Hard Decisions need to be made

[Hansinity]

Get rid of Martial and DDG, thats it.

I have never been a huge fan of Maguire, but to be fair , he is never injured and all in all does a solid job , not an amazing CB, but good enough. I would like to see a dynamic CB with great passing next to him.

Getting rid of your 2nd best scorer in Rashford would be completely bonkers, I agree that we need some more competition on the left side though. I wish he would work a little bit harder.

 

[sullydnl]

Panic thread. We are doing fine. Ddg might need replacing after costing us double digit PTS in the last couple of years but other than that we are on a good trajectory

We are indeed doing fine and on a good trajectory. That doesn't mean there aren't tough decisions to be made for us to make the next big step up though.

In fact in some ways that's exactly why they're tough decisions. The better you are, the harder it is to improve and the better the players who have to leave the first 11 will be. We've moved beyond the point where we have low hanging fruit like Ashley Young at RB to deal with.

 

[ROFLUTION]

This might be a strange shout, but how about bringing in a good competitor and even greater finisher - Ronaldo.

It would also sharpen Rashford I believe, who badly needs sharpening. Such an athletical talent with pace and skill, but fails in front of goal. Vital title winning goals we wont get with him if this is what we are to expect. A damn shame as he is so talented. Make him compete with Martial again and play Ronaldo on top

 

[Beagle]

A good solid cenre back alongside Maguire will go a long way. And of course a right winger has been needed for years now. Just these 2 positional upgrades will fix a lot of problems.

 

[talking robot]

I think this summer is going to be a big one. In the past year, we've offloaded a lot of players and cleared up significant wage space (Sanchez, Perreira, Dalot, Smalling, Fosu Mensah, Rojo, Lingard, Ashley Young). Probably in the summer we'll be trying to also get Jones and Mata off the books as well. It's like we're preparing for a wave of recruits. And clearly, the first team clearly needs significant investment : We definitely need a CB (ready made starter) , DM (ready made starter), RW (ready made starter), and RB (back-up). We maybe also need a CF.

Even if the cleared wage space and player sales will help a bit, I don't think we have enough money to buy 3 ready made starters plus a quality back-up at RB (not to mention the CF). To get where we want to go, Ole will probably be looking to sell De Gea or Pogba, possibly both. To me, Pogba seems more likely to go just because you can maybe see someone wanting to pay his wages in addition to a significant transfer fee, and we have a few people who can take over his role if we bring in a proper CDM. We also have the ready made replacement for De Gea, but I have a hard time seeing anyone cough up the cash for him. Given his output and growth potential, selling Rashford is lunacy, and there is basically no chance of this happening. Selling Martial might make more sense if there's a buyer, but I doubt we'd get more than 30m for him. Better to keep him around in the hopes that he sparks again, and maybe get rid then. I'd be very surprised to see him sold in the summer though. Fred has been decent and will be needed if Pogba leaves. I'd also be surprised to see him leave this summer.

 

[bsCallout]

DDG agreed with. But are we going to let a £350k p/w keeper sit on the bench for the next x years? It has the whole Ozil smell all over it and look how silly Arsenal have come looking out of it. We've shot ourselves in the foot given him that ridiculous contract.

Also with your Maguire point. He just needs a partner who makes up for his weaknesses but they balance each other out.

Martial has been here for what, 5-6 years and looks no different from when he came here and no way he'll turn into a world class no. 9 now. He needs to go or be a sub...but he is a confidence player and doesn't get confidence sitting on the bench. I honestly think he'll suit a team like Roma. Nearly fighting for the top but less pressure as they aren't really going to make it every year, but he'll lead the line and get the goals.

I agree with pretty much everything but I don't think we need Martial to be our starting no9 with Cavani in the squad and Greenwood coming through. That's not to say in summer 2022 we don't get a top CF.

 

[bsCallout]

In fairness Nani was a winger in a 442. Not sure we’d see the same level of Rashford performances in that position.

I agree, I think Rashford has a higher ceiling though. To be honest Nani would have suited this system more than what he played in.

 

[UnofficialDevil]

As I've said in another post.

Liverpool have Allison and Fabinho/Henderson either side.

We have DDG and Fred/Matic either side.

Whilst I agree a better CB next to Maguire is ideal, he is surrounded by dross, unlike the better teams. Even Leicester have better either side.

