Who is irreplaceable in our XI?

[RashyForPM]

Inspired by this article:

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...chester-united-irreplaceable-players-19519104

Well, Gary thinks Bruno and Maguire are. I think it is a uninanimous opinion that the irresistible Bruno Fernandes is, but Maguire would spark more debate. I would tend to agree though, and would also add top class footballer by day and prime minister by night Marcus Rashford to the list of irreplaceables in our current XI.

What say the Caf?

 

[Eire Red United]

AWB at the minute as there isn’t much back up.

 

[el3mel]

Bruno and Rashford.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

No player is irreplaceable. But the most difficult players to replace are Bruno, Rashford and Maguire.

clearly large parts of the forum don’t like Maguire. But try and find a player who could actually replace him who is even half realistic. Very difficult.

 

[Jaxa]

Bruno, Maguire and Rashford are going nowhere anytime soon and in important matches are probably the first three names on the sheet

 

[lysglimt]

Bruno in a league of his own, AWB as we don't have a very good backup and Rashford. I also consider DDG at least one level above Henderson still.

 

[Alemar]

Inspired by this article:

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...chester-united-irreplaceable-players-19519104

Well, Gary thinks Bruno and Maguire are. I think it is a uninanimous opinion that the irresistible Bruno Fernandes is, but Maguire would spark more debate. I would tend to agree though, and would also add top class footballer by day and prime minister by night Marcus Rashford to the list of irreplaceables in our current XI.

What say the Caf?

At this point in time, the irreplaceables are (in this particular order):
- Bruno
- Rashford
- Bissaka

All the others are more or less replaceable, yet DDG and Maguire are visibly better than their competition (but not to an extent of being irreplaceable).

 

[united for life]

Bruno and Rashford.

these two. Yes

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Bruno
Rashford
Maguire

 

[Panther]

Bruno, Maguire/Lindelof, Rashford, Wan Bissaka.

But this is because of lack of depth in those areas as opposed to them being amazing (aside from Bruno)

 

[FrankDrebin]

Bruno
Rashford
Maguire

 

[Rightnr]

Bruno. That's it. And not so much for the football but because he leads in terms of lifting his individual performances and that of the whole team when he's on the pitch.

Certainly not bloody Maguire. Lindelof is the better CB and the only thing Maguire has over him is his supposed heading ability (even though we are leaking goals from corners like it's no one's business) and a court case in Greece. I'd also take a healthy Bailly/Tuanzebe over both Lindelof and Maguire if one of the two is fit.

I would have agreed on Wan Bissaka last season but going forward he's quite suspect and he's so poor on the ball that teams know pressing him means a backpass to our mouse of a captain. From what I saw from Tuanzebe, he can definitely replace AWB and we won't lose much overall (defensively worse, attacking-wise better).

As for Rashford, he can be electric and he can also be dire sometimes. He pops up with moments of brilliance and so people overlook his bad performances, even if Martial is more solid in terms of general play. Rashford is definitely replaceable by Martial/Cavani (depending on position).

DDG is a good shout because Henderson has not had the most stellar of starts, solid with a few mistakes. But he's also shown weakness, so I wonder if given Henderson an extended run in the team would mean they are basically equal.

 

[Inter Yer Nan]

Bruno far and away #1.
Then Maguire, yeah I agree with that (even though I don’t see him as world class). Rashford and AWB after that. I think the squad options aren’t far off the starters in the other positions.

 

[FrankDrebin]

No player is irreplaceable. But the most difficult players to replace are Bruno, Rashford and Maguire.

clearly large parts of the forum don’t like Maguire. But try and find a player who could actually replace him who is even half realistic. Very difficult.

And one that is consistently fit/available. As you say, very difficult.

 

[Lewnited]

Going by Neville's definition of irreplaceable (within the current squad), I think Bruno and Rashford are the only two irreplaceable players. I can't really see the logic behind touting Maguire as irreplaceable, I just think we'd have a 'different' set of strengths and weaknesses with another pairing i.e. Bailly and Lindelof.

I can see the argument for AWB, but that's more because he's the only player at the club thats actually played that position at a high level for more than the odd game.

 

[RashyForPM]

At this point in time, the irreplaceables are (in this particular order):
- Bruno
- Rashford
- Bissaka

All the others are more or less replaceable, yet DDG and Maguire are visibly better than their competition (but not to an extent of being irreplaceable).

