Max Aarons

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Indeed. I took a 6 week break recently which was mainly induced by the state of this place at the end of the summer transfer window. I’ve been on this forum in one capacity or another for about 16 years and the collective strop on deadline day was, to me, an all time low.

I’m with you, I’m enjoying the ride at the moment, and want to come on here to share that joy, but bizarrely, despite this being a United forum - it often seems I’m in the wrong place for that!
Yep. Even after a win, which used to guarantee wall-to-wall jubilation, all you can ever find here is bickering, 'calm down's, and niggling criticism of the players in their performance threads. If this was an Arsenal forum this season I could understand the gloom, but we're in a title race again for crying out loud.

Anyway, enough moaning from me for now!
 

kirk buttercup

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His positional awareness and his passing is not great either, he is good at tackling and he is quick and they are the only two things he is good at really.
True enough . I think with maguire and Lindelof or Bailey or Tuanzebe next to him maybe we could find him something he is good at . At the moment it looks like we spent a Truckload of money on someone who can tackle
 

elmo

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If we bring in Aarons could we move AWB inside to play centre back ? We’ve also got Laird and Williams so could have them two plus Aarons at right back and AWB as that pacey centre back we need alongside Maguire.

AWB could still play right back in tough sway games when a defensive full back is needed as well, has AWB played as a centre back before ? I have something in my mind telling me he did as part of a three man centre back pairing but I’m not certain.
AWB would be a pile of shit at centreback considering how he always loses his man in the box if they're not having the ball.
 

Okey

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Brandon Williams + £20m
I'd say Brandon Williams on loan so they're not hung out to dry with no replacement. Aarons can't be worth 20m plus Williams permanently. I'm hoping it's more than just rumour though. I think he'll be a fantastic signing for us.
 

amolbhatia50k

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If we bring in Aarons could we move AWB inside to play centre back ? We’ve also got Laird and Williams so could have them two plus Aarons at right back and AWB as that pacey centre back we need alongside Maguire.

AWB could still play right back in tough sway games when a defensive full back is needed as well, has AWB played as a centre back before ? I have something in my mind telling me he did as part of a three man centre back pairing but I’m not certain.
AWB has real trouble judging the flight of crosses so it's hard to see him make a decent CB

As for Aarons, based on people's views on him he seems to be another "option". Ideally we should be signing someone who has real potential to reach the top. Hopefully he has that if we're signing him.
 

CM10

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Beats chucking a makeshift option in there as we've been doing recently with Lindelof and Tuanzebe. Aarons would probably be what the club was trying to achieve when signing Dalot.
 

Nou_Camp99

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AWB won't last much longer at the club. I think Ole and the club have already started to realise he's far too limited and also not actually that great of a defender either apart from his brilliant 1 on 1 ability. There's more to defending than that and he isn't that good at the other parts.

If we want to become a top team team we need offensive fullbacks. All the best sides around have a threat from fullback except us. Telles may become a threat but its early days still for him.
 

beingshe7don

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Max Aarons and Diallo could forge a good partnership on the RW. I'm tired of backward and sideways passing by AWB. Almost feels like we're back to the times when we had Valencia in the latter parts of his OT career.
 

hungrywing

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Max Aarons and Diallo could forge a good partnership on the RW. I'm tired of backward and sideways passing by AWB. Almost feels like we're back to the times when we had Valencia in the latter parts of his OT career.
If one stood on the others shoulders and the person up top wore a trenchcoat they could also maybe get into a rated-R movie.
 

hubbuh

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Trent is suspect defensively at times, his most important contribution to Liverpool is obviously going forward. Whoever we want at RB just has to be able to do the basics well but be absolute dynamite going forward. Getting good fullbacks is an area of recruitment we've really struggled to nail in recent years.
 

Inigo Montoya

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Trent is suspect defensively at times, his most important contribution to Liverpool is obviously going forward. Whoever we want at RB just has to be able to do the basics well but be absolute dynamite going forward. Getting good fullbacks is an area of recruitment we've really struggled to nail in recent years.
They have to be able to defend first and foremost. I know it's an important attribute of all fullbacks to be able to assist the attack but if an FB is suspect defensively it puts the pressure on the RW/LW to be able to cover.

In your opinion do you think that in Giggs and Beckham we had two of the best at tracking back? I know Gary Nev formed a great partnership with Beckham but he was a great defender. Can't for the life of me think how many we had at LB supporting Giggs...Silvestre comes to mind, Irwin obviously
 

sparx99

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Yep. Even after a win, which used to guarantee wall-to-wall jubilation, all you can ever find here is bickering, 'calm down's, and niggling criticism of the players in their performance threads. If this was an Arsenal forum this season I could understand the gloom, but we're in a title race again for crying out loud.

