Zero Wide Forwards 2013-

[marktan]

It's been obvious for a long time that we haven't had wide forwards that can actually beat a man since SAF's time. Rashford and Greenwood are both converted strikers, neither have dribbling ability. Not since Nani and Valencia have we had wide players that actually can beat a man.

All top teams have wide players that can dribble - it's crucial against teams that sit back like Palace today. Think Mane/Salah, Son, Sterling, Sane.. we have none. Hell even the lower teams have better combinations than us - Palace have Zaha and Townsend, even that Eze guy looks good on the ball. Newcastle have Saint-Maximin and Almiron who can both run at players. Some of those may not be as good as Rashford and Greenwood in their overall play/finishing - but what they have is that they can run at player and beat a man. Our only outball today was Shaw's overlapping runs.

We were after Sancho but didn't sign him, fair enough if he's too expensive but there are alternatives. I have no idea why we've signed another midfielder in VDB when for about 6 years now we've needed an actual dribblinng wide player.

 

[DevilRed]

Can't put in a cross.

Can't beat a defender.

Rashford, James very inept today. Even TFM put in a decent cross ffs.

Where is the improvement?

 

[Josep Dowling]

Rashford has been crap since his back injury. James is just crap. Greenwood isn’t a winger. So we try to sign the most expensive player available on the market rather than signing a viable player. Manchester United in 2020 pretty much summed up.

 

[Raw]

It's fine if we had fullbacks that can do that job. Alas we've got feck all width there too.

 

[diarm]

Having 3 forwards like Marcus, Mason and Martial could work if we had fullbacks capable of providing genuine width and attacking threat. As it is, we play game after game, and season after season with no wingers and no attacking fullbacks and then wonder to ourselves why we attack like shit.

 

[DevilRed]

Having 3 forwards like Marcus, Mason and Martial could work if we had fullbacks capable of providing genuine width and attacking threat. As it is, we play game after game, and season after season with no wingers and no attacking fullbacks and then wonder to ourselves why we attack like shit.

To be fair, you'd expect Rashford to improve and learn how to put in a good delivery or be able to beat a defender like Zaha can.

Haven't seen it at all for the last few months. Not sure if he is still injured or just in poor form.

 

[In Rainbows]

Having 3 forwards like Marcus, Mason and Martial could work if we had fullbacks capable of providing genuine width and attacking threat. As it is, we play game after game, and season after season with no wingers and no attacking fullbacks and then wonder to ourselves why we attack like shit.

Agreed.

 

[Fosu-Mens]

It's fine if we had fullbacks that can do that job. Alas we've got feck all width there too.

Usually fullbacks, but we should be able to interchange positions in the final third i.e. midfielders going wide, fullbacks going centrally... Or our inside forwards going wide, and fullbacks/midfielders making runs between the oppositions fullback and centreback. Makes it so much harder for a parked bus to stay compact and structurally correct.

 

[United492]

Rashford hasn't ever been anything more than decent. But he's English. English = massive over hype. Fair play, he's exceeded expectations in everything he's done off the pitch, but I don't think he'll ever live up to expectations on it.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

IMO trio Mason, Martial, Marcus are fine and promising as long as we have attacking full back like Telles. We can also play diamond to get the best out of VDB, Pogba & Bruno in midfield as long as we have attacking full back like Telles to provide the creativity in the wide area. We need a more dominant ball playing centre back here.

 

[Icemav]

Having 3 forwards like Marcus, Mason and Martial could work if we had fullbacks capable of providing genuine width and attacking threat. As it is, we play game after game, and season after season with no wingers and no attacking fullbacks and then wonder to ourselves why we attack like shit.

Absolutely spot on. We need to choose one or the other at the very least. We have neither right now and therefore we are going to struggle. God look at Bayern, they pick whatever tactic they want due to having attacking fullbacks AND wingers. Not to mention an amazing playmaker also at right back.

We have some talent through the middle but opposition will fill that space with numbers making it very difficult and try to hit us aggressively on the counter.

Until we sort out this fullback and winger problem we are going to get some very tough times from opponents. The blueprint to beat us consistently is there and there is also almost nothing we can do to stop it presently unless Ole shows himself to be a tactical genius (unlikely).

It really is all on Ole to not make this a painful season because if we keep setting up as we are there is going to be feeding frenzy.