What is our best front 3?

Nou_Camp99

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Love these threads, anyone who puts Martial in I can instantly ignore
The Rashford haters are ridiculous. Rashford playing injured all season still scored 3 times what Tony did.

Rashford is easily our best LF.
 

hobbers

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Greenwood, Cavani, Sancho.

Obviously right now this is our best front 3, at least until Rashford has his shoulder and ankle sorted and got back up to speed. If they dont get sorted it's going to wreck his career.
 

SER19

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Anybody putting rashford on the right can't be taken seriously.

At the moment rashford isn't one of our strongest though i think he will return to form in which case

Sancho Cavani Rashford

For now Greenwood is a starter for me
 

CM10

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Greenwood, Cavani and Sancho right now. Once Rashford has completed his surgery and hopefully back to his best he could possibly muscle back in ahead of Greenwood.

The main takeaway should that we're blessed with our attacking options. The 4 aforementioned players plus Martial and Amad should mean there isn't the lack of competition we've suffered from previously. This of course depends on the management making the correct decisions but that kind of quality in the squad is a damn sight better than Dan James and Ighalo a year or so ago.
 

Dve

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To start the season:

Sancho - Cavani - Greenwood​

To finish the season:

Rashford - Cavani - Sancho​
For the start of the season, we should not rule out : Lingard - Cavani - Sancho
 

lex talionis

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I wont believe Sancho is a good RW for us until he plays there and proves it.

Rashford- Cavani - Greenwood
The point in acquiring Sancho is that he's already proven he's a superior right forward, one of the best in the world in fact.

In response to the OP:

Rashford Cavani Sancho for now, but we all have high hopes that Greenwood will develop into a top CF. THAT is what is yet to be proven.
 

paulscholes18

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When fully fit
Rashford Cavani Sancho

With Rashford out recovering from his operation (hopefully)
Sancho Cavani Greenwood
 

Fahad Jawaid

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I think after Sancho we finally have complete attack. Now we can play anyway we want and mold our formation as per our liking.

Creativity in front 3:
Pogba Cavani Sancho
Bruno
Fred & Mctominay

Counter attacking:
Rashford Martial Greenwood
Bruno
Fred & Mctominay

Full attack:
Rashford Cavani Sancho
Bruno
Fred/Mctominay Pogba

This is without even considering the likes of VDB and Saul/Camavinga which we appear to be interested in, regardless of whatever formation and players we choose, its safe to say we will have a formidable attack, and fingers crossed, if we nab our rumored targets (Varane & Camavinga), it would be a travesty, if we don't put up a title fight or win any cups. again.
 

Trequarista10

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Rashford - Cavani - Sancho

Obviously. Greenwood backup for Cavani and Sancho with a view to becoming starting 9 further down the line.

Martial and Lingard providing reasonable and depth competition assuming they stay. Mata, James, Diallo, making up the numbers.
 

Eli Zee

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Honestly, Rashford and Martial have looked off it for some time now. I'll give Rashford a pass because it's likely from his injury.

I think our best front 3 would be:
Sancho - Cavani - Greenwood

I hope I'm wrong but Rashford may very well just be a pace merchant
 
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The safe 3 we all expect

Martial/Rashford Cavani Sancho


The wild card: I hope Ole tries, sometimes you’re best 3 ends up not being what you expect.

Sancho Greenwood Amad
 

Jezpeza

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If Sancho is to finally be our right wing solution i do not want to see him down the left at all. I can see him starting the season down the left but i really would rather he was bedded in down the right and we put martial greenwood james amad whoever down the left til rashford is fit
 

bosnian_red

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Whats age got to do with it?
It's weird saying "that's our future" and not including the guy who is the poster boy for the club at the age of 23 and has back to back 20 goal seasons from the wing. Someone who by the end of next season will have 300+ appearances and 100+ goals for the club. If anyone is being serious, whatever our future 11 is going to be, Rashford will almost certainly be a part of it, unless he literally suffers a career ending injury or one that forces him to decline drastically at a really young age.
 

hungrywing

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Sancho - Cavani - Greenwood/Amad/Pellestri

If Rashford is available, Rashford - Cavani/Greenwood - Sancho

The safe 3 we all expect

Martial/Rashford Cavani Sancho


The wild card: I hope Ole tries, sometimes you’re best 3 ends up not being what you expect.