Liverpool have been playing with Fabinho/Henderson as central defenders for the whole season, and we have still conceded more than them. So thats not an excuse.

 

[RedDevil@84]

We ll struggle to sell even Bailly. Leave alone all those people. The only one who could potentially leave is Pogba if he wants out and the ones ending their contract and are old. Rest all will hang around. Even if we take some hard decisions now, it won't get completed for couple of seasons.
We are not Man City. We don't have 100s of millions to blow every window.

 

[Tyrion]

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 with all of that. DDG, Maguire and Martial aren't playing at the level they'd need to for them to be an asset for a title winning side. Rashofrd can.

I can't help but think the same applies to the manager though.

 

[Carlsen19]

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

This is a bit like the ‘Pogba needs to play on the left of a midfield 3 alongside 2 world class midfielders’ argument.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

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 with DDG & Maguire point but Rashford is very unfair, he’s not goalscorer, he’s a flair player and that’s why he plays wide and he’s been our 2nd top scorer and 2nd most assists provider, cut some slack on him. And who cares about Martial if Cavani will take his spot in starting XI. We can go another season with Cavani and Martial as our no 9 option, may be not in 2022/2023 but that’s a matter we can discuss in 2022.

 

[Jezpeza]

CDM and CB the most glaring issues with the squad, simply not good enough to be challenging.

need a quick centre half next to maguire or a quick holding midfielder. Or both. We look a lot better playing the high line with Bailly next to HM but hes made of weetabix.

in the near future we need better players in the cb, cdm, cf and depending on diallo development, rw, to come close to challenging for the title. We needed that last summer and in january and didnt do it. Considering we’ve cleared the decks considerably will be interesting to see what ambition we have this summer.

 

[McGrathsipan]

I agree with DDG & Maguire point but Rashford is very unfair, he’s not goalscorer, he’s a flair player and that’s why he plays wide and he’s been our 2nd top scorer and 2nd most assists provider, cut some slack on him. And who cares about Martial if Cavani will take his spot in starting XI. We can go another season with Cavani and Martial as our no 9 option, may be not in 2022/2023 but that’s a matter we can discuss in 2022.

Not saying to get rid of Rashford but he's not there yet. He needs competition to bring him on and not have in his head hes nailed on starter for every game.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

Not saying to get rid of Rashford but he's not there yet. He needs competition to bring him on and not have in his head hes nailed on starter for every game.

Fair to say Martial can be his competition? Martial can provide the striker and left wing for competition. I think we need to sort out our centre back and keeper first. And then Pogba situation too. The attack is the least problem and something we can hold on for another year at least.

 

[McGrathsipan]

Fair to say Martial can be his competition? Martial can provide the striker and left wing for competition. I think we need to sort out our centre back and keeper first. And then Pogba situation too. The attack is the least problem and something we can hold on for another year at least.

I'm not a Martial fan. Id prefer to see him moved on. Look he's not shit like Joelinton but this is why I say hard decisions. He's just not good enough all round to be driving the team towards the top table. Some people will disagree with me but that is fine. Id looking for an upgrade there

Also the players like Pogba while a problem weren't mentioned in the OP as they are more obvious issues rather than hard decisions

 

[Njord]

Think this will be a good summer to do some swap deals. De Gea + cash for Oblak, Pogba + cash for deLigt, and spend the rest on a CDM like Rice.

That will give us a good defensive foundation. Bruno, Rashford, Greenwood, Cavani and Martial will do for another season, as well as introducing Diallo and Mejbri.

Then summer of 2022, spend big on Haaland to replace Cavani.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

I'm not a Martial fan. Id prefer to see him moved on. Look he's not shit like Joelinton but this is why I say hard decisions. He's just not good enough all round to be driving the team towards the top table. Some people will disagree with me but that is fine. Id looking for an upgrade there

Also the players like Pogba while a problem weren't mentioned in the OP as they are more obvious issues rather than hard decisions

If there is club that willing to pay good fees on Martial then we sell him. Otherwise, we can’t just sell him now, call it hard decision or not, it also needs to be makes sense. And the best thing is downgrade his role to be a backup for Rashford and Cavani, wait for another year.

Pogba situation is not easy decision either, he’s been performing very well so far and if we lose him means we are losing quality player in our squad means another top quality player we need to replace with the similar top quality player. More players that we need to replace means more problems. Can‘t sign everybody.

