We Need Two Full Backs

jderbyshire

Has anybody seen my fleshlight?
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May 2, 2007
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There's been a lot of talk about us needing (at least) two midfielders, and rightly so, but I would always argue that our full backs desperately need upgrading if we are to be competitive in multiple competitions next year.

Dalot is persistently the weak link in our team. This Summer he will have been here for nearly 8 years and I think it's safe to say he isn't World Class and doesn't have the footballing brain for the very top level.

Shaw, you can't rely on and needs to go as he is symbolic of the post-fergie era (even though he has been one of the 'better' players of those times) - overpaid, injury prone, but plays well now and again.

Dorgu and Mazraoui are fine for the squad but we need more.

Who would you go for?
 
Feels like there is a real dearth of quality full backs, similar to the centre forward situation. A lot of teams are shifting midfielders/CBs there rather than going with out and out FBs. We also need to sign a RB and LB this summer.
 
Honestly the left and right back position today are just lacking quality in general. There are ones that stand out like Hakimi and Mendes and then the quality drops down significantly, and the ones that are closer are more wingbacks. I'd probably be looking at a punt instead here.
 
Agreed, I don't remember our FB's providing 6/7 assists a season or sending killer passes to the box which can lead to the goals.
We really need to address this mainly to break the low block defences.

2FB's / 2 CM's and a backup CF, not too much of an ask considering we will get around 100M for Rashford/Zirkzee/Onana/Rasmus
 
I would consider Dorgu more of a winger going forward. We definitely need a first choice left back. Imagine going into next season with two matches a week with only Luke Shaw...

Wouldn't expect us to get in a right back unless we sell Dalot. And he seems to really be a favourite regardless of managers.
 
SilentWitness said:
Feels like there is a real dearth of quality full backs, similar to the centre forward situation. A lot of teams are shifting midfielders/CBs there rather than going with out and out FBs. We also need to sign a RB and LB this summer.
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You can have Dalot and Shaw, we'll sign someone better.
 
Unlikely we buy any full backs this summer as we have a decent group already. Might not be world class, but I don't think you do anything there until you address other weak areas first and/or someone of real quality becomes available (there isn't anyone). Dalot, Mazraoui, Shaw, Dorgu and Amass will be our fullback group next season IMO.
 
We really do need at least one good full back in this summer.
 
We can no go another summer without fixing the midfield. If we can only fix 2 positions out of 3, then midfield and LB, we can survive another season with Dalot. He's dependable in terms of injury history. Shaw is not. But that midfield is the heartbeat of the team.

Without a solid midfield, we are going to drop more points over the season than we would without a solid full back.
 
If we play 3 at the back Amad and Dorgu as wingbacks sounds pretty good :angel:
 
SilentWitness said:
Feels like there is a real dearth of quality full backs, similar to the centre forward situation. A lot of teams are shifting midfielders/CBs there rather than going with out and out FBs. We also need to sign a RB and LB this summer.
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Agreed.

I don’t think there are any stand-out options at the moment. Brown from Frankfurt perhaps, Wesly at Roma.

We’ve got the bodies. I don’t think it’s wise to force moves when the opportunities aren’t there.

Better to focus on sorting out the midfield and wait for a better opportunity,
 
At least two central midfielders, a backup left winger and a backup striker are higher priorities.
 
I’m fairly happy with Mazraoui and Dalot. Dalot is hit and miss but uber professional and Maz is a really technical and generally reliable player.

Shaw is contracted until 2027 and has done fairly well this season, albeit now looks somewhat limited going forward. Dorgu seems better suited as a winger.

We only need a left back, in my view. There’s not a lot of obvious contenders, unlike in CM. Maybe Nathaniel Brown or we pay big money for Lewis Hall.
 
I’ve really liked the little I’ve seen of Jimenez at Bournemouth. Might be one to keep an eye on.
 
I'm quite happy with Dorgu at left back in easier games and on the wing in tougher ones. Dalot isn't great, but he's been better recently and is a very good athlete and pro. Looking around the league, I don't see a load of options who are clearly better.

Mazraoui is a very good option if we continue to keep him fit, and could play left back in games where we're sitting back as he does for Morocco. You could do a 30m-ish Dorgu type punt on someone to effectively replace Shaw, but I wouldn't be spending a lot of money in either position.
 
Dorgu I think will be a top LB as I have said from day one, Dalot is fine as a squad player but in games like WHUM, where the creativity/penetration has to come from your FBs he's way too inconsistent. Shaw is also just nowhere near good enough physically for that type of game where the onus is on the FB to constantly provide overlaps/crosses.

