No midfield reinforcements

[sunama]

The only good thing about all this is that we only bought players from the local pool. I am sure we'll be competing for the EPL title based on sheer determination, love for the shirt and extremely high fitness levels/workrate alone.

I saw the Wolves match today and saw no evidence of any of this.
Also, regarding us being a fit team. I just don't believe this.
Should we go this route, we'll need to buy more "athletes" and stop renewing contracts of the non-athletes.
Dan Jame and Bissaka are an indication that Ole wants us to be more athletic, but only time will tell if we continue in that direction.

 

[Dan_F]

A quality number 10 wins us this game. A quality midfielder which pushes Pogba further up the pitch also wins us this game. I don't understand why we didn't even attempt to improve our midfield this summer. Playing catch up every season is tiring.

It's only the start of this season so hopefully someone steps up at some point.

Agreed. Makes sense that we were after Dybala if we planned to drop Pogba that deep. I was surprised at the control we seemed to have with that midfield for most of the game, it’s just woefully lacking quality.

 

[sunama]

A quality number 10 wins us this game. A quality midfielder which pushes Pogba further up the pitch also wins us this game. I don't understand why we didn't even attempt to improve our midfield this summer. Playing catch up every season is tiring.

It's only the start of this season so hopefully someone steps up at some point.

We tried to save money.
Our net spend this Summer and last Summer was in the region of £70M. That seems to be our target, in terms of Summer spending.

 

[Ekeke]

I dont think McTominay had a stinker, he was just doing the job of 2 players from last season - Matic and Ander. So he had less help than Matic had in that role. McTominay had some good contributions and at other times the job was too big for him alone. This shouldnt be a surprise to anyone as Pogba has shown time and again at United that he isnt going to put in much of a defensive shift for United

 

[The Thinker]

The squad is really thin and with a few injuries and a lot of games it will be a looong season!

Mctominay was alright tonight and will be better during the season.
Matic and Mata hopfully will play in Europa league with the younger lads to offer some experience.

 

[Gandalf Greyhame]

We really messed up here, didn't we? Looking at the bench and seeing just Mata and Pereira there was depressing.

 

[In Rainbows]

I dont think McTominay had a stinker, he was just doing the job of 2 players from last season - Matic and Ander. So he had less help than Matic had in that role. McTominay had some good contributions and at other times the job was too big for him alone. This shouldnt be a surprise to anyone as Pogba has shown time and again at United that he isnt going to put in much of a defensive shift for United

And Pogba is the only one putting in a shift at carrying the ball out. You can't exclude one side of the game. I'm not even blaming McTominay btw. I was only frustrated with Lingard and James. It's just tiring to only look at one side of the game as if that's the only task a midfielder has.

 

[Yagami]

I dont think McTominay had a stinker, he was just doing the job of 2 players from last season - Matic and Ander. So he had less help than Matic had in that role. McTominay had some good contributions and at other times the job was too big for him alone. This shouldnt be a surprise to anyone as Pogba has shown time and again at United that he isnt going to put in much of a defensive shift for United

I disagree here. McTominay was very poor.

Pogba, whilst carrying us in possession, didn't make any tackles compared to Scott's 2, but made the same amount of interceptions as Scott (1), and 1 more clearance (2).

So, Pogba did his part defensively whilst carrying the team in possession, whilst Scott was marginally better defensively whilst offering nothing when we had the ball.

 

[Ekeke]

And Pogba is the only one putting in a shift at carrying the ball out. You can't exclude one side of the game. I'm not even blaming McTominay btw. I was only frustrated with Lingard and James. It's just tiring to only look at one side of the game as if that's the only task a midfielder has.

I dont see that as being the job of your 2 DMs. If Pogba was doing that further up the pitch it would be more menacing for the opposition too. First and foremost they need to give the defense what they need to cope with the opponent's attack, and Pogba - McTominay is short

 

[Josep Dowling]

I can’t believe Solskjaer wouldn’t have wanted another midfielder this summer. He’s been let down in my opinion.

Are we hoping Fred will come good? And where the feck is he? Seems a joke how much money we have wasted on players that barely play for us.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Back to square one. United and a neglected midfield.

 

[Nou_Camp99]

Put a world class CM in there alongside Mctomminay (for now) and move Pogba further forward and we'd be alright.

Criminal how we couldn't find one midfielder to sign. It's going to hurt us.