 

[croadyman]

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.

Yeah I think you are right about the need to consider signing players to make the defensive side of our team stronger, flair is all well and good but we have conceded way too many this season and need to focus on that this summer. Obviously if Pogba does still go then of course we will need to replace him with another creative minded player but priority has to be CB, CDM & maybe GK if Henderson isn't up to it. The problem is I really don't think Ole has it in him to be ruthless and drop DDG and will think he can play through it like he did with Tony.

 

[croadyman]

League is over really at this point. May as well gove Henderson an extended run and see how he does. Perfect opportunity with the FA cup Tuesday night.

Yeah my thoughts exactly but Ole will cling on to hope and therefore DDG stays in goal however he performs

 

[Decomposing In Paris]

We have:
Pogba running down his contract
Matic getting to the end & our only true DM
Cavani a 33 year old #9
Bailly injured far too often, but when fit shows what we miss at the back.

So I wouldn’t be getting rid of Rashford, Martial, & De Gea personally. Rashfords numbers are good this season, it’s just that if he was consistent with his finishing and decision making he would be world class. De Gea is on huge money that I can’t see anyone meeting. He stays, and honestly he’s better than Henderson. I can’t see us signing Oblack to bench De Gea. He is good enough, but he does need more protection than a defender playing everyone on in the 95th minute. Martial is currently our backup #9, he had 35 goal involvements last season, he’s 25, and I think he can and will improve. He’s definitely good enough to be part of a striker rotation.

We need an upgrade at CB, a midfielder who can establish themselves as a shield to the defence. And a replacement for Pogba, which may finally end up being Van de Beek. I would imagine we would hope we have two young right wingers & Greenwood to cover there. Mata will probably go.

 

[VictoriaRed]

Axel's tackle was diabolical, let's be honest! I'm not sure I agree with such a substitution; how can you expect that player to be up to speed? As with the Sheffield result, we through away more points. With City smashing Liverpool, we will be runners up or other. This season was a genuine chance to snatch a title, and we've wasted it with a lack of clinical finishing (Rashy could have sealed the deal twice), so we don't deserve it.

 

[SAFMUTD]

Hard decisions needs to be made starting by changing the manager, he's not a PE teacher but he's not special. We need special and the same as CDM, RW and ST we need tO improve on him.

Get rid of De Gea and Martial , buy a dominant CDM a RW and a 20+ goals league striker along with a proper manager and we got ourselves a real chance.

 

[PieCrust]

I think you have to ride out DDG for the rest of this season and try to move him in the summer. His value and confidence will be crated if he's benched. And honestly, although is overall play has declined and his mistakes seem to be increasing, he's not all that bad, he's just not a top drawer GK anymore.

Maguire is fine. Lindelof is the problem. We need a better partner. Bailly is not it either. He's having his second good run of form since he joined the club, but he's usually always injured or playing poorly.

AWB needs to drastically improve his attacking play. But with all the holes in the team, a new RB won't be a priority so it's not really worth even discussing.

Move Pogba and Martial on. Sign RW, ST, DM in addition to CB. Realistically we may sign 2 of those 4 along with some prospects.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Maguire is fine. Lindelof is the problem

Not really. Maguire is just a whisker away from a brain feck moment. He can head the ball better I guess. For 80M, at least that is better than Lindelof.
His decision making is average. He is too slow to react and too slow to make up his mind with the ball. He makes the whole defense very scared.

A few games with Bailly hardly means anything. Bailly is kind of a loner. If we put him beside Lindelof, the defense will be more or less at the same level. He will make last min tackles, and some unbelievable decisions.

 

[McGrathsipan]

If there is club that willing to pay good fees on Martial then we sell him. Otherwise, we can’t just sell him now, call it hard decision or not, it also needs to be makes sense. And the best thing is downgrade his role to be a backup for Rashford and Cavani, wait for another year.

Pogba situation is not easy decision either, he’s been performing very well so far and if we lose him means we are losing quality player in our squad means another top quality player we need to replace with the similar top quality player. More players that we need to replace means more problems. Can‘t sign everybody.

The Pogba decision isn't our decision. Its fairly clear that the club want him to stay. Its about the player in that case.

For Martial and DDG its about the manager deciding they might need to move on. That's hard given the circumstances and the relative quality vs the potential cost of replacement

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

The Pogba decision isn't our decision. Its fairly clear that the club want him to stay. Its about the player in that case.

