Left Back Position

[devilish]

Am I the only one who believe that the LB position is the one that needs more strengthening? We've got Greenwood at RW, Bruno, Pogba and Mejbri as AM but all we've got as LB is an extremely injury prone Shaw and Williams. The latter seems as comfortable there as OShea was in goal.

So why do you think we're ignoring that position?

 

[dove]

We need LB but we need other positions more.

 

[Red_toad]

Am I the only one who believe that the LB position is the one that needs more strengthening? We've got Greenwood at RW, Bruno, Pogba and Mejbri as AM but all we've got as LB is an extremely injury prone Shaw and Williams. The latter seems as comfortable there as OShea was in goal.

So why do you think we're ignoring that position?

Do a search on the numerous left back threads. You're not alone in the thought, shame you didn't just post onto one of the several exisiting threads.

 

[devilish]

We need LB but we need other positions more.

Which one exactly?

 

[dove]

RW, DM.

 

[Sb_16]

I guess we'll use Shaw and Williams as LBs and AWB and Laird as RBs. The club must have high hopes on them along with Tuanzebe and/or Mengi at CB. I don't think we'll make any addition to the defense this window. Depending on their progress, we may go for one of the upcoming French CB next summer. Right or wrong we have adequate replacement for Matic as well. The front five is where we're short and any addition will be made there only. That's my feeling, anyway.

 

[jackal&hyde]

Shaw is fine imo but more competition would be good.

Mejbri at AM? He is yet to kick a ball for the first team

 

[cyril C]

Am I the only one who believe that the LB position is the one that needs more strengthening? We've got Greenwood at RW, Bruno, Pogba and Mejbri as AM but all we've got as LB is an extremely injury prone Shaw and Williams. The latter seems as comfortable there as OShea was in goal.

So why do you think we're ignoring that position?

yes you are the only few who think our LB is deficient. RW, CB are primary deficiency. Some would argue our FWD is not as prolific as Kane for example, some argue for better DMF cover. There are 5-6 areas to be improved before I would consider LB.

 

[manuchamp88]

I agree and Reguilón is available at a bargain price.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

Nah priorities are;
-RW
-CB

-AM


-LB

We haven’t had a RW for 11 years going back to Valencia, how can anyone in their right might think that’s not the number one issue. CB is also a higher priority because if Maguire gets injured we are screwed. Shaw is one of the best left backs in the league and should be back soon, and Williams is a decent backup.

 

[Bondi77]

I agree and Reguilón is available at a bargain price.

Real Madrid and bargain price rarely come together.

 

[Infra-red]

Real Madrid and bargain price rarely come together.

He's surplus to requirements and will reportedly be allowed to leave for €20m-€25m.

 

[MadDogg]

Shaw is injury prone enough to make this a serious question, but not injury prone enough to give a definitive answer. It's not like he's at Jones/Bailly/Rojo level.

RW is definitely a higher priority as Greenwood probably isn't ready to start game-in game-out and we have nobody else with remotely enough quality. Whether that is somebody to come in as first choice (such as Sancho) and then Greenwood rotates throughout all three attacking positions as needed, or somebody to come in as quality competition for him to keep pushing him to improve and to give him (and to some extent the others) regular breaks.

After that it gets difficult to rate the order that we need. Shaw is good enough as a starter to make LB fairly low on the list, but he's injury prone. Matic has periods where he's good enough at DM, but he's inconsistent as all hell and we haven't seen Fred or McTominay in that role enough to know if it'll work next to Pogba and Bruno (I have liked what we've seen from Fred though). Central defence has a big question mark over it. We really do need somebody able to cover #10 as well, unless whoever we bring in for RW can also cover that spot well.

 

[devilish]

yes you are the only few who think our LB is deficient. RW, CB are primary deficiency. Some would argue our FWD is not as prolific as Kane for example, some argue for better DMF cover. There are 5-6 areas to be improved before I would consider LB.

Rw: Greenwood has been WC there. James, Lingard and Mata are inadequate cover but they tend to do a better job then Williams at LB

CB: we spent 80m on Mcfight and Lindelof is a half decent CB. We still have Smalling on our payroll and 2 promising kids coming through

StK: Martial had been excellent upfront. We also have ighalo till January

DM: Matic is a decent DM and we have McT and Fred

All positions deserve TLC but none of them are in deeper shit then LB. We have 1 natural LB and he is injury prone

 

[TwoSheds]

If there's an obvious bargain available we should buy. Fergie didn't worry about Heinze having a stormer of a season when he bought Evra, he just knew Evra had amazing potential and was available for a knock down price. Worked out for us I'd say. No point spending big on a LB for the sake of it though, RW, DM and for me CB are bigger priorities.