Sancho Greenwood Amad
We could definitely see the bolded one for about three minutes every other game whenever Ole sends on Amad in the 89th minute.
 

Mr Smith

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If Sancho is to finally be our right wing solution i do not want to see him down the left at all. I can see him starting the season down the left but i really would rather he was bedded in down the right and we put martial greenwood james amad whoever down the left til rashford is fit
I get this argument, but honestly Sancho has more than proven he's equally effective on both flanks; Durtmind played him on either flank based on need, so I see no reason why we shouldn't. With Rashford out he's comfortably our best LW, and insisting on playing him on the right moves Greenwood into a position he's never played. Doesn't make much sense to me.
 

Canagel

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Rashford will most certainly play because he is a managers favourite but on paper there are better players in every position and he shouldn't be a automatic starter anymore. Martial and Sancho are better on the left, he isn't a striker and he is terrible on the right .
 
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CG1010

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An in-form Rashford would make Rashford--Cavani--Sancho playing in front of Bruno one of the best attacking units in the world. (assuming Sancho plays atleast as well as Rashford).
 

Beans

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With Rashford on the left we look more like this in possession:

-------------Rash---Cavani
-------------------Bruno---------------Sancho
Shaw-----Pogba-----McT
------------Maguire--Bailly-------------AWB

I think that's works very well for getting him goals, he's the key to our counter attacking tactics. But if we're gonna play 433 I think he'll end up wide more often and score less.
 

dal

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Rashford
Cavani
Greenwood
Sancho.

All the others are not worth mentioning, I’d rather play Amad then Martial. Pogba isn’t really a front three player.

We need to ship some out and get one more quality addition into the front 3.
 

CG1010

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But more broadly, there are question marks about every one of the attacking players:

Martial - can he rediscover his mojo?
Rashford - can he overcome his injuries?
Greenwood - can he become reliably consistent and physically stronger?
Cavani - can he stay injury free and fit?
Sancho - can he recreate his form in Germany in England in a different tactical set up?

Lingard, James, Amad, Pellistri are not good enough (yet) to be in our first XI.

I see Pogba playing on left wing only if Sancho isn't playing in the first XI. Else they are both rather more creative players on the wing with less focus on penetration/running in behind. And therefore I don't see Pogba playing in the wings much this season.

Looking at this, there is uncertainty in the run upto next season but given we have so many talented players, we are bound to be able to put out an in-form trio every game barring some injury crisis. That's the beauty of having depth and competition in this area now.
 

KikiDaKats

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Is Sancho just another vanity signing? On one hand we've been made to believe his coming in to solve the RW issue yet he will supposedly be our best LW. Why waste that much on him then.
For me
Rashford-Cavani-Sancho

The darling of the cafe (Greenwood) does not start RW. He is not ready to be considered a starter this season if all goes as expected. Watching him against Derby reconfirmed the Martial vibe I was getting from him last season. As a club transition should be over now and time to have players onside that can only make us look ready to challenge for the league. Not spending our whole season arguing about their potential or advocating patience for them.
Without Rashford, I'd go Martial/Lingard LW and keep Sancho permanently RW. Let Greenwood be an understudy CF, rushing him into a starter will not help his game nor benefit us as a club longterm.
 

devilish

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Considering that Rashford is out then I'd go with Sancho on the left, Bruno as AMC, Greenwood as RW and Cavani upfront. Then let's wait and see. Martial has talent and Rashford will definitely fight for his place
 

lenny_1248

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"Big game" Marcus Rashford - "NHS" Martial - "End of season" Mason Greenwood

If being serious, then who knows? The season will show.
But probably Sancho - Cavani - Greenwood/Martial considering Marcus will have a surgery.
 

Lentwood

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Cavani is clearly our best CF, I don't think there's any debate about that.

For me personally, Greenwood has to play. I think he's already one of our best players and his ability to use both feet is a very potent attacking weapon. I actually don't really see him as a CF right now, I think having him play with his back back goal would take away some of his most dangerous qualities, and therefore I would keep starting him as a wide forward.

