Good. We need to draw lines in the sand and establish a decent negotiating base/rep.
As anyone should. I mean others have overpaid the last few years, Barca for Coutinho, Chelsea for Lukaku or Atleti for Felix etc but no one, I mean no one can remotely justify the Maguire fee. A €20m defender from the continent could do a better job than he does
Oh that's great then, not at all concerning that he doesn't intelligently select when to press leaving the midfield vacant for a counter attack at all. Very assuring
That's my concern with Fred in general and the only reason why he isn't an elite DM but I also think that he is on paper a good fit for De Jong, an aggressive defender like Fred seem to match well with De Jong's calculated style. Now Fred has other issues like a lack of power which see him get rag-dolled a bit too often.
But if he has a lot of the key attributes, maybe we’ll finally get a manager (and an assistant) who can improve the weaker bits by coaching?
In a traditional midfield three, rather than a double pivot I would agree. They would be a good match.
Obviously some of that is down to the individual's ability, but surely part of it is dependent on the system deployed by the teams in question? You would like to think that ten Hag will have us more organised and cohesive, therefore players will press more efficiently as a collective in the right areas. This would alleviate some of those concerns.
It's not the only reason he's not an elite dm, he's also physically quite weak for a dm and gets outmuscled easily as you mentioned, and his dodgy touch can get us in trouble when he receives it in his own half. He also doesn't have much recovery pace to get back with his tiny legs.
Yes but De Jong isn't some slouch either; he is used to playing as the deepest midfielder and has done so at Ajax. He avgs 2.4 tackles and interceptions playing higher up at Barca and in the 96th percentile for dribbled past.
Yeah and Bruno as well
You can compensate a lack of power with positioning and anticipation. He is also fast enough, I can't agree with that criticism.
I'd say Fred's pretty fast for that position. Probably as big an engine as anyone in the league.
Surely if he's that poor defensively then a CDM alongside De Jong is absolutely essential
But that's a Bruno problem not a Fred plus De Jong problem. In fact you will have the same issue with whoever you have next to De Jong outside of prime Marcos Senna due to Bruno being a liability defensively.
Athletic midfielders make him look like a small child during the transition phase, they body him and sprint past him like he is a junior playing with men.
There are Michelin star restaurants in most major cities in the UK, I’m sure he’ll be fine.
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Which is true for any player facing someone that his bigger, stronger or faster and yet it doesn't prevent anyone from being considered elite. Don't get me wrong I get your criticism but it's not a pre-requisite for eliteness, being elite doesn't mean that you are virtually perfect for all situations. No one is perfect and generally elite players compensate a lack of physical abilities with superior tactical abilities while other elite players may compensate for a lack of tactical abilities with elite physical abilities.
What a load of rubbish. Maguire is a far better defender than Lukaku is a striker and they spent even more on him for a start.
Can't be serious with this
I know it’s clear Maguire is miles better.
I have them in the same bracket. Good and far from great.
That would be fair. I think Lukaku is closer to shite though, thus Maguire beats him for me.I have them in the same bracket. Good and far from great.
Definitely, best stadium in the world
If you want to take pingers and go to great raves, then yes. I went to uni there and it’s great vibes, went back for work a few months ago and went to all the places I used to love and felt quite old.
Lukaku scored 30+ goals for Inter across consecutive seasons as they finished second and first and a proven goalscorer at the international level being Belgium's highest ever goalscorer in his peak years.
I agree with you that physical deficiences can be compensated for with a good football brain, however there are only so many things you can compensate for. His dodgy touch and inconsistent passing isn't likely to get better at the age of 29 either. With this many deficiencies, it's not a recipe for an elite midfielder is it.
You’re underrating Maguire but fair enough you do you.
You have a far worse opinion of Fred's overall abilities than I do.
Poor first touch and pass? Non sense! It’s so ridiculous so many even buy into this nonsense.
He's scored over 120 goals in the Prem and was one of the highest scorers in Europe at Inter but Maguire who's never done anything of note at the club level is somehow levels above
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They've been laying down their justification for selling him out in public for weeks now.
They're both rubbish. Maguire was around as good in his good season as Lukaku was last year. Rom was also about as good at West Brom as Maguire was at Leicester.He's scored over 120 goals in the Prem and was one of the highest scorers in Europe at Inter but Maguire who's never done anything of note at the club level is somehow levels above
They were both very overvalued but Lukaku is still quite a bit better at his trade than Harry is.
It's a done deal imo. For the first time since Carrick, we will have a mega talented midfielder that can do it all from a playmaking, recycling possession and smart positioning perspective. He will be one of the best mids in the World for us under ETH.
Scholes didn't have this problem, and he was small and not that quick. Veratti, same. Even Our Juan was not a big man and not particularly speedy. I think the post you replied to is bang on the money. Fred looks like a schoolboy out there because he's just not that good. I agree with you, he's not elite and he doesn't have superior skills, but mainly Fred's problem is he has zero tactical awareness and gets lost in the game.
Scholes was a poor defender, a really poor defender. And not a DM, let alone an elite DM.
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