McTominay holding and Neves to the right?
What's your midfield trio next season?
- Thread starter jamesjimmybyrondean
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I don't mind either way. I like Neves passing a bit more than McTs, so moved him out of the holding role.
I think the reverse would suit both much better. Surely the holding role is a great position for a player to showcase their passing, no?
Can Bruno be an effective number 8 in a two man midfield?
If Pogba leaves and Ole brings in Grealish, does that mean a 4-3-3 with Grealish, Bruno and a DM?
Or a 4-2-3-1 with Bruno playing deeper and Grealish as no 10?
If Pogba leaves and Ole brings in Grealish, does that mean a 4-3-3 with Grealish, Bruno and a DM?
Or a 4-2-3-1 with Bruno playing deeper and Grealish as no 10?
By all accounts it’s a waste. I would hope Grealish would play as the deeper of the two, 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1.
Doubt Ole will move from his favoured 4231.
Bruno deeper is interesting and something Ole might be thinking about. He did try him there against Wolves in the second half, which worked quite well. He's also described Bruno as a similar player to Scholes, who funnily enough started his career as a attacking midfielder/second striker.
"He is a goalscoring and assisting midfielder, a little bit like Paul Scholes. He can strike a ball fantastically.
"He has got such a wonderful technique, but he also is going to get assists from set plays and from his range of passes. He is a similar type to Scholesy: fiery, passionate, hates losing and same number [18] on the back of the shirt."
Maybe Ole has plans to play Bruno deeper in the future which, as you said, would make room for an attacking midfielder come the summer.
That said, I believe Pogba will be here next season, and that Ole really wants a midfield consisting of Bruno and Pogba. On paper, you won't find a lot of teams with the same amount of ability as these two in midfield.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/synd...es-is-a-little-bit-like-paul-scholes.amp.html
I dont think he will ever play for united again Unfortunately. It would have been nice to see him reach his potential here and we certainly got to see glimpses of it however his future is destined to be somewhere else and to be honest I dont think he will ever reach the heights he supposedly has the potential to get to. We would be better investing in players with hunger like Bruno. Sorry a bit long winded . Plenty of talent out there and I think Ole will get the balance right .
......Bruno......
Keane Scholes
Keane Scholes
Just wanted to say fantastic username.
Aka 'El Chosen Uno'
Because when Pogba played deeper in midefield his defensive flaws where plain to see, do you think there will be no recognition of that from the coaching staff and no consequence?
That assumption baffles me, and before his ankle fell off Pogba was playing in the Bruno role, with Fred and Mctominay behind him
Go have a rethink
I wouldn't change much for what it is now. Fred, McT, Fernandes & Matic between them provide a nice combination of everything we need IMO. I'd like to bring in Kalvin Phillips to become our eventual DM if it were possible, and Pogba staying or going would create a decision, but that aside I'd leave it alone and spend the money elsewhere
Thiago, Bruno, Pogba
While that is a juicy midfield, we are not currently playing in sort of way that would suit these players.
Indeed.......................Partey..................
..........Bruno...............Pogba
would be ideal I think with
.............Fred.............Mctominay
.....................Periera...................
As back ups and
....................Garner....................
..........Gomes...........Bellingham
coming through ... possibly even Mejrib challenging at some point next season for the odd game
I think partey has a buy out of around £50m and Bellingham is supposedly something like £20-£30m (i guess depending on addons etc) - but possibly £75m approx
If pogba does want to go then id go all out for Saul as his replacement though most probably that would mean athletico would be reluctant to sell us partey and saul so then perhaps
....................Zakaria.......................
..........Saul..................Bruno...........
Zakaria would cost about £50m I guess and hopefully saul and pogba would be similar prices so again perhaps £75m net spend (including bellingham) but presumably spread out over a few seasons
..........Bruno...............Pogba
would be ideal I think with
.............Fred.............Mctominay
.....................Periera...................
As back ups and
....................Garner....................
