Tom Thorpe

This is his chance now. Hopefully he does well.

Given his luck so far, Mcnair will seemingly leapfrog him too.

Not sure he's the type of defender btw, to deal with West Ham long balls, btw.
 
For my money he's better in the air than Keane, Blackett & McNair.

I'd disagree. He makes some good headers but consistency doesn't match those.

Keane has gotten a lot better aerially too during his loan spells as he got stronger.
 
He might as well submit a transfer request and leave ASAP if Mcnair also leapfrogs him.
 
I didn't think Blackett would get ahead of him either.

Wooton was already ahead of him and getting first team chances when he was arguably performing better in the reserves though that was fair enough as he was more experienced and physically ready. Then Michael Keane had a growth spurt and became a regular CB where in that Chelsea game he leapfrogged Thorpe to get a chance and then as a result of couple of matches probably got a good loan ahead too.

Then Blackett leapfrogged him out of nowhere as well due to being left footed. Now if Mcnair also does he might as well leave for his careers sake.
 
Not to jump the gun but you'd think if he has a future at United then surely he will get a chance on Saturday.
 
Wooton was already ahead of him and getting first team chances when he was arguably performing better in the reserves though that was fair enough as he was more experienced and physically ready. Then Michael Keane had a growth spurt and became a regular CB where in that Chelsea game he leapfrogged Thorpe to get a chance and then as a result of couple of matches probably got a good loan ahead too.

Then Blackett leapfrogged him out of nowhere as well due to being left footed. Now if Mcnair also does he might as well leave for his careers sake.
I'm not disagreeing with you, I just wouldn't be surprised to see it happen.
 
I'm not disagreeing with you, I just wouldn't be surprised to see it happen.

Oh yeah, 2/3 reports including Ducker saying that Mcnair will get in ahead of him and he is unlikely.

Don't get the logic behind it if true though. Thorpe must really suck at training or something as his performances have been pretty good at every level as he has mvoed up. Weird.
 
your tagline says worst scout ever, can we trust your judgement?
I still maintain I got this tagline for dissing star trek deep space 9.

Whether or not I mistook Giroud for Cabaye while watching a French language stream of France for ten minutes isn't terribly relevant.
 
If Thorpe is overlooked again then it must be that Van Gaal simply does not rate him, Very surprising because he is technically better then Keane and maybe even Blackett, I haven't seen McNair play I must admit but who am I to argue with Van Gaal
 
I still maintain I got this tagline for dissing star trek deep space 9.

Whether or not I mistook Giroud for Cabaye while watching a French language stream of France for ten minutes isn't terribly relevant.
:lol: Well played.
 
I can only think various managers have thought he is too short to play at CB for the first team, but we've had shorter centre backs.

I think it will be Blind and Rojo on Saturday with Fletcher in midfield.
 
I can only think various managers have thought he is too short to play at CB for the first team, but we've had shorter centre backs.

I think it will be Blind and Rojo on Saturday with Fletcher in midfield.

He's taller than Blind. And McNair for that matter.
 
He's taller than Blind. And McNair for that matter.

Yeah, actually according to most sources he's taller than Blackett too (though for some reason I didn't think so)... so I am talking rubbish. But I am very confused about why he hasn't been given more opportunities.
 
Yeah, actually according to most sources he's taller than Blackett too (though for some reason I didn't think so)... so I am talking rubbish. But I am very confused about why he hasn't been given more opportunities.

Ditto.
 
Personally I dont think McNair is ready, plus Thorpe has a really cool head on his shoulders and is more of a leader on the pitch too.. I think LvG will give him his chance
 
Just read the article in the Guardian about McNair getting a chance. There's no mention of Thorpe at all and it's written by Jamie Jackson so I wouldn't put too much trust in it personally
 
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Just read the article in the Guardian about McNair getting a chance. There's no mention of Thorpe at all and it's written by Jamie Jackson so I wouldn't put too much trust in it peraonally
I haven't found this anywhere but someone mentioned on here that James Ducker(Times Journalist) was reporting as well.
 
