Erling Haaland / signs for Dortmund

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fps

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The difference is both Martial and Rashford can still play with one or two strikers on the pitch. Ole converted to playing wide right so its similar to that. He could still play.

Right now we have Martial and Rashford who will want to play weekly. Then we have Greenwood who will get occasional chances.

We have a massive gaping hole for the 4th striking option.
The Ole conversion never truly worked, did it. It was partly due to the injuries of course.
 

Yagami

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This is the thing a lot of you aren't understanding, it's not a case of having options being a bad thing it's a case of having players that know they're an option and them being happy with it.

In the above example all the bolded players knew they weren't first choice and they were 'happy' with that role, the rest were kept happy because they played most weeks due to the manager at that time almost always playing 442/4411
No, I get that. I just disagreed with not wanting a player because he might be too good thus causing us to bench another good player.

As I said before, I'd rather have another Tevez, Berbatov, Rooney, Ronaldo situation than our current situation of having no competition whatsoever.
 

Ekeke

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The Ole conversion never truly worked, did it. It was partly due to the injuries of course.
Yes it did, he put in some good crosses and was a goal threat from the right. And regardless, Rashford and Martial have both played well on the wing
 

charlenefan

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No, I get that. I just disagreed with not wanting a player because he might be too good thus causing us to bench another good player.

As I said before, I'd rather have another Tevez, Berbatov, Rooney, Ronaldo situation than our current situation of having no competition whatsoever.
I dont think anyone has said that have they? Well maybe the MartialFC chairmen might have a word or two to say about it but yeah I agree, if we can get a better player that benches Martial then so be it if we're a better side for it :)
 

fps

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Yes it did, he put in some good crosses and was a goal threat from the right. And regardless, Rashford and Martial have both played well on the wing
Martial has played terrible on the wing, looking disinterested and lost. Please stop following me around and replying to my posts.
 

DoomSlayer

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I honestly don't know how good this guy is and if it is worth the hassle to get him. I'd rather us spend money in the midfield - Fellaini and Herrera are gone without being replaced, Matic is basically not part of the first team squad and Pogba is leaving after the season ends.

That leaves us with McTominay, Fred and Garner (nowhere near ready to be a first team CM), which is shocking, and Pereira, Mata, Lingard at CAM - not one of them is good enough to be our 10 in the long term.

In that sense, I believe the main priorities should be 2 CMs, 1 CAM and then we should look at a backup striker and potentially a LB, depending on what the situation with Shaw is. Despite being so young, Haaland would want to be a undisputed starter, in my opinion, which would just create problems in the squad.
 

Yagami

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I dont think anyone has said that have they? Well maybe the MartialFC chairmen might have a word or two to say about it but yeah I agree, if we can get a better player that benches Martial then so be it if we're a better side for it :)
Maybe he can play with Martial if he's as talented as he's made out to be? Either way, we'll surely be better off with him as an option to start or bring on as a substitute than not at this current time. If he's as talented as the hype suggests!
 

Ekeke

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Martial has played terrible on the wing, looking disinterested and lost. Please stop following me around and replying to my posts.
Stop pretending anyone thinks you're relevant

Martial is a pretty good left winger. You're a pretty terrible poster
 

settembrini

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Ronaldo occasionally played up front, too. Then, in 08/09, you also had Welbeck and Macheda getting game time up front.

There were countless other seasons we had a few forwards competing against each other.
Cantona, Cole, Ole
Cole, Yorke, Ole, Sheringham
Ole, Ruud, Forlan
Rooney, van Persie, Chicharito, Welbeck.
How many games did Ronaldo play as a forward in 08/09? Barely any. Welbeck made 8 appearances, mostly as a winger. Macheda made 3. These are non-factors. The reality is like I described, we almost always played two from Rooney, Berbatov and Tevez upfront meaning for any given game each player had a good chance of playing. And we still couldn't keep all three happy. Even when we had the best manager of all time and were a team expected to win leagues and cups every season. But people expect us to sign Haaland and have him be happy as a squad player? That's laughable.

