[Sylar]

Alright, fair enough. I see a lot of people complaining he isn't a defender though and saying he has to play in midfield.

Hes done well as CB, but I dont think its a long term fix. I actually think he should be playing LB with us playing 433, or he should be used CB if were playing a team at home that will "park the bus" as he can come out as an extra man or hit those diagonals.

Anyway, digressed from McNair. I said before I wanted him to go out on a loan. I have a feeling he will end up like Blackett.

 

[ZDwyr]

In hindsight it might have been more beneficial to keep Evans for another season (assuming he didn't mind a rotation role) and loan McNair and Blackett out to get a true gauge on their ability. Perhaps van Gaal was a bit blinded by a good performance against Chelsea last season and thought he was ready for senior football at Manchester United.

 

[Sb_16]

Don't see any distinctive quality in him. Can be the rotation player for now which then wouldn't be favorable to his development.
Just a hunch, I think of Norwich when I see him.

 

[Insanity]

I was one of the people who was very impressed with him in the initial few games he played. He looked a good ball player with decent defensive ability. This season he just looks a white right-footed Blackett. Doesn't look very good on ball, the defensive side has gone kaput, positioning is atrocious & I don't know why he runs away with the ball time and again.

Definitely needs a loan. Not giving up on him. His chances aren't looking very bright, though. Shame we sold M.Keane, he could have been very useful right about now.

 

[Drifter]

Was poor yesterday .Caught in posession quite a lot and had a mare against Joshua.

 

[Santiago_KinderBueno]

I was one of the people who was very impressed with him in the initial few games he played. He looked a good ball player with decent defensive ability. This season he just looks a white right-footed Blackett. Doesn't look very good on ball, the defensive side has gone kaput, positioning is atrocious & I don't know why he runs away with the ball time and again.

Definitely needs a loan. Not giving up on him. His chances aren't looking very bright, though. Shame we sold M.Keane, he could have been very useful right about now.

I think he's been trained in to a RB. Bar what LVG already said about this; what you have said sounds like a RB too.

 

[LLMU]

Really lost a bit of momentum this season but i think he has the natural talent to be a good defender as he has shown it last season.

 

[Insanity]

I think he's been trained in to a RB. Bar what LVG already said about this; what you have said sounds like a RB too.

I don't think he the pace to make his mark at the RB spot. That is why the plan to have him become our "RB for the next 10 years" was shunned quickly.

 

[Santiago_KinderBueno]

I don't think he the pace to make his mark at the RB spot. That is why the plan to have him become our "RB for the next 10 years" was shunned quickly.

Ivanovic a season or 2 back was quality at RB so was zabaleta. So i think it still could be done.

 

[Roboc7]

He just isn't anywhere near good enough at the moment no matter what position he is given. He should be out on loan in the championship.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

He was much more assured on the ball last season.

 

[NinjaZombie]

I don't agree with all these talks of loans. Give him a place in the squad, get him games and see where that takes us.

Loaning out players means we'll have to buy someone to take their place. Don't see how we can reintegrate them back once that happens.

 

[gooDevil]

He's better than Vidic at the same age.

 

[villain]

He's better than Vidic at the same age.

That doesn't really say much though.

 

[Van Piorsing]

I don't agree with all these talks of loans. Give him a place in the squad, get him games and see where that takes us.

Loaning out players means we'll have to buy someone to take their place. Don't see how we can reintegrate them back once that happens.

Exactly. We know some defenders will get eventually injured in the same time and squad is already thin as Peter Crouch. Only getting extremely lucky in January and acquiring talents like Laporte or Marquinhos would create comfort of SAF's famous headache (keeping in mind they won't get injured that easily).

 

[gooDevil]

That doesn't really say much though.

It says that he's a top CB for his age and worth developing. I mean, it hardly would make sense to get a CB the same age but less talented and develop him.

We brought Evans through, I think we can bring McNair though.

That said, surely he's around for the League Cup, FA Cup, relegation teams and emergency cover. In that capacity I think he's doing fine.

Of course I do notice the gulf of difference when Smalling goes out and Paddy goes in.

And I'm red tinted when it comes to the youth team, by my own admission.

 

[villain]

It says that he's a top CB for his age and worth developing. I mean, it hardly would make sense to get a CB the same age but less talented and develop him.

We brought Evans through, I think we can bring McNair though.

That said, surely he's around for the League Cup, FA Cup, relegation teams and emergency cover. In that capacity I think he's doing fine.

Of course I do notice the gulf of difference when Smalling goes out and Paddy goes in.

And I'm red tinted when it comes to the youth team, by my own admission.

Is he a top CB for his age?

John Stones is only 1 year older, i'd say he's a top CB.
Laporte is only 1 year older. Varane is 2 years older. Marquinhos is only 1 year older.

McNair hasn't showed anything close to the level of those guys, and i'd say they are the best young CB's in Europe right now.

Even comparing him to Vidic isn't really worthwhile as he's not a similar style defender to Vidic.
Ferdinand at his age was also a much better talent. Wes Brown at McNair's age was a much better talent.

He's fine for a squad level player definitely, but I haven't seen anything to suggest he'll be amongst the top defenders in the country, I could be wrong though.

 

[eggwithsideburns]

Nearly every time I watch him play he puts in a horrible performance, sometimes he doesn't look to bad on the ball but defensively he needs to improve a lot. He has the same ticking time bomb thing Evans had, its like any moment he can make a mistake.

