He's light years ahead of Smalling with the ball and even more dominant in the air, although I tend to agree that it would probably be the least pressing of our needs in the summer.
2 defenders, 2 midfielders, 1 striker
- Thread starter sammsky1
- Start date
The biggest myth on here is that 'he isn't a wideman'. This said about a player Simeone had to convert from an out an out winger to a center forward. Griezmann can play in any role in the front 3 confortably. Its not even debatable. As for 4-2-3-1, its only vulnerable when your player in the number 10 rile doesn't bother to drop back into midfield and your wide men are doing zero defensively like was the case vs Southampton in the final.
I think we need 4 signings for us to challenge for the league next season.
1) CB- A Rio-like player to complement Bailly to provide the necessary calmness and composure at the back with good reading of the game. We don't have a single centre half who can pass the ball under pressure. By having that profile of defender in our team, it can open a different dimension to our attacks when our midfielders are pressed heavily like the Southampton match in the cup final or the Liverpool match at home we had earlier in the year.
2) LB- It is fair to say that the left back position is our biggest weakness. Rojo and Darmian have repeatedly put disappointing performances in that position and Blind has been the best of the bunch but he has certain limitations which the opposition can exploit. I would prefer Shaw to be our 1st choice left back next season but I think he lacks the tactical understanding and positioning ability at the moment which Mourinho looks for in his defenders. I would prefer an experienced left back on a short term contract who we can rotate with Shaw and who Shaw can learn from.
3)CF- Poor finishing has cost us too many times this season. A forward who can lower Zlatan's burden would be welcome. Griezmann is the obvious name floating around but it would be a waste if we end up playing him on the flanks as he doesn't have much to his game apart from his goal scoring. Bringing Griezmann in to play as a second striker would have an impact on Pogba too as he himself has aspirations to win individual honours and if we restrict him to play as a deep lying midfielder, he is bound to be unhappy with lack of freedom. As unrealistic as it would be, I would prefer Neymar, Bale or even Sanchez over Griezmann as I find it difficult to see Pogba and Griezmann playing to their full potential if played together.
4) CM- We would be requiring a new central midfielder the profile of which would be based on the formation we would be employing next season. A Carrick-type player who can read the game, pass in between the lines, switch the play and provide us control in midfield is needed if we play a 4-3-3 next season. If we opt for a 4-2-3-1 formation, a Kante-type player who has the legs to cover for Pogba is a necessity. However, one can argue that Herrera has been playing that role superbly this season and if we end up buying that kind of a player, it could well be as a backup for Herrera.
1) CB- A Rio-like player to complement Bailly to provide the necessary calmness and composure at the back with good reading of the game. We don't have a single centre half who can pass the ball under pressure. By having that profile of defender in our team, it can open a different dimension to our attacks when our midfielders are pressed heavily like the Southampton match in the cup final or the Liverpool match at home we had earlier in the year.
2) LB- It is fair to say that the left back position is our biggest weakness. Rojo and Darmian have repeatedly put disappointing performances in that position and Blind has been the best of the bunch but he has certain limitations which the opposition can exploit. I would prefer Shaw to be our 1st choice left back next season but I think he lacks the tactical understanding and positioning ability at the moment which Mourinho looks for in his defenders. I would prefer an experienced left back on a short term contract who we can rotate with Shaw and who Shaw can learn from.
3)CF- Poor finishing has cost us too many times this season. A forward who can lower Zlatan's burden would be welcome. Griezmann is the obvious name floating around but it would be a waste if we end up playing him on the flanks as he doesn't have much to his game apart from his goal scoring. Bringing Griezmann in to play as a second striker would have an impact on Pogba too as he himself has aspirations to win individual honours and if we restrict him to play as a deep lying midfielder, he is bound to be unhappy with lack of freedom. As unrealistic as it would be, I would prefer Neymar, Bale or even Sanchez over Griezmann as I find it difficult to see Pogba and Griezmann playing to their full potential if played together.
4) CM- We would be requiring a new central midfielder the profile of which would be based on the formation we would be employing next season. A Carrick-type player who can read the game, pass in between the lines, switch the play and provide us control in midfield is needed if we play a 4-3-3 next season. If we opt for a 4-2-3-1 formation, a Kante-type player who has the legs to cover for Pogba is a necessity. However, one can argue that Herrera has been playing that role superbly this season and if we end up buying that kind of a player, it could well be as a backup for Herrera.
