The Manchester United Thread

Why are you so bothered about money? I want the best players playing in every position, but more than that I want players that I genuinely love, players that have a bond with the fans and represent who we are as a club. David De Gea is a club icon now, a player that has gone through a lot of negative press and come out stronger for it, a player that us fans believed in and a player that has become one of the best in the world.

Why anyone would want to lose that, I will never understand.
 
fuelledbypassion said:
Why are you so bothered about money? I want the best players playing in every position, but more than that I want players that I genuinely love, players that have a bond with the fans and represent who we are as a club. David De Gea is a club icon now, a player that has gone through a lot of negative press and come out stronger for it, a player that us fans believed in and a player that has become one of the best in the world.

Why anyone would want to lose that, I will never understand.
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I dont want him to go but people are acting like its gonna be the end of the world if he does. If he wants to go then let him go and make sure we get the best deal we can from it and strengthen other key areas of the team. We dont need to sell De Gea and spend £30m on a replacement is all im saying. The money can be used elsewhere. We only need a decent keeper if the rest of the team is up to scratch. Like I pointed out about Valdes and Barcelona, and more recently Casillas and Real Madrid.
 
steveorobbo said:
I dont want him to go but people are acting like its gonna be the end of the world if he does. If he wants to go then let him go and make sure we get the best deal we can from it and strengthen other key areas of the team. We dont need to sell De Gea and spend £30m on a replacement is all im saying. The money can be used elsewhere. We only need a decent keeper if the rest of the team is up to scratch. Like I pointed out about Valdes and Barcelona, and more recently Casillas and Real Madrid.
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I'd give Valdes a go if De Gea leaves, I'd agree with that. Why sign a player if you don't trust his ability to play?

But it would be a huge blow if De Gea leaves, he could be our 'keeper for a decade and is one of the best in the world. It's as big to me as Ronaldo leaving, you don't want world class players leaving because they don't come around too often, regardless of their position in the team.
 
fuelledbypassion said:
I'd give Valdes a go if De Gea leaves, I'd agree with that. Why sign a player if you don't trust his ability to play?

But it would be a huge blow if De Gea leaves, he could be our 'keeper for a decade and is one of the best in the world. It's as big to me as Ronaldo leaving, you don't want world class players leaving because they don't come around too often, regardless of their position in the team.
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Completely agree on the Ronaldo comparison.

After all the dross you went through after Schmeichel (who's the best 'keeper I've ever seen FWIW being as I was a little too young and only saw the back end of Clemence's time. He single handedly won you a few of those titles and was, along with first Ince and then Keane, the major difference between us in the '90's. You had the top class 'keeper and dominant ball winner/ driving force we lacked. The presence of that guy in nets was immense); to finally replace him with a top class talent at such a vital position who's been the major difference in Utd getting the Champions League place back and then lose him before his career has really got started would be a massive loss and set back to the rebuild IMHO.

The problem you have is the lure of Madrid to a Spaniard. No less one born there. I just don't see how Utd can turn that back around if his mind/ heart is set.
 
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De Gea is out of our hands now, we can pretty much only hope now that he will stay. We should focus on what it is we have to do and that is making sure to strengthen the key areas that need it. If De Gea leaves we'll have to replace him with another keeper, in my opinion Valdes isn't a good fit to be no.1 at United. Don't get me wrong his shot stopping is great but I want someone of the Van Der Sar and Schmeichel mould again who really dominates, organises and communicates the defence effectively. My answer would be Petr Cech.

Combine these traits of our keeper with a commanding CB brought in it would go a long way to solving our problems that we have had this season.
 
zzezzy nails it. I have zero issues with Valdes as a shot stopper, but he isn't great in the air. This is something that is rarely exposed in Spain, but here (and in the CL) it matters hugely, hence De Gea's initial struggles. Unless he were to dramatically improve over the summer, then we are weak there. We need to combine an aerial presence with a line leading defender, should we lose De Gea.
 
zzeezzy said:
De Gea is out of our hands now, we can pretty much only hope now that he will stay. We should focus on what it is we have to do and that is making sure to strengthen the key areas that need it. If De Gea leaves we'll have to replace him with another keeper, in my opinion Valdes isn't a good fit to be no.1 at United. Don't get me wrong his shot stopping is great but I want someone of the Van Der Sar and Schmeichel mould again who really dominates, organises and communicates the defence effectively. My answer would be Petr Cech.

Combine these traits of our keeper with a commanding CB brought in it would go a long way to solving our problems that we have had this season.
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Yeah, a pre-requisist of being a 'keeper in the English game is being dominant in the air and commanding in the box. Valdez has never had that in his game.

Cech would be perfect for either Arsenal, Utd or L'pool, but I can't see Mourinho letting Cech go to a rival, regardless of what he says.

