Hard Decisions need to be made

[Roboc7]

Whether he wants to or not Ole isn’t in a position to make such radical changes. Cavani will stay for another year, and Pogba is only player who plays regularly that probably gets sold.

You probably have to sell one of DDG or Henderson as doesn’t make sense having both but may well just loan out Henderson.

Incomings won’t be too drastic either, one or two first team players and maybe a squad player.

 

[Hawks2008]

I think at the very least we need to consider that the future of our forward line might not include Rashford, Martial, Greenwood. For all the talk about our defence we need an injection of attacking talent also, Bruno has been making these guys look good with his insane output but one man can only do so much.

 

[Remember the geese]

It's the spine that needs sorting. De Gea has made too many mistakes now and we should have reacted sooner. If we replace him adequately, it would be, in my opinion, potentially the biggest margin of improvement we could possibly make. Bigger than signing a centre back, centre mid, right sided forward, striker or any other position people believe we are desperately in need of. Henderson should be given the rest of this season as first choice. If he isn't up to it, then a decision will have to be made. Persist with him into next season, or enter the market. Either way, De Gea is not the answer.

Maguire is one of the better centre backs in the league. I think we can win a title with him. Lindelof is good too, but I see him more as third choice in a squad that competes for trophies. A fully fit Eric Bailly doesn't exist, but it would be great if we could find that type of player in the Summer window.

I'd like to see us pursue another central midfielder. A Matic replacement. Fred and Mctominay are a different type of player and are not suitable for this role. A Michael Carrick clone would mean we could be a bit more assertive in the bigger games especially and partner Pogba or Van de Beek, with him. Essentially removing the need of having to play both of Fred and Mctominay.

A centre forward to replace Cavani is still another 18 months away, I believe. I think we will make a big play for Haaland, though obviously there is no guarantee we will get him. Martial is fortunate to have this period of time to rejuvenate himself. Can he get back into last season's groove? Perhaps this is his final chance. As an aside, maybe somewhere in this next 18 months, Greenwood will get some form of audition or opportunity as a number 9.

Thinking about it, the real hard decision for us is whether we should sacrifice the exciting signings in return for something a bit more boring, but perhaps more worthwhile. Potentially a goalkeeper, centre back and defensive midfielder. Possibly a backup right back if the funds are there and the club deem Williams/Dalot/Laird not good enough or ready yet. Grealish and Sancho are quality players, but Hannibal and Amad providing depth and competition to Rashford and Greenwood, whilst allowing us to strengthen elsewhere might not be a bad ploy.

 

[bsCallout]

That's a good one

Not even wasting my time on that

 

[GordonG]

Personally I think goalie, RB/RWB and a proper midfielder/DM á carrick that dictates play are key for success.

Goalkeeper: DDG make our defence look even worse than it is. His insecurity, lack of leadership and cowardness surely isn't instilling confidence to the rest of our defence. Simple situations become dangerous due to his passive approach, so our defence end up in situations that a proper keeper would never allow in the first place.

I'm not sure Lindelöf and Maguire is a good partnership - but I'd atleast like to see em' have a go with a proper goalie that owns his area and instills the back with confidence. Just look at City and Liverpool and what upgrading their goalies to proper leaders has done for their whole defence.

Very few, if any, great teams in history has won trophies with a weak goalkeeper.

RB/RWB: AWB is just not good enough. He is constantly out of position defensively. Yesterday was a prime example when he 2(!) times played Everton onside by being way behind our defensive line. AWB also tends to drift in towards the middle for no good reason, allowing a load of space down his side and inviting pressure from crosses. As we saw against Leipzig, for example.

Although AWB has improved going forward he is still not good enough. Compare to Shaw on the other side who bangs in dangerous crosses and makes good runs which creates space.

We're lucky if we get one good cross per game from AWB. His link-up-play is below average and rarely makes good runs allowing space for our RW.

