The replies early in this thread were so hopeful!
Your ideal 11 - 2018/19 and outs (being realistic)
- Thread starter jesperjaap
- Start date
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Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) discuss United's fantastic win away against Athletic Club in the semi-final of the Europa League.
They also pick out the positives of United's 4-3 loss away at Brentford, and Nik reviews a day out at Old Trafford watching Manchester United Women qualify for the Champions League.
Talking about rumors, I think William and even Maguire are more realistic than Thiago and Alderweireld.From the current crop of rumours and what we have this would be my starting 11, and yes I know the wingbacks suck, but they suck as fullbacks as well and we are stuck with them regardless as there's nothing about us wanting a LB, the opposite in fact.
Also, I think Matic is one of Mourinho's favorite players. IMO Herrera, Pereira, Fellaini and McTominay are enough to cover Matic-Pogba-Fred.
I wouldn't play 352 with Young and Valencia providing width and crosses. If we sign players like Sandro/Sessegnon, Meunier/Trippier then it could work.
I wouldn't be surprised if we end up singing William to play 433.
In: Tierney £30m, Upemecano £45m, Chiesa £50m, Haaland £10m, Dalot £17m, Fred £47m - £199m
Out: Blind £14m, Darmian £16m, Rojo £20m, Jones £30m, Shaw £25m, Martial £65m, Mata £25m - £195m
£4m net spend
De Gea/Romero
Tierney/Young
Bailly/Smalling
Upemecano/Lindelof
Dalot/Valenca
Matic/Perriera
Pogba/Fellaini
Fred/McTominay
Sanchez/Rashford
CHiesa/Lingard
Lukaku/Haaland
Mensah, Chong, Gomes also in squad Tuanzabe on loan for a season
No I agree and it was totally fm. Was just to make a point, I do feel over the last four years we have held on to too many playres should be sold and that there are loads of good talents would improve us (must have done five of these list now). Considering we needed a new cb, cm and rw as a bare minimum and really needed a fb, back up striker as well, there are no excuses if we get the well we tried for Bale and it didnt happen, as soon as Ronaldo signed for Juve after Zidane leaving it would happen, we tried for ALderweirweld and it didnt happen etc etc etc.
It is only opinion, but there are a good 5-8 quality players for all the slots we needed fillign that are attainable, ,as of now we have only filled two of them and still have a fair dew players we shouldnt, less than two weeks left. In reality I think we will sign Maguire for £69m which is a decent signing at a stupid fee, in my opinion could have done better, I dont actually think we will sign a right winger wihich is a mistake and if we do it will be WIllian a 29 year old and another exChelsea player 28% of our first eleven would be ex-Chelsea players and only two of those were starters....is that really moving forward?
There are loads of players to buy, just not the big names, we used to sign names and make them big that were starting to make a splash Stam, Ruud, Nani, Anderson....obviously not all were huge successes but they were all successes. Look at some of the young centre backs like Sarr, Upemecano, Kimbeoe at PSG if he isnt available Marqghuionos. There are alos cm like NDembele andGuiimaraes....we give Fellaini a new contract.Malcom people keep saying isnt good enough for us and will hold CHong back....yet he is good enough for Barcelona at just £40m and there are no guarantees the likes of Chong or Gomes really will break through. These supposed great youngsters and we didnt appear to make any move for Jordan Sancho at just £4M...yes another left winger, then there is Sessegnon, Neres, Lincoln, Ascacibar, Ambalo there are loads of great young talents about that I bet we are scouting.....but we have signed Lindelof who has never looked more than average long before we signed him, Martial that hasnt worked out and the Depay, and peopl erave about how good he was in the world cup before we signed him....was he, he barely played and did much when he did. A decent, yet massively over rated player by the press and fans when we became interested.
Also Maguire, why on earth has it taken a world cup for us to make a move, surely his two premiership years gave enough indication yet we move after youngsters have made a semi big move when they will cost 2 or 3x the price. Personally wouldnt mind Maguire but I think there are better options available at cheaper or similar price and massively better options available for higher prices.
I may be doing a bit FM, but these are players I have seen and liked. I wonder what on earth we are doing in the transfer market the last 5 years when we can pay £40m for Mata that was obviously not the right fit, not much less on ruddy Fellaini, sign an obvious crock in Bastian, another though worth the gamble on Falcao, a fortune on DiMaria who does well as an attackong cm, so after the injury we move him to the wing? And Mourinho so far has only had one good transfer window. I know many will disagree but £147m on Matic, Lukaku and Lindelof in my opinion was poor with some of the other options out there, went with what he knew Matic was an astute signing short term, our transfer business to the tune of £500m over the last few years has been abysmal, I could have done better and I dont watch football endlessly or have a team of scouts. Obviousloy dont know who we have missed out on etc etc but just look at some of Fergusons average squad players that are still here and are even starters, look at the players signed since that are stil here and not good enough or under performing. The ins and outs I listed are realistic over a couple of windows to be honest, no manager or the board or whatever the reason has been, it hasnt been done and transfer wise we are still further away than nearer to what we really needed.....5 years after Ferge retired.....end of rant
Out: Blind £14m, Darmian £16m, Rojo £20m, Jones £30m, Shaw £25m, Martial £65m, Mata £25m - £195m
£4m net spend
De Gea/Romero
Tierney/Young
Bailly/Smalling
Upemecano/Lindelof
Dalot/Valenca
Matic/Perriera
Pogba/Fellaini
Fred/McTominay
Sanchez/Rashford
CHiesa/Lingard
Lukaku/Haaland
Mensah, Chong, Gomes also in squad Tuanzabe on loan for a season
No I agree and it was totally fm. Was just to make a point, I do feel over the last four years we have held on to too many playres should be sold and that there are loads of good talents would improve us (must have done five of these list now). Considering we needed a new cb, cm and rw as a bare minimum and really needed a fb, back up striker as well, there are no excuses if we get the well we tried for Bale and it didnt happen, as soon as Ronaldo signed for Juve after Zidane leaving it would happen, we tried for ALderweirweld and it didnt happen etc etc etc.
