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Saúl Ñíguez
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
Cocks out? 
Don Ballocks
Saul Scholes
It's always particularly believable when it gets a fleeting mention is a round up piece.
I don't even see on that link where Saul is mentioned in detail. Nothing article.
Was a fair scroll down tbf.
United prepare move for Niguez
United look set to complete the capture of Saul Niguez, Atletico Madrid’s talented 21-year-old midfielder.
According to Don Balon , United have been given the go ahead to make a £31 million offer in the summer transfer window.
The Old Trafford side reportedly made an approach in January – only for the player to get cold feet.
Don Balon is shite and makes up transfers all the time.
I would prefer we go for Kroos.
Saul does a lot more for the team than a luxury player like Kroos who can only operate in a midfield 3 with 2 other CM's doing the work. Saul is an all rounder that gets box to box and can play in multiple midfield positions as well as at CB if needed, he is also much more suited to the PL than Kroos IMO.
Get him and Sanches in. If it has to be one of them i'd take Sanches
Both of them would make our midfield athletic and combative at long last, but Saul is much the better player and still only 21, plus he's versatile and more complete than Sanches.
Sanches is three years younger and already orchestrating midfield at Benfica. How much better will he be at 21? Out of the two i'd say Sanches' strengths are more suited to English football. Energetic, quick, strong, lots of stamina and great range of passing.
He' not orchestrating midfield in any of the games I've watched, he's a good workhorse though with superb stamina, but his passing is not up to much right now. Saul is tall, athletic, strong and technically better, plus his defensive contribution when tracking runners is very good.
That's what most of the scout reports are saying, that he dictates the tempo in midfield. He seemed to be trying to do that when I saw him play against Zenit in the CL. I guess we shall see who United sign, if any of them. The links to Sanches seem to be legit
He's been really good this season but 31 million seems rather much.
I hope we go all out for Gundogan. He's both a proper playmaker and has legs to get about.
I hope we go all out for Gundogan. He's both a proper playmaker and has legs to get about.
It's hard to say as we have been linked to Gaitan from the same club for years and in January several Spanish sources reported our interest in Saul and also Andre Gomes. Seems like those 3 have some legitimacy to them.
£30M is pretty much the going rate for young talent these days, I'd be all for Gundogan as well, he's easily the best option out there, I just get the feeling he'll be off to Spain.
Ideally, we would sign Gündogan + Saúl. Was chatting with another poster via PM reg. this very topic, and we reckon that if Mourinho is appointed as the next manager, then he'll likely play a 4-2-3-1. And through the last sort of half decade - the two most prominent 4-2-3-1 teams were Heyneckes' Bayern, and Klopp's Dortmund - with the former being an evolved form of the latter. With Gündogan, we could emulate the Gündogan + Bender combo (Schneiderlin can play the high energy defensive midfielder role, needs a bit of refinement but that can be done). But to truly excel within the setup, you'd like to have someone with better passing ability, and positional acumen - like Martínez with Schweinsteiger. Saúl could be our version of Martínez - given his rounded skillset in both phases of the game, and like Martínez, he can play in midfield as well as in defense.
And from a systemic fit standpoint, Gündogan + Saúl would be very close to Schweinsteiger + Martínez. Of course, some might not rank Saúl that much, but I really believe that he can be that kind of player in the near future. From the alternatives, Neves and Goretzka are good choices too, IMO. Also, it never hurts to sign more than one midfielder (with a view on planning for the future), especially in United's case where both Carrick and Schweinsteiger look about done at the elite level. Really think a team resembling Heyneckes' high intensity Bayern would be Mourinho's wet dream - and with that in mind, you need more fresh legs.
Saúl is a monster. One of the very best midfielders in La Liga this season, and versatile as well.
Can play in a number of central positions in midfield, both defensively and attacking, as well as operating as a wide midfielder. He even played as a CB for Rayo when he cut his teeth there.
He'd be my number one pick if we want a box-to-box midfielder. Such a combative and technically accomplished player.
Can play in a number of central positions in midfield, both defensively and attacking, as well as operating as a wide midfielder. He even played as a CB for Rayo when he cut his teeth there.
He'd be my number one pick if we want a box-to-box midfielder. Such a combative and technically accomplished player.
You probably haven't seen much of him then. Since early February, Sanches has practically been playing as Benfica's deepest midfielder and hasn't been running with the ball as much either. In the last few games he's been relying more on his passing. And that seems pretty decent to me. I haven't seen enough of him to judge if he's technically better than Saul and I suspect nobody on this forum has either.
What I do know is that he's been a mainstay in a good Benfica team at 18 and has been playing very well by all accounts. I would trust our scouts to make a good judgement on him.
Last time I watched Atletico for the whole game was against Real and he was fantastic.
We need energy in midfield but I also think we need a tempo player.
We need energy in midfield but I also think we need a tempo player.
I personally haven't seen Saul play that screening midfielder role. Everytime I've watched him he's been great at playing as an all-action midfielder somewhat like Vidal popping up everywhere, doing a bit of everything. If he can indeed even play that role, and well, then he'd quite the signing, and extremely well-rounded.
Gundogan to me, is a no-brainer either way. Along with Veratti, he's probably the finest young playmaking CM around, and it seems he'll be leaving Dortmund soon. We should be all over that.
Probably. I probably just haven't seen enough of him. Whenever I have, he's looked very impressive, but with these all rounded midfielders sometimes a small sample size convinces you less than a player with obvious technical class (like Verrati). He looks like he'd be a fine addition, mind you, just wasn't sure if he's a 30-40 million pound player.
