The Manchester United Thread

[sunilvk7]

It is very likely we'll switch to a 4-3-3, should we get di Maria. But we need a proper CM to shield the defence (Fletcher pre-illness, anyone?) I reckon we'll get Blind or de Jong for it, but apparently, according to Blind himself, there has been no news at from quite a while regarding United. Why are we leaving it so late? Makes me wonder if we'll get him at all.. :\ In a 4-3-3, di Maria and Mata/Januzaj can play out wide, however, probably one of Rooney/RvP will have to sit out, or Rooney has to go midfield..

Yeah, going by LVG we are playing this formation to play Mata, Rooney and RVP in their best position. So to play all 3 we need to either play flexible formations where Mata and Rooney can swap positions consistently or play Diamond where Di Maria can play as 1 of 3 CMs with more license to attack, just like he played for Madrid in a midfield 3.

Like you said we need at least 1 more CM, hopefully Vidal, that would be just amazing. Carvalho would be good too to play Diamond formation. All these days I was against De Jong signing, now I would be delighted with the signing. Fletcher is done, Cleverley is useless, Anderson is again injured. Should offload all 3 players.

Hopefully we switch to 4 man defense with Rojo and Jones as our CBs.

Also re yesterday's performance, it was crappy but we were without half of the first team players.

Rafael, Shaw, Rojo, Evans, Carrick, Herrera are all our first choice players and all were missing. This stop start season already is very frustrating for coaches too.

 

[Sherkey]

Yeah, going by LVG we are playing this formation to play Mata, Rooney and RVP in their best position. So to play all 3 we need to either play flexible formations where Mata and Rooney can swap positions consistently or play Diamond where Di Maria can play as 1 of 3 CMs with more license to attack, just like he played for Madrid in a midfield 3.

Like you said we need at least 1 more CM, hopefully Vidal, that would be just amazing. Carvalho would be good too to play Diamond formation. All these days I was against De Jong signing, now I would be delighted with the signing. Fletcher is done, Cleverley is useless, Anderson is again injured. Should offload all 3 players.

Hopefully we switch to 4 man defense with Rojo and Jones as our CBs.

Also re yesterday's performance, it was crappy but we were without half of the first team players.

Rafael, Shaw, Rojo, Evans, Carrick, Herrera are all our first choice players and all were missing. This stop start season already is very frustrating for coaches too.

Well yeah, Cleverley had a bad game yesterday, and so did Fletcher. My main issue with this formation is we're not able to fit Adnan Januzaj anywhere. He's not a wingback, and asking him to do that is a waste of his talents. He's not a typical striker, but can be decent enough there. He sure as helll isn't a CM, given that he was played there yesterday. Considering his pace and flair, we'd be better of playing him in the wings.

Vidal and Carvalho, there's no way of that happening. I was extremely cross when Vidal's supposed deadline to leave was passed by w/o anything from us, but considering I've heard lately that he's still having knee problems, I can understand why. I'm guessing we'll go for de Jong. He'd be a stop-gap measure until LvG can get Strootman (whether we can get him is a whole different scenario..)

I'd rather have Evans and Jones. I know both are right-footed, but having both Jones and Rojo (2 young defenders) in a 2-man defence can lead to panicky situations. Evans would be a nice foil to Jones, staying back and calmly organising defence.

In a midfield 3, yeah, I can see di Maria as an attacking CM. But how does Diamond work as a formation exactly? One CM, with two wide men and an attacking CM?

 

[sunilvk7]

Well yeah, Cleverley had a bad game yesterday, and so did Fletcher. My main issue with this formation is we're not able to fit Adnan Januzaj anywhere. He's not a wingback, and asking him to do that is a waste of his talents. He's not a typical striker, but can be decent enough there. He sure as helll isn't a CM, given that he was played there yesterday. Considering his pace and flair, we'd be better of playing him in the wings.

