The missing link....

[BringNaniBack]

I wasn't suggesting we buy more players when I created this thread as clearly we can't at the moment anyway. I was suggesting we try Carrick or Blind as the deep lying play maker.

 

[K2K]

The missing link isn't a player - its getting this group of players to play with squad cohesion.

Basically this.

Until now city did well without that kind of player.

 

[BringNaniBack]

So Scholes has come out and basically said the same thing as this thread. Time we gave Carrick a run I think.

 

[K2K]

A young Xabi Alonso would be perfect for this team, and the PL for thsth matter. Won't back down from a fight, but can outclass you when the occasion calls for it. A threat from set pieces as a bonus. What a player he was.

He was no Gareth Barry though.

 

[ThanksBoss26]

The missing link isn't a player - its getting this group of players to play with squad cohesion.

Agreed.

 

[RedOldBoy]

I wasn't suggesting we buy more players when I created this thread as clearly we can't at the moment anyway. I was suggesting we try Carrick or Blind as the deep lying play maker.

I think Schweinsteiger could be better than those two and will also bring back leadership. He may not be the same player but I doubt he is slower than Carrick or Blind and he will fight for the team.

 

[Trizy]

Gundogan would've been worth the risk.

 

[Attila]

Gundogan would've been worth the risk.

Shame that LVG went for Schwein instead

 

[Timdbro]

We need a new Scholes, or Carrick?

Sure, we used to have that and did way better. We used to say the same when Keane was on the way out, and people lost their shit when we got Carrick instead of a proper midfield hard man to shout at our team and to make the opposition respect our "authoritah".

What we need is to give Mourinho time to figure out how best to play things, what he's missing, and for him to be able to instill the right attitude that it takes to gather the points we need. Like for like replacement will see us lose out, because football is always evolving.

Exactly. For all the negatives pointed out about Mourinho's second stint at Chelsea, when he got there he figured out within a few months exactly what the team were lacking. He then sorted it out in two transfer windows and forged a very balanced side that won the title.

 

[sunama]

We should just play Schneiderlin or Fosu-Mensah infront of the defense.

I saw Schneiderlin play against Feyenoord, in front of our defence and we lost.
I realise that Schneiderlin has his fans, but I just don't see him good enough to be in the first XI of a team aiming to win the title.
5th/6th place is his level.
Of course, he could be a squad player, featuring against lower level opposition, such as the league/FA cup.

 

[sunama]

Oh right, I forgot. Rooney has to play. My bad.

I realise that Rooney gets a bad rep. Well, in our last game, he did not play and we not only lost but put in the worst performance of the season.
For the time being at least, Rooney has to play.

 

[Bugshot]

The missing link isn't a player - its getting this group of players to play with squad cohesion.

Best post I've read all year.

 

[Bugshot]

There is no missing link. Jose said he needs 4 major reinforcements and he got all the 4. There is nothing that is missing. If there is, Jose fails in his preparation.

We have 9 points from 4 games. FFS.

 

[Jaybomb]

I realise that Rooney gets a bad rep. Well, in our last game, he did not play and we not only lost but put in the worst performance of the season.
For the time being at least, Rooney has to play.

That has nothing to do with Rooney not playing. If Rooney played, we would have still lost. Past results have shown that. We couldn't beat PSV and CSKA in the Champions League last season. Rooney was playing. And thats only the European games.... you forgetting we lost against Norwich/Bournemouth/Stoke/etc all with Rooney in the side?

There was a lot of squad players on in that game against Feyenoord. We should play our actual strongest team and replace Rooney with Schneiderlin imo. So our midfield and attack would be... Schneiderlin behind Fellaini and Pogba with Mkhitaryan, Martial, Zlatan up top. Mata unfortunately won't be able to play in a "4-1-2-3", he's more suited to a 4-2-1-3 or a 4-2-3-1. It's time we stuck with a formation and played the best players in the respective positions in that formation. Nobody says we need to play the same system every week. We can rotate it and use the likes of Mata effectively.

