If we'd already brought in some genuine quality to the midfield then we'd all be loving this signing. As it stands i imagine there's a sneaking suspicion that he'll be the only one which of course would be self-sabotage.
Sean Longstaff
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If he's brought alongside Bruno it would be a good bolster of midfield both creatively and defensively though.
I'd take Longstaff plus Bruno tbh. We all know Matic is going to be starting most of the time anyway.
If that’s the case then we need to take a look at Ole as Matic is done.
That's a very fair comment, you guys really do seem to be putting every last one of your remaining chips on the idea that Solskjaer will develop these talents to their full potential.
If he does then in three years' time you could have a first 11 that gets close to that of Manchester City and Liverpool.
If not, and either way for the immediate term, there's little in your team to distinguish you from ourselves/Wolves/West Ham/Everton.
Its not a sneaking suspicion but stupid hysteria thats whipped up with the Brexit signing bullshit that's memed it's way on here.
Bruno is an advanced midfielder so where are these suspicions coming from?
It's just an excuse to bash an unfashionabl player, lets be honest.
Not sure I buy this although it is the fashionable view. If DDG had not suffered a meltdown in the last few weeks of the season we would have still managed top 4 and CL. I fully expect players like Lindelof, Shaw and Rashford to be better this year with another season of development and the signing of AWB clearly improves one of our weakest positions. I still expect us to be top 4 this season even if we don't make further signings.
Not a scobby what you're on about didn't even mention bruno.
Prospects are nearly always welcomed on here but they won't fill the immediate need hence concern that we also need talent along side them. If you think people having concerns about our midfield given last seasons performances is "hysteria" then you have lower standards than most.
We were dog shit last season, absolutely terrible, horrendous season, couldn’t score, couldn’t defend, worst season in decades, sacked the manger, and none of those teams finished above us. Wolves were the closest to us, yet there was still a difference of 9 points and 10 goals. The rest of the teams you listed all finished well behind Wolves. Let that sink in.
I think he was just giving two alternative realities not having a dig.
Leicester changed managers too and results from Rodgers starting pro rata would have seen them on 69 points. I expect Leicester to do better (not top 4 like).
Think you guys are setting too much store by the remarkable new manager bounce you experienced mid-season under Solskjaer. At Leicester we experienced a similar occurrence under Ranieri where we seemed to gain the most absurd level of momentum that began to feel like like it would never stop, causing a lot of us to think that this was where normality lay until its inevitable abrupt bump at the beginning of the following season. Of course it was beautiful to live in for its duration but ultimately this perfect storm at a very specific moment in time didn't reflect the players' or coach's true ability, so if you want to do a fair analysis of your squad's present position then you need to look outside of your bounce.
Really your issue isn't that you are such a poor team, or even that you may not now be going in the right direction, but that slowly but surely the "big six" is becoming the "big two" and "another eight", at present yourselves and Arsenal being the gazelles with the biggest limps. If you look at Wolves, Everton, West Ham, Leicester, we all have owners both with Champions League ambitions and the means to make it happen, as evidenced by the fact that we all outspent you last summer. I believe we're now at the point where if one was to make a "super 11" using all 5 teams' players I don't think Manchester United would even be towards the top for contributions, which would look horrible if you charted the results of such an experiment over the past 20 years. For the present I don't think pulling out a £150m cheque this summer will have the same effect as it may have done in the past - for our part Leicester are reliably said to have £100m to spend this summer - and for the future I would question whether your owners will have the same desire to maintain such spending indefinitely as the challenge of more determined pretenders fails to disappear. I would even worry about the political landscape with regards to the Financial Fair Play rules that currently help you on this matter; the wage increase rule has just been removed and as new ambitious owners flood the league (as we speak Aston Villa are new entrants, Crystal Palace/Newcastle are undergoing potential Eastern takeovers, Leeds may well be bought by QSI then promoted) the appetite for such rules within other clubs will become less and less.
So whilst I don't disagree that AWB may be a fantastic signing, is he going to be the man that definitely propels you above the likes of ourselves in the immediate and longer term, a notch above Pereira?
I think a reasonable target for Leicester would be a top six finish, but I expect Wolves, Everton, West Ham to be gunning for top six as well.It will be interesting.
I’m confused, why do we need to propel ourselves above you? We are already better than you. Barring some sort of miracle, there is no evidence that LCFC or any of the other teams you mentioned will be better than us next season. While the gap narrowed a little this season, what makes you think that the club is going to stagnate and let those teams overtake us?
We are not in the best place right now but there is no evidence that the decline is permanent. There are excellent academy products coming through and we have strengthened with the AWB signing (despite what you think). We will keep strengthening hopefully with Bruno Fernandes et al. There is no sign that our owners are willing to let the club slump into “another eight” mediocrity.
I was going to say something similar. It’s so popular to United bash, particularly given our end to the season.
Some people have lost their minds, however, particularly with the utter pish that Leicester fan has come out with.
Propel above Leicester? We had such a meltdown season and still finished 6th.
You were closer to 16th placed team than 6th
If we do sign this lad, I'm not expecting him to be a first team starter. We will introduce him slowly into the team, as Matic tails off towards the end of the season. Whatever people may think of him, Matic is/has been a great player. Longstaff would learn loads training and playing with someone like Matic. Then when it comes to the following season, hopefully he'd take over Matic full time.
