[FromTheBench]

2nd choice striker ?

Been lack of talk about him recently and unless we sign someone else for the striker's role he should get plenty of game time.

Well he would atleast in pre season for sure as long as he stays fit. Could it be his real breakthrough year ?

 

[Sammyjunn]

Doesnt look like a LVG type of striker to me to be fair, he's so fast and direct, he's best suited with a no 10 behind him, giving through balls or him being able to drift out and go pick the ball and dribble towards the goal. This isnt really possible as a lonely striker in a LVG set up, but we'll see I guess. Hope he does breakthrough this season, he has some huge qualities and seems highly rated by his teammates and the staff.

 

[kundalini]

Could do with a goal, an assist, or something, as he still seems off the pace. Hasn't happened for him in the 2 pre-season games so far. I suppose you could say Rooney hasn't done much either. Wilson's link-up play is underwhelming to say the least. At first team level I don't get the sense that his team-mates understand his strengths and weaknesses. Off the top of my head, the QPR game last season is the only time he looked a consistent threat and that was on the break late on when we were leading.

 

[beergod]

Could do with a goal, an assist, or something, as he still seems off the pace. Hasn't happened for him in the 2 pre-season games so far. I suppose you could say Rooney hasn't done much either. Wilson's link-up play is underwhelming to say the least. At first team level I don't get the sense that his team-mates understand his strengths and weaknesses. Off the top of my head, the QPR game last season is the only time he looked a consistent threat and that was on the break late on when we were leading.

He looks like one of those players who has lots of trouble making the step up from playing against kids to playing against adults. I hope he gets a loan sooner rather than later.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

Look I know that James Wilson hasn't performed well in either of the two pre-season games but it seems like a lot of people are now suddenly coming out that he isn't good enough. The kid is 19 years old and has shown great promise in the few games he has been given so I just don't see how people can write him off from two games of 45 mins in a second string team. The fickle nature of football fans drives me mad.

 

[Rowem]

Wilson is a great prospect but he isn't good enough yet.

 

[SkeppyRed]

The thing is our lack of strikers at the moment means this is a perfect oppurtunity for him to take his chance and he hasnt done that so far.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

The thing is our lack of strikers at the moment means this is a perfect oppurtunity for him to take his chance and he hasnt done that so far.

Can you honestly say that many of the players have yet tho. We really can't take anything away from the two games so far, so perhaps the Barca and PSG games will show more but I suspect it will be more evident once the season starts for real

 

[Dante]

He's got really broad shoulders. Once he fills out I think he'll be a bit of a beast. Until then, I wouldn't play him as a lone striker with his back to goal. I'd be giving him run outs as a wide forward or maybe in a 2 up front.

 

[Dr Baltar]

He's got really broad shoulders. Once he fills out I think he'll be a bit of a beast. Until then, I wouldn't play him as a lone striker with his back to goal. I'd be giving him run outs as a wide forward or maybe in a 2 up front.

Agree with that completely. He looks like he's at his best running in behind in the channels which it doesn't look like our lone striker will be doing much of this season.
I know it doesn't look like he'll be starting any time soon but I think he'd be a good impact sub if we're chasing a game & want to play more than one striker or if we're holding on & need someone to give us an out ball.

He's still learning & growing & I think that type of role should realistically be all we expected of him this season

 

[Šjor Bepo]

continued where he left off last season i am amazed and shocked how poor he looks on that pitch, 2 years ago he was flying and was unstopabble, cant really explain it to myself what happened. Remember last season at the begining, first game of the season against City in Lancashire Senior Cup, thought he grown little to much over the summer so he lost little of his balance. But then after 45 minute of pretty average play he picked the ball in the middle of the pitch, went past few players and scored, in second half he scored 2 or 3 more not sure right now so i gave up on my idea. Now, year after i think i was on to something because thats the only logical explanation i have. Seen it many times, someone grows quickly in short period of time and he loses his balance, center of coordination and it affects your game practically in every segment. Hope he recovers quickly because its so sad to watch him this days.....

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

continued where he left off last season i am amazed and shocked how poor he looks on that pitch, 2 years ago he was flying and was unstopabble, cant really explain it to myself what happened. Remember last season at the begining, first game of the season against City in Lancashire Senior Cup, thought he grown little to much over the summer so he lost little of his balance. But then after 45 minute of pretty average play he picked the ball in the middle of the pitch, went past few players and scored, in second half he scored 2 or 3 more not sure right now so i gave up on my idea. Now, year after i think i was on to something because thats the only logical explanation i have. Seen it many times, someone grows quickly in short period of time and he loses his balance, center of coordination and it affects your game practically in every segment. Hope he recovers quickly because its so sad to watch him this days.....

This sounds like your talking about a veteran, he's 19 years old people are expecting way too much

 

[Devil may care]

I think he'd benefit from some games in the wide positions of the front 4, he's very fast and can dribble but his hold-up play isn't good enough right now for a #9 at senior level.