CB because I just don't trust Smalling at all. Also, we need an attacking CB because we can never seem to score from corners. Someone like Godin if possible please?
LB if Shaw is going.
CM when BFS leaves.
Griezmann because we are Man Utd.
LB if Shaw is going.
CM when BFS leaves.
Griezmann because we are Man Utd.
you'd be okay going into next season with a 36 year old and a 21 yr old in Rashford as your main striking options for the season.Martial as you say will play in the left. Rooney will be gone. An injury to either Ibra or Rashford and we'd be in big trouble. Plus I'd rather we'd be looking at the bigger picture, we may get another good season out of Ibra, but he's not the long term answer.
That's a good point. I keep forgetting despite the solid form we're still flooded by average quality here and there.
They're definitely there in the making. Clubs like Atletico or Borussia are decent examples of trying their luck with finding them out before the price jump higher than 30-50 million mark.
Perhaps Jose will try his luck with one promising talent but something tells me he knows exactly what he wants and by that I mean names and their specific role in new United team.
De Gea
J.Cancelo...Smalling....R.Varane...Shaw
A.Gomes......Pogba
L.Sane..............Mkhitaryan..........Martial
A.Morata
J.Cancelo...Smalling....R.Varane...Shaw
A.Gomes......Pogba
L.Sane..............Mkhitaryan..........Martial
A.Morata
Sane? How would that happen?
As the PL gets richer and middling teams become more problematical to beat (especially pre-Xmas) just replacing like for like is a dangerous game.
Every season that goes by a team with title aspirations needs to get that little bit better to stay up there.
United seem to me to indeed need 4 or 5 quality players to be in with a chance of matching their aspirations.
LB is a priority, CB could do with a boost as current rotation is plagued by inconsistency, Carrick seems to be running on fumes and Pogba is better going forward than as a shield for the defence.
I'm wondering about Keeper also. The Donnarumma rumours make me wonder if the de Gea to Real transfer may actually happen this time?
Every season that goes by a team with title aspirations needs to get that little bit better to stay up there.
United seem to me to indeed need 4 or 5 quality players to be in with a chance of matching their aspirations.
LB is a priority, CB could do with a boost as current rotation is plagued by inconsistency, Carrick seems to be running on fumes and Pogba is better going forward than as a shield for the defence.
I'm wondering about Keeper also. The Donnarumma rumours make me wonder if the de Gea to Real transfer may actually happen this time?
First team:
DDG
Valencia
Jones
Bailly
Shaw
- DM
Pogba
- RW
Mkhitaryan
Martial
Zlatan
Second team:
Romero
- RB
Smalling
Rojo
Blind
TFM
Herrera
Mata
Pereira
Lingard
Rashford
I think we need 3 players, but could do with upgrades on another 2 or 3 as our youth players mature.
I honestly don't think we're far off mounting a serious challenge on the CL. The defence is great, midfield is potentially beastly, the attack is fast and creative, and our CF is unplayable when he's in the mood.
DDG
Valencia
Jones
Bailly
Shaw
- DM
Pogba
- RW
Mkhitaryan
Martial
Zlatan
Second team:
Romero
- RB
Smalling
Rojo
Blind
TFM
Herrera
Mata
Pereira
Lingard
Rashford
I think we need 3 players, but could do with upgrades on another 2 or 3 as our youth players mature.
I honestly don't think we're far off mounting a serious challenge on the CL. The defence is great, midfield is potentially beastly, the attack is fast and creative, and our CF is unplayable when he's in the mood.
Would you take him for say £20m?
If not the fact that he's free shouldn't be an issue.
When dining at the top table you shouldn't be looking for voucher offers.
Yes I would. He's not a bad LB. Actually one of the better ones that are available, especially if it's going to be the way Mourinho prefers it, with one offensive and one defensive in the lineup. I like Ricardo Rodriguez too, he's got great workrate but I'm just a bit uncertain about his speed. Alex Sandro would be great but he probably impossible.
Actually, £20m is quite cheap these days. Besides, the reason I'm saying it's good that he's "free" is that you then can use that "potential sum" on another player. Not that the club is poor, but still...
You've expressed yourself wonderfully well here. Hugely impressed!
You obviously have been tracking the player and if he's the best out there for your system then fair enough but the cost should not be a huge issue for top teams.
By all means get value but when you're rolling in cash like United, City, Chelsea and others are you need quality first and foremost.
