- Joined
- Oct 20, 2020
- Messages
- 746
Hopefully, the shorty and Varane.
Fully agree. City have sold Ake for 41 and on that basis we should be able to sell Lindelof for 50m, Bailey for 25(he is no worse than Ake) and Tuanzebe for 10. Also AWB for 25 and Williams for 10. That 120m could then be used to buy a striker and right back.With so many options at the back, we need to start offloading some players. Telles, Mengi (loan?), Tuanzebe, Jones and possibly either Lindelof or Bailly. The squad looks bloated.
Why cant fans have the same energy with all the players? Maguire has done nothing but Varane has? Please enlighten me how our defence was so much better when Varane played?Hopefully Champions League and Nick Nack. Maguire has done nothing for a year which gets him anywhere near the starting line up. Bailly had two brainfarts against Melbourne, but still deserves to be ahead of him right now.
If somebody genuinely asks me that question, it’s pointless getting into a conversation. I suggest you sit back and seriously watch Harry Maguire’s performances last season, which placed him on the borderline of barely being a professional footballer, let alone the captain of Manchester United.Please enlighten me how our defence was so much better when Varane played?
Again, were we better without Maguire in defence last season? The whole team was bad including Varane who can't even stay fit.If somebody genuinely asks me that question, it’s pointless getting into a conversation. I suggest you sit back and seriously watch Harry Maguire’s performances last season, which placed him on the borderline of barely being a professional footballer, let alone the captain of Manchester United.
neither have the others and surely if Bailly is still erratic in friendlies why do we want him playing in meaningful games?Hopefully Champions League and Nick Nack. Maguire has done nothing for a year which gets him anywhere near the starting line up. Bailly had two brainfarts against Melbourne, but still deserves to be ahead of him right now.
Real fan on here confirmed Verane is not as great as people make out and Ramos was the real leader. I am inclined to agree as he has been on the decline for a minute. I feel all our CB have major flaws.Varane back to his best with Lisandro could possibly be our new Rio and mini Vidic.
hes replaced Smalling in that regard6 years of either injury or comedy and people are still suggesting Eric Bailly should be anywhere near the team
But but but he has shown 60min of pre season football showing how greatness and his comical attributes.6 years of either injury or comedy and people are still suggesting Eric Bailly should be anywhere near the team
Nonsense post based on literally nothing. Why would be given preferential treatment by a manager that hadn't even met him until a couple of weeks ago? Because of the price tag? If it's about money then Varane is on nearly double Maguire's wage then surely he'd be the one getting preferential treatment? Because of the captaincy? You seriously believe he's going to pick a player he doesn't rate over several other options because he can wear an armband? Especially given he's well aware of the structure at the club - ie Bruno wearing it in the first pre-season game. The structure in place when Maguire was brought into the club is no longer in place and as such any supposed protection he might have had is long gone. The manager will pick who he wants to pick, and if that includes Maguire, then that's because he thinks he's part of his best 11 players to win that game.Whatever our ‘best’ partnership is, the one we pick will include Harry Maguire if he is anything above ‘competent’. That’s just the way it has to be.
In reality, it was always extremely unlikely that all centre halves would start pre-season from zero with this ‘clean slate’ and Harry would only be first-choice if proven to be in the best two in that period. He was always going to be given preferential treatment, and only an absolute disasterclass would keep him out.
You say ‘based on literally nothing’ then immediately proceed to begin listing potential reasons. So yes, because he cost an obscene amount of money firstly. Because he is also the club captain and the fallout and distraction from stripping and benching him would likely be unwelcome. It is far easier and less political to keep Bailly on the bench, who has always been on the bench, and has a lower standing with the public. The fact that Bailly, for example, has performed better than Maguire is in pre-season is probably an inconvenience if anything.Nonsense post based on literally nothing. Why would be given preferential treatment by a manager that hadn't even met him until a couple of weeks ago? Because of the price tag? If it's about money then Varane is on nearly double Maguire's wage then surely he'd be the one getting preferential treatment? Because of the captaincy? You seriously believe he's going to pick a player he doesn't rate over several other options because he can wear an armband? Especially given he's well aware of the structure at the club - ie Bruno wearing it in the first pre-season game. The structure in place when Maguire was brought into the club is no longer in place and as such any supposed protection he might have had is long gone. The manager will pick who he wants to pick, and if that includes Maguire, then that's because he thinks he's part of his best 11 players to win that game.
