The ability to drive the ball up the pitch. Much better tackling. Elite defensive shielding. Captain material. Tireless stamina.
Ruben Neves | Signed for Al Hilal (SA)
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
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We should have got thiago when he left bayern.
He seems to be injured half the time, or is that just my perception?
Yeah like I said, better athlete. What you've listed is a result of being more athletic. McTominay is also probably better than Neves in those departments.
I'm not dismissing those qualities but right now do we need more athleticism? Or do we need more quality on the ball?
Instant upgrade on anything we currently have available in that position. With pogba leaving in the summer, we should aim to get him in asap to get some technical skills back in the middle of the pitch.
Neves and a solid DM should have a big positive effect on the midfield.
Can’t see the glazers buying into needing another midfielder without people leaving
That's fine because the entire midfield we do have are shite, with the exception of Pogba who's leaving anyway.
Only one I'd consider worth keeping is Fred.
Those aren't necessarily athleticism. However Rice is better than McTominay in those departments and better at progressive passing.
Neves ran rings around our midfield yesterday. Would be a great signing.
But then we need someone to partner Neves? Can Jude Bellingham partner him? Tielemans? No they can’t.
Just go get Rice and another. That being Bellingham or Tielemans. That is all we need. We need to stop getting lost in mediocrity just for slight improvements on what we have. That is not how we build good teams.
Yeah just go spend 90 million minimum on Rice and another 90 million minimum on Bellingham. Easy.
You say that but you want us to spend £30m on Neves. Then another £40m on a partner and then when we realise we need better. Spunk £60m on a Cm who can’t play next to the £40m player we brought to partner Neves. Then we have to upgrade on him. So how much in total?
Sounds abit like our Harry Maguire problem mate. But sure you won’t see that until it happens. Stop trying to strengthen the bench. We need to fix the first team.
I mean the issue is Neves would be the absolute best quality of player we could by this January. And we’re only talking about this January. We know we need to strengthen the midfield.
Also why would we only have to spend 40 million on the summer? If we had the 180 million you miraculously think we have why would we be able to buy someone like Rice in the summer (which could be a pretty solid midfield pairing). Also in the long run 30 then 40 then 60 etc may cost us more, but that would be spread over multiple seasons. We in no was could afford to spend 180 million. We’re losing too many players on frees at the end of this season.
Its very unlikely that in the summer we will buy two starting CMs. I’m trying to think of a moment any team has done that. So realistically the only time you’d see a completely new midfield is in two seasons time. Why not incrementally improve ourselves before then?
In an ideal world yes I’d much prefer your route of waiting till the summer and getting two players I doubt we have a chance in getting. But in a realistic world we might have to be patient. I’ve pretty much conceded that we won’t be winning the league until at the very least the 24/25 season.
I understand that but I believe we have to be smarter. Look at the free market. We will have players walking out the door so we have no choice to shop smart.
I was being perfect scenario talking about Rice and Bellingham but we should be looking at that model.
Therefore if Rice is too expensive we have to look at the alternative and I don’t think Neves is that. Kamara yes.. that’s the style or the guy from Monaco. Then you get that player to partner the big money singing in the summer I.e. Bellingham. Or reverse, we can’t get Bellingham so we look at spending the money on Rice and get the cheaper alternative for Bellingham which Neves can be but like I said his quality is not good enough. So that’s why I mentioned Tielemans who has a year left on his contract in the summer. This is how we should be shopping.
I get it doesn’t help for now but we have to think smarter. I mean I’m sure if we tried hard enough we could get Boussuma this window. That is more effective than Neves.
For instance who do we partner Neves with? Fred? It will be McTominay and we’ll still not control games.
If the right quality of player is not available in january then we should keep the money in the pocket, no more panic signings of average players for high fees please, it only sets us further back. There is no reason whatsoever that we can't sign two cm's in the same window so i'm not sure what you are on about there.
On another planet to any central midfielder we have at the club and he isn’t even that good. Speaks volumes.
I’d suggest we need to clear out before signing new players anyway. A nice toxic welcome won’t be a good start for anyone
Before buying anyone the club needs to think long term.
Pogba will return to the team before he departs for good. He can fill the gap for a couple of months.
Then in the summer there will be a lot more options. It’s going to be painful but the club needs to go through this period.
Pogba will return to the team before he departs for good. He can fill the gap for a couple of months.
Then in the summer there will be a lot more options. It’s going to be painful but the club needs to go through this period.
I can't remember a time we haven't been linked with Neves.
I wonder if this is yet another one of those names we are constantly linked too yet never end up signing
I wonder if this is yet another one of those names we are constantly linked too yet never end up signing
What about Miguel Veloso and Joao Mourinho 
What is the deal with Pogba, forget staying leaving, seems like he has fallen off the planet.