People seem to think that Longstaff is going to be anything but a young player that we hope to develop. He will not be a starter, we still have Pogba, Matic and Fred who are the experienced players with probably another like Bruno to add to that. McTominay, Periera and Longstaff will be the young players that we hope will develop in the coming years, but will play as back ups.
There is nothing wrong with taking a punt on him. He looks talented enough to be here.
There is nothing wrong with taking a punt on him. He looks talented enough to be here.
I’ve been reading this quite a bit. He could of course be worse than Matic. He could be the level of Fellaini or Cleverley or even lower. Just because his name is not Matic doesn’t mean he’s automatically better.
It’s a risky strategy by Ole, we could quite easily end up signing a load more bang average players to go with the ones we already have.
The point is that we are looking to develop these players, but also trying to keep a balance. If we replace the experienced players then pretty sure we will sign established players to replace them. None of the signings are replacing our current experienced players, but just fringe players apart from AWB.
This is what I don't get. Why don't we sell the deadwood like him as its the last chance to flog him for some money back and replace him with a more energetic mobile midfield player who doesn't get found out.
Why can't we just give that fringe spot to Garner then? It's not like Longstaff is some experienced veteran or somebody in their prime. He's only played in 11 PL matches.
Even if he takes 20-25 games off of Matic, that would help keep Matic fresher and show some work rate when he plays.
Garner is yet a kid and not physically ready.
He's 18. I find that excuse weak. Especially when it's for a fringe role as was the discussion.
Has he not played quite a few games on loan at lower league clubs? Reserve football means very little these days. Just looked it up and Longstaff has 60 off games and Garner 1. There’s also a 3-4 year age gap. There’s a fair difference between the two.
Physically Garner doesn’t look ready to me to come in and play at a good standard for 20+ games in a season.
26 year old Fred can not handle the league physically , how will he?
Long staff wont be a fringe player.
But he has had two loan moves already, so he is further in his development than Garner. Not that I have a problem with giving Garner a chance, but then again the fanbase is so toxic that maybe a loan would be good for him. The first bad game, or a mistake and he will be labelled an overrated academy player that should be shipped off. Every player seems to get abuse if they don't become perfect from the get go. The pressure is high, and the patience is low with us.
Errr, all 4 teams you quoted have no player anywhere close to the level of Pogba or De Gea. I know it's all good and fun to shit on us, but try sticking to reality.
I’d love that to be the case, I just don’t expect it.
Feckin hate the term bang average in here. I’ve no idea how a player who’s a regular top flight player could ever be classed as average. Yes if they played for Hartlepool but earning a damn good living out of the game makes you way above bang average.
Anyways, as none of us know what budgets are in place, why is everyone expecting senior level players who’ll cost a fortune? Sanchez, Pogba & Lukaku are all still here so wages and funds are tied into them. Ole needs to sign players now, not wait until the end of the Window and panic buy replacements.
Longstaff looks a very decent prospect. I don’t see why people are getting bent out of shape expecting some worldie to be bought in..
This would not improve our midfield immediately which we want. We were lacking in this area last season and it needs upgrading ASAP. We need top players in this department now, not prospects.
United academy recruits turn out well-rounded, not "average". Our best academy graduates have no weaknesses, which puts them above 'average'. Few players have standout skills - like Messi, Ronnie. But many players get away with 'weaknesses': Lukaku (bad 1st touch), Matic (tallies on ball), even Pogba (lackadaisical spells), Martial (doesn't run as far as other players); until they actually arrive at OT and are exposed to the full light of fans criticisms. worldies arriving here only have their weaknesses revealed when we watch them week in/week out.
My issue with Longstaff is we already have similar: McTominay, Hamilton, ... A small issue, Ole and scouts are allowed their small punts. I like Longstaff.
If Longstaff turns out to be the new Carrick, I will hold my hands up. But as you say we have similar players here already in McTominay, Hamilton. You can add Garner and Traore to these also. They need to be given their chance.
Now if we were talking Ndombele or Partey, these are the players we should be going for now.
that has been "going to happen" and failed to materialise since the Prem began. The rule to take care about is the Financial Fair Play
I used the word "relegation" last summer (not saying that we would be just that there was as much chance of that as of winning title) and get huge amounts of stickEuropa League spot for the season after next, not a relegation battle? I'd like to have some of your positivity, mate!
OGS's Utd team were third best in the league, if the starting mark were placed when he took over.
My guess is that OGS is optimistically targeting roughly double that next season at 80 points. To do that, I think they should target 3 key areas:
* Score more
* Conceed less
* Improve work rate
Longstaff ticks two of those areas.
Just as a fun aside, if we start the Premier League table with Longstaff's starting debut at the Chelsea game, and end it at his injury in the West Ham loss, Newcastle Utd are in the top six.
Please don't take that last bit as gospel, there are so many more variables involved than just the introduction of a young player mid season. Plus this hasn't been fact checked by a second person or taken from a secondary source; this is my own calculation. Any mistake is my own.
My guess is that OGS is optimistically targeting roughly double that next season at 80 points. To do that, I think they should target 3 key areas:
* Score more
* Conceed less
* Improve work rate
Longstaff ticks two of those areas.
Just as a fun aside, if we start the Premier League table with Longstaff's starting debut at the Chelsea game, and end it at his injury in the West Ham loss, Newcastle Utd are in the top six.
Please don't take that last bit as gospel, there are so many more variables involved than just the introduction of a young player mid season. Plus this hasn't been fact checked by a second person or taken from a secondary source; this is my own calculation. Any mistake is my own.
Utter nonsense
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