Best Midfield Combination?

ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg said:
Don’t believe this will be the case at all. We should see a combination come together. Yes others will play games, that doesn’t mean we won’t have a first choice combo.

That has to include Mainoo.
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Trouble is, we have four comparbly capable players, so I don't think there will be a static 2. It would've obviously been different if we bought someone like Anderson.
 
Baleba will cover a lot of the issues with the others in terms of athleticism.

Baleba-Mainoo might be the starting pair, but I wonder is there the passing the range?

Good to have options, they will all get plenty of games
 
It's Bruno-Kobbie + 1. The clammer for 3 midfielders was stupid because 2 of them are not replaceable.
 
Need to see more games with them. More displays like that from Mainoo however would see him as a clear first choice. In theory Baleba would be a better midfield partner for him.
 
Baleba Mainoo and Tielesman can all make good combos with each other. Depends on the game state really, even Santos is a great option from the bench.
 
You only have to have watched today and the times he didn’t play last season to see what we lack when Mainoo doesn’t play and it was the same with the World Cup with England as Mainoo’s ability to pick the ball up in tight spaces and run through the opposition whilst doing the simple things and keeping possession makes him a must

Obviously Tielemans has a more expansive passing range but then he’s 7 or 8 years older than Mainoo so Mainoo can definitely add to his game so it’s about offsetting Mainoo’s weaknesses which Baleba does all of, if you’ve got Martinez behind and then Bruno and Cunha or even Amad and Rashford too ahead that covers the expansive passing too.
 
Skills said:
It's Bruno-Kobbie + 1. The clammer for 3 midfielders was stupid because 2 of them are not replaceable.
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Nah we needed 4 midfielder to rotate and compete with each other for. Mainoo is class but he's still young and will go through bad runs. Plus all the games to play this season. Santos, Tielemans, mainoo and baleba along with bruno and Mount as 10's give us a great group of 6 to ensure the level (theoretically) shouldn't drop much in case of injuries.
 
Skills said:
It's Bruno-Kobbie + 1. The clammer for 3 midfielders was stupid because 2 of them are not replaceable.
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Not really if you think one injury to kobbie and we are down to tielemans and santos and then relying on youth options frm bench.

We needed 3 senior additions and have done to secure all three for less then £150m
 
Interesting...

According to FotMob, out of all the players, Tielemans (8.4) created the most chances (4) and covered the most distance in the match (11.5km), and Mainoo (8.1) had the most defensive contributions (14) and completed the most dribbles (4)...

Looking at that, wouldn't it suggest that they should be first-choice MF?
 
Godfather said:
Yep. Maybe Tielemans in games where we expect to have total control and need a good passer but most of the time I think this would be the best
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I think that's the proper way to use him. Ala Fabregas at Chelsea under Mourinho. Use him for extra creativity in games against "easier" competition.
 
Having the luxury of 3 new midfielders + mainoo and bruno is something we’ve been lacking for over a decade.
The first two will adapt to our style of play given some time, and they are skilled and smart enough to play a big part this season, while the third completes the set with his defensive abilities.
We also have a great group of youngsters who can be eased in gradually over the next few years without pressure.
Midfield rebuild accomplished!! Now let’s get to work on a couple more obvious holes and get challenging consistently for major honours again
 
I wonder if Bruno as a false 9 in the tougher away games could become a thing.
 
elisha27 said:
I wonder if Bruno as a false 9 in the tougher away games could become a thing.
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With Rashford and Mbeumo as wingers, yeah, I could see it. They'd break the lines, and Bruno could drop deeper to link play.

Ideally Sesko finds his feet and he can do that with Bruno staying in the 10, but we'll see how that goes.
 
I'm surprised we seen Tielemans-Mainoo so early in the season, while the pressure is very much on after last week, as on paper it might look like our most defensively vulnerable combination.

However, if you are going to use that pair, a relegation candidate at Old Trafford is exactly the game it would make sense to use it.

It does create a situation though where they might establish themselves as the default starting combo early and we go into tougher games where it might not make the most sense, but we end up going with it for the sake of continuity.

I'm sure we'll see all possible combos at some point. Too early to judge.
 
It will be Mainoo and Santos, or Mainoo and Baleba.

Tielemans in two games hasn't looked like he's got the intensity required. Not anywhere near mobile enough in defensive transitions and hasn't been sharp enough playing forwards. He was caught on the ball many times again today when in comfortable possession when recieving the ball so I'd call those unforced errors. He has some nice passes but that's not enough to be a starter for me over the other 3 when everyone's fit.
 
Overhaul FC said:
It will be Mainoo and Santos, or Mainoo and Baleba.

Tielemans in two games hasn't looked like he's got the intensity required. Not anywhere near mobile enough in defensive transitions and hasn't been sharp enough playing forwards. He was caught on the ball many times again today when in comfortable possession when recieving the ball so I'd call those unforced errors. He has some nice passes but that's not enough to be a starter for me over the other 3 when everyone's fit.
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I think Tielemans could work with Kobbie in bigger games if our CBs were more mobile and if we get another LB. Right now I think we'll see this combo more in the CL vs big 6 teams
 
Overhaul FC said:
It will be Mainoo and Santos, or Mainoo and Baleba.

