Is it time to rebuild from the front?

[wolvored]

Lets face it, we are poor all over the pitch. We all thought when Ole came in a CD RB CM and a RW was needed as a minimum. Its showed up over the last 4-5 games that our whole attack is piss poor. Would we be better building from the front first? Is Rashford Martial Lukaku Lingard and Mata the answer? Are they going to propel us to a regular position to challenge for the top honours? Should we look to move on the lot, or have some still got a real future here, sentiment aside?

 

[Charles Miller]

Yes. Sign a top front three with players that are creative and can score. It will give the club time to fix the rest of the squad. Imagine if the board go to the market and pay 70m for a CB, 60 for another midfielder and 50m for a full back. Every player is more expensive when United is involved. It would be better to spend 300m in Sancho-Dybala-Griezmann. Or Piatek-Griezmann-Dybala. You dont need to play 4-3-3 all the time.

 

[FootyGirl88]

Yes we definitely need a RW and a striker - I would also sign a LW to rotate with Martial

 

[The Nani]

Said it so many times. How can you possibly expect anything from a side that doesn’t have one reliable goalscorer ?

So. Yes.

ST Jovic
RW/LW Sancho
CAM/RW Bruno

 

[Giggs86]

We need a new spine back to front. We can't move the ball across the pitch and our defense-midfield-attack lines are disconnected from each other. At one point in the first half Pogba had to drop all the way down to central defense to take the ball and make a 60 yard pass to Rashford and that resulted in our only good chance of the half.

 

[crossy1686]

Said this a few weeks ago that I think we'll just buy forward players this summer as that will be seen as progress by all if we thrash a few teams throughout the season.

 

[BeforeKeanetherewasRobson]

Yes we definitely need a RW and a striker - I would also sign a LW to rotate with Martial

Does rotate mean the same as replace?

 

[Jaae]

We need to replace Lukaku with a striker more capable of holding up the ball. And we need a new RW. Let Martial/Rashford battle it out for the left wing spot. They could both do with the competition.

Kane and Son would be the wet dream but there's no chance of that.

 

[FootyGirl88]

Does rotate mean the same as replace?

Depends who we can get

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

Yes getting better attackers is the key for us. We need more goals if we want to improve as a team. Our defending could improve with tactics a lot more. Need a right back though as well.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

Question. How many good strikers(20 goal a season) are available for transfer right now?

 

[Devils11]

The whole team need a reset.

Our defence need to have the confidence and pace to play higher. Because we play so deep, our pressing are non existence. We allowed our opponent too much time and space to turn and play.

Our midfield work rate is just abysmal. Look at Liverpool midfield. They don't have a Pogba type and how well they have been playing these 2 seasons. We need a trio of hardworking midfielders.

Our attack are too static. Martial and Rashford didn't make any forwards run. They just wait to receive the ball to feet and try to dribble past the fullbacks. Our striker Lukaku is too immobile upfront. Doesn't make any runs, doesn't hold up the ball too well.

 

[RedTillI'mDead]

An attack alone won't do it. Today against Everton we lost the midfield battle and then had our shockingly poor defense exposed. Our front three were in the least touched of any player on the pitch along with Pickford and Keane. That says it all. It doesn't really matter who we had up front, today we would have lost because of the crap leading up to them.

The strategy this summer needs to be furious but smart. Sell/ loan as many players as possible and bring in proper talent. This whole doing it over several years only makes sense from a wages and sale point of view, but if we can shift a lot out then we can bring in new players and if the investment is heavy up front e.g. £600m this summer then in theory that would mean less best summer. The more we front load the better results, the more we have something to build on and then who doesn't go might get better.

 

[Maverick red]

Nah defense first for me, these days as we have seen many times you cant just lump it up to forwards, even great forwards will struggle with smalling passing to them.

 

[hobbers]

No, we obviously have to rebuild from the back.

We're shit all over the pitch but our defence is comfortably the biggest steamiest pile of shit.

It's also the most fundamental part of a team for actually winning anything.

 

[Chairman Steve]

That right wing area has been very neglected for the past few years. Almost every attacking player we’ve signed since Sir Alex retired, either prefers to be on the left wing, a No.10 or centre forward. Teams probably don’t have to worry about our right side because there’s no true right sided forward and the right full back has been either Young or Valencia... so the left side and central areas are picked off.

 

[Bojan11]

No, we obviously have to rebuild from the back.

