Just so we're clear, I'm saying Amrabat is a decent player from a midtable Serie A side that we shouldn't be getting too hyped about.
Because I'm not going along with the ridiculous hyperbole, I'm the bedwetter...? OK...
Amrabat - Man United Player FINALLY - #4 confirmed
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Because I'm not going along with the ridiculous hyperbole, I'm the bedwetter...? OK...
Do you reckon he would have been in consideration for tomorrow IF he had been registered in time. My gut feeling is no as he hasn't been training with Fiorentina
The two no8s are key to winning the ball back high up the pitch. He’s not going to abandon that - he can’t because he believes it’s the way to win. We’ve had three difficult games but still won two of them. This system takes ages to get right. Will be even longer now that Mount is injured. We shouldn’t be judging it until after Xmas at this rate. EtH will probably live or die by it.
Amrabat will have to compete hard to get into the team - probably at no6 but may be tried as one of the no8s in a crisis. He’ll also be used a lot as a tactical or relief sub when he can’t get into the staring side.
Generally, now, there’s a couple of things that happen a lot in this forum.
One is that people see a couple of poor performances and think EtH is going to throw out months of planning and stick player A or B in there to make us more solid.
The other is that people think that EtH decides all his selections in advance. Yes, he seems to have favourites, thus far, but has said many times that he wants competition so he can select based on form.
Performance is complicated. Antony is picked because he mainly does a good job of following his rules and without much competition for his place. And even then he has been dropped a few times.
When Amad comes back, he may provide some competition or at least a viable alternative.
A lot of our “preferred” players just don’t have anyone chasing after their place.
That said, I don’t see Amrabat competing for no8 in our current system. He’s a 6.
He'll be a 6. Casemiro will then become an 8 option as well as a 6.
I don't think he's going to abandon that system altogether. I just don't think it's going to work with Bruno and Mount. Maybe he can get it to work but both are more suited to playing as a 10 for me, and Bruno is too sloppy in possession.
Amrabat can play in the 8 as well.
Sure. I more or less ignore stats because people pick out a selected few and pretend the others don’t exist.
I was talking about people who said his defensive stats were poor. Firstly, they are not actually that bad and secondly the stats won’t give a full picture. You have to watch him. And I dare say most people have seen even less of him than I have.
I liked the look of him but I am the first to admit that I can’t really judge him until he’s played for us a few times. I’m happy with the signing. In theory he gives the whole midfield a lift just by being at the club but if Casemiro responds positively, Amrabat will probably not start that many games.
Henderson has to get sold for us to make the move according to FFP
not about being a benchwarmer....he can start with Ambrabat and Bruno when Case needs to rotate...he can start to rotate Bruno. Don't think he's going to be a benchwarmer at all.
How well do you think he would do next to Casemiro, that's what I want to know. Would it be too defensive or his passing would help us control the game?
I think he would do great. It wouldn’t be defensive but I think the shape of the team will be off. It would be more of a conventional 4231 which tends to yield the middle of the pitch and under-utilises the CBs and FBs.
I reckon that would have been bad man-management. I'd think the time to introduce a new player is when there's no pressure -- so either at the end of a match that's won, give them 10-15 minutes to stretch their legs and have their debut a win, or in a match that's lopsided in our favor. Arsenal is going to be a tight game and we're going to squeak a win, so I wouldn't expect to see either Hojland, Reguilón, or Amrabat. For team morale, you want the new players having an instant impact. Now watch all 3 start.
Salah and KDB were key players for Roma and Wolfsburg. Clubs that finished in top 3/4 of their leagues and played CL KO stages those years… City and Pool were barely bigger that waht they were used to...
Fiorentina are a mid-table squad. Not at all comparable. But I am still hyped and believe he will do well…
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And how much have we raised for those players....about £80m, its terrible transfer business. I was responding to someone not sure if it was you saying we were a centre back signing away from a fantastic summer window, we were most certainly not. This is the wrong thread though so will leave it there
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But then this FFP thing They had to prioritise, and
Bruno doesn't seem to need much rotation. He's our most important player and should play most.