..........Gomes...........Bellingham
coming through ... possibly even Mejrib challenging at some point next season for the odd game
I think partey has a buy out of around £50m and Bellingham is supposedly something like £20-£30m (i guess depending on addons etc) - but possibly £75m approx
If pogba does want to go then id go all out for Saul as his replacement though most probably that would mean athletico would be reluctant to sell us partey and saul so then perhaps
....................Zakaria.......................
..........Saul..................Bruno...........
Zakaria would cost about £50m I guess and hopefully saul and pogba would be similar prices so again perhaps £75m net spend (including bellingham) but presumably spread out over a few seasons
Spending 80m on Saul when we have Fred
Rashford———Martial———Sancho
—————Pogba——Bruno—————
—————Matic/McTominay————
Shaw—Harry——Lindeloff——AWB
——————Henderson——————
100% its about as comparable as spending money on Sancho when we have J Lingz
You are contradicting yourself - was Pogba playing deeper and demonstrating his defensive flaws for the coaching staff to recognise or was he playing in the Bruno role with Fred and McTominay behind him?
You are completely forgetting or making things up - Fred couldn’t get on the bench for us this season until Pogba was injured. That is not an opinion or assumption of mine, it is what happened.
Pogba played in that position at the start of the season and then again when he attempted to return from injury. Again this is what happened.
Given the global situation and the impact it will have upon football finances in Europe, I think Pogba is increasingly likely to remain. Apart from PSG, I can’t identify a team that will be able to afford him.
With that in mind, we press ahead with Pogba, Bruno and one of Fred or Matic. Another signing, similar to Matic, wouldn’t go a miss in there. You can shuffle the pack about to suit depending on the opposition. McTominay can provide solid cover/competition.
With that in mind, we press ahead with Pogba, Bruno and one of Fred or Matic. Another signing, similar to Matic, wouldn’t go a miss in there. You can shuffle the pack about to suit depending on the opposition. McTominay can provide solid cover/competition.
Fair enough. I think three out of Bruno, McTominay, Matic and Fred have proven to be pretty solid, especially in the more challenging games, but I still think we could do with someone more creative in that deeper role against teams that play with a low block, hence why I put Pogba in. I think, as you said, we've currently got a good mixture of midfielders. Think we could do with an attacking midfielder to be back up to Bruno.
The example doesn't really make sense. Lingard is not near our starting 11 and isn't a right wing. Signing Sancho would fill an obvious hole in our squad.
Fred on the other hand is doing a good job, has been one of our better players this season and covers the same position as Saul. Saul might be a better player but there's no guarantee he'll settle in premier league and it's a reasonable argument to make that spending a huge chunk of our budget on him wouldn't make loads of sense considering the improvements made my Fred (not to mention McTominay and Matic)
People seem to be conveniently 'forgetting' that he played in the deeper role because they don't want him to play there, but as you said, it happened.
Below shows all the games Pogba has played in this season and the position.
@Rocknrolla69er
vs Arsenal
vs Palace
vs Rochdale
vs S'oton
vs Chelsea
vs Wolves
https://www.whoscored.com/Players/97752/Show/Paul-Pogba
Are you forgetting that Pereira & Lingard were the ones played in Bruno's role from the start of season? The ones who lost their shirt or their spot are Pereira & Lingard not Pogba.
Pogba played all games in deeper role this season. Before he got his 2nd injury he also played next to Fred against Newcastle replacing McTominay. The time he played in Bruno's role was against Southampton & Watford for 10 minutes only. When Scott came off, Pogba went back to deeper role against Southampton. The same with Watford game, he went back to deeper role after McTominay was replaced by Mata.
It's not assumption, it's fact. The manager also admitted it that he can play in many type of midfield position. It's not like he wasn't used in deeper role often enough by his managers (Mourinho, Deschamp & Ole), been playing there lot of times in the past and even won a World Cup playing in there.
I think your confused, my posts states that Pogba played deeper in midfield as well as in brunos role, he failed defensivley in a deeper role, so in my opinion Mctominay and Fred are ahead of him there, which leads me onto my original statement Pogba has lost his place to Bruno.
Its not that difficult to decipher
Your just trying to manouver my posts into the direction youd like them to appear
Il make it very simple he was crap in the deeper role, he played more advanced but because of his injury hes now behind bruno, as well as fred and mctominay, comprende?
