Amrabat wouldn't start for us though...
Maybe for a start we could give the new signing more than 180 minutes worth of games to prove himself. Besides, at the moment it's not just him but the whole team who aren't really playing well.
Ryan Gravenberch | signs for Liverpool
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
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It's a bit of a pointless question. We're not scouts to give a precise answer, but you surely can find CMs for that money that at least get playtime from their teams. Like, Liverpool bought Endo for 15m and at least he was a starter and captain at Stuttgart. As opposed to someone who doesn't even get used in rotation at Bayern and is literally their last midfield option. I'd rather have kept Fred than bring in Gravenberch.
He’s a much better option than Gravenberch though who’s just another no.10/8 type player that we don’t need. Plus the fact he’s been garbage since joining Bayern.
Ah yes, exactly what we need, another attacking midfielder ...
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I don’t quite think Haggy has a scooby about how to set up a functioning midfield
Gravenberch hasn't played one game as a 10 in his career, he's played as a 6 though.
At least have a read on the player before making assumptions.
He knew he needed someone like de Jong last year, then has inexplicably gone and signed someone with the complete opposite profile in Mount this year. His transfers are mind boggling.
We can give him 18000 minutes, if you want. A “midfield” three of Mason Mount, Bruno Fernandes, and Casemiro is never going to work in the PL.
It’s starting to play into the theory someone lobbied - think it might have been @Rozay - that ten Hag’s obsession with de Jong in his first window may have been down to the fact he had coached him before, rather than his actual stylistic qualities he’d bring to a side…
I disagree.
But I'm curious so what do you think will work ? A midfield 3 of Amrabat Case and Bruno ?
Sounds very plausible that
He’s an attacking number 8 then. How exactly does that make a difference to the balance of our midfield? And give Casemiro some help? He’s not what we need at all.
He's more of a midfielder than either Bruno or Mount but he wouldn't work with either of them, especially the former.
He's not an attacking 8. He's a deep lying playmaker.
Is he? From what I've seen he looks like another who pushes up and is liable to lose the ball. Not seen that much of him, mind.
The 1st and 2nd games were very different.
Against wolves both Mount and Bruno were high up as number 8s with Shaw joining casemiro when in possession. That was different to last season where Eriksen would rarely be that high and would operate from deeper alongside casemiro.
Against spurs, Mount did play a lot deeper in the area Eriksen used to play. Probably because we got so exposed in the first game. However that begs the question, if Mount is going to operate there more often then why did we sign him as there are much better options for that role.
It feels like ETH does want to adjust the system and play two high 8s which is different to last season. However, it’s uncertain whether that is going to work so far with how much it is exposing Casemiro.
We won't sign him so not sure why people are getting upset
I don’t really get this obsession with Amrabat, personally. All I ever see is World Cup highlights for a half decent game against France.
The solution to our midfield with what we already had was to sign a no.8 (an actual central midfielder) who has the capacity to run with the ball, retain it under pressure, and make 70+ passes a game.
Our midfields biggest strengths were playing on the transition with long balls. They’re all fecking atrocious at the short passes. Instead of hiding our flaws we’ve only exacerbated that by adding yet another counter attacking no.10 to hide in the middle of the field. Mount made FIFTEEN passes against Spurs in 85 minutes. 15!
Have a look through this thread, the fact everyone is saying he plays a different position tells me he’s not particularly good at any one of them and hasn’t nailed down one for his own. Judging by what Bayern fans have said on here about him we should stay well clear.
I agree he seems very underwhelming. Bayern went out and signed Konrad Laimer in the summer too which is another sign that they don't particularly rate Gravenberch.
Gravenberch has played as a 6. Just because a player has good technical ability doesn't mean he's a 10 or an attacking 8.
A lot of people in this forum are annoyed at the start we've made, arguing that we've been playing this system now for a year and still can't dominate games. Not realising that we've moved on from the system we played last season and are trying a completely new system. We've moved on from the 2 holding players and are trying to play with 1 holding midfielder. Unfortunately people being as reactionary as they are have no patience after 2 games and want to go back to the old system. Let's just say we get Amrabat and play him alongside Casemiro. We'd have more of the ball, yes. However, we're struggling to score goals now and having another 6 or defensive 8 will only add to the issue. People would then be complaining that we have 60-70% possession and only manage 5 shots in a 90 minute game. The first half against Spurs is proof the system can work, we've so far created the second most big chances in the league have an xG of over 4 yet have only scored 1 goal. If we can start to see performances where we can play like we did against Spurs (in the first half) for the full 90 minutes we'll be fine. It will come.
