Our Midfield

[bond19821982]

Matic is done, Fred is still in Ukraine, McT is a Kid, AP is not a midfielder and then we have Pogba.

Our options are quite bad probably worse in all of top 8. We really need couple of solid 6/10 midfielders . Not world beaters not young kids but who can actually do a job .

Season is 2 weeks away and I don't think we will sign any mids ( even if we sign longstaff ,he is for future).

Not a transfer names thread but discuss how are we going to cope the season esp when we are aspiring for a top 4.

 

[noodlehair]

McTominay is improving a lot so I think he's worth giving a shot now. He doesn't play like a kid anymore.

Pereira I like but I still haven't figured out what he actually does. He gets angry a lot. He's capable of spotting a pass and capable of playing one but rarely seems to do both at the same time.

Fred is a good footballer but a midfielder who constantly gives the ball to the opposition striker is kind of the same as having a good midfielder and then telling them to play for the other team.

Pogba is a good player during the brief period of each year where his universe collides with our one so he is actually playing in the same football game as the rest of us are watching.

Matic seems to be about 38 years old.

We definitely need someone, but we have five of the buggers even without Herrera so someone would need to make way. FOr a team who need so many players we seem to have amassed quite a lot of them. Our first team squad must need to hire two seperate coaches to get to and from games.

 

[Skills]

Need someone desperately so we don't have to play Matic. He's a liability.

What a collosal waste of 40m that was.

 

[Kush]

Midfield is an even bigger concern than CB for me, I expect threads on topic of our midfield to gain a lot of traction in the coming months.

 

[jem]

McTominay is improving a lot so I think he's worth giving a shot now. He doesn't play like a kid anymore.

Pereira I like but I still haven't figured out what he actually does. He gets angry a lot. He's capable of spotting a pass and capable of playing one but rarely seems to do both at the same time.

Fred is a good footballer but a midfielder who constantly gives the ball to the opposition striker is kind of the same as having a good midfielder and then telling them to play for the other team.

Pogba is a good player during the brief period of each year where his universe collides with our one so he is actually playing in the same football game as the rest of us are watching.

Matic seems to be about 38 years old.

We definitely need someone, but we have five of the buggers even without Herrera so someone would need to make way. FOr a team who need so many players we seem to have amassed quite a lot of them. Our first team squad must need to hire two seperate coaches to get to and from games.

I agree and I feel like this belongs in the 'Weird Feelings about Football' thread.

 

[AUnitedOpinion]

In an ideal world we would have wrapped up the signing of Bruno Fernandes weeks ago so he had time to settle in to the squad, but now it looks unlikely that the signing will happen.

If we do go in to the season with the midfield we have i think we will struggle. I only see Pogba as the player who can move us forward effectively and able to play a pass.

I like Mctominay but i think he needs another season before he is a full time starter but when he plays he shows desire and calmness on the ball.

Matic/Fred give the ball away too much in the midfield then don't have the Pace to get back. Pereria is always 50/50 on what you are likely to get.

 

[TRUERED89]

Need someone desperately so we don't have to play Matic. He's a liability.

What a collosal waste of 40m that was.

Jose loves signing pensioners what can you do? Except this time they weren't able to win him 1 PL before it all went to sh!t..

 

[mav_9me]

IMO we only have 2 proper CM, Pogba and Mctominay. Matic as maybe a squad option. Don't trust Andreas or Fred at all.

I think this is where we are going to suffer the most other than right wing.

Looking back we will think how did we go into season with Matic as our main DM.

 

[Johan07]

IMO we only have 2 proper CM, Pogba and Mctominay. Matic as maybe a squad option. Don't trust Andreas or Fred at all.

I think this is where we are going to suffer the most other than right wing.

Looking back we will think how did we go into season with Matic as our main DM.

Yeah. Our midfield squad is severly unbalanced towards the offensive side, especially if we get Fernandes in as well.
We have lost both Herrera and Fellaini, who were the alternatives at DM disregarding if one thinks that they are not good enough.
Matic will play more minutes than any other of our midfielders this year again. And he should have been phased out to begin with at that position. At least they were alternatives.
I would much rather take both a really experienced DM and a prospect as Longstaff before a CB or a RW.

