Manchester United Banter Archive April 03 2013

 

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03 Apr 2013 22:47:24
i don't see gotze moving this summer not before a world cup but definitely after the world cup.

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Wc isn't this summer

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That's why he said he doesn't see him moving this summer. Engage brain, no name.

TK-Red

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LMAOF

Shahram

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04 Apr 2013 13:38:21
it should have said not the season before a world. But yeah he won't move this summer. I think a lot of top players will stay put this summer.

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03 Apr 2013 21:35:18
Best squad? Really? I think it was John put me right on this a while ago. Is this squad really better than '99? Not up front and certainly not in midfield. Keeper yes, defence possibly but that's about it. Having a lot of promising youngsters doesn't make it a great squad - I think we are several players short and need some of our existing ones to develop further. Not trying to be negative, just bringing some realism to the debate - we have had stronger squads.

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The CL squaf of 08 squad was stronger.

Fresh!

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I don't agree. Our first team if everyone was on form would be this:

DDG

Rafael
Rio
Vidic
Evra

Carrick
Cleverley

Valencia
Rooney
Nani

RvP

There could be one or two changes but on the whole that's about it. So our second team would be:

Lindegaard

Jones
Smalling
Evans
Buttner

Anderson
Scholes

Welbeck
Kagawa
Young

Hernandez

which is still a pretty good team on form. Abit weak in midfield but we all know that our midfield needs strengthening, we've been banging on about it for years. Add to that we have Fletcher Giggs Powell and Fabio. who are in the squad.

Now if we compare that second string team to our Prem rivals let's see how it stacks up.

At Chelsea

Turnbull

Ferreria
Cahill
Luiz
Bertrand

Ramires
Romeu

Moses
Benayoun
Marin

Torres

or at City

Pantilimon

Maicon
Richards
Kolo Toure
Kolarov

Barry
Rodwell

Milner
Guidetti
Sinclair

Dzeko

Or at Spurs

Friedel

Kaboul
Gallas
Caulker
Naughton

Parker
Livermore

Dempsey
Kane
Holtby

Adebayor

So which second string do you think is strongest?

There is a reason why we are 15 points infront in the league and it isn't because of our outstanding first team. If we can sign a better first choice midfield someone to replace Nani's creativity and someone less lack with their defending than Evra then we will have a strong first team and an even stronger squad.

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Shappy, I wasn't comparing our squad to ther teams, I was comparing it to other squads we have had. There are a lot of good players but not as many great players as we have had. I think '99 and '08 were stronger

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04 Apr 2013 08:05:29
I think nostalgia plays tricks on us from time to time. The squad is the whole group of players. I think in 99 and 08 we had one or two players who were on the edges of the first team but not in it on a regular enough basis who were great players. People like Tevez. But if you made up a team out of our squad players from that time then it wouldn't be as strong a team as we could make out of the squad players now. If you don't believe me prove me wrong and post our "squad teams" from 99 and 08 and show me.

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Unfortunately you can only use 11 players and in Europe our first 11 is not good enough to win the CL.

I know everyone here probably prioritizes the pl but I would swap a few PL trophies for CL trophies.

Shahram

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03 Apr 2013 21:19:25
I know this is a very random question but you think there is any chance of getting Suarez in the summer?

Chris Holmes. {Ed002's Note - For what?}

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Lol Ed002, you have an acerbic wit - I saw some of your replies on the Liverpool page - tough day? {Ed002's Note - I never have a tough day AJH.}

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Highly likely I'd say considering all factors.

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Gav

I agree. Luis Suarez will be a United player next season :)

And Wayne Rooney would be sold 10000 times to 100 different clubs from 2 differenet galaxies ;). Atleast that is exactly what reading the page today reflects. Highly plausible :)

While we are at it, how about Jamie Redknapp for gaffer and Piers Morgan for PM?

Deeps.

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Suarez / Rooney swap this summer. Done deal.

Andrew B

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03 Apr 2013 20:49:52
Imagine if Ronaldo comes back and we also sign Bale, along with Goetze, Hummels, Baines, Rodgiguez and maybe Isco. Add in Strootman and Wanyama and Reus and we'd have some team. :-)

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Oops, I forgot Sneijder

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And then we wake up and watch how dissapointed you will be when you realise our tranfer kitty will be only about £50 million compared to your £250 million :)

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We'd also have a wonderful Football Manager savegame.

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But no Lewandowski? I think we'd be a bit light up top TBH.

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Looks likely that Hummels will be joining Barcelona unfortunately. Not to say he is definately but we should be trying for him with Rio nearing the end.

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The people that replied seriously to this made me laugh a lot. 2 disagrees as well, come on people.

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Gds, few people on here understand subtle sarcasm. You have to point it out. * Spoler alert or something.

