Which one is heavier, a kilogram of football or a kilogram of paper? that's right the answer is football because football is heavier than paper.
We’re actually class on paper
- Thread starter Schmeichel's Cartwheel
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Yeah that's not how quality is measured.
Thats how I measured it, simply because im comparing our CURRENT team.
Best squad since 2013.
Weak midfield though. We don't even need a star player to improve it, however.
We need a deep passer, comfortable with receiving the ball deep under pressure and to advance the ball to Bruno or the wide players. Even a 7/10 player like this would take us up another level.
Although I'm happy with the transfers so far, if we don't get another midfielder we will be spinning our wheels.
Weak midfield though. We don't even need a star player to improve it, however.
We need a deep passer, comfortable with receiving the ball deep under pressure and to advance the ball to Bruno or the wide players. Even a 7/10 player like this would take us up another level.
Although I'm happy with the transfers so far, if we don't get another midfielder we will be spinning our wheels.
Veratti and Donnarumma are easily better.
Rotated, sold, training with the kids
I’m not totally convinced by either of them tbh
Neymar, AdM, and maybe Ramos and Donarumma are better than your rating.
Also I don't know their RB but it's a problem position with AWB.
we're Leon Goretzka, Eduardo Camavinga or Ruben Neves away from being a really strong team I feel. Still not convinced with the Striking options, with just Cavani and Greenwood... but not really a priority this window. We just need to invest good in Midfield
Are you seriously suggest chelsea with weak mentality team. Only thing going well for Chelsea is their mentality. Nobody gave chance to us when we struggled at 9.
No one gave us chance to finish into top 6 let alone top 4. And chelsea are champions of europe mate. Weak mentality won't win you anything not even a tin pot cup.
Someone on the first page said Pogba is better than Verratti.
Is this thread about tipping barbers?
Is this thread about tipping barbers?
McTominay & Fred over Pogba is not our strongest eleven.
Ole loves McFred too much. Pogba will be on the wing if he's even here at all.
Even a blind chicken occasionally finds a piece of corn.
Thats not true. Both seasons he's started with Pogba and McTominay together. He started Pogba and McTominay together in the EL final too. Its just that over the course of the season McFred ends up outperforming any other partnership.
And look what happened to that. I stand by what I said before, that our best team is one that doesn’t feature Paul Pogba in a 2 man midfield.
I'm agreeing with you. I'm just saying its not that Ole loves McFred (thats evident in how he chose to go with Pogba/McT in the final) its that McFred ends up performing better on pitch even though it's not the most glamorous on paper.
Gets the job done in the right games. Definitely Ole’s go-to pairing, and it isn’t hard to see why. It’s no secret he likes his workhorses, and those two run all day.
Neymar, Donnarumma and Veratti are better than their counterparts while Fred and Varane are better than theirs. I would still back us against PSG on any given day. We should have beat them home and away if it wasnt for Martial. Thats life but I see us getting to the semis this year without injuries.
I don't think the world of football sees Fred and mctom as a top level midfield. Good players though I agree. Pogba can play there too, and yes good on paper, but worse for balance of the team
Is that how it works? We had the world's best goalkeeper for a few years, why weren't we the world's best team ?
Well we definately wouldnt have finished second with a mid table midfield. Stop being silly.
Over 2 matches last seasons there wasn't much to separate us - and we look a lot stronger now than we did back then.
Utd needs corn badly
Agree with this.
Has to be a big name striker next season though. I wouldn't mind Martinez to replace Martial in the squad though, if we can't land a CM.
If Pogba stays and Ole can somehow accomodate him in the midfield, our attack would be frightening for other teams. Cavani, Sancho, Rashford, Greenwood and Martial, being fed by Bruno and Pogba.
And our back four would be great too, Shaw, Maguire, Varane and AWB/Trippier.
We just need to find a way into putting it all together into a functional XI and keep our young players in form. Something that Ole is working on, I am sure.
And our back four would be great too, Shaw, Maguire, Varane and AWB/Trippier.
We just need to find a way into putting it all together into a functional XI and keep our young players in form. Something that Ole is working on, I am sure.
Don't worry, when we get get corn we gets fields of it. Thats just how United do things.
I'd argue it depends on the game. It's not true that Bruno and Pogba can't play in the same midfield, as they did it a bunch of times both during the post-lockdown games in 2019-20, and during several games last season. Against teams that sit back and defend, there's absolutely no reason why Pogba couldn't play in a pivot with Fred or Mctominay. It's the big games, or games where teams press us high up the pitch, where it's a problem, and not even the best DM in the world could fix that.
We've got a very good starting lineup. With the addition of Sancho and Varane we now have more depth in the CB and forward areas too which means if somebody misses out it isn't an immediate cause for concern in those areas.
As others have said, there is still a midfield issue. That area looks a quality player short compared to our rivals domestically and in Europe, regardless of the Pogba situation.
I'd say our squad strength is okay but not totally convincing. Right back and striker look dodgy, yes there are people that can come in but nobody that convinces. I think we have real strength in 14 or 15 players but then some causes for concern. Of course there will always be some doubts among a squad but I do think we're one or two short.