Great post. People seem to forget that ultimately football is a game played and managed by real people - not machines. So the optics of each decision matter just as much if not more than the logic behind it.You say ‘based on literally nothing’ then immediately proceed to begin listing potential reasons. So yes, because he cost an obscene amount of money firstly. Because he is also the club captain and the fallout and distraction from stripping and benching him would likely be unwelcome. It is far easier and less political to keep Bailly on the bench, who has always been on the bench, and has a lower standing with the public. The fact that Bailly, for example, has performed better than Maguire is in pre-season is probably an inconvenience if anything.
Maguire has played ahead of better performing centre halves throughout last season, and he almost certainly wouldn’t have if he cost us £25m. Another interesting situation will manifest if Cristiano Ronaldo is fit and available this season. Far easier to keep Martial on the bench, or if Ronaldo starts on the bench, as soon as he comes on and gets a goal, he’ll be back in under the guise of having ‘won his place back’.
Quite simply, when a club invests £80m on a player, they want it to work, and will give it every opportunity to work. At a greater priority than cheaper players of a lesser standing. He would need to be Torres bad to not play, and even then, he was kept in the team a lot until it became ridiculous. Same as Alexis here. Same as Rooney as skipper. For you to think that football has suddenly changed because of ‘different’ Ten Hag is optimistic.
I listed two of the commonly mentioned reasons on this forum and then explained why they are nonsense - because they are.You say ‘based on literally nothing’ then immediately proceed to begin listing potential reasons. So yes, because he cost an obscene amount of money firstly. Because he is also the club captain and the fallout and distraction from stripping and benching him would likely be unwelcome. It is far easier and less political to keep Bailly on the bench, who has always been on the bench, and has a lower standing with the public. The fact that Bailly, for example, has performed better than Maguire is in pre-season is probably an inconvenience if anything.
Maguire has played ahead of better performing centre halves throughout last season, and he almost certainly wouldn’t have if he cost us £25m. Another interesting situation will manifest if Cristiano Ronaldo is fit and available this season. Far easier to keep Martial on the bench, or if Ronaldo starts on the bench, as soon as he comes on and gets a goal, he’ll be back in under the guise of having ‘won his place back’.
Quite simply, when a club invests £80m on a player, they want it to work, and will give it every opportunity to work. At a greater priority than cheaper players of a lesser standing. He would need to be Torres bad to not play, and even then, he was kept in the team a lot until it became ridiculous. Same as Alexis here. Same as Rooney as skipper. For you to think that football has suddenly changed because of ‘different’ Ten Hag is optimistic.
I don’t get the relevance of Bailly’s injuries when he is fit. Nobody is suggesting he should play when injured. On the contrary, it is Maguire who is often played when injured, or not fully recovering. And individually, when fit, Bailly, Lindelöf and Varane all performed better than Maguire last season. The team conceded goals, clearly, but that is a lazy observation - I al speaking directly of the culpability in those goals.I listed two of the commonly mentioned reasons on this forum and then explained why they are nonsense - because they are.
You are completely disregarding the judgement of 4 managers at this point who have picked Maguire and putting it purely down to politics essentially which is nonsense. Bailly is unreliable due to being incredibly injury prone and erratic, both in terms of defending and discipline. We've seen it for six years at this stage. He's also not the right type of defender to play alongside Martinez, whereas arguments could be made that Maguire, Varane and Lindelof are all better suited alongside him. Maguire had a really bad season last year, but did we suddenly defend better when he wasn't in the team? No, indeed throughout the spell he missed in January we gave away a ridiculous amount of chances IIRC. This being an issue with Varane and Lindelof largely wanting to do the same job and neither of them pressing the ball. People can shout until they are blue in the face about "better performing centre halves" as much as they like, but the fact of the matter is that we were no better when he was out of the team.
I don't dispute that clubs are going to give their biggest investments every chance to work out. But you are also focusing solely on the transfer fee as the investment. Why? Maguire was a huge investment for the club, almost £130m with transfer fee and wages factored in, £80m and £190k a week over 5 years. But Varane was also a massive investment, £45m fee and £340k per week in wages over 4 years totaling around £115m. Why are you trying to suggest they would cast aside the huge investment in Varane and insist Maguire plays? It is an argument that makes no sense, surely you can see that?
And it's not just Ten Hag that has changed. The structure at the club that brought Maguire in has changed and they are very clear about how they wish to do things differently. Pogba, our record signing at £89m, was just released in case you missed it. If Maguire did have political protection previously, it is no longer there.