It is only opinion, but there are a good 5-8 quality players for all the slots we needed fillign that are attainable, ,as of now we have only filled two of them and still have a fair dew players we shouldnt, less than two weeks left. In reality I think we will sign Maguire for £69m which is a decent signing at a stupid fee, in my opinion could have done better, I dont actually think we will sign a right winger wihich is a mistake and if we do it will be WIllian a 29 year old and another exChelsea player 28% of our first eleven would be ex-Chelsea players and only two of those were starters....is that really moving forward?
There are loads of players to buy, just not the big names, we used to sign names and make them big that were starting to make a splash Stam, Ruud, Nani, Anderson....obviously not all were huge successes but they were all successes. Look at some of the young centre backs like Sarr, Upemecano, Kimbeoe at PSG if he isnt available Marqghuionos. There are alos cm like NDembele andGuiimaraes....we give Fellaini a new contract.Malcom people keep saying isnt good enough for us and will hold CHong back....yet he is good enough for Barcelona at just £40m and there are no guarantees the likes of Chong or Gomes really will break through. These supposed great youngsters and we didnt appear to make any move for Jordan Sancho at just £4M...yes another left winger, then there is Sessegnon, Neres, Lincoln, Ascacibar, Ambalo there are loads of great young talents about that I bet we are scouting.....but we have signed Lindelof who has never looked more than average long before we signed him, Martial that hasnt worked out and the Depay, and peopl erave about how good he was in the world cup before we signed him....was he, he barely played and did much when he did. A decent, yet massively over rated player by the press and fans when we became interested.
Also Maguire, why on earth has it taken a world cup for us to make a move, surely his two premiership years gave enough indication yet we move after youngsters have made a semi big move when they will cost 2 or 3x the price. Personally wouldnt mind Maguire but I think there are better options available at cheaper or similar price and massively better options available for higher prices.
I may be doing a bit FM, but these are players I have seen and liked. I wonder what on earth we are doing in the transfer market the last 5 years when we can pay £40m for Mata that was obviously not the right fit, not much less on ruddy Fellaini, sign an obvious crock in Bastian, another though worth the gamble on Falcao, a fortune on DiMaria who does well as an attackong cm, so after the injury we move him to the wing? And Mourinho so far has only had one good transfer window. I know many will disagree but £147m on Matic, Lukaku and Lindelof in my opinion was poor with some of the other options out there, went with what he knew Matic was an astute signing short term, our transfer business to the tune of £500m over the last few years has been abysmal, I could have done better and I dont watch football endlessly or have a team of scouts. Obviousloy dont know who we have missed out on etc etc but just look at some of Fergusons average squad players that are still here and are even starters, look at the players signed since that are stil here and not good enough or under performing. The ins and outs I listed are realistic over a couple of windows to be honest, no manager or the board or whatever the reason has been, it hasnt been done and transfer wise we are still further away than nearer to what we really needed.....5 years after Ferge retired.....end of rant
Alexis - Lukaku - B. Traore
Pogba - Fred/Herrera
Matic/Herrera
Jorge/Young - Smalling - Bailly - Dalot/Valencia
De Gea
I'm still hoping for a winger or a #10. Traore and Fekir seem to be the best options IMO. Either would have happened by now, if we were actually interested though. Shaw needs to be sold or at least he shouldn't stop us from bringing in competition for Young. Alex Sandro or Alex Telles probably won't happen, so a talented younger player is the way to go IMO. I'd rather have Jorge, Ferland Mendy or Jordan Amavi competing with Young than Shaw. Also, I'd rather see us spend ridiculous money on Pavard than Maguire.Pogba - Fred/Herrera
Matic/Herrera
Jorge/Young - Smalling - Bailly - Dalot/Valencia
De Gea
Well the thread title directed us to pick our ideal 11, mine would never look like Mourinho's, I have no interest in generic 30 year old wingers. As far as Maguire goes, I think Alderweireld would add some organizational quality to our backline, but I don't have anything against Maguire.
Your posts are absolutely ridiculous. You put '18/19 realistic' in your thread title and then you keep making posts saying how we need to buy 6-7 players, not to mention most of the players you want to buy are unproven youngsters. And then you think buying Matic and Lukaku was bad business? You can complain about the club all you want but Matic and Lukaku have been one of our best buys of recent years and have given us so much already.
