Jack Grealish / signs new 5 year contract

[Skills]

This would be a poor use of money. Get Sancho and another DM.

If Bruno is injured, just play the front 4 of Greenwood, Sancho, Martial and Rashford. If another one of them is injured move Pogba to the 10. If another one of them is injured, you may as well build a bunker under Old Trafford and plan for the apocalypse.

 

[Morpheus 7]

He's not coming, too much money and risk. Wish Villa got relegated, would have got him for 40-50m. That leak of 80 is hilarious, nowhere near that. We should look at DVDB or another alternative from Europe, turning in Brexit FC. I just think with the pandemic we could more value. Simply can't spend money like that to be a rotational player.

 

[wolvored]

This would be a poor use of money. Get Sancho and another DM.

If Bruno is injured, just play the front 4 of Greenwood, Sancho, Martial and Rashford. If another one of them is injured move Pogba to the 10. If another one of them is injured, you may as well build a bunker under Old Trafford and plan for the apocalypse.

Agree with that. Greenwood can cover CF LW RW. Martial and Rashford LW and CF. Sancho can cover LW RW AM. Sancho and a DM should be priority. CD needs addressing as well, but if we promoted someone out of the youth or a cheapish young left footed player like Gabriel Magalhaes or Benoit Badiashile who the media have linked us to would do, due to transfer fund restrictions.

 

[sherrinford]

Yeah this is one of the main reason I don't think he's worth pursuing for the money he would bring. He is the main guy with a free role where everything goes through him, not to say he is inflexible but he won't get that at United.

I hear this argument quite frequently and I don't get it.

He has freedom in the sense that he often moves deep or infield looking for the ball. Think about how Rashford or Greenwood have moved this season, or Mata, Lingard or Pereira the last two seasons - we allow similar leeway.

Grealish works as part of the team shape at Villa, he is not free from defensive responsibility nor is he averse to hardwork - very unlike Payet at West Ham or Taraabt for Spurs, for example.

 

[croadyman]

The way I see it if Arsenal can get creative for Pepe transfer then we can do the same for Jack. There is no doubt he wouldn't have needed to push for it had Villa go down. However now we will see whether he wants to progress his career or not.

 

[golden_blunder]

Rojo????
They want to get promoted next season not relegated!

Promoted??

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

I think Sancho is at his best, when he is playing from the wing, not from the middle. Also when Sancho plays in the middle, our attack again becomes bare, and we are back to James/Ighalo as the ones we have to bring from the bench. We are back in CL next season, and will have to go full throttle in the league as well, and in many weeks we will have to play 3 games. Having 6 starting quality players for 4 positions(Sancho, Grealish, Bruno, Rashford, Martial, Greenwood) is very good. Ighalo and James can be backup.

You think a midfield of Sancho Pogba and Partey with an attack of Rashford Martial and Greenwood would make our attack bare? Can you explain how? Bruno would also be on the bench

 

[AltiUn]

You think a midfield of Sancho Pogba and Partey with an attack of Rashford Martial and Greenwood would make our attack bare? Can you explain how? Bruno would also be on the bench

Why on earth would we want to bench Fernandes?

 

[Prodigal7]

You think a midfield of Sancho Pogba and Partey with an attack of Rashford Martial and Greenwood would make our attack bare? Can you explain how? Bruno would also be on the bench

Oh give over. He’s the only person holding our team together on the pitch at the moment.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Really hope we don't sign him. If we get Sancho, then we need to be looking at a CB and DM. I think he's hugely overrated and I have no idea why we would pay crazy money for him when we don't need him.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

Oh give over. He’s the only person holding our team together on the pitch at the moment.

Why on earth would we want to bench Fernandes?

Me and the poster I'm replying to are talking about resting Fernandes not benching him

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

Oh give over. He’s the only person holding our team together on the pitch at the moment.

I also think you are underestimating the importance of Matic if you think Fernandes is the only one holding our team together. We also lost Shaw and suddenly Rashford couldn't do anything and we struggled on the left. Cant imagine what would happen if we lost Maguire too.

 

[croadyman]

Really hope we don't sign him. If we get Sancho, then we need to be looking at a CB and DM. I think he's hugely overrated and I have no idea why we would pay crazy money for him when we don't need him.

I would completely agree with you but Ole seemingly has no intention of signing a DM this summer,therefore we need someone who offers something different to Bruno and Jack is that player for me.

We won't be paying £80m for him but could see a deal at £55m plus addons taking it to £65-70m.

 

[Robbie Boy]

I would completely agree with you but Ole seemingly has no intention of signing a DM this summer,therefore we need someone who offers something different to Bruno and Jack is that player for me.

We won't be paying £80m for him but could see a deal at £55m plus addons taking it to £65-70m.

Going into next season with Matic as our DM and trying to shoehorn McTominay into the role is a dangerous game.