That's because Simeone has certain trust issues with his younger midfielders (or that's the impression I get) - evidenced his his reluctance to play Koke or Saúl in deeper roles - though he does have Gabi for that, so maybe it's more of a balance and squad management thing. But in terms of his skillset, Saúl has all the mental and physical attributes to play the deeper defensive role (not only in La Liga, but in the Premier League where you have to be more robust) - the type where he has to be a bit more methodical, and less frantic (like Vidal). You could see glimmers of that at Rayo Vallecano when Moyes started scouting him - he lined up as a box-to-box, as a defensive midfielder, and in central defense - though he was only 18, and lot of times the mental side of the game let him down. But Simeone has polished him over the last couple of seasons, and IMO his long term evolution will be as a defensive or holding midfielder. Kind of like how Martínez was more of a box-to-box midfielder at Osasuna and in the early goings at Athletic Club (his comparison at that time was Gerrard IIRC), but grew into a more defensive role with the Spanish U-21 team, and under Bielsa - who used Ander as the box-to-box with Martínez often dropping into defense with Iturraspe as the holding midfielder.
I've seen him play 6 or 7 times since we were heavily linked around Christmas, in some of those games he was running with the ball less which to me dulled his best attribute, as when sitting deeper he was a tenacious tackler but lacked the passing from deep to effect the game, compared with when he'd run the ball out and turn the opposition around. On technique I am not sure how big a sample size you feel is required to make a judgment, in the case of Sanches the 6 or 7 games I've see of him I have felt his control is often too erratic, but it's his physical attributes that I think will have attracted us, he's fast, strong and mobile with a low center of gravity that makes him hard to knock off the ball, he's not stood out on the ball like Pogba, Verratti and to a lesser extent Neves when they first came to people's attention.
That's true, Saul is definitely not a player that catches the eye immediately, I guess you could say a bit like Carrick, not the same type of player right now but both are players that rarely got plaudits as their work is not the most flashy or stylish, although Saul has broadened his work with the ball in the last few months.
He is not like Carrick. The comparison with Vidal makes more sense, but Vidal has a lot more quality going forward. An even better comparison would be Khedira, maybe Ramsey (even so I think that he is slightly more attacking), Fernandinho or even our own Schneiderlin
Simeone also trusts Matías Kranevitter to play in the role as holding player. So it is not just a trust issue. Despite that I agree that he might be able to play as part of a DM/CM pairing with a player like Gündogan next to him for a team that plays slightly more attacking.
Simeone also trusts Matías Kranevitter to play in the role as holding player. So it is not just a trust issue. Despite that I agree that he might be able to play as part of a DM/CM pairing with a player like Gündogan next to him for a team that plays slightly more attacking.
If we are hiring Mourinho, he plans on playing on the counter often we and strike out on top CMs, Saul would make a lot of sense.
-Herrera--Saul-
--Schneiderlin--
would not be outworked by anyone in Europe. Lacking in passing and turning ability aside from Herrera, but we'd be difficult to play against and it would really free up Memphis, Martial and the RW we will surely sign.
I caught the PSV-Atletico 2nd half and Saul ran like a dog. Koke made the smarter runs and is the better player, but I doubt we can get him. Not sure we'd get Saul either unless Simeone has a midfielder in mind to replace him out wide.
-Herrera--Saul-
--Schneiderlin--
would not be outworked by anyone in Europe. Lacking in passing and turning ability aside from Herrera, but we'd be difficult to play against and it would really free up Memphis, Martial and the RW we will surely sign.
I caught the PSV-Atletico 2nd half and Saul ran like a dog. Koke made the smarter runs and is the better player, but I doubt we can get him. Not sure we'd get Saul either unless Simeone has a midfielder in mind to replace him out wide.
Atleti added Kranevitter and Augusto Fernández in January, that's on top of Gabi, Koke and Partey, so they wouldn't be short without Saul.
No thanks. He'd be mediocre in the prem especially in our team. He's a player that specializes in nothing at all.
Not in the middle but out wide.
I think he's a good player and talent. Would be happy to get him. Koke seems like a brilliant player but I doubt we'd get him.
Wide they have Carrasco and Oliver.
In theory, yeah, but in practice Simeone seems to prefer playing hard-working CMs out wide. Oliver could fit the bill as he gets stronger and older and Carrasco is a talented winger, but I would think he'd rather keep Saul around and have Koke, Saul, Carrasco and Oliver rotating for the 2 spots and occasionally getting time more centrally either upfront (Carrasco) or in midfield (Koke, Saul, Oliver).
He might want that but Saul's contract is running down and he has a buyout clause, so it wont be up to him, plus it's not like Atleti can't dip into the market themselves and buy a replacement, most likely for less money than we'd pay them for Saul.
His clause is pretty damn high and he's signed until 2020, I thought? I agree this is a no-brainer if it's cheap, but I doubt it will be.
Doesn't look outstanding in any of the videos I've seen.. nor do I recall him much in any of the Madrid games I've seen. Looks very solid though and definitely better than Khedeira. Would it be correct to say he could potentially play like Strootman in terms of style?
I would say Fletcher's style and in my opinion he has been the best player on the field during the last three games against Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Okay thanks. I'll pay more attention to him.
Yeah he's class I think. Good engine in him.
He's not really a Strootman, no. He's got great stamina, a lot of bite, is a very accomplished player in terms of technical ability, and he can dribble a bit as well. He's probably the most all-round midfielder in La Liga in terms of his skill set.
I really, really rate him.