I'd have Zaha back in an instant. And pay whatever Juve want for Sandro...
DDG
Valencia
Bailly
Smalling
Sandro
Matic
Fred
Pogba
Zaha
Sanchez
Lukaku
DDG
Valencia
Bailly
Smalling
Sandro
Matic
Fred
Pogba
Zaha
Sanchez
Lukaku
Being realistic and basing it on the fact we aren't in for a new left-back (I would sign Sandro or Telles personally) I think the following is the best we can hope for : -
De Gea
Dalot/Valencia (hopefully Dalot wins the place)
Smalling
Alderweireld (Maguire being my plan B at this choice)
Shaw/Young (hopefully Shaw wins his place/proves his worth finally)
Matic
Fred
Pogba
Sanchez
Willian
Lukaku
That's good IMO. I think Valencia and Young are probably the "weak" spots. Both are dependable but really don't add much going forward. Alderweireld would bring composure and he's a good ball playing defender. Smalling is reliable and has a better injury record than Bailly and is Lindelof still has a ways to go. De Gea is De Gea.
The addition of Fred will give Matic a smaller workload and afford Pogba more freedom addition to being a fast thinking midfielder who's good on the ball and has an eye for a pass. I think we can potentially stretch open the field and give the forwards more space (despite our average full-backs). Pogba I really think is going to come into his own and silence a lot more folks this season and beyond.
Willian has been sold short IMO. He's a very good team player who works hard and our manager likes him. He may not be a 65-70m player but we are at a point where he's the option or we rely on Lingard to play there. Wilian is a good player and improves us technically and tactically. Sanchez has settled in now and is raring to go I think he'll be excellent and Lukaku goes from strength to strength.
I'd be happy with this. The two players being added being intelligent premier league proven players adding to an improving Lukaku, Pogba, Sanchez after adding Fred and a bright talent in Dalot. Willian and Fred gives us excellent set piece options too. Both are great at free-kicks. Like I said the only real downer for me is the lack of an established first team full-back so fingers crossed Shaw finally shows up.
De Gea
Dalot/Valencia (hopefully Dalot wins the place)
Smalling
Alderweireld (Maguire being my plan B at this choice)
Shaw/Young (hopefully Shaw wins his place/proves his worth finally)
Matic
Fred
Pogba
Sanchez
Willian
Lukaku
That's good IMO. I think Valencia and Young are probably the "weak" spots. Both are dependable but really don't add much going forward. Alderweireld would bring composure and he's a good ball playing defender. Smalling is reliable and has a better injury record than Bailly and is Lindelof still has a ways to go. De Gea is De Gea.
The addition of Fred will give Matic a smaller workload and afford Pogba more freedom addition to being a fast thinking midfielder who's good on the ball and has an eye for a pass. I think we can potentially stretch open the field and give the forwards more space (despite our average full-backs). Pogba I really think is going to come into his own and silence a lot more folks this season and beyond.
Willian has been sold short IMO. He's a very good team player who works hard and our manager likes him. He may not be a 65-70m player but we are at a point where he's the option or we rely on Lingard to play there. Wilian is a good player and improves us technically and tactically. Sanchez has settled in now and is raring to go I think he'll be excellent and Lukaku goes from strength to strength.
I'd be happy with this. The two players being added being intelligent premier league proven players adding to an improving Lukaku, Pogba, Sanchez after adding Fred and a bright talent in Dalot. Willian and Fred gives us excellent set piece options too. Both are great at free-kicks. Like I said the only real downer for me is the lack of an established first team full-back so fingers crossed Shaw finally shows up.
Because i think we do need 6 or 7 players. I said the three players for the money we paid was bad business, Matic was a good buy. £76m for Lukaku I dotn think is a good buy at all no. Similar fee to thos paid for Cavani and Suarez for example. The guy cant trap a ball, cant consistenly lay the ball off. At his best he is excellent, whenever he isnt at his best he is awful, the world cup summed him up, great first few games, he totally vanished the last couple, they could have won the whole tournament if he showed up, he didnt. Do you really think £76m for Lukaku is one of the best buys we have done in years? Ibrahimovic, Falcao, Van Persie, Chicharito, Owen, Berbatov, Tevez, Larson, Rooney....Lukaku might be the kind of striker to suit Mourinho but (forgetting the signing of Owen as a squad player) which of those strikers is Lukaku actually better than? In my opinion Chicharito maybe, that is it. I have also said on this forum that Matic has probabloy been one of our best buys performance wise in recent years (it is just one season so far though), that with no disrespect to him is quite sasd though really isnt it considering we have spent half a billion poounds odd on transfers
Yes I agree most of the people I would liek us to sign are unproven youngsters I would rather sign than the likes of Perisic, Willian etc etc. Look at clubs like Dortmund with Pulisic, Dembele and Monaco. We have signed unproven youngsters just starting to make a name for themselves in there leagues before like Stam...we won the treble, Like Ruud one of our best strikers, like Ronaldo, like Nani and ANderson who may have not been as successful as we hoped but they were part of a team winning the champions league and titles.