Mick

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Hold the press GDS. do you actually mean that AJH was not being serious and we are not going to spend £250m on new players this summer.

now I am depressed. THANKS : (

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Oh thanks gds there was me thinking AJH had some inside info, much like pj
Chris the REDman

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03 Apr 2013 20:37:27
Just watching Malaga v Dortmund and got to say I'm impressed with Dortmund. They play some very neat and tidy football and hope the Lewandowski rumours have some truth to them, also Goetze and Gundogan deserve a mention, look excellent players for their age and would be happy to add any of these next season, the latter 2 very doubtful I know.

The Cat

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03 Apr 2013 18:29:06
i think rooney is off this summer. Kagawa and van Persie were brought in to replace him and in the case of kagawa give him a season to acclimatise so he can hit next season running. We'd still need further reinforcements though to increase the quality of the squad. I can see us signing lewandowski and an inside forward. Then with Nani and Anderson off a winger and a midfielder.

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Only want to see him leave if its make room for a world class player or two. i'll say it again Ronaldo or Bale are the ones. (bring it AJH).

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I thought this was more than plausible, but I do wonder if it will be difficult to sell Rooney if that is what the club plan to do. They struggled to offload Nani and Rooney would be much more demanding than Nani. I am not sure Rooney will be sold, but I do think the club could have been preparing to sell Rooney by buying RvP & Kags. We will have to wait and see I guess.

Sydney!

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Lol Fresh, I'd love either of them but don't see it happening

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If we can get £55 million for Rooney, Nani and Anderson we should sell and spend the money on quality replacements like Rodriguez, Strootman etc.

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Give up on the bale ideas! He just doesn't want to know.

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I wouldn't be against selling Rooney as long as the squad is significantly strengthened. We have replaced Rooney's goalscoring and his creativity with RvP and Kagawa, but we would still need to replace his on field leadership and his fear factor.

Thats why if he goes then I think Strootman could replace his on field leadership, he is the vice captain of the dutch national team at a very young age which shows his leadership qualities. Then i'd go for Rodriguez for the fear factor, he is quick and unpredictable, the two things that scare most defenders. Plus he'd add balance to the team. If on top of these two we could get Wanyama and Lewandowski for added depth and quality then it would be a very good summer. Ideally i'd love to see Alex Sandro come in as well but I think that would be being greedy and maybe too much change too quickly.

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Paulo

It would nuts to sell Rooney for Strootman and Rodriguez. Whilst I have said in the past that selling him is a definite option but only if you can get much higher calibre players than what you have posted.

Ozil & Bale. Verrati & Lavezzi type player. Goetze & Verrati would also do :)

Shahram

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03 Apr 2013 18:02:50
Okay lads, imagine a summer of this:
Ins: Strootman, Goetze, Alex Sandro & Zaha, maybe Rodriguez?
Outs: Ferdinand maybe? Anderson, Nani (Anderson and Nani is 2 players I wouldn't mind being put in for a straight swap with Rodriguez?), Young, Scholes (ret. ), Fletcher? (ret. ) and maybe Rooney? (We could probably only get Goetze aswell if Rooney goes)

The link up play between the attacking 4 would be deadly and yes we would loose Rooney who has been a poster boy for our marvellous club, but I reckon Goetze has all it takes to replace him.
We would also have Carrick and Strootman who know how to place a pass, and Strootman can be the answer to our problems, he has everything a box2box midfielder needs, if we had any money spare we could also buy Wanyama I suppose, as backup to Carrick and Strootman, if this happened our club will be the force that it used to be. The 4231 formation is something I would love to see used and I honestly think that with them signings, and that formation we could conquer world football again? Feedback welcome please! {Ed004's Note - No doubt it would be a fantastic summer but I can't see that many changes being made tbh}

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Its more likely to be:

Scholes, Fletcher, Nani, Anderson, Macheda, Bebe, Wootton and either of Lindegaard/ Amos that will depart, maybe Rio.

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If that was the departures we should raise around 30m from that lot, plus a huge amount off the wage bill. (Nani-15m, Anderson-7m, Macheda, Bebe and Wootton about 1m each, Lindegaard-5m).

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03 Apr 2013 13:52:26
Hi Guys
Eds, I heard a rumoura while back that Chevrolet were looking to buy AON out of the last year of their contract. If this did happen what would it mean to our transfer budget

Bazza The Red {Ed002's Note - What transfer budget is that?}

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Wouldnt effect our budget, AON would be the ones getting money, doesn't necessarily mean we would be getting anything. If it were the case and chevrolet succeeded with their attempt then they may have less money allocated to spend on the club which would negatively effect our transfer kitty.

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I think a fair few people at GM, who own Chevrolet, weren't entirely happy with the United deal so I can't them throwing any more money at it.

I don't see where the benefits of buying AON out of the deal outweigh the cost so I'd be very surprised.

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Forget about AON or Chevrolet. The manager will have a transfer budget per se. He will not be given an exact figure, but he will have Gill/Woodward telling him what is doable and what isn't. The wage-bill will have a limit and I guess there will be a rough net amount for the manager to work within, but people will need to remember that much of our transfer activity will depend on whether or not we can offload certain players and how much we manage to get for them. Not being able to shift one or two players will affect who comes in.

Sydney!

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Bazza, are you sure it wasn't United buying out the £40m DHL sponsorship?