For Martial and DDG its about the manager deciding they might need to move on. That's hard given the circumstances and the relative quality vs the potential cost of replacement

We don't really know the real story about Pogba here. Could be the same as DDG, we could give him big massive contract as much as DDG and he might choose to stay.

 

[wolvored]

Get a left footed fast CD in the summer and play Maguire on the right might help.
Give Henderson a run now. The title has probably gone, but top 4 should be achievable. We are scoring so just a couple of tweaks could sort it.

 

[bsCallout]

Liverpool have been playing with Fabinho/Henderson as central defenders for the whole season, and we have still conceded more than them. So thats not an excuse.

So they've been able to use their CDMs because they are actually good defensively, and have a dominant GK. Generally they've also had Thiago or Henderson CDM too. They've also only conceeded one less, so it doesn't really counter my claim.

 

[bsCallout]

This is a bit like the ‘Pogba needs to play on the left of a midfield 3 alongside 2 world class midfielders’ argument.

No, it's more like, good players need to play next to good players. Who'd have thought it?

 

[Inigo Montoya]

So they've been able to use their CDMs because they are actually good defensively, and have a dominant GK. Generally they've also had Thiago or Henderson CDM too. They've also only conceeded one less, so it doesn't really counter my claim.

This is going age well

 

[Hughes35]

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.

Agree with DDG and Martial.

Rashford and Maguire may not be perfect, but Maguire is our best CB so why you would look to replace him first is baffling. Rashford is also arguably our best attacker. Very strange conclusions.

 

[Bilbo]

Hard decisions need to be made, as is always the case, but I don't see any reason to doubt that the we have a management team willing to make those decisions.

What we've seen throughout the last two seasons is how much difference the right player can make to this team. We took a huge leap forwards when we added Bruno to the team, and to a less extent but no less obvious was the immediate improvement we saw when we added a real centre forward this summer.

I believe we will see a similar immediate improvement when we add a specialised right sided attacked to the team, whether that is Diallo next season or via recruitment. This is no critique of Greenwood by the way. He has a big future in this team but he is not getting into the positions he needs to be in to do the most damage. His future is central.

We may also see an immediate improvement by adding a strong centre back into the squad, though those players are few and far between at the moment so I'm less confident that we will be able to bring in a ready made partner for Harry.

Lets not go overboard though. We've had a below par series of results but every team goes through that. Its not time to start panicking and making rash decisions.

 

[bsCallout]

This is going age well

You claiming Allison isn't dominant because he's made some errors? Allison dominates his box, wins everything in the air and commands his back line. Unlike our passive keeper.

 

[Bobcat]

Maguire and Rashford are not perfect, but are completely fine. Yeah Maguire was overpriced, but why is he the problem among our CB's? Just compare his stats with Lindelof and its pretty apparent who the better one is. What we need imo

• New GK (Henderson)
• A proper partner for Maguire. If Baily can stay fit for more than 2 months he might be it, but
• A top class attacking player to replace Martial

If Henderson steps up and Baily can stop getting injured, we only need to buy one player imo

 

[sglowrider]

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.

You are looking at the wrong end of the field. We are the highest scoring team in the league and you are looking at Rashford and Martial? We are one of the poorer defensive teams in the league. Thats where we need to be focusing on. Maguire may not be a top-3 defender in the league but its pointless talking about making 'hard decisions' on him. He's here to stay.

DDG is the only one on the list worth talking about. But even then, can we afford to have a £300,000/week player sitting on the bench?

 

[hubbuh]

You claiming Allison isn't dominant because he's made some errors? Allison dominates his box, wins everything in the air and commands his back line. Unlike our passive keeper.

He's obviously being tongue-in-cheek after Alisson's absolute dogshit performance last night. Poking fun whenever possible at the dippers is scripture on the 'caf, mate.

 

[sglowrider]

I think this summer is going to be a big one. In the past year, we've offloaded a lot of players and cleared up significant wage space (Sanchez, Perreira, Dalot, Smalling, Fosu Mensah, Rojo, Lingard, Ashley Young). Probably in the summer we'll be trying to also get Jones and Mata off the books as well. It's like we're preparing for a wave of recruits. And clearly, the first team clearly needs significant investment : We definitely need a CB (ready made starter) , DM (ready made starter), RW (ready made starter), and RB (back-up). We maybe also need a CF.

