OK, I get it. Lavia is more of a #6 and Onana a natural complementary #8. Interesting that you don't seem to rate him that highly.
Haven't seen anything much of Onana, and certainly not enough of him to even think of him as a desirable for us in an open market, but it's easy to see why he would be of interest as he looks the part with, we would assume, massive room for growth given his age and erratic nature at the moment. I'm not averse to the player as he seems to have the raw tools we need, but is he ready to contribute to the degree we require (we badly need a functional player to come in and provide what we lack)? You mentioned Amrabat in your previous post, but I am pretty sure this is going to be an either/or situation. If by some miracle it were to be both, where does that leave Mainoo and Hannibal?
It's not that I don't rate him but rather I would prefer that we target a replacement for Casemiro who is just as press resistant as Lavia but with the added benefit of having a more expansive passing range. I think that player or players will emerge by next summer and the way I'm reading things, I feel we'll prioritise a starting #6 alongside a RCB next summer.
If it's a either/or situation then Amrabat should be prioritised ahead of Onana imo. But Onana absolutely can contribute and his ability to defend transitions is quite impressive. For example the Wolves players wouldn't have been able to dribble away from him, and his ability on the ball where he can surge forward with the ball is also a handy weapon to have due to his size and pace. And we're a team that isn't the best at defending transitions. And if we want to play the game in the opponent's half via a higher defensive line then defending transitions against quick players has to be something we need to improve on. And the only way we can do that imo is by signing players who are going raise both the technical level in possession aswell as raising the physical and athletic level to control/contain transitions which is extremely important to maintain overall control. And I understand people preferring to see the more technical players thrive. But I think it's important we read the room as far the league is concerned and develop a team that can exert control in possession and out of possesion.
1: We exert zonal and positional control in possession.
2: We have the ability to press/counter press in coordination to try and win the ball back, proactively.
3: We have the ability to defend transitions in larger spaces.
And as far as Mainoo and Hannibal are concerned, I think Mainoo is going to be integrated into the team and ten Hag seemed to have had a plan for him in a deeper role before he unfortunately got injured. And as far as Hannibal is concerned, he needs games for his development. So he either gets them at United or he goes on loan. But he's definitely a player who I feel ticks a lot of boxes and is someone that I want to see in a more possession dominant setup.
And from what I've seen at youth level, there's a number of young midfielders that have started coming through at u18 level who are showing a extremely good level when it comes to evading the press and playing through the lines for their age groups. So I think in a few years we'll see at least one or two hopefully kick on and fulfil their potential.
To be clear I was never a fan of the Felliani signing and never warmed to him at any point, but he was thought of in many different ways by many people, including fans, managers and football analysts, so I'm not quite sure what Rio is trying to say here.
