He'd definitely improve us but that's not setting the bar very high. I feel he's getting a tad over rated but he does have a lot of quality and still relatively young so he might as well go on and prove me wrong.
Ruben Neves | Signed for Al Hilal (SA)
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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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Our midfield, Mctominay and Fred in particular, are so far below par of what is required, though, that even someone of Neves' quality would improve us immensely. We don't need the worlds best in every position, but we badly need an upgrade in MF this window.
I donk think either fred or mctom are bad on a personal level , but they just don't gel as an unit and can be stifling but that's another discussion.
But on yo your main point, yeah he'd immediately Improve us but were capable of just getting someone to be the back bones of this team for some time to come seeing as how many options are available , so might as well just go for the best that there is.
He's a better footballer than all our midfielders, but unfortunately that's not asking much. We could do worse than sign him though that's for sure.
Somebody who doesn't shit the bed every time the ball comes to him would be nice, we haven't had that since Carrick.
Somebody who doesn't shit the bed every time the ball comes to him would be nice, we haven't had that since Carrick.
I don't agree. The best there is won't be available in January and we have a lot to play for this season, not least top 4. We need an upgrade because I'll be damned if we have to play the rest of the season with 2 of Mctom, Fred and Matic - it's too far below par that we simply will not achieve anything.
But they will be in summer the likes of rice ,Bellingham , de jong , Philips, toochamni and others though only were willing to pay a fortune.
People at the club seem to have written of this season so panicking and going for neves will be risky because he might not be a success then we would have trouble off loading him and it'll set us back a few years, again .
This is a vital conundrum for the club to solve, we must absolutely get this right if we want to have any hope of competing in the future .
I said this in the summer, but he's also a different profile to any player we have. For the rumoured price in the summer, I was for signing him. Don't really see the point of him now I feel like our whole squad is unbalanced and needs a big re-jig.
I agree it's vital, but are we going to secure a top target with no CL football? We need someone to come in now, not for mega money, not on massive wages. We can pursue the idealistic target at a later date but persisting with the 3 we currently have isnt an option in my opinion.
It's always been obvious that he's the type of midfielder than we desperately need. He would instantly improve our midfield significantly.
The big question is whether he's the right one to get though. He's obviously an improvement, but could we get somebody else that is better again?
The big question is whether he's the right one to get though. He's obviously an improvement, but could we get somebody else that is better again?
Whether he's right for us - he's better than any midfielder at our club and he plays for Wolves...he and his compatriot partner have regularly taken the piss out of us since they came back into the PL (I don't include Bruno or Pogba here, as one has played as a false 9/no.10 most of the time, and the other has played his most recent football from an advanced left position).
I've never fancied him here to be honest, but I have to agree he's definitely better than anything we are fielding in that position currently.
Massive improvement over the current version of Matic and also McTominay (who I like but don't rate as much as many.)
This applies for every player we do get though. I would go as far as saying the risk is even higher with all of the ones you mention as it would take much higher transfer figures and/or higher salaries to temp them into joining us(if even possible) - and that would make it much harder to get rid of if they're not a success. You could also add to the risk-factor that three of the mentioned players have never played in the PL.
That being said, we need more than one new midfielder this january + summer.
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Playing well against a combination of McTominay, Fred and Matic doesn’t mean that we should go out and sign them or that they’re the answer to our midfield woes and I don’t think Neves is the answer, in order for Neves to thrive for he much like any other deep lying playmaker would need a player like Rice alongside them so we’d need to sign someone like Rice too anyway.
I think he could work well with Fred but you'd always worry about them when pressed.
I would be happy to bring him in. Defensively he is alright but his passing ability is close to Pogba which is really good. He shouldn't be the only midfielder for the "New United" but he would be a good piece of the puzzle. Think he is also financially a little more sensible than Rice or Bellingham. The latter being not exactly what we need right now (not as first priority at least).
Would definitely be an upgrade on what we have in central midfield, good passer of the ball with good vision. Has a decent long range shot on him and good at freekicks.
Would need to pair him with a quicker defensively strong midfielder ala Ndidi and that would be a good double pivot in midfield. Have bruno infront of that pair and that becomes a proper midfield trio (creator, passer, destroyer).
Obviously you could switch out neves for declan rice and Ndidi for bellingham but that would cost you multiple millions more to pull off.
