That's exactly what Pogba brings us from the left, a front 4 of Pogba/Bruno/Mason/Cavani has great balance, I'm not saying adding more creative depth to attack is a bad idea, but not before we replace McFred as starters.
Is Jadon Sancho really worth the 100 plus million fee?
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Who in that England team/formation has set the world alight?
Somewhat. I don't think Pogba has the same creativity or dribbling as Sancho. Just watch. If he joins people will understand what we've been missing. He will the hazard /ribery wide player we've needed for years.
That's kinda what liverpool did though. It's not like anyone thought Henderson and Wijnaldum were any good previously.I get the wish for depth in attack and would be fine with it, but we operate on a budget, my worry is we'll spend the bulk of our resources on Sancho and end up with an attack like this......
.....and a midfield like this.
Fair point I guess, hard to feel guilty when you see what PSG did to their attacking lineup. In comparison Sancho deal looks quite sensible, especially if the lad wants return to Manchester.
You obviously don't believe the statement but do you really think that they are far enough apart that the statement is laughable?
I disagree on Pogba, his guile and close control is superb, he's not as quick off the mark as Sancho and Sancho is a better crosser, but Pogba is more inventive round the box. I'm not saying Sancho isn't a quality player, I'm simply looking at the overall team, 5 Ferrari's into 4 slots doesn't need a 6th while we have 2 VW Golf's in midfield.
I think Wijnaldum was decently rated and don't forget they have Fabinho as well, plus those 2 elevated under Klopp, McFred are what they are and have been for 3 years now.
We don't have 5 Ferraris. Cavani is not here for long and Pogba doesn't have an attackers instinct - he's an option we user right now. He's a hybrid attacking midfielder. Greenwood is still raw. Martial has gone to pieces.
As a winger, yes they are.
We only need one midfielder - a DM. Asides Fred and Mctominay, we have VdB and Pogba that can play CM. I think a DM would give us the opportunity to use them more comfortably.
I know people may not rate Fred but I think Fred is good and would contribute more to attack if used as a proper box to box which a DM would allow us do. Same with VdB, who I think would shine as an 8 and when he regains his confidence. Pogba can also play as an 8 with the right protection which we have. So I think Pogba - Fred - VdB - Mctominay - DM - Bruno as our midfield options next season is enough
However asides Greenwood at RW, we're left with the option of shoehorning players there or playing Diallo who is still raw. Sancho or not RW should be a priority this window because we currently have only Greenwood as a reliable option.
Well Greenwood has played most of his senior career as a winger.
How many times have you watched Sancho for 90 minutes?
Pogba absolutely has an attackers instinct, if Ole doesn't think so though get rid of him now and that'll pay for Sancho. I disagree on Mason and we know Martial can be a Ferrari, he's just been more of a Toyots Supra this season. Cavani will be replaced by a #9 signing next season.
Greenwood has played most of his football as a winger/wide forward, and I still say that nothing about his play upfront suggests he is a striker. His finishing and skills are great, but he is never going to get in the positions that Cavani does, he has no instinct for it, which is mainly because he doesnt play there
And Sancho will imo be our long term RW. Let's see. Ole saw the need for him being the priority last season and nothing has changed since. Cavani makes no difference
I don't think I agree with that, being inventive around the box is probably Sancho's biggest strength. There aren't many players more creative than him in that area, and I don't think Pogba is one of them.
Pogba is half the player in a midfield double pivot and a defensive liability, I'd rather we sold him if we don't plan on using him as the left sided attacker, it's pointless keeping him if we aren't going to get the best out of him by using him in his best position. As for Van de Beek, never going to happen imo, too slow and too weak for the double pivot in the PL, Ole only used him there the other night as he didn't have anyone else.
The midfield needs two additions with McFred becoming the back-ups and Matic sold, Van de Beek to be loaned by January. Again I've never said don't get Sancho, just not if it prevents us buying midfielders.
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So where is Greenwood long term? He's evolved in that RW role this season and both him and Ole have said any move to striker is years off. As for what's changed, the improvement in Mason and the signing of Amad.
Fair enough, no way to really prove it either way i guess, both have creativity, but for me Pogba's got the edge on the intricate pass around the 18 yard box.
I think it would just be back to England - he'd probably prefer London being from Kennington originally. I think the idea that you need individual quality all over the pitch to create a good side is not true anyway. No one can tell me that Zinchenko is any good, yet still manages to get 20 odd appearances for City.
