We look at clubs who have re-built with arguably crap footballers (e.g. Milner) but us lot only accept signings of Galactico stature ... it really is a bit rich ...
Adrien Rabiot | signs 1 year deal at Juventus. See you all next year
- Thread starter Tom Van Persie
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Carl Anka summed it up pretty well on the talk of the devils podcast yesterday:
-Rabiot is a tall elegant player but not particularly technical, good stamina and can do a bit of everything.
-He doesn’t have a best position he is kind of a 6/kind of an 8 who prefers playing in the outside areas of the pitch, his big thing is that he puts in tackles and plays it safe.
-United already have players like this.
-Rabiot is left footed which is important to ETH but so is Fred and Martinez.
-a cm of Rabiot and Eriksen could work ‘a little bit’ but it doesn’t fix the issues we currently have in midfield as Rabiot is not a progressive passer, he is not a ball carrier, he is an aggressive but not outstanding tackler.
-makes zero sense to track him and FDJ in the same window as he is neither a good partner of plan b for Frankie.
-he is an upgrade on Fred and mctominay but not in the way you would want to upgrade then so why are United in mid august chasing a man in his late 20s with a tear left in his contract for premium wages that doesn’t solve a problem in the squad?
-you don’t spend months doing research to land on the name Rabiot and if you go then alarm bells should be ringing, big ones.
To summarise- this transfer make no bloody sense, either as a replacement or partner of de Jong and if you’re going to fix the midfield then fix the midfield don’t sign a player who is a slightly better version of what we already have and finally if he is the man for the job then why on earth is this happening now.
-Rabiot is a tall elegant player but not particularly technical, good stamina and can do a bit of everything.
-He doesn’t have a best position he is kind of a 6/kind of an 8 who prefers playing in the outside areas of the pitch, his big thing is that he puts in tackles and plays it safe.
-United already have players like this.
-Rabiot is left footed which is important to ETH but so is Fred and Martinez.
-a cm of Rabiot and Eriksen could work ‘a little bit’ but it doesn’t fix the issues we currently have in midfield as Rabiot is not a progressive passer, he is not a ball carrier, he is an aggressive but not outstanding tackler.
-makes zero sense to track him and FDJ in the same window as he is neither a good partner of plan b for Frankie.
-he is an upgrade on Fred and mctominay but not in the way you would want to upgrade then so why are United in mid august chasing a man in his late 20s with a tear left in his contract for premium wages that doesn’t solve a problem in the squad?
-you don’t spend months doing research to land on the name Rabiot and if you go then alarm bells should be ringing, big ones.
To summarise- this transfer make no bloody sense, either as a replacement or partner of de Jong and if you’re going to fix the midfield then fix the midfield don’t sign a player who is a slightly better version of what we already have and finally if he is the man for the job then why on earth is this happening now.
Ten Hag needs to recognise that this season is pretty much a free hit and as such, he needs to be adventurous. What is the harm in trying a midfield 3 of Eriksen, Garner and Iqbal? If we lose so what? We're not fighting for anything anyways and we get the benefit of knowing they're not good enough. If they play well, then you know that you have another viable alternative to the dross of McFred without having to spend one dime on another player Every single player we ask to join us right now will ask for mega wages in relation to what they are currently making. We are the guys on the wrong end of the barrel right bow. Time to get creative. Why sign all these youngsters to never use them?
£200k a week is daft money for him. Leave him at Juventus and let’s see who’s interested in getting him next season on a free.
Everyone seems caught up with his wages or his position or if he is good enough but the main risk is adding another volatile player to a team that already downs tools. The player that liked Evras celebration of Man Utd beating PSG. The player whos mother had a massive argument with Pogbas and Mbapes parents in the middle of a match. The player that turned up late to trainings. And on and on. Is putting this character among our already mentally fragile team really a good plan? I thought we were trying to get rid of the whiners and cry babies not add more of them
Juventus are far more organized and stable then we are.
There's no such thing as a free hit at Manchester United. We need to at least be competing for top 4 and with that midfield we'd be lucky to be top 10.
When you end up at Spurs, you know it’s your last chance to salvage your career.
