An interchanging, fast, young and deadly front 3 of Dybala, Martial and Griezmann would be the stuff of dreams
Paulo Dybala - Performances
- Thread starter LazyRed-Ninja
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We scouted him heavily during The Moyes debacle. Phil Neville watched him a lot. Don't know if we have kept watching him. I'm sure we are aware of his development.
No. Can't remember the name but it isn't Raiola.
I would pay €70m+ if Juve were willing to do business. He's still only 22. The guy is a match winner. We also need a skillful left footed player. Even though this is his first season, I think we have a slim chance if we go in hard with a lot of cash.
It sounds like the stuff of Muppet dreams but the three of them could have been playing here together already.Dybala was available last summer and Griezmann in the one before both for reasonable prices even though they had just come off a fantastic season in a big league.Now both are going to be extremely expensive or more likely unattainable.Hopefully this summer we won't let the next big talent (Sane?) slip through our fingers.An interchanging, fast, young and deadly front 3 of Dybala, Martial and Griezmann would be the stuff of dreams
I really do think we were in for Dybala. When we are linked Neville made a comment t the club had been watching him since he was there and was convinced he would be a star. But Dybala insisted several times that his preference was to stay in Italy to continue his development.
Defo, I wouldn't care what price we had to pay really. Guy could go on to be as important for us as Aguero is for city if he keeps going at this rate.
He looks very special. Could end up shitting on someone like Kane imo.
Frustrating to see that Dybala was available for a very reasonable price, and Juventus got him so early in the window. A skillful, versatile forward with pace, a great attitude, and age on his side.
He'll be off to Barca next whenever they need to refresh M-S-N.
Great technique, in a league played at a walking pace.
In a league where the champions have little difficulty "walking" its way to victories towards the EPL's super fast and strong teams in the CL.
Didn't City finish above Juve in the group stage?
That's not happening anytime soon, unless one of Neymar, Messi, Suarez are leaving. And that doesn't seem very realistic.
Can't be too bothered to get into this, because it'll completely derail the thread; but your response is a fair one. I think it's impossible to make comparisons over isolated games because there are too many variables. But my position is this:
The EPL is hyper competitive. It is physically demanding like no other league in the world, and there is more strength in depth than at any other point in time in any league. There are no super teams, like Bayern, Real or Barca. In their domestic leagues, Juve, the Spanish giants, Bayern, can win a very high percentage of their games at a canter. In the EPL you have to fight tooth and nail almost every week. It's crazy. The more competitive the league has become, the worse EPL teams have done in Europe. They are just coming into the midweek matches with their energy levels more depleted. And at the top level of sport, 5% can make a huge difference. It used to be that the EPL teams would rest players at the weekend with a big European match in mind, but it's just not the case anymore. If anything, it is vice versa. The EPL TV money dwarfs the UCL money. This is especially exaggerated once the team has already gotten participation money for the group phase, as incremental bonuses for reaching round of 16 and QF's aren't that big of a deal anymore.
I would even venture that the Premier League itself, won't lose much sleep over losing the 4th UCL slot. From a marketing standpoint it has much better worldwide coverage than the champions league.
With all of that said, with relation to Dybala. I actually wasn't saying it was better or worse, but that the pace is so different when you go to different leagues. He'd get chased, harried, bullied, and pressed so much more aggressively in England than he does in Italy. His technique looks masterful in that video, but from the perspective of a Manchester United fan, I think he'd find England a very different prospect. Some smaller technical players thrive here, some flop. There are very few examples of players coming from Serie A and being able to cope with the EPL. He'd probably fare better in Spain.
His touch and control seems to be incredible. I´d love to have him.
I think you are living in yesterday. There are now tons of technically gifted players in the EPL. Just about every team now has at least 1 or 2 players with great ability on the ball. Its a function of the changes in fitness and the speed of the game. Players in all positions are now having to become more adept on the ball. We are seeing an increase in the technique and skill levels of players in all positions. The days of hard graft and physicality dictating a teams success are gone, the teams with the technically best players are changing the game in the UK. Its probably not immediately apparent but if you watch players in positions which traditionally in England have not been seen to require top level technical ability are now needing that ability to deal with intense pressing. the ability to deal with pressure when in possession at pace and in tight spaces is forcing players to become better with the ball. The game has changed in such a way that now goalkeepers are required to be of a much higher technical level with the ball at their feet, thats an example of the changes in the last 5-10 years. United lack ball players in the central midfield area who are capable of beating defenders etc with the ball at their feet. If you look at all of the other teams in the top 1/3rd of the EPL (including Leicester) you will find technically gifted players and thats simply because of what i mentioned earlier, the need to be able to deal with intense pressure at pace and in tight areas. The ability to without thinking pull off combination skill moves to create time and space to find a pass is now simply a basic need. The tired old cliches of physicality and a wet evening at Stoke are rapidly disappearing.
