Manchester United Banter Archive April 26 2013

 

Use our rumours form to send us manchester united transfer rumours.


26 Apr 2013 23:30:23
Fergie has said they will "push the boat out" to get the players they need.

Believable0 Unbelievable0

If you are going to quote then quote correctly. He said we will push the boat out if somebody became available who suited us 'irrespective of the players we have'. This is different to pushing the boat out to get the players we need.

He actually said we need two players, but we all know by now not to listen to a word he says in his press conference surely?

Agree0 Disagree0

Not entirely true, in the past when fergie has said we won't buy anyone, that was what happened. So in his conference this time he said we are looking for two players possibly but if someone came along with the right credentials then we will bid for him. So I think we should expect two signings definitely but might be three if the right player was available.
Nomidfield

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 22:06:35
Why the hell are people so desperate to get rid of Wayne Rooney? It truly baffles me. Have you forgotten what this guy has done for this club over the years? 400 appearances, 150+ goals, player of the year and he has made MASSIVE contributions to FIVE successful Premier League campaigns, among other honours. This is a guy who gives 100% every time he wears the shirt, a guy who would sacrifice himself for the team without a second thought. No matter what star names have come and gone, Wayne Rooney has been our most IMPORTANT player, and remains so to this day. Has his form dipped this season? Yes, but he has also been excellent at times. I understand maybe people still feel resentment towards him for the whole contract fiasco last time around, but keep the past in the past and move on. Wayne has more than proven his loyalty to us all. Let's not give up on him, he's well and truly one of us after all, he loves this club.

Wayne Rooney will go down as one of our club's greatest ever players, a true legend already and with hopefully a hell of a lot more to come.

GRD {Ed007's Note - Hear hear mate, well said.}

Believable0 Unbelievable0

Totally agree with you a legend to be, hope he stays and becomes one of the best ever.
BIGAL REDFOREVER

Agree0 Disagree0

GRD

Where were you mate? Hit the nail on the head my friend. Good shout.

Deeps.

Agree0 Disagree0

I totally agree with you 100 percent. why would anyone fan want us to cash in on him! A player who has dedicated 8 years or so for us, won us titles and is our second highest goal scorer of all time. I think fans are so quick to forget so much. I wouldn't see rooney for any amount. We don't need to sell our best players to sigh quality players. Is not as though if rooney is sold, the money will be used to buy other players. just look at ronaldo transfer money. I think some fans appreciate him and I love him. he is the soul of this club. Van persie can never be as great as rooney has and will be for manchester united. for me, its all rumour and ferguson would not sell rooney bcos he knows how much rooney means to the club. Who says rooney can offer us great service for the next five years. I bet giggs, scholes and ferdinard are doing it at their age. so for any fan to consider selling rooney is a shame and disgrace on their part for a man who has serve the club greatly. I bet even the so called ronaldo didn't wait to jump at real madrid but still rooney still wanna stay and loves the club. Forget is salary. if van persie earns much as rooney is doing, then are you telling me a man who has serve us for years should be below a player who was signed last year. just because persie has scored lots of goals this season doesn't mean its the end for rooney and that he won't discover his form back next season. afterall rooney stats the season ain't that bad considering he doesn't play top nine and he has been shifted to different positions and including his injuries three to four times this season. not even van persie would love to be shifted in different position. I bet you he won't score 15 goals this season if fergie has done that. so let's give rooney a break and respect our own because the boys is a legend for man utd


Andy

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 22:59:39
He's also a professional player who can't do the minimum asked of a player and turn up to pre season training at the correct weight. For the highest paid player and most "important" player at the club to be so unprofessional is nothing short of a disgrace. Yes people are still cheesed off about the last contract. Some haven't forgiven him. Others recognise that he's at a crossroads in his career, two years left on his current deal. He's unlikely to get a pay rise, especially based on this season. He's also unlikely to take a pay cut. Where does that leave the situation. It may be the only course of action left is to sell. Yes he brings a lot to the team. But no player is bigger than the club. It maybe to move forward we sell replace.

Agree0 Disagree0

Cheers guys. It has really been eating away at me from reading the posts on here in recent weeks/months. I would be gutted if we let Wayne go.

