In:
Out:
- Ibrahimovic (free from PSG)
- Mahrez (€65m from Leicester)
- Joao Mario (€45m from Sporting)
- Naingolan (€40m from Roma)
- Stones (€40m from Everton)
Team for 2016-2017 (28 players)
- Carrick
- Jones
- Mata
- Januzaj (loan)
- Pereira (loan)
- McNair (loan)
Keepers:
De Gea, Romero, Johnstone
Defenders:
Smalling, Stones, Blind, Rojo, Poole, Fosu, Shaw, Darmian, Valencia, Varela, CBJ
Midfielders:
Nainggolan, Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger, Rooney, Herrera, Joao Mario, Fellaini, Mahrez, Young, Lingard
Attackers:
Ibrahimovic, Martial, Rashford, Depay
Example of type A squad
Example of a type B squad
What do we still need? Post Summer 2015 edition.
- Thread starter Yorkeontop
- Start date
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Rooney pretty much cripples any realistic line-up you try and make.
His midfield selection is rubbish
Stones really is a crap defender. I don't get why the media don't rate him like David Luiz
Leicester are not a superior team to us
Do we worry about wages or progression(this is not politics)
I meant based on this season. They've got a lot going for them. They've made history, their players have great unity and they've a bucket load of money coming towards them. Next year they'll have Champions League too. Put that all together means that they're probably a better overall package for Mahrez.
I know, its such a shit situation.
He isnt good enough anymore to be a forward and never was good enough to play consistently in the midfield for United.
I hope Jose can sort it out but something tells me Rooney will linger for another year stinking up the place until he finally moves on.
I think we can get Ibra, Mario, Raja and Stones but we aint getting Mahrez, why would he want to come here (at this point) is beyond me.
If Jose comes in and uses his favoured 4-2-3-1 then I imagine we'll have a season of Rooney lumbering around off Ibra in the old Lampard role.
That makes me sad -->
Same mate but it's like the club is oblivious to the fact he's finished and still see him as some sort of essential marketing piece.That makes me sad -->
The club is managed by Woodward who is as almost a big a feck up as LVG at this point.
I believe he already missed out on a primary transfer target and tries to spin it like LVG stopped the Sanches transfer.
Nainggolan can perfectly play as a CDM, he has done so numerous time for Belgium and he is good at it.
Because what Leicester did this season is a one off and the chance is big they won't even be near the top 4 places next year. We are a big club, if we can get mourinho in it will be like a new start and with the right signings we can and should be more ambitious than Leicester for next season. Also if he signs a contract here he can easily triple his wages or more.
I'am not saying Mahrez will be an easy target to get but if his choices are Leicester or United than I think we have good chance of getting him. It is more competition from other clubs that I'am worried about, if he gets an offer from say Arsenal or PSG now that might be better move in his eyes at the moment but staying at Leicester surely isn't.
We could have gotten Mahrez if we were the only game in town, with the season he had I can see Barca, Arsenal, City and PSG after him, who all can match the wages we can offer plus they have champions league as well.
Our only hope is that the pulling power of Jose can attract players that LVG would never have a chance of attracting.
I change my mind every hour about what team i want to see next year. 
Still got long way to reach DMC's replies to this thread though.
Assuming Rooney will be here next season and a key player, i think this could work out:
Zlatan on a free will give us funds to spend more on a few other positions and he is a guarantee for goals.
Moura is behind Di Maria in the pecking order at PSG, and they are desperately looking for a quality left winger. If he has any ambitions of getting better he should move on. If we're lucky a straight swap with Memphis would be great. Sane could be another option or even Mane.
Marquinhos has talked about not getting enough playing time, and it doesn't look likely that it will change with Luiz and Silva being the main partnership in defence.
Nainggolan has been linked with Chelsea as it seems Conte really want him. With Mourinho we could swoop in and get him. Would give our midfield some legs and bite, he is also a good passer of the ball. Another option would be Kante or Allan.
Xhaka looks ready to move this window with Arsenal being heavily linked to him. Would be the natural heir to Carrick. Calm and composed deep lying playmaker but also great defensively. Should be all in for him. Difficult to find alternatives here, but maybe Jorginho could do the job also.