I agree and disagree. We do need a player that shows for the ball more and keep it, doesn't necessarily have to be an 8 though or a classic box to box midfielder. The problem with our midfield and retention of the ball is Bruno. Having Bruno in a midfield automatically gives you a negative in ball retention and possession. I don't think any midfielder we could sign in world football can have 70 passes a game for us when he's playing next to Bruno. You said it yourself our biggest strength is playing on transition, having a midfield Controller would negate our biggest strength. Bruno is an enigma. Some people say he's our best player and some people say he's our worst. People on this forum want fast and furious football and to control the game like Pep at the same time and whenever ETH tries to get more control over the game and in midfield by moving Bruno to the right wing everyone complains...
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Fair enough, gonna trust your judgement here. Although either my memory is getting really spotty, or over the last year Bayern fans here claimed that every position bar left back was "the one position that needs fixing the most".
All of the above. Precisely this.
He is Pogba with worse long passing and shooting skills.
Agreed, its really baffling and concerning that we are not doing this and have no plans. Especially with Eriksen now an impact sub. And Casimero flagging
De Bruyne was at Chelsea, barely getting a look in. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time for their games to mature.
Less Instagram followers than Pogba too.
Pogba's long passing and shooting were absolutely amazing. That doesn't really say much about his weaknesses.
Agreed. That’s why I mentioned that Gravenbrech doesn’t have those skills.
Remember the days when this sub used to cry when ole played McT and Fred as two DMs, or then last year then Ten Hag did it.
I don't mind signing this player because he is classic midfielder and we need exactly that. But that question is slowly becoming a meme. What answer do you people (who ask this question about every single position) expect? I can open now FM (
) and give you a list of 100 midfielders. And then what? We will talk about every name on that list (he is shit, he is expensive, he is more than 30 mil, he is not for sale, he is not for sale, he is not suited for our style, etc...)?We have scouting department. It is their job to give a list to our manager and then manager can pick few targets.
Obviously another ETH-led transfer. Considering his track record, I'd rather our scouting team decide our midfield signing. Gravenberch has always been a good but unremarkable midfielder imo. Don't see him improving us as much as we'd need. Frankly I just want us to stay away from signing players from the Eredivisie for now. In all likelihood we won't sign anyone anyway.
Thank you that was my point mate. My point was any player in the 20-40 mill price range will have question marks. The only players that wouldn't have these question marks and would unanimously be wanted by all our fans are players like Tchouameni that would cost upwards of 100mill. If we signed Endo for example you think people in here wouldn't be going mad ?I don't mind signing this player because he is classic midfielder and we need exactly that. But that question is slowly becoming a meme. What answer do you people (who ask this question about every single position) expect? I can open now FM (
We have scouting department. It is their job to give a list to our manager and then manager can pick few targets.
What if Gravenberch was on our list of names given by the scouting department ?
I'm all for this transfer for 2 reasons, he's a good athlete (Strong, tall quick) and has very good technical ability which we're seriously lacking at the moment, Tactical points like Positioning, shape and timing will come...
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As I recall the player comparison was Pogba. Which I think a lot of fans spent time wondering just how Pogba would have been able to excel next to Casemiro last winter.
At 20mil its a no brainer for me
At 20mil its a no brainer for me
Sell ETH, Buy Ajax
Well it's the club/manager who are seemingly already after a new midfielder after just two games.
We've signed three in two summers and are after a fourth it seems.
Aftwr signing the fourth, given the named targets, do you feel confident that midfield is good enough to get us back to the very top?
I'm not. Which is what I mean by us unnecessarily putting ourselves in this position. A club like United, if after a new midfielder, shouldn't be reduced to the £25 million range. That's the managements fault.
At some point people need to stop overthinking the cause of this and call it for what they would call it of they didn’t like the manager so much. This is on Ten Hag, he is making poor choices in the market and regarding team building, and I feel he’s made an impressive number of them in a relatively short space of time and with a lot of money.
For the price alone we should get him.
Pogba is physically finished and can no longer meet the basic fitness demands of the PL. Regardless of any technical qualities he may have, his comeback from his last big injury (with us) showed a marked physical decline IMO. And he didn’t have the greatest engine even before.
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