Greenwood is better as an inverted forward

[Bebestation]

There is too many games where he plays centrally and he doesn't know how to hold his position and put pressure on the central defenders.

Even though Greenwood is the better finisher - I see it even in Martial, he has the ability to keep the central defenders busy paying attention on him Even if Martial isn't really doing anything.

Greenwood's best finishes has also come from outside with his near perfect finishes off the inner post.

I think he feels much more like a full player when he plays out wide because he feels like he can seem quite missing and ghostly in a key position.

It does not mean i never want to see him centrally, I think he will have good performance for us there but so did Rashford before being a more guarantee inverted forward.

 

[Cassidy]

I agree for now. But the hope is as he develops he’ll get better centrally

 

[Pexbo]

He is. He’s like any modern forward, he loves to dictate space.

You used to think of your strikers as being the ones who get 25-30 goals a season but it’s the wide forwards who do that now and I expect him to be no different.

Strikers don’t tend to take many touches and he’s too good on the ball to be wasted like that.

 

[Skills]

I agree for now. But the hope is as he develops he’ll get better centrally

I think it'll be a waste to stick him in the middle. He's better when he's got a bit of space to pull the trigger - a bit like Ronaldo. Sticking him in the middle makes that a lot more difficult.

 

[Cassidy]

I think it'll be a waste to stick him in the middle. He's better when he's got a bit of space to pull the trigger - a bit like Ronaldo. Sticking him in the middle makes that a lot more difficult.

I see him developing into something similar to RVP later on, who also started wide

 

[VorZakone]

I agree. He has such a good shot on him, it's a real weapon when he cuts inside instead of having to wrestle with CB's.

 

[kouroux]

Of course, since he hasn't matured fully physically, he ain't ready for the central role permanently

 

[Tarrou]

At the moment yes, definitely

I personally think that'll be his best position when he matures as well

 

[DoomSlayer]

Totally agree.

 

[Lebo]

Totally. And there absolutely no reason for him to play central. He is productive enough outwide so I don’t get the desperation to move him central at all. I’ll honestly rather have him as a side forward who scores 30 goals than a center forward who scored 35 per season

 

[horsechoker]

Keep him at RW for now, let Ronaldo and Cavani fight it out for CF and Martial, Rashford, Sancho for LW.

 

[Uniquim]

Read the title as '[...] better as an introverted forward'

But yeah, I agree to as things stand.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Inverted Ronaldo, inverted Greenwood, Cavani up top

Sorry Jadon

 

[Ali Dia]

He has to keep his place either way

Rest of the lads are trying to walk it in

 

[kg2k16]

Keep him at RW for now, let Ronaldo and Cavani fight it out for CF and Martial, Rashford, Sancho for LW.

That is the best solution

 

[KennyBurner]

Pretty obvious for all those that think he is sturdy enough to play as striker. he just cant hold up the ball well enough. It also doesnt help that he has to drop deeper because bruno wants to partner him up top.

 

[acnumber9]

He’d a great game playing up front against Leeds. He’s just a great player wherever you play him. You have to get him the ball though.

 

[Bwuk]

Agreed. I think he’s better than Rashford or Sancho. Could see Mason hitting Salah types of numbers.

 

[PlayerOne]

I agree but I do like him as CF if he's allowed to drift and get wide to find space. Let's hope he keeps developing in both areas as he's a key player for us now.

 

[Vidyoyo]

Agreed and I've never understood the claims he should be played up top. Central strikers need to be clinical and good at holding the ball up whereas Mason is better at driving forward and shooting so it benefits him to be on the wing. Hopefully Sancho will be the creativity force from the left and then Ronaldo the clinical striker, hold up striker up top.

In terms of depth:

Rashford/Greenwood/Sancho vying for RW
Sancho/Rashford/Martial for LW
Ronaldo/Cavani/Martial for ST

Edit - Amazing depth!

 

[Pronewbie]

Agree. Just like RVP in his early years with Arsenal. With Cavani and Ronaldo back I'm sure this is where he'll mostly play.

 

[Abraxas]

Said this in his performance thread, why people are so desperate to make a central player out of him baffles me. Clearly Ole isn't so nailed on with this idea judging by the fact he signed Ronaldo and spoke about how Cavani gives a focal point.

On the right he's much more dangerous. He faces up full backs and they have no idea what to do, there isn't a side you can show him onto. You don't want him playing back to goal or with CBs nipping at his heels, he's not built like that, at least not yet. Also, how many tap ins has he scored, really? He's a scorer of good goals, not somebody that's sniffing them out or a natural receiver of crosses.

Another underrated quality of his is his touch, his creativity, he doesn't half know how to put a teasing cross in. It's something we haven't exploited that well but with Ronaldo coming in, I would not be surprised if Mason gets plenty more luck with them.

It's just a stereotype, every time a forward comes through they'll supposedly end up as a striker. Rashford received exactly the same analysis, and he never looked like becoming one. It's okay to keep an open mind and use him in a variety of roles if it suits the team and personnel we have, but we should not be glued to this idea of what he has to become.

 

[lsd]

I see inverted forward is now the new buzzword replacing low block

 

[Pronewbie]

Said this in his performance thread, why people are so desperate to make a central player out of him baffles me. Clearly Ole isn't so nailed on with this idea judging by the fact he signed Ronaldo and spoke about how Cavani gives a focal point.