 

[Leftback99]

I think the squad would be a lot more balanced if we had a quality left footer to challenge Shaw with Williams being competition for Wan Bissaka.

If we keep Smalling I'd say its second in importance behind a RW option.

 

[EwanI Ted]

Totally agree we need an LB (though I think we need an RW more). I heard in a podcast recently that the plan is to play Williams at RB this coming season too, so the needs is even greater. Even if Shaw was always fit, I’m not sure he’s good enough, but he certainly isn’t good enough to justify him only being available for 20 games a season. We need a LB who can compete for the first team position, not just a backup for when Shaw is out.

 

[red4ever 79]

We have glaring weaknesses all over the place, however the board and the owners don't seem to have the urgency to do anything about it. I agree with the opening post we need a LB. However we also need a RW, CB, CDM. I mean where do we begin guys.

First XI is reasonable but beyond that when we have to call up our squad players, that's were we are poor and it tells over a long season and when injuries occur.

I got emotional looking at the Daley Blind thread yesterday. If someone can explain to me how we sanctioned selling him, but we still consider it to be ok to have Jones and Rojo still here. That's whats wrong with our management and until we change either the owners or Ed or hire competent people to do our transfer business, this is where we are.

 

[CM]

It isn't our number one priority but our LB position should be getting more attention than it is atm. I like Shaw but we need another option there, Williams isn't the answer.

I'd probably take a new LB over a CB. I think we've got more chance of finding someone who can make a noticeable difference there without spending a ridiculous amount and I imagine any CB we went for this summer would be much of a muchness with Lindelof, Bailly etc.

 

[hubbuh]

Surely it’s obvious to anyone with a functioning eye/set of eyes that Greenwood needs to be developed properly and not just thrown in because our other options aren’t good enough? He looked ridiculously burnt out by the end, evidenced by the fact he stopped making runs and regularly opted to turn back and look for the easy pass, kept trying shots that weren’t on and would be blocked and/or easily saved and faded to the point where we might as well have been playing with 10 men. Chucking him in because Dan James wasn’t cutting it isn’t the best way to develop him into a lethal striker. Ighalo clearly isn’t particularly well liked anyway, so this season would be a great opportunity for Greenwood to get more exposure up top without the expectancy of carrying the right-wing. Ergo, we really fecking need a right-winger.

 

[manuchamp88]

He's surplus to requirements and will reportedly be allowed to leave for €20m-€25m.

It's a steal. I hope we pursue him.

 

[Bondi77]

He's surplus to requirements and will reportedly be allowed to leave for €20m-€25m.

And that could be true but believe me when I say Real will not sell to Manchester United at that price.

 

[Nickosaur]

It's a steal. I hope we pursue him.

Reportedly they are insisting on a buy-back clause.

 

[IAmAWinner]

Reguillon would be too obvious for us. No way we will sign him. Or anyone for left back.

 

[PieCrust]

Both FB's are a problem really. Neither are any good on the ball, crossing, or just attacking in general. Modern FB's have to be able to do more than just defend and our overall attack suffers because of it.

Since AWB won't be replaced this soon, LB is the position to improve. Both AWB and Shaw's best position is CB in a back 3.

 

[JFedic]

Both FB's are a problem really. Neither are any good on the ball, crossing, or just attacking in general. Modern FB's have to be able to do more than just defend and our overall attack suffers because of it.

Since AWB won't be replaced this soon, LB is the position to improve. Both AWB and Shaw's best position is CB in a back 3.

I actually think AWB has a decent cross when he finally is in a position to whip one in. The other points I agree with.

We should definitely look to give Shaw more competition. Williams initial form when introduced to the first team was good, and also made Shaw better in return. Unfortunately Williams' form suffered, and the inevitable happened with Shaw's ankle.

 

[MadDogg]

Both FB's are a problem really. Neither are any good on the ball, crossing, or just attacking in general. Modern FB's have to be able to do more than just defend and our overall attack suffers because of it.

Since AWB won't be replaced this soon, LB is the position to improve. Both AWB and Shaw's best position is CB in a back 3.

Shaw is good on the ball. He has one of the better first touches in the squad and is a good short passer. He doesn't get forward enough and when he does his final ball isn't very good (although both aspects were improving quite a lot just before his injury), but he does provide quite a lot during the build up and playing out from the back.

AWB has a better final ball into the box, but doesn't get forward enough either and is quite poor in the build up and playing out from the back.

 

[romufc]

Both FB's are a problem really. Neither are any good on the ball, crossing, or just attacking in general. Modern FB's have to be able to do more than just defend and our overall attack suffers because of it.

