Our squad depth/second string players going into next season

Fooza

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Big concern

After project restart it's clear as day our first 11 is the only team we have faith in to get results.We brought in our second string teams against Norwich and they struggled. We played some today and struggled.

Questions need to now be asked about this problem, can we even resolve this issue in the transfer window? I just don't think enough funds will be given to improve our squad depth with quality. Which second string players can actually compete our first 11 players. At the moment James. Fred, McT are not looking like they are doing well and being on the bench isn't improving their performances.
 
Ole needs to show a lot more faith and better manage his squad, the likes of McT, Fred, Ighalo should definitely have had more game time since the restart.

It was never going to be easy to come into this game and expect to play well without much match fitness
 
Of our squad options I’d say Romero, Bailly (when his brain works), Tuanzebe, Williams, McTominay, Fred, James (only from the left), Mata (in small doses) and Ighalo are good enough.

We’ve got De Gea (hate including him but two years isn’t a run of poor form), Fosu-Mensah, Dalot, Jones, Smalling, Rojo, Pereira, Lingard and Sanchez that all need to be moved on.

I know there’s a lot coming through like Henderson, Laird, Mengi, Garner, Mejbri, Levitt and Chong and if they all become regulars it’ll be seen as a success on top of the ones already in the first team and squad but none of them bar Henderson and maybe Garner are likely to have a place in the squad next season.
 
The project restart clearly has changed the usual structure for next season. Normally, team who wins the league always have their strongest XI or at least playing the same 80% of their players week in week out. This time, the schedule is tight and depth squad is very important because you will expect lot of 2 league games per week. I think Ole also needs to show more faith to his squad, may be he's not doing enough rotation now due to end of the season games and losing points is big risk.

I think the no 1 is Sancho as he will provide us lot of flexibility and 3 attacking mid areas to cover (left, right, centre).

The 2nd one to me is defender. We overplayed our centre back way too much. I personally prefer Ake if Bournemouth got relegated (cheaper), can provide a competition to Lindelof & Maguire or even Tuanzebe, as well as depth for left back & DM spot.

Another midfield will be nice but I think the budget reaches the limit after the 2nd signing. Don't know if Garner is ready, feels like loan move will be perfect for him next season to build up more experience.

GK: Undecided
RB: Bissaka, Williams, Laird, Mensah
LB: Shaw, Williams, Mensah
CB: Maguire, New CB, Lindelof, Bailly, Tuanzebe
DM: Matic, Fred, Scott
CM: Pogba, Fred
AM: Bruno, Pogba, Sancho, Pereira/Mata (I just have a feeling one of them will stay)
RW: Sancho, Greenwood, James
LW: Sancho, Rashford, James
ST: Martial, Rashford, Greenwood, Ighalo
 
We're definitely not going to challenge for any top trophy next season with just squad depth. Main lineup is strong enough to win the league for the majority of it but we'll have to run our main lineup to the ground again to win matches then we'll get few injuries like what happen to any team a we'll be totally fecked.

Need few good signings for the bench in the upcoming window tbh.
 
I think we can expect 2 or so decent signings. I'd go after free agents/loans/option to buy after that.

Depth is going to be even more important next season if 5 subs continues. The dropoff from our first 11 is massive.
 
Squad depth is a concern and it's why those who question signings like Sancho and more specifically Grealish needed today as a reality check but let's not go too far in declaring everybody behind our normal starting XI as dross

Every big result and performance we got before Bruno arrived (so that's wins against Chelsea, City, Spurs etc etc) was done with the likes of James, Fred and McTominay playing big parts. It's not happening for those players at the moment and the obvious reason why could be they're simply lacking the rhythm and match sharpness but it's hard to give them that when so much is riding on every game we play at the moment. Unfortunately had the EL been running concurrently alongside the PL those players could have been getting up to speed in those games
 
Massive concern. It's why you have to laugh at hysterical fools who say we don't need Sancho. There is still so much dross in this squad, and it doesn't look likely we'll be making up the difference this transfer window to solve it.