GRD

Agree0 Disagree0

I haven't commented here for months now and after reading so many BS about how rooney ain't good enough anymore, that why I decided to post. And I don't know the story behind mr so called fresh and sydney who thinks he knows tactics and which player ain't good enough for united. Its been s*** reading post about how rooney ain't good enough and to be honest have been sick and angry about it even sometimes I just screw past it when I start reading rediculous post about rooney and how fergie ain't tactically good enough anymore. even some fans post that kloop has better tactics than ferguson, that to me is just rediculous. Atleast if there is one man who regards fergie as a great tactichian is mourinho and if he says fergie is number in tactics and he never wrong and no one should ever question his tactics, then I think mr fresh, deep, sydney should stop posting rediculous comments about him and wayne rooney bcos both of them are living legends for this club and my oh God rooney will dawn the 10 jersey next season I can assure you. salary or no salary, the boy deserves what he his been paid

Andy

Agree0 Disagree0

He's over weight not fit and not as good as the English media want us to believe. We had the best of him from 19 to 24 now average players are running away from him. He will go the same way as Ricky Hatton.

Agree0 Disagree0

27 Apr 2013 01:46:23
Personally I agree with you KLOOT, I'd love nothing more than seeing him sparked out by Manny Pacquiao

Old Bill

Agree0 Disagree0

27 Apr 2013 02:30:38
Sounds a bit hypocritical to me. You say Rooney has been imporatant for us in the past, and while many players have come and gone, he has stayed here and then you go on to say forget the past.

Well if we want to forget the past, we have to forget the fact that during his younger years Rooney was one of the most talented players on the planet, and we just focus on his performances now. Fact is, Rooney is in the same wage bracket as Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi and co. He is payed more than Iniesta, Lewandowski, Muller and many others, and yet the most biased fan could tell you Rooney is not performing anywhere near as good as the names I just mentioned.

So why would we keep him? Fact is if we forget the past Rooney woukd be out the door faster than you'd be able to say Lewandowski.

Mick

Agree0 Disagree0

Will rooney be happy sitting on the bench, I don't think he is first choice anymore.

nikz

Agree0 Disagree0

I believe Rooney was at his best when he was younger. To me he didn't take the extra step towards greatness that Ronaldo did. It could be compared to Giggs who could have been one of the worlds all time greats but he also didn't take the step up.

I watched Rooney on Monday and it was telling that he didn't have the fitness to play midfield, add to that he seems to have lost that burst of pace he once had. I think he has also been profligate with possession at times. Ferguson didn't trust him when it mattered in Europe and I think it was for that reason, retention of possession.

I don't have any resentment regarding the contract dispute but I can see what he contributes on the pitch and that level has fallen since Ronaldo left.
Rooney is a significant player for us but not the key player he once was and that makes him vulnerable this summer.

Red Man

Agree0 Disagree0

This Idea of because someone has been great in the past should be allowed to get paid out huge amounts of money going forward even though you are getting a diminishing return on your investment is childish and football does not work that way.

Rooney in his current form is a challenge for the manager as to where to play him. Take his wages into account and it does sometimes force you to sell a player even if you don't want to.

Shahram

Agree0 Disagree0

I appreciate everyone's opionions lads.

GRD

Agree0 Disagree0

KLOOT has nailed it, he IS on the way down, to say he is one of us after the last time he wanted a new contract is a complete joke. He looks after number 1, if he goes then at least we will get some decent money as he isn't worth another 5 year contract on ridiculous wages. We don't get the quality needed for his wage, if he accepted £100,000 then I'd give him a him a 4 year contract and sell him in 2 at latest.

Brendan81

Agree0 Disagree0

My opinion with Rooney is well known, I still think he is a top player, but I think we have seen the best of him. This summer is a big summer for him, a summer that will define his future. I think if he isn't sold and Lew is bought then he may just play midfield next season. I do think he is now in decline, but I still believe he deserves our respect for the years he has given us.

Sydney!

Agree0 Disagree0

Respect is not a word that springs to mind when I think of Wayne Rooney for so many reasons

Agree0 Disagree0

Mourinho says saf is no. 1 tactician, yet mourinho has triumphed over saf most of the times their respective teams have met. So this is mourinho's way of saying saf is the best but I'm better. We know now that klopp and Pep are very tactically asstitute, and I think saf is also one of the best. But the new generation are playing with modern tactics built on speed, skill, pressing high up the pitch. While our tactics is to let the opposition play in our half of the pitch. Playing with two wide men has its uses against the lesser teams, but against the top teams, when we lose the ball, the opposition can counter with pace and hurts us.
On the subject of Rooney, fantastic player when he came. Was superb for five years, but somehow, he has lost his spark. He used to be great playing on the edge, but now, we never see this side of him. I think his weight problem is a big worry, and it is ridiculous to be waiting for a top player to sort out his weight problem. All the top players, Ronaldo, messi, falcao etc do not have this issue. Instead, they are all as fit as the proverbial butchers dog which helps them to achieve what they want. Can u imagine Rooney turning up for barca, Bayern or Dortmund overweight? He'll be laughed off the field by the fans and the rest of the players. End of.
Nomidfield

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 21:56:47
ive been informed that united and city are now bidding for borussia dortmund instead of individual players of the club, cause they want so many of them

Believable0 Unbelievable0

Lol!