I would bet money on a LB , a top midfielder, and that's it (unless the griezmann thing is true)
Well, I'm no expert, so take my "ideas" with a "pinch of salt". But like I said, as far as I know, there aren't that many LB's out there that are "good enough". If money's no issue, then I would like to see Alex Sandro from Juventus, but as I said, probably impossible. So I'm basically not "including" him when looking on what's "out there". Would be a dream to see a lineup with RB Valencia and LB Alex Sandro.
Kolasinac is also versatile, being able to play CB and DM if needed.
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Didn't say it had to be realistic
You are worried about Rodriguez's speed, but you fancy Kolasinac? That makes no sense. RR is a couple of levels above Kolasinac. Rodriguez played various times as CB this season so versatility is not an issue.
Well one of them is free and the other will probably cost close to £30m. And Kolasinac is better at defending than him and he isn't that slow. I like Rodriguez but to say that he's a couple of levels above Kolasinac is exaggerating. Besides, the only thing I said was that I'm a bit uncertain of his speed. That doesn't mean I think he's slow - I just don't know what his speed is like compared to the ones that already are in the team.
By the way, is Rodriguez your first LB choice or someone else? It should be a realistic one.
Calm down mate, you have made too many changes. We won't win "the" double (CL and EPL) (let's say if we quality in CL) next season with players who are still adapting with the squad and the competition.
Fabinho has been playing as a defensive midfielder this season, I don't know how he deserves a start ahead of Valencia in your view.
I think the first thing is we should focus to find our best XI next season, and two or three quality additional for our XI are more than enough for just "next season", after that we can buy more players in the next transfer windows.
I prefer a world class centre back than try to rely on two very young and inexperienced centre backs in our XI.
On the assumption Shaw is staying i'd say three in - Fabhinho would be good as he can play a few positions, then imo we should be going all out for Kroos if it's at all possible, but not at the expense of losing DDG, then of course the expected Griezmann deal, but personally I'd be all over Sanchez if Arsenal will deal.
As for outs - Schweinstegier, Rooney, Young, and one of Darmian, or Blind.
Would also be nice to see Pereira back.
As for outs - Schweinstegier, Rooney, Young, and one of Darmian, or Blind.
Would also be nice to see Pereira back.
Eric Dier being touted for 35mil. Reckons Jose is in for him.
Nearest Carrick-a-like player you can get, and a decent price for a very good player... Shame its the sun newspaper.
Nearest Carrick-a-like player you can get, and a decent price for a very good player... Shame its the sun newspaper.
Ricardo Pereira
Allan Saint-Maximin
Naby Keita
Allan Saint-Maximin
Naby Keita
If Griezmann comes in we will defo buy a solid DM to free him and Pogba whilst Mkhi will move to the right but with the same license to drift as Mata. It will mean that Griezmann will play the Rooney role of circa 2011-13 as a second striker that also puts in a shift defensively and Mkhi will do most of the playmaking in behind with Valencia doing his Rb/Rw combo on the right. This leads me to think that we will look to sign a robust and defensively solid DM in the mould of Fabinho who will stay deep and fashion a back three when teams break against us.
Can see jose signing 4/5 players this window.
GKs:
Degea,Romero with Pereira/Henderson promoted (Both gained good experiance on successful loans). Johnston will be sold he will be 24 and will look for regular gametime.
DEFs:
-Rb: Semedo to come in and deputize Valencia with Darmian and Varela(will be 24) being sold.
-Cb: Bailly with Devrij/Lindelof coming in and Jones Rojo Tuanzebe Blind as backups.Smalling should be sold,he would get us good money especially with arsene having a hard on him.
-Lb:No need to sign anyone for now, Shaw Blind Rojo can play with CBJ and riley(was buzzing for reserves before he left on loan) there as well.
MIDs:
-Dm:Will be the most important signing. Carrick along with Koziello/Jorginho would be great. We probably will play 4231 most of the time so koziello/jorginho are decent investments.(Weigl is a pipe dream,paredes wont suit us, koziello looks the most similar player to carricks style,jorginho has been doing very well for Napoli in that position as well)
-Cm:We need to sign atleast 1 cm. Bakayoko or kessie(is a boyhood united fan and gave a come and get me appeal at start of season so would be easy to get,he will probably except a rotation role as well, also has a knack of scoring goals which for us is very important!) New signing, Pogba, herrera, Fellaini, TFM, Pereira should do it.
