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It's suicidal because McTominay is a very limited footballer. He is always in the wrong place, can't pass, doesn't show for the ball and alongside Bruno, effectively means whoever else he is paired alongside is playing by themselves.
I mean .. just put Hannibal and Mainoo as our CMs
It would take a lot of the creative burden off of Casemiro like at Real, he's shown great vision and execution at united but is inconsistent. Playing next to someone more comfortable on the ball would allow him to focus more on breaking up play and getting into the box when attacking which are what he's best at I think.
Exactly, and it might just be the spark that saves our season. It certainly won't be found in continuing to play McTominay.
I'm not sure ETH will play that way, he seems set on this 1 man midfield rubbish. It should be Mainoo - Amrabat until Case gets back but that doesn't seem to be happening.
Well I'm starting to think ETH needs to go, particularly if he stubbornly persists with lineups/tactics that have failed repeatedly.
This is my thinking as well sadly. I just can't understand how he's not seeing what the issue is here.
Leave McT alone. You'll hurt feelings.
Oh so now that matters?
I'm not playing him down, that's you putting words in my mouth.We get it, you hate ETH
You don't have to bring him up to play down a promising young player. Our fans are fecking wild.
Paul Scholes would have still ran the show. Seriously he was fecking brilliant. We would probably still end up losing but if Scholes was playing it wouldn’t looked as bad.
After our summer transfer activity I said before the season even started I actally think with a bit of experience or best midfield pairing is Mainoo and Hannibal is Casemeiro doesnt get form back. Havent seen anything to change my mind so far, partly as I like both players even more so as or transfers were awful I feel, still early days and all bt Amrabat is jst plain average and Mount is a good player bt was never the type of midfielder we needed, Eriksens legs are gone and wondering if Casemeiros may be too.
I am still a bit unsure on Hannibal, but most of his bad qualities will be ironed out with calming down from playing more games. I agree though. The thing that is worrying me about Ten Hag right now is that the profiles in our midfield have been off all season apart from perhaps against Burnley.
He would not have ran the show being hung out to dry by his midfield partners
I believe we are both right, he would have not gotten too far as the others are pants, although he probably would end up coaching them to do what he would want.
Is Mainoo, Mount and Bruno our best hope? Mainoo with defensive nous and composure, Mount with the (alleged) ability to carry the ball forward and find space and Bruno doing what he does further up the pitch?
Agreed, for his second start for us, he still made a lot of the right decisions. He just didn't put a foot wrong against everton so people are shocked an 18 year old isn't consistent (go figure), not to mention playing against vastly superior opponents.
And they had so much of the ball so we were constantly defending so he was constantly being tested by opposition movement and attacks
It wouldn't even be quite so bad if he was playing next to McTominay. Instead we've got Scott pushed up as another attacker leaving Mainoo all by himself.
So long as he is not clattering into Kobbie!
He isn't a DM.
That the role he was playing. And the role he is given in the first team. He's also done it well for an 18 year old
Eyes see what they want to see there have several instances where Fernandes just make half hearted attempts and gives up .
He is a DLP
I noticed that as well. He looks quite slow. Got beat at least once in a foot race. His positioning when the opponent has the ball should improve. Other than that, he looks promising. Good to see Ten Hag putting faith in him.
Only one player in the league runs more than him. He makes both attacking and defensive runs for sure. Against Galatasaray, for their first goal, he had to track back because the others didn't, for instance. Happens all the time. Not that he's great at it, but he runs his lungs out.
A bit worrying, but he can improve his speed with proper training for sure. People think that you are at your fastest at 18, but that is far from the truth. Ronaldo improved his speed massively from 18 to 25.
I would say no. Defensively too weak. Not enough physicality either.
No, that's horrible also.
Something along the lines of Casemiro, Mainoo, Mount/Bruno. Or Casemiro, Mainoo, Amrabat. Mainoo doesn't have defensive nous. Primarily he's a number 8, (although I welcome the idea behind moulding him into a De Jong) and his strengths lie on the ball rather than off it. He needs Casemiro with him. I'd like to see a solid midfield with a bit of balance, rather than one comprised of a nothing player (McTominay) or a mercurial number 10 (Bruno). Look at that Newcastle midfield the other night. Three actual central midfielders. Let's get back to basics, try not to be too clever and learn to walk before we can run.
He's being moulded to play that role, yes. He is definitely not a DM.