I'd still say there's massive question marks over a lot of the team, someone like Fred I'd still be happy to see make way for someone better, because even with his up turn in form, he's nowhere near the quality we should be looking to have.
 
charlenefan said:
Squad depth is a concern and it's why those who question signings like Sancho and more specifically Grealish needed today as a reality check but let's not go too far in declaring everybody behind our normal starting XI as dross

Every big result and performance we got before Bruno arrived (so that's wins against Chelsea, City, Spurs etc etc) was done with the likes of James, Fred and McTominay playing big parts. It's not happening for those players at the moment and the obvious reason why could be they're simply lacking the rhythm and match sharpness but it's hard to give them that when so much is riding on every game we play at the moment. Unfortunately had the EL been running concurrently alongside the PL those players could have been getting up to speed in those games
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Great points in reality we need 4 top players and 6 or 7 out we Need a CB, another creative midfielder, right winger and a left back

we should bring Smalling back as well
 
Of course we'll see a couple new players for the new season but Ole and the coaching team also needs to find a good way to rotate the squad. That means a little bit of rotation in a lot of matches instead of sudden wholesale changes here and there.
That probably also means we shouldn't use all subs at once as no one looks good then.
 
Our current situation reminds me of Liverpool 2/3 years ago.

A good first team but not enough squad depth. The intense fixture list isn't helping but the second we have to play our 2nd team you sense the drop in quality.

Hopefully it won't take us 2/3 years to sort the problem out like LFC did, if we have a good summer/Jan transfer windows who knows, we could be competing at the top next year.
 
There's concerns over at least 3 or 4 in the first 11 too not just the squad players.

Bruno, Pogba Martial Rashford Greenwood aside..... You can make a case that the other 6 starters aren't quite good enough either. Might be slightly harsh on Shaw n Matic who have been okay to good since lockdown.

DDG, Maguire, AWB n Lindelof have been awful for weeks now. Costing us goals with sloppy mistakes all too often.
 
davidmichael said:
Of our squad options I’d say Romero, Bailly (when his brain works), Tuanzebe, Williams, McTominay, Fred, James (only from the left), Mata (in small doses) and Ighalo are good enough.

We’ve got De Gea (hate including him but two years isn’t a run of poor form), Fosu-Mensah, Dalot, Jones, Smalling, Rojo, Pereira, Lingard and Sanchez that all need to be moved on.

I know there’s a lot coming through like Henderson, Laird, Mengi, Garner, Mejbri, Levitt and Chong and if they all become regulars it’ll be seen as a success on top of the ones already in the first team and squad but none of them bar Henderson and maybe Garner are likely to have a place in the squad next season.
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100% agreed bar Fosu Mensah who deserves a chance here and Smalling who is as good as anything else we have at the minute....
 
John O'Shea was a squad player, and John O'Shea would walk into this team. Park was a squad player who's better than all of our rotating options. Darren Fletcher shits on Fred etc. Basically, we need better rotating options. Players that can compete for a starting spot. The difference in quality between our first 11 and the rest is what will do us over next season.
 
If we sign a right sided forward, a centre mid and a back up striker it will look a lot better. Problem we have at the moment is James is the back up attacking option when really he should be out on loan.

We need a right sided attacker next year and then Greenwood can compete with Martial down the middle which will be a lot healthier than having Ighalo as the only back up striker

We also need a centre mid so that Matic isn’t playing all the time because he proves time and time again when he has a long run in the team his form drops off a cliff.

We have a good best XI already I think so 3-4 signings improves our depth massively. At the moment the difference in quality between the best XI and fringe players is too much.
 
Nou_Camp99 said:
There's concerns over at least 3 or 4 in the first 11 too not just the squad players.

Bruno, Pogba Martial Rashford Greenwood aside..... You can make a case that the other 6 starters aren't quite good enough either. Might be slightly harsh on Shaw n Matic who have been okay to good since lockdown.

DDG, Maguire, AWB n Lindelof have been awful for weeks now. Costing us goals with sloppy mistakes all too often.
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Does it means we wasted another summer and 150M+ on AWB/Maguire/James ?
 
Offside said:
If we sign a right sided forward, a centre mid and a back up striker it will look a lot better. Problem we have at the moment is James is the back up attacking option when really he should be out on loan.

