Grealish and Sancho sound just about perfect for us.
Jack Grealish / signs new 5 year contract
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I know that, was just specifically wondering about the wording since I thought he was simply half-Irish because of his parents rather than the grandfather rule stuff. Because of his parents he could have been registered at birth as Irish as well as English which makes it all a moot point but maybe he wasn't which is why I brought it up. Not really important, more me being curious.
Could still pick Ireland if he wants. Southgate hasn't chosen him yet, prefering Chelsea boys instead and it wouldn't surprise me if Lingard is still ahead of him.
Add another striker to that and we could finally ship off Sanchez, Lingard, Mata and Pereira whilst overall upgrading the quality of the squad dramatically.
You’re talking 200m at leastAdd another striker to that and we could finally ship off Sanchez, Lingard, Mata and Pereira whilst overall upgrading the quality of the squad dramatically.
I want him, but assuming Pogba stays would he want to be a backup? As a top team I want us to have at least 3 central creative outlets.
Sancho and Graelish would elevate us to a high level, but unfortunately for us we'd have to pay close to £100m each for them (probably more for sancho). For sancho it was quite clear from his 6 months at Dortmund he was special, but no movement from us. Graelish riskier but I watched him in the championship final Villa lost on 2018 and he was the best player on the pitch.
We don't really do Mane or Salah type signings any more for some reason - cheaper players that are good at other clubs but haven't become world class yet. For example St Maxim at Newcastle and Buendia at Norwich are two who from what I've seen this season could make the jump - obviously I could be wrong but a manager and DOF and transfers board should be looking at those types of players and judging if they can make the step up. We instead seem to be going for £80m defenders and midfielders, with seldom ever any actual decent attacking options. Dan James is sort of the right signing but we should be looking at a slightly higher level at £30-£40m players.
I wish we did sign Sancho and Graelish but we can't afford both, the ship has sailed. We should be following Klopp's footprint and signing £30-£40m players like Mane, Salah, Wjnaldum, Ox etc that we believe can make the step up. Even Spurs basically built their CL runners up squad with those types of signings. I don't know why but our transfer strategy of the last 5-6 years has basically been signing expensive flavours of the months.
Grealish is a left winger in the same way that Gerrard was a right winger.
Grealish will go back to being a midfielder under different squad circumstances. And he'll be as excellent there as he has been from out wide.
Grealish will go back to being a midfielder under different squad circumstances. And he'll be as excellent there as he has been from out wide.
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Can he cut it as a pure center mid, next to McTominay holding and with Bruno Fernandes being the 10? Grealish always struck me as the guy who should be the 10. With Bruno Fernandes in, I dont see them fitting well together anymore.
We should sell Pogba as he has, through his agent, made his feelings known and get someone who is committed to the cause. As for where to play both him and Fernandez as attacking midfielders I would play them both in a 4-4-2 with Rashford and Martial/Greenwood as the two strikers.
Sign a DM to play next to Fred/Mctominay and put both Fernandez and Grealish in front of them behind two drifting strikers. I would also sign a more attacking LB and demand more from AWB.
Sign him and give him Jesse' slot in the team, lad is made for the role and a huge upgrade.
He can’t chose Ireland again. If you’ve played competitive internationals at youth level for a nation you can make one switch to another nation. He registered it with FIFA. Players that flip flop a lot do so because they’ll only play in friendlies. I think Southgate will select him in the next break. He’d never really done enough to warrant a call up previously.
Bruno Fernandes at £40m plus before add ons is a good start if we are talking about getting the Mane or Salah type signings, continental players who are not yet world class but got the ability to be one and does not come with the English tax fees. and I agree with you a decent Director of Football should be able to identify these type of players more.
However talking about easy signings that would make us a much better side, then of course Grealish and Sancho would be the obvious choices here. we are crying for a top class right winger for 6 years now in Sancho and someone like Grealish, a proper footballer who got character to go on with his ability would be a massive upgrade from the likes of Andreas, Mata and Lingard. Sancho is going to cost us £100m and Grealish now is at least £60m and that's probably all we will get from the Pogba sale. and we still need another holding midfielder and striker. that's probably another £100m.
We should bring this guy in. Great player, dare I say I am starting to prefer him to Maddison.
Its a tough ask to fund those two deals but both players are the sort of players that Fergie would make sure he gets. Maybe if we conduct a fire sale of our deadwood we could raise something like £50m and maybe raise another £30m by selling Deano, with a buy back clause of course, which should give us £80m plus whatever we would get from the Pogba sale and the budgeted summer expenditure. If we sign only three players then its got to be Sancho, Grealish and a DM; if we pull it off we move several levels up in terms of strength.
