£140m in 2 years - but do we still need an entire midfield?

[lalloyd]

Falcao was a loan signing and it was a no brainer to get him in for 6m even on huge wages for a year. It hasnt worked out and we move on. Di Maria was MOM in the CL final. He'e a hard working player when on his game and he isnt a luxury player! The rest are about as glittery as a black brick so they defintely have no luxury status. Just because we couldnt adress everything last summer doesnt mean those we got are not of the required quality. Each of them could become starters in a future title winning outfit if we add the right players with them!

I disagree that Di Maria isn't a luxury player. I suppose it depends on where you're coming from. I would define 'luxury' in this context as a quality player costing big money who doesn't answer squad deficiencies at the time. Instead of wasting time, and £60M, on Di Maria they should have been working their socks off to sort out the midfield and centre halves, which they haven't done. He is completely wasted in this team because the foundations, the bread and butter, are sh*t.

 

[RedorDead21]

I disagree that Di Maria isn't a luxury player. I suppose it depends on where you're coming from. I would define 'luxury' in this context as a quality player costing big money who doesn't answer squad deficiencies at the time. Instead of wasting time, and £60M, on Di Maria they should have been working their socks off to sort out the midfield and centre halves, which they haven't done. He is completely wasted in this team because the foundations, the bread and butter, are sh*t.

Are you suggesting Di Maria at the time of signing didnt solve any squad deficiencies? Which wingers exactly do we have that could lace his boots on any given Sunday?

 

[lalloyd]

Are you suggesting Di Maria at the time of signing didnt solve any squad deficiencies? Which wingers exactly do we have that could lace his boots on any given Sunday?

He did to an extent, but the team would look an awful lot better if we'd spent that money on a powerful, dynamic box-to-box midfielder and a solid centre half. I'm not saying that Di Maria isn't world-class, he clearly is, but unless you've got a midfield that can compete you can have anyone you like on the wings and it won't make a difference.

 

[GBBQ]

He did to an extent, but the team would look an awful lot better if we'd spent that money on a powerful, dynamic box-to-box midfielder and a solid centre half. I'm not saying that Di Maria isn't world-class, he clearly is, but unless you've got a midfield that can compete you can have anyone you like on the wings and it won't make a difference.

If we bought a box to box midfielder we'd probably be giving out about being too narrow. The fact is SAF got superhuman levels of performance out of a slightly above average squad and we need big investment in a number of areas to compete on the highest level.

 

[Loon]

I think the United midfield is still a work in progress. Van Gaal obviously didn't get all the players he was after for one reason or another. At the moment he is making do in some positions. For that same reason I believe it's also why he's been playing a back five.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

I agree that the players you've named are more like it. It's just horribly frustrating when you look at the fact that we've paid so much money for players that haven't addressed the main deficiencies of the team. We could surely have improved our midfield considerably with the money spent on Di Maria? I really think that you need to build a physically strong and combative spine before you start looking at players like him. Another big summer ahead for LVG and Woodward.

It the it has to be a big name player, that isn't necessary either. There are really good players out there who aren't high profile but would do a great job for us and become a big name. That is our scouting system that is all to pot. That they will only bother with the big names and are getting lazy. Yes people knew about Ronaldo, but we took a punt on him.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

We don't need an entire new midfield. We need balance in there. Louis van Gaal always plays with a CDM, a defensive minded box-to-box and an attacking midfielder. He will not line up with 2 attacking midfielders unless we play with 3 at the back.

At the moment we've got:
CDM: Carrick, Blind
CAM: Mata, Herrera, Fellaini, Rooney, Di Maria
Box-to-box: He's tried-Rooney, Fellaini, Mata and now Herrera. None of them fit his profile for this role though.

So we're stocked for midfielders who can play attacking wise and we lack defensive minded players. Seeing he wants 2 defensive minded and 1 offensive minded players we can't play like van Gaal wants us to, unless he switches back to 352. We need a box-to-box player and maybe someone who can cover for him and the CDM? We also need to offload some of our attacking midfielders or strikers.

I think Fellaini and Mata might go and no saying ADM won't angle for a move as well.

 

[lalloyd]

It the it has to be a big name player, that isn't necessary either. There are really good players out there who aren't high profile but would do a great job for us and become a big name. That is our scouting system that is all to pot. That they will only bother with the big names and are getting lazy. Yes people knew about Ronaldo, but we took a punt on him.