Would need to pair him with a quicker defensively strong midfielder ala Ndidi and that would be a good double pivot in midfield. Have bruno infront of that pair and that becomes a proper midfield trio (creator, passer, destroyer).
Obviously you could switch out neves for declan rice and Ndidi for bellingham but that would cost you multiple millions more to pull off.
Nah, Rubén I've played in the championship isn't good enough for us.
Only looking for players who have played and won champions leagues
Only looking for players who have played and won champions leagues
Took me a few reads to realise you didn't play against Neves in the Championship. What a shame.
Flatters to deceive in my opinion, due to our dire options.
I think he’d be on squad rotation for the likes of Chelsea, City and Liverpool.
I think he’d be on squad rotation for the likes of Chelsea, City and Liverpool.
So is there any actual transfer news linking him to us? Or is it more of a wish after the game yesterday.
If he could be signed for a good price, definitely.
We need midfielders with near on 90% pass accuracy.
We need midfielders with near on 90% pass accuracy.
He might not be good enough, but he's better than Fred and McT.
But then again, so is Moutinho.
But then again, so is Moutinho.
Good point , I guess what im trying to say is that the risk is reduced seeing that those players are generally rated higher than neves, but your point about high wages is spot on as we made the same mistake with sanchez for example .
Thing is that exact same statement can be applied to at least 50% of the midfielders in the league and is basically our recruitment policy over the past 6-7 years which hasn’t worked at all, we need to actually have a style and bring players in to play a specific style of play.
If we’re going to play a heavy pressing style that Rangnick will consult on then someone like Neves is NOT ever going to the be answer no matter what the question is, you need players of high energy and stamina and if we have to pay the premium for then so be it as we’re trying to undo all the feck ups of the past few years recruitment.
Yes, it could.
This high intensity, high press game is no good if you don't have players that are good on the ball when it gets to them or to control the game once you are ahead. That's the main problem with this Utd midfield, they are too sloppy on the ball give it away too easily and allow the others teams a free shot at the back with simple runs or a straight ball down the middle.
Even Klopp has brought in Thiago to rectify that for Liverpool, last season was a mess for them with VVD out. They are so much more controlled in possession when they go ahead now. They have cruised through several games I've watched once they've gone ahead simply by maintaining control through keeping the ball.
Last night Neves and Moutinho bossed the game against that Utd midfield, already this season we've seen the likes of Cleverly, Koopmeiners, Capoue get the better of Utd's midfield with Fred, McT, Bruno, Matic all in there at times.
None of those you would consider to be good enough for Utd either.
Honestly, I don't really think Neves is good enough, but he would be a better option to have than Fred or McT. As indeed would Rice, Ndidi or Bissouma.
So that’s mean no Neves as he’s low 80%. I don’t see him anywhere near a midfield that’s going to be a pressing machine, he’s simply too slow for that. Scores a banger every 10 games or so and somehow ends up being a wished for transfer target.
Serious question:
Would it be better to play more or less in the midfield with the squad we currently have. This 4-2-2-2 seems to not fancy us. So more in the mid? We throw all this talent at the net up front but if we cant get the ball...
Would it be better to play more or less in the midfield with the squad we currently have. This 4-2-2-2 seems to not fancy us. So more in the mid? We throw all this talent at the net up front but if we cant get the ball...
Not sure where the £30-£40m rumors came from off season, but get him and Frenkie de Jong and we’ll have a solid midfield.
Nothing much new has happened since Ole left.We're still two midfielders short and no this guy is not any sort of answer.
I'm not sure adding more portuguese players to the squad is a good idea at the moment.
He makes 50% more pressures than Matic and McTominay.
Pressing has little to do with just running fast.
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Who is Alex Crook? Don't know the name
I won't speak for Alex Crook but Talk Sport as a whole have weirdly become a very good source over the last few years so there's likely something in this.
Probably one of the few DLP types available in the market at the moment.
Decent player. Would be good behind Fred and McTominay (or their replacements) but not a barnbuster midfield signing to take us to the next level.
Yeah what’s up with that. They’ve gotten a number of things absolutely spot on before anyone else recently.
I'm so desperate for a bit of quality in midfield I'd drive him to Manchester myself, however I'd probably kill us both though seeing as I can't drive.
No idea, they broke Woodward resigning and Ronaldo before anyone else, also Grealish's move to City. Never thought I'd see the day
Talksport commentator/presenter and United fan.
Clearly not that desperate or you’d carry him on your back.
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