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The Search for a Midfielder
- Thread starter MyOnlySolskjaer
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Apparently its true.
I am glad he is looking to get a top quality midfielder but ffs stop treating fellaini like a god Jose. He ain't that good.Also, he is getting injury prone, just let him go.
Yeah, take a year or 2 off from spending. That works for all the big clubs in the world.Oh look, We need to spend.....again
This is a wum, right?
Pretty much
Oh look, We need to spend.....again
How do you propose we progress without spending?Spending is necessary just to stay in place because guess what, players age or move on (Carrick and Fellaini), never mind progressing.
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We got in Matic who is a top player. The point is that these players are more than enough to beat or at least be equals to Totenham. Jose fecked it up tactically and we can't keep blaming the players.
I am not willing to accept Pogba, Sanchez, Lukaku, Martial, De Gea all suddenly simultaneously went to shit
This has been obvious well before last summer. Matic was never enough and some had weird ideas about Carrick playing a load of games.
Should have been sorted ages ago.
Should have been sorted ages ago.
What about the rest of the season? lets not fixate on 1 match. When either Matic or Pogba are out, our midfield turns to shite.
We do need 2 midfielders. 1 needs to be a defensive midfielder, to challenge Matic for a spot, the other needs to be a hard working box to box midfielder to be used in a 3 alongside Pogba and a CDM. Ideally both need to be creative minded players not work horses. Mata's footballing intelligence brings so much to his game, Carrick built a career out of it, neither of them needed to be lightening quick or super atheletes. We need midfielders who are intelligent and creative.
I like Fellaini for being strong enough to put up with a lot of rubbish from us and still do his best, at times he's looked class, but i want to replace him with someone who regularly looks classy on the ball.
I'd like a new CM to bolster our options when we want to play a three man midfield. Having the likes of Lingard dropping deeper like he did yesterday doesn't cut it, a proper B2B with the athleticism to affect both ends of the pitch for 90 minutes would be superb.
I don't know much from a scouting perspective although I'm told Jorginho would be a good fit for this role with us.
I don't know much from a scouting perspective although I'm told Jorginho would be a good fit for this role with us.
Why didn't he realise this before the transfer window closed? I could have told him this ages ago!
I am so glad Jose gets this (of course he does otherwise he should be no where near our dugout).
The midfield is a massive problem for us. We need serious quality and competition there. Herrera and Fellaini are just good, not world class. Carrick is having his last season. Something has happened to Matic and Pogba seems a bit inconsistent in the big games. I am not saying we should change Pogba and Matic, they are top players. Just saying that we need to bring in great quality in that middle to have tactical flexibility and create a sense of competition.
The midfield is why I will keep cutting Lukaku some slack. He doesn't get enough suppliers in good positions.
Having said this, yesterday showed that we also need to tweak our defence a bit. It seems like once we are pressed high, we crack. It's a sign that we are short of ballers in defence.
Oh, and if this is about Michael Carrick leaving then that should have been addressed last summer as Carrick is no longer the player he was (and has hardly played anyway)
I think you'll find he's also been ill.
Kovacic para mi, and then maybe Weigl or Jorginho as a Carrick replacement.
We may also wish to try Andreas instead.
We may also wish to try Andreas instead.
Spot on.
We might as well try Bailey when fit sitting as an anchor in front of the defence for the rest of the season allowing matic and especially pogba further forward. We have way too much space to make up between lukaku and midfield so it gets hoofed up with 99% of the time going straight through to the goalie or offside.
Correct.
The search for the extra midfielder and the versatility to play three in midfield in a 4-3-3/3-5-2 means that one of Lukaku/Sanchez/Rashford/Martial/Lingard/Mata miss out from the attack. Essentially taking a shoe-horning of Pogba into midfield and creating a shoe-horning a bunch of players into three spots in the attack.
Like I have said before, it is a stack of marbles game. One marble goes in and the stack falls and then you have to rebuild the stack. In an ideal world, Martial/Rashford would be on the verge of cracking the first team as ST/LWF and not actually having to be relied upon. With an already experienced and quality LWF/RWF as Lukaku being the other big money buy in who is having a great season there is no chance you drop him. (Not to take away with either player, as they are quality players just not managed in the same way Ferguson would have had them chomping at the bit waiting to break into the team and keep their spot rather than being relied upon constantly).
Pogba behind Lukaku seems the go, but the string of players all around them is a bit of a jumbled mess. Sanchez hopefully was the right choice to replace Mkhi and the Mata/Martial/Rashford conundrum can be sorted with some man management.
The answer is Saul Niguez. There are other great players like Kroos, Thiago, Verrati and others but he has a buy out and although he just signed a 9 yr contract or whatever(which I’m sure is against The law) he seems more gettable to me than many others mentioned and covers all the basis we need. We’d be fools not to try and get him. Koke another great player but Saul would fit our needs more I think.
It would be hard to get others in after that as effectivly they would know they are coming in as a back up. TFM, Herrera and Tuanzebe can play DM in a pinch and although I really do admire Jorginho I don’t think he’d want to come in and be a back up. Maybe the guy from Anderlecht Dendoncker as an understudy would be a good investment. Was impressed with him when they played us last year.
It would be hard to get others in after that as effectivly they would know they are coming in as a back up. TFM, Herrera and Tuanzebe can play DM in a pinch and although I really do admire Jorginho I don’t think he’d want to come in and be a back up. Maybe the guy from Anderlecht Dendoncker as an understudy would be a good investment. Was impressed with him when they played us last year.
I think the 433 actually fits our players better.
Pogba obviously
Martial is better as a left forward
Sanchez is better as a left/right forward
Matic needs help in the middle
It's only really Lukaku who hasn't played in a front 3 much before. The rest should all benefit. It's the 4231 that is shoehorning players into unfamiliar positions.