Definitely. There are so many central midfielders who would walk into our team. It's unbelievable. Basically everyone in the world.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Definitely. There are so many central midfielders who would walk into our team. It's unbelievable. Basically everyone in the world.

You could bet that if Ronaldo was about now, we would be saying he is too young, let him stay in Portugal for a couple more seasons, sign some injury prone big name, watch while Real sign him then cry into our beer.

 

[Varun]

I disagree that Di Maria isn't a luxury player. I suppose it depends on where you're coming from. I would define 'luxury' in this context as a quality player costing big money who doesn't answer squad deficiencies at the time. Instead of wasting time, and £60M, on Di Maria they should have been working their socks off to sort out the midfield and centre halves, which they haven't done. He is completely wasted in this team because the foundations, the bread and butter, are sh*t.

The ideal way to play him would be next to 2 solid CMs, not out wide.

 

[Kag]

I disagree that Di Maria isn't a luxury player. I suppose it depends on where you're coming from. I would define 'luxury' in this context as a quality player costing big money who doesn't answer squad deficiencies at the time. Instead of wasting time, and £60M, on Di Maria they should have been working their socks off to sort out the midfield and centre halves, which they haven't done. He is completely wasted in this team because the foundations, the bread and butter, are sh*t.

How do you know that the club hasn't worked hard to bring in a top drawer centre half and another midfielder? We've probably spent the best part of three years following Mats Hummels to no avail. If the player won't move then the player won't move.

As for the midfield, we've made strides towards improving it with good signings like Herrera and Blind. We're not completely there yet, that is true, but it shouldn't be forgotten that we didn't sign a central midfielder for over half a decade. And when Moyes had the chance to act on Ferguson's stupidity, he bought Fellaini and Mata, both of which did nothing whatsoever to improve the issue.

We were never going to completely rectify the midfield in one transfer window, realistically speaking. Christ, we've only just managed to get rid of Anderson. The midfield is still a work in progress, and it will be improved further come the summer, but people are being very disingenuous when they suggest that the midfield hasn't improved. No football team dominates possession the way we do without good midfielders.

As for Di Maria, he was an imperative purchase. Our wide men were and still are rather horrible and we had, and still have, a general inability to beat an opponent all across the team. Whether or not he is in great form right now is secondary to the fact we desperately needed a player like him at the time. That hasn't changed.

 

[NL Max]

I think Fellaini and Mata might go and no saying ADM won't angle for a move as well.

Fellaini might stay for plan B. He always used a big strong player if his passing style of play didn't work for the occasional long ball. He could leave, not sure. Mata I'm crossed about, seems like the perfect player for van Gaal but he needs to up his game if he wants to stay. At the moment it's all about results and because we've got plenty of attacking options, he's using a more defensively sound player in his position. We'll have to wait and see.

Di Maria already stated he wanted Manchester United to be his last club in Europe before he moves back to Argentina (official FIFA interview). I'm sure he will stay, even if he's out of form at the moment. He'll probably be used as a winger though, because he's too adventurous for a midfielder for van Gaal (not sure, either him or Mata).

The other things I mentioned are facts though, once we bring in defensive minded players he can take the handbrake off and play his more attacking style. Herrera at box-to-box means he lacks his defensive balance so he's built in safety to our football.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Fellaini might stay for plan B. He always used a big strong player if his passing style of play didn't work for the occasional long ball. He could leave, not sure. Mata I'm crossed about, seems like the perfect player for van Gaal but he needs to up his game if he wants to stay. At the moment it's all about results and because we've got plenty of attacking options, he's using a more defensively sound player in his position. We'll have to wait and see.

Di Maria already stated he wanted Manchester United to be his last club in Europe before he moves back to Argentina (official FIFA interview). I'm sure he will stay, even if he's out of form at the moment. He'll probably be used as a winger though, because he's too adventurous for a midfielder for van Gaal (not sure, either him or Mata).

The other things I mentioned are facts though, once we bring in defensive minded players he can take the handbrake off and play his more attacking style. Herrera at box-to-box means he lacks his defensive balance so he's built in safety to our football.

I think if we get any sort of european football next season, we are going to have to bolster the squad. Depending on which competition we are in he can either play his strongest team in CL or if the Europa League he can field and slightly lesser team to give the really vital players a rest. He had to reduce the size of the squad, or lets say pad it out with kids this season because there was no europe. Hopefully next season we will try to compete properly in all four competitions and a good quality squad will be a priority.