FWDs:
Griezmann seems like a done deal, he can play rw st, other than that a #9 is required but we can be ok for next season with Ibra, Martial, Rashford, Griezmann and then next season look to spend big on a #9(By then it would be easier to judge the best out of icardi lukaku belotti dolberg silva)
Mata Mkhi lingard januzaj along with ibra martial rashford griezmann should be enough for the front 3 positions.
Rooney would probably leave.(high chance China gives us a big amount due to rooney as a brand, also rooney has 5 goals 11 assists this seasoneven after being a bit part player, so its not he has been shit.)
Summary (~possible fee):
In~Griezmann(86m), Koziello/Jorginho(20m), Bakayoko/kessie(30m), semedo(30m), devrij/lindelof(35m)
Out~Darmian(15m), Smalling(25m), Young(china 10m), Basti(0m), johnston(7m), rooney(30m), varela(3-5m)
Net spend~201-92~109m.
Considering we probably have already done the groundwork on griezmann semedo lindelof deals, and are low in numbers in cm positions, high chances we sign for these 5 positions.
GKs:
Degea,Romero with Pereira/Henderson promoted (Both gained good experiance on successful loans). Johnston will be sold he will be 24 and will look for regular gametime.
DEFs:
-Rb: Semedo to come in and deputize Valencia with Darmian and Varela(will be 24) being sold.
-Cb: Bailly with Devrij/Lindelof coming in and Jones Rojo Tuanzebe Blind as backups.Smalling should be sold,he would get us good money especially with arsene having a hard on him.
-Lb:No need to sign anyone for now, Shaw Blind Rojo can play with CBJ and riley(was buzzing for reserves before he left on loan) there as well.
MIDs:
-Dm:Will be the most important signing. Carrick along with Koziello/Jorginho would be great. We probably will play 4231 most of the time so koziello/jorginho are decent investments.(Weigl is a pipe dream,paredes wont suit us, koziello looks the most similar player to carricks style,jorginho has been doing very well for Napoli in that position as well)
-Cm:We need to sign atleast 1 cm. Bakayoko or kessie(is a boyhood united fan and gave a come and get me appeal at start of season so would be easy to get,he will probably except a rotation role as well, also has a knack of scoring goals which for us is very important!) New signing, Pogba, herrera, Fellaini, TFM, Pereira should do it.
FWDs:
Griezmann seems like a done deal, he can play rw st, other than that a #9 is required but we can be ok for next season with Ibra, Martial, Rashford, Griezmann and then next season look to spend big on a #9(By then it would be easier to judge the best out of icardi lukaku belotti dolberg silva)
Mata Mkhi lingard januzaj along with ibra martial rashford griezmann should be enough for the front 3 positions.
Rooney would probably leave.(high chance China gives us a big amount due to rooney as a brand, also rooney has 5 goals 11 assists this seasoneven after being a bit part player, so its not he has been shit.)
Summary (~possible fee):
In~Griezmann(86m), Koziello/Jorginho(20m), Bakayoko/kessie(30m), semedo(30m), devrij/lindelof(35m)
Out~Darmian(15m), Smalling(25m), Young(china 10m), Basti(0m), johnston(7m), rooney(30m), varela(3-5m)
Net spend~201-92~109m.
Considering we probably have already done the groundwork on griezmann semedo lindelof deals, and are low in numbers in cm positions, high chances we sign for these 5 positions.
£80m for Rooney, Young, Darmian and Smalling. That would be an amazing deal. While LVG was in charge they'd be lucky to get £8m.
Every summer, people always say we need 4-5 players.
They're usually right.Every summer, people always say we need 4-5 players.
A top side in the modern game has to be turning over the squad particularly when Coaches change about every 3 years on average.
Age, injuries and unsuitability of style are all factors.
No we don't need 5 players, we already signed 4 good players this season. I would rather give more chances to Rashford and Martial in the forward position than signing a new striker. Coming to the midfield Pogba and Herrera are good enough, we just need a DM to replace Carrick. We need an experienced defender to partner Bailly in defense, if Shaw is going to leave we need to sign a replacement for him. We can't keep saying we need 4-5 players every season. We don't need another Pogba situation by not giving chances to Rashford, Martial or Shaw. People need to remember that Shaw went through a serious injury, IMO he was playing well before the injury. We need maximum 2-3 signings not 5.
RB - is perfectly fine Unless Valencia gets injured
LB - Shaw/Blind/Rojo/Darmian can all play here so thats not an issue.
CB - If we could get another One promising/Solid player here that would be great.
