What I'm surprised with is how they see him as a pure winger despite his role being more than that at Dortmund for his whole time there. A wing back must be a very good crosser and should have the athleticism to go end-to-end for 90+ minutes. They can contribute more in the final third, but I don't see how Sancho make the most of his skill set if he's playing as a wing back. His dribbling isn't even that quick that he can beat the opposition in 1-on-1 situations consistently, and I don't know if he's fast enough to beat the opposition on pace. That's before we even talk about his defending, which I wouldn't say is anywhere near as good as Wan-Bissaka's.
The Athletic: "Man Utd coaches trying Jadon Sancho as RWB"
- Thread starter sullydnl
- Start date
It’s a formation Conte plays. Solskjaer will be our Conte.
The issue is we have a manager who thinks changing the formations make a team good. Our problem lie far deeper than a simple formation switch. Lack of play, misuse of players, insistence of relying on underperforming playersI'd say that it's not really a ridiculous idea. The issue lies deeper — that we have turned to this formation due to a complete lack of confidence in our defense and midfield. If we accept this formation is a given, it's probably the best use of Sancho, considering that we have only 1 free spot in attack next to Bruno & Cristiano and there are already Cavani, Rashford, Greenwood (not to mention Martial, Lingard, Mataand possibly Amad) fighting for it. But we shouldn't accept this formation is a given.
One of the challenges Ole (and next manager) need to meet, is managing a squad, playing on form/tactics and dropping some 'names'.
There's no doubting Bruno is a very good footballer but if he's shattered or running around chasing shadows (City), then change him.
If we're going to play 532 in some games (maybe because form/opposition dictates), then Bruno gets dropped. It's not sacrilege, it's managing a squad.
If Cavani and Rashford seem better suited one gameweek, Ronnie can be dropped.
And if we want a midfield three, Pogba may have to be dropped (and maybe should be regardless based on recent games).
Winning is what matters, not playing FIFA and putting names out then hoping we outscore them. I think we play 532 or 433 but make sure right players out there and for the love of God, coach them so they understand their positions with and without the ball.
Sancho is tailor made for the two roles behind the CF in a 3421 - not the fecking wing back role. Christ.
This is the point I was trying to make to you. I think they don't see it on those levels, the coaching is all wrong. Remember, Gareth Bale wasn't a proper winger at Spurs, they started him left back and then someone decided to push him forward, it's the reverse of that with our lot. There is no way Sancho starts as a Centre Forward for United under Ole or anyone for that matter, I stand by that. He'll be a wingback in this 3-4-1-2 system or nothing.
No way. This is friction.
Have we become a satire?
Have we become a satire?
Yup.
I think you miss spelled that last word...
I don't know what the strategy is and neither do any of us, what I do know is that the 3 major weaknesses going into the window were RW, CB, CDM and outside of those 3 well recognised weak areas ST depth was a concern. We addressed 3 out of 4 issues, with players that are either currently world class performers in those positions, or they have the potential to become so. All in all, the proper players were brought in. Granted not addressing every area.
Outside of the central midfield area we have a squad that you can call balanced, yes. There are 2 capable performers in each position (of the managers favoured 4-2-3-1) and there are youth options that we can use as cover in the worst of injury crisis.
To give you short answers to the questions listed above.
1) In the main, yes. Central midfield still needs addressing however, this is obvious.
2) Yes, we got players that were needed and working on the assumption that Ole was competent and able to build off of last years performance. He has since proven that the job is too big for him and one would assume they are coming up with contingencies. I am willing to give them that because they got the transfer strategy correct.
3) Of course it isn't, but it is on-field issues, driven by the manager.
4) As above, I don't know the long term strategy, but I would also wager that long-term strategy takes longer than 8 months to conceptualise and implement.
That's the best way to get on a hot streak.
If someone had of suggested doing this in the Jadon Sancho thread on the Transfer Forum, they would have quite rightly been ridiculed for not understanding what type of player he is and been advised that playing him in that role would be a waste of his immense talent.
And that's assuming you even got given an actual response that wasn't just:
And that's assuming you even got given an actual response that wasn't just:
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Its like series 3 of Ted Lasso.
Without the laughs and results.
Without the laughs and results.
Personally, I can't wait until we spend £100m on Rice and start training him as a centre forward.
Could improve Maguire's heading accuracy. Win-win situation
Except for all the success he'd bring
It's been reported that Woodward is still running the show and Murtough/Fletcher haven't really been involved in transfers. That's expected to change once Woodward officially steps down.
He's been here 4 months. Hardly set the world on fire when he's played, and looked a shadow of the player we bought. There is no way on this earth that a player could (or indeed has there ever been an instance of this happening?) use a "loophole" to get out of a contract for the sole reason that they're not starting every game.
Gross negligence
I don't think he was being serious but admittedly being bought for that price, only to realize your team has stopped using players in your position 3 months later, is a bit odd.
He's been here 4 months. Hardly set the world on fire when he's played, and looked a shadow of the player we bought. There is no way on this earth that a player could (or indeed has there ever been an instance of this happening?) use a "loophole" to get out of a contract for the sole reason that they're not starting every game.