I don't know where you turn. Maybe Germany with some of their good young 'keepers coming through or Italy. Horn at Koln for instance, whom I've taken time out to watch in a couple of their games this past year, has really impressed me. But then you'll have to have the patience to stick with them as they adapt to a new Country and the crazy nature of our league.

The De Gea situation has uprooted one of the few positions Utd were solidly set at going forward.
 
Mike. said:
zzezzy nails it. I have zero issues with Valdes as a shot stopper, but he isn't great in the air. This is something that is rarely exposed in Spain, but here (and in the CL) it matters hugely, hence De Gea's initial struggles. Unless he were to dramatically improve over the summer, then we are weak there. We need to combine an aerial presence with a line leading defender, should we lose De Gea.
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But why sign Valdes at all then? He won't stay for more than one year as a number two. I can only presume he was signed with De Gea's contract situation in mind.
 
Scouseinthehouse said:
Yeah, a pre-requisist of being a 'keeper in the English game is being dominant in the air and commanding in the box. Valdez has never had that in his game.

Cech would be perfect for either Arsenal, Utd or L'pool, but I can't see Mourinho letting Cech go to a rival, regardless of what he says.

I don't know where you turn. Maybe Germany with some of their good young 'keepers coming through or Italy. Horn at Koln for instance, whom I've taken time out to watch in a couple of their games this past year, has really impressed me. But then you'll have to have the patience to stick with them as they adapt to a new Country and the crazy nature of our league.

The De Gea situation has uprooted one of the few positions Utd were solidly set at going forward.
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Actually I genuinely believe Mourinho on this one, think Cech will decide on where he goes because he has given absolutely everything for Chelsea and even this season when he has suddenly become understudy, remained the top professional that he is.
 
Why does nobody seem to want Begovic? He'd be available relatively cheaply, knows the league well and is an all round solid goalkeeper. With a solid back 4 and holding midfielder infront of him I think he'd be more than capable.
 
Scouseinthehouse said:
Yeah, a pre-requisist of being a 'keeper in the English game is being dominant in the air and commanding in the box. Valdez has never had that in his game.

Cech would be perfect for either Arsenal, Utd or L'pool, but I can't see Mourinho letting Cech go to a rival, regardless of what he says.

I don't know where you turn. Maybe Germany with some of their good young 'keepers coming through or Italy. Horn at Koln for instance, whom I've taken time out to watch in a couple of their games this past year, has really impressed me. But then you'll have to have the patience to stick with them as they adapt to a new Country and the crazy nature of our league.

The De Gea situation has uprooted one of the few positions Utd were solidly set at going forward.
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Lloris or Handanovic are alternatives. Though Cech will go where Roman allows, Jose has said he wants to jeep him but its out of his hands.
 
fuelledbypassion said:
But why sign Valdes at all then? He won't stay for more than one year as a number two. I can only presume he was signed with De Gea's contract situation in mind.
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Exactly that, to protect us in contracts and in the market. Worst case scenario we still have a very good, albeit slightly flawed, keeper.
 
steveorobbo said:
Why does nobody seem to want Begovic? He'd be available relatively cheaply, knows the league well and is an all round solid goalkeeper. With a solid back 4 and holding midfielder infront of him I think he'd be more than capable.
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He's exactly that, an all round solid keeper, but nothing more. He should be 3rd option or 4th, nothing more. More rounded than Valdes, but that's about it.

If DDG goes, Cech/Lloris/Leno - in that order. Cech - there will be competition for his signature. Lloris, Levy will be a PITA to deal with. I really like Leno, but he'll have to adapt to a new league and what not - but it'll be made slightly easier with Valdes to ease him through.
 
A shocking stat

Moving on to players that struggled in front of goal, it was a season to forget for Radamel Falcao. The Colombian registered just four league goals in his debut season in the Premier League - the same total as Chris Smalling - but perhaps more shockingly he recorded just a single shot on target since his last strike at the end of January. As if that needed to be put into perspective, that's half the figure of Paddy McNair over the same period and also half that of Arsenal youngster Chuba Akpom (2), who played just 21 league minutes since the start of February.
 
MANUMAD said:
Moving on to players that struggled in front of goal, it was a season to forget for Radamel Falcao. The Colombian registered just four league goals in his debut season in the Premier League - the same total as Chris Smalling - but perhaps more shockingly he recorded just a single shot on target since his last strike at the end of January. As if that needed to be put into perspective, that's half the figure of Paddy McNair over the same period and also half that of Arsenal youngster Chuba Akpom (2), who played just 21 league minutes since the start of February.
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Yeah, it was such a shame Falcao didn't work out, I really liked him. I've also got this niggly feeling that wherever he goes next, he'll be back to the same old Falcao that he was at Porto/Atleti. :\
 
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