If you look at your other lists of attackers you will see lots of squad players. Solskjaer, Sheringham, Forlan, Hernandez, Welbeck. Obviously if United were to sign the modern equivalent of those players then he would be happy as a squad player. But that's clearly not Haaland. Haaland is arguably the 2nd best young striker in the world behind Mbappe. This thread is full of people acknowledging how great he is whilst simultaneously insisting that a generational talent will be happy with a squad player role at a club that struggles to qualify for the CL. It's silly.
 

StrettyEnder07

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These examples go against your argument rather than support it.

Aubameyang and Lacazette often play in the same team. So do Lukaku and Martinez. Not what we are talking about.

Signing Ronaldo has been a disaster for Dybala, so much so that Juventus tried to force him out last season.

Likewise Icardi has effectively ended Cavani's PSG career.

Jovic's Madrid career has had a horrible start because he can't a run in the team due to Benzema starting most games.

Jesus and Aguero is a good example of how to have a strong squad. Aguero is the experienced star and Jesus is the almost 10 year younger player who is being groomed as his replacement. Which is obviously completely different to any situation we could construct with Martial and Haaland in the same squad.
How does it go against my argument, where is it said that Haaland and Martial can't play in the same side, same as Martinez/Lukaku, Auba/Lacazette?

Dybala has 5 goals in 8 starts this season, is playing a lot more so doesn't look like to much of a disaster.

Icardi playing ahead of Cavani at the moment but how nice for them to have Cavani in the wings rather than us at West Ham having to play Lingard up front.

Jovic has had a shite start to his Madrid career and Benzema playing but again your missing the point whereas the squad has stength in depth, you want to play at elite clubs you have to deal with competition, if you don't then go be a star somewhere else.

So what your saying is you want us to go into next season, hoping to move to a title challenge and if we are there, challenge for the UCL as well, and you seriously think we can do that with the attack we have right now?
 

StrettyEnder07

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I honestly can't believe what I'm reading in here right now.
Haha apparently just having Martial up front mate means top 4 this season, title challenge next year and challenging for the latter stages of the UCL, by all accounts thats all you need.

The outrage in the summer when Ole buys a CF, RW, and probably 2 CMs.

A squad...........what is this madness!
 

troylocker

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I am pretty sure he won't come to United and demand 90 min every week, as he is used to play in a rotation system in Salzburg and has averaged at around 70 minutes per match so far this season. In a well functional squad with good depth, all players will pretty much be happy with not playing 90 minutes every game. Competition is important and healthy for all clubs.

PS!
When it comes to squad depth, let's have a look at the top of the table: Liverpool has managed to scratch out 3 points out of poor and average performances this season. Mane, Salah, Firmino, Fabinho, Robertson, Van Dijk and TAA has played almost every minute in Europe and PL this season. The backup they have for these positions is not close to the same quality and I think they will pay the price when some of these players hit the wall or get injuries. There's a reason why they fall on their face after Christmas every season.
 

SparkedIntoLife

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From what I've seen, we should definitely sign this guy. 8 reasons why -

1) He scores goals. Simple.

2) For every other metric that people might be concerned of, it's important to take into context Salzburg's play style and the fact this guy is 19 and can improve dramatically, as he seems to be doing so thus far.

3) He's super quick and should develop into a physically imposing striker (albeit he needs work in the air and hold up play). We don't have a tall target man type in our squad but he has the potential to be this.

4) He'll count as home grown, I believe (or certainly won't need a work permit once we're out the EU). For all the Brexit FC jibes, this could be extremely important going forward.

5) He already has a rapport with Ole. He also has a relationship, presumably, with Ragnick and Marco Rose who have been heavily linked to us.

6) I like the balance of having a front four of 2 right footers (Rashford, Martial) and 2 left footers (Haaland, Greenwood).

7) From what I've seen, he seems like he can play on the wings and behind another striker.

8) By all accounts, he's a good character and is hungry to improve.
 

bond19821982

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Selling Lukaku for 75m and getting this guy for 60m.