Its more of a case of ending up under a manager that expects nothing but 100% from his players and has credibility.
Every fan, pundit and journalist can see this summer has been a complete mess.
Unless we can get a player in to truly improve the first 11 (de Jong etc) then play the kids. Filling the squad with overpaid mediocre talent like Rabiot will set us back years.
Can you imagine if we signed Rabiot and Morata?
Unless we can get a player in to truly improve the first 11 (de Jong etc) then play the kids. Filling the squad with overpaid mediocre talent like Rabiot will set us back years.
Can you imagine if we signed Rabiot and Morata?
Their transfers in the past 2 windows have been insane. They’ve almost bought an entire new squad of quality players since the January window.
He wouldn't have been my choice this summer by any stretch. However, a lot of that is just his opinion.
He describes his qualities but then goes on to say we already have players like that. Well, do we? Aggressive, hybrid 6/8, elegant? Where are they?
Also, he says he couldn't partner de Jong, but I bet nobody expected Schone to partner de Jong at Ajax. That's one thing I would trust ETH on over any of these journalists.
I'm up for playing the kids, but I certainly wouldn't want to see them next to liabilities like Fred/Mctominay. That's not giving them a platform to succeed and would probably just ruin them to be involved in that crap. Perhaps a more safe and solid option like Rabiot could give them the stage to perform?Every fan, pundit and journalist can see this summer has been a complete mess.
Unless we can get a player in to truly improve the first 11 (de Jong etc) then play the kids. Filling the squad with overpaid mediocre talent like Rabiot will set us back years.
Can you imagine if we signed Rabiot and Morata?
Get this sorted ffs. We desperately need him.
That's a big statement. Our lack of CL football over a large period of time has made us very unattractive and it's shown in this transfer window. 2yrs in a row without the competition not only damages our image further amongst top players but our finances too so lesser money to spend. Best thing we'll be able to attract are 3rd/4th tier players who will never improve us to the level required thus keeping us in this vicious cycle. We have to get CL football next season
Rather take a gamble with players like Rabiot/SMS who at least give us a fighting chance and improve our midfield in the short/medium term AT LEAST and once we're a consistent CL level team improve on whoever hasn't improved to the level required
People bring up his stats and compare them to McTominays but it literally makes no sense and makes them look foolish. McTominay and Rabiot may both average 2.5 tackles a game or whatever it is, but what stats don't show is how many attacks Rabiot has snuffed out by his positioning or by the way he has pressured a player etc. Also they may also share similar progressive passing stats but what the stat doesn't show is that McTominay often makes a pass and then doesn't make himself available for a pass back.
Exactly this. I think some people forget SAF did this way before the class of '92. We raised eyebrows at the time when he shipped out McGrath, Whiteside etc, brought in Sharpe - and played him! - alongside the O'Brien's and Beardsmore's and Gill's. No, we weren't always great, but he needed to at least see how good they could be.
I stand corrected, in my head I had that as being the year after.
So the worst incident he’s been involved in is going to a club when he couldn’t play anyway.
You are correct. The pressing stats are night and day difference, I posted the comparison a couple of days ago. I thought it was pretty obvious why we would want to bring him in from viewing that those stats alone, given how poor we are at winning the ball back quickly. And regarding the other stats that are similar to McTominay, that's fine, McTominay had a poor season last year but ultimiately we're looking for a player to win the ball quickly and give it to Fernandes, Eriksen [De Jong] etc, which all the evidence shows that Rabiot can do. He's not a player I'd have picked out or that I'd have gone for but upon viewing the data it's pretty clear why we would be in for him.
I actually thought it was a poor analysis from Anka on Talk of the Devils to be honest, it was based almost entirely on his opinion without actually researching the player in the question and what exactly he could bring to the table. I didn't really understand what he was basing that he wouldn't play alongside De Jong on, he know that De Jong likes to initially sit deep without being the main ball winner in midfield, surely Rabiot allows that.
Spot on. This actually puts more pressure on Ten Hag. If he specifically signs a player and nobody is sure what his role will be to improve the side then if he isn't a success the pressure is on ETH for his decision making skills.