For what it is worth, I think Carrick defintely told them to sit back a lot more than usual for that game. There were multiple times Dalot would be level with Maguire and not push up when we were attacking and vice versa with Shaw/Martinez
 
It'd be great if we could find a left footed left back who could also play on the right or perhaps in CM if necessary. They're quite rare but very valuable. Dorgu may be that guy tbf but remains to be seen whether he locks up a more attacking position instead.

Otherwise it would be amazing if Diego Leon can improve enough to earn some chances in the next couple of years, I like his all action style I just don't know if he's good enough.
 
Dont think we will do any business there. Shaw is English homegrown which we dont have many in the squad especially with Maguire also uncertain. Dalot seems popular behind the scenes. Personally we have bigger problems in midfield and winger at the moment and should be fixed this summer.
 
How's Vanderson getting on this season? I was always keen on him for the RB role.

Kouassi and Lorient or Kaiki in Brazil look like players with potential that could push Shaw on or out of the team. I don't think LB needs to be that expensive, but watching Wilson out pace Shaw, we simply have to have some more pace back there.
 
Ideally, sure.

But only after we've signed two CMs/DMs. Then we can add one or two fullbacks.

I'd buy a leftback first, as I feel that Dorgu might play LW a lot from now.
 
Wish Dorgu didn't get injured as I am keen to see him as an actual LB. I think bringing in one FB would be wise.

Mazraoui is good enough to be first choice and should get the chance to show it. Shaw has been decent this season but we cannot rely on him.

Let's evaluate at the end of the season once Maz gets more chances. We do need someone on the right to give Amad support in the final third, having him isolated wide makes life harder for us. When Mbeumo plays up top though he does give a good level of support and rotation with Amad, but on Tuesday our 2 forwards seemed to gravitate left.
 
Think Spurs did a great bit of business signing Souza.
 
At left back I think the next manager will be really crucial here as it really depends on whether they see Dorgu as a left back or a left winger. Personally, I think long term the goal should be to develop Dorgu into Evra 2.0 with more end product. If that's not the case we have to decide whether we trust Amass and Shaw as the left back options or want to make a move for someone such as Nathanial Brown.

At right back I would love to see us move on from Dalot and bring in Daniel Munoz from Palace. He's a little bit older but he an absolute monster on the right flank in attack and very aggressive defensively. One of my personal favorite non United players in the league right now.
 
I think we hope that one of Dorgu, Amass or Leon is our future LB. I wish we'd move Dalot on and I think Mazraoui is a very good squad player, but I can't see an outstanding RB that we could bring in. Livramento, Kayode, maybe Jiminez from Bournemouth maybe? Not sure any are worth the 60+ million we'd need to spend.

Maybe someone who watches the U18's think Overy, Helafu or someone could break through in the next couple of years, in which case stick with DD and Maz.
 
I agree. Hopefully Dorgu can make that LB spot his own though.

Amad was surprisingly effective at RwB but considering we no longer play the system it seems we could really use a new right back. I feel the problem with Dalot is that we can probably get away with keeping him there as a least priority but we’ve been saying that for a long time now. Eventuality we’ll need someone more effective.
 
We've barely seen Mazraoiu at full back, only wing back and wide centre back. I want to see more of him.

Dalot is fine. Better at full back than wing back.

Dorgu has great potential. Shaw is good in the rare spells when he stays fit.

I'm reasonably content with the full backs. Of course, if an exceptional talent is available then we should go for it, and let the rest compete or sell off the weakest one by one. But that is always the case for every position. I'd be wary of desperately spunking £40m+ on the next big thing for the sake of it, only to find after a few months they aren't any real improvement on what we already have. Which is what out transfer record has often been like in the last decade or so.
 
As was mentioned in another thread, that Diouf lad at West Ham is only 21. He’s a big lad for a full back, quick, and got a decent left peg on him. Wouldn’t be averse to looking at him, especially if they went down.

Very weird ears though.
 
Dorgu and Amad are better at the other end of the pitch. Time to forget the idea of them being wingbacks.

Dalot and Shaw could well be upgraded although neither is poor, they just aren't great.

Agree completely with Silent Witness in that in recent times, the fullback position does seem to be quite thin as far as really good ones. This is likely another byproduct of the fascination with wingbacks. Yet who is happy with wingbacks? Most football fans moan constantly about their team's wingbacks as either "he is OK going forward but can't defend" or, "he is a decent defender but offers nothing going forward" :lol:

Personally, I much prefer wide attacking midfielders / wingers / inside forwards combined with fullbacks. Looks like Carrick does too...and long may it continue :+1:
 
Trequarista10 said:
We've barely seen Mazraoiu at full back, only wing back and wide centre back. I want to see more of him.