Citeh will probably just buy Spain. let's face it, their economy could do with the injection of cash!

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 21:24:13
@Shappy

Read your post on the formation etc. Agreed with most of it but just a few points.

Wellbeck - I don't see him as a "striker" at united anymore. I think he is being moulded into more of a Park Ji Sung and filling the void left by him. A player who is selected to simply "do a job" on an opposition player and take him out of the game completely and providing valuable pace and energy chasing down as well as in counter attack. He will also fill in for injured players in attacking roles.

Hernandez - I think he may as well leave this summer. Especially if Lewandowski is bought. There is only so many games one can sit on the bench with the tag of super-sub. I don't think with his goalscoring record and fantastic attitude there will be any trouble in finding a new club for him.

I agree on the 4-3-3 part but would like to add that our biggest strength imo has been that we can play a variety of formations just as effectively. The likes of Chelsea become far too one dimensional and predictable with their 4-2-3-1 imo.

Against the lower half teams I still see us lining up all attack with 2 strikers and traditional wingers. While against others as a 4-3-3 with a midfield of (if bought) strootman and carrick with either rooney or Kagawa playing the attacking mid role. The front 3 will come with Lewandowski, Rvp and possibly a new winger/RF which sir alex has been chasing for quite some time now (moura, hazard, sanchez). I see us buying that sort of player. Rodriguez/Gaitan/Eriksen fit this role.

At times even Rooney/Kagawa could play there or even Zaha in the cups. Zaha will slowly be integrated into the team I think.

Finally Powell, Januzaj will be seen a lot more I hope, especially Powell next season.

Finding a buyer for Nani and Anderson might not be as easy as people seem to think.

REDFAITH

Believable0 Unbelievable0

27 Apr 2013 12:24:37
I think the system would start at as a 433 but would be very fluid allowing changes to be made during the game with only minor tweaks.

I don't see Welbeck as an out and out striker, but more as an inside forward, that makes the best use of his work rate, passing, pace and forward playing ability.

Hernandez is 50/50 for me as to whether he stays or goes. I'd like to see him stay, and in a 433 type system he would get more playing time. I think ultimately it comes down to whether he wants to stay or go.

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 21:04:04
I know everyone bangs on about not signing midfielders but does anyone think that SAF may have identified good young players about a year or two ago (and wanted to see how they developed before placing a bid or making contact?)
We had enough players until now if the young lads being scouted were the right people? maybe Scoles returning was that SAF needed more time to sign these. It's obvious that outstanding youngsters are coming through but you need to balance it. strootman for example would be 25 or so when some of the youngsters break through. The same with Lewondowski? My point is that if you can't but your first choice then utd fans seem to want a signing for the sake of it! Everyone can see we need a midfielder but maybe (just maybe) SAF had an idea who he wanted 2 years ago and was prepared to assess and wait? have patience! Rome wasn't built in a day and when it was its been constantly worked on to improve it!

Ads

Believable0 Unbelievable0

26 Apr 2013 18:23:23
Ed, what are the chances of Gundogan or Bale joining United this summer? Personally think they would be the perfect guys to replace Scholes and Giggs. {Ed007's Note - Anorexic.}

Believable0 Unbelievable0

26 Apr 2013 17:38:31
Alright lads, so I've read some places we will have about 55-70 million to spend on the squad this summer, so I just wanted too add my views!
IMO we need a CM (maybe 2), LAM, maybe ST!
CM: It has to be Strootman, him in next to Carrick will be perfect, he's strong, a great passer and will run for days! We could probably pick him up for around 15-18 million! And that would be an absolute steal if we can pick him up! I think we could MAYBE add Modric for around 20-27 million, and if we sould Rooney we could play him in an advanced playmaking role, just behind Kagawa and RVP! He's a class player and has BPL experience and knows how to place a pass!
LAM: IMO the only player we will get in this role is probably Gaitan but ifwe find a bit more money then Bale is the man, (this is if we don't buy Modric), he's a great successor to Giggs and younger than Ronaldo and a bit less money, I'd say 55 million, this is only if we get extra money from the Glazers but if not Gaitan will be most likely!
LB: i'm going to say Shaw here, young but BPL experience and is the future England LB and has a very good future ahead of him!
ST: Lewandowski! Played infront of Kagawak RVP and Bale/Gaitan he will be immense and is built for the BPL! This guy can do EVERYTHING! Shoot, pass, dribble, run and reads the game and if you've never watched his link up play with Kagawa I would definately recommend searching for it! He's a crazy player that has potentiol to be one of the best in the world (mind you he isn't that far ATM)
Sorry for the long write up, wouldn't mind your lots views/feedback and if you think this could happen!