We need a right sided attacker next year and then Greenwood can compete with Martial down the middle which will be a lot healthier than having Ighalo as the only back up striker

We also need a centre mid so that Matic isn’t playing all the time because he proves time and time again when he has a long run in the team his form drops off a cliff.

We have a good best XI already I think so 3-4 signings improves our depth massively. At the moment the difference in quality between the best XI and fringe players is too much.
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Are you happy with AWB and Lindelof ?
 
Is there anymore kids who could come up good in reserves? The likes of Mason.

Selling Lingard, Jones, Smalling, Perreira, Sanchez could get us some money plus getting them off the paylist.

Mata retiring.

We could get at least 4 players to compete for the first team.

By could, i mean should.
 
Nou_Camp99 said:
There's concerns over at least 3 or 4 in the first 11 too not just the squad players.

Bruno, Pogba Martial Rashford Greenwood aside..... You can make a case that the other 6 starters aren't quite good enough either. Might be slightly harsh on Shaw n Matic who have been okay to good since lockdown.

DDG, Maguire, AWB n Lindelof have been awful for weeks now. Costing us goals with sloppy mistakes all too often.
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We might need to think if those defense might have been exhausted due to lack of quality to cover or rotate for them. Maguire been playing 95% all our games in all comp this season. He's the only our player who hasn't got a break since the restart and even played 120 min against Norwich. Lindelof only had one match break since the restart. While Bissaka only had one match rest plus a sub off once.
 
sp_107 said:
Does it means we wasted another summer and 150M+ on AWB/Maguire/James ?
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I think AWB and Maguire are just knackered. Should have rested them today. Lost anyway might as well have given them a rest. James needs much more experience either here or on loan who knows.... What we paid for him is basically a wee punt in today's transfer market.
 
Judas said:
Massive concern. It's why you have to laugh at hysterical fools who say we don't need Sancho. There is still so much dross in this squad, and it doesn't look likely we'll be making up the difference this transfer window to solve it.

I'd still say there's massive question marks over a lot of the team, someone like Fred I'd still be happy to see make way for someone better, because even with his up turn in form, he's nowhere near the quality we should be looking to have.
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Lots of clueless posters on here lacking basic understanding and fundamentals of football.

They don't want Sancho because 'what will happen to Greenwood'. Didn't want Haaland for peanuts because 'it will hurt Martial's feelings and he will sulk'. Don't want VDB because 'he doesn't fit in a midfield three with Pogba and Bruno'. Don't want Grealish because 'in his preferred positions we already have Bruno and Rashford'.

These are the same posters first to moan the moment we have to bring on someone from the bench and the quality of the team drops significantly.
 
If we sign Sancho and a CDM like Camavinga, our squad depth goes to the next level, especially across the front 3. With Sancho, Rashford, Martial amd Greenwood, 3 can play 2 positions and 1 can potentially play all 3 (Greenwood), so we'll be in a lot better shape as long as we sign Sancho, no need for concern ;)
 
Samid said:
Lots of clueless posters on here lacking basic understanding and fundamentals of football.

They don't want Sancho because 'what will happen to Greenwood'. Didn't want Haaland for peanuts because 'it will hurt Martial's feelings and he will sulk'. Don't want VDB because 'he doesn't fit in a midfield three with Pogba and Bruno'. Don't want Grealish because 'in his preferred positions we already have Bruno and Rashford'.

These are the same posters first to moan the moment we have to bring on someone from the bench and the quality of the team drops significantly.
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Great post.
 
SalfordRed18 said:
John O'Shea was a squad player, and John O'Shea would walk into this team. Park was a squad player who's better than all of our rotating options. Darren Fletcher shits on Fred etc. Basically, we need better rotating options. Players that can compete for a starting spot. The difference in quality between our first 11 and the rest is what will do us over next season.
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This./

Players that were peripheral or used for specific roles would be key members in this squad/team.
Nou_Camp99 said:
There's concerns over at least 3 or 4 in the first 11 too not just the squad players.

Bruno, Pogba Martial Rashford Greenwood aside..... You can make a case that the other 6 starters aren't quite good enough either. Might be slightly harsh on Shaw n Matic who have been okay to good since lockdown.