It is a forum, for people to give there opinions. If I think our transfer business has been abysmal the last few years, as has our football and that I think a lot of the team dont deserve to wear the jersey and should be moved on I am entitle to say so, just as you are to say it is ridiculous.
DDG
TFM BAILLY MAGUIRE ROSE
MATIC FRED
POGBA
RASHFORD LUKAKU SANCHEZ
TFM BAILLY MAGUIRE ROSE
MATIC FRED
POGBA
RASHFORD LUKAKU SANCHEZ
You are totally right. I fo
You're totally right. In that case, I agree with you about Thiago and Alderweireld. Also, I would add Sandro and Pulisic to have my ideal team.
Due to the fact we lack any real winger on the right I’d be tempted to go with a formation that doesn’t use one of them so using the current squad we have right this minute..
DDG
Bailey - Lindelof - Jones
Valencia - Fred - Matic - Pogba -Shaw
Sanchez - Lukaku
Of course if Maguire or Alderweireld come then they replace Jones straigh away and I feel we could upgrade on both Valencia (hopefully Dalot comes good) and Shaw.Bailey - Lindelof - Jones
Valencia - Fred - Matic - Pogba -Shaw
Sanchez - Lukaku
Im going with just Sandro (Hopefully) and Maguire (Another CB) coming in before the deadline. Therefore, these two formations make as strong as possible whilst disguising our right wing problem.
Away (Tough home games):
https://www.buildlineup.com/shared/5b5ce3a4138c092e24abc818
Home (Easier away games):
https://www.buildlineup.com/shared/5b5ce366138c092e24abc817
Away (Tough home games):
https://www.buildlineup.com/shared/5b5ce3a4138c092e24abc818
Home (Easier away games):
https://www.buildlineup.com/shared/5b5ce366138c092e24abc817
Replace the following this year or the next and we are title contenders for the coming five years. Easy peasy.
Rojo - Maguire
Jones - Alderweireld
Young - Sandro
Darmian - Carvajal (will be in competition with Odriozola, Nacho and Hakimi)
Mata - O. Dembele (Malcom becomes first choice)
Herrera - Kovacic
Rojo - Maguire
Jones - Alderweireld
Young - Sandro
Darmian - Carvajal (will be in competition with Odriozola, Nacho and Hakimi)
Mata - O. Dembele (Malcom becomes first choice)
Herrera - Kovacic
De Gea
Carvajal Alderweireld Maguire Sandro
Matic
Fred Pogba
Dembele Lukaku Sanchez
Bench: Romero, Bailly, Dalot, Pereira, Kovacic, Rashford, Martial
Squad: Smalling, Lindelöf, Shaw, Fellaini, Lingard, Tuanzebe, Fosu-Mensah
Carvajal Alderweireld Maguire Sandro
Matic
Fred Pogba
Dembele Lukaku Sanchez
Bench: Romero, Bailly, Dalot, Pereira, Kovacic, Rashford, Martial
Squad: Smalling, Lindelöf, Shaw, Fellaini, Lingard, Tuanzebe, Fosu-Mensah
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De Gea
Dalot Alderweireld/Smalling Bailey Sandro
Matic
Fred/Pereira Pogba
Dybala Lukaku Sanchez
Dalot Alderweireld/Smalling Bailey Sandro
Matic
Fred/Pereira Pogba
Dybala Lukaku Sanchez
Top class Left back
Top class Centre Back
Young Striker with potential to be world class
It should be 3 signings and done but it's looking highly unlikely at this point, we'll end up taking Shaw, Darmian and Jones into the new season when they should have been scrapped for a new left back and centre back.
Top class Centre Back
Young Striker with potential to be world class
It should be 3 signings and done but it's looking highly unlikely at this point, we'll end up taking Shaw, Darmian and Jones into the new season when they should have been scrapped for a new left back and centre back.
I was looking at squad registration for CL. This is where we currently are:
Non-association trained players (max 17):
De Gea, Lindelöf, Bailly, Rojo, Sanchez, Mata, Martial, Fred, Dalot, Herrera, Romero, Valencia, Fellaini, Matić, Darmian (15)
Association trained players (max 21, including the above):
Jones, Lukaku, Smalling, Grant, Young (5, 20)
Club trained players (max 25, including the above):
Pogba, Lingard, A. Pereira, Shaw, McTominay, J. Pereira (6, 26)
List B players born after 01/01/1997 & w/ the club for two years (unlimited):
Rashford, Fosu-Mensah, Tuanzebe
So we're not really in a desperate position to sell, which may explain why outgoings have been slow. If J. Pereira leaves on loan as expected, everyone else at the club can be registered for our competitions. Otherwise, I only expect us to push for a sale if we bring anyone else in.
Thankfully, we've got room to register players not trained, by UEFA's definition, in England, so the nationality of who we potentially buy and who leaves is not vital.
So Rojo would likely be the CB to leave should we sign another. The value of Jones and Smalling being English-trained is to be noted. I'd expect McTominay or A. Pereira to leave on loan if both someone further up the field comes in and Darmian has not been sold. I'm not sure Martial will be sold.