Believable0 Unbelievable0

Realistically even if we sell Rooney I don't see us buying Modric, Strootman, First team winger And Lewandowski in same window. Never going to happen.
If we are going to sign,
2 Midfielders (Definitely Strootman and ideally Verratti or even Oliver Torres or Alen Halilovic (exception talent)
1 Left footed Winger ( They are couple of names flying about (Gaitan ( wasnt really impress with him tbh), Isco, Rodriguez, Lamela, Bale and Ronaldo (I think it is impossible). But I am certain that Dortmund is going to try and buy Isco this time because they lost Gotze.
1 Striker. Everyone here seems to be prefer Lewandowski and at his age he will be amazing.

Red Samurai

Agree0 Disagree0

Tommy I agree with pretty much all that, would be a fantastic summer if that happened, good post:-)

Elroy!

Agree0 Disagree0

Depending on the cost, I agree Shawmwould be a good buy, I'd much rather him than Baines. I love Baines but I'd much rather go for the potential of Shaw

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 17:05:22
so Macheda has said he wants to stay in germany. Drop us 2m and he's yours

Richmond

Believable0 Unbelievable0

£2M? I would give them £2M just to take him off us!

Red Pedro

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 15:53:51
Red man

Sorry I have been in and out of hospital recently due to having choked on more and more pie of the humble flavour ;).

I think he has very much hghlighted everything we know he is good at and has added a degree of cutting out the punches ie hardly doing it as much. I see an improvement in shouting across the whole back line since around xmas (Evra the exception as he is usually around the half way line when we are defending) maybe something SAF said to them all as the mistakes we were gifting away were individual ones that could be helped with better comms.

So overall I would say we defended quite well over the last 6 months and DDG's improvement has helped in that.

There is however this niggling feeling that something is not quite right if this Begovic talk has legs and cannot see how he would fit as a No2. Along with his bird mentioning online about a return then quickly removing the comment there are other stories of a move even though he has released a statement saying he is happy. Who knows.

Other aspects I had an issue with were bravery, command and decision making.

Bravery- He has bulked up slightly (Red man for a stone of pure muscle to be put on a frame like his you would notice it greatly) and this has helped bbut with these tactics we are playing of edge of the box two lines of 4 doesn't allow for much space for the oppo's to cross regularly. He put in a good performance v West Ham recently in arguably the toughest aerial assault we have come up against so a few more performances like that and I will harbour no more doubts in this area.

Command- No doubt the return of a far more settled back line playing at least 2-3 games together has helped and the return of Vida is massive overall I still think he should be more vocal though as I like that in a GK but as a unit they are all doing their bit.

Decision making- Well this was the bone of contention on crosses especially and I think the tactics we have deployed have helped us deal with crosses far better than we were as a team. Before we had our FB's isolated and crosses were continuous often leading to my issues with DDG but with doubling up of the wingers and making the oppo cross from deeper its making the crosses less accurate and allowing either the defenders to deal with them or them to go out.

Overall he has impressed me far more than I was ever expecting and himself, SAF and Eric Steele have to take credit for converting even a synical Jock like myself.

Would still have Adler ;)

Believable0 Unbelievable0

Id be worried more if Begovic didn't have legs Jono.

Agree0 Disagree0

Quality post Jono, good to see that like me you can concede that your view can change. I'm also concerned re Begovic - it doesn't make sense

Agree0 Disagree0

Good to see you back Jono. Now who do you think is the better player, Phil Neville or Tom Cleverly. only joking!

Red Snapper

Agree0 Disagree0

. and good to see you back Jono

Agree0 Disagree0

Jono

Re his stone of muscle, don't take it from me but SAF said
"The big improvement has been in the physical part. He has put on nearly a stone in muscle, he is much stronger and can deal with the physical part much better. ”

I believe he is the real deal but he is Spanish and the call of Spain may come in time and that could be an issue

Glad he has impressed you

Red Man

Agree0 Disagree0

Jono

Welcome back and hope the betting has been good. I had a terrible weekend last week and lost a bundle. Roma killed me.

