Well I don't see the point in that case. We already have Lindelof covering all the weak bases.
Nathan Ake (Close to signing for Man City, £40m fee)
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
I don't see much point, I'd either buy someone clearly better than what we have or a prospect we can develop
He is 25, probably the right age before he hit his peak. CB tend to mature at that age, look at Vidic and Evra when we signed them.
Jones and Smalling offloaded, Tuanzebe promoted and Ake can be that guy challenging Lindelof.
If we sign Sancho for 100 million, Ake for 25 million is a great transfer strategy for us. 125 million pounds for 2 quality players, not too shabby.
Is he proper quality though? Some seem to suggest he's average in the air.
I think he is, always performed so well against the top sides, and is a punditry darling.
Always got some praise whenever he performed well against the top side.
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Oh and Rio recently said we need a pacy CB, and he epitomizes that description.
Left footed, quick and agile. Being an englishmen is a bonus too.
Ole tapping up? 
Nah, it's totally a bob's your uncle/mum's the word kind of moment."Just keep going" is referring to his development/growth as a player, not what you think
I like him, he is surrounded by championship and league one players at the back. I think he could reach the next level at a club like United.
I think he would be a great signing and offer something different.
I think he would be a great signing and offer something different.
He is Dutch .
Think about it,
Front three could be 3 best England attackers rampaging the opposition, back 4 could be England's starting defense.
EDIT:
Just realized he is dutch. Blame 2009 Football manager. Swear I had managed him in England team. Sorry
Front three could be 3 best England attackers rampaging the opposition, back 4 could be England's starting defense.
EDIT:
Just realized he is dutch. Blame 2009 Football manager. Swear I had managed him in England team. Sorry
big fan of Dunk. Doesn’t get attention he deserves. Ake an interesting one. Is small but reads the game well and positioning is good. Comfortable being dragged out to wider areas too. Re the height, Maguire seems to get his head on everything anyway.
I'm surprised nobody has looked at Connor Coady. Seems like a good player and a leader. Only thing I see that goes against him is he's Scouse. But then again, so was Rooney...
We need a top class CB with pace and aggression to complement Maguire. Ake just doesn't strike me as that guy. If my options were Konate for example or Ake, I wouldn't even give Ake a second look.
If Bournemouth go down and hes available cheap, he would be a steal. Hes a solid CB. Plenty of Prem experience. His height isn't ideal but I fancy him with literally everything else.
Truth is there arent amazing options out there and I'll take someone who has performed well in the Prem over any other league
Truth is there arent amazing options out there and I'll take someone who has performed well in the Prem over any other league
Would be a solid addition to the squad. Especially if Rojo and Jones are on their way out. Seems like a very down to Earth lad too, would fit in well.
He’s a good player, he’s going to cost £30m though. Lots of clubs will be after him, and see him going somewhere like Everton.
My initial reaction was the same as s few other. Too small. Not good enough in the air. But I do think we often are too worried about one weakness. It is a teams game.
Not being good in the air is probably less of a problem than being slow like Maguire. A lot of people made a big deal out of that but I would say he has worked out fine.
The timing of getting Ake would be great. 25 years old. In his fifth season in the PL. And the qualities he has is the same Maguire/Lindelof lack. I think Liverpool have been shrewd at making these type of signings. Players at «a good age». Not too old, not too young - entering their peak. With a bit of experience from the PL. Winjaldum, Mane, Salah, VvD and Robertson.
Furthermore, if would allow OGS to move Shaw back as a fullback and play with three at the back when he wants too. Against good teams that could be a clever move. Matic and Maguire is a bit too slow against the best teams. Maguire flanked by Lindelof and Ake, on the other hand, could work. Just like Shaw did.
Furthermore, I must say, I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for a few short CBs. Players who know that they are inferior in an aerial duel often have a way of making sure that they do not have challenge in the air. Preventing the entire situation. I’m talking about players like Ayala or Cannavaro. Not saying Ake is the same, but short CBs often develop a way to handle these situations.
It would make perfect sense.
Not being good in the air is probably less of a problem than being slow like Maguire. A lot of people made a big deal out of that but I would say he has worked out fine.
