Are we a CDM short of being an elite team?

[Caesar2290]

Don't think he has the defensive awareness Carrick had at the time.

You're right, but you're also comparing peak Carrick vs an up and coming De Jong who can still improve. The way I see it he's a more attack minded Michael Carrick. If paired with someone like Fred, we should have a really deadly double pivot.

 

[AneRu]

My assumption is that since Bruno and Cristiano didn't link up well for Portugal as a 10-9 combo that we'll play 4-3-3:


----------------------Cristiano (Cavani)-----------------------
Rashford(James)-----------------------Sancho(Greenwood)
-------------Pogba(Fred)---Bruno(Pogba)------------------
---------------------McTominay(Matic)----------------------
Shaw(Telles)-----------------------------------AWB(Dalot)
--------Maguire(Lindelof)--Varane(Lindelof)--------
-------------------------De Gea(Henderson)-----------------

with VDB struggling to get time and Bailly the 4th CB.

Looking at it, the obvious thing to do in the next few days is to loan out VDB, who has 4 years left on his deal, sell Matic and buy a proper DM even if it means trusting a youngster like Tchouameni with the job or overpaying by 5-10M for a guy ready to immediately anchor us, like Brozovic.

Or just hope that McTominay's size and mobility mean he's up to the job, as he's the only one you can really see stepping up I think.

The smart money is on selling James, Lingard and Martial to fund a DM, no one is paying any money for Matic and its a little too late in the window to find a buyer for Donny in this market. I agree with getting in Tchouameni for the DM role but I fear its close to too late to get the multiple deals we need to seal going.

 

[M Bison]

I'd sell James and Lingard then loan Martial out. This gives us about £35m - £40m and surely that's enough to tempt Brighton for Bissouma and I would guess any DM around Europe would jump at the chance to play in this team. Fix the midfield and we win the league - it's that simple.

would love that but the reality is, it’s not going to happen in the time frames and at those values.

 

[NoPace]

The smart money is on selling James, Lingard and Martial to fund a DM, no one is paying any money for Matic and its a little too late in the window to find a buyer for Donny in this market. I agree with getting in Tchouameni for the DM role but I fear its close to too late to get the multiple deals we need to seal going.

Yeah, I'm with ya. We can probably fold and take West Ham's 18-20M offer for Lingard and James will have buyers for at least the same amount at the drop of a hat I think, but Martial might have to be a loan this close to the deadline, though a decent fee and saving on his wages would seem to be enough with James and Lingard going to overpay by 5-10M and get Monaco to surrender Tchouameni.

 

[Marwood]

I don't think the manager can complain about the squad or it not being "elite."

I don't think every position has to be your ideal player to expect to get things done. On paper the central midfield and right back areas look short but we have wonderful forward options and reliable defenders.

I'm a big defender of Oles work to date but he has to take big steps forward after this summer's work. You simply have to find a winning formula with those options. Okay, if he doesn't win the league that may be excusable depending on circumstances but he probably needs to win something.

Agree with you.

Every team is missing a play here or there.

Love Ole but not having a De Jong can't be an excuse.

 

[AltiUn]

Yes, but we’re still a very, very good team.

 

[AneRu]

would love that but the reality is, it’s not going to happen in the time frames and at those values.

Agreed but we have had offers from clubs for both James and Lingard and we might loosen our stance now that we really need to get players out to fund the purchase of a midfielder and avoid the wastefulness of paying wages to an unregistered player. A loan move for Martial could materialise in the couple of days if Ole tells him where he stands and I don't think its hard to convince a player in Ligue 1 or at Brighton to move to us as we have seen with many moves on deadline day.

 

[choccy77]

We'll literally pay someone to take Jones

Bastard would pay them double to feck off

 

[Foxbatt]

yes we are missing a quality DM. But if Ole changes the way we play then it may be compensated for our poor midfield. No defence would like to face Ronaldo, Sancho and Greenwood. Also depending on the situation Ole can go two up front with Ronaldo and Cavani.

 

[AneRu]

Yeah, I'm with ya. We can probably fold and take West Ham's 18-20M offer for Lingard and James will have buyers for at least the same amount at the drop of a hat I think, but Martial might have to be a loan this close to the deadline, though a decent fee and saving on his wages would seem to be enough with James and Lingard going to overpay by 5-10M and get Monaco to surrender Tchouameni.

I feel Tchouameni and Bissouma are doable even on short notice. I'd also be watching what will happen with Mbappe, Richaldson, Haaland and Martial. If PSG accept Madrid's offer and they proceed to buy Haaland then Dortmund might need a striker and Martial at £50m wouldn't be a bad shout - a deal which could see them make a €100m profit. Same with Everton and Everton are quite fond of our cast offs.

