Why did Ole prioritise a CB over a DM?

Well since a cb was also needed you can see why we went for Varane. When a player like Varane becomes available at that price when you need a cb is a no brainer really.

The question should be, why sign Diallo and VDB for a combined total of 70 mill when they are both squad players and a DMF is urgently needed ? Looking back, the 2020 summer transfer window was a big failure. If we signed a dmf we'd be in a completely different position.
 
mu4c_20le said:
He didn't see Mctominay ever getting injured. He's the glue that holds together our midfield.
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This seems to be true. Also Fred is a much better player with Mctominay alongside him, not perfect, but it works pretty well on most occasions.
But realistically you need a back up because injuries do happen.
 
meamth said:
Before we signed Varane, the craze for Upomecano, top cbs in 20/21 season was up there along with RW.

We solved 2 areas, trying to sign elite level CDM this window is just not logical financially.
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He had an opportunity to sell VDB and Lingard. The former is a player he refuses to play like its a virus and the second continues to be at the club for no apparent reason whatsoever. There is your money for a CDM right there.
 
mariachi-19 said:
Because Varane is better than any other DM available and lindleof is crap?

feck me that Varane signing is one of the best bits of business we’ve done in years.

Im mindful of how the team will look when McTominay comes back. He was an absolute monster against Leeds and is in the age bracket where midfielders can potentially flourish.
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I’m more than happy to see how we go on when McTominay comes back personally.

I’m not saying he is the saviour, in any way shape or form and, yes,
I know that there is better DMs out there at the moment who would do a better job.

BUT…..

I think our first XI on Saturday should be our first XI for all league and CL games bar maybe the games against city, Liverpool and Chelsea when I’d be ok with McFred being played.

Any of our attacking options (when all fully fit) can play in front of our back 5 plus McTominay and I’d love to see how we get on playing like that.

We SHOULD win 90%+ of the games that starting XI plays.
 
''Why did Ole prioritise a DM over a CB?''

100% would have been a thread titled as above had we signed a DM instead of Varane.
 
We needed a centre back of Varane's quality. Lindelof has been brushed aside too many times.

With Pogba featuring a lot on the left and best in a 433 which we don't use, Greenwood looking more effective on the right than Sancho you have to wonder did we really need Sancho right now. Greenwood has been so good in his passing and strength I'd pick him on the right and really see him cutting in and shooting from angles for a long while.

It's great to have more options. Sancho can play across the front and Rashford is injured but we're so light in midfield. McTom and Fred are the best of a bad lot that really need upgrading. We need higher pass completion and control.

Seems as though the midfielders weren't available and Sancho is more long term. An injury to McTom or Fred and we're really struggling. Donny is not trusted but can play in the centre, he was taken off last night while still 1-0 up and we end up losing 2-1, he's done the leg work for De Jong at Ajax and was instrumental at home to Leipzig resisting the press and covering in midfleid but left to rot after that. Ole takes Fred off last night, we then have essentially no normal midfield and Lingard taking the role. Ole said he brought him on for legs, we needed an actual midfielder. Ole shouldn't be persuading Donny to come for 35-40m if he won't play him there.
 
Varane was the best but of business the club has done in a long time. Sancho for me wasn’t anywhere near as important as a DM. If we don’t win anything this season I can’t see how Ole keeps he’s job!
 
Fred and McTominay > Maguire and Lindelof for a big game, simple as that really. I think he got caught out because Ronaldo became available and now there's really no room for Pogba not playing CM. He isn't a good enough manager to handle finding a place for Pogba outside of CM with this squad and we don't have a DM capable of playing next to Pogba. The club / him have fecked him really.
 
Majima said:
It's puzzling but he genuinely must not see it as an issue, or else he would have prioritised it.

Every summer the club has been clear about our target positions. When we were first after Maguire, then AWB, then Varane, and Sancho we were very clear about our needs beforehand. But we never were strongly linked to a DM all summer. Even going back a few years I can't remember any concrete interest. So the logical conclusion is that we never planned for one at all.
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You see a lot of people saying that, but I think it is rather that line of reasoning that is puzzling. :) Pretty much everything points to him regarding it as an issue, including going on record to say so. And we've been heavily linked with several midfielders all through the summer. But it's also a question of who you can get. It seems to be a clear approach generally that they know who they want, and if they can't get them, they wait. Like they did with Sancho. The ones we seem to have wanted for CM this summer is Rice and Camavinga, and we couldn't get either. Sancho we've been pursuing for more than a year, and Varane is hands down a great deal, a real steal. Ronaldo too probably, it's the sort of thing you have to do when the opportunity presents itself if you're going to do it at all. It's not simply a question of identifying the positions, and then getting something in.