DDG, Maguire, AWB n Lindelof have been awful for weeks now. Costing us goals with sloppy mistakes all too often.
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This./

The run we’ve been on is a gift & a curse; it’s put us back into contention but the front 5/6 have been remarkable for so long people ignore the fact we have an RB that isn’t suited to the modern game; 2 CBs who alternate defensive errors weekly & a goalkeeper that’s forgotten how to keep goal.

Hopefully Henderson can come back & step up whilst Axel needs to get fit cause there’s a CB spot for the taking otherwise given our pedestrian way of dealing with transfers in this rebuild we’re scuppered for some time.
 
luke511 said:
If we sign Sancho and a CDM like Camavinga, our squad depth goes to the next level, especially across the front 3. With Sancho, Rashford, Martial amd Greenwood, 3 can play 2 positions and 1 can potentially play all 3 (Greenwood), so we'll be in a lot better shape as long as we sign Sancho, no need for concern ;)
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We need defensive reinforcements for exactly what happened today; on the days we don’t click going forward we’re relying on the Chuckle Brothers & David de Gea’s drunken twin to keep clean sheets.

Sancho & a DM should be the start of any summer overhaul not the sum of it.
 
Our first choice 11 players are good enough to mask Oles deficiencies.

How about that?
 
Lots of people here on CAF last week were saying we don't need to sign Sancho, because of Greenwood's great form, it will block his path etc

It's obvious we need to bring in quality as Olé has said numerous times. Plus Greenwood needs to be brought in and out for his development.

RW and a top CB are vital. Other positions depend on funds.
 
-Supreme- said:
Ole needs to show a lot more faith and better manage his squad, the likes of McT, Fred, Ighalo should definitely have had more game time since the restart.

It was never going to be easy to come into this game and expect to play well without much match fitness
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Bolded part has been one of the most glaring potential red-flags during ole's tenure. Have to reward/trust the performers otherwise they lose confidence/trust in you a little bit not in terms of respecting you but 'can I really do a job here?'

It was a huge part in all those times SAF would pick those WTF lineups and we'd eke out a win. Players that needed a rest would get rested, squad players get a runout/reminder they were trusted/get the feeling of contributing to the team so everyone could keep on winning.

I wouldn't be surprised if the coaching staff back then used to map out minutes over the course of a whole season and adhere to it as stringently as possible. AKA 4500+ 3500+ 2500+ minute-tier players and if it was time for you to be rested you were rested, with overlapping resting of other similar-tier players calculated beforehand so as to result in as little impact on the team as possible, like the bolded part below:

Maagge said:
Of course we'll see a couple new players for the new season but Ole and the coaching team also needs to find a good way to rotate the squad. That means a little bit of rotation in a lot of matches instead of sudden wholesale changes here and there.
That probably also means we shouldn't use all subs at once as no one looks good then.
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SalfordRed18 said:
John O'Shea was a squad player, and John O'Shea would walk into this team. Park was a squad player who's better than all of our rotating options. Darren Fletcher shits on Fred etc. Basically, we need better rotating options. Players that can compete for a starting spot. The difference in quality between our first 11 and the rest is what will do us over next season.
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A 'Who are the John O'Sheas/Wes Browns/Parks of Football Right Now?' thread could be interesting.

Also, Park was nominated for UEFA forward of the year or something alongside Ronaldinho and a bunch of superstar names. And we bought him for 5m. That ain't happening today.
 
charlenefan said:
Squad depth is a concern and it's why those who question signings like Sancho and more specifically Grealish needed today as a reality check but let's not go too far in declaring everybody behind our normal starting XI as dross

Every big result and performance we got before Bruno arrived (so that's wins against Chelsea, City, Spurs etc etc) was done with the likes of James, Fred and McTominay playing big parts. It's not happening for those players at the moment and the obvious reason why could be they're simply lacking the rhythm and match sharpness but it's hard to give them that when so much is riding on every game we play at the moment. Unfortunately had the EL been running concurrently alongside the PL those players could have been getting up to speed in those games
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Well said.