Tielemans in two games hasn't looked like he's got the intensity required. Not anywhere near mobile enough in defensive transitions and hasn't been sharp enough playing forwards. He was caught on the ball many times again today when in comfortable possession when recieving the ball so I'd call those unforced errors. He has some nice passes but that's not enough to be a starter for me over the other 3 when everyone's fit.
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This is mainly because our midfield shape is presently poor. He worked in Emerys team and they all work hard. It’s not effort, it’s set up.
 
Bruno is the given here, obviously, and the added duo has to be Baleba and Mainoo.

Santos and Tielemans should only ever have been looked at as squad rotation players.

Mainoo has the potential to be world class and we cannot squander that by stifling his development right now.
 
pcaming said:
This is mainly because our midfield shape is presently poor. He worked in Emerys team and they all work hard. It’s not effort, it’s set up.
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He was in a defensive 442 off the ball today. It doesn't get much easier than that for a number 8. He was too slow getting back into a basic straightforward formation and that's not a good sign for his mobility.

Blaming Carrick or the coaching staff for him looking leggy again today isn't right. If he's not fit he shouldn't be starting. If he's starting he needs to do better.
 
Can only say:

Mainoo Tielemans
Bruno

Until Baleba has played but I strongly suspect its going to be:

Mainoo Baleba
Bruno

Plenty games to go around in any case and the CM's will all play a lot.
 
I think our best 3 will be Mainoo – Baleba – Bruno

The fact we have more games means we will obviously need to rotate, so Santos and Tielemans will get time too.

I actually think Tielemans will be a good replacement for Bruno so that Bruno doesn't have to play every minute this season.
 
My guess is Mainoo-Santos behind Bruno.

I think Mainoo likely emerges as our best midfielder of the 4 overall.

Baleba feels like a long-term signing and an option when we need more athleticism in midfield, but Santos can pass and read danger and isn't coming off a horrid season. I think Carrick will want faster ball movement than Baleba is suited to and it will take time (or a new manager/system) for that one to work.

Baleba-Tielemans makes sense as an alternative as they had somewhat similar partners (Tielemans needs a good athlete next to him like Kamara or Onana and Baleba seemed to play best with passers in Mac Allister and Gross, and Tielemans is probably between them in speed), but Mainoo is our least flawed midfielder.

Mainoo-Tielemans at home against weaker teams.
 
This is going to change all through the season, I suspect we'll have a mix throughout the year and some pairings might work better than others for certain games.

After preseason, many posts were saying Santos was a must to start, then one poor game from him and the love for him disappeared. Mainoo had a top performance yesterday so now it's Mainoo +1. Truth is we don't know because we haven't seen all players at full match sharpness, all combinations and even all players yet. It's fun to hypothesize but I'm not sure I'm ready to crown Kobbie the king of our midfield yet.
 
I think they'll be plenty of rotation depending on the game but rightly or wrongly, I'm kinda thinking Tielemans/Mainoo might be his default behind Bruno for the time being. He has tended to play the more experienced players first since he came in, think it's also easier to drop younger players. Feel like Tielemans may potentially play in the 10 at times too to give Bruno a rest, particularly in Europe.

Baleba and Mainoo will be the two long term though I'm sure.
 
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El Jefe said:
This is going to change all through the season, I suspect we'll have a mix throughout the year and some pairings might work better than others for certain games.

After preseason, many posts were saying Santos was a must to start, then one poor game from him and the love for him disappeared. Mainoo had a top performance yesterday so now it's Mainoo +1. Truth is we don't know because we haven't seen all players at full match sharpness, all combinations and even all players yet. It's fun to hypothesize but I'm not sure I'm ready to crown Kobbie the king of our midfield yet.
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I mean it's more telling that Mainoo had no preseason and showed why he should be starting. I'm more worried about Santos and Tielemens and how long it'll take for both to get on the same wavelength with the attack.
 
Kobbie simply must play unless he's being rotated for rest, in which case I probably see Santos as being most like-for-like as having the ability to play more deft, one-touch pass-and-move progression through the midfield. For front-foot football, I'd put in Kobbie and Baleba (for his ability to close and defend space when we're playing a high line). For matches where we're more defensive, I'd prefer Kobbie with Santos, since the latter has already shown in pre-season that he's got good defensive positioning and awareness.

Yes, Santos was dross against Hull, but the whole team was too. I'm optimisitic for his progression with more integration into the team.
 
Heliax said:
Kobbie simply must play unless he's being rotated for rest, in which case I probably see Santos as being most like-for-like as having the ability to play more deft, one-touch pass-and-move progression through the midfield. For front-foot football, I'd put in Kobbie and Baleba (for his ability to close and defend space when we're playing a high line). For matches where we're more defensive, I'd prefer Kobbie with Santos, since the latter has already shown in pre-season that he's got good defensive positioning and awareness.

Yes, Santos was dross against Hull, but the whole team was too. I'm optimisitic for his progression with more integration into the team.
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He wasn't dross. Wasn't his pass percentage 90% or something? That doesn't say everything about his performance but a CM with that level of pass completion can't be considered dross.

That performance from Santos in an overall good team performance would have been plenty acceptable for a new signings first game.

We need to see a lot more but I do in theory think Santos and Mainoo are a good pair.
 
Watching both games, how vulnerable we are on transitions and clearly not investing in a LB - it simply has to be Mainoo - Baleba.
 
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