Have no idea how this guy is , but hope he becomes better than Lukaku.
 

Yagami

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How many games did Ronaldo play as a forward in 08/09? Barely any. Welbeck made 8 appearances, mostly as a winger. Macheda made 3. These are non-factors. The reality is like I described, we almost always played two from Rooney, Berbatov and Tevez upfront meaning for any given game each player had a good chance of playing. And we still couldn't keep all three happy. Even when we had the best manager of all time and were a team expected to win leagues and cups every season. But people expect us to sign Haaland and have him be happy as a squad player? That's laughable.

If you look at your other lists of attackers you will see lots of squad players. Solskjaer, Sheringham, Forlan, Hernandez, Welbeck. Obviously if United were to sign the modern equivalent of those players then he would be happy as a squad player. But that's clearly not Haaland. Haaland is arguably the 2nd best young striker in the world behind Mbappe. This thread is full of people acknowledging how great he is whilst simultaneously insisting that a generational talent will be happy with a squad player role at a club that struggles to qualify for the CL. It's silly.
Who's saying he'll definitely be a squad player? He may come in and play alongside Martial if he's as talented as you say.

I genuinely don't know, but did M'bappé play much on the right before going to PSG? I recall him being a CF at Monaco, but PSG - despite having Cavani (& now Icardi on top of that) - bought him anyway and fit him into the jigsaw because of his talent. Maybe the same could be done with this chap?
 

Handré1990

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We only had Ronaldo, Berbatov, Tevez and Rooney in the squad for one season. And Ronaldo was a winger so wasn't competing with the forwards. And we always played two forwards so it was essentially picking two from three each week which is different from having two players compete for one spot. And we couldn't even keep those players happy doing this as Tevez got upset and left to go somewhere where he would always start.

It's fine to want a strong squad but just pretending that we can have 22 superstars is ridiculous, no squad has that. Haaland isn't going to join us and play second fiddle, if we were ever to sign him it would be as a starter and would likely mean the end of Martial. That's just reality.
Not the point of your post, but genuine question, didn’t Tevez leave because SAF didn’t want to pay the asking price?
 

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You play Pogba as a number 6 and we would get absolute destroyed, could you imagine midfield runners from City etc they would have a field day with Pogba as a 6. Yes I get that he is our only creative midfielder, are we allowed to buy another top midfielder so we have options or is this not allowed as it may upset Pogba?

Baffles me how fans think all we need is a top starting 11 and then average back up players who can just do a job, and then to think that we will then be challenging on all fronts, naive for me
Its absurd. At one moment we are lamenting the state of our squad and how thin it is, and the very next we are against signing top class talent because it might upset some of our players.

Everyone saw how utterly toothless we looked when Martial was injured. So now we wont sign another attacker because it might upset him? What if Martial gets injured again? What if he hits a rough patch of form? And this isn't if, he will get severely burnt out/fatigued if hes asked to play every single league game for 90 minutes and that is not even accounting for the various cups.

Is this even real life?
 

peridigm

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Not the point of your post, but genuine question, didn’t Tevez leave because SAF didn’t want to pay the asking price?
Due largely to the agent fee not the player fee. I think Tevez sealed his departure when he cupped his hands to his ears in front of SAF after scoring a goal.
 

StrettyEnder07

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Its absurd. At one moment we are lamenting the state of our squad and how thin it is, and the very next we are against signing top class talent because it might upset some of our players.

Everyone saw how utterly toothless we looked when Martial was injured. So now we wont sign another attacker because it might upset him? What if Martial gets injured again? What if he hits a rough patch of form? And this isn't if, he will get severely burnt out/fatigued if hes asked to play every single league game for 90 minutes and that is not even accounting for the various cups.

Is this even real life?
Haha THIS, mate it is unreal really is, are fans happy to play with Lingard up front (West Ham away) or are they happy that god forbid when it doesn't work and we could do with a bit of quality from the bench, we have someone who is a goal threat and a big time player to come of the bench to get them a goal.