He would be an excellent signing. We need someone in midfield who can dictate play and he’s very good at it. He needs to play beside someone with energy and legs though so maybe pairing him beside Fred or McTom makes sense.
Pressing isn't just about running hard and fast. Positioning and timing is just as important, if not more so.
Over the last 12 months:
Neves
Presses - 20.23 per 90 minutes (71st percentile for midfielders in Europe).
McTominay
Presses - 14.34 per 90 minutes (12th percentile for midfielders in Europe).
Fred
Presses - 24.75 per 90 minutes (93rd percentile for midfielders in Europe).
Neves also has a higher success rate with 31.33% successful presses, compared to Fred (29.5%) and McTominay (28.5%). To put that in context, the average seems to be about 30%.
Once again this really does highlight how little McTominay presses compared to most midfielders, despite the general belief that he is hard working. Even after improving a little since Rangnick took over (up to about 16.5) he's still comfortably below average.
I’d be happy if we get Neves and Zakaria/ Haidara.
It`s Jose! I like how you think, we need someone who isn`t afraid to be a proper cnut in there!What about Miguel Veloso and Joao Mourinho
He is slow paced, Arthur from Juventus will be a far better and cheaper option and the sweet part is that he is desperate to leave Turin for England
Yeah add more mediocrity to the squad as if we currently don't have enough of that.
He seemed to do alright next to a 35 year old Moutinho on Monday!
I think people are seriously underrating Neves; he’s exactly what our midfield needs. I suspect it’d be a signing like Carrick was where only the true fans that understand football can see the benefit he would bring to the team. Positioning, composure, passing and vision are the skills we need far more than a barn storming midfielder with energy and tackling- that’s what Fred and McT do (they’d look much better next to a Neves type midfielder!)
Yes he’s very underrated on here. People complain about his mobility issues but even Carrick wasn’t the most mobile of midfielders. Quality always shines and he’s quality.
Signing him is a must, we need more technical players in our midfield, players who aren't afraid to receive the ball under pressure, players that can pick s pass...
Ah, it's the biannual Ruben Neves to United rumour. And 50 million!? Yeah, no. Guy is good, but not 50 million good. Just being better than what we have shouldn't be a reason to sign anyone for a price like that. For 30 million though, it's another matter entirely.
It still amaze me that people still correlate running and more running with pressing. You don't need to run fast and often to press effectively
Good point that pressing isn't just about running, likewise hard working isn't just about pressing. Pressing numbers are just closing down player in possession, it doesn't track anything.
Total distance covered per game gives better idea about hard working and also sprints compared with the players playing in same position.
I agree with your comments, quality on the ball is imperative, it trumps everything when it comes to top level football, no matter how athletic you are, ability on the ball is key, once that is there, then you can consider athleticism, mentality, and other abilities.
as for Neves, he is good on the ball, switches the ball quite often (this could be due to the 352 shape Wolves play with), is decent defensively, and has a good winning mentality and derive as we see it in his games. The question on Neves would be can he scale up when he moves to United?
A combination of a distributor/passer and an energizer is what we should be looking at.
Neves could be the passer.
A partner in the mould of Kessie, Kamara, Haidara or Bissouma could be interesting.
although not at the same level, Thiago and Goretzka were a great example of a balanced duo pivot.
Neves could be the passer.
A partner in the mould of Kessie, Kamara, Haidara or Bissouma could be interesting.
although not at the same level, Thiago and Goretzka were a great example of a balanced duo pivot.
I would rather they drop to the bench in place of Matic and DvB. There is no point keeping DVB if he won't be trusted or is not good enough and Matic is on his last legs.
Hardly any of those points relate to being a 'better athlete', only the stamina one. Very strange you're clinging to this phrase. Most relate to things like skill, tactical awareness, character.
I repeat:
The ability to drive the ball up the pitch. Much better tackling. Elite defensive shielding. Captain material. Tireless stamina.
My problem with him is that even though he has a good long pass - I only see it like once or maybe twice a match whenever I watch him.
He doesn't exactly play like Carrick or Scholes who are dictating the play from deep, dictating the tempo and positioning of our football with his passes.
I feel like I see this even more with Pogba than Ruben Neves - with obviously Neves being better defensively than Pogba is.
He doesn't exactly play like Carrick or Scholes who are dictating the play from deep, dictating the tempo and positioning of our football with his passes.
I feel like I see this even more with Pogba than Ruben Neves - with obviously Neves being better defensively than Pogba is.
I don’t think he’s amazing, but I think that purely comes down to the fact he plays for Wolves rather than in top United sides like Scholes and Carrick were.
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