Who would you sign as the other CM
Adrien Rabiot | signs 1 year deal at Juventus. See you all next year
- Thread starter Tom Van Persie
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
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Good replacement for Sabitzer/Fred.
Can't get excited, he is not sexy enough for me.
Yup, Klopp managed without one for the most part (I don't really count Thiago because I feel like he's always in and out). The way they did that was by going direct a lot of the time against the big sides and having a really good counter press. I don't know if that's what Ten Hag's planning.
But it's really hard to imagine a top side without a good play maker. Maybe ball carrying through the middle is the thing that's missing in our squad, hard to tell unless we see them line up next season.
Yeah maybe Rabiot can provide the ball carrying but like you say most top sides need that playmaker to control things
Casemiro and Rabiot should in theory be a pretty solid midfield two and their qualities balance each other out right?
If Bruno is our 10, then I'd say we'd need Rabiot's 'conservative' passing as long as he can retain/recycle it well.
In theory it's a very balanced midfield especially since Rabiot is more of a ball carrier. Now I think that my issue mirrors the issue that many have against Rabiot, it's that he isn't playmaker, it's a conservative signing and it doesn't make me dream about some sexy Football built around ball movement. Now if Rabiot is paired with Kane then I like it a lot, I like the idea of Bruno and Kane having more leeway in terms of movement due to the fact that they have solid midfielders behind them.
I hear you, but I think we just have to accept that we're going to have to settle for functional midfield signings this summer. There isn't a sexy FdJ clone out there, and we already have too many square pegs in round holes.
All that money needs to go on a sexy striker right now, so hopefully we actually get that and you'll feel better about it
Caicedo
I have accepted it a long time ago. I made that point because I see people arguing about players not on the base of what serves the team and is feasible but on ideals. And out of all the combinations that I see I would pick the one leading to Kane. The way I see it is like that:I hear you, but I think we just have to accept that we're going to have to settle for functional midfield signings this summer. There isn't a sexy FdJ clone out there, and we already have too many square pegs in round holes.
All that money needs to go on a sexy striker right now, so hopefully we actually get that and you'll feel better about it
- Kane + Rabiot + Mount + GK or
- Young striker + Thuram + Rice + GK
To me the first one leads to a better team for the next 3 or 4 seasons and a strong team during that period of time should make it easier to integrate young players and relatively cheap gambles. I think that people often ignore the fact that an actually strong team will attract players, it will put you in a better negotiating position.
I fully agree with you. I think it's also worth mentioning Juventus decline has coincided with him being a regular starter in midfield. He has been a pretty significant downgrade on the likes of Vidal, Pirlo, Pogba in first spell or even players like Pjanic and Khedira.
And despite his decent stats this season he has been underwhelming when it comes to actual midfield play.
Isn't the problem with Rabiot his mum? Isn't she a bit 'Marguerite Oswald'?
Is he press resistant? Does he make himself available and will collect the ball from the defence? Is he good at playing one-twos and has game intelligence to know when to slow and speed the game up?
If he's good at that and can carry the ball at a highish level then that's good enough for me. Basically a taller, consistent and better Fred. My biggest doubt about a midfield player is how can they adapt to Bruno. I love the guy but it's basically a losing battle and porous midfield if he's the 10. I'd love for FDJ to come in but I'm not sure he could handle playing behind Bruno, Rashford and Sancho as there's too many transitions and breaks in play, with not enough nous on ball retention etc. Of course that's as it stands with the way we currently and totally ignores the possibility that ETH would be changing his tactics and personnel.
A very impressive analysis from a soccer/footballing point of view, but what does his mum think, that is the key here.
Yeah I am starting to accept we won't get that playmaker to control things from deep this summer,however hopefully it's near the top of priority in maybe January more likely summer 24I hear you, but I think we just have to accept that we're going to have to settle for functional midfield signings this summer. There isn't a sexy FdJ clone out there, and we already have too many square pegs in round holes.
All that money needs to go on a sexy striker right now, so hopefully we actually get that and you'll feel better about it
Are we going for both Mount and Rabiot or it will be one or the other?
What's his character like. I've always had this impression he is trouble we could do without?
Not very original but Lavia seems like the other obvious option. We need some younger legs in there too so we don't end up in a Liverpool situation with all players coming to the end at the same time.
Somebody like Ugarte, Fofana (Monaco) or Sangare would also be possible be good signings. I presume ETH doesn't fancy Sangara otherwise we would have signed him by now....... I can't pretend I've seen these players more than 3 or 4 times, but think they all look good players on the face of it, and have good reputations.
If we were to sell Fred and McT and replace them with Rabiot and Mount, is that really that big of an upgrade? Upgrade yes, but is it enough?