Vidal and Carvalho, there's no way of that happening. I was extremely cross when Vidal's supposed deadline to leave was passed by w/o anything from us, but considering I've heard lately that he's still having knee problems, I can understand why. I'm guessing we'll go for de Jong. He'd be a stop-gap measure until LvG can get Strootman (whether we can get him is a whole different scenario..)

I'd rather have Evans and Jones. I know both are right-footed, but having both Jones and Rojo (2 young defenders) in a 2-man defence can lead to panicky situations. Evans would be a nice foil to Jones, staying back and calmly organising defence.

In a midfield 3, yeah, I can see di Maria as an attacking CM. But how does Diamond work as a formation exactly? One CM, with two wide men and an attacking CM?

DM --> Carrick
2 CMs --> Herrera and Di Maria, Di Maria can stretch play drifting wide whereas Herrera can play through the middle.
AM - Mata/Januzaj who can drift wide if needed.

 

[Sherkey]

DM --> Carrick
2 CMs --> Herrera and Di Maria, Di Maria can stretch play drifting wide whereas Herrera can play through the middle.
AM - Mata/Januzaj who can drift wide if needed.

Hm.. Playing Carrick there largely depends on Herrera's role, I guess.. If Herrera is playing BTB, then Carrick is a good option;; If Herrera is dictating play, then i'd rather get someone a bit sturdier as a Ball Winner, rather than a playmaker like Carrick. But then again, we need proper wingbacks for this, so Shaw and Rafael are vital, if not, we'll be screwed for width (although possession retention and passing will be excellent//) Since, if either Januzaj or di Maria try to drift wide, they'll need backup in the form of wingbacks, else, they'll just get the ball stolen from them..

 

[Sherkey]

I was thinking more along the lines of this..

DDG
Rafael--Evans--Jones --Shaw
DM

di Maria ------Mata/Januzaj(wide)
Rooney
RvP.


with Januzaj/Mata and di Maria drifting in, and di Maria also tracking back to help DM out.. with the DM occasioanlly surging forward when support is present. But it leaves out a lot of out players, and I guess too much space to be exploited..

 

[sunilvk7]

Sky Sports Football ✔ @SkyFootball
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Angel Di Maria will fly in at lunchtime to undergo a medical ahead of a British record £63.9m move to Man Utd.

 

[sunilvk7]

Sport Witness ‏@Sport_Witness 1m

Di Maria refused to join PSG, even if Real Madrid could sort a deal, because he wanted Manchester United move. [AS]

 

[zzeezzy]

Maybe next time :O

There shouldn't ever be a next time, when we're splashing the cash on Di Maria there should be the same on areas we desperately need... I don't care if it's a big name or a small name, we need improvement in CM especially and probably CB as well.

But I don't necessarily agree with with LFCMarshal said because Liverpool and Arsenal got top 4 last season and I don't think any of their CB's are particularly outstanding.

 

[zzeezzy]

I personally think United really need a CB.

Jones, Smalling, Evans, Blackett, Keane, Rojo are not good enough options for a side wanting to get top 4/ title challenging

I actually think the Di Maria money could be better spent on a CB and a CM. (No getting away Di Maria is an outstanding player though)

You're right there is definitely priority of a CM and possibly a CB at the moment. But like I mentioned in last post, I kind of disagree because I don't think Liverpool or Arsenal necessarily have ever had an outstanding defender last few seasons and have managed top 4.

But when there is a player like Di Maria available (admittedly at a high price, but club is rolling in money), it is not only necessary to get it done but it's obvious the whole club needs a lift, so this could be it.

It's a little bit like when Ozil went to Arsenal but IMO this is bigger because United have craved for that winger ever since Ronaldo left.

Plus the window is not closed yet, so I'm still hoping we'll get a CM and possibly CB in.

 

[sunilvk7]

How do you guys rate our transfer window if we don't sign anyone after Di Maria?


I for one would be happy. Yes we still need CM but we have done some excellent business in this window and most importantly improved our first 11.