 

[In Rainbows]

I dont see that as being the job of your 2 DMs. If Pogba was doing that further up the pitch it would be more menacing for the opposition too. First and foremost they need to give the defense what they need to cope with the opponent's attack, and Pogba - McTominay is short

None of them are DMs. They're playing the pivot role, with each providing a different role. I wasn't all too fussed about the midfield today, but there could certainly be an improvement. Think Lingard was part to blame for not being a better option to bring the ball out and link up play.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

Our midfield is somehow again a major problem.

We needed at least 2 signings and got none in this position.

 

[Jacob]

Put a world class CM in there alongside Mctomminay (for now) and move Pogba further forward and we'd be alright.

Criminal how we couldn't find one midfielder to sign. It's going to hurt us.

Hopefully Fred will allow us to move Pogba further up. It's either him or Matic.

 

[Nou_Camp99]

Hopefully Fred will allow us to move Pogba further up. It's either him or Matic.

Fred is not the answer. Poor player too. Costs us PTS like he did at Wolves funny enough with poor touch.

 

[kouroux]

I can’t believe Solskjaer wouldn’t have wanted another midfielder this summer. He’s been let down in my opinion.

Are we hoping Fred will come good? And where the feck is he? Seems a joke how much money we have wasted on players that barely play for us.

Already planning his 3rd marriage next summer

 

[Hawks2008]

Still baffling to me that the club decided not to bring in a midfielder. It isn't like there weren't good midfielders available either.

 

[Frank Grimes]

Didnt watch the game as was working but its obvious that out midfield is a big issue. Criminal we didnt bring in a midfielder in the summer. Absolutely no excuse for that and it will cost us in the long run.

 

[Irwin99]

I’d still like to see a bit more of Fred before we totally write him off but the midfield and the number 10 spot will be a big problem for the manager unless we can work something out. I bet you could replace any one player with another in those positions and although one problem might be solved another would crop up. E.g replace Lingard with Pogba and you get an attacking midfielder that actually gets goals and assists but the quality and intensity of the pressing goes down. You play our only recognised DM in the squad in Matic and again the spaces might be covered a little better but you lose Mctominay/Fred’s energy.

It looks a really tricky balancing act especially in a 4-2-3-1. I hope we find the right combination.

 

[NoPace]

I dont think McTominay had a stinker, he was just doing the job of 2 players from last season - Matic and Ander. So he had less help than Matic had in that role. McTominay had some good contributions and at other times the job was too big for him alone. This shouldnt be a surprise to anyone as Pogba has shown time and again at United that he isnt going to put in much of a defensive shift for United

Yeah I didn't see anything too offensive from McTominay, or even Pogba. We dealt with Wolves' counters relatively well and Pogba won a penalty and played some nice passes.

People are going to look for reasons why we don't win away but it's generally going to be that James and Lingard playing 80 minutes each in a front 4 against a team not letting them use their pace and have to break them down... well you'd need Cristiano and Messi with them to make a good front 4.

Martial and Rashford aren't going to be 5 grapefruits and a dozen bran muffins.

 

[SaintMuppet]

The lack of midfield depth might cost us top 4. And Ole his job.

Surely he must know this if the rest of us do. Which means logically he was probably overruled in his quest to bring a midfielder in during the summer.

 

[Devil may care]

I think not getting a top CM and #10 will ultimately cost us top 4, which is a shame as Ole is on the right track with the style we are playing, he just doesn't have enough quality at his disposal.

 

[Judas]

I'm hopeful we'll show progress this season after these initial two performances, but yeah there is no way we'll not be made to pay for a lack of investment in critical areas.

 

[Ole’s Wheel]

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Statistically, last season it was shown & proven that United’s vast majority of play was funnelling the ball through Pogba and over relying heavily on him to do it all.

We badly needed a second creative playmaking CM to lessen the load off him and make us more unpredictable in attack and have failed to.

Ed/United briefed the press (excuse) that we pulled the plug on Dybala because of money/lack of wanting to play for us even though they were 1000% committed and it was Dybala’s side that rejected us first...and even after that, failed to go after another target like Bruno that would die to play for United.

Hypocrisy & failure all around.

I wish I could say I didn’t see this coming. But it’s been obvious as clear as day for a few years now and still unaddressed.

This is where not signing a starting level creative midfielder gets you. Same old, same old...let’s not act shocked anymore when a team like the Wolves can just knowingly sit back and defend because we aren’t capable of breaking down/penetrating their defense due to lack of options AKA being predictable as feck.....

 

[settembrini]

So many people predicted we would get dominated last night because of our supposedly weak midfield and instead we dominated possession. It would be nice to see more praise for Pogba and McTominay putting in a good performance instead of people complaining that we don't still have Fellaini in the squad.