 

[frostbite]

Now is the best time to sign a top DMC!!!

I am not kidding. Who wouldn't want to be a part of this Man Utd and play alongside Ronaldo?

I know it costs money and we have already spent a lot this summer, but we are now in an incredible position and it is better to spend all next year's budget right now and complete this team. We will not need to buy anyone next year. And we are going to sell a lot of merchandise!

I think it makes sense. And there is still time to do it.

 

[mav_9me]

We already are an elite side. Our back 4 is as good as any in the world on paper, as is our front 4. And for games where we dominate, make that a front 5 if Pogba goes in midfield. Up to Ole and the players to get the consistency to challenge, regardless of the midfield.

Ole considers only 3 CM, Fred, McT and Matic. How can that be enough in quantity, nevermind that reality is we need to upgrade on them to begin with.

 

[bosnian_red]

Ole considers only 3 CM, Fred, McT and Matic. How can that be enough in quantity, nevermind that reality is we need to upgrade on them to begin with.

Because you can win the title without world class players in every position. If we are able to keep every game tight with a good defence, then we have the game changers in attack to be able to beat any team, along with fecking Ronaldo to get goals. It's that simple. We have a group that can score consistently to get results consistently, along with Maguire and Varane. Even if we aren't super free flowing all the time, it doesn't mean we can't get the results needed.

 

[hungrywing]

Because you can win the title without world class players in every position. If we are able to keep every game tight with a good defence, then we have the game changers in attack to be able to beat any team, along with fecking Ronaldo to get goals. It's that simple. We have a group that can score consistently to get results consistently, along with Maguire and Varane. Even if we aren't super free flowing all the time, it doesn't mean we can't get the results needed.

Exactly. The Ronaldo signing opens up a new question a-la do we really need that good of a "DM" now?

It'd be nice to have one, for sure, but even one from the slightly-less-prodigious basket should be good enough for us now.

 

[Robbie Boy]

It's pretty elite now imo.

 

[Alemar]

Apparently its Leicester that want James, 20m or so, perhaps we can try to get Ndidi, give them Lingard too?

James + Martial for Ndidi, a swap.

 

[Andycoleno9]

feck me. Stop already with that dmc. We have very good gk (still better than most), top defence, Pogba, Bruno, world class attacking trio and great depth for that trio in Cavani, Greenwood and Martial. We have solid backup for defence. We bloody have excellent side. And it is not that we have some utter shit for dmc. We have solid options.
No more excuses for our team. We are set now for challenge

 

[NoPace]

I feel Tchouameni and Bissouma are doable even on short notice. I'd also be watching what will happen with Mbappe, Richaldson, Haaland and Martial. If PSG accept Madrid's offer and they proceed to buy Haaland then Dortmund might need a striker and Martial at £50m wouldn't be a bad shout - a deal which could see them make a €100m profit. Same with Everton and Everton are quite fond of our cast offs.

I don't think Dortmund would spend 50M on Martial, but maybe they'd do a loan if they end up taking 150M for Haaland, though I feel like he won't want to go to Ligue 1 and I'm assuming Dortmund have decided not to sell him and just let him go for the release clause next year, though that might change if they're deciding between an extra 90M for one year of Haaland.

Tchouameni has 3 years left so they presumably will prefer to wait another year and see his value go up, but Bissouma only has the 2 years left, and maybe we can tempt them with a Martial, Diallo or Lingard loan if any of them would agree to go there. Presumably Diallo would, but no idea about the others.

 

[Mickeza]

We’re pretty unbalanced at the moment - and we just have so many numbers in attack even without including Elanga/Amad/Mata. You’ve got to think 2 of Martial/James and Lingard will be gone in the next few days which would allow for a DM to be signed.

 

[SuperiorXI]

The DM is the icing on the cake for sure. We have to get that over the line.

 

[432JuanMata]

feck me. Stop already with that dmc. We have very good gk (still better than most), top defence, Pogba, Bruno, world class attacking trio and great depth for that trio in Cavani, Greenwood and Martial. We have solid backup for defence. We bloody have excellent side. And it is not that we have some utter shit for dmc. We have solid options.
No more excuses for our team. We are set now for challenge

I opened the thread not because I don’t think we can challenge if we don’t get a DM but because we would be elite if we did. We now have a squad to challenge I feel if we got a DM then I don’t see many if any teams better than us

 

[VidaRed]

yes we are missing a quality DM. But if Ole changes the way we play then it may be compensated for our poor midfield. No defence would like to face Ronaldo, Sancho and Greenwood. Also depending on the situation Ole can go two up front with Ronaldo and Cavani.

Between the two of them they'd take out the back four with them leaving open space for sancho,pogba and bruno.