And they did well before as you've rightly pointed out when Bruno hasn't arrived and when Pogba is out (at least as best as they can) and points wise, they just did enough to keep up at the foot of top 5.

Our squad depth is improving with the 5 signings. Next window would also meant it'll be improved even further with minimum 2 signings. Hopefully Ole will continue his trend record of signings that actually improve the squad and not making it worse, and seriously hope Ed won't be an idiot and tighten-up the budget.

Would also be great if Ole can manage the GK situation better, plus maybe convince Smalling back - no doubt he's a good reliable squad player. Would improve our squad CB depth.

So I felt fans should not let the recent results affected them that much.
 
Samid said:
Lots of clueless posters on here lacking basic understanding and fundamentals of football.

They don't want Sancho because 'what will happen to Greenwood'. Didn't want Haaland for peanuts because 'it will hurt Martial's feelings and he will sulk'. Don't want VDB because 'he doesn't fit in a midfield three with Pogba and Bruno'. Don't want Grealish because 'in his preferred positions we already have Bruno and Rashford'.

These are the same posters first to moan the moment we have to bring on someone from the bench and the quality of the team drops significantly.
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Spot on! For what it's worth, I think rather than lacking a fundamental understanding of football, we are all in different stages of maturity both as football and United fans. I remember the days (in the early 90s in my case) when I used to be highly reactionary to transfers like when Cole joined us half-way in the 94-95 season. However, it takes some restraint to understand the bigger picture and that comes into fruition from being a football and United fan over time. Just my 2 cents.
 
UNITED ACADEMY said:
GK: Undecided
RB: Bissaka, Williams, Laird, Mensah
LB: Shaw, Williams, Mensah
CB: Maguire, New CB, Lindelof, Bailly, Tuanzebe
DM: Matic, Fred, Scott
CM: Pogba, Fred
AM: Bruno, Pogba, Sancho, Pereira/Mata (I just have a feeling one of them will stay)
RW: Sancho, Greenwood, James
LW: Sancho, Rashford, James
ST: Martial, Rashford, Greenwood, Ighalo
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Think it's time we gamble on Dean with Romero to cover him if needed.

Even with a new CB, I still don't fancy our chance. New CB is also an unknown factor, if PL-proven then there's the matter of how good is he, and if not PL-proven then there's the matter of how quickly will he adapt. Too much risks. Get new CB and also get Smalling back would be a good risk management I feel. Bailly and Axel gets injured for far too much and Bailly is a risk when playing.

Just Sancho would definitely solve a lot of our attacking problems headache.

Better depth with more players would be better.
 
This is a tough decision for Ole. If we fail to finish in the top 4 he'll get hammered no matter what he chose. Plays a consistent line up for every game since the restart and fail to finish in the top 4 and everyone will complain about a lack of man management. Rotate players in the same time frame, fail to reach the top four and gets blasted for not playing his best players.

Personally I think Ole has done a superb job this season, better than any other manager who's held the position since Fergie. The previous managers kept trying to make a broken product work, they failed. Ole recognized that there were fundamental foundational issues at the club and started to clean house and remold United in they way he knew it from his playing days. A major gamble. Rebuilding isn't about adding a player here or there, he set out to change the culture, to create a team with some passion. We shouldn't have been surprised that such a sea change would have it's starts and sputters. All I can say is we hold top four destiny in our own hands. He has accomplished a hell of lot, and is putting a team out that actually reminds me of a United team.

That being said, there are depth issues. They need addressing. If we finish top 4, add depth in the next two or three windows, and continue our swashbuckling style of play while adding confidence and a put a little fear back into our opponents, we'll be back challenging year in year out.
 
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Web of Bissaka said:
Think it's time we gamble on Dean with Romero to cover him if needed.

Even with a new CB, I still don't fancy our chance. New CB is also an unknown factor, if PL-proven then there's the matter of how good is he, and if not PL-proven then there's the matter of how quickly will he adapt. Too much risks. Get new CB and also get Smalling back would be a good risk management I feel. Bailly and Axel gets injured for far too much and Bailly is a risk when playing.

Just Sancho would definitely solve a lot of our attacking problems headache.