AWB's football IQ is not good enough for a club that wants to challenge for titles. Which was highlighted yesterday when he gave the ball away in the last seconds. Aswell as his terrible positioning constantly so that he has to make "worldclass" tackles which the pundits seem to enjoy. If his positioning was good he'd never have to commit to so many tackles in the first place.

CM/CDM: Even though it looked abit better yesterday, we need someone to control the game from midfield. That rarely gives the ball away, is excellent in positioning and dominates the midfield. Easier said than done ofcourse to find one, not many players of the sort in todays game. Perhaps Rice could grow in to it?

 

[GifLord]

Not even wasting my time on that

Look what you wrote!!
You want us to buy better players so our record signing defender won't make mistakes?!?!?

 

[bsCallout]

Look what you wrote!!
You want us to buy better players so our record signing defender won't make mistakes?!?!?

Don't reword what I've said. I want us to improve on the three areas around him that are much weaker than him and leave him exposed.

 

[RedIan]

I agree with most of the OP other than Rashford.
Rashford is a big part of our attack and creates many dangerous opportunities.as well as his own goals.
some short memories from a few on his excellent games this season.
Yesterday he had a coupl of chances he may have done better with but overall he had a good game and what a peach of a cross onto Cavanis head for the first goal.
i wouldn't want him in the oppositions team.

 

[OrcaFat]

Its time to make some hard decisions isnt it.

DDG is reaching the end of the road. A fantastic keeper but his decline is all to evident and his performances are costing dearly. It might be time for him to be moved on in the summer time.
Whether Henderson is his replacement is a different discussion but DDG isnt doing it anymore.

Harry Maguire - If this team is to challenge for titles at the top table we need an upgrade on him. He is simply bang average and his mistakes are far too frequent. Not the rock we can build a foundation on. I dont see him being sold but we need a better CB to play alongside him and cover his frequent errors.

Rashford - how many chances does he need to score? He isnt as good as some blinkered fans think. We need an upgrade in his position or at least a viable 2nd player to keep Rashford sharp and make him improve/give him an opportunity to rest.

Martial - Needs to be sold for an upgrade. He doesnt have many supporters left.

If you look at those 4 names you can see a real issue, they are main first 11 players really, and quite alot of experience, but they are just not good enough. Ole has done a good job for the most part in clearing out the deadwood but he's now looking at uncomfortable decision time.

To challenge for a league and CL we need to get better players in key positions and that means hard decisions for the manger.

Of those 4, DDG is the only one I agree with.

Attack wise we’re getting better and better. And Maguire has been great lately, although didn’t play so well yesterday.

But moving on from DDG is, I agree, a difficult but probably necessary call.

 

[Judas]

I think at the very least we need to consider that the future of our forward line might not include Rashford, Martial, Greenwood. For all the talk about our defence we need an injection of attacking talent also, Bruno has been making these guys look good with his insane output but one man can only do so much.

Martial isn't the future of this club, he argueably shouldn't even be the present. Rashford and Greenwood are far too young to make that sort of statement about, and rule out. Especially with what they've already displayed. Greenwood's shown some improvement and understanding of the role he's being deployed in during the last couple of games too.

 

[JMack1234]

Its time to make some hard decisions isnt it.

DDG is reaching the end of the road. A fantastic keeper but his decline is all to evident and his performances are costing dearly. It might be time for him to be moved on in the summer time.
Whether Henderson is his replacement is a different discussion but DDG isnt doing it anymore.

Harry Maguire - If this team is to challenge for titles at the top table we need an upgrade on him. He is simply bang average and his mistakes are far too frequent. Not the rock we can build a foundation on. I dont see him being sold but we need a better CB to play alongside him and cover his frequent errors.

Rashford - how many chances does he need to score? He isnt as good as some blinkered fans think. We need an upgrade in his position or at least a viable 2nd player to keep Rashford sharp and make him improve/give him an opportunity to rest.

Martial - Needs to be sold for an upgrade. He doesnt have many supporters left.

If you look at those 4 names you can see a real issue, they are main first 11 players really, and quite alot of experience, but they are just not good enough. Ole has done a good job for the most part in clearing out the deadwood but he's now looking at uncomfortable decision time.