Can't imagine City when struggling bringing on an 18 year old kid from the academy, more than likely a 50/60m player who (as crazy as this sounds) is not kicking off for not starting every single game of every season.
 

Njord

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To everyone saying we can't buy him (and Sancho) because of Martial; if we start next season with Rashford, Haaland and Sancho up top, then James and Martial will need to take their chances if the front three doesn't perform. If the fist three performs, it's a win for United. If the front three doesn't perform other players gets their chance and might perform. Win for United. If we only have three players, and those doesn't perform, it's not a win for United.

The only time it is a problem to have multiple options is when a manager is biased towards some players, and they keep being picked despite not performing; Rooney under LVG, Lukaku and Sanchez under Mourinho etc. As long as all five of the players mentioned above can compete on equal terms, it will be a win for Manchester United. And that is what is most important.
 

StrettyEnder07

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So not an open and shut case of him leaving because of a lack of gametime?
Not from memory, was more his agent half owned him I think that Kia Jochaaaim or whatever he was called, all third party ownership rights and I remember all the agent fees had to be split and they were substantial, we refused to pay it City did so off he went.
 

BarstoolProphet

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Yep, certainly was not due to lack of game time
He complained about not playing important matches in his last season after he left the club. Then again he even complained about not playing in matches he actually played in, so who knows what the real reason for his departure was.
 

Handré1990

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Maybe he can play with Martial if he's as talented as he's made out to be? Either way, we'll surely be better off with him as an option to start or bring on as a substitute than not at this current time. If he's as talented as the hype suggests!
Should certainly hope so, as besides James, Martial is the only other player who’s consistently looking to create for others in our attack.
 

Handré1990

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Not from memory, was more his agent half owned him I think that Kia Jochaaaim or whatever he was called, all third party ownership rights and I remember all the agent fees had to be split and they were substantial, we refused to pay it City did so off he went.
Yeah, I remember it as us getting first option to buy, refused, and then Tevez went to Abu Dhabi.
 

settembrini

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How does it go against my argument, where is it said that Haaland and Martial can't play in the same side, same as Martinez/Lukaku, Auba/Lacazette?

Dybala has 5 goals in 8 starts this season, is playing a lot more so doesn't look like to much of a disaster.

Icardi playing ahead of Cavani at the moment but how nice for them to have Cavani in the wings rather than us at West Ham having to play Lingard up front.

Jovic has had a shite start to his Madrid career and Benzema playing but again your missing the point whereas the squad has stength in depth, you want to play at elite clubs you have to deal with competition, if you don't then go be a star somewhere else.

So what your saying is you want us to go into next season, hoping to move to a title challenge and if we are there, challenge for the UCL as well, and you seriously think we can do that with the attack we have right now?
I thought the discussion was about having Haaland and Martial in the same squad and keeping them both happy when only one of them could start most games. If your saying we could switch to a two striker system then yes we could have them both in the same squad and keep them happy. I would like that as I always prefer seeing United play with two upfront.

With the other examples I stand by what I said. Ronaldo has had a negative impact on Dybala, Icardi has had a negative impact on Cavani and Jovic has had his Madrid career negatively impacted by being in the same squad as Benzema.

Our attack definitely needs improvement. It's just unrealistic for that improvement to be in the form of having Haaland and Martial compete for the same spot. I could easily see us spending big money on a starting #10 next summer plus smaller fees on a squad winger and squad striker. By squad player though I'm talking about the modern day equivalents of Park or Nani, Solskjaer or Hernandez. Buying Haaland would be more like when we bought Rooney from Everton, big money for a first XI player. I don't see that happening unless Martial fails as a #9 this season.
 

Heinzesight

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Why’s everyone erling on the side of caution...let’s get this fecker signed. Competition for places is what makes great teams.
 
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fps

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Whys everyone erling on the side of caution...let’s get this fecker signed. Competition for places is what makes great teams.
If there is a limited budget, with Pogba's future up in the air, it makes better sense to sign a top quality central midfielder and right winger. Also, he's on a hot streak now... in the Austrian league. How does he stand up beyond that? It is an enormous investment to put this guy into a Man Utd shirt and will directly influence other signings.