However on the bright side the youth situation looks really promising with a number of interesting talents, especially in midfield and forward positions.
As others have said, there is still a midfield issue. That area looks a quality player short compared to our rivals domestically and in Europe, regardless of the Pogba situation.
I'd say our squad strength is okay but not totally convincing. Right back and striker look dodgy, yes there are people that can come in but nobody that convinces. I think we have real strength in 14 or 15 players but then some causes for concern. Of course there will always be some doubts among a squad but I do think we're one or two short.
However on the bright side the youth situation looks really promising with a number of interesting talents, especially in midfield and forward positions.
We need a midfielder. Starting 1/2 of McTominay and Fred is a gaping hole in our team and weaker than any of the teams mentioned in the OP.
I would say the same about henderson. That liverpool game gives me nightmares.
The difference is we know for a fact De Gea is over the hill and Is only ever going to get worse whilst he also has some crippling weaknesses in his ability to come off his line. I’m not fully convinced that Henderson is the solution but for me he was better last season than De Gea and has much more time to improve on his weaknesses. I just felt the defence was far more secure generally with him in net.
My concern is goalscoring.
We still don't have a player who can tuck 20+ PL goals away in a season. Greenwood might, but he hasn't yet. Cavani probably won't play enough to reach those figures.
We're 1-1 in a big match, who does the winner come from?
I'd take a punt on Ings if he can be got for cheap. He's capable of it i'm sure with the players he'd have around him here.
We still don't have a player who can tuck 20+ PL goals away in a season. Greenwood might, but he hasn't yet. Cavani probably won't play enough to reach those figures.
We're 1-1 in a big match, who does the winner come from?
I'd take a punt on Ings if he can be got for cheap. He's capable of it i'm sure with the players he'd have around him here.
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Our midfield looks better on paper than it does on the pitch, and it will probably hold us back this season. VDB hasn't shown us anything, Pogba is incredibly frustrating playing in the double pivot and there's no attacking midfield role for him now we have Bruno, Fred and Mctominay are decent but too technically limited.
Just gotta hope they all play the best season of their lives.
Just gotta hope they all play the best season of their lives.
Ederson 8
Walker 9
Dias 9
Stones 8
Zinchenko 7
Rodri 8
Gundogan 8
De Bruyne 9
Grealish 9
Sterling 8
Mahrez 8
Adds up to 91
Henderson 7
Bissaka 8
Maguire 8
Varane 9
Shaw 9
Mctominay 7
Pogba 8
Bruno 9
Sancho 8
Cavani 8
Greenwood 8
Adds up to 89
Alison 9
Trent 9
Van Dijk 9
Konate 8
Robertson 9
Fabinho 9
Henderson 8
Oxlade 7
Mane 8
Firmino 8
Salah 9
Adds up to 93
Liverpool for the league so
Walker 9
Dias 9
Stones 8
Zinchenko 7
Rodri 8
Gundogan 8
De Bruyne 9
Grealish 9
Sterling 8
Mahrez 8
Adds up to 91
Henderson 7
Bissaka 8
Maguire 8
Varane 9
Shaw 9
Mctominay 7
Pogba 8
Bruno 9
Sancho 8
Cavani 8
Greenwood 8
Adds up to 89
Alison 9
Trent 9
Van Dijk 9
Konate 8
Robertson 9
Fabinho 9
Henderson 8
Oxlade 7
Mane 8
Firmino 8
Salah 9
Adds up to 93
Liverpool for the league so
This is done to death and I like both players. But it is hard to argue that we have a competitive midfield with other top teams in the league and the world
Doesn't really matter too much whether we are better than PSG though does it?
What matters is can we start beating teams who set up defensively on a regular basis. Like Palace. Like Burnley.
Turn more of those 1 pointers to 3 pointers.
What matters is can we start beating teams who set up defensively on a regular basis. Like Palace. Like Burnley.
Turn more of those 1 pointers to 3 pointers.
Can we conclusively say that of De Gea though? He would be an anomaly in that regard as keepers tend to peak when they’re 32-36 these days.
a choice between someone who has previously produced the levels required but hasn’t for a couple of years versus someone who hasn’t and may never will.
It's shaping up to be quite a good case for United having a squad now that should be competitive at the highest level. Assuming a 4231, I'd say we're elite across the forward three (Rashford-Fernandes-Sancho), on left back (Shaw) and in Central defence (Maguire-Varane). And everywhere else (except maybe central midfield) we've viable quality for a top team. Henderson/de Gea, Wan-Bissaka and Cavani are all adequate for a top team, if not absolutely top shelf. And even City don't have elite options at all positions.
Central midfield remains the achilles heel, less due to the quality of the squad than to not having a really functional combination. Although you could argue that we lack a viable option of sufficient quality as a sitting midfielder.
Central midfield remains the achilles heel, less due to the quality of the squad than to not having a really functional combination. Although you could argue that we lack a viable option of sufficient quality as a sitting midfielder.
Unfortunately yes 100%. He’s massively declined and performed pretty poorly now for 3 seasons. That’s not the kind of thing players usually get over and to be honest the writing has always been on the wall with De Gea because of his style of keeping which relies on superhuman reflexes.
Yeah it is done to death, isnt it? Guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.