Also, we can't expect to get everything fixed at once.
 
redshaw said:
We needed a centre back of Varane's quality. Lindelof has been brushed aside too many times.

With Pogba featuring a lot on the left and best in a 433 which we don't use, Greenwood looking more effective on the right than Sancho you have to wonder did we really need Sancho right now. Greenwood has been so good in his passing and strength I'd pick him on the right and really see him cutting in and shooting from angles for a long while.

It's great to have more options. Sancho can play across the front and Rashford is injured but we're so light in midfield. McTom and Fred are the best of a bad lot that really need upgrading. We need higher pass completion and control.

Seems as though the midfielders weren't available and Sancho is more long term. An injury to McTom or Fred and we're really struggling. Donny is not trusted but can play in the centre, he was taken off last night while still 1-0 up and we end up losing 2-1, he's done the leg work for De Jong at Ajax and was instrumental at home to Leipzig resisting the press and covering in midfleid but left to rot after that. Ole takes Fred off last night, we then have essentially no normal midfield and Lingard taking the role. Ole said he brought him on for legs, we needed an actual midfielder. Ole shouldn't be persuading Donny to come for 35-40m if he won't play him there.
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Definitely needed Varane, and I was wondering the same about Sancho, with signing Amad, Pellestri and having Greenwood there also.
It certainly seems as though Ole has his heart set on Rice, but for £100 million, I don't think that is practical. We have plenty of promising young midfielders coming through, Garner, Levitt, Galbraith and especially Hannibal, who I hope will get some opportunities this season, but you never know is these lads with ever get to the standard required.
 
CB was absolutely the priority - Lindelof was a weak link on many occasions, we gave away so many bad goals last season

Plus when a CB the quality of Varane becomes available then you get him whether you need him or not

A better CB should also mean we can play a more progressive midfield than McFred (who are underrated anyway)

So really it makes sense on so many levels
 
the_cliff said:
Well since a cb was also needed you can see why we went for Varane. When a player like Varane becomes available at that price when you need a cb is a no brainer really.

The question should be, why sign Diallo and VDB for a combined total of 70 mill when they are both squad players and a DMF is urgently needed ? Looking back, the 2020 summer transfer window was a big failure. If we signed a dmf we'd be in a completely different position.
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Varane was available, you don't turn down that kind of player.

We did try to sign Camavinga from all reports, but his heart was set on Real. Outside of that the options were limited, unless you wanted to over pay for Rice.
 
Our summer business was excellent imo. Would have loved a DM as well but we’ve bought really well regardless.

This forum has been crying out for quality at CB and RW for 2-3 years and we’ve done it and done it really well.

I personally thought of the 3 positions (CB/DM/RW) that DM was lower down the list of priorities so I can see why that got left in favour of the other 2 positions.
 
M Bison said:
Our summer business was excellent imo. Would have loved a DM as well but we’ve bought really well regardless.

This forum has been crying out for quality at CB and RW for 2-3 years and we’ve done it and done it really well.

I personally thought of the 3 positions (CB/DM/RW) that DM was lower down the list of priorities so I can see why that got left in favour of the other 2 positions.
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We were crying out for a RW before Mason. He is the real deal and should be our first choise for that spot in the next 5-10 years. Ole also bought two right wingers last summer.

The midfield is abysmal, and should have been the priority over the RW. Bisakka aint good enough either, and we could have plugged both leaks for the Sancho money.
FFS you dont use up your funds on a shiny new TV when the roof is leaking
 
We needed a centre back. We need a midfielder too, but we absolutely needed a centre back and a great opportunity to sign a great one came up.
 
.....because he thinks that the midfield is good enough. Whether it is or isn't, that's up for debate no different than any player on here or any previous manager.
 
Because Varane was available for roughly 35 million :wenger:
 
For Varane price we wouldn't get near to a DM. They are rare and expensive.
Plus I think Ole has no idea what to do with our midfield. Seems like "throw and see what sticks" strategy. Pogba situation complicated things even more, as I was pretty damn sure he's leaving this summer.
 
I am curious would we have signed a centre-back if Varane was not available at such a reasonable price. Spending so much on Sancho will raise eyebrows if he doesn't start performing soon. He has been anonymous so far which is not what you want from a player costing north of 70 million.
 
