@Sultan respectfully disagree. The lad from
Brighton isn’t even a similar player, he’s a number 8 whereas Rice sits.
Brighton isn’t even a similar player, he’s a number 8 whereas Rice sits.
Declan Rice
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
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Keane not one to wax lyrical. And he would certainly know what it takes in midfield.
He also makes a good point about how the more expansive and progressive passing is something you would expect to see more of in a better team. But even so it’s not necessary for Rice to be an important player in this team.
The main thing we would ask him to do is clog it up in the center of the pitch and be a platform for our attacking players. He is well capable of that and has the potential to evolve into much more as Keano says.
As a few have said Rice is being judged by the price tag not his quality as a player.
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Very rare to see Keane praises a player. Keane sees something and I see what he sees. Some people might see it differently, time will tell.
Similar to Keane, I didn't think he was a good enough footballer but he's improved by carrying the ball more and getting more comfortable playing the ball forward centrally. Would still be a bit worried about his quality with Fred or McTominay as his partner, but seems clear that he'd improve us. Probably want a genuine passer like Tielemans next to him though.
would thin him and Mctominay would make a good partnership.
Rice wouldn't need to be a magical ball playing DCM, hell Keane wasn't. Just be available and move the ball, keep the game ticking.
Keane was a very very good passer of the ball, people forget this. Always progressed the ball forward and always demanded his teammates do the same. There’s a story about Rio playing a few safe passes and Keane absolutely going in on him saying ‘you’re at man United now you play the ball forward!’.
He's just McTominay but with better positional sense and slightly better technique. For £60m+ I really think we could aim higher, but whatever he'd be fine I guess.
Considering how good McT was yesterday after being out that isn’t a vilification of him I hope
What Keane are you talking about, Michael Keane, Moise Keane?
The first thing Fergie said to the players when Keane was signed was 'this guy doesn't lose the ball, ever'. He was the main passer and midfield player in our team, rotating partners between Butt, Scholes, Phil Nev and occasionally Becks, up until his legs were gone. Even then, he still had the occasional complete performance like when he bossed Gerrard in 04.
Rice doesn't lose the ball ever.
That's why he keeps it simple but it's getting better at elongation his passes and making it more progressive.
Keane didnt gassed himself just by making one run forward.
It's a laugh comparing the two of them, at this moment. Like Keane said, Rice could improve with age and moving up a level, but that's still just a possibility at this point. Keane bossed a midfield of Zidane, Davids and Deschamps, Rice couldnt boss McFred.
And again who has Tchouameni bossed
Absolutely nobody.
Hasn't don't nothing in his life, not even bossed the French league.
Just a possibility.
In case you are mistaking me for someone else, I've never said anything about Tchouameni. I've not watched him enough to form an opinion.And again who has Tchouameni bossed
Absolutely nobody.
Hasn't don't nothing in his life, not even bossed the French league.
Just a possibility.
I'm of the few people here who think CDM isnt a priority, at least not a specialised 6. What we need imo is a metronomic passer in the mould of Scholes, Carrick, Modric, Alonso, who is first and foremost a great baller who can dictate the game. Rice is not that player, at least not yet. Keane was one.
No one is saying he is.
He is more the Casemiro that sits behind a Kroos.
He is looks less bad on the ball himself which people were worried about when seeing him for England.
Intercepts, recycles, passes, sometimes quick passes to try initiate a counter or go on a run.
Anyway, who in your mind is this next Carrick or Scholes that is available for us to buy?
Not a big fan of him but thought that he was very good. Still not what we need.
Veratti would be the dream if we can prize him out of PSG, same as Frenkie De Jong if he could be swayed, Bellingham has the potential, our own Hannibal Meijbri if he can make the step up. Lorenzo Pellegrini from Roma is also one I really like, although Mourinho will be a bitch to deal with.
Declan Rice to Manchester United just makes sense.
If both parties are interested it will happen.
If both parties are interested it will happen.
Can we get him in January somehow?
Vlašić but he's an attacking mid.
I am not keen (Keane) on Rice. He would cost a ludicrous amount of money and could end up being another Sancho, big reputation and big fee but not quite what we needed.
Comparisons with Keane are ridiculous and I don’t think he’s any good on the ball at all.
Having said that I’m not convinced our coaching staff would ever conjure up a midfield controlling set up so he might just be a good fit for us.
Having said that I’m not convinced our coaching staff would ever conjure up a midfield controlling set up so he might just be a good fit for us.