 

[Šjor Bepo]

This sounds like your talking about a veteran, he's 19 years old people are expecting way too much

dont think i am to be fair, im not expecting him to play a big role in our first team but the problem is....its a preseason friendly and he should be able to at least look like a professional footballer on the pitch and not some random kid who won prize at McDonalds to play few minutes with United. feck even Blackett looks decent and all the other kids are playing well and its just continued. He was pretty bad the whole last season in U21 and he did the same at Toulon where he even lost his place in the starting lineup....

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

dont think i am to be fair, im not expecting him to play a big role in our first team but the problem is....its a preseason friendly and he should be able to at least look like a professional footballer on the pitch and not some random kid who won prize at McDonalds to play few minutes with United. feck even Blackett looks decent and all the other kids are playing well and its just continued. He was pretty bad the whole last season in U21 and he did the same at Toulon where he even lost his place in the starting lineup....

Yeh I can sort of understand what you mean but it's abit knee jerk based on two 45 min pre season games where everyone has looked abit out of sorts so it's not that fair to judge it's all on that. He also wasn't that bad for the 21s this year and I thought whenever I watched he looked like a class above that level similar to Januzaj as well. His issue as someone stated above is his struggle to fully adapt to the first team, where his hold up play is just not at the required level for us at the moment but that's pretty normal at 19

 

[Bwuk]

I actually think we need to sign a striker and loan Wilson out. He looks like he needs game time to get himself used to senior football.

Few months in the championship would be ideal, bring him back in January and re-evaluate the situation.

 

[Šjor Bepo]

Yeh I can sort of understand what you mean but it's abit knee jerk based on two 45 min pre season games where everyone has looked abit out of sorts so it's not that fair to judge it's all on that. He also wasn't that bad for the 21s this year and I thought whenever I watched he looked like a class above that level similar to Januzaj as well. His issue as someone stated above is his struggle to fully adapt to the first team, where his hold up play is just not at the required level for us at the moment but that's pretty normal at 19

its not knee jerk as its more based on his performances at Toulon and U21 league last season....i watched every game that was on MUTV and there are maybe 2, 3 games where he looked class above, in the rest of he looked pretty average. I really like him and rate him very highly so thats the reason im critical.

 

[SkeppyRed]

Can you honestly say that many of the players have yet tho. We really can't take anything away from the two games so far, so perhaps the Barca and PSG games will show more but I suspect it will be more evident once the season starts for real

He in particular though has an opening in front of him.

Im just anxious for him to take this oppurtunity. Hopefully he doesn't let it pass him by.

 

[Nickosaur]

dont think i am to be fair, im not expecting him to play a big role in our first team but the problem is....its a preseason friendly and he should be able to at least look like a professional footballer on the pitch and not some random kid who won prize at McDonalds to play few minutes with United. feck even Blackett looks decent and all the other kids are playing well and its just continued. He was pretty bad the whole last season in U21 and he did the same at Toulon where he even lost his place in the starting lineup....

Haven't watched any of the preseason games yet so far but...has he really been that bad?

 

[Šjor Bepo]

Haven't watched any of the preseason games yet so far but...has he really been that bad?

im going over the top of course but he is playing pretty bad....probably the worst of all players on the tour.

 

[Raw]

He does need a loan. With LVG giving Hernandez another chance and United signing the mystery striker, he's never going to get game time.

 

[iammemphis]

If Januzaj hadn't have looked so bright under Moyesey people would probably say the same about him after a poor season last year. Wilson has plenty of time to show he is capable of making the step up like Januzaj did, but maintaining that level for inexperienced young players like him and Januzaj is difficult to do at a club like ours that demands so much, especially now with the level of competition the premier league has reached. We can't really afford to carry these younger players while they are out of form but if we can give them a few minutes off the bench mixed with the odd cup game its probably worth keeping them. Kane wasn't that inspiring on his loan spells either so its not always the be all and end all of a player.

 

[In Rainbows]

To be fair, he hasn't had much service. Januzaj was more of a striker in the first game than a 10, and Pereira wasn't really threatening with forward passes as the 10. Still, his control hasn't been good and he needs adjust his positioning to give himself better attacking opportunities. I wouldn't worry yet as he is really young.

 

[Brightonian]

The frustrating thing was that in the first half we easily dominated the pitch and Depay and Mata were often turning with it only to find that Rooney didn't have the pace to make himself an option for a through ball. Wilson would have got so much service if he'd played that half instead of Rooney.

Then in the second, the creative players couldn't get on the ball in good areas anywhere near enough, and Wilson is too much of a pure #9 to be much use dropping deep to help out. If the strikers had played each other's halves, I reckon both would have had more success.

 

[Baxter]

im going over the top of course but he is playing pretty bad....probably the worst of all players on the tour.

Done no worse than Rooney up front.

 

[#07]

im going over the top of course but he is playing pretty bad....probably the worst of all players on the tour.

He's just not looked at the races, but then neither has Rooney. Dunno why.

I thought for sure that Wilson would score from Schweinsteiger's ball over the top last night. Reminded me of the one Fletch played to Chico on the 2011 tour, which ended in a Chico lob. He just wasn't alive to it.