Shaw: Upgrade on Evra. Addressed LB issue.
Herrera: Better than all our CMs, again upgraded. Not completely but addressed part of CM issues.
Rojo: Haven't seen much, this is one one agre where we have regressed as we had Vidic playing there. Also Vidic was on decline so we have added a Good CB (going by who have watched him) who has room for improvement.
Di Maria: Absolutely super signing.


We still need a DM but we have signed players who will improve our first 11 rather than just squad.

 

[zzeezzy]

How do you guys rate our transfer window if we don't sign anyone after Di Maria?


I for one would be happy. Yes we still need CM but we have done some excellent business in this window and most importantly improved our first 11.


Shaw: Upgrade on Evra. Addressed LB issue.
Herrera: Better than all our CMs, again upgraded. Not completely but addressed part of CM issues.
Rojo: Haven't seen much, this is one one agre where we have regressed as we had Vidic playing there. Also Vidic was on decline so we have added a Good CB (going by who have watched him) who has room for improvement.
Di Maria: Absolutely super signing.


We still need a DM but we have signed players who will improve our first 11 rather than just squad.

Still a failure of a window, we've seen that the issues are in midfield mainly, so if we don't bring in a player like Blind or De Jong I'll be disappointed.

 

[zzeezzy]

We can have the best attack in the world but if we can't control games in the middle of the park then their time on the ball will be much more limited anyway therefore making them less effective.

 

[zzeezzy]

Oh and you have to take into account the players we have lost in defence... Vidic, Rio + Evra were huge players for us, not only on the field but off it as well. Now we've only brought in one CB (Rojo) and one LB (Shaw) whilst relying on Ashley ******* Young as cover and Antonio Valencia as RB cover for Rafael.

 

[sunilvk7]

Still a failure of a window, we've seen that the issues are in midfield mainly, so if we don't bring in a player like Blind or De Jong I'll be disappointed.

We have signed Herrera who is a CM. Blind is not a quality addition who will improve our first 11, he is an excellent addition to the squad. Yeah we still need one more CM for sure but failing to do that can't be a failure. We have signed some excellent players in this window.

Oh and you have to take into account the players we have lost in defence... Vidic, Rio + Evra were huge players for us, not only on the field but off it as well. Now we've only brought in one CB (Rojo) and one LB (Shaw) whilst relying on Ashley ******* Young as cover and Antonio Valencia as RB cover for Rafael.

Evra, Rio were done. They were on decline and not top quality anymore. They will be missed in the dressing room but you can't replace that by signing players. They know the club well and that's the reason they will be missed as a leaders.

Shaw is an improvement on Evra, Rio won't be missed on the field. Only Vidic is the player who is a major loss in CB.

If we switch to 4 man defense then Jones can cover for RB which is not ideal but it's just an option and Rojo is a very good LB as he showed it in World cup.

 

[zzeezzy]

We have signed Herrera who is a CM. Blind is not a quality addition who will improve our first 11, he is an excellent addition to the squad. Yeah we still need one more CM for sure but failing to do that can't be a failure. We have signed some excellent players in this window.



Evra, Rio were done. They were on decline and not top quality anymore. They will be missed in the dressing room but you can't replace that by signing players. They know the club well and that's the reason they will be missed as a leaders.

Shaw is an improvement on Evra, Rio won't be missed on the field. Only Vidic is the player who is a major loss in CB.

If we switch to 4 man defense then Jones can cover for RB which is not ideal but it's just an option and Rojo is a very good LB as he showed it in World cup.

We've signed Herrera as a CM you're right, but we still desperately lack that dynamic defensive/ball-winning midfielder, at the moment our midfield is been poor in both games because of this. I didn't see all of Sunderland game, but against Swansea the midfield didn't even track back enough, could of prevented 1st goal.

Whether they were done or not done, it's still better depth than what we have now, would you take Young over Evra? Young is a failed winger on too high wages to shift therefore we have to use him somewhere and he's bad everywhere. We badly lack Vidic's dominance and leadership qualities.