 

[Lay]

Still baffling to me that the club decided not to bring in a midfielder. It isn't like there weren't good midfielders available either.

Who was available?

 

[ArjenIsM3]

Who was available?

Tielemans, Partey, Rodri, Bruno Fernandes

 

[Hammondo]

Put a world class CM in there alongside Mctomminay (for now) and move Pogba further forward and we'd be alright.

Criminal how we couldn't find one midfielder to sign. It's going to hurt us.

Agreed. Someone who can run the game, and we are solid.

 

[crossy1686]

We really messed up here, didn't we? Looking at the bench and seeing just Mata and Pereira there was depressing.

We can sign again in January, if we're bereft at that point we'll bring someone in.

 

[Lay]

Tielemans, Partey, Rodri, Bruno Fernandes

Tielemans hasn’t proved anything, he’s had about 3 months of decent football at the highest level, he was poor at Monaco.

Partay was available?

Rodri was going to City early on before last season even ended.

Bruno is the only one who we could have got but even Spurs didn’t go for him in the end

 

[ArjenIsM3]

Tielemans hasn’t proved anything, he’s had about 3 months of decent football at the highest level, he was poor at Monaco.

Partay was available?

Rodri was going to City early on before last season even ended.

Bruno is the only one who we could have got but even Spurs didn’t go for him in the end

Tielemans was a bit of a gamble but has always been highly regarded and was already used to the PL. Partey was available, his agent shopped him around a bit and revealed his release clause (€50m). Rodri got snapped up early yes but that doesn't mean we couldn't shouldn't have tried to get him at that point.

 

[Lay]

Tielemans was a bit of a gamble but has always been highly regarded and was already used to the PL. Partey was available, his agent shopped him around a bit and revealed his release clause (€50m). Rodri got snapped up early yes but that doesn't mean we couldn't shouldn't have tried to get him at that point.

Tielemans wanted Leicester. Even so we would probably be moaning how immobile he is. Another overrated player living off rep of 3-4 years ago. Not the answer.

Who says Partay would consider us? If he’s being shopped around and has no takers, what does that say?

Even if we went early for rodri, soon as Pep came in, he would have gone there.

There wasn’t an abundance of midfielders available, especially not the ready made proven ones we need.

 

[Bestietom]

Tielemans, Partey, Rodri, Bruno Fernandes

Ndombele, Carvalho, Pelegrini.

 

[VanGaalyTime]

Tielemans wanted Leicester. Even so we would probably be moaning how immobile he is. Another overrated player living off rep of 3-4 years ago. Not the answer.

Who says Partay would consider us? If he’s being shopped around and has no takers, what does that say?

Even if we went early for rodri, soon as Pep came in, he would have gone there.

There wasn’t an abundance of midfielders available, especially not the ready made proven ones we need.[/QUOTE

Sorry but that's insane. There were about 40 midfielders on the market and and 10 I can name who would have been useful for United. Literally the only reason we didn't buy was because the money isn't there. Ole is given the task of winning the premier league with the budget of a midtable championship squad.

 

[Bilbo]

So many people predicted we would get dominated last night because of our supposedly weak midfield and instead we dominated possession. It would be nice to see more praise for Pogba and McTominay putting in a good performance instead of people complaining that we don't still have Fellaini in the squad.

Agreed. The amount of times we won the ball back quickly was very encouraging. We squeezed the life out of them in the first half. It was only Traore coming on and causing some havoc that gave them any kind of foothold

 

[VanGaalyTime]

Ndombele, Carvalho, Pelegrini.

Lo Celso, Eriksen, Ceballos, Coutinho, Longstaff, Rice etc. Any of these players could have been bought for the 70 that we got for Lukaku. And we should have been able to spend way more than that. Players like Marquinhos and Kroos would be available around the 100m mark.

 

[MetoTTT]

Tielemans hasn’t proved anything, he’s had about 3 months of decent football at the highest level, he was poor at Monaco.

Partay was available?

Rodri was going to City early on before last season even ended.

Bruno is the only one who we could have got but even Spurs didn’t go for him in the end

What about N'Dombele? Yes, Partey was available too.

 

[stepic]

yeah, there were tons of midfielders available this summer. it's absurd there was literally no one in world football that we were interested in and was available. blah.

 

[Nikelesh Reddy]

This is the big Achilles heel in our squad.Not signing a midfielder will came back to bite us come the end of May...Hopefully we”ll atleast Seriously try to bring someone in January