The timing of getting Ake would be great. 25 years old. In his fifth season in the PL. And the qualities he has is the same Maguire/Lindelof lack. I think Liverpool have been shrewd at making these type of signings. Players at «a good age». Not too old, not too young - entering their peak. With a bit of experience from the PL. Winjaldum, Mane, Salah, VvD and Robertson.
Furthermore, if would allow OGS to move Shaw back as a fullback and play with three at the back when he wants too. Against good teams that could be a clever move. Matic and Maguire is a bit too slow against the best teams. Maguire flanked by Lindelof and Ake, on the other hand, could work. Just like Shaw did.
Furthermore, I must say, I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for a few short CBs. Players who know that they are inferior in an aerial duel often have a way of making sure that they do not have challenge in the air. Preventing the entire situation. I’m talking about players like Ayala or Cannavaro. Not saying Ake is the same, but short CBs often develop a way to handle these situations.
It would make perfect sense.
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Like I said in another thread last night, I'd always had the impression that Ake is very good in the air for his height. But I looked up his stats and he only wins just over half of his aerial duals. That's a bit low for comfort. Lindelof and Bailly both win about two thirds in comparison and we don't really consider them good enough in that regard. Otherwise he does play a bit like Bailly without the injuries and brainfarts, which in theory is what we should be looking for.
It does sound like Ole says we need a left footed centreback, which is interesting seeing as Maguire has spent most of his career on the left. Sounds like we might be looking at moving him over to the right.
It does sound like Ole says we need a left footed centreback, which is interesting seeing as Maguire has spent most of his career on the left. Sounds like we might be looking at moving him over to the right.
He would get lambasted on here for not winning his duels. Good CB but if he wasn’t left footed we wouldn’t be mentioning him.
Plenty of better CBs
Plenty of better CBs
Not many will have his CV and cost as peanuts as 30 million. That is a shrewd signing at this day and age.
This Matip/Rudiger level of signing, if we sign him, nice. I can accept that.
Decent player but no better than what we already have imo.
I just don't think he's anywhere near the level of what we need.
If I’m thinking about players who are guaranteed to be better than Lindelof, Bailly, Tuanzebe, Mengi etc does Nathan Ake really stand out as comfortably (or even slightly) better than those options.
Beyond having a left foot (which isn’t an issue as Maguire plays LCB anyway) he’d be a completely uninspired choice, and no I don’t think this is a VVD at Southampton moment I think this is average PL CB who has some stand out qualities relative to other CBs
To put one aspect of his game in context out of 283 of Europe’s top 5 league defenders he ranks in the bottom 25 for aerial duels won. He would get torn apart on the Caf.
If we can get a low price I'd definitely go for it. He would be a really interesting option to have, quick lad with good feet. I'm really not sure what Bournemouth be looking for. Rojo and Smalling are basically gone, wish Jones left. That's 3 CB's gone with a injury prone Axel and Bailly. It's not hot huge risk to it and he's at a great age, can still improve yet. 20 to 25m would be great business. Didn't Bournemouth want serious cash a while back from Leicester to replace Maguire?
I understand your point, but rather than being a VVD moment, this is more like Wijnaldum/Shaqiri moment.
I'm a stern believer of Lindelof/Tuanzebe improving to partner Maguire. Bailly will be injured anyways.
Signing another high level CB will disrupt their development.
Maybe he is lacking in heading department, but he might just be the player for us to play a high line.
Does he have to be? I mean, Lindelof/Maguire have worked out fine this season. If we could get a CB at Lindelofs level for a decent fee, I think OGS would take it. Specially if the player had a few different qualities compared to those two (left footed and a lot quicker).
By all means, if there was a sure thing out there that was available and obviously better than Lindelof/Maguire we should go for him. But there is a lot of competition for CBs this summer and I dont see us spending heavily on one again.
I guess you could argue that we could just stick to what we got then. But I dont think OGS trust Bailly. And I also think he prefers CBs with a certain calm to their game. I also think that what Solskjaer (apparantly) says in the video is a good point; we could do with a left footed CB. Specially a quick one that could allow us to play the 343 formation we have used.