I don't know if he'll become a superstar or not, and I'm not against a signing of an exciting young player, but I think those are the concerns.
 

settembrini

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Who's saying he'll definitely be a squad player? He may come in and play alongside Martial if he's as talented as you say.
My first post that you responded to was in reply to someone else saying Haaland would be a squad player. Other posters have made similar arguments.

He is extremely talented and yes we could play him alongside Martial and I would love to see that. But that's very different to the idea that a player this good will be happy coming to United to replace Lingard as a squad player.
 

Heinzesight

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If there is a limited budget, with Pogba's future up in the air, it makes better sense to sign a top quality central midfielder and right winger. Also, he's on a hot streak now... in the Austrian league. How does he stand up beyond that? It is an enormous investment to put this guy into a Man Utd shirt and will directly influence other signings.

I don't know if he'll become a superstar or not, and I'm not against a signing of an exciting young player, but I think those are the concerns.
Yeah, I agree with you. He has to be one of 4/5 signings over the next two windows.
 

shamans

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Alf Inge Haaland has already commented publicly that it would be nice if his son joined Manchester United, so that's a non issue. OGS and Haaland are friends outside of football, and OGS is the one that recruited Erling Haaland to elite football in the first place.

As far as connections in football goes, unless you're the son of the manager, it doesn't get closer than that. If its enough.. well, we'll see in January.
No dude. Dont listen to that crap. Every time he kicks the ball he breathes "for my father" in the same breath!
 

jamesjimmybyrondean

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To me this situation is easy to resolve. Ole has given Martial the no.9 after the sale of Lukaku and from interviews you can tell he has put his trust in Martial to be our main striker this season.

So far Martial has been doing very well and he is looking like the reason for why we're playing well at the moment. The link up between Martial Rashford and James is very good and has potential so why disrupt this by buying an expensive striker that will want a starting place when he comes especially when he's just a year older than our beloved Greenwood and also when we have other positions more important to fill. This is what one half of the Caf is saying.

The other half is stating that competition is needed to keep the players on their toes to always put in a good performance and to provide quality squad depth which we are lacking at the moment.

I have a proposal for both halves of the Caf. One side wants us to get a good striker that's willing to be on the bench like a Ben Yedder because Martial is doing well for us and we shouldn't disrupt that by getting Haaland who would be a star. The other wants us to get Haaland to give Martial competition because that's what United has always done and it's what world class teams do.

Anyways my suggestion is this. Since Martial has being playing well as our no.9 let's give him this season to prove whether he is good enough to be our main striker for the coming years. Martial has never really had this chance to prove himself in the no.9 role for a season so let's give him that at least he has been doing well. So come January we should go for a cheap option like Mandzukic on a 1 year deal to provide back up for Martial. But if by the end of the season Martial doesn't cement his place as our no.9 then I'm all for getting Haaland in the summer.
 

jamesjimmybyrondean

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For those of you saying that world class teams have quality substitute strikers on their bench let's look at the top teams that won their league last season and the strikers who sat on the bench for them

Barcelona - Boeteng
Man City - Gabriel Jesus
Bayern - No one
PSG - Choupo Moting
Juve - Moise Kean
Liverpool won the champions league - Origi
 

Eckers99

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Yes. A good example of the strong squad I am talking about.

You have the expensive stars in Cole and Yorke who were the starters and then Solskjaer and Sheringham were the cheap signings who provided good cover. If we were to sign someone to cover for Martial it would be someone of their ilk rather than an expensive star like Haaland.
Plus we played 2 up front back then, so we had 2 for each position. Plus, we have a set amount to spend, not a limitless pot. Plus, we really need at least 1 midfielder and RW more. All valid reasons to actually think about what we need rather than just buying the latest flavour of the month.
 

Adam-Utd

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Seems like we're all aboard the Haaland express. I for one am very happy, he looks made for the premier league.
 
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