Sergej Milinkovic Savic

[Lawman]

Losing one player and replacing him with one player does not improve the squad at all. Nor strengthen its numbers. That's why Mourinho insist he wants to replace Carrick with two players.

As for a goal scorer taking the load of Lukaku. Alexis will do just that after a summer of rest. Our biggest concerns should be our fullback areas and our center midfield creative passers.

Replacing a player not contributing much with one who will hopefully be a starter is surely improving the squad? Unless you’re solely talking in numbers here buddy.
Hey @Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber i agree we need someone to take the load of Lukaku but think Jose might do this from the right attack (Bale or Mahrez for me). If we don’t fix full backs, midfield and right attack then we will continue to look tumescent. If Martial rumours/contract issues are true and he goes and we get a right winger (balancing the squad), it wouldn’t surprise me for Jose to do another with a cheap/short term fix like a Hernandez type signing to perhaps add more firepower and give himself some different opinions off the bench.

 

[Lawman]

Which teams have 2x £80 million players who play the same role and would be hard to fit in the same team without leaving themselves vulnerable?

Bale and James at Madrid I suppose are the only ones I can think off at around £80m. Then over at City they have Mangala Stones and Laporte all subs at around £50m each in the same position.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Well at least he is another really tall player so we basically should become impenatrable from set pieces and be a real threat at set pieces. He’ll counter Sanchez bringing down the average squad height.

 

[Treble]

Haven't watched him at all. But have read a lot of good things about him. He is tall but apparently technically good.

 

[Ekeke]

Bale and James at Madrid I suppose are the only ones I can think off at around £80m. Then over at City they have Mangala Stones and Laporte all subs at around £50m each in the same position.

So Madrid and James who is on a 2 year loan with an option to buy at Bayern. Effectively sold because they dont want that scenario.

And City who loaned out Mangala when they realized he was a bust and definitely not a high value player and bought players to replace him. I mean, hes a mediocre player at Everton after being on loan at Valencia and failing to look any better. Then City have 30 year old Otamendi and 2 younger CBs to compete with him, all that can play together and have different strengths.

I dont think thats like Pogba and M-Savic at all. They are both CMs who have played the best as the most attacking of a 5 man, or 3 man midfield (depends how you look at the formation) and looked their best getting forward and scoring goals. They do not compliment each other at all. They do not cover each other's weaknesses. They are just 2 similar flavours of the same thing with some slight differences.

Now maybe if we had an amazing team set up with players looking great in every area of the pitch, we could try something bold and have the luxury of 2 star attacking midfielders of a similar type supporting the front players. Or if we had an amazing DM who would always be in a great position to help out our defence when our 2 attack minded CMs are easily cut through when an opponent breaks after one of our moves break down, we could get away with it.

But we dont have Fernandinho. We have Matic who has done well when judged as a normal CM but has often left gaps defensively that have meant our CBs were exposed. Thats not to say that it wouldnt work if Matic was instructed to just sit there and not get forward so he was always in a position to cover. Maybe he'd do a good job if he was asked to do that. But based on how he has played this season, if he carried on playing the same way our midfield would leave our defence high and dry.

 

[Nick.]

Has anybody considered that we use him at the tip of a diamond? He has played as a #10 for Lazio, correct? I know they play a funny formation, something like 3-6-1-1 from what I heard.

Lukaku - Sanchez
Milinkovic-Savic
Pogba - Fred
Matic
Alex Sandro - Bailly - Smalling - Valencia
De Gea
​

This way you atill get a CM like Fred who is diligent enough to cover Pogba defensively along with Matic, and can bypass the midfield press with a longball to SMS which we know Mourinho values highly. Obviously need a right-back to add width too. Getting those 3 would be expensive but if you sell Martial that probably saves us enough money to get a right-back, along with the likely sale of Darmian, Blind etc.

We've been linked to Alderweireld and one or two right-backs so that team could be even better.