Didn’t include DDG and AWB as while they are the best players at the club in their respective positions, there is not a massive drop-off in quality when Deano and Axel step in. Harsh on AWB of course as Axel only came in last night and did well for one game at RB and isn’t even an RB, but I saw enough last night to suggest that he can challenge AWB.

Also, Maguire gets into that category as if Tuanzebe or Bailly comes in for him, we will not only lose his currently superior defensive ability over those two, but also his extremely undervalued leadership.

 

[K Stand Knut]

People saying AWB can’t have watched the game yesterday.

Tuanzebe had as good a game as AWB has had all season yesterday.

ive already mentioned to my mates today that I see him as a viable first team RB now

 

[RashyForPM]

Bruno. That's it. And not so much for the football but because he leads in terms of lifting his individual performances and that of the whole team when he's on the pitch.

Certainly not bloody Maguire. Lindelof is the better CB and the only thing Maguire has over him is his supposed heading ability (even though we are leaking goals from corners like it's no one's business) and a court case in Greece. I'd also take a healthy Bailly/Tuanzebe over both Lindelof and Maguire if one of the two is fit.

I would have agreed on Wan Bissaka last season but going forward he's quite suspect and he's so poor on the ball that teams know pressing him means a backpass to our mouse of a captain. From what I saw from Tuanzebe, he can definitely replace AWB and we won't lose much overall (defensively worse, attacking-wise better).

As for Rashford, he can be electric and he can also be dire sometimes. He pops up with moments of brilliance and so people overlook his bad performances, even if Martial is more solid in terms of general play. Rashford is definitely replaceable by Martial/Cavani (depending on position).

DDG is a good shout because Henderson has not had the most stellar of starts, solid with a few mistakes. But he's also shown weakness, so I wonder if given Henderson an extended run in the team would mean they are basically equal.

That is some severe underrating of Maguire imo. From what I and many other fans have watched of him, he has been our best CB since his arrival. Put it this way, if we still had a Lindelof-Bailly or Lindelof-Smalling partnership since 2019, we would not have come 3rd last season and be in the same position this time round currently.

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

Noone should be. I think we have a squad to cover all positions.

I guess Wan Bissaka got least cover in his position though.

Bruno is our best player, but we have good cover for him in theory.

 

[Doracle]

Bruno and Maguire are completely irreplaceable given that we have no one remotely at the same level.

Rashford wouldn’t be quite as bad as Martial can move to the left and still be effective. The rest are relatively replaceable from within the squad.

 

[Rightnr]

That is some severe underrating of Maguire imo. From what I and many other fans have watched of him, he has been our best CB since his arrival. Put it this way, if we still had a Lindelof-Bailly or Lindelof-Smalling partnership since 2019, we would not have come 3rd last season and be in the same position this time round currently.

Yup, I 'underrate' Maguire. I didn't rate him much this season, even less this one.

Lindelof for me has been our better CB. He's better on the ball, he's (slightly) quicker and he's also younger (less than a year but still). I think he'd greatly benefit from a fit Bailly next to him, or someone in that mould.

Maguire really has not shown any of his much-vaunted ball-playing ability or his aerial dominance when it comes to corners at both sides of the pitch (not in terms of effectiveness). He also hides in games when the crunch time arrives, both in terms of the football but also the mentality. He's not worth £60m, let alone £80m. And that was before Covid.

 

[Eire Red United]

People saying AWB can’t have watched the game yesterday.

Tuanzebe had as good a game as AWB has had all season yesterday.

ive already mentioned to my mates today that I see him as a viable first team RB now

Didn’t get to see the game last night in fairness, but from what I have seen of Tuanzabe I’ve liked and really hope he gets more chances. Last night was only one game though.

 

[Kag]

Bruno and Maguire are the only two players I think need to be in the first team at all costs.

That isn’t to dismiss any of the others as not being enough. I just think that we could (and clearly do) alternate between our options with minimal disruption. A major injury to Bruno or Maguire, however, would cause serious issues.

Maguire comes in for a lot of (unfair) criticism but his ability to stay fit and remain a constant and reliable presence in defence is undervalued.

 

[dal]

None are irreplaceable , it just depends on the system you play. Bruno wouldn’t be irreplaceable at Liverpool because of the way they play.

If there is a player we would miss the most then you would probably say Bruno however we could get Grealish or Maddison could do a job there and we could evolve the team.

