Who will be our Right Back next season?

jderbyshire

Has anybody seen my fleshlight?
Joined
May 2, 2007
Messages
4,278
Wan-Bissaka has been told he can leave (although whether we manage to actually sell him is another matter)

Question marks over whether Dalot is good enough at the top level, despite Rangnick preferring him over AWB - do we think Ten Hag can work with him?

An article today by Luckhurst mentioned in passing that Marc Jurado and Alvaro Fernandez (the latter, a left back, has just won the Under 18s Jimmy Murphy trophy) perhaps will get a chance this season. Anyone on here who's watched the U18s have a take on these guys? Is this the route that we'll go down (young players that can been coached/moulded by ETH) as there's not really been strong links to any RBs out there.

How's Laird been doing on loan?

The full backs are obviously a vital position but it all seems to be up in the air, the right back especially.

What do we think?
 
Good Q, massive gaping hole we havent filled since Rafael left. At this point i'd take Ashley Young back!
 
It's a strange one because it doesn't seem to be an obvious target in the market. Maybe it is but it's lower priority, but it certainly looks like we'll be working with what we have.

I have a theory Dalot needs to get a lot fitter and that will be a help. At the moment he is fairly conservative in the positions he takes up and how often he gets forward. It doesn't help that when he does venture forward some of the crossing is poor, but for my money he's not even making the positions often enough to be a help to our attack as a body.
 
I think that he will use Maguire as RB so that if he gets a ball playing left footed CB, we will have a back three during build up which means that Shaw will invert into the midfield to form a double pivot with the CDM while Maguire at RB stay back to form a back three.
 
As said before, Marc Jurado is a great talent.

The only problem is getting that transition from u18 football to the Premiership.

Some kids make that transition smoothley, others fail.

Ethan Laird is also an option, his forte is that he's somewhat used to the bigger boys football because of the time spent in the championship.

Ideally, we sell AWB, and let the three of Dalot, Laird, Jurado battle it out.
They all carry a risk.

A risk ETH will have to cope with.
 
Maybe not right at the start, but eventually it’ll be Anthony Elanga
 
James Justin looked really good before his injury problems, probably not worth the risk but if he got back to his best he would be a good option,
 
Jurado looks a tidy, hard working player, but is nowhere near first team ready yet. Needs to step up to U23's and maybe have a loan first.

Laird is ahead of him, but I think he could do with a PL loan to try to prove himself at this level.

Dalot and AWB are ahead of those at the moment. But, ideally, we'd offload one of them and look to bring a first choice RB in and have either Dalot or AWB as understudy while Laird and Jurado gain more experience on loan elsewhere.
 
It's gonna be Dalot. There were reports that ETH was a fan of his and wanted to keep him, not so much for AWB. Dalot with a youth player as backup is possible but it does feel risky so I wouldn't be surprised if we just kept it as Dalot and AWB again.
 
AWB might have a chance if he responds positively to ETH's coaching methods. He actually can dribble quite well, has the speed, but is quite bad with his off-the-ball movement. Otherwise it will be Dalot as the main with Ethan Laird as backup.
 
Dalot is not good enough IMO. Not as good as the likes of A-A, James, Walker, Livramento, Lamptey, arguably Coufal, and probably others in the PL. He might have some improvement in him but not convinced he will become top class.

I would be more inclined to give AWB the spot and work on his attacking game.

Tough market to buy a right back too. Livramento has a bad injury. Lamptey might be possible if pricey. Not sure how good Dumfries is...

Anyway if we don't get someone new, I hope Ethan Laird does get some chances as he is very promising. Jurado also did well for the youth team last season.
 
Bertie Wooster said:
Laird is ahead of him, but I think he could do with a PL loan to try to prove himself at this level.
Click to expand...
I'd like to see him thrown in and given a chance at some point. Think hes the type of player who would do better in that instance than earning his stripes out on loan, if that makes sense.
 
If we sign no one then hopefully AWB

Though hopefully a RB will come in (not looking likely though)
 
I’ve always thought Laird was a tier 1 talent. In terms of natural ability I’d put him above any of our other youngsters at the moment. I don’t think he is ready for the gig full time but I wouldn’t be opposed to blooding him into the first team in the Europa, FA Cup and League cup. His defence is hit or miss at times but i think that’ll improve with experience. If I’m not mistaken, he did feature for England U18s at center back at times. But going forward, he is probably better than half our forwards.
 
sincher said:
Elanga ain't a defender at all.
Click to expand...
What makes you say that?

Was/is Trent Alexander Arnold a defender? or did he learn it?

There's no such thing as isn't or is anything in football.
 
Would love it to be Dumfries, but judging how fast the transfer snails are working, it will be Dalot.
 
DickDastardly said:
As said before, Marc Jurado is a great talent.

The only problem is getting that transition from u18 football to the Premiership.

Some kids make that transition smoothley, others fail.

Ethan Laird is also an option, his forte is that he's somewhat used to the bigger boys football because of the time spent in the championship.

Ideally, we sell AWB, and let the three of Dalot, Laird, Jurado battle it out.
They all carry a risk.

