The importance of this summer transfer window - Make or break?

[Jericholyte2]

As tonight’s match showed, we have an attack that can rip open any team. For me this was the best attacking performance all season as, against an in form team, we looked like we’d score with most attacks. The only reason we didn’t get more, I feel, was due to Rashford’s poor decision making on about 5 or 6 occasions.

That being said we all know that, as good as this is, it’s pointless when we have such a soft underbelly. I’d argue that in terms of squad, we’re not too far off with the following:

GK: DDG had a shit game but has done better this season and Henderson will be phased in
LB: Shaw looks like a new player with Telles as a viable back-up
RB: AWB is gradually improving his attacking play but needs a back-up to take pressure off / light a fire under him
No.10: Bruno, Pogba and VDB can all play there
LW: Rashford, Martial, to a lesser extent James are all vying for starts
ST: Short term Cavani is doing great, Mason and Martial can also play there
RW: Greenwood looks to be picking form up

The issue is that the spine of our team will alway anchor us down until we invest. In CM we have Fred and McT who are good, solid CMs who are almost good enough for United & Matic Who is surely getting shipped out soon. In CB we have an £80m, very good CB who, with the right partner can be great. Unfortunately his options are Lindelof who is a less good copy of him, Bailly who is the idea partner but can’t stay fit and Phil fecking Jones!

We need a DM who is mobile and disciplined enough to hold position and protect the CBs, a CB with pace who can push forward quick, be aggressive in interceptions and be able to recover quickly when issues occur. These HAVE to be our priorities in the summer or else we’re just going to be going round in circles again.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

The midfield is a major issue and I'm afraid it will be overlooked. Pogba has a year left on his contract. Van de Beek apparently is not what we expected. Although people here are trying to force a narrative where Fred is great. Fred is not going to control games for us, he's not going to be an aerial presence for us, he's not going to pass forward or shoot well - what does that really leave us with? Matic is finished. That really only leaves us with McTominay.

The goalkeeper situation is another big issue, De Gea is on a fat contract till 2023, Henderson has looked okay but difficult to see if he's ready. We have our hands tied until De Gea decides to leave.

CB is probably the easiest situation to solve, as it's the most glaringly obvious position where we need to improve. We're conceding a lot and many of them are injury prone.

Under Woodward, I only see him sorting out the CB.

 

[Bebestation]

It was obvious if Woodward wasnt backing Ope on January then it really wasnt going to happen.

Ole is raising good average players to play better than they are rather than having top class to world class players at his disposal.

Lindelof, lack of RW, CDM, average ageing GK, a ST, Bailly, another creative CM that is better than pogba/replaces pogba.

January transfer window signing would have given us a boost with the right signing but we just kept it quiet like we achieved everything we wanted this season.

 

[P-Nut]

I expect us to sign maybe 2 players in the summer, but both to be quite expensive. CB is going to be around the 50m mark to get a player of the calibre we'll need and then I expect us to go back and get Sancho.

We desperately need a full time DM with legs and a decent passing range to help us dictate games against the top sides, but I expect we'll stick to rotating McT and Fred with a youngster taking Matics place as the rotation option.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

I don't see us having more than 60m-70m net spend. The board probably only giving Ole a CB. We will sign a midfield if we sell Pogba and sign a keeper if we sell DDG, if we don't sell then we won't buy. But minimum those three area we need to have a look at first in the summer. The big problem is CB & GK, so if we end up keeping Pogba until his contract run out or end up giving him new contract then at least upgrade the CB & GK.

 

[TMDaines]

It’s another summer where we will be burdened by trying to cull deadwood. Mata and Romero will surely leave at the end of their contracts, but arguably we would look to also move on De Gea, Jones, Bailly, Tuanzebe, Williams, Matic, VDB and Martial.

There’s also the Pogba and Cavani situations.

 

[red thru&thru]

Rightly or wrongly, will be Ole's most important summer.

Could be his last as a United manager.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

.

January transfer window signing would have given us a boost with the right signing but we just kept it quiet like we achieved everything we wanted this season.

Who the hell would you have signed in Jan @Bebestation ?

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

It’s another summer where we will be burdened by trying to cull deadwood. Mata and Romero will surely leave at the end of their contracts, but arguably we would look to also move on De Gea, Jones, Bailly, Tuanzebe, Williams, Matic, VDB and Martial.

There’s also the Pogba and Cavani situations.

Only Jones in that second list is deadwood, the rest are squad players, there’s no burden to get rid of any of them.
Likely Axel and Williams will be loaned I’d imagine.