Essentially knowone is irreplaceable however our most important player and the one we would miss the most if injured is without doubt Bruno Fernandes.

 

[GueRed]

If you take either Bruno or Maguire out of our first team and replace them with someone else from the squad the level of player significantly drops.


So Bruno and Maguire for me. Possibly Rashford too.

 

[11101]

Bruno is the only one.

Right now Maguire, Rashford and Fred are all pretty key to how we play too. Take any of them out and we have to sacrifice our preferred style and drop a level.

 

[Oldyella]

Bruno, Maguire too just based on the quality in rest of the squad.

 

[buckooo1978]

Bruno, Fred and Rashford are our 3 most important

 

[RedPed]

Every player is replaceable. They just have a certain value in terms of the team, style of play and objectives. Players that I would not want replacing at United are Greenwood, Martial, Rashford, Fernandes, Fred, Wan-Bissaka and De Gea.

 

[U.N.C.L.E]

Bruno - and that’s it.

Why? Bruno, IMHO, is more than the sum of his parts. Not since Eric Cantona’s arrival have I seen a player transform a team and others around him. Ronaldo was brilliant, but a virtuoso. Bruno is talismanic in his importance and that factor I rate more highly and don’t see in any other player currently in our squad.

 

[Valencia's Left Foot]

Inspired by this article:

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...chester-united-irreplaceable-players-19519104

Well, Gary thinks Bruno and Maguire are. I think it is a uninanimous opinion that the irresistible Bruno Fernandes is, but Maguire would spark more debate. I would tend to agree though, and would also add top class footballer by day and prime minister by night Marcus Rashford to the list of irreplaceables in our current XI.

What say the Caf?

Bruno, Rashford and Maguire.

 

[AnotherLondonManc]

For me, there's only one irreplaceable player in our squad. Bruno. It's obvious how much worse we are without him in the team and he raises the performance levels of everyone around him. I don't think there's a player out there who could perform for us better than he has.

We have a lot of other talented players in our squad, but I don't see any of them as 'irreplaceable'. There are definitely players out there who could produce the same numbers as Rashford, Maguire, AWB and anyone else in our squad. Are they difficult to replace? Absolutely. Are they irreplaceable? Absolutely not.

 

[Lentwood]

I think Maguire is the only one you could take from the first team and we would genuinely really struggle

Even with Bruno, we could stick Van de Beek and Fernandes in the #10 position and we would be relatively OK (if not as effective)

 

[lsd]

Maguire irreplaceable

 

[always_hoping]

Fred and Bruno.

 

[Mickson]

No player is irreplaceable. But the most difficult players to replace are Bruno, Rashford and Maguire.

clearly large parts of the forum don’t like Maguire. But try and find a player who could actually replace him who is even half realistic. Very difficult.

Yeah, we were very good without Bruno last season. Good.

Noone should be. I think we have a squad to cover all positions.

I guess Wan Bissaka got least cover in his position though.

Bruno is our best player, but we have good cover for him in theory.

In theory yes, but all the actual evidence shows that we are pretty bad without him. Ole is basing his play around Bruno. When he isn't producing, Man United aren't. That's a very risky thing to do as a manager, and that's why managers don't do that generally. Also, curious about who in our squad would do the things that Bruno is doing. Pogba in theory, yes, but Ole has never, from what I can remember, played him as a no 10. VdB? He isn't that kind of player.

 

[el3mel]

I think Maguire is the only one you could take from the first team and we would genuinely really struggle

Even with Bruno, we could stick Van de Beek and Fernandes in the #10 position and we would be relatively OK (if not as effective)

VDB can't replace Bruno in the number 10 position, way to passive with the ball to be the playmaker, and Pogba is very inconsistent. Bruno is irreplaceable, so is Rashford. We simply can't attack that well without both on the pitch. They make us tick.

 

[Leftback99]

In order of players I'd be concerned about missing for a long period of time, Bruno, Maguire, Martial, Rashford. The rest I think can be covered without a significant drop in performance of the team.

 

[drunkmonkmeth]

Bruno
Rashford
Wanbisska (no quality back up option)
Mcguire and lindelof. All our other cbs are extremely unjury prone with the except of maube tuanzebe who isnt fully ready to play consistently. Mcguire and lindelof seem to never get injured

 

[Oranges038]

There are some players you don't want to lose, some you wouldn't really mind either way and some that should have been chucked out years ago.

But they are all replaceable, each and every single one of them.