Thought he was pretty good against us. He was asked to sit and remain compact so he played a pretty basic game but he generally makes the right decision most of the time. He didn't display much progressive passing yesterday but he has improved on that count significantly this season. After 5 games he's one of the top passers in the league in most categories. I think that I'd need to see him play against sides that West Ham take the game to more to get a better impression of how he'd fare for us.
People talk about Ndidi.
Leicester have list their last two games to West Ham and Brighton.
If people are writing off Rice for his performances vs us then I think we can write off performances quite easily vs others too.
For example Monaco draw 2-2 vs Nice.
He was good at Euros too, England conceded so few goals not just cause of defense but cause him and the guy from Leeds did a good job in midfield and Southgate playing defensively suited him. For such a player his on the ball abilities are pretty good to.
If people want someone good on the ball then Ndidi is certainly not the player to go for. He's a very specialised player who is exceptional when it comes to defending and ball winning but weak in nearly all other areas of the game, especially passing and progressing the play. I think this is why he's never linked to any top clubs.
I had to look up the meaning of metronomic.
Anyway, I think exactly the same. United have never played with a purely defensive midfielder player as far as I can remember. The player need not be one-dimensional just to defend like Rice. It's important to make passes between the lines and be great at reading the game.
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He would fit us like a glove. We badly need players with good positional cense at the centre of the pitch and he's just that. The amount of times he nicked the ball away yesterday proved the fact and he's still quite young and easily could give us so many years of service.
It seems people have become obsessed with the idea of playing a 4-3-3 with Fernandes and Pogba in attacking midfield, and a CDM. Rice is the only man on the planet that can do this apparently, so they are hell bent on signing him no matter what.
We had that report at the beginning of the season that Solskjaer wanted to be more attacking and use a 4-3-3, but we haven't even had a sniff of it.
As you say though, somebody who specialises in defending tight spaces is just going to be completely wasted at United. Sure he can come in and do a defensive job and be tidy enough - but is that really enough for £60m+ ? not for me.
Has Bruno Fernandes continued to play as a false 9 type player since the arrival of C Ronaldo?
I'm seeing Bruno Fernandes more away from the box than in it these days.
I'm seeing Bruno Fernandes more away from the box than in it these days.
I agree, If we're just looking for a pure defensive defender then Bissouma might not be the answer. However, the club has not played with a defensive midfielder if I remember correctly.
Personally I think we need someone who can get the ball back and recycle it first. Then we need to add a second, especially if Pogba goes - this may or may not be in-house already with Hannibal
adding a scholes or modric type is pointless at the moment because we have no one to get the ball back if we replace Fred for example
True that we haven’t but that’s meant a double pivot to make up for it. Perhaps Ole wants to move away from that or maybe a bit more flexibility. Having only matic on his last legs doesn’t give us many options
Matic made a great deal of difference once he came on, shame he's not someone we can rely on to play twice a week. His positional sense and range of passing cannot be replicated by Fred & Scotty. Maybe Ole views Garner as an option for next season? Who knows....
If we dont misplace passes or be too slow to move it to begin with, the amount of time we need to get it back would be significantly reduced.
One game I will always remember is the home game against Spurs in 12/13, we conceded early and ended up losing 2-3, but in the 2nd half Scholes would spray it with pin point accuracy time after time after time and we absolutely pinned them into their own box, which make contesting for any loose ball from clearance a near impossibility for them. You would be hard pressed to find someone of that calibre nowadays, but it would actually transform us. We have defensive frailties through the middle, that is for granted, but even in possession we far too often failed to build any sort of sustained pressure.
Our midfield is unbalanced in my opinion. You talk about bringing another scholes type into that where there’s already Pogba and Bruno so we play mcfred to do the dirty work.
Unless you are shifting one of those 2, we need to bring in someone who can upgrade Fred
I dont consider Pogba as a midfield player at this point, he either competes with Bruno or the LW position. Even Kante couldnt make it work with Pogba/Griezmann, Rice Pogba Bruno isnt going to work.
The Scholes-type player would be paired with McT, and we would see if McT freed up from offensive responsibility can focus on defensive duties, if he cant then we can reassess and consider a Rice, or Ndidi, or whoever. My point is our chronic lack of structure and control in midfield cant be fixed without a great passer, even if you manage to shore it up somewhat.
I think he and Zouma could've done better on the Lingard goal.
He probably is a touch overrated, my biggest question would be can we not find an equally talented midfielder somewhere on the continent who isn’t going to cost north of £80m?
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