With Mctominay back in training and likely featuring in some squads soon, is this going to be our first choice midfield? Extrapolating, it seems well balanced in terms of work ethic and flair and could well be a formidable midfield for years to come.
Bruno, McTominay, Fred
- Thread starter DVG7
- Start date
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
I hope it will be a revelation. Unfortunately, the team is still lacking in the front with Rashford out.
It’s a good midfield but I do think we need to add in a true DM and a replacement for Pogba if he goes, that way we have five very good players fighting for 2-3 places. I don’t think McT and possibly Fred (although I do rate him highly) are good enough for a title winning midfield. Top four, yes and as squad players, yes.
Bruno and Pogba are top class though.
Bruno and Pogba are top class though.
On paper it seems very decent.
If we sign another CM it absolutely has to be a proper DM though. Not sure why people are so hell bent on us getting Grealish now we have Bruno - as nice as it sounds. We're not going to go out and buy two expensive midfielders, and for balance we need a good DM to replace Matic.
If we sign another CM it absolutely has to be a proper DM though. Not sure why people are so hell bent on us getting Grealish now we have Bruno - as nice as it sounds. We're not going to go out and buy two expensive midfielders, and for balance we need a good DM to replace Matic.
Could Neves be the missing piece? I've liked what I've seen from him but haven't really followed wolves a lot this season.
Depends on the formation we play, but I hope these three are the foundation of any of our midfields, indeed. All three solid players with great attitude.
Obviously we need more quality midfielders because: rotation, injuries and depth. Currently, if any of these three are injured we have to either play a retiree Matic or the morons like Pereira and JLingz
Against the so called 'bigger' teams, this is a midfield I'd like to see. In the games where teams are sitting back however, i'd like to see a more attacking midfielder come in for Fred or McTominay.
I really like this midfield. Incredible that we can say this when a year ago it would have been laughed at.
Still, we need more creativity in the side, and that needs to come from the wide forwards. Rashford is an incredible goal threat so someone like Sancho on the other side is absolutely vital. Sign his ilk and I genuinely think our starting XI is good enough to have serious aspirations for the league.
On paper I think Fernandes - Fred / McTominay - Matic is our most balanced midfield (I'm excluding Pogba for now). You can obviously chop and change the 2 deeper mids depending on the opponent, against a high energy, mobile midfield you'd probably prefer McTominay to Matic but if you needed to control the tempo you'd prefer Matic, etc. What McTominay's return from injury and Fernandes's signing gives us is options.
Rashford and Sancho on either wing with a consistent Martial is a mouth watering front line, the kind that demands a defence committed to stopping it which in turn favours our midfield as they’ll naturally end up with more space. These 3 probably have it in them to compete against most 3 man midfields, the only big problem is that none of them are quality level man markers, so a clever false 9 type player could easily run amock between our def/mid line.
Obviously that sounds awesome, but even if we have Sancho (huge "if"), Rashy, and in-form Martial (never seen him in-form full season), we are still going to struggle because our attack will be very predictable and repeatable. In addition (!) to Martial-style striker, we also need a world-class striker that has radically different style from Martial - an in-the-box, poacher one. We need a super-sub striker who will break down defenses when our three main attackers struggle.
How would the attack be predictable and repeatable with Rashford, Martial and Sancho as the front 3? Literally 3 unpredictable players, all tricky, all like roaming around the pitch, and rotating around. Would be a very well balanced team, ahead of a well balanced midfield. Not a chance we sign a "top" striker anyway. If we get Sancho, I'd suspect that'd be it for the attack, with the slight chance we sign an older target man type just to give that plan B off the bench. Nowhere close to a world class striker though, and either way I doubt we'd get either.
Sancho and Grealish would give us a complete starting attack, with the option of rotating around in midfield between Grealish, Bruno, Fred, McTominay and Matic. Also Grealish and Bruno can play further forward if necessary so it would give added depth for that. Plus with Sancho, we would no longer be screwed with 1 injury to the front 3, as we would still have 2 dynamic attacking players, regardless of who fills in. And then Greenwood of course being 1 year older (huge at his age and stage of development), can have more of an impact, etc. Dan James being a 5th choice attacker to rotate on the wings. More than fine. We'd be covered in midfield in case Bruno got injured, we can rotate players to keep them fresh, we'd be covered in attack in case one of the main 3 got injured, and even with 2 injured we could still have a very good side out.
I was of the same opinion, but it makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Pogba is gone, think we all know that, but next season we'd be left with only Bruno as creativity in midfield. 1 injury and we're back to not having any creativity and starting trash like Pereira. Grealish in and we have basically 5 players for a midfield 3. 1 of either Matic or McTominay to provide the physical, defensive force, while 2 of Bruno, Grealish and Fred rotate, keep fresh, fill in for form or injuries, change games off the bench, etc. Even all play together as Bruno can play further forward and Grealish can play on the left, in case of injuries, or just those 3 being the midfield 3 in the easier games we don't need Matic or McTominay. Don't think it's too much or crowded or anything, it's the sort of level of quality in the group that we should aim to have everywhere. Competition for places in some spots, adequate cover for injuries in other spots, but a well rounded side. Without getting Grealish (or someone like that), we'll just be back to overly relying on the starting 11 to not get injured.