Non-association trained players (max 17):
De Gea, Lindelöf, Bailly, Rojo, Sanchez, Mata, Martial, Fred, Dalot, Herrera, Romero, Valencia, Fellaini, Matić, Darmian (15)
Association trained players (max 21, including the above):
Jones, Lukaku, Smalling, Grant, Young (5, 20)
Club trained players (max 25, including the above):
Pogba, Lingard, A. Pereira, Shaw, McTominay, J. Pereira (6, 26)
List B players born after 01/01/1997 & w/ the club for two years (unlimited):
Rashford, Fosu-Mensah, Tuanzebe
So we're not really in a desperate position to sell, which may explain why outgoings have been slow. If J. Pereira leaves on loan as expected, everyone else at the club can be registered for our competitions. Otherwise, I only expect us to push for a sale if we bring anyone else in.
Thankfully, we've got room to register players not trained, by UEFA's definition, in England, so the nationality of who we potentially buy and who leaves is not vital.
So Rojo would likely be the CB to leave should we sign another. The value of Jones and Smalling being English-trained is to be noted. I'd expect McTominay or A. Pereira to leave on loan if both someone further up the field comes in and Darmian has not been sold. I'm not sure Martial will be sold.
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It seems that we are going to sign a CB and that would be it.
If we don't sign a RW, we could play Sanchez and Lukaku up front (Martial/Rashford as covers). Which formation would you prefer, 352 or 442 (diamond)?
If we don't sign a RW, we could play Sanchez and Lukaku up front (Martial/Rashford as covers). Which formation would you prefer, 352 or 442 (diamond)?
DDG
Dalot Baily Smalling Shaw
Pogba Perreira Fred
Sanchez Lukaku Martial
Dalot Baily Smalling Shaw
Pogba Perreira Fred
Sanchez Lukaku Martial
Midfield really has taken on a new complexion with Pereira and Fred in the mix, particularly as Matic settled in well last season.
It's a shame that none of our best attackers appear happy to play on the right hand side. Maybe playing 2 up and Sanchez in behind is do-able if we don't sign anyone.
That midfield can be surrounded by 11 players in a press and still come out with something creative. We haven't been able to say that for many years.
Our attackers don't do well on the right because we haven't had sufficient support/overlap from right fullbacks. All our 'wing' players prefer to play in the middle but they would be very effective playing in the hole on the right 'wing' with an overlapping fullback.
Agreed - especially if we put a hard working midfielder eg Fred on that side too with a view to them getting forward as the winger drifts inside. Hopefully more of our players hit and maintain form together this season.
My fear when starting this thread was that we wouldnt clear deadwood and or buy enough players this window, which appears to be happening. I made a mistake putting "realistic" in the thread title.
I dont understand why so little has happened this window, sure there is the world cup and shorter window but we have been aware of that for months. I have to ask why we have so far failed though is it:
a) We dont want to pay the fees clubs are asking
b) Whatever fees we are offering the selliing clubs (especially in premiership) are cash rich enough they dont want or have to sell
c) The transfer budget is limited
d) Players arent wanting to come
etc etc etc
As apart from clubs not willing to sell or players not wanting to come apart from Mbappe and Neymar we could potentially have bought pretty much any players even with a kitty of £150M if Mourinho was allowed to spend cash from sales. I wonder if the board dont trusst him now longer term to allow him to spend on aybody he wants (age wise especially)
We could have done with a left back, right back, two centre backs, two central midfielders, right winger and a second striker in an ideal situation, but for example using signing one top player in each position:
LB Sandro £50m
RB DAlot £20m
CB Kouilbaly £100m
CM Fred £50m
RW Bale £100m
CF Belotti £60m
Obviously a pipe dream but that is £380m so £230m over the £150m kitty
Out
Blind £15m
Darmian £20m
Shaw £25m
Rojo £25m
Jones £25m
Fellaini £25m
Martial £60m
Mata £20m
£215m worth of sales. So as far as the ridiculous posts goes, of course it is a pipe dream and too much to do in one window. The point I am making is it is possible to sign some of the top rated players if we were to clear out a lot of players a lot of fans arent happy with. We havent got anywhere near what could have been done though. So far two players bought and one sold (have been a couple of smaller other ones). I have a feelign we will sign a centre back now, dont see Willian or anybody like that and I expect Rojo to leave, not sure anybody will come in with the money for Martial from abroad. 3 in and 2 out it could finish, poor window as it leaves us with so many ifs and buts...can Shaw get a run of games and form back (no as Young will start), can Bailly stay fit and forge a good partnership with a new cb, will Dalot break through this year, will Pogba perform consistantly, will Pereirra play regularly and carry on his preseason form playing instead of Fellaini as back up, will we get the real SAnchez etc etc etc.