 

[Sweech]

As a neutral this is what I’ve been wondering about the most. I know your defence needs some work and you need help scoring too, but to me a proper midfield can help with all that.

There have been links to some midfielders but almost always with the added note of Pogba leaving. I don’t think that gets you any further. In fact I think you could probably need to add two CMs and keep Pogba.

I do like McT though, he’s impressed me almost every time I’ve seen him.

 

[Fosu-Mens]

Yeah. Our midfield squad is severly unbalanced towards the offensive side, especially if we get Fernandes in as well.
We have lost both Herrera and Fellaini, who were the alternatives at DM disregarding if one thinks that they are not good enough.
Matic will play more minutes than any other of our midfielders this year again. And he should have been phased out to begin with at that position. At least they were alternatives.
I would much rather take both a really experienced DM and a prospect as Longstaff before a CB or a RW.

Get two balanced(i.e. can perform most roles) midfielders able to pass and cover the CBs and then let Pogba play as a CAM.

 

[romufc]

McT and Pogba look like they will be starters. Perreira, Fred and Matic as squad.

But if either PP or McT get injured, I don't think I have the confidence in any of the 3 sqaud players to come in and do the job and deputise.

We were lacking in Mid start of last season, hence we signed Fred, but since then we have lost 2 and 1 is ageing.

 

[Johan07]

Get two balanced(i.e. can perform most roles) midfielders able to pass and cover the CBs and then let Pogba play as a CAM.

One experienced and one prospect would be my choice as well. I would seriously look at a player like Matuidi or Javi Martinez to take minutes off Matic and a ready-made prospect as Longstaff as well. For me that would be more important than adding Maguire.

 

[bond19821982]

McT - Matic - PP
AP - Fred - ??

Think about playing against City with that midfield.
Even for a top 8, that's a horrible midfield

 

[Gasolin]

McT - Matic - PP
AP - Fred - ??

Think about playing against City with that midfield.
Even for a top 8, that's a horrible midfield

Solving Matic will be key, I think Ole is trying to use Fred in that role and simplifying the role of the 6. You remember when your coach tells you as a 6, don't over think, get the ball back and simply release it to your nearest player and don't play long passes or risk passes, so basically, don't lose the ball? Maybe he thinks Fred can do that if physically fit to intercept the ball and pass...

Not sure if that's enough. And even for short passes, Fred made some mistakes but that may be fitness related.

 

[Raw]

A good defensive midfielder is key, it'll help protect our defence more and it can help free up Pogba. We can't rely on Matic and McTominay is more of a box to box player in my eyes.

 

[tjb]

Don't think its near as bad as is being made in the thread. McTominay is really stepping into his own and it seems like Pogba is going to be utilized deeper, so in the centre midfield position its not bad. Where we have a problem are the attacking midfield and right wing area. Even at centre back i feel over the course of the season Tuanzebe can step up to that role if given a chance. But in attacking midfield, we clearly cannot trust lingard or Mata, and Gomes should be a squad option at this point to ease him in. Maybe Andreas can prove something, but we really should be after this position moreso than any other.

 

[StrettyEnder07]

Matic is done, Fred is still in Ukraine, McT is a Kid, AP is not a midfielder and then we have Pogba.

Our options are quite bad probably worse in all of top 8. We really need couple of solid 6/10 midfielders . Not world beaters not young kids but who can actually do a job .

Season is 2 weeks away and I don't think we will sign any mids ( even if we sign longstaff ,he is for future).

Not a transfer names thread but discuss how are we going to cope the season esp when we are aspiring for a top 4.

Pereira is not a midfielder? How so?

Fred is still in the Ukraine? Promising towards the end of last season hopefully can build on it.

McTominay is a kid, he is 23 in December far from being a "kid" and has been superb since Ole came in, and has been in preseason, will continue to improve next season.

Matic agree.

Gomes looks like he is ready to breakthrough this season, for me he will be Pogba's back up in that advanced midfield position.