 

[Red Comet]

I would completely agree with you but Ole seemingly has no intention of signing a DM this summer,therefore we need someone who offers something different to Bruno and Jack is that player for me.

We won't be paying £80m for him but could see a deal at £55m plus addons taking it to £65-70m.

For that price I rather we go for Kai Havertz.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

I would completely agree with you but Ole seemingly has no intention of signing a DM this summer,therefore we need someone who offers something different to Bruno and Jack is that player for me.

We won't be paying £80m for him but could see a deal at £55m plus addons taking it to £65-70m.

Just pay Partey's release clause and get Buendia. Ridiculous price

 

[bond19821982]

Just pay Partey's release clause and get Buendia. Ridiculous price

Apparently most individual errors that leads to a goal last season. Imagine if that happened at Athletico , what would be at ours ?

Not saying he would be a bad signing, but things are not always good as it looks like.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

Apparently most individual errors that leads to a goal last season. Imagine if that happened at Athletico , what would be at ours ?

Not saying he would be a bad signing, but things are not always good as it looks like.

Nah Partey is very good. His quality is very evident. I think if you don't want him in your team it's either he's not the type of player you want or you haven't really watched him

 

[Icemav]

Going into next season with Matic as our DM and trying to shoehorn McTominay into the role is a dangerous game.

Yeah teams are going to press us like crazy next season after seeing how we struggled with it especially when fatigued. If Shaw misses games then we have big problems because we dont have any wide outlets. Now either the rest of the team miraculously improve in this area or its going to be a long slog again for top 4. Playing Mctom as a holding mid is going to make matters worse. He is perfect in a game when we cede possession and want to disrupt but not otherwise.

Edit: and it seems in this context tht Grealish would be a great asset to help relieve pressure on the team not least the number of fouls he wins.

 

[croadyman]

For that price I rather we go for Kai Havertz.

He will go to Chelsea

 

[croadyman]

Going into next season with Matic as our DM and trying to shoehorn McTominay into the role is a dangerous game.

Yeah seems a daft idea to me too and worrying to say the least

 

[Highfather_24]

You think a midfield of Sancho Pogba and Partey with an attack of Rashford Martial and Greenwood would make our attack bare? Can you explain how? Bruno would also be on the bench

Lets say Bruno is injured. I meant bare in the way that we have no one to bring from the bench that can change the game. Nor do we have options to rotate if we have multiple games in a single week. Bare in the same way we have been stretched bare in the end part of this season.

 

[lsd]

Nah Partey is very good. His quality is very evident. I think if you don't want him in your team it's either he's not the type of player you want or you haven't really watched him

Or you have watched him playing in a different league in a defensive team

 

[bond19821982]

Nah Partey is very good. His quality is very evident. I think if you don't want him in your team it's either he's not the type of player you want or you haven't really watched him

Sorry, a small edit -it hasn't lead to goals. Point still stands. We need a calmer influence not a player who makes mistakes infront of our box.

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[Highfather_24]

This would be a poor use of money. Get Sancho and another DM.

If Bruno is injured, just play the front 4 of Greenwood, Sancho, Martial and Rashford. If another one of them is injured move Pogba to the 10. If another one of them is injured, you may as well build a bunker under Old Trafford and plan for the apocalypse.

Thats why you try to build a squad, and not just a strong 11. Look at Leicester and how they crumbled. If 2 injuries can make our front line crumble and we are back to playing the likes of Lingard/James/Ighalo that's no good. Grealish is available, and if we can get him around ~50M we should go for it. He can play as the #10 or on either wing, and is creative and very good at keeping possession/beating the press. We need to have ATLEAST couple of players who can change a game/make an impact on the bench. Greenwood and Grealish would be very good options.

-------Pogba---Matic
Sancho--Bruno--Rashford
-------------Martial

Bench : Greenwood, Grealish, Fred, James, McTominay, Ighalo

Thats a proper squad.

 

[Redbandito]

Thats why you try to build a squad, and not just a strong 11. Look at Leicester and how they crumbled. If 2 injuries can make our front line crumble and we are back to playing the likes of Lingard/James/Ighalo that's no good. Grealish is available, and if we can get him around ~50M we should go for it. He can play as the #10 or on either wing, and is creative and very good at keeping possession/beating the press. We need to have ATLEAST couple of players who can change a game/make an impact on the bench. Greenwood and Grealish would be very good options.

-------Pogba---Matic
Sancho--Bruno--Rashford
-------------Martial

Bench : Greenwood, Grealish, Fred, James, McTominay, Ighalo

Thats a proper squad.

That really would be a great squad! Fingers crossed!

Still think we could stand to upgrade CB, CDM and LB in that order, but adding Sancho and Grealish this summer should prove to establish our attack.

