Its hard to get a feel for the likes of him and Shaw without seeing them in a lineup somewhere close to resembling our first choice (which I am sure/hope tonight was not).
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Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 31
- Goals
- 8
- Assists
- 5
- Yellow cards
- 6
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
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We need a Javi Martinez type beside him. Someone comfortable in possession who can read the game well from a deeper position.
Obviously Martinez isn't happening but that's the type of player we should be looking for. We have enough creativity with Herrera and Mata now we just need someone to help get the best out of them.
Obviously Martinez isn't happening but that's the type of player we should be looking for. We have enough creativity with Herrera and Mata now we just need someone to help get the best out of them.
He's the best midfielder at the club by miles already.
Yeah, the idea was to let him sit back and allow Cleverley to dictate and show what he is made of. We need him to play further up the pitch though.
Really nice to see his energy, and his first thought seems to be forward. A breath of fresh air.
True for tonight, but if you saw the Galaxy game it was easy enough to get a feel for him, practically a perfect performance from Herrera in that game. Shaw hopefully will settle down and show his quality soon.
Herrera and Carrick would be our first choice pairing (if Carrick was fit). The drop in quality in our second string is just ridiculous. We have no depth in midfield at all.
I agree about Herrera though, obviously. Early days and all but he looks like he'd suit the league as well.
Thos what worries me the most about our midfield. If Herrera has an average game, we are left playing without midfielders unless mata or Rooney drop deeps. Hopefully, we get two more addition in this part of the field. One being a number 6 (William Carvalho, Strootmam, or Ruben loftus Cheeks) and the other being a number 8 to provide competition for Herrera (Mateo Kovacic or Oliver Torres).
I do not rate our current midfielders beside maybe Carrick and Powell.
I do not rate our current midfielders beside maybe Carrick and Powell.
Very inexperienced, totally unproven, and Chelsea wouldn't sell us one of their best youngsters anyway.Didn't have the best of games today, made some sloppy passes, and touch was a bit off, but what I like about him is that he continued to be adventurous.
Thought he did quite well, played some nice through balls (though quite a few were overhit). I feel like he'd be a lot better with a great midfielder partnering him, I saw Herrera having to take over a lot of the defensive duties in the time he was on.
I consider both of these players to be more box to box players than holding ones. Plus, Loftus Cheek is way too inexperienced. Has he even played in the EPL yet?
Agreed. If you want Strootman then you might as well try for Vidal too, the former is no more defensive than the latter.
I was thinking that he should be utlized as a squad player till he is rippened. I agree with the latter that Chelsea would not sell him to us anyways. It is just my wishlist.
Use Cheeks and Carrcik has our number 6, until we get Strootman in January. The standard in our midfield is at league 2 level if you seen their performances last season. Herrera alone will not be enough to fix this area.
Strootman(Carrick/Cheeks) - Herrera(Kovacic/ Powell)
Strootman can play both role. He is positionally responsible in his defensive duty, so he is capable of playing the number 6 role(the number he wears on his back). He might even be more suited in that role as he does not have the consistant key passing ability a number 8 like Herrera has. He is good at keeping the ball circulating and reading the game which are attribute that can thrieve in he number 6 role. Cheeks is bought for cover and potential.
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Exactly, unless LVG wants to play two box to box midfielders, knowing that one of the centre back's can step out of defence and cover? I personally would want a more defence minded midfielder next to Herrera.
Herrera did look sloppier and misplaced a number of long passes, but what I liked was that he was still adventurous with his game. Plus, he continued to demonstrate a good amount of energy even under those conditions.
What's obvious, however, is that Herrera needs a partner who's defensively solid. Someone who can sit back and screen the defence will suit Herrera massively. Basically, a fitter, more energetic Carrick will be good for us at this point. Two box-to-box midfielders will only work if our full backs develop their defensive nous and our central defenders never step up and get forward.
What's obvious, however, is that Herrera needs a partner who's defensively solid. Someone who can sit back and screen the defence will suit Herrera massively. Basically, a fitter, more energetic Carrick will be good for us at this point. Two box-to-box midfielders will only work if our full backs develop their defensive nous and our central defenders never step up and get forward.
@Amadaeus, it's Cheek not Cheeks, mate.
I'd rather develop and refine Pearson rather than get Loftus-Cheek and do what we could have done to Pearson to Loftus-Cheek.
I haven't seen the games just the goals so is this lad the answer to all our problems?
Cheek ceiling is much higher than Pearson. But, I agree that developing Pearson is a great idea considering Carrick is not getting any younger. Cheek is versatile and can play both role, so the two could be a future partnership for England. Their is room for both.
There was nothing really knew from this game, he's obviously a class or 2 above everyone else we have there, but it's also obvious we need a more defensive midfielder to partner him. Carrick if he gets his form back could be an option, same with fletcher, but I'm not sure if you can rely on either really during a whole season. There's nobody we could have signed to fix all our problems as we blatantly needed 2 midfielders.
I didnt see the full game but I heard he did well. Good to see someone performing right from their debut, but still just 1 game in which we breezed through.
No, it's really not.
I thought he was playing the exact same role unless you are saying that because we had Clev on the pitch he was told to be more defensive.
Was OK (rather than stellar) today - he had a different more defensive role today. The change in altitude and heat affected most of our still-not-fit players.
I think today's performance showed why I don't want Vidal to come in, or another midfielder of his type. We need someone to sit in front of the back three and take the defensive pressure off Herrera - allow him to flourish with the freedom to go forward. Fletcher provided that, Cleverley didn't, Vidal for £40m+ wouldn't be the wisest option either.
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That player is Ander Iturasspe who plays for Bilbao
What's his buyout clause?
Wasn't quite finding his range tonight but got stuck in and tracked back well.
Does any of this matter when he is called Ruben loftus Cheeks? The name alone is reason enough to buy him!
Not sure what his buy-out is but reuniting Ander with Ander would be perfect for our midfield.
40M Euros.
€40m is the buyout clause for Ander Iturasspe. I'm guessing you've seen more of him than me, is he worth it?
Cheers.
He would be worth it, brilliant player.
Better than Martinez?
Martinez is a more established player right now but I believe Iturasspe has the potential to reach a similar level if given the stage to showcase his talent
Perfect opportunity for him if Bilbao can qualify for the group stages in the champions league.
Nah he's not worth that fee. He's a great player though, and in my view better than Ander (over the last two seasons at least), but Ander was closer to the type of player you need.
Reaching Javi Martínez's level is far too ambitious, they're the same age.
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