Well just look at what's happened to those players at Liverpool now, it's all about the overall system working. If they can do the dirty work to allow Sancho, Bruno, Cavani and Rashford to just go nuts and do their thing, it's fine.
Greenwood will be the striker long-term, and will get plenty of games covering RW and CF in the short term.
After Cavani goes in the summer next year I see us getting Kane to handle that 3-4 year period by which time Greenwood will be c.23-24 and ready to take over and be the full-time striker for us
We've been playing our system for years now, they've had quality ahead of them already, they are poor on the ball and defensively dodgy, Mbappe and Neymar wouldn't improve their deficiencies, nevermind Sancho.
I don't see us getting Kane, it's near impossible to get anybody out of Levy's claws, plus if we got Kane then Mason would see even less game time, I don't get why some of our fans are so reluctant to accept the possibility that Mason might have found his position and needs nurturing in it.
You're right, it's not the general rule of progress of any team for that matter. United's latest improvement came not from expensive Martial, but from emergence of Greenwood and steady progress of Rashford despite his injury complications. Cavani helped a lot even though he's not long road solution and cost us nothing.
If Sancho goes to Chelsea, they'll have Havertz-Pulisic-Sancho lineup and they can give City strong run for their money. That kind of talent can make any team more potent to create and score. The thing is Football Association will probably give us another cramped fixtures next season and knowing our luck with injuries, we could really use rotation between Greenwood, Rashford, Martial and Sancho rather than fielding James, Mata or Donny on the wing.
I still have serious doubts if we even possess that kind of budget to go out there and just sign one player in one go and still have funds for other position, but this time we could finally have complete set of attacking players for both title race and Champions League to go past the group stages and try make it to the semis.
Amad's a baby.
Greenwood played on the RW last season. Why was Sancho our priority last summer? Did we not see Greenwood improving last year? You think one Amad will change those grand plans? His senior football exposure is puny.
it’s funny because we started this season with Greenwood in awful form and would have been a great chance for him to have a breather and have some pressure off. Peoples memories are short.
Absolutely. Not to mention Rashfords back, Cavani age and feck knows what Martial is upto. And he counters their qualities very well imo. They'll all enjoy playing off him
We got Cavani unexpectedly which meant Mason has spent more time on the right this season as Cavani and Martial shared striker duties, this saw Mason blossom in the role, at the same time Pogba has emerged as the standout option in the left side of attack, making the need for Sancho less imperative than it was, but as I said I don't care if we buy him, just as long as it doesn't effect our ability to ut midfielders.
Mason mainly player on the right last season too.
I don't see midfielders who are both good enough and available on the market. Hence I expect that you'll have to wait another summer for a big improvement there. And I don't think we'll just for anyone either. With rw we know our man and trust his abilities clearly.
If there was a Scholes on the market id put down everything for him. But giving up on Sancho for the likes of rice, Ndidi and kessie wouled be worth ridicule.
It doesn't need to be a flash name we bring in, we have the flash and sizzle, it's the quality at the base we lack, buying Sancho and still playing McFred will see us at best where we are now, maybe lower if Chelsea get a top striker, but buy Rice and Camavinga or Betancur and Neuhaus and suddenly we have a double pivot that can do the work but also connect the front 4 and midfield, something we desperately lack and that would improve our team synergy, even one of them in would improve us despite still being stuck with one of McFred.
Grass isn't always greener. You under rate our midfield.
They are the work horses that allow the forwards to do their magic. Add another creator in Sancho and we will be scoring plenty of goals.
Liverpool don't have flash in their midfield, they won the league on Henderson, Wijnaldum and Milner rotating in!
They had Fabinho who's probably the best DM on the planet.
Well yes but I wouldn't put him in the same bracket which is why I left him out.
We play Fernandes at the tip instead which is in the same bracket of 'world class'.
The point is their central midfielders are no better than ours on paper, don't chip in with goals or assists very often. It's all about running, tackling and pressing.
This is all opinionated and I'm sure Ole has his own plans. I agree with you about needing a DM but I don't think we desperately need that extra box to box midfielder you're taking about once we get a DM.
We have Fred Mctominay VdB and Pogba that can play box to box given the right combination (which a proper DM will slow). For example
VDB.... Bruno
......Rice....