What about trying to use the two forgotten midfielders who are already at the club:
Phil Jones - played as midfielder many times under SAF, and was decent at it too. He was a tank going forward. He could sit in front of the back four and Matic further forward.
Blind - he played as midfielder a few times under LVG, and was good at tackling and pressing. He is terrible as a left back, he is ok as a central defender but lacks the height to dominate. His best position may be midfield.
Phil Jones - played as midfielder many times under SAF, and was decent at it too. He was a tank going forward. He could sit in front of the back four and Matic further forward.
Blind - he played as midfielder a few times under LVG, and was good at tackling and pressing. He is terrible as a left back, he is ok as a central defender but lacks the height to dominate. His best position may be midfield.
Jorginho and Vidal.
Jorginho
Vidal Pogba
Pereira should be back from Valencia next season so he will likely be in the mix.
Emre Can strikes me as a Jose midfielder.
Out of contract in May.
He's already raided Chelsea & Arsenal, would he take it a step further?
Out of contract in May.
He's already raided Chelsea & Arsenal, would he take it a step further?
Just give Herrera a starting place for 4-5 games in a midfield three - let him get used to the role again with Matic and freeing Pogba. Don't cry and change things back after one game.
Herrera hasn't shown it that much this season but I can't believe someone who was so critical to us last season has become complete pants this season. It's in the coaching and motivation - let him know he's isn't just a benchwarmer here.
Herrera hasn't shown it that much this season but I can't believe someone who was so critical to us last season has become complete pants this season. It's in the coaching and motivation - let him know he's isn't just a benchwarmer here.
Unless we buy a new team every window how can we expect Mourinho to win the title!Oh look, We need to spend.....again
Jorginho and Fabinho.
Fabinho - The Tireless
Jorginho - The Playmaker
Pogba - The Creator
Then get a creative player like Bernado Silva to play from the right wing.
Fabinho - The Tireless
Jorginho - The Playmaker
Pogba - The Creator
Then get a creative player like Bernado Silva to play from the right wing.
The clue is in his posts' history, amazed he lasted so long.
Spending is necessary just to stay in place because guess what, players age or move on (Carrick and Fellaini), never mind progressing.
It's been an issue since Sir Alex was here. So obviously it's not as simple as realising there's an issue and getting the chequebook out to solve it. But as always the Caf experts can tell everyone how it should be done.
Get rid of Fellaini, bring back Pereira and sign Fabinho/Milinkovic-Savic and we are sorted.
Pogba, Matic, Pereira, Herrera, McTominay, Fabinho/Sergej + TFM if needed is very solid midfield imo.
As someone already said, we have not used our squad well enough this year. Matic played way too many games for example.
Pogba, Matic, Pereira, Herrera, McTominay, Fabinho/Sergej + TFM if needed is very solid midfield imo.
As someone already said, we have not used our squad well enough this year. Matic played way too many games for example.
Oh look, We need to spend.....again
Hmm..I cant believe fans are complaining about how much a team spends in this day and age.
Matic is buggered. He has been overplayed and probably is toast for the rest if the season. This has meant Pogba doesnt have someone tidying up and controlling things behind him. Pogba is back to being exposed as a luxury player and our midfield is looking completely soft and unbalanced. This is further complicated by our defense being unable to play out from the back and our attackers poor at holding the ball up and interplay.
Mou better find a new midfield formula for the rest if the season otherwise we could be in big trouble.
I agree we need 2.
If we are going to get the best out of Matic and Pogba, we need a three man midfield with a tireless but competent passer of the ball beside Matic.
Pogba's roaming is killing Matic and our defense.
Pogba's roaming is killing Matic and our defense.
This makes complete sense to me for the interim. Mou however seems to be totally missing the obvious.
Wonder what our next problem will be once Mourinho spunks a load of money on a new midfielder.
The fact that we need 2. Still dont have a great RW unless we move Sanchez there. And our defense is terrible at playing the ball out especially in the absence if Bailly. Oh and Mou seems to have no attacking possession strategy whatsoever. And our formations often suck.
We definitely need two new good midfielders. Jose just needs to make sure they aren't over 28 years old. I could have told him with my amateur knowledge that Matic at his age, would not be enough. Fair enough we get him as a stop gap, but we needed someone else along with him. You can't expect a 29 year old to give us all we need over the course of a long season. Instead of fussing about another oldie in Perisic, he should have been attending to this problem.
I swear the manager and club have got their priorities all wrong.
I swear the manager and club have got their priorities all wrong.
That’s like buying a dented can of beans from Aldi that are about to expire
Lewis Cook would be perfect but there’s no way Woodward or Mourinho would sign him - won’t sell shirts and would need to be developed. Would already be an upgrade on Herrera, plus another signing, ideally Toni Kroos or Weigl.
But the 4-2-3-1 is Mourinho’s default formation, so the signing of Pogba while taking this into account was akin to Real Madrid’s moronic golactico policy; Kante was a much more valid fit for the system, as would a Kroos/Modric-type, and an orthodox #10.
People are complaining about the 2 in midfield but it’s only an issue because of Pogba; put a Carrick-level player next to Matic and the system would suddenly work.
If things continue the way they are, it’ll be 2 seasons of Pogba overall being an underwhelming tactical misfit - perhaps it’s time to sell him and reinvest in competent players who actually optimises the manager’s tactics rather than burden them. Real Madrid and PSG would surely be interested, and a cash plus Kroos/Verratti deal would be ideal, as would Asensio/Isco with the cash being reinvested in Weigl.
Despite the prolonged expectations they would, neither Veron or Anderson ever came good, and there’s a very good chance Pogba is on the same path as those two - superbly talented individuals all, but not ‘proper’ midfielders.