I think that's around 150m which will probably be the maximum we spend this summer.
Still got long way to reach DMC's replies to this thread though.
Assuming Rooney will be here next season and a key player, i think this could work out:
Martial Zlatan Moura
Wayne Radja
Xhaka
Shaw Smalling Marquinhos Vale
DDG
Wayne Radja
Xhaka
Shaw Smalling Marquinhos Vale
DDG
Zlatan on a free will give us funds to spend more on a few other positions and he is a guarantee for goals.
Moura is behind Di Maria in the pecking order at PSG, and they are desperately looking for a quality left winger. If he has any ambitions of getting better he should move on. If we're lucky a straight swap with Memphis would be great. Sane could be another option or even Mane.
Marquinhos has talked about not getting enough playing time, and it doesn't look likely that it will change with Luiz and Silva being the main partnership in defence.
Nainggolan has been linked with Chelsea as it seems Conte really want him. With Mourinho we could swoop in and get him. Would give our midfield some legs and bite, he is also a good passer of the ball. Another option would be Kante or Allan.
Xhaka looks ready to move this window with Arsenal being heavily linked to him. Would be the natural heir to Carrick. Calm and composed deep lying playmaker but also great defensively. Should be all in for him. Difficult to find alternatives here, but maybe Jorginho could do the job also.
I think that's around 150m which will probably be the maximum we spend this summer.
Is Joao Mario flavour of the month?
As long as he hasn't signed a contract with any of those clubs I don't know why we wouldn't have a chance at getting him. I mean city and Arsenal barely did better than us this season and I doubt Barca would be interested in Mahrez as they have already got so many attacking options in the team who surely they perceive as superior to Mahrez. I mean he is still is only a one season wonder, he is 26 and this season is the first time the big clubs would have taken notice of his existence. We should not blow things out of proportion like he is the new Gareth Bale or Luis Suarez that those clubs will want at any cost. In fact I think the cost of Mahrez will actually be too big for clubs like Barca/Bayern/Real to really be interested in him. I think Leicester will want to hit jackpot if they let Mahrez go and I think only United will be interested enough to cough up that kind of money for what most see as a one season wonder.
If we really want him, I think he is there to get but obviously we shouldn't feck about and wait months to make an offer. I think United should make an opening bid for him that is so high it would scare off most of the other competitors, like €55 million or something. That way Leicester now we mean business and if clubs like Bayern or something come in with a sneaky offer that is much lower, Leicester can tell them to kindly sod off because they have already received a much higher offer. But the longer we wait, the higher the chance Mahrez could suddenly make a transfer to one of these top clubs for like 40 million or something.
Leicester will remain Leicester
Last year they were battling for relegation and at the start of this year the focus was to try and stay up. The reason they won the league is threefold:
- Ranieri did an amazing job at gelling together his players as a real team
- Some players have had an amazing season (best of their career) especially Vardy, Mahrez and Kante
- The competition in the league was extraordinarily weak because we were completley off our game, city was off their game, chelsea was even worse, Liverpool is still in transition which meant basically if you could be more consistent than Arsenal and Tottenham that the title was just there to pick up. I mean they won it with 81 points that is like insanly low, chelsea won it the year before that with 87 points and the years before that it required 89 points (14, 13, 12), the second place has only 71 points in most seasons that is like the threshold to even make top 4
The bucketload of money is to be put in perspective. They will get the CL money (which is like 15 million for the group games) and they get a slightly bigger cut off the tv money for finishing first (they have like £20m more than last year). Biggest cashpool for clubs is still sponsorships and unless Leicester can use this season to renegotiate those contracts, the extra cash of this season is limited to like £30-£40m or something unless ofcourse they would sell some off their high in demand players.
Leicester won't be able to bump up the contracts off their players to the standard at which Arsenal or Tottenham is, let alone the standard at which we and city are at. Mahrez won't be offered a £200k a week deal because Leicester can't afford such a big difference with the other contracts and they can't afford to upgrade all the contracts to same standard. Especially because this years extra cash is not guaranteed to return in the coming years. In short the financial distance between the big clubs and Leicester will remain big and so will the difference in spedning power and the possiblity to pay bigger wages.