Depends how he performs, so let's see.
I think any issue in midfield wasn't as a result of Mount, but moreso about Casemiro. I think you may actually be right. Casemiro wants to be move involved, and regularly moves into positions because he actually does provide some creative threat. In addition, Casemiro isn't always so willing to drop back to receive the ball from the defence. He's not Rodri, Busquets or Partey. This is partially why the double pivot with Eriksen worked so well last season. He was able to fulfill those destructive and attacking instincts, with the knowledge that Eriksen was happy to sit back to recycle possession when needed. The only hinderance to this came in bigger games where we didn't have full control. Eriksen's lack of pace would hurt us in these games. Hence Amrabat's energy and tackling ability will cover this in those games. He also has a lot of the operational abilities that Eriksen has, just less creative.
ETH was right however in that the midfield wasn't really the problem. The reason Casemiro venturing forward made us appear so open was due to the inability of our full backs to invert quickly. Our attackers were also not tracking back well enough to cover spaces, which would have allowed time for Casemiro to get back in position. I still think Mount could work in the middle, but Amrabat is a good insurance plan in the event that experiment doesn't quite work for us tactically. Mount would easily then shift to the right and can also rotate with Bruno. Whilst Amrabat and Eriksen regularly rotate and Amrabat covers Casemiro when needed. Mainoo will also be back at some point, so he would also bring a lot with him.
True, hopefully the best team is picked regardless of price tag
Maybe, and maybe it turns out to be a mastertoke, but priritising £55m on Mount to play the number 8, seems poor business for me, we have also over spent on Hoijlund who I have an inkling may turn out to be a big player here and I am not sure £45m on Onana is the best signing we could have made.
I think we have made similar mistakes in the transfer market to last summer personally, but yes £10m on Arambat as an initial loan is a good deal
Don't agree with that. But we don't have to agree obviously.
Ok now I am concerned, his agent looks far too smug that he has got him a loan to us
I agree, in his best months here I think the surprise for a few (including myself) was how godo Casmeiro was on the ball and passing at times progressively as we didnt see it much at Madrid (well he did have Kroos and Modric in front of him). From what I have seen of Arambat he is confortable on the ball and dictating but really not very progressive, I think if the two play together it it probably Casemeiro moving forward more than Arambat, surprised you are the first person I have seen to also think this on here
I think it’s widely accepted that Amrabat will be the deepest player, picking the ball up from Onana, turning and driving forward with it.
So many muppets on here have obviously never watched this man play. It’s laughable that they think just because we’re skint and that this is a (temporary) loan signing that he won’t start most if not all matches.
The system EtH is implementing requires only one player in the no6 area. When everyone is fit, Amrabat and Casemiro will be competing to start in that role. So “let’s see” is appropriate.
With Mount being injured at the moment, it’s possible we play a slightly different system where Amrabat plays as a traditional no8. Whatever the solution, Amrabat will get more games until Mount comes back. After that, who knows?
It is quite possible to have seen Amrabat play a few times, to rate him very highly, and at the same time consider the possibility that our preferred system and the quality and form of our other midfielders will make it difficult for Amrabat to get a lot of starts. That won’t make him a failure or a poor signing.
He will get a lot of minutes and plenty of starts through injuries, suspensions and, probably, he will outcompete his team mates on form and will get the nod from time to time.
He is a very good player and will help us but to say he will start every game (more or less) is jumping the gun somewhat.
Sigh. Casemiro has provided a massive amount of goal threat and generated a lot of xA. Why do people keep assuming that Casemiro will always play a 6.
Amrabat doesn't generate xA but moves the ball quickly, progresses and is instrumental in generating chances quickly.
He is another option in the ETH toolbox. Different options for different games.