Ive definatley watched Pogba this season play a far more advanced role, the one Brunos currently playing, sites can list starting positions that doesnt mean they are stuck too and players arnt moved around or given instruction to play more advanced
My points stand Pogba is behind Bruno, Mctominay and Fred
Prove me wrong
No chance Pogba is here next season imo. He'll be at Madrid or Juve. Our midfield/attack will be :
McT Bruno
Sancho Grealish Rashford
Tony Mart
Would be delighted with that!
McT Bruno
Sancho Grealish Rashford
Tony Mart
Would be delighted with that!
He's played 20 premier League games this year (Fred 25)
And lingard has played 35 games in total to Fred's 39
You can't really say one is a core player in the first team and the other nowhere close to our starting xi unless you ignore those rather inconvenient facts
I understand what you’re saying, but it’s just plain incorrect. Pogba has played in Fernandes’ role for five-odd minute spells when we have been chasing a game and the second half has been drawing to a close, and only on one or two occasions.
You can’t arrive at the conclusion that Fred and McTominay are ahead of Pogba based on what we’ve actually seen. You are entitled to your opinion on these players in this position, but the established pecking order is not determined by your feelings on the subject.
I’ll try this another way, since you’re of the opinion that Pogba was operating in Bruno’s role before his injury - which position was Pogba deployed in in the last match he played? Since you are certain he has played in a more advanced role, care to give a particular example which springs to mind?
Misleading stat though and you know it. Fred has played 2027 premier league minutes this season and Lingard only 891 if you want to be factual.
The point being that right wing is obviously an area that really needs strengthening whereas central midfield may need some improving but we at least have a couple of good options.
I don't disagree with your overall point that we shouldn't let half a season of decent performances from Fred stop us improving our midfield, I just thought the comparison to Lingard was a crap one.
And I've definitely watched Wan-Bissaka playing right wing this season, but it doesn't mean he's played there. Fact is, as you said, players will move around - that's football! Of course Pogba will sometimes venture forward and end up in the box - that's typically what a centre midfielder has to do, but his default position has clearly been in the deeper role this season.
I would spend time getting all of his heat maps, but it seems regardless of what people say or show you, you seem pretty set in your ways.
Yeah. I completely understand someone not wanting to see Pogba in a deeper role but the assumption that he has been replaced by Fernandes is really bizarre, refusing to acknowledge the fact that literally every game Pogba has played has been with one of Lingard, Pereira or Mata in a central attacking midfield position - the players who’s role Bruno has actually replaced.
Exactly right.
I'm actually pretty torn between Zakaria and Neves if we were to purchase a defensive midfielder. Zakaria for his defensive abilities and Neves for his passing and long balls. But, I think Neves would suit this team more.
So with that being said.
AM: Bruno / CM: Fred / DM: Neves
So with that being said.
AM: Bruno / CM: Fred / DM: Neves
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Assuming Pogba leaves and we sign Sancho for the right wing...
One of the best things about Bruno Fernandes is the ability to improve others around him and have 2-3 ideas in mind in most situations, Bruno Guimarães shares those attribute too — on top of being committed, defensively compact and proficient on the ball. Hope we are at least looking at him as he has great leadership potential with the future in mind — Lyon might just be tempted to sell if we make a substantial offer, even though he transferred from Paranaense only in the winter window.
At #8, Fred and McTominay should be good for a year or two as we prepare Mejbri (who will turn 18 by the half-way point of next season), so we don't compulsorily need to make a new signing. The kid has everything in the locker to excel at the position and could be fast-tracked into the first team (like Gilmour for Chelsea this season or Guendouzi for Arsenal last season).
One of the best things about Bruno Fernandes is the ability to improve others around him and have 2-3 ideas in mind in most situations, Bruno Guimarães shares those attribute too — on top of being committed, defensively compact and proficient on the ball. Hope we are at least looking at him as he has great leadership potential with the future in mind — Lyon might just be tempted to sell if we make a substantial offer, even though he transferred from Paranaense only in the winter window.