Alternatively, if he plays the youngsters - particularly Garner - then the fans will be patient even if we are losing if we can see they are trying to play in a system that progresses the ball. I don't hate Fred and McTominay. I think they try hard but they just don't have the requisite skills.
If Garner, Hannibal, Iqbal, Garnacho are making the bench and are options in positions across the park use them.
If anybody thinks that Iqbal and Garner are better options than an experienced international pro like Rabiot at this moment in their careers, then you really are deluded.
I personally don’t think Garner is premier league level (yet).
Iqbal (although he has skills & talent) can’t even pass the ball properly over 5 yards, he needs to learn his trade before coming anywhere near a premier league first team. The opposition will make mince meat of him.
I personally don’t think Garner is premier league level (yet).
Iqbal (although he has skills & talent) can’t even pass the ball properly over 5 yards, he needs to learn his trade before coming anywhere near a premier league first team. The opposition will make mince meat of him.
Garnacho, he certainly looks special and ready for a crack at the first team, but unfortunately he’s not a CM.
The fact that we have left this so late in the day and they know we need players in now will weaken our hand in the negotiations with the player and his agent . I don't think he is desperate to play for us and will feel he has a strong hand here with his demands.
Nice and clean shaven Big John making a good impression 
Yeah I get all that but he's out of contract next season, won't get any minutes for Juventus this season and will get half of what he's on now if he's lucky. We're both not in a position to negotiate.
Is it that late? I keep seeing this but it’s like a month left since it was revealed never mind when we started negotiations
Because one of them has mainly played as an attacking mid, has serious health issue and the other two haven't played in the league yet. It is all good and well for fans to write off the season after the first game, it isn't your reputation which is on the line here. The club just cannot go, try younglings as an excuse for the failings in the transfer window. After all, it wouldn't be fair to the young players as well. People are indicating, that fans would be patient, even when they fail - do you really believe that? No, there would be a frenzy, if the players fail, people will want them sold and some people will again ask for the next batch of younglings next year - play Savage, play Mainoo. Thats not pragmatic thinking. And that absolutely isn't what the class of 92 was about. Those guys came into the first team with 20 oder 21, didn't they? And they came into a team, that at least had a certain backbone. Something which isn't there at United right now.
I hear the concerns about Rabiot, I share the skepticism. But we have to fecking do something. And for what its worth - as long as we don't know what the club is offering in terms of contract length and compensation, it is a bit daft to slam the decision makers. People get injured, what if McTom gets injured - then you have to play reserve players. For all the bad decisions we made along the way, why would we continue to make bad decisions?!
Beggars can't be choosers. During his time at Juventus, things seemingly calmed down around him. Don't think, he is more of a risk than anybody else. And the situation is volatile anyway, with Ronaldo on Board and captain Maguire, the new coach and the not existing confidence. I am sure, there would have been midfielders, who would instill more hope than Rabiot but we can't just be angry and put the head in the sand because we don't like alternatives. The ultimate alternative is continue to play McFred. And as if that isn't problematic enough, we always would be one injury away from playing younglings without experience in the league.
Bit of a random comment in a thread about Rabiot!
The season is already started this deal could have been done in the first week of the transfer window if we were interested and it was pat of any real plan.
Forgot about when the windows ends , we are playing and losing games now. We needed players weeks ago.
And Rabiot partnered Verratti. Sometimes journalists just say stuff.
Once it becomes fashionable to shit on something everyone joins in.
Schone is v different, he was a very progressive passer, more like neves if anything. Rabiot/de jong might play v deep, or you end up with rabiot trying to be progressive which isn’t his strength.
onthe other hand mcFred
From what Ajax fans have said, he wasn't the player they thought would partner FDJ, but he did it well. If ETH thinks Rabiot could partner him, albeit in a different way, then who are we to disagree really?
Yeah it could have but there was like a third of the transfer window left open. It’s optimal to get players in early but not doing that doesn’t mean it’s late
Structurally yes, but have you watched them the last three years?
The same spurs that finished 19 points ahead of us last season? With a proven PL winning manager? And who have been in a CL final relatively recently?
Have you watched us play in the last 3 years?
Spurs have a better chance at winning the Premiere League this season than United.
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