Better depth with more players would be better.
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We need to move on from Smalling. First of all, we are playing from the back and moving on from him is the right idea. And then, he's going to turn into 31 this year, Roma had offered £16m to get him.

The post you quoted, I mentioned Ake would be a good & cheap option to have if Bournemouth got relegated. Proven PL for many years (safe option), can cover three positions & can play from the back. We need this centre back to be capable put challenge on Maguire & Lindelof, these two have been overplayed especially Maguire. More competition in defense can also push our centre back to perform more consistent or better.
 
Ole has to show more faith in the squad and rotate better. Bruno and Pogba should be managed so that even in big rotations, we can still use one of the 2. Just rest the other in the next game and you can still have a very strong side out. Obviously need more depth as well in some spots.
Assuming we sign Sancho, our starting 11 can be this:
Rashford Martial Sancho
Pogba Bruno
Matic
Shaw Maguire Lindelof Wan Bissaka
De Gea​

Backup 11:
James Ighalo Greenwood
Fred McTominay Pereira
Williams Tuanzebe Bailly Dalot
Henderson​

Its not an awful 2nd 11. CB is the issue, with Tuanzebe forever injured and Bailly always injured, while Lindelof should be in the 2nd 11 with a main CB ahead of him. Backup right back between Laird and TFM if Dalot leaves is pretty fine too. Just needs more trust to keep AWB fresh. Ideally we'd have a better squad attacking midfielder too (where Grealish comes in as a good signing), but one thats not entirely necessary this summer. The full backup 11 is fine for the league cup though, and then partial rotation for some league games, some CL group stage games, and heavier rotation for FA Cup games.
 
Forget our lack of quality in the CB, RW, STK role, DDG's decline, Maguire being slow, Lindelof, Shaw and Williams being a bit shit etc. United's biggest issue is that we've got a horde of reserve players on ridiculous salaries who are basically useless. Most of them can't even remain fit. Who are going to sign those players?
 
bosnian_red said:
Ole has to show more faith in the squad and rotate better. Bruno and Pogba should be managed so that even in big rotations, we can still use one of the 2. Just rest the other in the next game and you can still have a very strong side out. Obviously need more depth as well in some spots.
Assuming we sign Sancho, our starting 11 can be this:
Rashford Martial Sancho
Pogba Bruno
Matic
Shaw Maguire Lindelof Wan Bissaka
De Gea​

Backup 11:
James Ighalo Greenwood
Fred McTominay Pereira
Williams Tuanzebe Bailly Dalot
Henderson​

Its not an awful 2nd 11. CB is the issue, with Tuanzebe forever injured and Bailly always injured, while Lindelof should be in the 2nd 11 with a main CB ahead of him. Backup right back between Laird and TFM if Dalot leaves is pretty fine too. Just needs more trust to keep AWB fresh. Ideally we'd have a better squad attacking midfielder too (where Grealish comes in as a good signing), but one thats not entirely necessary this summer. The full backup 11 is fine for the league cup though, and then partial rotation for some league games, some CL group stage games, and heavier rotation for FA Cup games.
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A- Henderson won't come as a reserve
B- Williams is still not United's level. God knows if he ever will be
C- Tuanzebe, Bailly and Dalot are crocks. Most are shit as well.
D- Periera is crap
E- Fred and McT offers zero creativity. Id keep them but please let's embrace their limitations. They can't cover for Bruno or Pogba
F- James is all pace and nothing else

If we keep insisting on these players then we can't act surprised that Ole keeps playing the same team over and over again.

Out of the lot I'd keep Greenwood (no brainer), James, Fred, McT and Williams. Henderson needs to go another year on loan so he'll come back and replace DDG and Ighalo will leave in the summer. I hope that our negotiating team has kept themselves busy so we can finally get rid of the deadwood while our scouts had kept themselves busy finding cheap alternatives to the deadwood. The likes of Salisu, Fraser, Max Aarons and Brooks would be an interesting addition to the team.
 