Pogba....Fred
........Rice....
......Bruno.....
Fred..... Rice
... Pogba ...
Fred ...Mctominay
......Bruno.....
Fred....Mctominay
These are all possible combinations that we can rotate with based on availability, quality of the opponent and tactics. Pogba may not work as a double pivot but if you play him with work horses like Rice and Fred or Fred and Mctominay in a midfield three, he would shine. We may lack a bit in creativity but that's where Sancho comes in at RW. In another combination we can pair Bruno and VdB who work hard off the ball with a DM against a weak side. We can play Bruno Fred and a DM to give us more defensive solidity against a tough team. Or decide to go all out with Bruno Pogba and a DM as the midfield three.
In the end it's all down to how we rate the players we have. We need a DM more than RW but we need an RW more than a box to box as I think VdB Pogba Fred and Mctominay as our box to box options is better quality and cover than what we have on our RW in Greenwood Amad Rashford and James
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Henderson and Fabinho were the base and both are comfortably better than McFred, Fabinho is one of the best #6's in Europe, and we already score plenty of goals without Sancho. I also never said I wanted flash, i just want quality which we lack.
Pogba isn't an option playing in a double pivot....he's just not comfortable playing that position or that role. Its shown in many of the games when he's part of the building out process, that he's not comfortable and plays too slow.
As for Sancho, he clearly is the guy that we need to purchase. A CF, like Haaland or Kane, would be great but it's right wing where we need to balance the squad. Sancho would do that quite easily and he's a young english player which suits Ole perfectly.
As for Sancho, he clearly is the guy that we need to purchase. A CF, like Haaland or Kane, would be great but it's right wing where we need to balance the squad. Sancho would do that quite easily and he's a young english player which suits Ole perfectly.
The 2 I've bolded are the only 2 that would work in the PL, the rest would get ran through, even Guardiola has stopped with the 2 AM's ahead of the holder, Pogba is no Gundogan when it comes to covering ground which is vital, Pogba should be factored into the front 4 options rather than the midfield pivot options imo, and these days it seems Ole has realized as well. Rice is good at what he does but he's not Superman and I don't think Fred or Van de Beek are the answer as his partner.
I have my doubts about our budget too, but I think we might shift James and Mata out and let the younger lads come through.
That's just nonsense, we've not had consistent quality ahead of them at all. Only now do we have some consistency and it's paying dividends and McFred are playing very well this season.
Bruno, Cavani, Rashford and Mason have all given us plenty this season, the only thing that's changed recently is Pogba has added creative balance to the attack and Cavani has reached full sharpness, McFred are by far the weakest link in the team, we just have 3 or 4 magic men that can turn games for us, if we added nothing but 2 midfielders that could cover ground but actually have positional sense and quality on the ball we'd evolve massively as a team.
pogba maybe isn’t Gundogan but Bruno Fernandes is when he drops down deep and gets aggressive to tackle.
a lot of the sporting fans say that Bruno is a CM and the way he be slowly struggling as a CAM for us may highlight that he might be turning to a CM in the future alongside pogba with both the freedom to get forward.
a lot of people get nervous and say that it’s taking Bruno away from his strongest position but that fact is he works so hard defensively that he isn’t always in those CaM positions all the time anyway.
Bruno works hard but he's too much of a high risk passer to play deep and does his best work in the final third, i honestly believe this Rice/Bruno/Pogba midfield ahead of a Sancho/Rashford/Mason attack fantasy is just that, pure fantasy.
McFred are low end midfielders but their high energy at the base is important in Ole's team, we just need to get midfielders that can do that basic task as well as use the ball well and have some positional sense, as even with the high workrate they lose runners too easily.
I'm not saying they're not the weakest link, but similarly Henderson and Wijnaldum are the weakest links in that Liverpool (full strength) side. I think we're evolving finally having an attack that moves, ie runs in behind and not static as feck. Everyone is starting to take heed and we're improving across the front line. I then see the issue stemming that like with Leeds, you take out Bruno, the creativity is gone. I don't think Pogba is anywhere close to a true creative attacking midfielder, so having Bruno + Sancho would be far better than sacrificing our defensive solidity at the base of midfield.
I don't think the player we would both want to replace either fred or mctominay exists right now.
If we're playing James then we need a RW. It's that simple
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