 

[NL Max]

I think if we get any sort of european football next season, we are going to have to bolster the squad. Depending on which competition we are in he can either play his strongest team in CL or if the Europa League he can field and slightly lesser team to give the really vital players a rest. He had to reduce the size of the squad, or lets say pad it out with kids this season because there was no europe. Hopefully next season we will try to compete properly in all four competitions and a good quality squad will be a priority.

Yeah he seriously reduced the squad size because we had no Europe to compete in. We'll need at least 2 players for each position, at the moment we got 3-4 for some and none for others (box-to-box).

He'll continue his overhaul of the squad and I'm sure he'll bring in some more good players we actually need and sell some surplus to requirements. He had little time to asses our squad when he came in but did OK and I'm sure he knows what he wants and needs right now. He might have seen some youth players he likes who he wants to give a chance, he always does this.

 

[lalloyd]

How do you know that the club hasn't worked hard to bring in a top drawer centre half and another midfielder? We've probably spent the best part of three years following Mats Hummels to no avail. If the player won't move then the player won't move.

As for the midfield, we've made strides towards improving it with good signings like Herrera and Blind. We're not completely there yet, that is true, but it shouldn't be forgotten that we didn't sign a central midfielder for over half a decade. And when Moyes had the chance to act on Ferguson's stupidity, he bought Fellaini and Mata, both of which did nothing whatsoever to improve the issue.

We were never going to completely rectify the midfield in one transfer window, realistically speaking. Christ, we've only just managed to get rid of Anderson. The midfield is still a work in progress, and it will be improved further come the summer, but people are being very disingenuous when they suggest that the midfield hasn't improved. No football team dominates possession the way we do without good midfielders.

As for Di Maria, he was an imperative purchase. Our wide men were and still are rather horrible and we had, and still have, a general inability to beat an opponent all across the team. Whether or not he is in great form right now is secondary to the fact we desperately needed a player like him at the time. That hasn't changed.

I don't know, but they haven't. Have the players 'tried' to play well all season? Yes. Have they? No. Only the second answer matters.

I don't think anyone can make excuses for the fact that in several recent transfer windows we've failed to buy a physically dominant central midfielder.

I go back to my original point that buying one of the world's best wingers is pointless if the foundation of your team is poor.

 

[RedFish]

I don't know, but they haven't. Have the players 'tried' to play well all season? Yes. Have they? No. Only the second answer matters.

I don't think anyone can make excuses for the fact that in several recent transfer windows we've failed to buy a physically dominant central midfielder.

I go back to my original point that buying one of the world's best wingers is pointless if the foundation of your team is poor.

Couldn't agree more. Ludicrous that we haven't addressed the CM issue, or the CB issue for that matter.

 

[NL Max]

I don't know, but they haven't. Have the players 'tried' to play well all season? Yes. Have they? No. Only the second answer matters.

I don't think anyone can make excuses for the fact that in several recent transfer windows we've failed to buy a physically dominant central midfielder.

I go back to my original point that buying one of the world's best wingers is pointless if the foundation of your team is poor.

Louis van Gaal has different rules about the defence as he's a manager who likes to play offensively. He couldn't completely overhaul the team in 1 transfer window, he still did pretty well with the exception of Falcao. Januari is always difficult, we made a bid for Marquinho's but it got rejected and stop-gaps wouldn't work because van Gaal gives alot of orders which aren't learned easily so they would be a waste of time. We're only going after longterm targets, which is good IMO.

He wants 4 defensive minded players. He started well in preseason with 352, he only needed a couple of transfers for this and it worked for him at the worldcup. It worked vs Real, Liverpool and Inter so why wouldn't it work in the PL? When he's got 3 centrebacks plus 1 defensive midfielder it would be enough for him. 352 also gives stability for defenders which aren't great (as we've seen at the worldcup with more teams than Holland).

When the 352 didn't work in the PL, that's when the trouble started. He didn't have a squad for any other formation than the diamond, because he just won't play without 4 defensive minded players (unless he has to). Herrera as a box-to-box player isn't what he likes, but this all comes from the 352 failing once the season started, and other formations not working like he wants it too either. When he wasn't happy with Herrera vs Arsenal, he pulled him off at halftime for a 4th defensive minded player: Carrick.

He only needs to sort the defensive balance of our mifield (and back 4) before he can fully play like he wants to. He was realistically never going to completely overhaul the team in 1 transfer window, especially since he got in so late. He already bought 2 starters for the backline and he made a massive mistake in wanting to play 352.