 

[notcool]

Schneiderlin behind Fellaini and Pogba

I'd switch Fellaini and Schneiderlin. Schneiderlin can press over larger distances, Fellaini can't and is much better in the small spaces e.g. in front of the defence. Also it stops us from playing this long ball malarkey.

 

[Jaybomb]

I'd switch Fellaini and Schneiderlin. Schneiderlin can press over larger distances, Fellaini can't and is much better in the small spaces e.g. in front of the defence. Also it stops us from playing this long ball malarkey.

That could work. It baffles me that we're not using Bastian in that role though. Some of our fans are crying out for an "Alonso/Pirlo" type who controls the tempo and keeps the game flowing. Schweinsteiger is more than capable of doing that. It's a real shame whats happening to him. I want to see him play.

 

[CS@SG]

Forget about Schwei, Jose's ego will not allow that.

 

[Green_Red]

We need a Meastro. A deep lying play maker. A Scholes, a Xavi, a Pirlo, a Modric, even an in form Carrick. These players are somewhat rare these days but I feel this might be what this current team needs.

We seem to have moved on to this obsession with having a defensive midfielder who is just a pure brute there to break up play and then give the ball to someone else. If you are going to have a defensive midfielder then they need to be able to actually dictate play and spray the ball about rather than just being there for the purpose of tackling.

Whats the problem with playing 3 midfielders who can all tackle and that are all technically good rather than always having one designated DM.

The missing link is a player who can shield the defence and dictate play with brilliant reading of the game and great passing. At the moment the closest player we have to this is Carrick and if not I would even like to see Blind tried in this position again. Both read the game well, can tackle and shield the defence but can also dictate play and always be an outlet to recycle possession and start an attack or give another option to our defenders.

At the moment we have Pogba who doesn't know what hes doing and needs to be given freedom to roam with the insurance of someone like Carrick or Blind behind him. The same with Herrera who can also help out defensively and is very tenacious but is better placed ahead of a deep lying play maker. Pogba and Herrera can both also tackle so we aren't short of defensive strengths in this area.

Please know one try and claim we tried this with Schneiderlin against Feyenoord. Schneiderlin isn't a play maker and could never take control of a game. Fellaini can't play this role either.

Pogba and Herrera ahead of Carrick in a 4-3-3 would be the best way forward at the moment I think.

Did you watch the post match analysis from Owen and Scholes aswell then?

It's easy to sit and say we need this player or that player. What we need is for the players we have to play a bit more cohesively. Comparing United to Juve because we now have Pogba is pointless.

It seems to be a never ending cycle on here, we need this player and that player, then we get them and everyone starts about now we need this player. We have all the players we need, they just need to start producing the goods.

 

[Varun]

I think we're a tad obsessed with buying new players. Not enough focus on what we make of what we have. How many players actually improve after moving to United? Who is this tempo setter at Liverpool? Heck even Kante isn't really a tempo setter at Chelsea.

The problem is that the solution is always buy buy buy I.e a quick fix.

You'd think people would learn given our recent history. Whatever be the question, the answer always seems to be "Buy more, buy better". Even when we see players we were craving for come here and then not perform. Instead of thinking the problem could be elsewhere, they're simply labelled as not good enough for a big club, not strong mentally, 1 season wonder etc etc etc.

 

[POF]

It was horrible seeing only Rashford trying to press yesterday. Don't know who the captain was last night, but they don't deserve to wear it again. An 18 year old, one of the few bright sparks from last season and no one made much of an effort to help him. If Mourinho's instructions were not to press the least a captain should do is to remind the kid. As pointed out no "team cohesion".

Your post talked some sense until this. Rashford was dreadful against Feyenoord. To talk him up as the only one to perform in any aspect of that game is just plain wrong.

The loss had nothing to do with "fire". There was a complete lack of cohesion in the team with a large chunk of the team playing their first game of the season. A bit more quality in attack and United would have won that game easily.

The biggest challenge Jose faces this season is getting the team to develop fluency while still keeping such a huge squad match fit.

 

[K2K]

Forget about Schwei, Jose's ego will not allow that.