Devil77 said:
I am more inclined to ask why we prioritized a RW over a DM when we have Rashford, Martial and Greenwood.
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Weird comment given that neither Rashford or Martial are any good from the right.
 
Haven't you had a look at our defence? Ole spent 130m on it and for what exactly? Maguire is a 1 big mistake per game and has as much leadership as a dead possum and Tackles can't even tackle anymore. Sure CM is also a mess but defense is his mistake. So that's what needed to be fixed first.
 
We did the absolute right thing in getting Varane. He's a top level defender of the type that doesn't become available very often at all.

We needed an upgrade on Lindelof, it's pointless pretending we didn't, Varane was a bargain at that price as well.

The manager and hierarchy clearly think we have ample options in midfield at least for the time being, some claim that Ole likes to play with two well rounded 8's (which we have plenty of) instead of pure holding midfielders. I'm not sure about that, the club supposedly couldn't find a player that would represent an improvement on what we have already, perhaps that statement should also include 'for the right price.'

I think the manager and quite a few here think Matic is good enough for the time being, I don't and have said so for over a year now. He hasn't the legs.

I think the manager is happy enough with Fred and Scott for the time being, not permitting for one of them being currently injured, and that we will look at it again as one of the priorities next summer. I said before a ball was kicked this season it would limit us in what we can achieve this season, hope I'm proved wrong.

It's hard to expect the club to strengthen 3 key areas of the team as well as being obligated to get Ronaldo whilst the chance presented itself. It would have been a perfect summer if a decent DM had been secured.
 
Because Lindelof is weaker than Mcfred. Simples.
 
The question should be why we prioritized Sancho over CM. Varane+CR7 was a great deal.
 
I have no issues with any of our signings even though a quality DM should have been a priority.

The issue is not cashing in on the deadwood, fringe players and players well past their sell by date then investing that money in one quality DM.

All these players like Matic, Mata and Lingard are also taking up the space and opportunity for our quality youth players to integrate into a strong 1st team if given the chances.
 
devilo said:
Weird comment given that neither Rashford or Martial are any good from the right.
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Greenwood is and James did a decent job as well. But perhaps I'm just underwhelmed by Sancho's performances and would have preferred a midfielder instead.
 
Devil77 said:
Greenwood is and James did a decent job as well. But perhaps I'm just underwhelmed by Sancho's performances and would have preferred a midfielder instead.
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Your concern is valid. Its more important to have a complete first 11 without holes rather than exellent cover on the wings. We also have Amad for the RW who Ole paid 25-30 mill for.
 
Devil77 said:
Greenwood is and James did a decent job as well. But perhaps I'm just underwhelmed by Sancho's performances and would have preferred a midfielder instead.
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We've been upgrading the same position for 3 seasons now.

We got James, Greenwood came into the picture and scored 17 goals in like half a season.

Next season we spend 19m which could rise to 40 on Amad and now 72m on yet another young player in the same position. That doesn't seem like good planning to me.
 
Because we desperately needed a cb and varane is a world class player at a stupidly low price
Our transfer window was fantastic, the team is good enough to win the league and more

the problem lies in the manager now
 
I don't think you can really question signing Varane at that price over the choices we had to go after in CM. That being said Ole doesn't really care to (or maybe can't) control a game through midfield. We don't really have set patterns of play, shapes, movements. It's all very much up to the players to try something, but if you watch closely it's all very random.
 
I just get the feeling Ole genuinely thinks Fred and McTominay are good enough. I’ve generally been an Ole in-er but his neglect of our midfield is by far my single biggest criticism of him.
 
VinzentFTW said:
We were crying out for a RW before Mason. He is the real deal and should be our first choise for that spot in the next 5-10 years. Ole also bought two right wingers last summer.

The midfield is abysmal, and should have been the priority over the RW. Bisakka aint good enough either, and we could have plugged both leaks for the Sancho money.
FFS you dont use up your funds on a shiny new TV when the roof is leaking
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We did buy 2 RW's but neither are ready for the first team, and Greenwood finished last season well and started the current one brilliantly, but early/mid season last year he struggled so for me RW is where i thought we needed investment. On the flip side, i think (or at least thought) we we're well stocked in CM with Fred/McT/Pogba/Matic/VdB. I think we'll be fine once we have McT back personally but time will tell.

Anyway, we're going off at a tangent the thread is about prioritising CB over CM, which again to me makes sense off the back of some of Lindelöf's performances last season.
 
People are acting as if its only this window. Ole has brought in like 15 new players (including youngsters currently out on loan) and none of them a DMC so its not a priority
 
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