Dalot is fine. Better at full back than wing back.

Dorgu has great potential. Shaw is good in the rare spells when he stays fit.

I'm reasonably content with the full backs. Of course, if an exceptional talent is available then we should go for it, and let the rest compete or sell off the weakest one by one. But that is always the case for every position. I'd be wary of desperately spunking £40m+ on the next big thing for the sake of it, only to find after a few months they aren't any real improvement on what we already have. Which is what out transfer record has often been like in the last decade or so.
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Mazraoui was a unanimously excellent right back when he joined, and then Amorim came and the position was deleted for a year and a half. I think he’s a very capable right back, while Dalot is serviceable in that position.
 
I’d be looking at Robinson from Fulham and Munoz from Palace. Both seem good technically and seem to be able to run all day. But as others have said there is a dearth of top quality full backs in the premier league.

Do the above improve us that much, I’m not too sure to be honest, if you look at the stats and each players output probably not.

Do we need a change though, I think so, we definitely need our full backs to be more creative, shame we aren’t at a point in our squad rebuild where we could prioritise it though and buy best in class, think we’re a summer away from that yet after midfield.
 
Trequarista10 said:
We've barely seen Mazraoiu at full back, only wing back and wide centre back. I want to see more of him.

Dalot is fine. Better at full back than wing back.

Dorgu has great potential. Shaw is good in the rare spells when he stays fit.

I'm reasonably content with the full backs.
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the lack of seeing Maz is more the issue for me. I guess he didn’t fit the wingback system but why in the world is he not starting over Dalot?


I said it many times and I thought we would bring in a proper wingback for Amorim before he got sacked and if we had brought in two with the chances we were creating we would have been absolutely deadly. Our forwards weren’t finishing as much (Probably due to over management from Amorim) but the numbers were there to show we were knocking on the door with goals scored and chances created. I thought it would be a midfielder or two and a wingback in the January window.


Either way it was clear as day we didn’t have the wing backs or full backs so this thread is spot on. It we had one consistent and one very good to great imagine where we could be. I would prefer one on the right to connect with Mbuemo but maybe the more danger on the left would balance us out.


For sure priorities are midfield and out wide. And if zirkzee is okay as a striker backup i guess that’s less important but honestly not really. Ivan Toney would be great
 
IrwinwasbetterthanCarlos said:
As was mentioned in another thread, that Diouf lad at West Ham is only 21. He’s a big lad for a full back, quick, and got a decent left peg on him. Wouldn’t be averse to looking at him, especially if they went down.

Very weird ears though.
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Yeah if West Ham go down he has to be a consideration, the likes of Livramento, Hall and Kayode would all cost a fortune.

Haven’t seen much of the likes of Nathaniel Brown or Read who would be cheaper but maybe still cost quite a lot. There seem to be some decent and big physical players in Serie A like Palestra, Bartesaghi and Ahanor who would maybe be more like Arsenal’s fullbacks.

We need at least one new fullback this summer but I don’t think it’s an area we can be spending 50/60m on.
 
SilentWitness said:
Feels like there is a real dearth of quality full backs, similar to the centre forward situation. A lot of teams are shifting midfielders/CBs there rather than going with out and out FBs. We also need to sign a RB and LB this summer.
Click to expand...
Then there's psg.

Ridiculous really.
 
Roboc7 said:
Yeah if West Ham go down he has to be a consideration, the likes of Livramento, Hall and Kayode would all cost a fortune.

Haven’t seen much of the likes of Nathaniel Brown or Read who would be cheaper but maybe still cost quite a lot. There seem to be some decent and big physical players in Serie A like Palestra, Bartesaghi and Ahanor who would maybe be more like Arsenal’s fullbacks.

We need at least one new fullback this summer but I don’t think it’s an area we can be spending 50/60m on.
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Thinking about it, Diouf’s height is attractive. 6’2” for a full back isn’t common. We’re losing Cas, we might lose Maguire; that’s our best headers going. With the way the league is going at the moment, we’ll need to make sure we bring some aerial ability in, especially when we’ve got Bruno, Amad and Martinez as first choice.

As for the general decline in full backs, I think it’s just fashion. Pep sacked them off for centre backs a good few seasons ago and everyone has just followed suit.
 
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