I still stick to my points that if that type of CM we desperately need isn't brought in, we will struggle badly this season and it will be a failure of a window.

Also another reason why I think it will be a failure is because we haven't shifted enough deadwood (so far anyway), I don't want to see like Anderson, Cleverley, Fellaini, Young wear the shirt again because they don't deserve it, they don't fulfill any roles we need and they are just really poor.

I'd rather see someone from the reserves or youth be given a chance if we're in desperation again in midfield (like yesterday) rather than see Cleverley get his 100th chance to fail again.

 

[roberdooo]

We've signed Herrera as a CM you're right, but we still desperately lack that dynamic defensive/ball-winning midfielder, at the moment our midfield is been poor in both games because of this. I didn't see all of Sunderland game, but against Swansea the midfield didn't even track back enough, could of prevented 1st goal. Whether they were done or not done, it's still better depth than what we have now, would you take Young over Evra? Young is a failed winger on too high wages to shift therefore we have to use him somewhere and he's bad everywhere. We badly lack Vidic's dominance and leadership qualities. I still stick to my points that if that type of CM we desperately need isn't brought in, we will struggle badly this season and it will be a failure of a window.Also another reason why I think it will be a failure is because we haven't shifted enough deadwood (so far anyway), I don't want to see like Anderson, Cleverley, Fellaini, Young wear the shirt again because they don't deserve it, they don't fulfill any roles we need and they are just really poor.I'd rather see someone from the reserves or youth be given a chance if we're in desperation again in midfield (like yesterday) rather than see Cleverley get his 100th chance to fail again.

couldn't agree more. Hope Pearson gets his shot tomorrow.

 

[iNickStuff]

Still need another full back I feel, and a central defender. Central midfield isn't my main concern, it's the defence. If that is strengthened more, issues elsewhere will be mitigated.

Having said that, this window has been far from a failure.

 

[zzeezzy]

Still need another full back I feel, and a central defender. Central midfield isn't my main concern, it's the defence. If that is strengthened more, issues elsewhere will be mitigated.

Having said that, this window has been far from a failure.

Hold on... so if the defence is improved, that shall make the issue of our weak midfield better? Sorry don't get that logic, midfield has been the biggest issue for a long time now, one signing of Herrera does not solve it, we're lacking a destroyer, or a ball-winning aggressive midfielder and have done for some time. Someone to just protect the defence better in some way.

Just look at the game against Swansea, we struggled against Shelvey and Ki!

Improving our defence won't make Cleverley, Fletcher, Anderson or Fellaini any better. Or suddenly match them to a role we need in our midfield either.

Cattermole was MOTM yesterday.. says a lot huh?

 

[hughesman]

How do you guys rate our transfer window if we don't sign anyone after Di Maria?


I for one would be happy. Yes we still need CM but we have done some excellent business in this window and most importantly improved our first 11.


Shaw: Upgrade on Evra. Addressed LB issue.
Herrera: Better than all our CMs, again upgraded. Not completely but addressed part of CM issues.
Rojo: Haven't seen much, this is one one agre where we have regressed as we had Vidic playing there. Also Vidic was on decline so we have added a Good CB (going by who have watched him) who has room for improvement.
Di Maria: Absolutely super signing.


We still need a DM but we have signed players who will improve our first 11 rather than just squad.

I am happy with the window, I mean lets face it, even though we did badly last year, this has been our best window in years IMO. Herrera, Rojo, Shaw quality future prospects but can also amke an immediate impact as well as Di Maria who is frankly one of the worlds best players.
Although I don't think we have addressed the LB position 100%. Yes we signed Shaw, brilliant, but we also lost Evra at the same time and Buttner so we really only have one back up LB and that is Rojo, who is more of a CB than LB and may have to do a lot of playing as a CB if these injuries in defense continue to plague us like they have for the past few years. So that may be a problem.

 

[Theatreof Dreams]

Guys we do not need any more defenders, we need CMs!