 

[Lawman]

So Madrid and James who is on a 2 year loan with an option to buy at Bayern. Effectively sold because they dont want that scenario.

And City who loaned out Mangala when they realized he was a bust and definitely not a high value player and bought players to replace him. I mean, hes a mediocre player at Everton after being on loan at Valencia and failing to look any better. Then City have 30 year old Otamendi and 2 younger CBs to compete with him, all that can play together and have different strengths.

I dont think thats like Pogba and M-Savic at all. They are both CMs who have played the best as the most attacking of a 5 man, or 3 man midfield (depends how you look at the formation) and looked their best getting forward and scoring goals. They do not compliment each other at all. They do not cover each other's weaknesses. They are just 2 similar flavours of the same thing with some slight differences.

Now maybe if we had an amazing team set up with players looking great in every area of the pitch, we could try something bold and have the luxury of 2 star attacking midfielders of a similar type supporting the front players. Or if we had an amazing DM who would always be in a great position to help out our defence when our 2 attack minded CMs are easily cut through when an opponent breaks after one of our moves break down, we could get away with it.

But we dont have Fernandinho. We have Matic who has done well when judged as a normal CM but has often left gaps defensively that have meant our CBs were exposed. Thats not to say that it wouldnt work if Matic was instructed to just sit there and not get forward so he was always in a position to cover. Maybe he'd do a good job if he was asked to do that. But based on how he has played this season, if he carried on playing the same way our midfield would leave our defence high and dry.

I agree with most you say (I rate Matic higher than Fernandinho though) but I was only responding to you asking what team has two £80m in the same kind of position.

Real do with James and Bale the fact they now have loaned one out and the other doesn’t get a game further highlights their strength in depth and their quality a bit like City with those 3 “£150m sub” centre backs.

Truth be told we need to keep throwing money at this squad to up the quality. Real are already there and so are City having spent bucketloads. (Real might have to spend big this year but will recoup somewhat with Bale James and possibly Ronnie or Benzema plus hopefully have their 3rd CL in 3 year).

Yep I agree specific positions need addressed first as we have a budget to work to but it will be a pretty big budget to be fair.

We get tagged a lot as inflating the market as we spent £89m on Pogba and £75m on Lukaku but City have spent just as much on those 3 centre backs who are not even first choice and lately have not even made match squads.
Plus they just spent roughly £125m on full backs last summer. And I get people will say Jose has spent similar but really if it’s looked at Pep has been able to do this as the core of his team was there already (Silva KDB Aguero Kompany Fernandinho Otamendi Sterling) where at United Jose got (DDG Valencia Young Martial Rashford Smalling) I’ve only really named guys who are still regular starters but bloody Nora that’s a massive gulf when you compare the starting squads.

 

[reddaz71]

Maybe just maybe Savic will be Pogba's replacement!

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Haven't watched him at all. But have read a lot of good things about him. He is tall but apparently technically good.

Everytime I have watched a Lazio game he seems to score, so that is good.

 

[GM K]

I really don't know why anyone will not be excited to have Sergej in this Manchester United team. For me, he is a complete midfielder. More complete than Pogba who seems to only be able to play well from the left of a midfield three. Sergey reminds me of a Yaya Toure. He can be as effective attacking from the middle as he can be playing the holding role. He is technically very good regardless of his height and he can bring in technical qualities as well as physicality. If we buy him, I don't mind selling Pogba. But the best scenario is to buy him, buy another solid midfielder and keep Pogba. Pogba thrived in Juventus when the team did not rely on him as the team leader. He had less pressure and was surrounded by equally and more talented players. That brought out the best in him. Right now, he is being looked upon as the talisman for United and it does not look like he can handle it. Sergej will definitely either give him tough competition for a slot or provide star support for him in the middle. I believe we can have them both in the team but if Pogba leaves, Sergej will be a damn good replacement.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Everytime I have watched a Lazio game he seems to score, so that is good.