To challenge for a league and CL we need to get better players in key positions and that means hard decisions for the manger.

I agree on DDG and Martial.

Maguire isn't the transformative defender you'd expect for £80 million but IMO *ducks* he's a perfectly good CB who looks 10x the player when he's playing next to Bailly and not Lindelof. So I think the decision we have to make is about getting rid of Lindelof and bringing in a more suitable partner for Maguire.

I think Rashford is a top player whose in bad form, nothing to worry about at the moment.

 

[The holy trinity 68]

Henderson needs to start every game, DDG is only going to regress even further as time goes on. Henderson has time on his side, just play him until the end of the season and see if he improves as the season progresses. Deserves a run of games and DDG doesn't deserve to start every week anymore.

 

[lilcurt]

Yeah let’s drop our best central defender, that’ll show him, maybe Jones will manage a week of fitness whilst he’s out, as Axel and Eric have shown they’re struggling constantly with injuries. I hope you know we have 2 central defenders in the squad who aren’t carrying injuries currently and one of them is playing pretty much every game as his understudies can’t be relied on. Harry is droppable as he’s the best we have, bloody lunacy wanting him dropped to teach him a lesson.

I would argue he isn't our best defender, I prefer Lindelof. Next.

 

[lilcurt]

Out of all the players round him, Maguire is our best. Fred needs replacing at CDM. DDG needed replacing 2 years ago. LINDELOF is as average as they come.

Completely disagree.

DDG isn't what he was but still one of the best 3 or 4 keepers in the league easily.

Fred, not a world beater by any means but he puts a solid shift in and we look better as a team with him than without.

Lindelof, I would argue that over the last 18 months he has been better than Maguire. He just isn't a media darling. That being said they are both average.

 

[Flanders Devil]

No hard decisions at all. The only decisions which need to happen and most of them probably will:

- Make Henderson a regular. For me he is overrated and has made too many mistakes already in the few games he has played for us. But DDG has been heading downwards so just start playing Henderson who at least has the potential to improve.

- Maguire is here to stay and will look much better with a reliable CB partner and a quality DM. We need to buy both and sell Bailly. Lindelöf can at least stay fit most of the time. Let’s not forget how clownish some of Pep’s CBs at City have looked before he decided to focus on his defence this season.

- RW: Buy Sancho if the price is reasonable and rotate him with Rashford/Martial/Greenwood/Diallo. If we don’t buy him then buy a CF instead. Sell James once we have bought a RW/CF.

- Sell Pogba, buy Grealish. If we need more money to buy him then sell VdB as well.

Easy

I pretty much agree with this. My only clarification: make the CF Haaland.
And I’d prefer Pogba to stay if he’s committed. Otherwise I hope these are the decisions that we make.

 

[bsCallout]

Completely disagree.

DDG isn't what he was but still one of the best 3 or 4 keepers in the league easily.

Fred, not a world beater by any means but he puts a solid shift in and we look better as a team with him than without.

Lindelof, I would argue that over the last 18 months he has been better than Maguire. He just isn't a media darling. That being said they are both average.

Fair, you're entitled to your opinion. Not sure how you don't think Fred should be replaced for a proper CDM, or that DDG is one of the top keepers, he gives the defence no confidence whatsoever. No keeper commands his area less.

Maguire is the better of the two. Neither are top class but Maguire is the much more dominant CB.

 

[Red_toad]

I would argue he isn't our best defender, I prefer Lindelof. Next.

The same Lindelof who is carrying on ongoing back injury and was pretty dire v Everton. Next...

 

[Hawks2008]

Martial isn't the future of this club, he argueably shouldn't even be the present. Rashford and Greenwood are far too young to make that sort of statement about, and rule out. Especially with what they've already displayed. Greenwood's shown some improvement and understanding of the role he's being deployed in during the last couple of games too.