Chance is big the agents of Mahrez or Kante will tell them the same story and will tell them that if they get a chance to join a team like United or Arsenal that they should do so because it is not guaranteed that they will have another chance in latter seasons especially because we are talking about players who are already 26, not 18 with the rest of their career still in front of them. Such a move could see them double or even triple their wages which they could never expect from staying at Leicester. Despite what happend this season, joining such a big club is also more of a guarantee to win trophies and play european football than when staying at Leicester. This is because the difference in spending power remains huge, there are big managerial changes and huge investments coming at alot of big clubs and it is unlikley Leicester will be able to repeat what they achieved this season, even in the best circumstances it is highly unlikley.
So staying at Leicester certainly isn't a better package than making a move to a top club because this season doesn't change the fact that top clubs are top clubs and Leicester remains Leicester
Martial Zlatan Sané
That bucket of money is coming to Leicester not Mahrez and if they try to match whatever offer we make to him it will destroy their wage structure and other players would knock on the chairman's door demanding parity. The temptation to stay and enjoy the Champions League will be great but its not unrealistic to expect him to cash in on this season since he could very well reason that this is as good as it gets for Leicester and next year they will be other young hot shots catching the eyes of the big boys.
Ibrahimovic, Embolo, Tolisso, Umtiti, Isco, (Tete)
De Gea
Valencia/Darmian - Smalling/Fosu-Mensah/Jones - Umtiti/Blind - Shaw/Borthwick-Jackson
Tolisso/Herrera - Schweinsteiger/Schneiderlin
Isco/Rooney/Mata
Embolo/Lingard - Ibrahimovic/Rashford - Martial/Memphis
That's what I would currently prefer. On the assumption that Xhaka signs for Arsenal and Madrid want to move on Isco. Isco could obviously be more interested in signing for City, Chelsea, Juventus and PSG. Rooney is the obvious problem.Valencia/Darmian - Smalling/Fosu-Mensah/Jones - Umtiti/Blind - Shaw/Borthwick-Jackson
Tolisso/Herrera - Schweinsteiger/Schneiderlin
Isco/Rooney/Mata
Embolo/Lingard - Ibrahimovic/Rashford - Martial/Memphis
Assuming Mourinho is our next manager, I think he will play 4231 and he will target new players in 4 positions:
De Gea
Valencia - Smalling - New CB - Shaw
New CM - Schneiderlin
New RW - Rooney - Martial
New ST
Some of those players need to improve next season. Also, if he signs a player like James/Griezmann, I can see Rooney playing as striker.Valencia - Smalling - New CB - Shaw
New CM - Schneiderlin
New RW - Rooney - Martial
New ST
Your not far off, I think Schneiderlins partner in midfield will be Rooney.
Griezmann isn't happening I'm afraid
but James will .Ibra will most probably be the ST.
The CB will be anyone's guess, I am hoping its Mustafi/Koulibaly realistically or unrealistically Marquinhos/Varane
The RW spot I am hoping will be Mahrez, we have missed the entertainment and the 'did you see that' & 'what was that' moments since Ronaldo Imo (Nani rarely produced it).
So in a nutshell: Ibra, James, Mahrez, Mustafi In.
My new muppet list:
Aymeric Laporte
Andre Gomes
Riyad Mahrez
Gonzalo Higuain
Aymeric Laporte
Andre Gomes
Riyad Mahrez
Gonzalo Higuain
Martial Higuain Mahrez
Andre Ander
Carrick
Shaw Laporte Smalling Vale
DDG
Carrick rotating with Bastian and Blind.
Andre Ander
Carrick
Shaw Laporte Smalling Vale
DDG
Carrick rotating with Bastian and Blind.
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Being realistic, I think the players we could see next season are: Stones, Joao Mario, Mane and Ibrahimovic.