I think if anyone needs to get a chance it is him. It may be his last chance so I think he may do his very best to convince coach. He is leader and talks alot in defense so I think it is no-brainer when considering McNair who is absolute rookie. Imagine McNair and Rojo after his last performance, that would be absolute insane, I would rather play Rooney-Berbatov as centrebacks than them two now but Rojo needs to calm down and I think Thorpe is a good solution. Wouldn't be surprised him commanding from the minute one.
 
It's worth noting that when LVG watched the reserves, Thorpe was playing in the holding midfield position for a good portion of the match. Mcnair was a cb throughout the match.
 
It's worth noting that when LVG watched the reserves, Thorpe was playing in the holding midfield position for a good portion of the match. Mcnair was a cb throughout the match.

Though he wasn't there in person, I'm sure he's seen the City, Norwich and Liverpool games.
 
Though he wasn't there in person, I'm sure he's seen the City, Norwich and Liverpool games.

He got a point thought.Everyone who watched the Sunderland match, especially if it's the first time you watch him live in person, will probably think he could become a good holding midfielder which is not so far from the truth.

Still I hope LVG won't consider him to be "behind Anderson so shouldn't be in the squad" if that's the case.
 
He got a point thought.Everyone who watched the Sunderland match, especially if it's the first time you watch him live in person, will probably think he could become a good holding midfielder which is not so far from the truth.

Still I hope LVG won't consider him to be "behind Anderson so shouldn't be in the squad" if that's the case.
Anderson shouldn't have a place whatsoever in a pecking order at United, he's done here. Regarding Thorpe I'd hope LVG communicated with Joyce and Butt, if he did then there is no way McNair gets in ahead of Thorpe. Blind -Rojo in defence is a car crash in waiting.
 
I'd disagree. He makes some good headers but consistency doesn't match those.

Keane has gotten a lot better aerially too during his loan spells as he got stronger.
Blackett has no consistency on headers, you'd never see Thorpe shrugged aside like Blackett was at "Lester".

I think you suggested before Keane is stronger in the air, I watched him in his pre-season run and didn't notice that, but then he didn't have a lot of headers to deal with.

Neither did I see more than highlights of Keane last season, so you would certainly know better than I how much he improved last season. Didn't really see it in pre-season, again, but he was in a new position as well, in that back 3.

I think Thorpe has been very consistent, personally, but that's opinions for ya.
 
He might as well submit a transfer request and leave ASAP if Mcnair also leapfrogs him.
Amen. It's quite particular, he's been captain of the Reserves, he's been a stand out defender, easily far more than Blackett even showed.

If he's not being kept here to be given a shot then I don't get why he's not on loan or sold.
 
Anderson shouldn't have a place whatsoever in a pecking order at United, he's done here. Regarding Thorpe I'd hope LVG communicated with Joyce and Butt, if he did then there is no way McNair gets in ahead of Thorpe. Blind -Rojo in defence is a car crash in waiting.

LVG certainly doesn't know the youngsters enough at this point in time so he has to be getting his info from Joyce and Butt.

I wouldn't trust Joyce and Butt. I think they rated Keane more than Thorpe and they also thought Vermijl would be a better lcb against MK Dons over Thorpe. Fair enough Keane had more experience in the championship than Thorpe (injuries), but I still think Thorpe is the better cb. He has height working against him I suppose. Vermijl had experience playing as a lb at times for the reserves, so maybe that worked in his favor as well, but it's not like Thorpe doesn't have good distribution from the back.
 
I still maintain I got this tagline for dissing star trek deep space 9.

Whether or not I mistook Giroud for Cabaye while watching a French language stream of France for ten minutes isn't terribly relevant.
Sounds like the newest episode of South Park.
 
This stuff right here is a perfect evidence for anyone who would still think we're losing identity. We're not. We're ready to give chances to another generation of core club players and my God wouldn't be great if they could just push the injured brigade out of the first squad someday... at least one them could succeed and it would be a great news.

All best to anyone who'll get the chance in upcoming fixtures.