Amrabat doesn't generate xA but moves the ball quickly, progresses and is instrumental in generating chances quickly.
He is another option in the ETH toolbox. Different options for different games.
Casemiro is a no6. He just happens to be a very good all round footballer. Playing at 6 suits him because he is not the most mobile and it’s the position where his game intelligence and positioning are most useful. He likes to get forward and contribute to the attack sometimes. He’s great.
Do I see him getting involved in the press high up the pitch? No. If you play no8 in our system that’s what you have to do. He’s a no6.
I think we will see Amrabat and Casemiro on the pitch together whilst Mount is injured and we’ll see how they are used but I would bet Casemiro is essentially no6 and Amrabat used as no8.
Great another nutter running all over the pitch...he will fit perfectly into United's brand of chaos-ball
Only joking, I wont judge him until the end of the season, excited to see how he fits in with Casemiro/Bruno/Mount
Yeah very interesting signing. Potentially a significant influence on the squad. Very competitive player.Great another nutter running all over the pitch...he will fit perfectly into United's brand of chaos-ball
Only joking, I wont judge him until the end of the season, excited to see how he fits in with Casemiro/Bruno/Mount
I mean I’d be feeling pretty smug if I’d got my client a move to United.
When I first saw Amrabat in the WC I thought he was exactly the type of player we needed, and so I am glad that we have got him.
I'm old school and get tired of this 6, 8, 10, inverted, pivot, false this, false that nonsense. Amrabat is a midfielder. He has seemingly boundless energy and commitment, is skillful, can create and destroy, and I see him being a crucial part of our team this year.
Having Amrabat, Casemiro, Eriksen, Bruno, Mount, Mainoo, Hannibal and McTominay gives us so many options. The McFred days of last resorts are over!
Edit: I forgot about Donny!
I'm old school and get tired of this 6, 8, 10, inverted, pivot, false this, false that nonsense. Amrabat is a midfielder. He has seemingly boundless energy and commitment, is skillful, can create and destroy, and I see him being a crucial part of our team this year.
Having Amrabat, Casemiro, Eriksen, Bruno, Mount, Mainoo, Hannibal and McTominay gives us so many options. The McFred days of last resorts are over!
Edit: I forgot about Donny!
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Competition won't be that hard as long as ETH knows what he wants. Apart from the dozen games that Casemiro should be rested, forced or voluntary, Amrabat will easily get another dozen starts. Playing Eriksen or Mount as defensive #8 ( in reality, 2-Six) against top teams, never work. If Fred and McTom have been decent with the ball and positioning, they should have started against big teams, instead of bit part player.
On the other hand I am not too worry about Bruno-Mount-Eriksen game time, Bruno was simply burnt out last season. Let these 3 fight for #10, #8 and should be plenty of resting and rotation. Only casualty is VDB but everybody forgotten about him already.
Sofyan is very disciplined from what I have seen and he has an engine. He will be a better screen for the back four than Casemiro.
Casemiro has been much better for us in the opposition's half, but he will still drop back when necessary.
Tactically this signing makes a lot of sense.
Casemiro has been much better for us in the opposition's half, but he will still drop back when necessary.
Tactically this signing makes a lot of sense.
Yeah, absolutely buzzing - can't wait to see him in action! Welcome, Amrabat!
West Ham fans were impressed by his performance against them.
Highlights against Italian champions Napoli below.
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Highlights against Italian champions Napoli below.
I like the balance of Amrabat, Casemiro and Bruno in terms of their styles. We’ll see if Amrabat is the right quality, but he’s the right kind of player for me.
Yeah it looks great.
I don’t think we’ll line up like that when everyone is fit. Mount and Bruno will start as advanced no8s. Amrabat and Casemiro will compete for starts at no6 and whichever is not selected will often come on as sub for one purpose or another. I’m not saying I prefer that line-up but it does fit EtH’s system better.
He looks like he won't be bullied on the pitch, glad we have signed someone with some presence about him.