I would like to see players like Varane and Griezmann, but I'm not sure if they are realistic or not. I would be okay if we go for players such as James, Mahrez, Laporte and others.
It seems that City is getting stronger. So I hope we sign top players in order to compete for the league. Also, it is important that Darmian, Rojo, Schneiderlin, Herrera, Memphis improve their game.
I would like to see players like Varane and Griezmann, but I'm not sure if they are realistic or not. I would be okay if we go for players such as James, Mahrez, Laporte and others.
It seems that City is getting stronger. So I hope we sign top players in order to compete for the league. Also, it is important that Darmian, Rojo, Schneiderlin, Herrera, Memphis improve their game.
Looks like the striker position will be filled by Ibra so that is one sorted out, hopefully at least 3 more in.
CB - Varane/Stones/Mustafi/Marquinhos
CM - Joao Mario/Andre Gomes/Krychowiak
RW - Sane/Mahrez/Mkhitaryan
CB - Varane/Stones/Mustafi/Marquinhos
CM - Joao Mario/Andre Gomes/Krychowiak
RW - Sane/Mahrez/Mkhitaryan
Agree with the options you suggest. But I think the CMs are a bit different. Krychowiak is more defensive while Andre Gomes is the opposite. But I think we could end up with a Portuguese player in our midfield, so your options are realistic.
Higuain
Martial Pogba Ander Mahrez
Carrick
Shaw Manolas Smalling Vale
DDG
That is a team to be feared!
I really hope we will focus on getting world class players, instead of settling for players like Darmian, Rojo etc.
Martial Pogba Ander Mahrez
Carrick
Shaw Manolas Smalling Vale
DDG
That is a team to be feared!
I really hope we will focus on getting world class players, instead of settling for players like Darmian, Rojo etc.
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I think that's the key, world class players (or potentially world class).Higuain
Martial Pogba Ander Mahrez
Carrick
Shaw Manolas Smalling Vale
DDG
That is a team to be feared!
I really hope we will focus on getting world class players, instead of settling for players like Darmian, Rojo etc.
About your team, I'm not sure with Carrick being a starter. But overall, really good team. My only concern is that I can see Rooney starting most of the games.
My personal Muppet team would be:
Martial - Zlatan - Griezmann
- - - - - - - - Pogba
- - Schneiderlin - Schweinsteiger
Shaw Varane Smalling Darmian
- - - - - - - - DDG[C]
I don't really see Griezmann or Pogba happening though, Rooney would probably operate in the Pogba role, I can dream though.
The shortlist for me would be:
Zlatan (Done Deal)
Stones or Varane
Griezmann or Aubemeyang or Insigne
Pogba or Dembéle (Box to Box) OR Kanté or Krychowiak (CDM)
Martial - Zlatan - Griezmann
- - - - - - - - Pogba
- - Schneiderlin - Schweinsteiger
Shaw Varane Smalling Darmian
- - - - - - - - DDG[C]
I don't really see Griezmann or Pogba happening though, Rooney would probably operate in the Pogba role, I can dream though.
The shortlist for me would be:
Zlatan (Done Deal)
Stones or Varane
Griezmann or Aubemeyang or Insigne
Pogba or Dembéle (Box to Box) OR Kanté or Krychowiak (CDM)
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If we chose to believe the reports then it looks like Mou first goes for strong and tall players. For me that's a very good sign that he has immidiately recognized one of our main weaknesses and tries to fix it by appointing two physical beasts. Having at least three, probably four 185/80 cm/kg+ starters is a must if we are going to survive in our away games against the more physical teams in the league. With Ibra and Bailly probably coming then this problem is almost sorted out.
Looks right so far.
Ibra at ST, Bailly at CB, Gomes/Pjanic at CM and Aulas at RW are the leaders in the rumour mill right now and they fit this sort of setup, with the possible exception of Bailly maybe not being an obvious fit as partner for Smalling, though if Mourinho wants him I guess he thinks they'll fit fine (or he doesn't rate Smalling but that seems unlikely). Gomes/Pjanic as the playmaker next to Schneiderlin and Aulas looks a quick, left-footed dribbler to cut in on the right.