Man you must catch all the games I miss everytime I watch him he is subbed off for not playing very well or is a bit of a passenger which is why i’m Wondering why he is so highly touted. I might just be unlucky and catch all his poor games.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Man you must catch all the games I miss everytime I watch him he is subbed off for not playing very well or is a bit of a passenger which is why i’m Wondering why he is so highly touted. I might just be unlucky and catch all his poor games.

 

[DWelbz19]

Has anybody considered that we use him at the tip of a diamond? He has played as a #10 for Lazio, correct? I know they play a funny formation, something like 3-6-1-1 from what I heard.

Lukaku - Sanchez
Milinkovic-Savic
Pogba - Fred
Matic
Alex Sandro - Bailly - Smalling - Valencia
De Gea
​

This way you atill get a CM like Fred who is diligent enough to cover Pogba defensively along with Matic, and can bypass the midfield press with a longball to SMS which we know Mourinho values highly. Obviously need a right-back to add width too. Getting those 3 would be expensive but if you sell Martial that probably saves us enough money to get a right-back, along with the likely sale of Darmian, Blind etc.

We've been linked to Alderweireld and one or two right-backs so that team could be even better.

Works in Italy because most teams match with similar systems. Lack of width would be a real problem in this league. Need a wingback eons better than Valencia too.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

Replacing a player not contributing much with one who will hopefully be a starter is surely improving the squad? Unless you’re solely talking in numbers here buddy.

Its both. The principle is this. Say when you lose a player of Carrick quality and just bring another. You have stayed the same. You haven't evolved. But if you add a quality Carrick replacement and a second quality player. You have evolved and gotten stronger.

For example we didnt get stronger by adding Lukaku to directly replace Zlatan. But adding Alexis in January to that sigining did make us stronger.

 

[laughtersassassin]

Anyone who wants Savic to replace Pogba will be in with a rude awakening. If it happens we will be a worse team, not a better one.

 

[Nick.]

Works in Italy because most teams match with similar systems. Lack of width would be a real problem in this league. Need a wingback eons better than Valencia too.

Yeah but if we got another good right-back over Valencia like you said it could potentially work real well. Or alternatively we just buy a right-winger instead to play a standard 4-3-3.

I just look at Real Madrid who won CL twice in a row and potentially going on 3 this year and although I know they have much better players I think it shows that a diamond works fine in the modern game.

 

[finneh]

Its both. The principle is this. Say when you lose a player of Carrick quality and just bring another. You have stayed the same. You haven't evolved. But if you add a quality Carrick replacement and a second quality player. You have evolved and gotten stronger.

For example we didnt get stronger by adding Lukaku to directly replace Zlatan. But adding Alexis in January to that sigining did make us stronger.

That's a bizarre view. Carrick hasn't been a key contributor for a few years so replacing him with a key contributor would be a big upgrade. When you say Carrick's quality you're talking about the Carrick of 5 years ago when in reality Carrick was replaced by Matic last Summer.

Replacing Fellaini, Carrick, Darmian and Shaw with four first team players would be a huge upgrade.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

I think we should. Carrick and Fellaini to make way. Sergej if arrives takes Fellaini's spot but we need a replacement for Carrick. To take Matic's position. We are still lacking in midfield quality.

Wishful thinking. Mourinho would sell everyone if it results in keeping big fella

 

[GM K]

Anyone who wants Savic to replace Pogba will be in with a rude awakening. If it happens we will be a worse team, not a better one.