This, I agree.
We want Sancho, that's the biggest chunk of our transfer budget, signing another CB at Lindelof's level is not doable for me.
We all agree that Sancho is the main target, so realistically, Ake type of signing make sense if we want to sign a decent CB.
I`m all for it if he`s coming as a back up. Smalling and Rojo are as good as gone and reckon we try to shift Jones out as well. That leaves us with HM, Lindelof, Bailly and Axel the latter two are injury prone and the former is the only natural LCB in the team the rest are at their best at RCB. Not counting Mengi as he`s still just an U18.
Koulibaly is the only CB available that`s a guaranteed upgrade on our CBs but his age and the fact that we spent 80m on a CB last year rules him out so the best we can do is get a CB that offers good depth and something different to our other CBs(being a left footed CB)
Koulibaly is the only CB available that`s a guaranteed upgrade on our CBs but his age and the fact that we spent 80m on a CB last year rules him out so the best we can do is get a CB that offers good depth and something different to our other CBs(being a left footed CB)
I like him, and he would be a good addition for the right price.
Two threads on one player
What's he like on the ball? I haven't seen much of him so I can't say I have a solid opinion, but he has always struck me as a player who is way too prone to mistakes. I don't know if that's because I've seen him make a lot of stupid passes or because the ones he has made have left more of an impression.
I bought him on FM, he's mint
For anyone thinking he's too small, he was destroying us in the air until we got Maguire.
Okay he only had the likes of Smalling and Lindelof to beat but he was always a real danger.
Seems to stay fit too which would be a major plus in our squad
Okay he only had the likes of Smalling and Lindelof to beat but he was always a real danger.
Seems to stay fit too which would be a major plus in our squad
He can head the ball for one...so yes he's head and shoulders above Lindelhof. He's also a shed load faster
Aten't they extinct?
He isnt good enough this has been shown at Bono and at international level
It makes sense we are after a left footed centre back. Rojo and maybe Jones would be sold, if he isn't he would be in the hospital. Those are the only two left footed centre backs in our team and they won't be here anymore so we actually need one.
I dont really know the plan for the left footed centre back though. But my thinking is as a squad option. Maguire already plays LCB, the position of the left footed centre back. I don't see us shifting Maguire to RCB when he's already doing well in his current position.
I think we are more focused on just getting a left footed centre back because we don't have one and it's not to partner with Maguire. We've also been linked by strong sources with Salisu, Pau Torres, Badiashile(all left footed) and Rodon(right footed but plays LCB). All these are basically squad players. So my point is we might not be looking for a starter to compliment Maguire but a solid cheap left footed CB that's a squad player. Ake fits that role
Everybody knows we need a quick CB to partner but if we sign any of these players above they would likely be on the bench so maybe Ole thinks he has that quick CB in Tuanzebe or even Bailly and all we need is a solid left footed CB that we don't have to balance the team
I dont really know the plan for the left footed centre back though. But my thinking is as a squad option. Maguire already plays LCB, the position of the left footed centre back. I don't see us shifting Maguire to RCB when he's already doing well in his current position.
I think we are more focused on just getting a left footed centre back because we don't have one and it's not to partner with Maguire. We've also been linked by strong sources with Salisu, Pau Torres, Badiashile(all left footed) and Rodon(right footed but plays LCB). All these are basically squad players. So my point is we might not be looking for a starter to compliment Maguire but a solid cheap left footed CB that's a squad player. Ake fits that role
Everybody knows we need a quick CB to partner but if we sign any of these players above they would likely be on the bench so maybe Ole thinks he has that quick CB in Tuanzebe or even Bailly and all we need is a solid left footed CB that we don't have to balance the team
Honestly think it was just Ole giving Ake some movitation and praise. He's not wrong that now Rojo has effectively gone we could do with a Left footer, but think it was more just a tongue in cheek comment in the spare of the moment.
Potentially though if Bournemouth do go down he could be seen as a big bargain as he 100% won't be staying there.
Potentially though if Bournemouth do go down he could be seen as a big bargain as he 100% won't be staying there.
Bournemouth are probably too depressed to even register a tampering claim with the league.