I am a betting man and will bet Begovic will go in the offseason but we are not in for him and DDG will be with us for a long time to come. Fergie does not sell players he thinks are improving and potential world class unless the player wants a transfer and the boy seems like he is loving being part of the Club.

I agree a stabilized back four is always very helpful and you can see a lot more chatter out there when he is on the field and better decision making.

Shahram

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 15:48:22
With just three sinings we could be European champions Gundogan Strootman and Lewandowski the two midfielders long term both couldn't be fails and we still have carrick outs rooney ando schoels and fletcher

Believable0 Unbelievable0

26 Apr 2013 15:25:43
3 marque signings in are wiilian from anzi, ronaldo, and lewandowski outs include bebe anderson nani lindegard scoles fletcher fabio

Believable0 Unbelievable0

"Errrr bartender!! I'll have whatever he's having!!"

Patzi

Agree0 Disagree0

Ha patzi!

Elroy!

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 12:29:23
After selling all their important players to local and European rivals, if Dortmund are able to build one hell of a squad again for next season and play the same great football with results what a slap in face it is for teams who bought their star names? (Including us may be)

Midfield_maestro

Believable0 Unbelievable0

They sold kags last year and bought reus
Jred

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 15:00:52
The thing with Dortmund is that they have some cutting edge training techniques, and they are the masters of spotting young talent and moulding it. They may lose Lewandowski and Gotze but they will replace them and still be there or there abouts next season. It might take them season to fully gel, but they will be up there the whole time Klopp is there. He's rebuilt them once, he can do it again.

Agree0 Disagree0

Dortmund have gotten lucky.
Hummels, bender, gundogan, gotze, all came through together, you rarely see that talent come through together.

That being said they have done excellent in moulding the individuals into a team but in my opinion if they don't win the champions league this year, they won't challenge for a long time

Agree0 Disagree0

27 Apr 2013 12:19:12
Only Gozte came through their academy, all the others were bought at a young age. Hummels came from Bayerns academy. So they scout germany for top young talent and sign them and mould them, like what were doing with Jones, Smalling, Rafael and Powell.

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 12:21:44
OUT

nani, dusted psg
ando, dusted
hernandez to madrid for modric
scholes, retired


IN
zaha for nani
mccarthy for scholes
modric for anderson
lewandowski for hernandez

and that's all she wrote

Believable0 Unbelievable0

Strootman > Mccarthy

Agree0 Disagree0

Strootman >> McCarthy.

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 12:15:57
Adnan Januzaj has been given a squad number.

Apparently Fergie is considering giving him a run out.

Next big thing?

Believable0 Unbelievable0

Read down the page!

Agree0 Disagree0

I sense a time portal at work here

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 12:09:45
any word of united looking a center mid this season, I know Rooney may be taking up the role if he dosen't leave but I still feel that with all our attacking outfit Carrick has been left with the defensive role by himself

Believable0 Unbelievable0

26 Apr 2013 12:08:31
Anyone else getting tired of seeing no names coming on going "we need to make big signings but we won't as all we'll hear is no value in the market" the boss used that line once and in the context it was used he was correct. Bertie Wooster

Believable0 Unbelievable0

Bertie, I was just about to post the same thing myself, so 'Agree'.

Agree0 Disagree0

No he was not, it was just another way of saying we cannot afford the top players.
Open your eyes and see who we have bought in the past 4 years (apart from RVP), non of them have been top quality players.
If you want to believe that, then the club and saf have done a good job on you.
Was David Silva at £20m not good value? Was Yaya Toure not good value?

Agree0 Disagree0

Do you know how much Toure makes in salary? United would never pay that much, and rightfully so

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 13:39:05
i see no name replied. MrE

Agree0 Disagree0

Hehe noname couldn't help but reply. You're a negative ninny pal! If we're evaluating our transfers why would we not include RVP in that? - because that would help justify your negative point I guess!

Also Yaya in his late 20's for £24m plus £200k+ p/w is good value? LOL

HBadger

Agree0 Disagree0

So another no name proves Bertie's point. Clearly Kagawa is not a 'top quality' player eh?

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 18:43:53
This fishing lark isn't so bad, one reeled in and landed. Bertie Wooster

Agree0 Disagree0

Maybe noname couldn't think of a name

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 12:07:05
Just seen a post about Juve intrest in Nani? Any truth about this?