I disagree mate. Skill for skill, Pogba is better but attitudinally, Sergej is a tougher player while being technically solid himself. In a Jose Mourinho scenario, he will be a splendid replacement. There is a reason why many top teams in Europe want him. But I will want BOTH of them contrary to general opinions here. I believe they can play in the same team especially if we buy another midfielder with a completely different skill set. What Pogba needs is some serious competition and not to be looked at as the main talisman. The guy thrives when he is free spirited.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

We are buying two midfielder's to replace Carrick. Thats guaranteed. A third if Fellaini goes too

This would be dream come true

 

[laughtersassassin]

I disagree mate. Skill for skill, Pogba is better but attitudinally, Sergej is a tougher player while being technically solid himself. In a Jose Mourinho scenario, he will be a splendid replacement. There is a reason why many top teams in Europe want him. But I will want BOTH of them contrary to general opinions here. I believe they can play in the same team especially if we buy another midfielder with a completely different skill set. What Pogba needs is some serious competition and not to be looked at as the main talisman. The guy thrives when he is free spirited.

Also we are in such a state we cant be replacing Pogba. We need to be replacing the bad players!!

 

[GM K]

Also we are in such a state we cant be replacing Pogba. We need to be replacing the bad players!!

I agree with this.

Only thing is, I don't believe there is one bad player at United. Just players who are not exactly world class.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

I agree with this.

Only thing is, I don't believe there is one bad player at United. Just players who are not exactly world class.

This

There are also those who maybe not world class who are underperforming for whatever reason. Whether it’s the manager I don’t know but I think with a massive injection of confidence they could be better

 

[andersj]

Its both. The principle is this. Say when you lose a player of Carrick quality and just bring another. You have stayed the same. You haven't evolved. But if you add a quality Carrick replacement and a second quality player. You have evolved and gotten stronger.

For example we didnt get stronger by adding Lukaku to directly replace Zlatan. But adding Alexis in January to that sigining did make us stronger.

That logic is flawed. If we bring in one quality midfielder we will replace a backup player with a first choice midfielder. A player that got less than 1 000 minutes with one that probably will play next to Pogba and Matic, and even challenge one of them for game time in some games.

Make no mistake, that is an improvement. The case with Zlatan for Lukaku is different. Zlatan played all games up until his injury.

 

[King_Cantona07]

Reports of 80 mill deal agreement just read In twitter.

 

[DWelbz19]

I just look at Real Madrid who won CL twice in a row and potentially going on 3 this year and although I know they have much better players I think it shows that a diamond works fine in the modern game.

I wouldn't be opposed - It would really suit our attackers like Sanchez/Martial/Rashford who are all halfway houses between central strikers and wide forwards. Martial and Lukaku had great chemistry in the few games they played a sport a front that two together.

But we need a CM or two with legs; an industrial box-to-box with endless stamina in him like Fred, and a Marcelo tier fullback.

Something like:

De Gea
RB - Smalling - Jones/Bailly - LB
Matic
Fred - Pogba
Alexis
Lukaku - Martial
​

 

[Inigo Montoya]

Reports of 80 mill deal agreement just read In twitter.

Then it must be happening

 

[Sanche7]

The 80 million fee and the rumours of a deal agreed originated from The Sun, do people actually believe it to be true !?
I don't think we have the money to spend 80 million on one player when we don't even have one proper RB or RW
And even if we do, we should spend the money on someone who is more suited to our style

Edit : just read the Sun's 'Exclusive', they seem pretty certain that this is happening.
Also they are running this headline :
SAVI MOVE
Who is Sergej Milinkovic-Savic? Manchester United’s new 6ft4 Serbian midfield ‘sergeant’ signed from Lazio

Man I wish I had a job where I could do and say whatever I want and get paid for it

 

[Invictus]

De Gea
RB - Smalling - Jones/Bailly - LB
Matic
Fred - Pogba
Alexis
Lukaku - Martial

Sánchez isn't a true enganche, though - that's a major flaw in this scheme, especially considering his propensity for surrendering possession. If you look at some of the better diamonds over the years:

Spoiler

Juventus under Lippi:

Milan 2003 CL winner:

Porto 2004 CL winner:

Madrid 2017 CL winner:

Alexis has more in common with forwards like Cristiano or Del Piero than he does with a Zidane or Rui Costa or Deco - who were close to prototypical creators at 10.