Gross negligence
Not sure I believe this. People who watch the German league will know better than I but i've heard that Sancho isn't great at tracking back. Not saying he's lazy or anything just that it's his attacking/link up play where he shines. If that's true putting him at RWB where you're expected to do some defending might be a bit of an issue.
Happened successfully before. But maybe not for such an attacking player known for not tracking back.
Also to be honest, I would say Dalot and Lingard would be far better options there.
Just make Ronaldo start from the bench, and start Rashford, Cavani/Greenwood, Sancho the main attacking line. (current) Ronaldo is good but is not good enough for the sake of the future, and playing everyone off position.
You honestly think Ole or the coaching staff have taken that into consideration, one step at a time lad..
Didn't LvG try Lingard at wing back?
So lets assume we signed Sancho and then Ole got sacked, we got Conte in, he plays 3-5-2 and Sancho doesn't fit that system. Can he still use a loophole?
Maybe if he'd actually put a decent shift in on the pitch and made more of an impact in the games he'd played, he'd be first choice on the right wing, and maybe we wouldn't have needed to switch to a 3-5-2 in the first place.
Ridiculous. Get these clowns out of the club. Our 3 at the back essentially turns into 5 at the back when we're defending so we're basically asking Sancho to become a right back. Genius. If we're that unimpressed with AWB why not give Dalot a chance there?
Our main transfer target for the last 2/3 years and this is how we utilise him.
Our main transfer target for the last 2/3 years and this is how we utilise him.
While swapping positions works in the past, bear in mind that
1. We actually paid 80M for him, player worth this much should be playing in his preferred position, the sole reason we spunk 80M for him.
2. He's only been here 4 months, and it's not like he's useless in his current position RW/LW
3. We have a 50M Full back who should have no problem doubling as wing back. Not ideal but it should be closer to the natural progression from RB -> RWB. Instead of making a FR->RWB
4. Sancho isn't even showing anything remotely about being good defensively, this is just a stupid "hey I don't know if this will work but let's give it a try"
5. If this goes on for 2 years we'll end up with a dull RW and a So-so RWB at best. Mind you we paid 80M for him.
.....
7. Ole Out!
1. We actually paid 80M for him, player worth this much should be playing in his preferred position, the sole reason we spunk 80M for him.
2. He's only been here 4 months, and it's not like he's useless in his current position RW/LW
3. We have a 50M Full back who should have no problem doubling as wing back. Not ideal but it should be closer to the natural progression from RB -> RWB. Instead of making a FR->RWB
4. Sancho isn't even showing anything remotely about being good defensively, this is just a stupid "hey I don't know if this will work but let's give it a try"
5. If this goes on for 2 years we'll end up with a dull RW and a So-so RWB at best. Mind you we paid 80M for him.
.....
7. Ole Out!
Because we need a right sided full back who doesn’t shit himself every time he enters the opposition’s half. Or rather, neither AWB nor Dalot can play RWB position, they are both extremely average footballers.
It just shows how bad the squad planning is at United, we spend nearly 18months chasing this guy pay 70 million for him, then sign Ronaldo and go ow crap the formation we wanted to play doesn’t work. Let’s try and re invent that 70 million pound signing into a position he has never played.
Yeah, I'm genuinely surprised. I'd have thought that they'd have seen what he was doing at Dortmund and try to maximise his skill set with us. This, though, makes it seem like they brought Sancho in mainly to fit a particular role in the team (touchline winger i.e. Dan James's role) without considering his overall skill set.
Let's see how this develops. I only hope that they train him there just for a Plan B/C and not try to make that his main role in our back-3 setup.
Not just Ole out everyone involved in the decision making progress that got us to this point out.
As even if Ole leaves the next manager is going to have to deal what To do with this ridiculously top heavy squad that just doesn’t work as a unit on paper or in practice
We’ve trying to turn a Ronaldinho wannabe into Gary Neville.
This is hilarious.
This is hilarious
.He could be a very effective tool at RWB. Similar to the way Alphonso Davies is used at Bayern Munich. He is a destructive and creative force coming down the left side for Bayern.
I don't think he's been great when he's played this year but I also don't think 3 appearances as a sub in the league is enough to judge someone by.
Honestly, if it's got to the point where we're playing Sancho ahead of him then why didn't we just get rid in the summer?
The whole reason we switched to 5 at the back was to shore up the defence. But now they think it's good idea to throw Sancho in there as well? The more I think about it the more annoyed I get. Sick of the lot of em.
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Completely different player though. Sancho doesn't have the same athleticism and pace over long distances despite having decent acceleration
I don't believe a word of it.
At this point anyone could tweet anything about Utd and it would probably be taken as truth by a lot.
At this point anyone could tweet anything about Utd and it would probably be taken as truth by a lot.
no way in hell this nonsense is true
The Athletic are hardly the Daily Star. If untrue such a story wouldn't really be worth making up
Because it could be truth.