Declan Rice

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Just a suspicion but I feel Rio's confidence surrounding the last couple days of the window, could be surrounding this lad as Rio has been an advocate for this signing for a while, and rumours are West Ham are going to try for Jesse still.
 
He would work in our set up which would help us play a more expansive game. He doesn't need to have a expansive passing game as long as he can keep it simple in possession and repel the threat of a Trincao or Traore who caused us many problems in 1v1 scenarios earlier. The midfielders next to him will be tasked with providing the stardust/technical elegance.

But the issue with him is his price which probably means he's out of reach for us in the current window. But that doesn't mean there isn't another DM at another club who couldn't be bought with a potentially high bar.
 
Just a suspicion but I feel Rio's confidence surrounding the last couple days of the window, could be surrounding this lad as Rio has been an advocate for this signing for a while, and rumours are West Ham are going to try for Jesse still.

Rice isn't leaving West Ham this window
 
Rice isn't leaving West Ham this window
I share the opinion, but a deal from the for Jesse could certainly lead to some future goodwill between the parties? As I see us moving for a DM then. Again just a suspicion or possibly romanticism. :lol:
 
He would work in our set up which would help us play a more expansive game. He doesn't need to have a expansive passing game as long as he can keep it simple in possession and repel the threat of a Trincao or Traore who caused us many problems in 1v1 scenarios earlier. The midfielders next to him will be tasked with providing the stardust/technical elegance.

But the issue with him is his price which probably means he's out of reach for us in the current window. But that doesn't mean there isn't another DM at another club who couldn't be bought with a potentially high bar.
I assume this setup would be a Rice-Pogba-Bruno midfield. I'm genuinely curious how you think that would work
 
I share the opinion, but a deal from the for Jesse could certainly lead to some future goodwill between the parties? As I see us moving for a DM then. Again just a suspicion or possibly romanticism. :lol:

if we do sign a DM it will be one of Saul or Camavinga. Both could move elsewhere though.
 
I assume this setup would be a Rice-Pogba-Bruno midfield. I'm genuinely curious how you think that would work
It would work against the so called cannon fodder. Because Rice will obviously play as the deepest player and Pogba and Bruno either side, who will both provide going forward and also defensively. But against the smaller teams I don't believe they'd be over worked defensively.
 
well, we don't play with pure DMs.

Double pivot of players with both ball progression and defensive duties (one to keep the shape and one to press)
Yeah and it’s not working imo.

We definitely need more conventional ball playing CDM. One who defends well and starts the play from deep.
 
Rice beside Pogba would be perfect for us with our attacking options.
I don’t particularly like Rice all that much but of the players we are seemingly linking ourselves to (here on the caf) Rice would be better with Pogba in the middle as he’s more of a traditional DM.

I agree we should be looking to partner Pogba in the middle as that would be the most balanced approach, so long as we select the right player.
 
Ok, I don't think this guy is a good idea long term but I'm now open to have him here. Fred isn't up to it.
 
Camavinga is a DM, actually they both can play as DMs and box to box
Camavinga is not a DM. He is a CM/box-to-box, which is what we are looking for. We are not looking for the fan theory "specalised DM" to play 433. Solskjær wants to to play 4231.
 
Camavinga is not a DM. He is a CM/box-to-box, which is what we are looking for. We are not looking for the fan theory "specalised DM" to play 433. Solskjær wants to to play 4231.
He played as a DM in his first season where he earned rave reviews. He moved higher last season and didnt play that well. He can do both.

And in what planet can you not play a DM in a 4231
 
well, we don't play with pure DMs.

Double pivot of players with both ball progression and defensive duties (one to keep the shape and one to press)
I agree, and I never said we play with DMs. I just commented on the guy saying that "if we sign a DM" it will be *two players that are not DMs*.
 
He played as a DM in his first season where he earned rave reviews. He moved higher last season and didnt play that well. He can do both.

And in what planet can you not play a DM in a 4231
You play highly energetic box-to-box players, or basically what people used to simply call central midfielders. Allrounders that are "good at everything". If the right CM attacks the right channel, the other stays, and vice versa. It is not the same as a "specalised DM" in 433, who holds his position all the time. We are not looking for a destroyer DM, but dynamic CMs that covers a lot of ground. It is very obvious that Fred and McTominay are the duo that understand the pivot role the best and have the best spacing between them. Matic/Fred was awful with Matic being way to deep and immobile leaving Fred to cover much more ground. None of the other combinations seem to work either. On top of that, Bruno is much more effective as a number 10/false in 4231 than a deeper role in 433.