Even with Chile, he's more used to a forward role:

Spoiler

United won't be able to implement a good diamond without a high caliber possession oriented 10 behind the strike duo - especially with Matić as the holding midfielder (instead of a proper DLP - like maybe Pirlo - whose presence gave Juventus the scope to play the likes of Tévez or Vidal at 10).

 

[United Pro]

We need a midfielder that can play RCM alongside Matic and Pogba, but also a player that can cover for both Matic and Pogba in case of injuries. In the current midfield 2 system that Mourinho likes to use, Pogba is expected to do too much. He's required to get forward and contribute, get back and defend and dictate the play from a play making perspective. In games that Pogba has been injured/suspended, we've struggled to control the game and our passing has been too slow. We've also not really got a player that sits in front of the back 4, if Matic is injured. Herrera can do a job there, but he's better further forward.

If we get a player that is conformable sitting in and dictating the play, like Jorginho, Seri or to a lesser extent Fred, it'll give Pogba greater freedom to roam forward and perform where he's best at. Seri and Fred also have the legs to get forward more and play box to box. Additionally, all 3 players can potentially fill in for either Pogba or Matic and we wouldn't struggle as much defensively or in dictating the play.

SMS, on the other hand, will provide another level of offensive threat from midfield. Phsyically very imposing, with good dribbling and decent enough passing. He's effectively a much better Fellaini with superior dribbling ability, faster and better technically. He's technically incredible for his size, but imo compared to other top level midfielders, he's lacking from a play making perspective and lacks a bit of mobility. He's also inferior to Pogba's technical ability, so can't dictate the play and fill Pogba's void when injured. He's either a considerably better version of Fellaini, or a budget Pogba. Either way, I'm not sure he's quite what we need.

 

[mad1max954]

Has anybody considered that we use him at the tip of a diamond? He has played as a #10 for Lazio, correct? I know they play a funny formation, something like 3-6-1-1 from what I heard.

Lukaku - Sanchez
Milinkovic-Savic
Pogba - Fred
Matic
Alex Sandro - Bailly - Smalling - Valencia
De Gea
​

This way you atill get a CM like Fred who is diligent enough to cover Pogba defensively along with Matic, and can bypass the midfield press with a longball to SMS which we know Mourinho values highly. Obviously need a right-back to add width too. Getting those 3 would be expensive but if you sell Martial that probably saves us enough money to get a right-back, along with the likely sale of Darmian, Blind etc.

We've been linked to Alderweireld and one or two right-backs so that team could be even better.

Even with our current selection I have wanted us to play with a diamond, which hopefully would make up for our lack of a right winger and arguably left wing, given that sanches and martial are more LF’s really. Obviously you would need better and really athletic full backs for it to work properly.

Jose has never once tried it though, so I’d be shocked if moving to the diamond was even on his radar.

 

[cyberman]

Has anybody considered that we use him at the tip of a diamond? He has played as a #10 for Lazio, correct? I know they play a funny formation, something like 3-6-1-1 from what I heard.

Lukaku - Sanchez
Milinkovic-Savic
Pogba - Fred
Matic
Alex Sandro - Bailly - Smalling - Valencia
De Gea
​

This way you atill get a CM like Fred who is diligent enough to cover Pogba defensively along with Matic, and can bypass the midfield press with a longball to SMS which we know Mourinho values highly. Obviously need a right-back to add width too. Getting those 3 would be expensive but if you sell Martial that probably saves us enough money to get a right-back, along with the likely sale of Darmian, Blind etc.

We've been linked to Alderweireld and one or two right-backs so that team could be even better.

He wouldn't be fitting players in like this.
Jose would want options. Front load us against weaker sides and structre ourselves v the big boys.

 

[McGrathsipan]

never heard of him?
Is he any good?

 

[AgentP]

SMS is a good player but he's just not the right fit for us. A midfield 3 of Matic, Pogba and SMS will be too immobile and laborious. We need players who can immediately slot into a position we lack. We can't afford to buy players for huge sums and then try to accommodate them into a role they are not comfortable with. I'd rather we go for Seri and Neves.