I can see McTominay and Fred fighting for the Herrera position with a DMC being signed with Matic as his back up.

If it is Longstaff or someone else, I don't think they will be signed for the future they will be signed to play a first team starting roll.

You also have Garner there plus Lingard/Mata when he wants to play a 10 with Pogba in CM next to someone else.

Ideally we would like to sign 2 CMs but can't see it personally, need a few fringe players to come good (Fred/Pereira)

 

[Raven]

I think the main problem last season was the lack of coherency, nobody seemed to know where to be or when to be there. They didn't know where their teammates were, the plan usually was long ball from Pogba to one of our strikers who would try to score.

With a good system in place, as Ole seems to be implementing so far this preseason, I feel our midfield will be much stronger. We could do with a tempo setter, but I don't think we really need anyone else.

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

2018/19 - Pogba, Fellaini, Matic, Herrera, Fred, McTominay, Pereira.

2019/20 - Pogba, Matic, Fred, McTominay, Pereira, Garner.


Our midfield, which was shite last year, is EVEN WORSE going into the new season.

Welcome to the world's biggest football club.

 

[Bilbo]

Herrera is a loss to us for sure. We definitely still need our own version of Kante in the team. Whether McTominay is right for that particular role I don't know, but I think its unfair for anyone to not consider him a very worthy addition to this squad now.

 

[Inter Yer Nan]

Midfield is crap really. Pogba is class but with an average supporting cast we don't see him at his best consistently enough. I quite like McTominay and am happy to see him start but we need someone else in there. Fred is a liability unfortunately. Pereira nowhere near good enough, Matic is a spent bullet and the young lads are too young for serious consideration. How we've allowed to let Herrera go and not gone for anyone this summer is beyond comprehension IMO.

 

[Infestissumam]

still hope we sign Longstaff. I have a feeling that a Longstaff-McTominay midfield behind Pogba would work very well and they could strike a partnership for a long time.

 

[Alemar]

still hope we sign Longstaff. I have a feeling that a Longstaff-McTominay midfield behind Pogba would work very well and they could strike a partnership for a long time.

Why not take some proven DM then, not one with 9 EPL appearances? There are also OTHER defensive midfielders in the world, Longstaff is not the only one...

 

[Infestissumam]

Why not take some proven DM then, not one with 9 EPL appearances? There are also OTHER defensive midfielders in the world, Longstaff is not the only one...

yes there are, but it seems he's the one Ole wants (at least that's what I think, we haven't been linked to many other midfielders and the interest in Longstaff is well documented). I think people put too much emphasis on the "proven vs unproven" thing ... Fellaini and Schneiderlin were more than PL proven when we signed them. Might as well buy a younger player that can be developed, and Longstaff did play really well for Newcastle before the injury.

 

[bond19821982]

Pereira is not a midfielder? How so?

Fred is still in the Ukraine? Promising towards the end of last season hopefully can build on it.

McTominay is a kid, he is 23 in December far from being a "kid" and has been superb since Ole came in, and has been in preseason, will continue to improve next season.

Matic agree.

Gomes looks like he is ready to breakthrough this season, for me he will be Pogba's back up in that advanced midfield position.

I can see McTominay and Fred fighting for the Herrera position with a DMC being signed with Matic as his back up.

If it is Longstaff or someone else, I don't think they will be signed for the future they will be signed to play a first team starting roll.

You also have Garner there plus Lingard/Mata when he wants to play a 10 with Pogba in CM next to someone else.

Ideally we would like to sign 2 CMs but can't see it personally, need a few fringe players to come good (Fred/Pereira)

AP hasn't played in a midfield position until now. He was a winger at Valencia, played deep and attacking with Jose, now a b2b with Ole.

McT is still a kid in terms of PL experience. Just about an year of PL experience and its wrong to expect lot of things from him this year. He will be very inconsistent. Same applies for Longstaff.

Fred - nothing, except against Barca and PSG, he was poor . Yeah, we can all hope.

We need 2 midfielders who can do solid jobs. Not necessarily world beaters.