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

We do not have a stable midfield despite the fact that Mctominay and Fred are playing well this season and Pogba came into a really excellent form (hope his injury is minor), and Matic provides good cover, Ole's changing our midfield options game by game is an issue and it does not allow for actual partnerships to form, and we all know why (McFred combination is pragmatic when playing against stronger side as both do well defensively together but both lack creativity).

so perhaps a CDM who can play with Pogba who can distribute the ball accurately and shield the defenders would be a good acquisition (in that case Matic has to go and Mctominay & Fred and can be the squad options)

and our biggest issue is our CBs, I am not confident with any combination (Maguire & Lindelof, Maguire & Bailly, Bailly & Lindelof), every combination lacks something but the best one is Lindelof & Maguire. (Overall Maguire is a good defender, the best in the club now, but his lack of pace is a major weakness, Vidic was not a pacy defender but his positional awareness and aggressiveness covered that).

and it hurts that Maguire cost us 80M and is now appointed the club's captain, which means he must play every game unless he is injured or is massively out of form, hence we need to find him the best partner, and I can't think of anyone who is not Van Dijk or Laporte (when fit and in form), anyone else would not be good enough.

and of course we have to bring a natural RW, we just have to, someone who can play RW and create chances and score goals, Greenwood plays there just ok but we need someone there who can make the position their own (Amad ?)

 

[bsCallout]

The midfield is a major issue and I'm afraid it will be overlooked. Pogba has a year left on his contract. Van de Beek apparently is not what we expected. Although people here are trying to force a narrative where Fred is great. Fred is not going to control games for us, he's not going to be an aerial presence for us, he's not going to pass forward or shoot well - what does that really leave us with? Matic is finished. That really only leaves us with McTominay.

The goalkeeper situation is another big issue, De Gea is on a fat contract till 2023, Henderson has looked okay but difficult to see if he's ready. We have our hands tied until De Gea decides to leave.

CB is probably the easiest situation to solve, as it's the most glaringly obvious position where we need to improve. We're conceding a lot and many of them are injury prone.

Under Woodward, I only see him sorting out the CB.

I'm actually starting to think GK & CDM are more important than CB.

Top players in those positions could help that CB pair look better than they are.

I pray Henderson is good enough and I'd really like a proper CDM instead of Fred, after that, a CB would be dream.

 

[RUCK4444]

DM!! I’ve been banging on about it for so long I can barely raise the energy to type those two letters again...

Just look at our performances when we have Matic playing and in form. He brings the best out in Pogba the rest of the team including those behind him.

Matic legs are going and he can’t be relied upon. But he’s the only proper DM in this team

DM then a CB then a RW. In that order (even though RW has been neglected for a decade.)

 

[TMDaines]

Only Jones in that second list is deadwood, the rest are squad players, there’s no burden to get rid of any of them.
Likely Axel and Williams will be loaned I’d imagine.

Bailly is a crock. Ditto Tuanzebe. Move both on.

 

[Mickeza]

We need a solid spine. A CB, DM and a RW are the priorities. We’ll sell Pogba to fund the DM - Pereira, Lingard, Dalot, James and Axel should also be sold. Even with a modest 70m chucked in by the board we have enough to get the 3 starters required.

 

[sullydnl]

Yes, it probably is a make or break transfer window for Ole as (assuming we finish in a good position this season) we'll need a decisive injection of real quality to progress to really competing for the league next season, which is the next step. If we don't make that step then things could start drifting backwards for him.

The worry for me will be less who we target and more how competent we are at getting the deals done. We can't afford another summer of chasing a top target we ultimately don't sign, for example. Or targeting four signings and coming away with two.

We're a good team so we don't need that many players if the ones we get are good enough. But we need to be decisive.

 

[ShinjiNinja26]

This summer will be a big one and will determine whether this team kicks on and really challenges for the top honours or not. This is the time to spend big and get the missing pieces of the jigsaw to take us to the next level. We need a top CB, DM and RW at the bare minimum and probably a ST and GK but they’re less likely to happen. If this club has any serious ambitions of winning the league again then this is the time to show it.

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

If we had intention of being ambitious enough to win a title we would have looked at a centre back in January.

the ambition isn’t there, it’s not Ole’s or the players fault, it’s the board.

I’m not saying Ole & the players are blameless, as we clearly lack bottle, but the boards ambition is top 4. That’s it.

 

[Jericholyte2]

If we had intention of being ambitious enough to win a title we would have looked at a centre back in January.

the ambition isn’t there, it’s not Ole’s or the players fault, it’s the board.

I’m not saying Ole & the players are blameless, as we clearly lack bottle, but the boards ambition is top 4. That’s it.

I agree wholeheartedly with this. Last season we saw a major weakness and went out and got Bruno in January. Anyone want to tell me that there isn't a single centreback or defensive midfielder available in Europe that is better than what we have who could have been bought?