That leaves the obvious choice between Rashford and Sancho. Anybody that reads my posts will know I'm not a big Rashford fan. Again, just to state very clearly, I don't think he's a "bad" player, I just think he's somewhere between average and good as a PL wide forward. For me, his goals and assist contributions are OK, taken purely at face value, however, he has serious issues against low-block sides as he's largely reliant on pace, direct running and unpredictability. None of those qualities suit playing defensive teams, instead you need good ball retention, good decision making, sound technique and good close control in tight areas. None of which are really his strengths. For those reasons, I would start the season with Sancho (which allows Rashford to have his surgery anyway). Once Rashford is back fit, hopefully the competition for places and having more confidence in his body will lead to improved performances. Either way, he's a good impact sub and is also useful against teams who play a high-line, so just because I'm suggesting he doesn't start I our best front three doesn't mean to say he still can't play like 40+ games, even allowing for missing some at the beginning. That's the nature of football as a squad game nowadays.

The two I've not mentioned are Martial and James. For me, it's time to cash in on James. I just don't see where he fits into this team, particularly with Amad waiting in the wings. Again, James isn't a bad player and I've defended him at times, but his overall technical ability is just too low for a club who faces many opponents who will sit deep. I would be looking to see if we can get £35m from someone like Leeds or Brighton, which is a fair price for someone his age.

Martial...well....all I can say is what a massive shame. Genuinely an immensely talented footballer with the ball at his feet, the penny just won't seem to drop. His best game last season was City away. He made Stones in particular look Championship-level. That just frustrates me even more because it shows when he has the bit between his teeth, he's he's great player. I just can't work him out. My only theory is that everything has always come too easy for him. I imagine he has been by far the best player in every team he has ever played for at youth level, £7m transfer at 16, £58m transfer at 18, goal on debut vs Liverpool at the Stretford End, Thierry Henry comparisons etc...now when he needs to knuckle down it feels like he sulks rather than sticks his chest out and tries to prove people wrong.

I would keep Martial just for now, unless someone makes us a good offer. A fit and hungry Martial is actually a better player than Rashford in my opinion. IF the penny drops, and its a big IF, he could still be a good player for us
 

UpWithRivers

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It's weird saying "that's our future" and not including the guy who is the poster boy for the club at the age of 23 and has back to back 20 goal seasons from the wing. Someone who by the end of next season will have 300+ appearances and 100+ goals for the club. If anyone is being serious, whatever our future 11 is going to be, Rashford will almost certainly be a part of it, unless he literally suffers a career ending injury or one that forces him to decline drastically at a really young age.
Fair enough but thats still nothing to do with age and I put Rashford in our best front 3 now. And I never said "thats our future", I said "I think that might be the future". Just a thought/opinion on a football opinion site.
 

Abraxas

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I like the idea of Cavani, Greenwood, Sancho due to Rashford's form, likely unavailability at the start of the season, and a feeling Sancho could also be great on the left.
 

harms

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I won't be original, so: Rashford - Cavani - Sancho with Sancho - Cavani - Greenwood for the beginning of the season.
 

cpresc

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The talent we have upfront is insane.

Keeping in mind these players below don't include Pogba, Bruno, Lingard or Mata..


Rashford — Cavani — Sancho

Martial — Greenwood — Amad

James — Elanga — Pellestri



Other than "WOW" I think these 3 lineups highlight that we don't really have any obvious backup for Cavani - if he gets a big injury early season, we'll be missing something. Perhaps Ings would be a good shout - possible swap with James I wonder? Even throw in Pellestri loan.
 

anant

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I think it has to depend completely on the opposition.

For teams that play more expansive football,

Rashford- Greenwood/Martial-Sancho

For games where the opposition is expected to play deeper, I'd play Cavani up top.

One can quite easily make a case for Sancho-Martial/Cavani-Greenwood or Rashford-Martial/Cavani-Greenwood as well depending on creativity required and opposition full backs
 

Crashoutcassius

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Personally I think Sancho will work better with martial than cavani, especially if Bruno is asked to play deeper in a 1-2 style midfield. More will be asked of the centre forward in the hole
 

VP89

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Rashford Cavani Sancho when fully fit as a trio is the best.

But I also think Greenwood will be ready to take the spot when Cavani needs a rest or has niggles. Martial I still see very much as a form player so no idea what wel see from him next season.
 

RyRy11

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No idea how Martial is getting on so many lists, he's been phased out of this team so clearly
 

SmashedHombre

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It'll be Rashford - Greenwood - Sancho by the end of the season :drool: