I think maybe a resetting of expectations is needed when we are not owned by oil
Danny Ings / signs for Villa
- Thread starter Samid
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Smoke screen if I've ever seen one ....
An important point though is this: Martial can't be a backup striker. He's just not the sort of player who'll mainly sit on the bench, and then come on to do well in 15 minutes, or in the occasional start. Either he's your first choice striker, or you sell him.
Ings though would do very nicely for that role, provided he's comfortable with it.
Glad to hear that.
I don't think it was much of a hint at all. I'm sure we want another striker eventually but it'll likely be on the back-burner until Cavani leaves. As I said before, if we can get an elite level player I'm sure we will but Ings doesn't fall into that category.
And again, I disagree. If Ings can't come in here in his prime and establish himself as the main man there's little value in signing him at all. We already have good squad players.
Ings' final season at Liverpool wasn't affected by injuries and he still couldn't break in. That isn't a knock on him as a player. He's a very good striker for midtable sides or even teams who want to push for Europa but he wouldn't contribute in a meaningful way for any of the teams currently occupying the top 4 places.
I think our exploration for Ings (if this article is true) points to Ole not seeing Martial as a player down the middle. Ings in his final year with Liverpool was affected by many variables out of his control, the main one being disrupting an incredible chemistry between Salah/Firminho/Mane, where their system desired a false 9 rather than a traditional 9. That's not a slight on his capabilities or what he'd offer us.
We are clearly exploring this as I think we believe that our top ST target is going elsewhere which I totally understand
Staggeringly clueless
Fergie always had 4. I don’t see what’s hard to understand.
also even if we are going with 3, something is clearly up with martial. Hes being offered around.
also even if we are going with 3, something is clearly up with martial. Hes being offered around.
I doubt it. If we were in for Josh King until fairly late on I reckon this rumour is probably true. We could do worse. Super squad option that guarantees us goals
Ollie Watkins it is
We don't know the exact situation with Martial, how he feels at the club, how the manager feels about him, but we can probably speculate that the manager is not particularly happy given he is trying to impose pressing from the front, movement, quick forward play. Martial is falling short in every category. It's simply not acceptable what we are seeing from him in terms of work-rate, these are basic expectations. We can't just cling onto him because he's here and it's easier to do so. He is also a big earner by all accounts and we are getting very little back.
The signing does not make that much sense if we still see Martial as a key player, but if we have reasoned that he is incompetent as the main striker or that we need to be rid of him, it makes more sense, why wouldn't it? We would have one natural striker and a load of players that are better playing off the left and right, that one striker being mid 30s.
I think it is fairly clear we would have to spend big next summer regardless of whether we buy a backup striker like Ings. I don't see how that argues for or against the signing. The purpose is to allow us to manage Cavani and to manage next season in terms of attacking options. It's very convenient that Ings slots into a squad role on the arrival of a top striker. The conundrum is actually that we have a 35 year old as our main man on a 1 year deal, that is what sends us out into the market again.
Martial out, Ings in would be good business for us. Cavani would be the first option but he clearly can't play every game so then we have Ings plus Greenwood and Rashford if need be. Make a profit to give us more money for other areas. In a hypothetical world where Martial stays fit and motivated for an entire season we're definitely downgrading but after 6(?) seasons of proving he's not going to do that I think it's time to cut our losses.
He'd be an excellent signing as a rotation/depth striker IMO. Ole played in Sir Alex's United where we had 4 strikers competing for spots along with quality wingers. Bit different now, but we're obviously very light up front and Ings is a very good player and knows how to score goals.
Bringing in both Sancho and Ings for our attack would leave us with:
Not sure if there's anything in it though, but I'd be all for this. Sancho, Ings for cheap, then sort out CB and DM and we might actually have a chance at a title challenge.
Bringing in both Sancho and Ings for our attack would leave us with:
- St: Cavani/Ings
- Wings: Rashford, Sancho, Greenwood, Martial, Dan James
Not sure if there's anything in it though, but I'd be all for this. Sancho, Ings for cheap, then sort out CB and DM and we might actually have a chance at a title challenge.
Because you can't carry Martial as a backup striker. He's either your first choice, or he has to go. Without assuming Martial's out, the move makes no sense, agreed there.
It looks increasingly like RW is going to be Greenwood's main position.
I admire those who retain faith in Martial.
Strikers: Cavani, Ings, Greenwood
Wide forwards: Sancho, Rashford, Greenwood, James, Diallo
That’s good depth. Obviously we can hope to go big on a better striker but that’s blindly ignoring the whole financial situation because of covid.
Wide forwards: Sancho, Rashford, Greenwood, James, Diallo
That’s good depth. Obviously we can hope to go big on a better striker but that’s blindly ignoring the whole financial situation because of covid.
I take your point - but it's not oil or ings.
He usually has a great season or two after a poor one.
So you reckon Martial will go?
It makes sense for both him and us that he does.
This. Makes much more sense.
It’s not but name me a better striker that scores goals at PL level for around that price?
Where has this been reported?
It’s been reported in multiple sources that he’s been offered as a swap for Kane, Rice and Sancho. Whether it’s true is a different matter.
Ole was a striker, he won’t have been happy with the application levels this season
That you very much are. Let me break it down in the most dumbest of terms.
Forwards
Rashford
Cavani
Martial
Greenwood
Diallo
Sancho
Ings
Not to mention Pogba. That’s 8 players for 3 positions. Have a nap.
“When you know you have nothing to offer start chatting wet!!
Always works.
Maybe try and tell me how we buy Ings/Sancho and still keep the same forward line??
It shouldn’t be hard to explain. After all I was the clueless one.
I can’t deal with that inconsistency and his flakiness
LW: Rashford/James or Martial
ST: Cavani/Ings
RW: Sancho/Greenwood
Pogba won't be used on the wing often if we sign Sancho, as we would then have a creative option on the wings. Pogba might well leave anyway, but if he stays, count him as part of the midfield 3 (#6, 8, 10 however you organize them). Diallo is a kid who looks like a kid on a football field, he's not really going to have any serious role next season as he is so far away physically from developing. More likely is a loan or just a fringe role with some reserve team football. We'll need to sell one of James or Martial, but we know that anyway as we want Sancho. Selling Martial gives more funds, James is more content with squad roles and its more of a natural blend from top to the bottom of the depth chart. Martial isn't the type to be very useful as a depth player, so it just makes sense that it's him that leaves.
Why don't you include Bobby Charlton when evaluating the squad.
Great player. Will definitely take him.
Selling James and Martial would work. Tbf I forgot all about James
Genuine question but which sources? I’ve seen nothing and even with a quick Google, nothing comes up. And I find it hard to believe that any of the parties involved would entertain a Martial swap for Declan Rice.
No.
It's basically wishful thinking from people around here due to Martial being the most unpopular player on the caf.
Yeah it does seem a bit far fetched.
United
If this is the level of funds being made available to Ole then we've never any hope of being a top club again
There's no reason United need to limit themselves to £20m strikers. Or players only in England.
If this is the level of funds being made available to Ole then we've never any hope of being a top club again
I don't think it's remotely far fetched we'd look to swap an underperforming and all things considered disappointing striker for Kane, it's not like Martial would want to stick around if we signed Kane anyway, he's not a fan of competition.
Poor guy. I genuinely do like him and think he'd still be worth keeping here as depth if we sold Martial, though he'd be pretty far down the pecking order. Don't really think Amad is ready to be more than a fringe player, but James also for his own career should go. Martials thing is he shouldn't be a squad player, he needs to drop down to a level where he'll start regularly like Memphis did.Selling James and Martial would work. Tbf I forgot all about James
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