With a cb signing if all the ifs and buts work out well, although a couple of holes for me we do actually have a decent side, but its too many ifs and buts and I still see Mourinho favouring Young, Smalling, Valencia, Fellaini etc etc
I dont understand why so little has happened this window, sure there is the world cup and shorter window but we have been aware of that for months. I have to ask why we have so far failed though is it:
a) We dont want to pay the fees clubs are asking
b) Whatever fees we are offering the selliing clubs (especially in premiership) are cash rich enough they dont want or have to sell
c) The transfer budget is limited
d) Players arent wanting to come
etc etc etc
As apart from clubs not willing to sell or players not wanting to come apart from Mbappe and Neymar we could potentially have bought pretty much any players even with a kitty of £150M if Mourinho was allowed to spend cash from sales. I wonder if the board dont trusst him now longer term to allow him to spend on aybody he wants (age wise especially)
We could have done with a left back, right back, two centre backs, two central midfielders, right winger and a second striker in an ideal situation, but for example using signing one top player in each position:
LB Sandro £50m
RB DAlot £20m
CB Kouilbaly £100m
CM Fred £50m
RW Bale £100m
CF Belotti £60m
Obviously a pipe dream but that is £380m so £230m over the £150m kitty
Out
Blind £15m
Darmian £20m
Shaw £25m
Rojo £25m
Jones £25m
Fellaini £25m
Martial £60m
Mata £20m
£215m worth of sales. So as far as the ridiculous posts goes, of course it is a pipe dream and too much to do in one window. The point I am making is it is possible to sign some of the top rated players if we were to clear out a lot of players a lot of fans arent happy with. We havent got anywhere near what could have been done though. So far two players bought and one sold (have been a couple of smaller other ones). I have a feelign we will sign a centre back now, dont see Willian or anybody like that and I expect Rojo to leave, not sure anybody will come in with the money for Martial from abroad. 3 in and 2 out it could finish, poor window as it leaves us with so many ifs and buts...can Shaw get a run of games and form back (no as Young will start), can Bailly stay fit and forge a good partnership with a new cb, will Dalot break through this year, will Pogba perform consistantly, will Pereirra play regularly and carry on his preseason form playing instead of Fellaini as back up, will we get the real SAnchez etc etc etc.
With a cb signing if all the ifs and buts work out well, although a couple of holes for me we do actually have a decent side, but its too many ifs and buts and I still see Mourinho favouring Young, Smalling, Valencia, Fellaini etc etc
Stop playing Football Manager man.
Ok I give up, simply making the point that has been possible for us to do a lot in this window regardless of prices, and transfer kitty. Stated several times I am making a point and wouldnt expect this to happen. I presume you have just read the ins and outs and commented without reading what I said...or are unable to formulate any kind of reasoned response
With only a short period of the transfer window left I can't see us signing more than one player. So being realistic I believe the only other player we will get in this summer is between Alderweirald or Mina. Still few rumours of Pogba leaving but we definitely won't sell without a replacement.
Here's how I see our starting XI next season:
Sanchez------Lukaku------Lingard
----------Pogba------Fred-------------
-----------------Matic------------------
Young-Alderweirald-Bailly-Valencia
----------------De Gea-----------------
Can see Mata start ahead from Lingard here and there, Rashford be rotated and subbed on a lot. Lindelof and Smalling will play a fair few games as well as I'm almost certain we'll have an injury with Alderweirald and Bailly as the CB pairing. I would love to see Sandro and Trippier play as our fullbacks but them transfers seem to be non existent. Preferably get a RW as well, grab Dembele or Bale.
Here's how I see our starting XI next season:
Sanchez------Lukaku------Lingard
----------Pogba------Fred-------------
-----------------Matic------------------
Young-Alderweirald-Bailly-Valencia
----------------De Gea-----------------
Can see Mata start ahead from Lingard here and there, Rashford be rotated and subbed on a lot. Lindelof and Smalling will play a fair few games as well as I'm almost certain we'll have an injury with Alderweirald and Bailly as the CB pairing. I would love to see Sandro and Trippier play as our fullbacks but them transfers seem to be non existent. Preferably get a RW as well, grab Dembele or Bale.
That doesn't look like the worst setup tbh and it's really the main formation and lineup I would like us see playing this season.
Also like the call for Trippier and Sandro as I think this is at the current stage the area we need to improve most desperately and I really like both players.
Being 'realistic' is probably meaning at this point we would be lucky to sign two more players and sell Darmian, along with Rojo if one of those two signings is a central defender. Somewhat annoyingly, I think most fans would agree we are more in need of a true right-sided attacker and better fullbacks. I'm not sure if I'm correct in saying this, but does the Italian transfer window close a week later than ours? If so, I would not at all be surprised to see Darmian start our first Premier League fixture and then be shipped off. I'm hopeful we sell Darmian and replace Rojo with Alderweireld. At least we can say we have probably a stronger first XI than last season if we agree Toby is the best of our CBs and Fred is better than what we had previously for a midfield three.
A week to go with what we have at the moment, it's hard to not be disappointed even if the fault of it is mostly believing rumours. Sessegnon, Sandro, Tierney etc all quite heavily linked with us and it looks like we won't get any. I had this feeling for a while, that Sanchez was basically this Summer's big signing but signed six months earlier so he can settle in. I was hoping and hoping that wasn't the case, but our title challenge this coming season seems to be based on the idea of Pogba, Sanchez, and Lukaku all gelling and improving with us getting a 75+ goal return from them.
de Gea, Romero, Grant
Valencia, Dalot
Alderweireld, Bailly, Smalling, Jones, Lindelof, Fosu-Mensah, Tuanzebe
Young, Shaw
Pogba, Matic, Fred, Herrera, Fellaini, McTominay, Pereira
Sanchez, Lingard, Mata
Lukaku, Rashford, Martial
Realistically, there isn't much room for anyone else unless we send a couple on loan.