 

[El Zoido]

I really think he just needs a couple of goals to get his confidence going and he'll be fine. Pre-season doesn't mean a lot in the grand scheme of things. If he goes on loan he'll jump from club to club before being sold, as always happens with loaned players.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

Done no worse than Rooney up front.

Rooney was actually quite good in the game today I thought, he looked a lot sharper and his passing was much more on key. Just needs some goals to get going.

 

[Rowem]

I really think he just needs a couple of goals to get his confidence going and he'll be fine. Pre-season doesn't mean a lot in the grand scheme of things. If he goes on loan he'll jump from club to club before being sold, as always happens with loaned players.

Many players from top sides go out on loan, prove themselves and improve their games, and from that earn a spot in the first XI.

 

[Ekeke]

I think eventually he'll explode with plenty of goals but theres no time period for that

 

[m1y2]

Done no worse than Rooney up front.

Rooney got better in the second game, Wilson got worse imo and I'm his fan.. needs to work on his hold up play and aerial duels, he is also outmuscled quite often.. needs time to develop, loan move in a championshio club would be good for him, not dure if he got game time in any club in premier league..

 

[Roboc7]

Needs to go on loan, it's a risk but he isn't ready for the first team and he might struggle to get many games next season.

 

[Šjor Bepo]

needs to work on his hold up play and aerial duels, he is also outmuscled quite often..

think the biggest problem is that he doesnt know how to hold up the ball and how to win his duels......to clarify, lets take Januzaj as example. Outside of the pitch in non game situations, at tests and similar staff Wilson is probably much stronger then Adnan in almost everything but on the pitch is the opposite. Wilson looks like a kid and is pushed around with easy while Januzaj has a pretty good hold up play. They should really try to teach him how to use his body and his strength.

 

[#07]

Rooney got better in the second game, Wilson got worse imo and I'm his fan.. needs to work on his hold up play and aerial duels, he is also outmuscled quite often.. needs time to develop, loan move in a championshio club would be good for him, not dure if he got game time in any club in premier league..

In my opinion, the weaknesses you have highlighted aren't Wilson's real issue right now. United didn't play off the front man, and showed no intention of doing so in either half. I don't think Van Gaal's ideal is to play that way, so I'm not worried about how Wilson does physically.

The main issue last night was Wilson's lack of anticipation. There were moments in the second half when the right run could've made a massive difference. I can remember Perreira getting the ball a few times and looking forward, but Wilson wasn't looking to make a run that he could feed. Wilson wasn't stretching the play much, he wasn't occupying the defenders or looking to exploit space. He just seemed a bit slow off the mark, like he was two second behind every ball aimed his way. Very different from how he was at QPR last season, for example. Maybe he's still warming up..?

 

[m1y2]

In my opinion, the weaknesses you have highlighted aren't Wilson's real issue right now. United didn't play off the front man, and showed no intention of doing so in either half. I don't think Van Gaal's ideal is to play that way, so I'm not worried about how Wilson does physically.

The main issue last night was Wilson's lack of anticipation. There were moments in the second half when the right run could've made a massive difference. I can remember Perreira getting the ball a few times and looking forward, but Wilson wasn't looking to make a run that he could feed. Wilson wasn't stretching the play much, he wasn't occupying the defenders or looking to exploit space. He just seemed a bit slow off the mark, like he was two second behind every ball aimed his way. Very different from how he was at QPR last season, for example. Maybe he's still warming up..?

I think these will be always weaknesses but what you said about him not making enough runs does make sense too but in case we are under pressure unable to regain the ball for a longer period of time, it is pretty much useless striker to have, he needs to help too, if he can't use his body strength and ball covering than he should not play centrally IMO, these players are usually better to use of the wing.

He needs to work harder, he looks almost lazy at times and spot on with that always being 2 steps behind, when he accelerate he is pacey as feck but he almost looks as slow as mertesacker at times jogging on the pitch which kinda worries me the most, he is one of the players who need to regain fitness the most. ofcourse not everybody is as fit as Kane who can chase the ball for 90mins and still be able to keep composure and score a brace but perhaps it's the fitness issue for young Willo.

 

[RooneyLegend]

Yeah, he needs a loan.

 

[Rozay]

The thing is, people are fairly mitigating that he is only 19 etc, which of course is very true. However, he just doesn't look ready to make a worthwhile impact at first-team level yet. He may be 19, but then so is Andreas Pereira. Players, even young players, must take their opportunities when it presents. Adnan did at 18, Andreas appears to be doing so at 19, just as Paddy did. I'm not a big fan of the caf culture to constantly offer excuses for players not playing well enough. I'm not saying Wilson is done at 19, but the fact is, he is out there for a reason and it is not unreasonable to expect even a young player to play well. He's fit, he is playing with quality footballers. The reality of the business is that he either does it when called upon, or he stops getting called upon. Young or not. He needs to start doing more than he has done if he wants to stay around the first-team here next season.

 

[Devil may care]

I liked him out wide, I think he might get a few games there this season until he can strengthen his hold up play.

 

[darioterios]

winger?

 

[Drifter]

He can certainly shift. I'd like to see him given a chance this season.