What do we need more this transfer window: A new defensive midfielder or a new centre-back?

[Dan_F]

Tell me what is it.

Lindelof looked back, let the ball passed, and looked SURPRISE when someone sneaked behind him.

So it was obvious that he intentionally not blocking the pass, because he assumed it was a better option to let it pass into the box.

Was it situational awareness that he was not aware of any opponent sneaking behind him?

or was it a mental thing to avoid a corner?

What do you expect from an average CB? a competent CB? a world-class CB?

I have no idea what he was thinking. I said in my post I don’t think that positioning is concentration. I would expect a world class centre back to make less mistakes. But like Varane showed the other day, mistakes will happen.

Pallister & Bruce aren't top class but they would improve us. They are competent! If Lindelof & Bailly are competent, we wouldn't need to play Maguire even against league one team in FA Cup or LASK in Europa League.

We didn’t need to play him in those games, that was Ole’s choice. Are you suggesting we’d have conceded 5 against LASK if he didn’t play?

Ole has previous for running players into the ground (look at Rashford).

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

We didn’t need to play him in those games, that was Ole’s choice. Are you suggesting we’d have conceded 5 against LASK if he didn’t play?

Ole has previous for running players into the ground (look at Rashford).

The fact that the manager needed to play him pretty much tells you who is competent and who is not enough to be called competent. There are centre back who aren't top class that could improve us, that should be something you can't argue with it.

 

[Dan_F]

The fact that the manager needed to play him pretty much tells you who is competent and who is not enough to be called competent. There are centre back who aren't top class that could improve us, that should be something you can't argue with it.

If he didn’t think Bailly was competent enough, he wouldn’t have started him against Chelsea or Copenhagen. As I said before, I don’t think that’s good enough reason to spend £30/40 million on.

If you were arguing for that kind of upgrade in attack, to improve depth, I’d completely agree. Our goals against suggest different to what you’re suggesting. Anyway, I’m out of this thread now

 

[Bestietom]

We have loads of Injury prone CB's so we need to shift them on and bring in a young fit CB in Badiashile.
We have only 1 out and out DM in Matic who is getting on, so we need to bring in a new one.
Fred and McTominay are box to box midfielders and don't fit the pattern we play. Change the pattern Maybe.
Left footed CB needed most...

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

If he didn’t think Bailly was competent enough, he wouldn’t have started him against Chelsea or Copenhagen. As I said before, I don’t think that’s good enough reason to spend £30/40 million on.

If you were arguing for that kind of upgrade in attack, to improve depth, I’d completely agree. Our goals against suggest different to what you’re suggesting. Anyway, I’m out of this thread now

Lindelof was injured against Chelsea though. There are centre back out there who are not top class can upgrade us. Were Pallister & Bruce top class? They are competent though.

 

[E-mal]

Dayot, Thiago and Sancho.
Dayot- 50m
Thiago -30
Sancho -100

Sell some deadwood for God sake and let's get this moving.

Thiago covers all aspects of midfield.
Dayot makes the likes of Bailly, Rojo, Smalling and Jones available for sale.

 

[11101]

DM, easy answer.

Maguire and Lindelof are fine, our defensive record speaks to that. Bailly is also a good player but he cant stay fit. We just need more options.

Matic is already too slow for some opponents and when hes tired we have nobody else who can fill that role to the required standard. Fred is a different type of player.

 

[ivaldo]

Lindelof was injured against Chelsea though. There are centre back out there who are not top class can upgrade us. Were Pallister & Bruce top class? They are competent though.

So who are you signing then?

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

So who are you signing then?

Pau Torres is my choice.

 

[Offside]

We need a new CB desperately. It would give us great depth because I rate Maguire and Lindelof just not as a partnership. We need both desperately but a CB has to be the priority.

 

[bsCallout]

CB for me.

Could any of our youngsters get a chance at CDM next season? We need a player that can recycle the ball and dictate the pace more than a destroyer type in that position. Imo.

I'd like us to get the CB, Gabriel. Based on the limited I've seen of him.

I'd sell Bailly & Smalling and just gift Jones.