Even if the cleared wage space and player sales will help a bit, I don't think we have enough money to buy 3 ready made starters plus a quality back-up at RB (not to mention the CF). To get where we want to go, Ole will probably be looking to sell De Gea or Pogba, possibly both. To me, Pogba seems more likely to go just because you can maybe see someone wanting to pay his wages in addition to a significant transfer fee, and we have a few people who can take over his role if we bring in a proper CDM. We also have the ready made replacement for De Gea, but I have a hard time seeing anyone cough up the cash for him. Given his output and growth potential, selling Rashford is lunacy, and there is basically no chance of this happening. Selling Martial might make more sense if there's a buyer, but I doubt we'd get more than 30m for him. Better to keep him around in the hopes that he sparks again, and maybe get rid then. I'd be very surprised to see him sold in the summer though. Fred has been decent and will be needed if Pogba leaves. I'd also be surprised to see him leave this summer.

Its an important summer in terms of improving the squad. We will need to practically give DDG away for free if we are to get rid of him. Doubt if Woodward will be so keen to write off or give away an asset like DDG. Then even if we did, we need to bring in another goalie -- two relatively new, young goalies?

How much can we really get for Pogba this coming summer? All his fav suitors are skint.

So, following a massive revenue drop in the 20-21 season, and relatively lower potential sale value of one of our most valuable asset, Pogba, just how much latitude do we have in improving the squad this summer? If we are lucky Amad shows glimpses of quality on the RW.

We will need a dominant ball playing CB for sure. The rest are unlikely.

 

[justsomebloke]

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 think it's absolutely ludicruous to suggest we need an upgrade on Rashford. He may need some adjustments to his game right now, but why wouldn't he make them? He's an absolutely elite left winger, and has largely carried this team offensively along with Bruno. He's a key part. But we could use a better backup option.

Maguire: "Frequent errors"? He doesn't make frequent errors. Actually, just that is one of his strong points. We need to upgrade his partner, but Maguire is part of the foundation for this team.

I agree that it now seems clear we need to upgrade on the striker position. And that means moving Martial out. He should not be a squad player, or a winger. And he's got real market value, I would think.

I also agree it's starting to look questionable if De Gea if the answer in goal, given his stats the last two seasons.

 

[Jacob]

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

I agree with this. Martial however should be limited to rotational appearances.

Fred, don't get me started. How can a professional football player not be able to strike a ball cleanly?

GK(4)
AWB----------- CB(1)----------Maguire------------Shaw
DM(2)-------McTominay
RW(3)-------------Fernandes-------------Rashford
Cavani(5)

Rotation: Henderson, Grant, Telles, Lindelöf, RB(6), Diallo, Greenwood, Mejbri, Hugill, Donny, Martial, Lewitt, Shoretire, Mengi


Sell: DDG, Tuanzebe, Jones, Williams, Pogba, Fred, James, Romero, Bailly, Matic, Mata (Pogba is included here because of his controversy with regard to media and field position. I still don't see room for Bruno and Pogba in the same side)

Buy:
(1) A quick and strong CB with high concentration ability. No need to be "ball-playing", a traditional no-nonsense stopper is good enough
(2) An upgrade on Fred with better passing and shooting ability and good reading of the game. Neves/Rice is a step in the right direction
(3) A skilled winger to provide a much needed balance to our width. Greenwood, Mata and James ain't it, and Diallo isn't there yet. Sancho? Still on the fence. Son is the unrealistic dream
(4) DDG is a decent shot stopper but that's it. It worked when you have high quality CBs like Vidic/Rio ahead of you. Need a VDS type of commanding GK with courage. I'd love it if we give Hendo a chance to tell is if he's the one or not
(5) Somebody to rotate Cavani and Greenwood with. Hugill can step up eventually but all A-level teams need a top notch ST like Haaland
(6) Cover for AWB rotation, preferably somebody that can provide the X factor while making sub appearances. Dani Alves a few years ago would've been nice

Muppet XI:

Oblak
AWB--------------Maguire------------Konate---------Shaw
Neves----------McTominay
Sancho--------------Fernandes-------------Rashford
Haaland

Bench: Henderson, Justin, Lindelöf, Telles, Mejbri, Diallo, Greenwood, Donny, Martial


​