 

[Fracture90]

Thats why you try to build a squad, and not just a strong 11. Look at Leicester and how they crumbled. If 2 injuries can make our front line crumble and we are back to playing the likes of Lingard/James/Ighalo that's no good. Grealish is available, and if we can get him around ~50M we should go for it. He can play as the #10 or on either wing, and is creative and very good at keeping possession/beating the press. We need to have ATLEAST couple of players who can change a game/make an impact on the bench. Greenwood and Grealish would be very good options.

-------Pogba---Matic
Sancho--Bruno--Rashford
-------------Martial

Bench : Greenwood, Grealish, Fred, James, McTominay, Ighalo

Thats a proper squad.

He's playing in the final third of the pitch, a lot of times he won't even be involved in us trying to beat the press. Teams don't press you when you reach their 16m box, they start pressing in your own 16m box.

 

[E-mal]

He's playing in the final third of the pitch, a lot of times he won't even be involved in us trying to beat the press. Teams don't press you when you reach their 16m box, they start pressing in your own 16m box.

Who says he won't, he could come deeper as one of the 3 in midfield to pick the ball.

 

[Fracture90]

Who says he won't, he could come deeper as one of the 3 in midfield to pick the ball.

He could doesn't equate that he will and would. Bruno doesn't do that very often at all mind you and it's the closest to our goal that Grealish would find himself playing for us. He isn't a CM to drop that deep to help beat the press and he can't be one, especially not for us considering how costly mistakes are at the highest level and his dogshiit defensive effort and awareness.

 

[VP89]

No. You didn't say that. I was correcting your sentence because they don't create enough quality chances. Total shots 6 with 0 on target. Villa had 8 total shots, I think that's enough to tell you how similar their situation when we were without Bruno & Pogba. Auba, Laca, & Pepe are more of a goal scorer than playmaker or creator. If you think Ceballos & Saka are quality enough for them to challenge for top 4 as their creator then that Aston Villa game pretty much sums up because those two were playing.

You didn't need to correct anything, I know what I said was sufficient. There is less of a gap in creativity+goals than there is in their defence. You pointing out stats from an isolated game will point to nothing in the matter - why don't you look at Arsenal's standing in chances created versus chances conceded? You'll get a better picture.

I didn't say Ceballos & Saka alone were enough. I said the creativity they have from those players + Aubemayang (provided he stays), Lacazette and Pepe points to a less gap in quality from forward/advance midfield areas. I think buying Grealish and no defenders/holding midfielders will be of lesser impact than avoiding Grealish and buying 2-3 good options around areas they actually need.

Ornstein mentioned they are looking for wide players. Zaha, Grealish & Coutinho could play on the left and those three are creative player.

Here is Ornsteins quote on Coutinho from The Athletic: "I have no information on this. I don’t know anything about it. So if it is happening, it’s beyond my knowledge."
So as I said, no tier 1 source looks to have viably Coutinho to Arsenal. No source has actually linked Grealish to Arsenal as a current target either.

I never say they will spend their budget on Grealish. I said they are desperate on someone like Grealish which is the creative player.

Look at the facts. Grealish is being touted as £80m but that's stupid for any club. Truth is maybe 1) £40-50m would be enough 2) Totally Football Show (Athletic associated podcast) had mentioned Arsenal as having a big budget limitation, citing FA Cup as vital in getting something vs nothing, 3) Arteta himself pointed to an inability to spend big as a "big concern".

Yeah, by pointing to Arsenal going for Grealish as an actual likelihood you are insinuating that they will spend most their budget on him. Or you're insinuating they will get him for a bargain price. Both of these are remote.

Which is why I'll go back to my main point, I think Grealish to Arsenal has no legs.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

Lets say Bruno is injured. I meant bare in the way that we have no one to bring from the bench that can change the game. Nor do we have options to rotate if we have multiple games in a single week. Bare in the same way we have been stretched bare in the end part of this season.

I get your point. I'm an advocate for getting a backup AM this window but you seem to be down playing our need for a DM also. I've said it before but I think getting a DM this window is of equal priority as getting an AM.

But for me why I'd place DM a bit higher is maybe because Partey is available. He's a proven top player that will fix a hole in the squad and is only costing 45m and that's rare in the market these days. What other DMs are proven that we can get for that price? Rice? Ndidi? Neves? All would cost a fortune. So for me if a proven DM is available for just 45m which would fix a hole in the squad then we should go for it.

A rotational AM like Grealish isn't rare. He's also costing us 50m + for a rotational player when there other cheaper and as well solid options available. In the end it's a preference and I understand both sides saying we need DM or AM

 

[RedStarUnited]

Get our priority positions sorted then revisit this later in the window.