Think it massively improves the squad strength
They are both significantly better than Fred and Rabiot but from a pratical standpoint, how many points did we lose during the period of time where Eriksen or Casemiro were out? How worse did we look without either of them?
It raises the technical floor of our midfield quite significantly.
The priority is a striker, probably 2. Sorting that will have the biggest impact, along with a GK who can play comfortably play out from the back.
Enough for what? To get 6-8 more points in the league, sure.
If it happens, I hope you guys are correct... Rabiot on a free wouldn't be that bad. It's the rumoured Mount fee that scares me, but then, this isn't the Mount-thread...
I have no idea why the CAF are so in love with Rabiot except that he's free. He's not good enough defensively to be a Casemiro replacement as a single DM. He is inconsistent. He is at his peak now and had a good year but didn't Juve get beaten by Empoli or someone sht and he had a bad game and he does have bad games regularly and even bad seasons. He is an arse and a bad character for the dressing room. He will demand huge wages and Im not sure he will sit all quietly on the bench when he's not needed. He is basically a sexy sounding Fred/McTominay with more baggage. He will have fkn awesome games and be lauded then be sht and throw a hissy fit and we will still need a Casemiro back up.
I am sure you have a source for that?
Sure, but if you could, say, upgrade your midfield by signing Rabiot and Mount for £60m and you sell Fred and McTominay for around £30m (I appreciate the wages make the deals a lot more expensive in reality) then, as someone said above, the base level of that midfield has been lifted massively.
People are too hung up on the idea of getting a perfect player that can single handedly control games. Even if we get fdj, I wouldn't bet on that hapenning. The team is not ready, we don't create enough passing options, there are only a few players who can play under pressure in thight spaces. ETH was right to take more pragmatic approach this season, I have to admit that even if I was a bit disappointed with the brand of football we played and how much possession we gave away.
Get the right-profile players and build a well-balanced team for next season. Don't chase De Jong whole summer and spend half a budget on him.
Get the right-profile players and build a well-balanced team for next season. Don't chase De Jong whole summer and spend half a budget on him.
Casemiro #6
Rabiot #8
Eriksen #8/10
Mount #10
Bruno #10
This is unbalanced.
We need a Casemiro deputy, not another functional #8 like Fred/McT.
Rabiot #8
Eriksen #8/10
Mount #10
Bruno #10
This is unbalanced.
We need a Casemiro deputy, not another functional #8 like Fred/McT.
Its well known from leaving City, moaning at PSG and refusing to play for France etc is it not? He is generally seen as a bad boy character. Seems not to rock the boat at Juve. But I dont see anyone defending him or saying he's great to work with. Even saying all this it wouldnt stop me from signing him. Cantona and loads of ex players were volatile to say the least. But i dont see him accepting being benched a lot which is a problem.
The fact that he's free and available is huge, you can't dismiss it like that. With Rabiot you know exactly what you get, it's not about potential, and you know that with the right offer you can get him.
Question now is who are the CM that are better than Rabiot and available ? Caicedo, Rice, maybe Thuram if you factor in his potential, but I don't see a lot more.
He was on a trial at 13/14 years old with City and decided to go to PSG because they offered conditions that suited him and his mother better, keeping in mind that his father was sick. He didn't particularly moan at PSG and wasn't an issue for them anyway. He declined to be on the reserved list for the World Cup which he apologized for, he didn't refuse to play because he wasn't selected in the first place.
Caqueret, Ugarte, Andre, Neves - millions of them
No No No.
No. Not strong enough for starting XI.
No. Salery will be too high
No. Will give problems in the dressing room.
No. Not strong enough for starting XI.
No. Salery will be too high
No. Will give problems in the dressing room.
He is seen as a disruptive influence rightly or wrongly. Maybe its all in the past. Maybe its all paper talk. But its a risk worth considering thats all I'm saying.
The mention of this name is a bit worrying. He has been subpar for roughly 18 months and he has never been better than Rabiot. It's not even a case of rating Rabiot, Caqueret's appeal was his potential and he hasn't fulfilled it yet.
Someone that has never been a disruptive influence is a risk? What you wrote makes no sense.
The two of us will die on this hill defending Rabiot.
I would love to have him at Bayern but the focus seems to be on a 6 and Laimer is coming in anyways.
Curious to see your millions of them. I'd argue that Rabiot is in a top 100 CM, just by being a starter with the last WC finalist.
Ugarte, I don't watch his league so I can't tell if he's better than Rabiot.
But I certainly don't rate Caqueret and Andre above Rabiot.
Neves is arguable, but my issue with him, compared to Rabiot, is that we don't know if he can take the step up to a top 4 team.
Not better player than Rabiot but better fit because he is a DM and not a CM like Rabiot and they will be happier as bench players. Only mentioned Caqueret as a dirt cheap option. There are loads better options as mentioned. And I only through out some names. There are millions of others - take your pick.
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