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Squad Harmony and Balance are also key to having great depth, assuming we actually qualify for CL and do not bottle the last 2 games ; we simply need to do some serious work with the youth and recruitment and it can’t be all done in one summer window however this would be a seriously wonderful start ;

so here’s my suggestion;
Goalkeepers - Keep De Gea, S Romero , L Grant - loan out Dean Henderson for one more season with a view to making him our No 1 for 2021/22 with a £5m loan fee Paid by Sheffield United and De Gea will be either sold or fight for his place However if in great form he could still vetch £50M to a team like PSG with 3 years left on his contract !

Full Backs/Wing Backs - A Wan Bissaka, E Laird, B Williams, L Shaw - Buy B Chillwell or D Alaba £55M sell D Dalot£25M, TFM(loan £2.5M)
L Shaw can play in a 3 Man Defence and no coincidence our left side been shit since he’s injured !!

Centre Backs - H Maguire, C Smalling, E Bailly , A Tuanzebe - Buy K Koulibaly or Skriniar £65M, Sell Lindelof 30M, P Jones 10M, M Rojo 5M

Midfield - P Pogba, N Matic, Fred, S Mctominay, Bruno , J Garner , H Mejbri
- Buy C Eriksen, J Rodriguez , A Ramsey or J Grealish - £25M- 50M sell, J Lingard £20M, A Pereira £20M , J Mata (Free )

Attack - M Rashford , A Martial, M Greenwood, D James - Buy J Sancho £100M, O Igalho £15M , Sell A Sánchez 15M, T Chong (Loan 2.5M)

Total Cost in new player sales £260M
Total Received in player Sales & Loans £120M
Net Sales -£140M amortised over 5 years plus A player like Alaba is so versatile he can play anywhere and still be the best player !!!

First 11 For CL and Pl
D De Gea
AWB. H Maguire. *K Koulibaly *D Alaba

P Pogba N Matic

*J Sancho. B Fernandes M Rashford

A Martial / M Greenwood

Fa Cup and League Cup / 2nd 11

S Romero
BW/EL. C Smalling AT/ EB. L Shaw

Fred/ JG S Mctominay/ H Mejbri

M Greenwood. *J Rodriguez. D James
*O IGALHO

The following season we would sell D De Gea unless he Regains prime form and then move Smalling on looking to insert Dean as no 1 and buy another world class CB or the best emerging English CB, a world class CDM and probably an elite CFW to replace Igalho. The club are at least two seasons away and recruiting an elite coach like Max Allegri, Zidane , Naigelsman or Tuchal from competing for the Title, my hunch is we could do it in a year but not with Ole as coach Someone like Allegri or Ancelotti would be recruiting E Cavanni on a free rather than paying 15-20M for IGalho and that would be the difference however at least we are starting to resemble something like a United side so we should give Ole some credit for that at least !
 
Fooza said:
Big concern

After project restart it's clear as day our first 11 is the only team we have faith in to get results.We brought in our second string teams against Norwich and they struggled. We played some today and struggled.

Questions need to now be asked about this problem, can we even resolve this issue in the transfer window? I just don't think enough funds will be given to improve our squad depth with quality. Which second string players can actually compete our first 11 players. At the moment James. Fred, McT are not looking like they are doing well and being on the bench isn't improving their performances.
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Your right. They have gone backwards in last few months since they were dropped to the bench. Seems their confidence is gone.
 
Assuming we lose Ighalo, Lingard and Mata I think we need 4 signings this Summer to address squad depth/quality.

  • First XI right-winger (freeing up Greenwood as cover)
  • Back-up CM/CAM to cover Pogba/Fernandes
  • Back-up striker to replace Ighalo
  • Versatile forward player to replace Lingard.
If Pogba stays and our plan long-term is to play Bruno, Pogba and a more defensive midfielder in a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 we need to bring in a proven creative CM/CAM for rotation/injury cover. None of our other CM options are a natural fit for Pogba's role and the drop-off in quality between Bruno and Mata/Lingard/Pereira is massive.

Up-front I think signing a first XI right-winger, replacing Ighalo with another traditional striker (assuming he goes) and replacing Lingard with someone who offers the versatility, work-rate and moments of quality that Lingard did 5 years ago would see us alright.

There's other signings I'd like, but they're more first team quality issues than squad depth issues.
 
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