I agree with some of your post, in the sense that the technical demands of the league has risen considerably, and we are seeing more and more smaller stature players succeed in England. The 'wet night at Stoke' cliche aside, the league remains very physically demanding though. Whereas once this manifested as a rough and tumble type of game, where skillful players might get kicked off the pitch; it now shows in the pace of the game. Which is incredible. Almost every foreign player says it when they come, plus the managers. The game is just so much faster. This is what I mean by physically demanding.
As I said, originally, some technical players succeed over here, some can't handle it and flop. Good players too. It is still a question mark, and I don't see any indication that that will change overnight. The thesis that Serie A players historically struggle in the EPL remains true, until a series of players come over and break the mold.
Dybala looks great in the videos, and has looked really good whenever I've watched him play. But the time and space he gets on the ball, he just wouldn't get in England. It's impossible to know how he'd adapt to that, and I think a worthy cautionary sentiment. This is a league where Nikola Kalinic, he of Blackburn Rovers fame, has only scored one goal less, in a much weaker team.
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Juve won both games.Didn't City finish above Juve in the group stage?
True, if they show interest in him, he will be off quickly.
I agree with you that the league is demanding, and that is a worry for every player coming over, regarding injuries and fitness issues. But i would doubt that Dybala would have any problems with the pressing and as you said, the space he woudlnt get here. He is a magician, and thrives the less space he is afforded, he just pulls some magical stuff in tight situations especially. Just like Messi, Aguero, Suarez or Neymar wouldnt have any problems here in that regard, these type of players are so good on the ball and are brilliant technically, that they are absolutely pressure resistant. Dybala is in a similar category for me, wouldnt have any problems whatsoever. Mahrez and Sanchez dont seem to have problems either.
Stop it guys, talking about Martial-Dybala-Griezmann is just too much to take
The Premier League isn't exactly renowned for good defending lately. He would do damage regardless of how much space he gets.
Understand where you are coming from but I do wonder if the sorts of players that we are starting to see more of have more time and space because of their improved technical abilities and not because of any difference in time and space in other leagues. The Italians have historically been recognised as being very good defensively.
Yeah, this is bollocks.
Bojan struggled greatly in Serie A and is doing great for Stoke. Actually, so are Shaqiri and Arnoutovich. Pelle also was awful in Serie A, as well as many more. It's so shortsighted and naive to just say players do well in one league but can't handle another. It's more down to the case that they don't suit the team they join, or aren't on the same wavelength of their team mates. There's plenty of examples of players that do great at a club, then move to a club in the same division, and struggle.
Indeed. Bojan was one of the worst players in recent times at Milan and Roma - which is pretty difficult at Milan of late! Coutinho is also flourishing after an inconsistent time in Serie A. Footballers fail for many reasons, its not just down to the league.
On another note, a few players who have played in both leagues have mentioned how much harder Serie A is to score in and that there is more space in England due to players being out of position cos the game is so quick.
Thats good then. Maybe another Martial-esque bid in the summer ?
Serie A flops who are excelling in the EPL:
Bojan
Arnautovic
Coutinho
Pellè
Shaqiri
The three best Serie A players who have moved to England in recent years:
Sanchez
Lamela
Cuadrado
I can draw two conclusions from this. Either:
- you are more likely to succeed in England if you are a Serie A flop than a star (i.e. 100% success rate rather than 66%), or
- the stats are very random, about as random as intra-league transfers. For every Cuadrado who doesn't work out, you have a Lallana, Fellaini or Bony as well. For every Bojan, Coutinho or Pellè who goes from poor in Italy to great in England, you have a Gervinho and Kalinic too.
I would say option two is more reasonable. These transfers therefore say very little about the quality of the leagues, about as little as the outcome of a game between an Italian side and and English side. Juventus just defeated City twice with little problem, whereas Sevilla and Gladbach were more challenging since they played a shrewder and more cautious football. City left acres of space when they attempted to play a fast and intensive, which turned out to be naive and easy to play against.
Every Juventus player, despite apparently playing at "walking pace", looked twice as good as their City counterpart. Do you really think those Juve players would have problems playing in England due to tempo?
That makes absolutely no sense seeing how Juventus were struggling badly in the Serie A when playing City, losing points against Sassuolo and Frosinone. The games were also played early in the season where I doubt City were suffering from kind of EPL fatigue. I suggest you actually watch other leagues if you are going to have such strong opinions about them.
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I'm sure that went wellLOL
Here's the documentary of Dybala, which is good IMO
Here's the documentary of Dybala, which is good IMO
We can seek whatever we want, he isn't coming. Infact I would argue he would be stupid to, leaving the serie champions with a great team to come to a team in disarray.
Picture says it all. Dybala (22), Pogba (22) and Morata (23) are the future of our team together with Alex Sandro (25) and Rugani (21). Whoever wants to buy them needs to make crazy offers (except for Real when it Comes to Morata) as we have no need to sell.
Dybala would be an excellent signing. A player with Suarez/Aguero-esque potential.
He didn't want to leave Italy to begin with and I can't see him going anytime soon especially to join a worse team.
Want
A cnut or a perpetually injured cnut, then.
But he'd be United's cnut though.