Anyway, enough moaning from me for now!
If we win our next two league games and this place will believe again!
 

sparx99

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They have to be able to defend first and foremost. I know it's an important attribute of all fullbacks to be able to assist the attack but if an FB is suspect defensively it puts the pressure on the RW/LW to be able to cover.

In your opinion do you think that in Giggs and Beckham we had two of the best at tracking back? I know Gary Nev formed a great partnership with Beckham but he was a great defender. Can't for the life of me think how many we had at LB supporting Giggs...Silvestre comes to mind, Irwin obviously
The game is so different from Beckham and Giggs time. These days Beckham would likely play like De Bruyne as the right sided midfielder in a 3-man midfield. While there is every chance Giggs would be playing right wing cutting inside.

Full backs do need to be able to defend first but with teams playing an extra midfielder instead of a striker full backs have much more of an attacking role than they did even 10-15 years ago.

Giggs would have played with Heinze and Evra as well as Silvestre and Irwin wouldn’t he?
 

Ludens the Red

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Yep. Even after a win, which used to guarantee wall-to-wall jubilation, all you can ever find here is bickering, 'calm down's, and niggling criticism of the players in their performance threads. If this was an Arsenal forum this season I could understand the gloom, but we're in a title race again for crying out loud.

Anyway, enough moaning from me for now!
Probably has a bit to do with the last seven years. Watching city and Liverpool romp to title wins. United not being involved in a single title race. Constant false dawns and the fact we’re still only 15 games into the season and only four points off ninth. The fact a lot of United fans simply just do not think Ole has it in his locker to lead a team to a title. If there’s any fanbase that will understandably have pessimism at this moments it’s most certainly ours. Especially as the likes of Chelsea and Spurs have been top this year gotten all giddy and the wheels have subsequently fallen off.
 

2cents

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I’ve liked the very little I’ve seen of Aarons, and would love to have a RB who can contribute going forward or even just be comfortable on the ball. I’m wondering about his defensive ability - are people just assuming that, as a full back known to enjoy attacking, he is suspect at the back? Or is this a legitimate criticism of him as a player?
 

hubbuh

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They have to be able to defend first and foremost. I know it's an important attribute of all fullbacks to be able to assist the attack but if an FB is suspect defensively it puts the pressure on the RW/LW to be able to cover.

In your opinion do you think that in Giggs and Beckham we had two of the best at tracking back? I know Gary Nev formed a great partnership with Beckham but he was a great defender. Can't for the life of me think how many we had at LB supporting Giggs...Silvestre comes to mind, Irwin obviously
Absolutely. It's no use having someone back there that can't defend properly. That said, I'm sure we'd all love our own version of Trent (who is far from a liability in defence). The problem is we have Wan-Bissaka who not only can't contribute going forward, but is also now being targeted by opposition due to his suspect positioning and inability to perceive threats. He isn't versatile enough and it's already costing us. The issue with buccaneering fullbacks is you need to have centre backs and a defensive minded midfielder who can sense danger and are mobile enough to snuff it out. Lindelof, Maguire and Matic are all a bit slow and cumbersome. Fred and Bailly are much more dynamic but come with their own problems (no surprise we're after someone with the profile of Caicedo). Regardless, a right-back with genuine attacking intent would really invigorate us as a side and would make us more difficult to defend against (as we all know attack is the best form of defence yadda yadda).

Evra of course! Both him and Neville were fantastic defenders but were also really handy at getting forward and timing their runs.
 
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andersj

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In your opinion do you think that in Giggs and Beckham we had two of the best at tracking back?
They had great stamina and intensity to their game. I actually think they were good defenders. Alot better than Rashford, James etc.

And more imortantly, we defended as a team. I remember Klopp making this argument; you defend as a team. If a fullback get beat by his man, there should be someone there covering for him. That is why, he said, he cared more about their ability on the ball than without it.

I also think there is an inherent limitation to the value of being a good defender. I mean, Trent is not much of a defender. Not at all. Bu Liverpool rarely concede much goals the past two years (22 and 33). How much less would they concede with a better defender? Probably a few, but they would lack much more going forward. If you look at most top teams, their fullbacks are not only good attackers but also their most important ball progressers.
 
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Inigo Montoya

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The game is so different from Beckham and Giggs time. These days Beckham would likely play like De Bruyne as the right sided midfielder in a 3-man midfield. While there is every chance Giggs would be playing right wing cutting inside.

Full backs do need to be able to defend first but with teams playing an extra midfielder instead of a striker full backs have much more of an attacking role than they did even 10-15 years ago.