 

[StrettyEnder07]

AP hasn't played in a midfield position until now. He was a winger at Valencia, played deep and attacking with Jose, now a b2b with Ole.

McT is still a kid in terms of PL experience. Just about an year of PL experience and its wrong to expect lot of things from him this year. He will be very inconsistent. Same applies for Longstaff.

Fred - nothing, except against Barca and PSG, he was poor . Yeah, we can all hope.

We need 2 midfielders who can do solid jobs. Not necessarily world beaters.

Pereira played as a winger on loan at Valencia but that is the only time he has been used there from memory, bar the U20 world championships when he played on the left for Brazil.

Played as either 8 or a 10 for most of his youth and time at United, 6 under Jose so his understanding of a CM role should be pretty decent by now.

What's the difference between McT and Rashford? He is coming up to 23, has 18 months first team experience, why is he to young to be a starter for Man United? We seem to have this obsession with no one ever being ready to play, loan them till they are 30 then they might have enough experience.

Foden/Sancho/Hudson Odi all have less experience but only at us do we think they can't handle it, not having that at all.

Longstaff same as above.

Fred fingers crossed.

Do agree we need 2 CMs as we are short and we need to replace Herrera but personally happy to see McT have a top season and trust him to do so and hopefully Gomes has a breakthrough season as well.

 

[Fosu-Mens]

One experienced and one prospect would be my choice as well. I would seriously look at a player like Matuidi or Javi Martinez to take minutes off Matic and a ready-made prospect as Longstaff as well. For me that would be more important than adding Maguire.

We need two starters, ideally someone that could create some balance in our team.
Longstaff, based on abilities, is a balancing midfielder but not good enough to be counted as a starter.
Matuidi is not what he was, and would not help with the issue of playing out of defence.
Martinez is not a bad option but might have issues with the big spaces in our team given that he is not particularly mobile.

 

[Johan07]

We need two starters, ideally someone that could create some balance in our team.
Longstaff, based on abilities, is a balancing midfielder but not good enough to be counted as a starter.
Matuidi is not what he was, and would not help with the issue of playing out of defence.
Martinez is not a bad option but might have issues with the big spaces in our team given that he is not particularly mobile.

The big issue is that the No6 position is extremely hard to fill, especially in the PL. Its not a position you just jump into. Fernandinho took two-three years until he established himself for example.
There are not a lot of options out there tbf. Which is why I would look at someone with more experience that would bridge the gap for one or two years while grooming someone at the same time. Agree that players like Matuidi and Martinez are over the top, but I would rather have anyone of those if away at Anfield than Pereira nxt season.
I just feel really bad about going into this season with only Matic. Someone experienced at his level would at least take minutes off him and he might actually perform better himself as a result.

 

[Edy2]

2018/19 - Pogba, Fellaini, Matic, Herrera, Fred, McTominay, Pereira.

2019/20 - Pogba, Matic, Fred, McTominay, Pereira, Garner.

Our midfield, which was shite last year, is EVEN WORSE going into the new season.

Welcome to the world's biggest football club.

If you think these midfields are bad you would not have liked the latter SAF years (if you weren't about for them) with the likes of o shea, Rafael, Anderson, cleverley, park etc

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

If you think these midfields are bad you would not have liked the latter SAF years (if you weren't about for them) with the likes of o shea, Rafael, Anderson, cleverley, park etc

I was and yes, I hated them too. I dont nderstand how such a big club can have such continuous neglect of such important positions.

 

[Edy2]

I was and yes, I hated them too. I dont nderstand how such a big club can have such continuous neglect of such important positions.

We didn't have any good midfield prospects at that time though apart from pogba that I can remember, I may be wrong there. We have quite a few of those now in mctominay, Pereira and garner so the future looks relatively bright anyway. I do get what you're saying though.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

If you think these midfields are bad you would not have liked the latter SAF years (if you weren't about for them) with the likes of o shea, Rafael, Anderson, cleverley, park etc

Here for a brief spell of a pre-season and a few weeks in to the season Ando and Cleverley played some of the best stuff our midfield has done in the last 15 years. Then Ando got injured and they both returned to type but for a brief moment in time they were awesome going forward.