Rice would be a perfect signing for us, but it is completely unrealistic if they want £100m. Camavinga is a great talent, but let's be honest here. It's not like he would walk straight into this United side from the get go and run the show. He would need time to adapt and develop.
 
You play highly energetic box-to-box players, or basically what people used to simply call central midfielders. Allrounders that are "good at everything". If the right CM attacks the right channel, the other stays, and vice versa. It is not the same as a "specalised DM" in 433, who holds his position all the time. We are not looking for a destroyer DM, but dynamic CMs that covers a lot of ground. It is very obvious that Fred and McTominay are the duo that understand the pivot role the best and have the best spacing between them. Matic/Fred was awful with Matic being way to deep and immobile leaving Fred to cover much more ground. None of the other combinations seem to work either. On top of that, Bruno is much more effective as a number 10/false in 4231 than a deeper role in 433.

Rice would be a perfect signing for us, but it is completely unrealistic if they want £100m. Camavinga is a great talent, but let's be honest here. It's not like he would walk straight into this United side from the get go and run the show. He would need time to adapt and develop.
Again. You can play a DM in a 2 as well you dont need to play 433. Anyway moving on
 
He isn't Carrick when we talk about passing, but he does bring calmness to a midfield and his defensive awareness was on point at the EUROs.

Not sure if he is the right guy, but he certainly could be.
 
He isn't Carrick when we talk about passing, but he does bring calmness to a midfield and his defensive awareness was on point at the EUROs.

Not sure if he is the right guy, but he certainly could be.
We are so bad in midfield that literally any player would be an upgrade.
Rice come on in.
 
It would work against the so called cannon fodder. Because Rice will obviously play as the deepest player and Pogba and Bruno either side, who will both provide going forward and also defensively. But against the smaller teams I don't believe they'd be over worked defensively.
So would you say Rice instead of Fred if paired with Pogba today would have worked? From what I saw today I honestly can't think of any type of DM that can be paired with Pogba and Bruno without that midfield getting bypassed easily even against cannon fodder pl teams which can be threatening
 
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I’m going to make a very bold prediction and suggest none of Donny, James or Lingard will be here on Wednesday. And this lad will be.

You'll be incorrect on every count.
 
I’m going to make a very bold prediction and suggest none of Donny, James or Lingard will be here on Wednesday. And this lad will be.
The funny thing is we'd be selling three players who have quite a number of games combined but none of them would be missed
 
We don't need an excellent passer in that position. It is ok if he wins it back and gives it to Pogba or Bruno or to one of the wingers
 
So would you say Rice instead of Fred if paired with Pogba today would have worked?
Fred couldn't deal with Trincao or Traore on several occassions where they made him look very poor. Fred did a similar action last week when he got swatted aside by a young RB (Livramento) who I was watching play for Chelsea in their u23 team last season.

I can't imagine Rice getting done in like that defensively with such ease and regularity. But if I was to choose a DM to play in our midfield it would be Tchouameni from Monaco. I think he would provide the defensive balance next to Maguire and Varane that would provide our forward thinking midfielders the platform to excell. Pogba would work fine in a 3 man midfield against the lesser teams playing alongside another #8. But against the bigger teams, going with two #8s might not be the best idea especially away from home.

Ideally the best way to use Pogba IMO is in a midfield like the following, Tchouameni-Saul-Pogba. But with Bruno in the team that's not gonna happen. And if we want to play a high defensive line and make use of our attacking quality, then we need to think positively when it comes to approaching the game when it comes to facing the lesser teams and making concessions against the quality ones.
 
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We don't need an excellent passer in that position. It is ok if he wins it back and gives it to Pogba or Bruno or to one of the wingers

Exactly. We don’t actually need a Pirlo, just someone who allows the rest of our talented passers to actually pass and play where they need to.
 
So would you say Rice instead of Fred if paired with Pogba today would have worked?
Of course it would have. That's Rice's whole game. Fred, I have no idea in the 3 years he's been here what his game is. Its like if you put a chicken in the middle of the field and yanked his head off. At his most base level, Rice is a DM.
 
We struggled keeping possession in the first half under heavy press, and building play. Pogba lost the ball a few times. Fred too.

Rice wont help with that either.
 
Camavinga is not a DM. He is a CM/box-to-box, which is what we are looking for. We are not looking for the fan theory "specalised DM" to play 433. Solskjær wants to to play 4231.
You can play 4231 with DM’s, it’s what we should be doing now except we have zero decent actual DM’s.

It’s also why we looked totally overrun in that first half in particular. Zero screen for the defence and they ran through at will at times because Pogba was getting forward and Fred is a box to box.
 
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