Richmond

Believable0 Unbelievable0

26 Apr 2013 13:28:46
Fingers, toes and eyes are all crossed in anticipation.

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 11:40:54
Edds would you think that with the lewandoski rumours being so strong and fergie not coming out to denie our interest it would only signal that our interest is serious and that fergie wants lewandoski in the summer {Ed002's Note - RTFP.}

Believable0 Unbelievable0

Read The Flippin' Page.

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 11:07:09
Does anyone else feel that we may be looking at a change of system next season?

To play 4231 you only need 2/3 first choice strikers as it hard to give enough games to all your players if you have more. We have been linked to Lewandowski and Falcao so it looks like we are looking at other strikers. If Rooney is leaving he will need to be replaced. But how would you then give enough games to RvP Welbeck Hernandez and a new striker with only one striker position. Add to that Will Keane and Henriquez coming through, that's six strikers for one place.

Also if you are going to play 4231 then you need several players who can play in the 3 behind the striker. With Nani and Rooney leaving that would leave us with Young, Kagawa, Valencia, Zaha and Giggs. Young isn't good enough to be first choice, Valencia doesn't suit the narrower formation and is limited, Zaha is young and inexperianced at this level and Giggs isn't able to play every week. So we would need to sign at least two players to fit this system with enough quality.

So if we are to play this system then we need to sign a striker, two attacking midfielders/wingers at least one midfielder as our midfield is in desperate need. So that's at least four new first teamers to play this system, and that won't address our issue of two many strikers.

It doesn't make sense. What I feel would make more sense is to play a variation of 433, that way we can utilise our over abundance of strikers and wouldn't need to sign two expensive wingers/attacking midfielders.

Sir Alex has always managed to keep the team challenging by evolving the team rather than totally rebuilding it. As such he only really looks to make two changes to the first team a year so as not to disrupt the balance of the team. If we were to play this system then all we would need for the first team is a midfielder and a striker. Maybe Strootman and Lewandowski, the very players we've been linked to.

So maybe they will be the main basis of who we bring in this summer, we tend to buy two first teamers and 2/3 squad players/youth players. So if we sign them then we could be looking at just a couple of youth players/squad players on top of them. We have Zaha signed so maybe just one other player is what were looking at. Seeing as we are short in midfield maybe we'll see a young midfielder come in possible Leon Goreztka.

So maybe we are looking like Strootman, Lewandowski, Zaha and Goreztka as our summer business in reality. Rather than 4/5 first teamers which some on here are getting carried away with.

Shappy

Believable0 Unbelievable0

26 Apr 2013 11:46:16
To just continue from my previous response.

Based upon this 433, and this starting XI

FBs will be allowed to attack, with Carrick sitting as a CB to make a back 3 if out CBs are caught out.

Strootman will be the main engine in midfield, powering up and down the field, breaking up the play and providing the ball to Rooney.

Rooney will essentially play as a deep lying playmaker, and distribute the ball to RVP, Kagawa and Lewandowski, whilst joining attacks where permitted,

RVP, Lewandowski and Kagawa will rotation, roam and switch positions to provide us with the fluditity that we possessed in the 07/08 season with Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez.

My ONLY concern with this formation/line-up would be Evra. As the formation will open up space down the wings for our opposition, the FBs will need to be extremely fit, and more importantly, defensively sound (Alaba would be a perfect replacement for Evra in this position!).

WF Red Devil

Agree0 Disagree0

I agree with exactly what your saying I feel we will try to play almost chelseas formation. I think nani rooney hernadez may leave wellbeck going wide left. like you say valencia doesn't fit but there will be times when we revert to wing play. young will be given another season. Young strikers will go on loan. I for one am very excited about this summer.

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 12:30:26
Shappy I agree people are getting carried away. I agree in principle but I think we could switch between both systems. For the three behind the striker we could have kagawa, rooney, van persie, zaha, welbeck, valencia, young and giggs. And for the one van persie, rooney, welbeck, hernandez. that's plenty of options without transfers. The elephant in the room remains rooney and what happens with him. I'd like another inside forward type and two midfielders myself. MrE

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 12:42:36
I agree Evra is the weak link, but I feel he'll stay for one more season with Buttner beinlg given his chance. I think we'll sign a LB in the summer of 2014. Either someone to be first choice if Buttner fails to impress next season or someone to be his understudy if he does prove himself.

I think Hernandez will stay unless he wants to move, and Valencia will get games covering at RB for Rafael or if we need a more direct option. Young will be a squad player.

It'll be interesting to see if Januzaj gets any games next season, I expect see get a few minutes between now and the end of the season.