Giggs would have played with Heinze and Evra as well as Silvestre and Irwin wouldn’t he?
Yes he did but also O’Shea and Neville. P
 

elmo

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The game is so different from Beckham and Giggs time. These days Beckham would likely play like De Bruyne as the right sided midfielder in a 3-man midfield. While there is every chance Giggs would be playing right wing cutting inside.

Full backs do need to be able to defend first but with teams playing an extra midfielder instead of a striker full backs have much more of an attacking role than they did even 10-15 years ago.

Giggs would have played with Heinze and Evra as well as Silvestre and Irwin wouldn’t he?
Becks could probably play as a right wing back as well.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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I think depends on the fees, signing Max Aarons can be proven to be important for our season to challenge the league since we are lacking width creativity especially on the right flank. It sounds funny but the lack of width has been our problem because we rely too much in the middle for creativity, we need to have different plan and different area for creativity.

Not January fancy type of signing like Bruno and VVD but he offers something we don’t have in the team. We can talk about new centre back as much as we like but that’s not going to happen in January. In my opinion this is the most realistic improvement in January and I’m in.
 

RedSky

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1980mins, 1 goal, 0 assists.

Am I missing something here, he's not exactly setting the Championship on fire this season despite them being top. Is he actually a good offensive player?
 

Cassidy

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1980mins, 1 goal, 0 assists.

Am I missing something here, he's not exactly setting the Championship on fire this season despite them being top. Is he actually a good offensive player?
Are assists and goals the only measure?
 

Cassidy

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Well we want a player with end product which is surely what we want as an attacking fullback right?
Again goals and assist isn't the only measure. Norwich do rely on goals coming from him crossing the ball in from the wing, he is still essential to their attacking play.
That doesn't mean we should sign him though, depends what we're after. But just to point out you can be a very good attacking fullback with out getting a boat load of assists from crosses
As you can see from Telles being a good crosser doesn't make you a great attacking fullback either, Shaw is much better and doesn't get assists either
 

TwoSheds

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They have to be able to defend first and foremost. I know it's an important attribute of all fullbacks to be able to assist the attack but if an FB is suspect defensively it puts the pressure on the RW/LW to be able to cover.

In your opinion do you think that in Giggs and Beckham we had two of the best at tracking back? I know Gary Nev formed a great partnership with Beckham but he was a great defender. Can't for the life of me think how many we had at LB supporting Giggs...Silvestre comes to mind, Irwin obviously
Evra, O'Shea, Fabio, Heinze, Phil Neville, Spector, Richardson - Giggs could make anyone look good tbf.
 

sillwuka

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Let's bring in Max Aarons. I have no faith in Dalot coming good and we may be able to get a half decent fee next year.

They are worth a similar amount no?
 

Leftback99

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Let's bring in Max Aarons. I have no faith in Dalot coming good and we may be able to get a half decent fee next year.

They are worth a similar amount no?
I don't see why anyone would play good money for Dalot. He barely gets a game for Milan.
 

wolvored

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Really Really weird, unless it’s for sub £15 million then I don’t get it.

We have Laird, Williams, AWB. Bailly and Tuanzebe can also play there.

I know Ole was unselfish when building our squad but we probably did spend too much on our defence and were trigger happy but it was necessary at the time to build the base of a team.

The starting right back in my eyes needs to be able to attack and defend well, you don’t necessarily buy two, one who can attack and one who can defend. I think our coaches may think AWB may not be up to the task.

I can understand Telles as Shaw is constantly injured and Ole doesn’t trust Williams.

Ole and the clubs transfer strategy has impressed me but I do feel defensive signings could be managed better and there’s a lot of room for improvement here
If thats true then he needs to be sold. In fact if we got rid of 4-5 deadwood players and only signed a decent RB that can attack and defend and hopefully the Caisedo coming rumours are true, then that would be a good transfer window. I cant say whether Aarons is the best out there, but looks a definite improvement overall to Bissaka.
 

Classical Mechanic

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Am I missing something here, he's not exactly setting the Championship on fire this season despite them being top. Is he actually a good offensive player?

His underlying attacking stats are in the above tweet. Sometimes end product stats can represent noise rather than signal.
 

sillwuka

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I don't see why anyone would play good money for Dalot. He barely gets a game for Milan.
Good point, we paid £19 million so if we can recoup that we've done well, I'll take £15 mil at this point and chalk it up to buying the wrong player. (He might do better back in Portugal or France?)
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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His underlying attacking stats are in the above tweet. Sometimes end product stats can represent noise rather than signal.
His ball retention is incredible there, something that Bissaka & Williams don't have. He offers everything that Bissaka doesn't have while Bissaka offers everything that Aarons doesn't have.
 

Denis' cuff

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We’ll continue to have problems at rb until we get a rw

play him in front of AWB or play one of our 2x new rw recruits