 

[Acole9]

He looks bloody awful with the ball at his feet, always looks like he's going to give it away. I've never seen a player get skinned as much as he did on Saturday, it wasn't good for him.

 

[Bojan11]

He looks bloody awful with the ball at his feet, always looks like he's going to give it away. I've never seen a player get skinned as much as he did on Saturday, it wasn't good for him.

He can't defend that's why.

He got skinned last season for the first Everton goal. I'd say Keane was a better defender than McNair. Even the likes of Shawcross who we let go in the past is miles better than McNair. He literally can't defend.

 

[Roboc7]

I don't agree with all these talks of loans. Give him a place in the squad, get him games and see where that takes us.

Loaning out players means we'll have to buy someone to take their place. Don't see how we can reintegrate them back once that happens.

The more McNair plays the more likely we are to buy someone because he isn't good enough, playing an odd game here and there and being out of his depth doesn't help him or the team. If he goes out on loan and comes back a better player it is a good problem to have, he can't defend well enough and he will only learn by playing regularly not by sitting on the bench or in the stands and only playing if there is an injury crisis.

 

[khoazany]

Is he a top CB for his age?

John Stones is only 1 year older, i'd say he's a top CB.
Laporte is only 1 year older. Varane is 2 years older. Marquinhos is only 1 year older.

McNair hasn't showed anything close to the level of those guys, and i'd say they are the best young CB's in Europe right now.

Even comparing him to Vidic isn't really worthwhile as he's not a similar style defender to Vidic.
Ferdinand at his age was also a much better talent. Wes Brown at McNair's age was a much better talent.

He's fine for a squad level player definitely, but I haven't seen anything to suggest he'll be amongst the top defenders in the country, I could be wrong though.

All of these comparisons won't work because nobody out of them are converted CB.McNair is a "project", gonna need time to learn his trade defensively regardless of how some here think that's already all that he can do.

 

[villain]

All of these comparisons won't work because nobody out of them are converted CB.McNair is a "project", gonna need time to learn his trade defensively regardless of how some here think that's already all that he can do.

I was simply replying to why it's not really of much use to say Vidic at his age wasn't performing to high levels either.
The truth is each player develops differently and comparisons such as that don't really tell us much.

Past indicators don't really tell for future performance particularly in a sport where so many factors have an impact on the overall development of a player.

 

[soap]

Definitely worth persisting with IMO. He has had some good games and some bad games, it isn't like he's consistently been crap so I don't understand why people are absolutely shitting on him. As bad as he was against Bournemouth (and he was terrible) it was obviously a difficult situation for him - he only stepped up from the reserves a year ago and was still by far the 2nd most experienced member of that back four... and the most experienced one has only been playing there for a few months! And this wasn't some Carling Cup game, it was away from home in the Premier League.

 

[HabeasC]

He was absolutely dreadful on Saturday. He made so many mistakes and was skinned a lot.

He is not yet good enough to be our next in line in the CB positions and we really needed to buy someone this summer.

 

[Andy Jones]

I like McNair. Not a United fan but I've always been impressed by him for the most part. He's composed, good on the ball and agile. I don't think he's the best defensively yet but it's harsh to write him off at such a young age especially when he's never had a run of games alongside a natural, experienced CB.

A loan to a top Championship team or even better a team in the Premier League, I'd take him at Sunderland, where he would play every week and get better defensively with game time, is probably exactly what he needs.

 

[Stobzilla]

I like McNair. Not a United fan but I've always been impressed by him for the most part. He's composed, good on the ball and agile. I don't think he's the best defensively yet but it's harsh to write him off at such a young age especially when he's never had a run of games alongside a natural, experienced CB.

A loan to a top Championship team or even better a team in the Premier League, I'd take him at Sunderland, where he would play every week and get better defensively with game time, is probably exactly what he needs.

So you're the one ?

 

[sincher]

He is a bit better than Blackett but not as good as either Thorpe or Keane.

 

[Van Piorsing]

He was absolutely dreadful on Saturday. He made so many mistakes and was skinned a lot.

He is not yet good enough to be our next in line in the CB positions and we really needed to buy someone this summer.

Let's try this January then. Call me naive but few smart transfer moves and we're back in this title race while the gap isn't 10 points (plus maybe with a bit better luck with injuries).

 

[Andy Jones]

So you're the one ?

??

 

[Stobzilla]

??

THE Sunderland fan.

 

[Andy Jones]

THE Sunderland fan.

Hilarious.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

I keep thinking he's a box to box midfielder being shoehorned into a center back.

 

[Amar__]

Hilarious.

I am not sure he meant anything wrong.

 

[soap]

THE Sunderland fan.

I was wondering wtf you were on about!

 

[Andy Jones]

Is he expected to play this weekend? What's your injury update?

 

[pocco]

I saw something in Smalling even when he was being written off and I think I see it with McNair too. He needs experience, first and foremost, but then he needs to go through the phase of learning to apply his natural talents properly. There is definitely a very good player on there, it'll just take time.

 

[devilish]

I keep thinking he's a box to box midfielder being shoehorned into a center back.

I keep thinking hes a championship level type of player shoehorned into an epl one

 

[Bwuk]

He's not good enough and for his sake should go play week in week out for a weaker side like the likes of Drinkwater etc have done.

 

[Spock]

Yep, Paddy has regressed a bit this season but let's not forget what he did for us last season. Definitely send him on loan to a club which will play him, either EPL or championship is fine. But only if we bring in a proper CB, which we must make one of our top two priorities for January. If not, then play him as needed.