Next season

CB options -
Gabriel, Maguire, Lindelof, Tuanzabe, Mengi

CM options -
Pogba, Matic, Fred, McT, Garner, Levitt

 

[Josep Dowling]

I think our defence is still our biggest issue. Yes I would love Sancho but if we could get a decent partner for Maguire and a LB who is not injured all the time that back 4 would be settled. Our huge weakness coming into Europa League was Williams. I realise he's young but he was turned inside out against Sevilla and Copenhagen, and was targeted by both teams. Surely we can find a better option than him.

 

[sdb4884]

I think both equally, it shouldn't be one or the other. Lindelof is too error prone and Matic is getting on and only has 1 or 2 seasons left at the top level.

 

[Craig Ward]

If i had to choose - I'd say CB.

Between the two positions - there's a clear need for both but CB is an easy one to upgrade and will solve some clearing out of deadwood/unwanted players

Numbers wise we are stacked in midfield and CB. But there's a big difference: Our current CB's have had chances/proven to be pretty worthless.

I'll explain.
Smalling - Has no future/been on loan. Not fancied by Ole. He's available for transfer
Rojo - Has no future/been on loan. Not fancied by Ole. He's available for transfer
Jones - Barely featured of late. Been here years. Part of the "deadwood" He's available for transfer
Bailly - Good player, had injury issue's. Been used sparingly but not displaced Lindelof, which indicates Ole doesnt see enough of him to be a regular starter
Tuanzebe - Suffered with injuries. Suggestion seems that Ole will give him game time, likely to be kept as a rotation option for at lest 1 more season
Lindelof - Maguire's steady partner. 2nd choice currently
Maguire - Pretty much Ole's main man. 100% starter

So 7 CB's - 3 of which have no future here whatsoever and 2 with a pretty worrying injury record.

I think Lindelof is easily improved upon in the transfer market, so that leaves me too assume that we could sell 4 CB's and sign 1. I wouldnt be against that:
Sell:
Smalling/Jones/Rojo/Bailly
Sign:
Upamencano

We'd have 4 CB's - Maguire/Upamencano/Lindelof/Tuanzebe. Can call up Mengi if injuries hit rock bottom. If we dont sell Bailly he goes into rotation as 5th choice provided Tuanzebe is fit, but id rather Mengi have his minutes if hes 5th choice in truth.

For DM, my reasoning that CB is more important is that by signing Upamencano - we instantly improve. We have good numbers in midfield - but i do admit we are lacking in quality.

Fred and Matic will rotate the DM role alongside Pogba and McTom will provide back up. While not ideal - in a window where we need to sell about 6 players and pull off a mega money transfer for Sancho - it'll have to do for another season.
Fred is a lot better than people give him credit for and Matic, if used well can have another good season with us.

My biggest issue with our midfield is quality quad depth. We have no suitable cover for Fernandes and need to stop playing Lingard, Periera and Mata in competitive games. We are desperate for some signings across midfield but between a DM and CB - its CB for me

 

[jem]

Not sure if this is the right thread, but it occurred to me that we seem to be focussing exclusively on young players in the market. But given our financial constraints, particularly if we sign Sancho, what about picking up a wily veteran midfielder for a decent price? Wolves paid very little to get Joao Moutinho, so I'm wondering if there is a similar value/experience signing we could go for (ie. a Mata-type player who still has his legs?)

 

[a_devil_inside]

I think we need both but a midfielder more.
Maguire, Bailly and Lindelof are decent enough and I'm still hoping Tuanzebe can push for a place if he's ever fit.
Matic is good but can't play every game, McTominay is alright but needs a strong partner next to him, and Fred I'm still not seeing anything special from him

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Perfect time to bump this?

With two of Matic, Fred and McTom playing, you don't need to get another DM. Their fitness is also very good. VDB can also play CDM but then we see how we're under utilizing him by turning him into a bench warmer and barely had a sniff at CDM. It's such a waste of his talent. The only reason we're thinking of getting a DM is to balance Pogba better isn't it since Matic isn't enough... plus our obsession in 4231. Two B2B at the base, or 1 DM (Matic) and 1 B2B (Fred/McT) is far suitable for the system, than having an out of position playmaker we-want-to-turn-him-into-Pirlo-but-he-cant Paul Pogba + DM/B2B.