 

[Red_toad]

So can we now buy Tchouameni pretty please?

 

[432JuanMata]

Between the two of them they'd take out the back four with them leaving open space for sancho,pogba and bruno.

But that is the reason this thread exists. He named Cavani/Ronaldo then you said it creates space for Pogba,Bruno and Sancho but that leaves 1 player in CM so we need that to be a top player

 

[Dr. StrangeHate]

Are City a striker short of an elite side? No

 

[UnofficialDevil]

Dont need him, we just need to attack we will outscore all games, put Phill Jones in Dm and score 6 goals in every game.

 

[Amir]

jderbyshire said:


Just listening to Rio's podcast live on YouTube.

He's been talking about how he was texting Ronaldo last night, etc.

And he's just said something along the lines of:

"You need to be watching my channel on transfer deadline day, because it's gonna be a crazy one... That's just a little hint that I'm giving ya"

Interesting.

Not really. Seems like he's trying to get people to listen.

Even if he knew about some United transfer attempt, how would he know it'll be done on the final day?

 

[432JuanMata]

Are City a striker short of an elite side? No

But like Real when Ronaldo was there and Liverpool with Firmino if you have great wingers and CAM it doesn’t effect as much as a weak link in CM

 

[Trophy Room]

Sometimes too many signings are not a good thing.

 

[Foxbatt]

Between the two of them they'd take out the back four with them leaving open space for sancho,pogba and bruno.

true. Those two can handle any back four if given proper service. No PL defence would fancy facing them two.

 

[Jacob]

Mata, James, Lingard, Elanga, Amad ain't gonna have much game time. Arguably four of them needs to be shifted permanently or temporarily.

 

[Sean_RedDevil]

We should do a loan with obligation to buy for any good CM.

 

[Trequarista10]

With Sancho and Ronaldo added to the front line forcing teams to think twice about pushing forward, and Varane to come in at CB and help steady the defence, is it wishful thinking to hope that we may finally have a team that could afford the luxury of playing Pogba in a midfield two?

 

[Dominos]

--------------------- DDG --------------------
AWB - Varane - Maguire - Shaw
---------- New DM - Pogba -----------
-- Sancho - Bruno - Rashford ---
--------------- Ronaldo ------------------

We got a pretty decent bench too: Henderson, Lindelöf, Telles, Fred, McTominay, Greenwood, Cavani

The missing link is really obvious.

There isn't any player we could sign that would get the best out of Pogba playing in that position. All his best qualities will shine playing further up the field as he's doing now.

 

[Sean_RedDevil]

Sometimes too many signings are not a good thing.

Yes if we would have a great last season.

But CL group stage + EL final showed that we need 3-4 really good players.

 

[Dante]

GK: Good
Defence: World class
Midfield: Functional
Attack: World class

The midfield can obviously be improved, particularly in terms of passing. But at the same time it's the most shithousing pairing amongst Europe's elite. Considering the players in front and behind, I don't think it's all that bad.

Their job will be to nullify the middle of the park and let the stars around them do their thing (including Shaw, who only had his turnaround after McFred became first choice). Even against Southampton, for example, we had the majority of the possession and by far out-created them. A more clinical strikeforce would have won that match.

In fact, I'd fancy us against all 19 teams in the league home and away. McTominay and Fred may not be greats. But they can be used to give us a tactical advantage in terms of pressing and physicality.

 

[sp_107]

The smart money is on selling James, Lingard and Martial to fund a DM, no one is paying any money for Matic and its a little too late in the window to find a buyer for Donny in this market. I agree with getting in Tchouameni for the DM role but I fear its close to too late to get the multiple deals we need to seal going.

Agreed, Martial / James/ Jesse can be sold to fund a DM and send Matic on loan to Benefica . we need to trim this squad

 

[Redlyn]

It's a central position though, required for balance. More important than signing a winger. I hope Fred, Scott and Pogba are all going to find an extra half a gear this season if we don't sign a CM.

 

[RooneyLegend]

One of the solutions is to start playing a bit more direct, this obsession with playing through the phases won't help us one bit. Let's play football in the right areas. What we do know is McFred can defend, but aren't the most convincing on the ball. We need to stop asking them to do what they can't including AWB.

 

[honirelandboy]

Yes definitely short a solid ball winning midfielder who can quickly play a forward pass to setup an attack.

Scott/Fred/Matic or no where near the level of Fabinho, Ndidi, Fernandinho, Kante etc. Man united should not be starting two of these three midfielders in every game.

I will get stick for this but if you want to win the premier league the likes of Fred and Matic are not good enough for United. Scott definitely deserves to be at United as a squad player but should not be starting week in week out for a club like United. He'd be a good signing for a club like Leicester, Spurs or Arsenal.