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At #8, Fred and McTominay should be good for a year or two as we prepare Mejbri (who will turn 18 by the half-way point of next season), so we don't compulsorily need to make a new signing. The kid has everything in the locker to excel at the position and could be fast-tracked into the first team (like Gilmour for Chelsea this season or Guendouzi for Arsenal last season).
Another who totally misunderstands a post.
My post insinuated Ole changing Pogbas position during a game, not simply where Pogba has ran of his own accord
Do keep up its getting tedious. Maybe splash your face in a morning with cold water before you post.
His default position certainly has been deeper, but the form of Fred and Mctominay and how good their attitudes and form have been, will ensure they start in front of Pogba in the deeper roles.
So where do you then Pogba, in the advanced role, where he has spent time also no denying it, but the form of Bruno also keeps him out,
So bearing that in mind i stand by my prediciton when fit Pogba starts on the bench behind Fred, Mctominay and Bruno, having played in both roles.
I think a few need to get over some inefitable Pogba heartbreak, time to take your Pogba posters down boys
I actually think we could do with both Zakaria and Neves to play in a midfield 2 behind Bruno.
Considering Graelish's lack of professionalism Id say we should stay away from him. My shortlist at this point would be Havertz, Zaniolo and Van De Beek. Havertz and Zaniolo are young, they are extremely talented, they are quite tall (6ft2-6ft3), they are hardworking and they can play in multiple positions in midfield (AMC, MC and RW). Hopefully we could slot Smalling in a deal for Zaniolo. Van De Beek would be my third option.
A midfield with McT/Fred, Zaniolo and Bruno would provide ample creativity and workrate. If we can't get to Jadon I'd say we get both Havertz and Zaniolo and then play the latter as a RW/RM. That would provide the ideal balance between workrate and creativity. If we can get Upamecano, Zaniolo, Havertz and Ighalo next summer with Pogba, Jones, Rojo and Smalling going the other way then I'd say we would have had a decent transfer market window.
A midfield with McT/Fred, Zaniolo and Bruno would provide ample creativity and workrate. If we can't get to Jadon I'd say we get both Havertz and Zaniolo and then play the latter as a RW/RM. That would provide the ideal balance between workrate and creativity. If we can get Upamecano, Zaniolo, Havertz and Ighalo next summer with Pogba, Jones, Rojo and Smalling going the other way then I'd say we would have had a decent transfer market window.
Completely agree with this.
Also like to add the recent form of Matic has been good, so i'd argue for the DM specific role, Pogba is also behind Matic.
Matic is arguably our only natural DM, while Fred and McTom are capable there, they are both more natural CM's.
While i'd love to see Pogba leave, i just cant see it for various reasons.
We'll be stuck with him, but as long as he earns his place it wouldn't be the end of the world i guess. It would be a kick in the teeth for any of Fred, mcTom, Matic or Bruno to lose they're place immediately. That would really irk me because a place in the team has to be earned through merit and hard work. Pogba has no right to be a starter until he shows a significant improvement in attitude, application, fitness and form. He needs to be a bench option only in the 1st instance.
I'd like to see Ole go for a 4-1-2-3.
A Midfield of Fred/McTom/Bruno is good and pretty versatile.
Matic should only cover the DM role and Pogba can be used to rotate/cover Bruno.
The skillset of Fred/McTom also allow a switch to 4-2-3-1 when needed.
I'd very much welcome an additional DM and a more attacking midfield signing - Zakaria is all the talk but i've always like K.Phillips when i've seen him and Grealish is heavily linked.
As has been the case for Ole, a lot of what he can bring in depends on what he can get out - Lingard and Periera both seem surplus before we debate if Pogba stays or goes. To me, we need 2 in 3 out across the midfield.
In - Phillips & Grealish
Out - Lingard, Periera & Pobga.
If Pogba stays, it puts the Grealish deal in doubt. Doesnt look like much game time for Gomes either way, he's looking like a lost cause really
Bruno Fred
Scotty
Replace Pogba with a decent player that won't cost a feckton of money. Also, keep Matic just in case. Buy Sancho at all cost.
Scotty
Replace Pogba with a decent player that won't cost a feckton of money. Also, keep Matic just in case. Buy Sancho at all cost.
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