A risk ETH will have to cope with.
Click to expand...
Jurado is a good little player but I don't see a potential first teamer there. Laird has undeniable talent and was the only player I'd have put in the same stratosphere as Greenwood when they were U18/U19s, however he has injury concerns and has mainly played as a wing back with little defensive responsibilities while out on loan which isn't something we've really done at United.
 
Moriarty said:
Tony Valencia is a good example of a winger turned full back. Didn't do a bad job of it either.
Click to expand...
Very similar players also.

Elanga has shown a few times when given space he can be an absolute menace.

I don't think he's as good in tighter spaces, but with room to run into he could be our Alphonso Davies.
 
I don't think Elanga is the dumbest idea either. Maybe would need to strengthen up a little to be better in physical confrontations but he has the recovery speed, the energy to get up and down and has the ability on the ball to be a right back. Would need a lot of nurturing but it's far better than suggestions like AWB as a CB or Lindelof DM.
 
Jurado is nowhere near ready physically.

We haven't really been linked with a RB, which leads me to believe we are resigned to being stuck with Dalot and AWB unless we can move them on. If we can move them on we'll go for someone, but I can't see anyone buying AWB.
 
Abraxas said:
I don't think Elanga is the dumbest idea either. Maybe would need to strengthen up a little to be better in physical confrontations but he has the recovery speed, the energy to get up and down and has the ability on the ball to be a right back. Would need a lot of nurturing but it's far better than suggestions like AWB as a CB or Lindelof DM.
Click to expand...
Lindelof has played DM for Benfica and Sweden though
 
I've never seen him play, but by all accounts Laird did OK at Swansea, I'm not sure about Bournemouth, did he play much? Could he be ready to step up, you guys have been banging on about him on here for years!
 
The Boy said:
I've never seen him play, but by all accounts Laird did OK at Swansea, I'm not sure about Bournemouth, did he play much? Could he be ready to step up, you guys have been banging on about him on here for years!
Click to expand...

Problem for Laird is that he was unlikely to immediately become the main right back since AWB was quite good in his performances during Ole's tenure. If AWB had not come good, I am pretty sure either he or Brandon would have been the main right back.
 
Given the games we are playing pre-season I would not be surprised if AWB had established himself as first choice after Dalot is routinely roasted and Ten Hag realises he can't trust Dalot 1v1.

Doesn't look like we're going to be able to shift AWB and it seems like a left back is a higher priority at the moment so I would expect AWB to be the regular starter.
 
Long Time Red said:
Given the games we are playing pre-season I would not be surprised if AWB had established himself as first choice after Dalot is routinely roasted and Ten Hag realises he can't trust Dalot 1v1.

Doesn't look like we're going to be able to shift AWB and it seems like a left back is a higher priority at the moment so I would expect AWB to be the regular starter.
Click to expand...
I don’t see this at all. Dalot is generally a decent defender, though obviously not an outstanding one.

It’s his crossing that’s absolutely terrible, made all the worse by the fact that he gets into promising positions a lot. If anything can be improved by one to one coaching, surely it’s this?
 
georgipep said:
Lindelof has played DM for Benfica and Sweden though
Click to expand...
Doesn't mean it's a good idea. Too cumbersome to play as a midfielder and has never actually shown the passing ability we thought we were getting. The occasional long ball yes, but mostly just sideways safe passing that is fairly slow.

With Elanga I see some qualities for a full back. Probably more ideal as a wing back, but still, a top coach can probably drill some of the defensive side into him.
 
I believe that Elenga will be our right back eventually. Erik will turn him another Mazaroui
 
Revaulx said:
I don’t see this at all. Dalot is generally a decent defender, though obviously not an outstanding one.

It’s his crossing that’s absolutely terrible, made all the worse by the fact that he gets into promising positions a lot. If anything can be improved by one to one coaching, surely it’s this?
Click to expand...

Dalot only looks decent when he's up against wingers who aren't particularly dangerous.

He got absolutely ripped apart numerous times last season.
 
dutchred said:
Laird is as good as Dumfries, who can't defend to save his life
Click to expand...

Sure he is... Dumfries only plays for Inter, will go to the world cup, has interest after a good season for Inter while Laird could hardly get minutes in the championship? Dumfries can defend, might not be the best defender but saying he cant defend at all is not true. He is big, strong, fast, never stops running and never gives up. That alone would make him a very annoying opponent to play against.
 
Stadjer said:
Sure he is... Dumfries only plays for Inter, will go to the world cup, has interest after a good season for Inter while Laird could hardly get minutes in the championship? Dumfries can defend, might not be the best defender but saying he cant defend at all is not true. He is big, strong, fast, never stops running and never gives up. That alone would make him a very annoying opponent to play against.
Click to expand...
Are you a PSV supporter? He's big and strong and never stops running so maybe he should play American Football. Being annoying to paly against does not make you a good footballer
 
dutchred said:
Are you a PSV supporter? He's big and strong and never stops running so maybe he should play American Football. Being annoying to paly against does not make you a good footballer
Click to expand...

No im not. Are you an Ajax supporter who thinks only Ajax can have good players? Why would he play American football? He is playing normal football at a top 10/15 European club and doing well for them. It is just ridiculous to claim that Laird, a player who could hardly get into the team at the number two of the championship, is better than Dumfries.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.