I am not quite sure.It'll be strange if we sign him since we didn't go for Werner with a clear release clause, yet we seem happy to spend for a (granted very good) MF in the position we don't actually need (CDM).
But he doesn't play as the most defensive of Ajax's 2 midfielders, Lisandro Martinez does - someone who can also play at CB and that was his main position before Ajax bought him.I think VDB will be the Matic/Fred replacement in the DM position. I like Fred in CM. But he has been caught quite a few times when pressed as he receives the ball from De Gea with his back to the opposing goal that my heart skips a beat. Will he control the ball or let it go loose?