A week to go with what we have at the moment, it's hard to not be disappointed even if the fault of it is mostly believing rumours. Sessegnon, Sandro, Tierney etc all quite heavily linked with us and it looks like we won't get any. I had this feeling for a while, that Sanchez was basically this Summer's big signing but signed six months earlier so he can settle in. I was hoping and hoping that wasn't the case, but our title challenge this coming season seems to be based on the idea of Pogba, Sanchez, and Lukaku all gelling and improving with us getting a 75+ goal return from them.
de Gea, Romero, Grant
Valencia, Dalot
Alderweireld, Bailly, Smalling, Jones, Lindelof, Fosu-Mensah, Tuanzebe
Young, Shaw
Pogba, Matic, Fred, Herrera, Fellaini, McTominay, Pereira
Sanchez, Lingard, Mata
Lukaku, Rashford, Martial
Realistically, there isn't much room for anyone else unless we send a couple on loan.
Keeping it unrealistic, unless those who are predicting £150m in sales and 8 new players brought in during the last week of the window.
Diogo Dalot - £19.6m
Fred - £47m
Lee Grant - £1.5M
Alex Telles - £35.6m/€40m (apparent release clause)
Toby Alderweireld - £55m
Sam Johnstone - £6.5m rising to £10m to WBA
Daley Blind - £14m rising to £18m to Ajax
Matteo Darmian - £10.6m/€12m to Juventus/Inter
Marcos Rojo - £22m rising to £25m to Everton/Wolves
Axel Tuanzebe - Prem loan
-
I think that would still be feasible at this point and represent a good window overall. 3/5 ins have already been done, Alex Sandro either seems to have not happened or stalled so Telles would be an ideal 2nd choice.
25 years old, 13 assists in the Portuguese league last season, his Squawka stats from the CL last season against the premier LB's in the world (Marcelo, Alba, Alaba, Sandro) compare pretty well. Technically good, excellent crosser and a good athlete. Apparently has a €40m release clause and you would think he'd be up for swapping Porto for United so that should be a pretty quickly doable deal.
Alderweireld might be more difficult, but I would think late in the window £55m would be enough to tempt Levy and it seems the player himself wants to move as he has stalled on a new contract for a while now. He would provide experience, stability and leadership to the backline as well as more ability to play out from the back.
2/4 outs have already happened as well, and Darmian and Rojo are strongly linked with moves away. I think this is reasonable money to expect from both.
That doesn't give United the RW they are maybe looking for but I'm keeping things realistic here. If Martial stays for now, United can potential try him, Rashford, Lingard and Pereira all out on the RW and see if any of them come off. Mata hasn't really worked but could also fill in for now, and Chong might be worth a few appearances to see if he might step up sooner than expected.
If not, this is only a net spend of £105.6m (guaranteed, might be less than that after clauses are met), which should give them some money to play with if they are still in need of a right-sided attacker come January (can also potentially ship out Martial then or 1 or 2 more deadwood players).
Diogo Dalot - £19.6m
Fred - £47m
Lee Grant - £1.5M
Alex Telles - £35.6m/€40m (apparent release clause)
Toby Alderweireld - £55m
Sam Johnstone - £6.5m rising to £10m to WBA
Daley Blind - £14m rising to £18m to Ajax
Matteo Darmian - £10.6m/€12m to Juventus/Inter
Marcos Rojo - £22m rising to £25m to Everton/Wolves
Axel Tuanzebe - Prem loan
-
I think that would still be feasible at this point and represent a good window overall. 3/5 ins have already been done, Alex Sandro either seems to have not happened or stalled so Telles would be an ideal 2nd choice.
25 years old, 13 assists in the Portuguese league last season, his Squawka stats from the CL last season against the premier LB's in the world (Marcelo, Alba, Alaba, Sandro) compare pretty well. Technically good, excellent crosser and a good athlete. Apparently has a €40m release clause and you would think he'd be up for swapping Porto for United so that should be a pretty quickly doable deal.
Alderweireld might be more difficult, but I would think late in the window £55m would be enough to tempt Levy and it seems the player himself wants to move as he has stalled on a new contract for a while now. He would provide experience, stability and leadership to the backline as well as more ability to play out from the back.
2/4 outs have already happened as well, and Darmian and Rojo are strongly linked with moves away. I think this is reasonable money to expect from both.
That doesn't give United the RW they are maybe looking for but I'm keeping things realistic here. If Martial stays for now, United can potential try him, Rashford, Lingard and Pereira all out on the RW and see if any of them come off. Mata hasn't really worked but could also fill in for now, and Chong might be worth a few appearances to see if he might step up sooner than expected.
If not, this is only a net spend of £105.6m (guaranteed, might be less than that after clauses are met), which should give them some money to play with if they are still in need of a right-sided attacker come January (can also potentially ship out Martial then or 1 or 2 more deadwood players).