Since AWB won't be replaced this soon, LB is the position to improve. Both AWB and Shaw's best position is CB in a back 3.

I think alot of fans are underestimating Luke Shaw's ability. Under LVG he was playing really well and got the terrible injury, since then he has come back and was not fancied under Jose for one reason or another. This was not primarily on Jose, Shaw has to take some flack too.

This season, no one really player particularly well at the start, since the turn of the year, he is probably one of our better players, his all round game is actually really good.

You could see not having him affected our ability to play out the back and the link up with Rashford was lost.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Our defense is still "good enough" (statistically) even with an injury-prone Shaw and hot-n-cold Williams. TFM provide solid defense as LB.

Our main issue is still poor attack on the right wing, which is almost always non-existent.

LB is a priority yes, but it still is a way lesser priority.

 

[manuchamp88]

Reportedly they are insisting on a buy-back clause.

We could at least try and negotiate.

 

[Chief123]

Am I the only one who believe that the LB position is the one that needs more strengthening? We've got Greenwood at RW, Bruno, Pogba and Mejbri as AM but all we've got as LB is an extremely injury prone Shaw and Williams. The latter seems as comfortable there as OShea was in goal.

So why do you think we're ignoring that position?

I disagree. RW is our number one problem area. It’s the only position we don’t have a specialist playing.

The fact that a lot of people think Greenwood is a RW or doing a good enough job as a RW is more an example of his incredible talent rather than him fulfilling the position properly. He’s not a proper right winger. And we saw the deficiencies near the end of the season.

Teams were preventing him getting his shots off or were forcing him inside to get involved. He is not someone who will go round the outside and deliver crosses from the right wing. That’s not his game.

RW is a must to address first.

 

[Bwuk]

I agree. I think we need to improve both our full backs.

 

[Zlatattack]

Alex Telles is the answer. Play him when we want to attack, attack, attack - play Shaw when we feel a bit vulnerable and need to defend more.

 

[Class of 63]

Think we could do worse than taking a punt on Ryan Bertrand(Soton), experienced, reliable and always a thread going forward, he'd allow Williams, Devine and Pye/Alvaro to develop their game away from the glare of the first-team, plus he would push Shaw, who could also narrow down to play LCB occasionally, for longer than Williams did when he first got in the team before the expected fall away.

 

[Sandikan]

We're no more at risk at left back then anywhere.

One injury to Shaw is no worse to 1 injury to anyone else across the pitch. We have very little depth at all. Apart from keeper!

Goals win you games, so getting a 4th quality player to supplement those front 3 has to be the absolute critical mission I'd have thought

 

[tjb]

If Shaw wasn't injury prone, this won't really be a problem. We can survive without him but there is clearly a difference both defensively and in attack when he doesn't play. Williams' has not proven to be able to make that loss seem non-existant, and given that Shaw himself isn't perfect, that says a lot.

The best move for me would be to sign a versatile player that can play left back, similar to Daley Blind, so that even when we lose Shaw, we can still attack with purpose from that position and defend at an average level.
Another option would be to challenge Shaw by signing a left back as good or even better than Shaw. I don' t like this option right now because we have more expensive positions to fill. Chillwell and AWB cost 50m...spending that money on a position that already has a good primary left back at that type of price while chasing Grealish/Sancho during this period of financial instability for all clubs isn't the smartest move. It's something that would be best to consider next season, if Shaw proves unable to shake off his injury prone tag.

 

[bond19821982]

No, you are not the only one.

Discussed in detail below

https://www.redcafe.net/threads/left-full-back-2020.456310/page-6#post-25957076

 

[sp_107]

It is an issue but not that pressing at this moment and I dont think we can fix everything in one window.

hope they address RW,DM.CD in this window and then CF,LB,ACM in next window

 

[Isotope]

Am I the only one who believe that the LB position is the one that needs more strengthening? We've got Greenwood at RW, Bruno, Pogba and Mejbri as AM but all we've got as LB is an extremely injury prone Shaw and Williams. The latter seems as comfortable there as OShea was in goal.

So why do you think we're ignoring that position?

If we have great attacking fullback, it reduces our needs of winger. Which is kinda obvious, but i just want to sound smart.

 

[Lee565]

Still think a formation with wingbacks is our best option with that we currently have in fullback and winger positions.

We have two inside forwards as our wingers so we need the fullbacks to be our main source of width and also be competent in the last third which only shaw has shown the ability to do so but even with him he hesitates to commit all the way down the wing and you rarely see him whip in crosses and more often prefers to try cut backs or a through ball when he is around the opponents box.