I don't expect Mourinho to be happy with a tiny child as his RW signing so maybe get ready for a more experienced signing there like Willian or perhaps Memphis, Herrera (a la Ramires, which would let us play lopsided with Martial free to do less defending), Valencia (has pace and strength and workrate but no offensive threat, so if bad Mourinho wins out...) or Rashford getting first crack at RW.
Need two CB's. Bailly seems close and from what I've heard he will be a good signing but I have doubts whether he will fit in straight away and we should aim to bring in another CB as well. I don't rate Stones as highly as other but he's shown he can defend when he puts his mind to it and has all the attributes to make it to the top.
Jones and Rojo should be sold, both are not good enough to start for United, and too injury prone to be relied upon for consistent back-up. Keep Blind, TFM, CBJ etc for them covering roles which would also give the younger talents more exposure to first-team football.
A CM is a must. We need a box-to-box midfielder who can grab the game by the scruff of the neck and is a good all-rounder. We have a good defensive option in Schneiderlin in addition to Carrick, Blind, Schweinsteiger and Herrera.
I expect Mata will go and for us to bring in a winger.
Jones and Rojo should be sold, both are not good enough to start for United, and too injury prone to be relied upon for consistent back-up. Keep Blind, TFM, CBJ etc for them covering roles which would also give the younger talents more exposure to first-team football.
A CM is a must. We need a box-to-box midfielder who can grab the game by the scruff of the neck and is a good all-rounder. We have a good defensive option in Schneiderlin in addition to Carrick, Blind, Schweinsteiger and Herrera.
I expect Mata will go and for us to bring in a winger.
This team would make us title contenders.
IN (ordered by priority):
1. Griezmann or Mahrez
2. Ibrahimovic
3. Varane or Bailly
4. Eric Dier
OUT:
1. Mata
2. Rojo
3. Blind
4. Fellaini
GK: De Gea, Romero
RB: Valencia, Darmian
LB: Shaw, CBJ
CB: Smalling, Bailly/Varane, TFM, Jones
DM: Dier, Carrick, TFM
CM: Rooney, Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger
AM: Herrera, Januzaj
RW: Griezmann/Mahrez, Memphis
LW: Martial, Memphis
ST: Ibrahimovic, Rashford
IN (ordered by priority):
1. Griezmann or Mahrez
2. Ibrahimovic
3. Varane or Bailly
4. Eric Dier
OUT:
1. Mata
2. Rojo
3. Blind
4. Fellaini
GK: De Gea, Romero
RB: Valencia, Darmian
LB: Shaw, CBJ
CB: Smalling, Bailly/Varane, TFM, Jones
DM: Dier, Carrick, TFM
CM: Rooney, Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger
AM: Herrera, Januzaj
RW: Griezmann/Mahrez, Memphis
LW: Martial, Memphis
ST: Ibrahimovic, Rashford
If we complete Ibra and Bailly next week before the Euros we are off to a good start.
DDG
Darmian Smalling Bailly Shaw
Morgan Pjanic
? Rooney Martial
Zlatan
Darmian Smalling Bailly Shaw
Morgan Pjanic
? Rooney Martial
Zlatan
Think we need 2 CBs, so Bailly and Manolas would be my choices.
IN: Bailly,Manolas,Pjanić,Mkhitaryan, Ibra.
OUT: Rojo, Fellaini, Mata.
IN: Bailly,Manolas,Pjanić,Mkhitaryan, Ibra.
OUT: Rojo, Fellaini, Mata.
You could pretty much take the 10 outfield players in the France national team, draw 3-4 of their names from a hat, and those would be what we need.
What if the names were Martial, Evra, Cabaye and Giroud?
A Martial on each wing? Sign him up!
Rojo -> Evra
Fellaini -> Cabaye
Young -> Giroud
Vive le Manchesterre!
Would you be satisfied if our summer finishes like this:
ST: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
RW: Hirving Lozano
CM: Andre Gomes
CB: Eric Bailly
ST: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
RW: Hirving Lozano
CM: Andre Gomes
CB: Eric Bailly
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