CM/CDM - Someone to help rotate with Ander/Carrick (Could use Blind here too possibly)
Wingers and Attacking Mid is well stocked
You could argue that we dont need another striker yet with Ibra having another year and Rashford/Martial/Rooney as back up
So do we NEED to sign 4-5 players? not really. Sign 1 or 2 decent players that can affect the first team and promote the youth and we are fine. If high calibre players become available then we should go for it but we are close to the stage where you have to stop throwing money at the problem.
LB - Shaw/Blind/Rojo/Darmian can all play here so thats not an issue.
CB - If we could get another One promising/Solid player here that would be great.
CM/CDM - Someone to help rotate with Ander/Carrick (Could use Blind here too possibly)
Wingers and Attacking Mid is well stocked
You could argue that we dont need another striker yet with Ibra having another year and Rashford/Martial/Rooney as back up
So do we NEED to sign 4-5 players? not really. Sign 1 or 2 decent players that can affect the first team and promote the youth and we are fine. If high calibre players become available then we should go for it but we are close to the stage where you have to stop throwing money at the problem.
It's no longer 2011 though. Tactics have changed. Many many teams play with 3 people in the middle nowadays, especially in CL, which makes playing 2 there really difficult however good your DM is.
Real play Modric, Casemiro, Kroos. Barca play Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta. PSG play Verratti, Matuidi, Rabiot/Motta. Bayern play Thiago, Xabi Alonso, Lahm. I could go on.
A "solid DM" is not gonna free you to play Pogba and Griezmann in matches when teams pack the MF like that.
And one last thing, Fabinho is a pretty good player but if you think he will bench Herrera you got another thing coming. That's like saying if Chelsea buy a DM they would bench Kante. It's far more likely the DM will be rotated like Carrick has been this year.
An Rb(to deputize valencia and takeover when valencia loses his position) and atleast 2 Cms(dm carrick replacement and cm backup since all we have is fellaini after pogba herrera) seem the necessary signings. Griezmann will most probably signed as well(obvious reasons). Thats 4 signings already there.
Although cb is not a position that we need to sign urgently a solid partner to bailly can really transform our defence as well. People seem to be whining about so many signings but we will probably sell rooney bastian young darmian smalling/rojo and have already sold schneiderlin memphis thats 7 players out!Out of the 5 new signings only 3 will be direct starters mind you, because we have sold so many squad players we have to sign some squad players as well.(Rb and Cm backup)
Although cb is not a position that we need to sign urgently a solid partner to bailly can really transform our defence as well. People seem to be whining about so many signings but we will probably sell rooney bastian young darmian smalling/rojo and have already sold schneiderlin memphis thats 7 players out!Out of the 5 new signings only 3 will be direct starters mind you, because we have sold so many squad players we have to sign some squad players as well.(Rb and Cm backup)
Griezmann
CB - no idea who
CM - I like Fabinho at Monaco
That's all I see we need to do in the summer unless we seriously weaken the squad by letting the likes of Carrick, Basti and Fellaini all leave
CB - no idea who
CM - I like Fabinho at Monaco
That's all I see we need to do in the summer unless we seriously weaken the squad by letting the likes of Carrick, Basti and Fellaini all leave
Rodriguez would probably be my first choice. The only downside is, that he is already on a high wage, so overall he'd be pretty expansive. Still I think risk with him is almost minimal; he proved to be quality for a long time. He is also not one of those transformed wingers, but a fairly well rounded footballer for a FB.Well one of them is free and the other will probably cost close to £30m. And Kolasinac is better at defending than him and he isn't that slow. I like Rodriguez but to say that he's a couple of levels above Kolasinac is exaggerating. Besides, the only thing I said was that I'm a bit uncertain of his speed. That doesn't mean I think he's slow - I just don't know what his speed is like compared to the ones that already are in the team.
By the way, is Rodriguez your first LB choice or someone else? It should be a realistic one.
Kolasinac had one good season with various inconsistent periods and injuries in between. He never proved for an extended period of time, that he has the quality to play for a top club. At the moment he plays as wing-back in a struggling team; despite his body he can be shaky at the back. He is still fairly raw and not fully established himself despite being around for a while now.
Reminded mostly of posts like this at times like this. Still too many average or unproven players in this team. Long way to go.
No way he'd cost that cheap.
Should we replace the entirety of our first XI?
Take straight swap for Rooney!?
A young upcoming player for an experience have-seen-done-that legend. It's a good deal for both parties.