With Bruno do we still need this guy? He or Bruno are not bench options and are good enough to start. The only way we can start both players is if we change formation to a 4-3-3 but then we would need a solid DM of starting quality at the back of them. That would mean we will be signing both a starting DM and Grealish which is pointless because right now all we need to have a strong starting midfield is a CM
To illustrate ;
Grealish....... Bruno
.............. DM.........
I don't see why the club should be spending money on two midfield starters - Grealish and DM when we just need one in reality for us to have a strong midfield. For example if we signed just a B2B CM instead the midfield will be complete and solid
To illustrate;
.................... Bruno.............
..Fabian Ruiz...... Fred/Mcctominay..
I just don't see the need for Grealish or Maddison. What we need is a CM that can pick out a pass and the midfield is strong enough to compete. We'd still need a DM for depth or squad option but that would be cheaper than signing Grealish that will demand for us to sign a starting DM
To illustrate ;
Grealish....... Bruno
.............. DM.........
I don't see why the club should be spending money on two midfield starters - Grealish and DM when we just need one in reality for us to have a strong midfield. For example if we signed just a B2B CM instead the midfield will be complete and solid
To illustrate;
.................... Bruno.............
..Fabian Ruiz...... Fred/Mcctominay..
I just don't see the need for Grealish or Maddison. What we need is a CM that can pick out a pass and the midfield is strong enough to compete. We'd still need a DM for depth or squad option but that would be cheaper than signing Grealish that will demand for us to sign a starting DM
I don't think McTominay is a holder in any way, shape or form. Both Scot and Fred are fantastic at defending the space in front of them, but terrible at defending the space behind them. So, I'd probably want to buy a new DM.
The thing about our squad is that there's almost zero creativity. We wouldn't be successful playing Liverpool's midfield because our fullbacks aren't productive enough for to balance them out. And we wouldn't be successful playing PSG's midfield because our front 3 aren't creative enough to make chances for themselves.
United would ideally have 3 hard-working, inventive midfielders. Could Grealish be one of those 3? I think he can. He's played in midfield lots of times in the PL and Championship and has the workrate to do it at Old Trafford. He's a top player who Aston Villa rely on to make things happen at the business end of the pitch. But he's equally good a little deeper, imo.
I honestly have no idea about Bruno. I may change my mind after watching him for a bit.
I agree, but in how we've been set up this year, this is pretty much how Ole is looking at it. McTominay as a ball winning midfielder essentially, his partner being more a holding midfielder, with a 10 in front. That can easily change to normal 3 man midfield, but given the personnel, McTominay and Bruno Fernandes are 2 of the 3. We just spent so much on Bruno, the plan is going to be to use him, no point making potential plans that don't include him.
In terms of future midfield build up, a proper playmaking holding midfielder is what we need IMO. McTominay can be the box to box, Bruno Fernandes will be the 10, and then a Carrick to sit behind them and pick the ball up off the defenders is what would balance our squad. Fred has been playing that role, and has improved massively, but remains to be seen if we'll look more balanced with an actual creative midfielder in the side now. Could be that we just use Fred, McTominay and Bruno as our midfield next season. McTominay as the holding midfielder would be in games we expect to dominate more where we could use both Pogba and Bruno next to each other. But that's only a short term concern I think, with Pogba not being here for much longer.
I'm not really sure I see a spot for Grealish in that set up. Grealish and Bruno next to each other, in front of McTominay, doesn't really work. What could work is using Grealish and Bruno as 2 of the 3 behind the striker, the 3rd being Rashford on the left as usual. But then we're using 4 midfielders essentially, with nobody natural on the right and leaving Wan Bissaka alone out there which won't work. Hes just not somebody who suits the squad. And i dont really think hes a good enough talent to just go for it and hope it works out when we just spent a lot on someone who plays the same position.
He hasn't played a competitive match for England yet so he wouldn't be switching.
I've actually changed my mind about him. Used to prefer Maddison but having watched him a lot this season. He's really come into his own and makes the game look easy. He's still a cnut but every team needs one of them.
We've already got McTominay and Bruno.
Imagine those three in midfield.
They'd be our Tri-cnut-erate.
Well played.