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We are down to the last few days, 1 in and 2 out is the best we can hope for I think, with that in mind my final ideal 11 would be this;
If not that, then this;
Unfortunately I think we'll see this;
If not that, then this;
Unfortunately I think we'll see this;
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Time's running out on this one I fear
We are down to the last few days, 1 in and 2 out is the best we can hope for I think, with that in mind my final ideal 11 would be this;
If not that, then this;
Unfortunately I think we'll see this;
Never thought I’d see the day when people are naming Valencia and Young in their “ideal XI” teams.
If we don't bring in quality LB and RW we'd struggle for top four, even with Alderweireld in. Those line-ups wit Young and Valencia as full backs makes me cringe.
Well there are 5 days left of this window and we haven't bought in those positions, just a kid who will need time, so it's the reality of our options.
With it looking likely that we'll only get a centre back, I can see Mourinho continuing with the 352 formation he has mainly used during pre season.
De Gea
Bailly Smalling Maguire
Matic
Valencia Fred Pogba Young
Lukaku Sanchez
To me, this is a pretty balanced team and brings the best out of our main players, in my opinion.
Sanchez has shown that he is much better down the middle.
Lukaku seems to be better when he has someone close to him.
Pogba playing on the left of a midfield three where he played for Juventus.
Matic playing as a holding midfielder.
Maguire, if we get him, playing on the left as part of a back three. Allows him to get forward more, meaning Matic can drop into his space.
We'd need a few upgrades going forward. Wing backs is a must. Possibly another centre back too to replace Smalling, with more of a libero. Maybe give Lindelof a chance?
I am kind of hoping we do start with a 352 against Leicester, though. We've not blown teams away, but have looked much better using a 352 in comparison to a 433.
De Gea
Bailly Smalling Maguire
Matic
Valencia Fred Pogba Young
Lukaku Sanchez
To me, this is a pretty balanced team and brings the best out of our main players, in my opinion.
Sanchez has shown that he is much better down the middle.
Lukaku seems to be better when he has someone close to him.
Pogba playing on the left of a midfield three where he played for Juventus.
Matic playing as a holding midfielder.
Maguire, if we get him, playing on the left as part of a back three. Allows him to get forward more, meaning Matic can drop into his space.
We'd need a few upgrades going forward. Wing backs is a must. Possibly another centre back too to replace Smalling, with more of a libero. Maybe give Lindelof a chance?
I am kind of hoping we do start with a 352 against Leicester, though. We've not blown teams away, but have looked much better using a 352 in comparison to a 433.
Realistic: 4-3-3 as the main, with switching to 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 when of the ball.
DDG
Valencia - Alderweireld - Bailly - Young
Fred - Matic - Pogba
Sanchez - Lukaku - Martial
With Dalot, Lindelof, Pereira and Rashford as additional starters. Fellaini as impact sub.
Rojo, Jones, Smalling, Shaw, Herrera, McTominay, Mata: Get rid off.
DDG
Valencia - Alderweireld - Bailly - Young
Fred - Matic - Pogba
Sanchez - Lukaku - Martial
With Dalot, Lindelof, Pereira and Rashford as additional starters. Fellaini as impact sub.
Rojo, Jones, Smalling, Shaw, Herrera, McTominay, Mata: Get rid off.
I like your 1st formation. Pogba was really good in a midfield of 2 for France. IMO if we have 3 at the back, there's no need for Matic in front of the defense (unless we want to be more defensive vs a top team).We are down to the last few days, 1 in and 2 out is the best we can hope for I think, with that in mind my final ideal 11 would be this;
If not that, then this;
Unfortunately I think we'll see this;
Our main problem was creating goal opportunities last season, so a player behind Sanchez - Lukaku and wingbacks to provide width could work.
It would be great if we sign a wingback like Sessegnon (with Dalot on the right).
I'm not going to lie, I completely missed the possibility of Sessegnon at LWB, he's not the best defensively but people have been suggesting Perisic at LWB and he's better at defending than him. I don't think he wants to leave Fulham yet but if we could buy him and then loan him back for the season that could be beneficial for us as it would allow us to get the last good year or two out of Young and then have a ready made replacement next year while young shows him the way as back-up/coach similar to what Carrick is doing with Peraira.
If We don't sign anyone else (God I hope not) then I'd like to see us trying this formation. Valencia and Young won't be LM/RM but essentially playing as wingbacks, providing width and defensive work rate. Don't really know if Shaw and Dalot could play as wingbacks, but Valencia and Young will definitely work their arses off. I wish to see Dalot being tried on this formation as well. We'll have width but won't be relying on it. Pogba and/or Fred could bomb forward. Lukaku always stays up front with Sanchez as the second striker. Sanchez could either drift wide or stay in the middle. Since our wingers are shit, We might as well play with two strikers. Matic will be a DM and could drop and help our CBs when needed although that would only happen when We are so deep in the defensive line, otherwise He'll stay in the middle.
Ideally We'd have at least three man in the middle, five man maximum and should be able to win the ball in the midfield. Relying on "Wing backs" for width and play mostly through the middle with one of Fred or Pogba joining the attack with Sanchez and Lukaku. We could try with Martial or Rashford up front as well.