Probably unfair to lump Greenwood in with the other 2 but Martial and Rashford have been first teamers for 6 seasons now and still have question marks for me. I don't like things like the idea that Rashford should be an untouchable part of the team for the next decade (I do think he has the potential to be though) or the outcries of "But what about Martial and Greenwood!" when we we're linked with Haaland last summer. I really do believe we're getting closer to being a team that is competitive on all fronts , I just think need to take a good look at every single one of these players moving forward and make the necessary asjustments in the squad if we're going to make that jump is all.

For the record I do rate Rashford and Greenwood but my hopes for Martial have faded at this point.

 

[Leftback99]

Just don't agree to be honest.

Our team have scored enough. Cavani will still be with us next season.

Maguire is good enough but is exposed by a lack of a top GK, CB or CDM around him.

Both Rashford and Martial aren't even in their prime. We also have Greenwood who will be looked to get that CF spot. Diallo will add a better balance at RW.

The players you should have listed imo are:
DDG
LINDELOF
FRED

It's pretty obvious by now really. I'm confident that Solskjaer will have the same in mind. As well as competition at right back. We won't be buying a GK though.

 

[SadlerMUFC]

You don't improve a team by scapegoating your best players. For example, you don't get rid of your best central defender. You get a better central defender to make him your 2nd best defender...

 

[bsCallout]

It's pretty obvious by now really. I'm confident that Solskjaer will have the same in mind. As well as competition at right back. We won't be buying a GK though.

I think you're right, I'd like to think Henderson will be given the rest of the season to prove himself. Otherwise I'd get Kasper in for a year who I've read is out of contract.

 

[bsCallout]

You don't improve a team by scapegoating your best players. For example, you don't get rid of your best central defender. You get a better central defender to make him your 2nd best defender...

People seem to think because Maguire isn't worth 80mil he's the one to blame and get rid of, ignoring the dross round him.

 

[RedRonaldo]

DDG - he need to go
Lindelof - he need to with DDG
Maguire - no one will want him at our price, and we won't let him go for cheap after spending that much. He is reliable when everything went smooth, but was exposed when were are playing with high line defence with his dinosaur body turn. Maybe, if we improve everyone around him he may improve too, just give him another season
Rashford - he has always been inconsistence, but he is not our problem, he has scored 16 goals for us this season, and was our top scorer last season too.
Martial - I see him as our temp option before we go in for Haaland, lets go all in for Haaland

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

The criticism of Rashford is weird. Do people not see how many chances Salah misses, and Salah was struggling to get in the Chelsea team at his age.

 

[Ali Dia]

We need to upgrade on whoever thinks making DDG the highest paid keeper in the world and giving Henderson that contract was a good idea. We need to upgrade on whoever thought signing Matic up for 3 more years instead of investing in a DM was a good idea. Same with Jones and mata. Cavani luckily came off and ighalo was a very expensive stopgap but if that’s our idea of sorting the ST position then that’s more of it. Upgrade whoever is making these calls because as long as we are making decisions like this it’s going to hold us back and we won’t win anything of note. Throwing together free transfers, expensive but badly though out fixes, past it players on huge deals and youth players with absolutely no competition. That’s what we have here. It’s pretty clear we have owners here who will neither lead nor follow and we are stuck with them. The only thing I can think of is that they are willing to leave the team with players who aren’t good enough until new players start breaking through from the youth teams....

 

[mosschopps]

DDG needa to be moved on for both the benifit of club and player.

Maguire cant and wont be sold because of the price tag we paid. It would make a mockery of both Woodward and Ole if he was and they wont have that. We need a sort of player Des Walker used to be to partner him. A CB with pace to burn. It would cover Maguires weakness.

Martial needs to go. Just dosent put the effort in off the ball and theres no excuse for that. Makes Anelka look like a happy player
when he was at it.

I also think Pogba will stay now he knows we are fighting for the league again. Abit fickle but i think thats the way he is.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

You don't improve a team by scapegoating your best players. For example, you don't get rid of your best central defender. You get a better central defender to make him your 2nd best defender...

So you buy a better defender to babysit your captain?

Maguire being ‘the best’ with have doesn’t make him the best we could have.