On the right he's much more dangerous. He faces up full backs and they have no idea what to do, there isn't a side you can show him onto. You don't want him playing back to goal or with CBs nipping at his heels, he's not built like that, at least not yet. Also, how many tap ins has he scored, really? He's a scorer of good goals, not somebody that's sniffing them out or a natural receiver of crosses.

Another underrated quality of his is his touch, his creativity, he doesn't half know how to put a teasing cross in. It's something we haven't exploited that well but with Ronaldo coming in, I would not be surprised if Mason gets plenty more luck with them.

It's just a stereotype, every time a forward comes through they'll supposedly end up as a striker. Rashford received exactly the same analysis, and he never looked like becoming one.

That's because Mason's claim to fame is his finishing with both feet. I still think he could develop into a forward like RVP. If he doesn't that's fine. For now, like RVP, he should continue learning his craft and play as an inverted forward.

 

[eire-red]

I think he can play either centrally or wide. The key is feeding him enough chances. At the moment, we should play him wide right, given Sancho Still not up to speed, and Cavani and Ronaldo coming in to play up top.

He's by far the better option wide right, and noticable that he has a much better understanding with AWB also. For now, we're much more balanced, but I think he will eventually be a CF.

 

[el3mel]

He's indeed. One on one he's so dangerous. Almost every ball he gets one on one on the edge of the box, you feel he'll get through easily and put on a shot.

 

[Abraxas]

That's because Mason's claim to fame is his finishing with both feet. I still think he could develop into a forward like RVP. If he doesn't that's fine. For now, like RVP, he should continue learning his craft and play as an inverted forward.

So what though? Wide forwards have to finish, it's one of the foremost skills they need to have for a top club. Scoring 10 in 100 games used to be acceptable 20 years ago for a wide player but it's now expected that narrower wide players take up a lot of the goalscoring burden for the team.

 

[Carolina Red]

Anybody else think he’s about to get ridiculously good now that he’s gonna be training with Ronaldo every day?

 

[Tallis]

Yes he is. But it would be much more advantageous for us if he could develop into a 9. Plenty of inside forwards in the squad but will be short of 9s in 2 years time (maybe sooner)

 

[ti vu]

Not that clear cut IMO. At the moment he would benefit more with having a more experienced forward taking defenders away from him, so he can focus on running at the goal, rather having his back at it, and fighting 50/50 with 2 defenders.

When we can control the midfield like we did toward the end of the game, as a inverted forward on the wing, it can work. However, in an end to end game or where opposition dominating possession, having Greenwood on the wing is counter productive. He's stuck out wide, and not having enough chance to be around the box where his natural finishing ability is best at.

 

[thepolice123]

He is still a couple of years away from being a starter in the #9 position. His best position right now is on the wing.

 

[davidmichael]

Right now Greenwood is better from the right but so was RVP up until his mid 20’s, I said a couple of years ago that Greenwood really reminded me of a young RVP but I’d say now he reminds me a cross between a young RVP and a young Robbie Fowler.

He’s in such a great position as he’s learning directly from Ronaldo and Cavani who are two of the greatest goal scorers of the last 25 years whilst he also would have been around Zlatan too, I think once Greenwood fully fills out and is in his mid 20’s he’ll play centrally.

The best thing to do right now is play Ronaldo and Cavani as the central strikers with Greenwood alternating with Sancho, Pogba and Rashford for the wide positions but also maybe play Greenwood centrally in cup games so he gets a bit of experience to grow into the role.

 

[Welbeckham]

This. Put him wherever he gets the ball at his feet most because he’s almost unplayable face to the goal. No need for him to play centrally.

And he’s a much better player than both Rashford and Sancho, so they should compete (sometimes with Pogba) for the other flank.

 

[Flytan]

I think barring any calamitous injury or desire to become a monk that the sky is the limit for him. He could develop into a true #9 but I just love seeing him run at defenders since he can go either way. I think he plays mostly on the right as competition for Sancho this year with the odd game at striker when Ronaldo is out. Best part of greenwood/sancho/rashford is they can all swap positions at will

 

[Livewire1974]

Can we change his number and invert him into midfield?

 

[siw2007]

Greenwood is good enough to play anywhere across the front line. At this stage, it will be easier for him to get into the game from the wide right position, he is still excellent in the middle and want to see him play there many times this year, it’s just that in some very tough games, he will find it difficult to get involved from the centre forward position due to his lack of experience and still physically developing.

He is definitely in the starting 11 now, he has been terrific since the start of the season.

 

[Pronewbie]

So what though? Wide forwards have to finish, it's one of the foremost skills they need to have for a top club. Scoring 10 in 100 games used to be acceptable 20 years ago for a wide player but it's now expected that narrower wide players take up a lot of the goalscoring burden for the team.

Well, the best way to learn a position is to play it regularly. And it's not like we are/were stacked in that position. Now that we've got Ronnie AND Cavani I don't expect to see him starting as a striker.

 

[drunkmonkmeth]

Hes too small and young to play down the middle. 4 years time and he'll be that guy

 

[cyberman]

Wasn’t there rumours of Mason wanting to change over from England to Jamaica? Maybe that explains the lack of a call up

 

[roonster09]

He has skillset to play both positions but all his best performances are from right wing (well that's given as he played almost all games as RW). He is very dangerous on the right side as he started to go outside instead of cutting inside all the time.