 

[neilv93]

I'd love Grealish - I think he covers a lot of positions, is English (good for HG quota) and btw he's a great player. If he can thrive at Villa (where I realise all their play goes through him), imagine playing at OT alongside Pogba, Bruno, Sancho, Rashford, Martial etc.? He's a leader and has that arrogant swagger that shows he'd be able to cope with the pressures of playing for us.

That said, £80m is too much. It's not my money so I'll still be pleased if we sign him but assuming we don't have a bottomless pit of funds, there will be other priorities once Sancho is sorted IMO.

 

[MadDogg]

Grealish doesn’t fit in this team unless we’re selling Bruno already. I’m not sure why there is a clamour to sign him.

The areas we need to improve are RW, LB, GK and probably CB. We’re good for midfielders, and it would be ludicrous to spend money on a backup AM, and I doubt he’d come here knowing he was second choice.

Grealish isn't just a #10 though. He's probably equally good at LW and #10, plus should also be able to cover RW and CM.

Between Martial, Rashford, Bruno, Sancho (hopefully), Greenwood and Grealish we'd basically have six players for four spots, with all of them able to cover multiple positions (except maybe Bruno since he'd play #10 whenever he's on the pitch). There's plenty of matches to go around over the course of the season. The idea would probably be that Greenwood and Grealish would get about 30 starts while the other four get 45, but if either of them outperform the players that they are competing with then they'll move ahead until that player earns the starting spot back again. Not to mention that whichever of the six aren't starting would come on as a sub in the majority of matches.

In saying that, with Villa staying up and demanding a large fee I can't see it happening anymore. He would have been a perfect buy for the 40-45m that we probably could have signed him for if they got relegated.

 

[MadDogg]

He's playing in the final third of the pitch, a lot of times he won't even be involved in us trying to beat the press. Teams don't press you when you reach their 16m box, they start pressing in your own 16m box.

If we are struggling to beat the press he's not going to spend the entire match sitting up in the final third. He'll drop back deeper to receive the ball and then use his ability to hold the ball and dribble past players to drive us up the field that way. Exactly like he does at Villa. And unlike Villa, he should have other quality attacking players giving him passing options as he draws the opposition to him. And if none of that works he'll probably end up getting fouled to move us up the field that way.

 

[Fracture90]

If we are struggling to beat the press he's not going to spend the entire match sitting up in the final third. He'll drop back deeper to receive the ball and then use his ability to hold the ball and dribble past players to drive us up the field that way. Exactly like he does at Villa. And unlike Villa, he should have other quality attacking players giving him passing options as he draws the opposition to him. And if none of that works he'll probably end up getting fouled to move us up the field that way.

I admire your optimism, but I don't share your opinion. I don't think he will so casually drop deep to help beat the press because in doing so he'll clog the lines even more, and he never faced the pressing game playing for Villa that he will face playing for us, because Villa isn't really trying to play from the back and keep the ball on the ground all that much. I think you're assuming too much with those two last sentences to think that he creates that much gravity and that he's that press resilient.

 

[JoeyJoJoJrShabadoo]

I imagine the Grealish situation will play out very similar to Zaha last season

 

[OrcaFat]

I admire your optimism, but I don't share your opinion. I don't think he will so casually drop deep to help beat the press because in doing so he'll clog the lines even more, and he never faced the pressing game playing for Villa that he will face playing for us, because Villa isn't really trying to play from the back and keep the ball on the ground all that much. I think you're assuming too much with those two last sentences to think that he creates that much gravity and that he's that press resilient.

Beating the press doesn’t just happen in the back third ( of course - I’m not suggesting you don’t understand this). Grealish is ideal to help beat the press because he’s good at giving the back players an out ball and he doesn’t lose it easily or smash it straight back to them - he’s exactly the guy you need to play out from the back and retain it in midfield when being pressed. He also does win lots of free kicks which does move the team up the pitch. I’m not too sure why you would argue against that.

 

[Fracture90]

Beating the press doesn’t just happen in the back third ( of course - I’m not suggesting you don’t understand this). Grealish is ideal to help beat the press because he’s good at giving the back players an out ball and he doesn’t lose it easily or smash it straight back to them - he’s exactly the guy you need to play out from the back and retain it in midfield when being pressed. He also does win lots of free kicks which does move the team up the pitch. I’m not too sure why you would argue against that.

I'm arguing against all of you that are just like that assuming that he'll be some sort of a press resistant presence that will magically drop deep to help relieve the pressure even though he hardly ever did that so far in his career. Each time i watched Villa, when they got pressed somewhat seriously and in an organized manner, they just hoof the ball upfront not to risk it.

 

[Isotope]

Sorry, a small edit -it hasn't lead to goals. Point still stands. We need a calmer influence not a player who makes mistakes infront of our box.

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6 errors that leading to shots in 38 games is nothing, man. If it's because he's aggressive instead of just passive (and not making any errors), I don't see why this is some sort of a big deal.