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 13:26:13
Left is a spot that could do with reinforcing but its not as high a priority as midfield and an inside forward. There isn't many top quality left backs around and those that are happen to be unavailable. The likes of alba or alaba are no goes. The lad at dortmunds I doubt will be available. It leaves baines or alex sandro but I don't see us spending fifteen million or so on a left back this given our other priorities and that it isn't so pressing and can be put off for a year when left back is more of an issue and we don't have to do much on the midfield. Regards a winger cum inside forward. Well gotze would have been perfect but is gone. Lamela is too complex. I understand the ed says we have no interest in isco. And I think rodriguez is over priced. Shappy could you see a signing along the lines of andre ayew? Not what most people are expecting I know but typical fergie. Would add something and I think he'd take rotation at United. Wouldn't cost the earth in fee's and wages. MrE

Agree0 Disagree0

We seem to off been changing formation for the last 3 year.

I think quite often we play a mixture through out the game changing from a 4_5_1 to a 4_3_3 or 4-2-3-1 this for me is the fluid system we keep talking about.
For this to work you normally have 1 main striker or in Barcelona and Spain case no real striker, and the rest of the players being comfortable dropping in to midfield, this is why I have always struggled with the idea of buying Lew or falcao.
Maybe Munich have changed the game and fergy will go back to a more ridged formation
jred

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 13:59:19
Ayew could be a possibility, but he would only be an additional squad player, and would maybe be a better option to have than Young but I don't see Young leaving this year.

The fluid system seems to be what we are trying to do, but there will always be certain aspects that Sir Alex will keep coming back to. First off he prefers to have a double pivot midfield, so Carrick and someone else like Strootman looks likely. He also loves a striker so we will maybe see a system where you have RvP and Lewandowski in the line up, with Kagawa and one other player in the line up who can help move around and help in that fluid system in front of the midfield.

Agree0 Disagree0

Shappy
If we sign lew, I think syd is right Rvp and lew will play as a front 2.
It's not what I would want and I'm really against changing rvp position at all but I think it will be back to a 4-4-2 imo
jred

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 16:46:35
Maybe jred, but I would be dissapointed with that. Plus we would need a left footed winger to play 442.

I don't see a return to 442 as being on the cards though. Recently we have seen Rene bending the ear of the manager more and more often, which to me says he is having more of an impact tactically and not just as a coach. From what's been said of him by players he seems to be a more forward thinking coach rather than glancing back at yesteryear. There for I would find it hard to see a tactically astue young coach look to help implement old fashioned ideas.

Agree0 Disagree0

Shappy
I would be a bit gutted myself but I think it would be on the cards.
We seem to off played a more ridged 4_4_2 the last few games as well
Jred

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 11:00:00
Bayern have released a statement advising that they have no contract/agreement with Robert Lewandowski. Interesting considering this all started with the agent of the current Bayern coach, stating a deal was already done.

Outside of Germany, I'm taking the silence from Old Trafford on the subject, as a very encouraging sign indeed!

WF Red Devil

Believable0 Unbelievable0

26 Apr 2013 10:42:00
Robert Lewandowski
Kevin Stootman

These two players would make us solid for years to come. Please can all the rumours be true

Believable0 Unbelievable0

Need a left winger to be considered a favourite in Europe.

Young is poor and Welbeck very average playing there and giggs is probably still our best option but too old to be playing game in game out.

Howoever knowing SAF he might continue with the current choices and save Giggs for the big games. The kid Januzaj I have never seen play and it looks like we are going to give him a run out to see if he might be an option.

Lewandowski would be great but one of the forwards will surely get moved on. Can't have Lewandowski, rooney, rvp, welbeck, hernandez as they will not get enough games between them.

It will come down to Hernandez or Rooney going if we sign him. Given the mangers continuos statement that he sees Hernandez's future in manchester, I think if we sign Lewandowski, Rooney is a goner because of his wages and contract issue and not because Hernandez is better.

Shahram

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 10:23:00
Edds in your mind what position do you think we will invest in this sumer?

Not 19 forever {Ed002's Note - See previous answers.}

Believable0 Unbelievable0

26 Apr 2013 09:34:23
Morning Gents,

We wanted to say congrats on your 20th, been somewhat busy so we've not had a chance to post.

Appreciate we don't agree with you all on most things but that's banter for you.

Just a couple of questions for next year, do you think that others will make a better fist of a challenge in the EPL, we all think that with out doubt Chelsea and City will come back at you big time and if Arsenal buy well they could be there, add to that if Spurs buy a goal scorer and keep Bale, we think those 4 and yourselves could be in for a good scrap for the title.