 

[Ekeke]

I agree with most you say (I rate Matic higher than Fernandinho though) but I was only responding to you asking what team has two £80m in the same kind of position.

Real do with James and Bale the fact they now have loaned one out and the other doesn’t get a game further highlights their strength in depth and their quality a bit like City with those 3 “£150m sub” centre backs.

Truth be told we need to keep throwing money at this squad to up the quality. Real are already there and so are City having spent bucketloads. (Real might have to spend big this year but will recoup somewhat with Bale James and possibly Ronnie or Benzema plus hopefully have their 3rd CL in 3 year).

Yep I agree specific positions need addressed first as we have a budget to work to but it will be a pretty big budget to be fair.

We get tagged a lot as inflating the market as we spent £89m on Pogba and £75m on Lukaku but City have spent just as much on those 3 centre backs who are not even first choice and lately have not even made match squads.
Plus they just spent roughly £125m on full backs last summer. And I get people will say Jose has spent similar but really if it’s looked at Pep has been able to do this as the core of his team was there already (Silva KDB Aguero Kompany Fernandinho Otamendi Sterling) where at United Jose got (DDG Valencia Young Martial Rashford Smalling) I’ve only really named guys who are still regular starters but bloody Nora that’s a massive gulf when you compare the starting squads.

I'm not specifically saying that Fernandinho is better overall, but its clear to me he was better defensively this season. Matic did well getting on the ball a lot and making lots of passes and on top of that he won the ball a bit, but he didnt protect the backline very well. I think Matic was a good midfielder this season, but if you give him the main responsibility of protecting the backline (calling him a DM) then he came up short on his primary role.

But yeah, we obviously need to spend and improve so thats all the more reason to make sure its by adding complimentary players to the ones we have rather than more luxury players that will require a specific system to try and make it work

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

So this looks like it's actually happening, then? It's spreading like wildfire. On the one hand, I like him and would like him at OT but for £80m, i'm not so sure - if he's our only midfield signing, I don't see us improving to a huge level, there. I'd also be worried that Fellaini would be kept on to save buying a second midfielder. But saying that, SMS is like an upgraded Fellaini so perhaps he's Marouane's top-notch replacement?

If we signed SMS and a Carrick replacement, I'd be very happy indeed with our midfield options. But if it's just Sergej, I dunno....

 

[Sanche7]

SMS is a good player but he's just not the right fit for us. A midfield 3 of Matic, Pogba and SMS will be too immobile and laborious. We need players who can immediately slot into a position we lack. We can't afford to buy players for huge sums and then try to accommodate them into a role they are not comfortable with. I'd rather we go for Seri and Neves.

I'm guessing we are going to try 4-4-2 or 4-2-2-2 or 3-5-2
Mourinho said there won't be any attacking signings also there have been rumours that he promised Martial a more central role next year.
We have been linked with a number of CMs, FBs and a few CBs.
If we go 4-2-2-2 with
Pogba - SMS
Matic - Fred
as midfield 4,that kind of takes care of the lack of mobility.

 

[Andycoleno9]

I don't watch italian league. Is he finished product or another player who will need to adapt?

 

[Darlington Padgett]

I don't watch italian league. Is he finished product or another player who will need to adapt?

He's a really good player! He's too similar to Pogba imho. He's like Pogba with little less flair but he makes up with more directness.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

That's a bizarre view. Carrick hasn't been a key contributor for a few years so replacing him with a key contributor would be a big upgrade. When you say Carrick's quality you're talking about the Carrick of 5 years ago when in reality Carrick was replaced by Matic last Summer.

Replacing Fellaini, Carrick, Darmian and Shaw with four first team players would be a huge upgrade.

Not for Mourinho. He wont just replace Carrick with one player. What is bizarre is people finding it bizarre