We're shit all over the pitch but our defence is comfortably the biggest steamiest pile of shit.

It's also the most fundamental part of a team for actually winning anything.

Liverpool and City started at the front.
Our defence is average, but we can get away it if we have a great front three. I rather sign a right back only and three attackers if I had the choice.

 

[lsd]

No point having a great goalscorer if we can never get the ball to them

 

[Fer]

Liverpool and City started at the front.
Our defence is average, but we can get away it if we have a great front three. I rather sign a right back only and three attackers if I had the choice.

Agreed. On your opinion, what would be a great front three for us?

 

[littlepeasoup]

Let's face it, we need key players brought in all over the park. Steady the ship, make us respectable again and then go from there.

 

[Devil may care]

I've been saying this for weeks, Martial and Rashford should be competing for a spot and we need two proven forwards brought in, none of our forwards would even make City's bench, we need a striker that has the physicality and technique to hold the ball and bring others into play, and we need another forward that can add goals around him. The collection of forwards we have will see us scrambling for 4th at best for years to come.

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

Liverpool and City started at the front.
Our defence is average, but we can get away it if we have a great front three. I rather sign a right back only and three attackers if I had the choice.

Agree with that. Think it will be hard to find 3 top players. I think we need one experienced striker though. Someone like Cavani or Lewandowski could do well if they wanted to leave.

For wingers I would look for one younger player with lots of talent. Someone like Sancho or a very tricky winger.

 

[hobbers]

Liverpool and City started at the front.
Our defence is average, but we can get away it if we have a great front three. I rather sign a right back only and three attackers if I had the choice.

No both Klopp and Guardiola did all areas of the pitch at once.

ie Klopp signed Wijnaldum, Mane and Matip in his first year. Then VVD, Salah and Robertson in his second. While promoting Gomez and Trent AA.

City's signings from 2016 onwards can be summed up as signing at least one top class/useful addition in each area of the pitch every year. Stones/Gundogan/Jesus/Sane followed by Ederson/Laporte/Walker/Mendy/Silva.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Lets face it, we are poor all over the pitch. We all thought when Ole came in a CD RB CM and a RW was needed as a minimum. Its showed up over the last 4-5 games that our whole attack is piss poor. Would we be better building from the front first? Is Rashford Martial Lukaku Lingard and Mata the answer? Are they going to propel us to a regular position to challenge for the top honours? Should we look to move on the lot, or have some still got a real future here, sentiment aside?

To be honest at points today including McT they all made lots of good runs looking for a ball over the top and Pogba ignored about 95% of them so unless our midfield get better at spotting runs being made you could put anyone in there and it’s not going to improve anything.

It’s not even just that, at times the forwards did basic forward things like Lukaku occupying the 2 CB’s creating a space for someone else to run in to that space and it happened time and time again and the ball never came. Then there were numerous times they moved away from their markers and opened their bodies so a ball could be played in and again it was ignored.

Then there was the general horrible passing and that basically our go to move is oh we are fast, let’s hit the ball and they can run after it.

In summary no, we shouldn’t build from the front. We should build from the middle.

 

[Hope7]

Im honestly the other side of the fence. The early ole results proved we have the attacking capacity and speed. What we dont have is a reliable defense and overall squad fitness to maintain intensity. Reminds me of early Klopp Liverpool, jizz defensce and too many injuries. Sort the defence, sort the fitness too.

Id genuinely spend our entire budget on two cbs and a rb in summer. Of genuine quality. Reckon we have enough forwards and midfield options in squad and youth to cover,and a stable trusted defence would allow us to be more adventurous.

Theres masses to tackle though in fairness.

 

[wolvored]

To be honest at points today including McT they all made lots of good runs looking for a ball over the top and Pogba ignored about 95% of them so unless our midfield get better at spotting runs being made you could put anyone in there and it’s not going to improve anything.

It’s not even just that, at times the forwards did basic forward things like Lukaku occupying the 2 CB’s creating a space for someone else to run in to that space and it happened time and time again and the ball never came. Then there were numerous times they moved away from their markers and opened their bodies so a ball could be played in and again it was ignored.

Then there was the general horrible passing and that basically our go to move is oh we are fast, let’s hit the ball and they can run after it.

In summary no, we shouldn’t build from the front. We should build from the middle.

Its not about today per se, its about the last few games as well. When we have chances we seem to have forgotten where the goal is. As for allowing Rashford to take all the attacking free kicks, whose idea was it to allow this?