It's not just his ego.

His perfomances for us have hardly pulled any trees either. People yearn for the Bastian they saw years ago. I remember the one that I saw hooked off after 60 min against Wolfsburg and I shudder.

 

[Rory 7]

I still think the absence of a genuine leader is a huge issue.

 

[Sammyjunn]

I think the absence of players with a good basic technique and players who have skill on the ball is what makes us play so poor. Our starting players are quite good, but play with too many players who arent comfortable with the ball at theie feet, you'll be forced ti either play counter football, shit on a stick football, or some dull van Gaal football.

 

[Marcus]

We need more time. Some of the players we have had not even had a run in period yet.

 

[An Irish Red]

I think the absence of players with a good basic technique and players who have skill on the ball is what makes us play so poor. Our starting players are quite good, but play with too many players who arent comfortable with the ball at theie feet, you'll be forced ti either play counter football, shit on a stick football, or some dull van Gaal football.

We have a three man midfield that contains Rooney and Fellaini. Silky technicians they are not.

Fortunately we have enough firepower to do really well but we're never going to be truly great until we replace both of them.

 

[Martin(6)Buchan]

An outright leader to tell and put players in there place a Keane or Ince type of player they controlled the midfield, at the moment I would say we have no one near any of them in the side at the moment. You need to control the middle something we do not do most of the time.

 

[An Irish Red]

An outright leader to tell and put players in there place a Keane or Ince type of player they controlled the midfield, at the moment would say we have no one near any of them in the side at the moment. You need to control the middle something we do not do most of the time.

There's not really anyone like Keane in world football though. Unfortunately.

 

[BringNaniBack]

Did you watch the post match analysis from Owen and Scholes aswell then?

It's easy to sit and say we need this player or that player. What we need is for the players we have to play a bit more cohesively. Comparing United to Juve because we now have Pogba is pointless.

It seems to be a never ending cycle on here, we need this player and that player, then we get them and everyone starts about now we need this player. We have all the players we need, they just need to start producing the goods.

Did I say anywhere we need to sign more players? Did I compare United to Juventus?

I'm saying Carrick or Blind can be the missing link I'm talking about.

 

[Kostur]

Controller or not, he will still be on his own in midfield unless we play 3 in the midfield or Pogba learns to control himself or he gets other instructions.

It's 4132/41311 with Fellaini as the only midfielder again.

 

[Green_Red]

Did I say anywhere we need to sign more players? Did I compare United to Juventus?

I'm saying Carrick or Blind can be the missing link I'm talking about.

Sorry the first line was a response to your comment, the rest was just my 2 cents. In the video from Scholes ans Owen they compare United and Juve pointing out that Pogba needs a Pirlo with him in midfield. We could definitely do with Carrick today but I pretty much picked the team that started bar Smalling.

 

[BringNaniBack]

We are crying out for someone like Carrick to give us some control in midfield. I don't see what other options we have with the way we are currently playing.

 

[IronTulip]

Your post talked some sense until this. Rashford was dreadful against Feyenoord. To talk him up as the only one to perform in any aspect of that game is just plain wrong.

The loss had nothing to do with "fire". There was a complete lack of cohesion in the team with a large chunk of the team playing their first game of the season. A bit more quality in attack and United would have won that game easily.

The biggest challenge Jose faces this season is getting the team to develop fluency while still keeping such a huge squad match fit.

Did I say Rashford had a good game, heck did I even infer he had a good game? Poor lad had no service and he was so isolated with no help. I give him credit for giving 110% though, I can't say that the other senior players merit the same, bar Herrera.

 

[Champagne Football]

Would be nice if Herrera hit the gym and bulked up a bit and started looking like a powerful midfield playmaker like a Scholes or Pirlo. He still looks like a talented 15 year old from the academy who is completely overwhelmed to have been called up to the first team squad for the first time.

Maybe a bit surprising that Jose didn't take a punt on Tielemans over the summer. Bazoer is another shout........One of those 2 might be very gettable in January but Jose will probably want a player that is already reaching their peak as opposed to one he has to develop