Class? Both for his price and his occasional sprinkles of 'class' he has generally been disappointing.
Pogba, by a country mile, is the biggest disappointment in the last 20 years. He flatters to deceive.
I like the thought of it. Definitely looking forward to seeing it on the pitch.
You make a very good point. In fact, you convinced me. The need for another creative mid is greater than the need for a specialist DM. Matic/McT are better 'make do' options than Mata/Lingard/Perreria for the AM slot in the event of an injury.
Yeah. And as part of a 3, McTominay plays more a defensive box to box role, while Fred has developed tremendously in that deep lying role. Matic a straight swap for McTominay, while Bruno Fernandes can play the deeper midfielder role if Fred is injured, and then we still have additional creativity in Grealish. Very well balanced regardless of which of the midfielders gets injured. Signing Grealish and Sancho this summer would be pretty much the perfect 2 signings IMO, even if we sign nobody else. Sell Pogba, Sanchez, Pereira, Rojo and Jones on top of that and we'd be set.
still not sure how I feel about Grealish, doesn’t most of his good work get done from the left in a more advanced role? He’d be too big of a signing to be a squad player, I’d rather us go for John McGinn who would likely be happier not being a guarantee starter but has enough about him to cause a selection headache and is a great 4th choice CM (less money too)
no negative pogba talk please, there’s already more than enough of that on here. This is purely about our potential midfield for the run in.
edit: assuming pogba isn’t available for selection
McT and especially Fred have stepped up which has been a joy to watch, add Bruno I yo the mix and buy another DM to compete we could be onto a decent midfield that we've been wanting for years. Just imagine if we still had Herrera and Fellaini... 
Partey- SMS
Bruno
Partey
SMS. Bruno
Partey- Fred
Bruno
Partey. McT
SMS
Bruno. Grealish
Bruno
Partey
SMS. Bruno
Partey- Fred
Bruno
Partey. McT
SMS
Bruno. Grealish
I think this could absolutely work if they're allowed flexibility as they're all fairly complete midfielders that can contribute on both ends. We do need to stop perpetuating the myth that McTominay can play as a 6 at the point of an inverted triangle.
How about Jlingz? Should he stay?
Dont think its by chance we have looked our best this season when McTomminay and Fred where playing together and had a good run of games to build some understanding and chemistry. Of course before Bruno we lacked the final piece in that midfield trio so i am excited to see how they fare together.
Tiss an eclectic mix, could be magical, could be horrendous
Yep. Can't wait for it. I hope we will also see a mid with Pogba and Bruno in it; there should be a lot of chances created.
If we can get an upgrade for McTominay, we potentially have a class midfield.
This.
The sad thing is who we can bring on if any are injured.
Pereira, Mata or Lingard.WTF.I dont ever remember United having such little depth.
I dont think they need to look into this for another season or two when we are looking at building squad depth. We will have other immediate priorities this summer.
Said in another thread, it's one of the best midfield three in the PL, outside of the top 2. There's only Chelsea's that rivals it (Jorginho, Kovacic, Kante), and I never thought I'd ever say that...
That's our midfield right there
What are you basing this on they are yet to play together it's too early to judge anything.
Potentially.
We all know what Fred and Mctomminay are capable of, and Bruno has slotted in nicely so far, he's what we thought we were getting when we signed Pogba.
Midfield options are good now, but the wide men behind Martial are still bang average.
Without Rashford we're left with James, Mata, Pereira, Lingard - quite an average support cast.
I'm probably in favour of ditching the 4-2-3-1 and using the 3-5-2 more often but with Ighalo partnering Martial.
Without Rashford we're left with James, Mata, Pereira, Lingard - quite an average support cast.
I'm probably in favour of ditching the 4-2-3-1 and using the 3-5-2 more often but with Ighalo partnering Martial.
We have an upgrade for Mctominay but he's a dabbing prat who doesn't even try. Leave Mctominay in there for me. He will give everything he's got for the team. We don't have enough players like him currently.
You are basing it on players who have never played together?
There are more teams with better 3 than just Chelsea
Fabs, hendo, Gini is proven over the last 2 years
Fernandinhi, KDB, Gundogan is proven
Ndidi, Tielemans, Maddison is even better
Problem is Fred and McT are both 8's and Bruno is an 8 or a 10. We need a 6.
Maddison, Tielemans and Ndidi is better
What you said is true, but I would prefer us to go for a 4-4-2 diamond formation, with Matic as a 6, Mctominay and Fred as 8's and Bruno as a 10. Martial and Ighalo upfront. This until the end of the season till we get a better right winger.
I dont think Fred is a top tier player to be honest despite his excellent season, and while McTominay has been essential for us this season, I'd be wary about gambling long term on a player who only hit their stride this season. Bruno looks class and should thrive with decent players around him, but still, I'd be disappointed if we went into next season with this as our first choice midfield.