The 'fouled' stat often gets overlooked on this forum because of how open to interpretation it can be. For strikers, it usually means they're good at jumping for headers against CBs. For pacey wingers, it usually means they're good at knocking the ball past the fullback and running onto it.
But Grealish falls into neither category. For him, it's very much about his close control and dribbling in tight areas.
This is a screenshot of the most fouled players in England. But Grealish is actually also the most fouled player in all of Europe. As an outball for a counterattacking team, he'd be fantastic:
https://abload.de
But Grealish falls into neither category. For him, it's very much about his close control and dribbling in tight areas.
This is a screenshot of the most fouled players in England. But Grealish is actually also the most fouled player in all of Europe. As an outball for a counterattacking team, he'd be fantastic:
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Really like the idea of midfield 3 of
Grealish Bruno
Zakaria
With Sancho on the right wing, would need to sell Pogba to help fund it though.
Grealish Bruno
Zakaria
With Sancho on the right wing, would need to sell Pogba to help fund it though.
An outstanding DM is key, but there is also an option to play in a MF diamond, with Bruno at the head, but that position could easily be interchangable with Grealish.
...........Fernandes.........
Grealish.......McTominay
.............. DM...............
Personally, I think this would be a much better option for United than trying to play with three forwards, and getting overrun in Midfield.
That isn't the reason he gets fouled alot though. He's very similar to Pogba in the sense that he likes to hold onto the ball under pressure and try to dribble his way out. He's got great close control and quite strong when being challenged, and decent acceleration to get away. I'd say his style is closest to Eden Hazard who was also the most fouled man in Europe over many seasons.The 'fouled' stat often gets overlooked on this forum because of how open to interpretation it can be. For strikers, it usually means they're good at jumping for headers against CBs. For pacey wingers, it usually means they're good at knocking the ball past the fullback and running onto it.
But Grealish falls into neither category. For him, it's very much about his close control and dribbling in tight areas.
This is a screenshot of the most fouled players in England. But Grealish is actually also the most fouled player in all of Europe. As an outball for a counterattacking team, he'd be fantastic:
https://abload.de
He'd suit a possession game more than somebody just wanting a runner/dribbler.
He's the one I really want in the summer.
In theory, especially if villa go down, he will be the most gettable too
I like this and would be my ideal. Having someone as attacking as Williams at FB and the 2nd forward having the propensity to drift wide, it would be a quality midfield
I think we’ll get this done if Villa go down. Seems to make too much sense.
Him over Maddison. He's got that Manchester United aura around him that we've been missing for a long time.
Bit of a fantasy land scenario, but Grealish, Sancho & the right manager and we'd be back imo. Spend the following couple of years adding quality here and there and we've got something good on our hands, not to mention the likes of Mejbri & Garner, who I think both look nailed on to make it here.
Bit of a fantasy land scenario, but Grealish, Sancho & the right manager and we'd be back imo. Spend the following couple of years adding quality here and there and we've got something good on our hands, not to mention the likes of Mejbri & Garner, who I think both look nailed on to make it here.
Best hope Watford beat us then
Definitely, Villa are not cash rich like Leicester so will be willing to negotiate.
Grealish looks a real talent, sell Pogba get him in at least he will play for the badge.
If we can get him, we would have signed Maguire, Bruno, Grealiish all with real leadership qualities.
Do you think someone like Saul who would admittedly be big money suit this position or were you looking at more of a natural fit for this position such as an Ndidi/Soumare?
Why do you think this? When we've just signed a player in his position for a fair wad of wonger?
Soumare seems more attainable. Think Ndidi would cost a lot more and I don’t see Leicester giving him up if Maddison leaves
Yeah I will give Ole credit for signing players with real leadership qualities as it's something that has been really missing from this team for so many years. I am still unsure on whether we need to sign more of a natural DM to sit behind Bruno & another AM or look at bringing in more of a CM that can control the tempo of the game but can also put their foot in and win the ball as well.
My feeling is, you would have two energetic box to box, creative players in Fernandes & Grealish, these are not lazy luxury players, they will both put in a shift.
Then you have good energy and all round contribution from McTominay, so for balance, I was thinking along the lines out an outright ball winner, a player in the mould of Kante or Fernandinho, perhaps a Soumare or Ndidi, but that's just my thoughts, not advocating that's only way to go, but I would view Saul as being closer to the role that McTominay would fulfill rather than the ball winner.
I think we’d play him deeper. He doesn’t look like a 10 to me like Bruno does.
I want that player. He is a leader.
Me too. He's a leader and a really good player.
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