Europe, taking aside the Nani sending off, do you think you could honestly have gone any further. It is going to be a massively hard competition to win next year. It's highly likely City and Chelsea will make a way better fist of it next year to add to the fantastic Germans and the big two in Spain, without Juventus and PSG, think PSG could be the dark horse next year.

Finally as you're probably bored at work Chris the REDman, we don't go to school, we all work for a company in sunny Cornwall and are going out on site as soon as I finish typing.

Laters gents and good luck for next season.

Believable0 Unbelievable0

I think City and Chelsea will give us a better fight next season but don't think Arsenal will be up in the top 3 and neither will Spurs with or without Bale.

If we had beaten Real, we would have beaten the turks and then who knows about Dortmund. We certainly wouldn't have conceded 4 goals away to them put it that way. I think it would have been something like 2-1 to them away and then we would have had a good chance at home.

Next season will be very tough in Europe, if city and Chelsea strengthen then they will be better, Bayern will be a force again but Dortmund will be
a bit weaker. Barca will be Barca and Real will be strong. Very hard to call how that will go.

If we can get some of our supposed targets i. e. Strootman, Lewandowski, Baines, Rodriguez etc then we will also be in a very strong position to challenge on all fronts next season. It should be very exciting.

Brendan81

Agree0 Disagree0

Not being funny but dortmund would of destroyed us in their camp.

Agree0 Disagree0

Dortmund wouldn't have destroyed us in their camp, why do people not give us enough credit.
Sometimes its not about the players on the team sheet, but the performances they put in. Our defence is better than Reals. We all thought Real would batter us, but are tactics where a lot better, this maybe down to us not going full on attack.
I agree that it might have been 2-1 to Dortmund, and then us inevitably getting knocked out on a way goals, but we wouldn't have conceded 4 goals.

aaallj5

Agree0 Disagree0

I think we can safely say, Dortmund would have playd us off the park if we met them.
You only had to see the energy, skill and tactics in the team to realize that.
Nomidfield

Agree0 Disagree0

Why would they have played us of the park?
"You only have to see the energy, skill and tactics to realize that"
Exactly! Would we have played the same tactics as Real, I don't think so. We would have had a more resiliant formation, containing a more defensive minded midfielder in Jones, who would of been able to man mark Rues. We would of played with more width, which Real didn't seem to want to do, as there plan was to spray the ball out to Ronaldo as much as possible, which then resulted in Higuain not being able to get into the game, as he had to go out wide to get a touch of the ball.
We can then talk about the Forward line, which would of exposed a very shakey central defence. As good as Hummels is and I am one of his biggest fans, we have to agree at certain times he was very shakey, as real madrids goal will highlight. There is also a moment in the second half he gives the ball away under no pressure.
Their midfield is incredible and would have been very difficult to contain obviously, but it would of not have devided our defence as easy. we would of lost, but not by 4 goals.
Its incredible that our own fans don't give us the credit we deserve, as we have shown time and time again, we are not afraid to step up to the big occasions.

aaallj5

Agree0 Disagree0

Don't worry aaallj5, Nomidfield always bets against United. It's just his 'thing'.

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 05:52:46
We all no we need big signings this summer. I think strootman. Rodriguez. zaha. (done). Baines. lewy. And we would be in dreamland. But guys we have known our teams problems for a while. And am just waiting for fergie to say "no value in the market" but ya can bet city, Chelsea, arsnal, are all gunna spend big. So it's vital we spend big

Believable0 Unbelievable0

City and chealsea both spent more than us this time last year correct me if I'm wrong which team are premier league champions and robbed of a quarter final place in champs league.
Sir Alex looks to strengthen not clutter his squad and that type of player is in great demand ie Lewandowski, falcao etc.
Personally the only player we should really go for is Bale (whatever it takes) that's what Bayern seem to be doing. we have no problem scoring goals but that extra bit of penetration he would bring would definitely improve us along with Zaha.

Agree0 Disagree0

Spending well is far more important than just spending big.

Agree0 Disagree0

And we continue to play boring football and got knocked out of CL by Real, who are 13 points behind Barca in their league.
If we want to improve, we better start buying some world class talent, no more "Potential" please, and no more "No Value" and taking the p. s out of us.

Agree0 Disagree0

Stunning. Another less than negative no name

Agree0 Disagree0

26 Apr 2013 05:23:29
score line for sunday.?

3-0 to mighty reds (van persie 2, rooney1)

Believable0 Unbelievable0