12 Oct 2018 17:35:32
Given how little Phil I trip over my own feet Jones and Marcos Rojo play for united I would like to see them moved on in January.
I would love to see the club peruse the likes of De Ligt from Ajax and Felix Uduokhai at Wolfsburg.
I know they are both young, but I think they both have massive potential. I was really impressed with De Ligt when we played Ajax in the Europa League final. I thought he really stood out.
I know some would prefer the likes of Toby Alderweireld or another experienced pro, but I would prefer to see us picking up an emerging talent. De Ligt has played at a high level and stood out. I know the Dutch league is seen as weak, but Stam, van nistelrooy, overmars van Persie to name a few all came to the EPL and did well. Let's get back to the club that showed faith in emerging talent rather than a last big pay day for an ageing star.
Phil Jones and Rojo have had their chance, have collected big wages and have rarely turned up and justified those wages. All they are good for is keeping the medical team busy.
Who would you like to see come in?
12 Oct 2018 18:41:08
The best centre back we could get is Kalidou Kouilbaly. I agree De Ligt will most likely be world class sooner rather than later, but I Koulibaly would be perfect in my opinion.
12 Oct 2018 18:50:14
Agree with the philosophy.
There has been talk previously about Milan Skriniar and Alessio Romagnoli, who are both 23 and so fit the profile of the other players that you mentioned above.
12 Oct 2018 18:53:22
Koulibaly is an awesome defender and would have no issue with the physicality of the premiership. He would cost a frightening amount of money.
12 Oct 2018 21:13:29
When Eric Bailey came in everyone was excited by the potential. He did well till last season and was in everyone's potential team. This season a little dip in form and half the people have already discarded him as a flop. People now want a brand new CB. How long do you think it will take the fans to come to the conclusion that de ligt isn't going to make it in this league ( if we somehow manage to sign him) .
I still consider that Bailey is one of the best CB in our league and Lindelof is always improving. If our team is pinned back for 80 minutes in a match and we expect our defenders to keep soaking all the pressure then it's too much. You can think of the 2 best CBs ever to have touched the ball and place them in our team and I guarantee that they will make mistakes if we keep playing this brand of football.
12 Oct 2018 23:00:31
Sailor, nobody mentioned bailey or Lindelof. I said given how often jones and Rojo are injured/ unavailable I would move them on. And given modern football is a squad game I was saying I would rather we brought in potential. This would allow the likes of bailey and Lindelof to establish themselves as the senior defenders whilst the potential rotate in and out and get experience. They then can take on the senior role in a few seasons as bailey and Lindelof get older.
At the moment we lack depth that can be relied on. Jones comes in for a few games and either trips over his own feet or injured himself.
I agree that bailey looked good last season, but after many injuries he lost momentum and Jose’s confidence. I am a little concerned by his injuries especially when his game is based on being so physical, as likely to pick up more injuries.
13 Oct 2018 00:03:10
Huggy i agree. I tgink we have a good 14 or 15 but that we have 6 or so players that make little or no contribution or impact and provide no competition to those ahead of them. And when we do have to rely on them they are not up to the task.
You mention jones rojo but i think you can add darmian young valencia and herrera to that list.
I like herrera best out of that bunch and white smalling and fellaini do play ok they imo are not good enough over a season to be playing 20 plus games and compete to win a league. They have all been here 4 plus years and are either well past their best or not going to improve enough to be regular starters big money tied up in qages for players not making an impact often enough.
13 Oct 2018 07:10:35
Spot on ken, the only thing i disagree on is “white Smalling” (only kidding, got to love auto correct) .
13 Oct 2018 07:38:28
Skriniar looks like a very good player from what I've seen of him, as does De Ligt. Upamecano is another young but very promising player who looks like he will become an excellent defender.
Even though we clearly need a bit of a clear out in defence with the likes of Jones, Smalling, Darmian and Rojo all not being good enough in my opinion plus we also have Young and Valencia being out of contract, hoping Shaw signs an extension. Surely if even half of the above leave we need so PL experience in defence? I'd go back to Spurs for Alderweireld in January or the summer as well as looking to bring in someone like De Ligt, Skriniar or Upamecano. We will also need to address right back and sign another left back to either back up Shaw or replace him if he leaves.
Baring in mind that is just the defence, it's a huge rebuild of a squad.
13 Oct 2018 09:59:53
Thats all great but if Jose stays we all know he's not going for a young cb with potential.
He wants experience and a level head. Someone with the ability to bring the ball into midfield and play. Hence why he plays midfielders at the back. Smalling, Jones and as much as I rate him, Bailey all give the ball away too easy. Lindeloff I havnt decided on yet but prepared to give him time.
We need a Rio. Someone who can read the game but have the confidence to stroll into midfield and switch the play if needed. Football has moved on. Defenders don't just defend. As same as now gks are the start of an attack these days, defenders are an important part of the transition. If the defence is coming into midfield it gives our attacking players a chance to get higher up the pitch and stretch teams. We all know we have fantastic attacking players but I am so bored of seeing Lukaku 40 yards out trying, with his back to goal trying to hold a ball up.
13 Oct 2018 13:59:07
At one point in the summer it looked like rojo and Smalling might have been on their way. When that didn't happen it was probably the biggest disappointment. There's too many average players here and between January an July we need to clear the decks. For me the biggest disappointment would be a new manager coming in and declaring everyone gets a clean state. We know who the underperformers are and need to get them moving on.
{Ed002's Note - I havd forgotten about the bicycle day.}