He’s quite obviously not a bad defender but his main weakness, his pace/mobility are susceptible to targeting which has been the case since Project Restart; go back to the Spurs away game when he showed the turning circle of a ship at anchor.

Look at the first Everton goal yesterday, DDG is shocking but a quicker CB doesn’t get turned by Calvert-Lewin in the first place.

Again, I agree he’s the best of what we have but I said when he signed for all his ‘ball playing’ [imo vastly overrated] his pace will always be an issue.

 

[Judas]

The criticism of Rashford is weird. Do people not see how many chances Salah misses, and Salah was struggling to get in the Chelsea team at his age.

Yep. He's a frustrating but clearly massively gifted player who contributes more often than not, even when he's not having the best of days, and is still very young. I think many of the people slagging him off are strange.

 

[Andycoleno9]

Rashford still getting stick is baffling.

You don't have a problem with his attitude? Prime Cristiano didn't behave on the pitch like Rashford does this season. How that doesn't annoy you? I get it, you like Rashford. So do i. I rated him high as it gets, defended him in many threads for years. But solid amount of goals or assists should not hide his attitude during games.
He is not playing as a team player at all. Not chasing oppo players. Not playing defence. Rarely makes runs without ball.
It is a problem now

 

[Judas]

You don't have a problem with his attitude? Prime Cristiano didn't behave on the pitch like Rashford does this season. How that doesn't annoy you? I get it, you like Rashford. So do i. I rated him high as it gets, defended him in many threads for years. But solid amount of goals or assists should not hide his attitude during games.
He is not playing as a team player at all. Not chasing oppo players. Not playing defence. Rarely makes runs without ball.
It is a problem now

Sorry, what attitude? I feel like you've mentioned his suppose attitude before, I don't see many people talking about it. His effort, and the way he carries himself on the pitch doesn't bother me in the slightest. He's had some poor performances this season where he's not looked quite right, but he's never struck me as a player with a bad attitude.

 

[JJ12]

Its time to make some hard decisions isnt it.

DDG is reaching the end of the road. A fantastic keeper but his decline is all to evident and his performances are costing dearly. It might be time for him to be moved on in the summer time.
Whether Henderson is his replacement is a different discussion but DDG isnt doing it anymore.

Harry Maguire - If this team is to challenge for titles at the top table we need an upgrade on him. He is simply bang average and his mistakes are far too frequent. Not the rock we can build a foundation on. I dont see him being sold but we need a better CB to play alongside him and cover his frequent errors.

Rashford - how many chances does he need to score? He isnt as good as some blinkered fans think. We need an upgrade in his position or at least a viable 2nd player to keep Rashford sharp and make him improve/give him an opportunity to rest.

Martial - Needs to be sold for an upgrade. He doesnt have many supporters left.

If you look at those 4 names you can see a real issue, they are main first 11 players really, and quite alot of experience, but they are just not good enough. Ole has done a good job for the most part in clearing out the deadwood but he's now looking at uncomfortable decision time.

To challenge for a league and CL we need to get better players in key positions and that means hard decisions for the manger.

Utter nonsense

 

[city-puma]

Its time to make some hard decisions isnt it.

DDG is reaching the end of the road. A fantastic keeper but his decline is all to evident and his performances are costing dearly. It might be time for him to be moved on in the summer time.
Whether Henderson is his replacement is a different discussion but DDG isnt doing it anymore.

Harry Maguire - If this team is to challenge for titles at the top table we need an upgrade on him. He is simply bang average and his mistakes are far too frequent. Not the rock we can build a foundation on. I dont see him being sold but we need a better CB to play alongside him and cover his frequent errors.

Rashford - how many chances does he need to score? He isnt as good as some blinkered fans think. We need an upgrade in his position or at least a viable 2nd player to keep Rashford sharp and make him improve/give him an opportunity to rest.

Martial - Needs to be sold for an upgrade. He doesnt have many supporters left.

If you look at those 4 names you can see a real issue, they are main first 11 players really, and quite alot of experience, but they are just not good enough. Ole has done a good job for the most part in clearing out the deadwood but he's now looking at uncomfortable decision time.