Our CBs though is heavily reliant on Maguire.. and Lindelof is the 2nd best which isn't promising at all.
6 CBs + TFM and only 2 is reliable fitness wise.

 

[Mark Pawelek]

Perfect time to bump this?

With two of Matic, Fred and McTom playing, you don't need to get another DM. Their fitness is also very good. VDB can also play CDM but then we see how we're under utilizing him by turning him into a bench warmer and barely had a sniff at CDM. It's such a waste of his talent. The only reason we're thinking of getting a DM is to balance Pogba better isn't it since Matic isn't enough... plus our obsession in 4231. Two B2B at the base, or 1 DM (Matic) and 1 B2B (Fred/McT) is far suitable for the system, than having an out of position playmaker we-want-to-turn-him-into-Pirlo-but-he-cant Paul Pogba + DM/B2B.

Our CBs though is heavily reliant on Maguire.. and Lindelof is the 2nd best which isn't promising at all.
6 CBs + TFM and only 2 is reliable fitness wise.

We have 10 players who've played CB. Admittedly Jones and Rojo are on their way out. In terms of CDM we have Matic, McTominay, Fred, Garner. At CB I got the impression we were looking at Badiashile or Upamecano. Camavinga for CDM.

​	Age​	D-o-B​	Positions​	Foot​
Marcos Rojo​	30​	20 Mar 1990​	D-CL​	L​
Phil Jones​	28​	21 Feb 1992​	D-CR, DMC​	R​
Harry Maguire​	27​	05 Mar 1993​	D-C​	R​
Eric Bailly​	26​	12 Apr 1994​	D-C​	R​
Victor Lindelöf​	26​	17 Jul 1994​	D-C​	R​
Luke Shaw​	25​	12 Jul 1995​	D-LC​	L​
Scott McTominay​	23​	08 Dec 1996​	DMC, D-C​	R​
Axel Tuanzebe​	22​	14 Nov 1997​	D-C​	R​
Timothy Fosu-Mensah​	22​	02 Jan 1998​	D-CR, DCM​	R​
Teden Mengi​	18​	30 Apr 2002​	D-C​	R​

PS: table sorted on age

 

[AneRu]

In an ideal world we would get both but if our backs were against the wall and we only had funds for one player then CB it is. Beyond Maguire and to an extent Lindelof the rest of the CBs have huge question marks on them regarding their fitness and quality.

Assuming that Pellistiri, Diallo and Greenwood will somehow conjure up a solution to our RW issues then CB and DM is the obvious next port of call.

A lot will also depend on how Tuanzebe and Garner use the next 6 to 8 months because I think if Garner has a good loan then the club will look to make him the next project like we are trying with Tuanzebe because they will see, in Fred, Scot and Matic, sufficient cover for the role that will allow Garner the platform to ease his way in when he comes back next season.

 

[R77]

I think a good clear out of the CB department is as important as bringing anyone in. It's littered with nearly-men and lingering misfits, and just too many bodies in general. All feels a bit stale. You'd think shifting Rojo, Jones, and Bailly would equate to a good spring clean. The absolute best case scenario would be one of Tuanzebe or Mengi absolutely nailing down a spot, but that's pipe dream stuff at this point. Three out, one in (Upamecano, Kounde, etc...) would make sense. We'll have to see how the two young lads do in the coming months. Defence in general is bloated now though, six fullbacks, four goalkeepers, seven center backs... It's a mess, really needs sorting.

I think we have too many midfielders too. If you look at the bench for the last couple of games, there's an MF taking up a space that ideally could be a forward or wide player. If we assume at least a little opportunity for a young player to come through (Garner, Galbraith, Levitt, etc...), and consider Matic's position (likely to be rested a lot, slowly phased out/age, etc...) one in, two out (Pogba/Matic) would be a good reshuffle. Someone with a resemblance to Matic with Fred's engine, or Fred with Matic's brain and passing is the kind of player need. Imo. Whoever that may be. Matic's age and the Pogba problem, less work to do, but no small task.

The team doesn't need loads of players and a small country's GDP thrown at it. A couple of wisely chosen, quality additions and a good clear out would make it a decent squad.

 

[Lee565]

I think it comes down how things pan out with tuanzebe between now and the next window now that he is fit again, if he flops or gets yet another injury then it has to be central defender.