Left gaping holes behind them like but it was great to watch.

Have to agree with most, midfield is a concern but then I don’t see the point in signing someone just for the sake of signing them. Reports coming out we’ve never been in for Fernandes who is the midfielder I’ve heard most about so it makes you wonder who we are really looking at for there if anyone at all. I doubt we could buy two decent midfielders at this point of the window for less than 120mil.

 

[Mylock]

We could try Lindelof as a defensive midfielder if we bring in Maguire to play with Tuanzebe. Lindelof played there earlier in his career and would allow our attacking players more freedom. There seems to be a shortage of world class defensive midfielders available at the moment.

 

[NewGlory]

Matic seems to be about 38 years old.

Sad but true and judging by the preseason - nothing will change. No hope whatsoever.

What a collosal waste of 40m that was.

He was phenomenal in his first year. Carried our team and was probably a big reason why we finished as high as the 2nd place. Then he got old overnight and at this point - he should just retire, or play in China or something.

We should have sold Fred and Matic for sure. If we want to win things, probably AP as well. He's very average. And instead we should have brought in quality midfielders like Bruno Fernandes, Milinković-Savić and Longstaff.

But we are not bringing enough people in because we are not selling anybody. It's a huge problem and I am not sure if it comes from Ole or Woodward or what is wrong, but either way it is serious weakness of Ole's. Coaches that are successful out of the gate are not afraid to kick deadwood out (think: Pep his first two years at City)

 

[Mr Smith]

Not making a Herrera replacement our first priority the moment we knew he wasn't signing a new contract will probably turn out to be the club's biggest mistake from this summer.

 

[Eric's Seagull]

Herrera is a loss to us for sure. We definitely still need our own version of Kante in the team. Whether McTominay is right for that particular role I don't know, but I think its unfair for anyone to not consider him a very worthy addition to this squad now.

I think Ole is a big fan of McTominay. I am hoping that he is going to keep on improving well this season. Although I think you are right and I think it is a mistake that we didn't replace Herrera. Who would you recommend as own version of Kante?

 

[RkkMan]

I think the main problem last season was the lack of coherency, nobody seemed to know where to be or when to be there. They didn't know where their teammates were, the plan usually was long ball from Pogba to one of our strikers who would try to score.

With a good system in place, as Ole seems to be implementing so far this preseason, I feel our midfield will be much stronger. We could do with a tempo setter, but I don't think we really need anyone else.

Lack of coherency AND lack of quality too bar Pogba and Mctominay there's still massive question marks over the consistency of Fred/AP Mata/Matic are completely past their best it will take a perfect storm like AP/Fred miraculously gaining form for a whole season and a worldie season from Pogba for our midfield to have any "coherence" which is a testament of how problematic that position is

 

[Web of Bissaka]

2 Good Starters: Pogba, McTominay.
1 Fine Squad Player: Andreas.
1 "Wild Card": Fred (no idea what he'll turn out).

McT and Andreas are definitely long term.
Pereira though is better as attacker than CMs/CDMs.
Pogba is a big question mark. Prepare to replace him just in case, better earlier (before he left) than latter. New guy come and Pog stay, even better.
Matic should be short term and need replacing. Nothing against him, good professional, but I just don't see him contributing much or any at all. More like a passenger now.
Fred is just.. idk, doesn't inspire confidence at all. One more season to prove he can or cannot. Don't see the point giving him another.
Garner.. I really have big doubts. Don't see anything useful tbh.

Yeap, really need new midfielders... focus on getting one first and we'll see from there.
Either way, a new midfielder will bring in better competitions.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

I’m more worried with centre back than our midfield.

Look at our midfield, we have 1 top midfielder Pogba who will make it into top clubs, 1 young midfielder who is improving McTominay, 1 midfielder with still a lot to prove but still has the chance to be good Fred & 1 youth talented Gomes.

Look at our centre backs, we don’t have a ball playing and they won’t make it to top clubs.

Not saying we don’t need a new midfielder for upgrade but our centre back are so average IMO, while in midfield we still have some good & decent potential option.