To challenge for a league and CL we need to get better players in key positions and that means hard decisions for the manger.

Most of the suggestions are really poor judgment!
I think that we should consider to partner Bailey/Tuanzebe with Maguire. At the same time, give Henderson a run of league games. Maguire is the main reason we can play the football style we can, and he needs a speedy partner. DDG has become a panic bomb whenever the opponents have a counter when we dominate almost everything and in any area. He makes the area a panic place whenever we defend a set piece. It’s unfortunate but clear enough to see.

 

[bosnian_red]

Rashford is not a position we need need upgrade on, at all. He's a terrific wide player and improves every year, and will get you very good numbers from the wings. He also steps up in big games pretty much every time. We also have very good cover for him in Martial. Literally every team would love to have him.

De Gea, yes, needs to be replaced for good IMO. It was the lack of bravery for the 3rd goal which is criminal to me.

Fullbacks are excellent and have improved massively and addressed the concerns I had. Only thing we need is depth for right back.

Center backs are an issue, Maguire is decent but just isn't good enough to be the main guy or the better of the 2. The others never look to be more than average, while Maguire has too many lapses of concentration with his positioning to be the leader CB.

The midfield 2 are decent and we have depth, but maybe not of a high enough level. They are ever improving, but we definitely lack a normal holding midfielder to be in there long term. No partnership we do really feels complete, all have their flaws.

Left wing perfect starting and depth, #10 perfect starting and we have solid depth there too (you just never rotate Bruno though).

Right wing an issue as it's been for ages. Greenwood has improved now but is still a striker playing out of position. Can Diallo come in or is he still just too young and will take time to step up? Do we sign Sancho and rotate him and Diallo on the rivht like we do Rashford and Martial on the left, making Greenwood a striker?

Striker is fine, for now. Cavani at a very high level, Martial can rotate, Greenwood can rotate with a view to take over from Cavani after next season. If he doesn't improve enough then we look at signing someone in 2022. But Greenwood is far more a striker than either Martial or Rashford IMO.

The hard decisions that need to be made are sorting our RW, CB and GK IMO. Midfield probably as well, but maybe not asap.

 

[Murder on Zidane's Floor]

Rashford has 16 goals this season as a wide player. Agree with the rest

I think the point is, he would probably be on twenty five goals if he was more consistent with his finishing.

 

[McGrathsipan]

Utter nonsense

 

[Ali Dia]

I think the point is, he would probably be on twenty five goals if he was more consistent with his finishing.

if he’d pass the odd time we would have a few more goals too.

 

[DoomSlayer]

Rashford still getting stick is baffling.

It's plain idiotic. He has comfortably been one of our 3 best performers so far this season.

I mostly agree with the rest of the OP points though.

 

[dev1l]

DDG is the biggest concern atm and I m not still convinced by Henderson.

We also need another CB who is mostly available for selection all the time as axel and Bailly are out most of the time.

Another RB would also do - he would challenge awb.

 

[Kaos]

Rashford isn't anywhere near being one of our biggest issues, but nor should he guaranteed a starting spot. I'd love to bring in a wide player (or give Diallo a chance) if not to at least offer him some competition.

Maguire I think has actually been decent this season, but its clear he needs a top CB playing alongside him.

Agree with DDG as much as it saddens me, wonderful keeper in his prime but can no longer be relied on and has cost us too many points over the last few seasons. I don't think Henderson is the answer though, I'd rather shop for a top keeper.

Martial I've completely lost patience with, he's been here long enough. I'm hoping we just wish him luck in the summer tbh.

I also don't think Ole is the man to take us forward, and thats a belief I've consistently held through our strong and rough patches. He has made some progress though I'll give him that, and if he guarantees another top 4 finish for us this season I'd give him next year too to see out his contract, and then wish him the best of luck after that to find a new manager that could genuinely ascend us to the next step.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Martial is the one that needs to go. Just does not have the workrate and the movement to be a top striker.