Ed002, can you yet name the sponsor who will be United's next training kit sponsor? You said a friend had an idea, was he correct? Thanks.

Sydney! {Ed002's Note - Ask me when the kids are back at school Syd. The page has been awful today.}

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I think this is to do with a package for Ronaldo as if he came back Chevrolet would help to fund the deal and make Ronaldo their global ambassador.

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Fresh, well done on managing to go a whole week without mentioning Ronaldo, until today :-)

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03 Apr 2013 12:24:22
Watching Yesterday's Champions league game, I have notice couple of things that are worth a mention here.
I was always bit sceptic of having a defender as Captain! Always thought A CM or DM is ideal position to command other players and the fact tht they can set the tempo of the game. But the way Thiago Silva drove his team was just fantastic, he played like captain and he commanded and motivated like captain.
Someone at the down said Bekham would have walked in our midfield, but did you see Verratti (20) with his long pass and short passes, tackle, composure and the discipline to actually place himself in the best position linking defence to attack.

If Scholes and Fletcher is retiring and if we manage to sell Anderson, surely it would be wise to bring in 2 midfielders. It seems Strooman is the unanimous choice and most likely. It would be fantastic to get Verratti as Carrick replacement since he is getting older and has been playing too many games! I can safely say we done have player of his age and calibre in our youth. Yes that would include Tunnicliffe and Petrucci, ofcourse Powell is more attacking!

Always welcome with your views and having a good day!

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Verratti looked a class act yesterday I thought.

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Verratti looked very good and I believe he has the potential to be one of the best CM/DM in the future, IMO definitely on Pogba's level but haven't seen too much to have my complete opinion on him yet.

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Much different player to Pogba Tommy, those two in midfield would probably the best young midfield pairing in the world.

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That depends. Veratti is a deep lying playmaker, best played next to a box to box type player. Him and Strootman in central. midfield would be marvelous.

I guess it depends on how much Saf trusts both Davide Petrucci and Ben Pearson.
If he doesn't see them as good enough to improve our starting eleven in a year or 2, I suspect one of Veratti and Wanyama would be joining us. Wanyama seems more likely since Veratti wants to go back to Italy, which would give the deep lying playmaker job to Strootman and the box to box to Wanyama. That would be the making of what is probably the most powerful double pivot in the world to challenge the likes of Alonso/ KHedira and Schweinshteiger/ Martinez.

Mick

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03 Apr 2013 12:07:40
One thing that was notable in yesterdays matches, particularly relating to PSG & Bayern was how fluid there system was and how good the linkage between midfield and forwards was. This for me is the reason why we shouldn't sign Lewandowski as I think RVP paired with Lewandowski wouldn't work as well - one striker with lots of attacking players around him is far superior in my opinion. If we play the right formation we are only missing 3 players.

1) A new left back.
2) Kevin Strootman.
3) Bale or Ronaldo.

1) Evra has picked up loads this season, and I suspect that he will be given another season. However I'd like to think that we would move for Alex Sandro or Baines - preferably Alex Sandro who I think will be the best in the world son along with Jordi Alba.

2) Kevin Strootman is the ideal midfielder, he is a box2box player that we desperately need. The fact that he started his career as an AM and has dropped back is perfect as it has made him even more versatile.

3) Ronaldo or Bale are the two that we should splash out on, we have no one in the squad that turns and runs at people and makes them back away in fear. Ronaldo & Bale both push the opposition back towards there goal and drag everyone a long with them in support, you can see that with Bale and Verthongen on the weekend.

Hopefully Gill's successor, who is known for pulling off a big deal, will want to come in with a bang and will convince the owners to part with a significant amount of cash - around £100 million I'd say to complete the squad. That'd be £60 million on Ronaldo, £15 million for Baines and likewise for Strootman.

We'd then exceed the levels of the competition from Europe. in my opinion.

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I've maintained for a while that Strootman is a done deal, be it a gentleman's agreement in January or whatever, I think he is a definite to come in in the summer.

I know people will say no chance that Ronaldo will come back and we can't afford him but I can see a transfer that will change the way transfer's for top players is conducted at the top clubs happening.

The rumours of Nike and Chevrolet funding the deal could have more substance then people think, the introduction of the FFP is to restrict teams from spending above their means from what I understand but the prices of players nowadays will always mean top players will not be making moves because they are priced so high it goes beyond clubs limits but with the sponsors funding deals this could be a loop-hole to get around this problem? They would almost become owned by the sponsor and sub contracted to clubs if you like, similar to the players being owned by agents I suppose.

Now it may not be Ronaldo to us but I can defo see a transfer of this kind in the future. {Ed002's Note - Sorry, but (a) there is no "done deal" for Strootman; (b) you clearly don't understand the FFFP rules; and (c) you don't understand about third party ownership.}

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I only think Lewandowski will come in if Rooney is sold and if this is the case then I would want him in.

Neither Wellbeck or Hernandez have all the qualities needed to play up top on their own if RVP got injured so Lewandowski would be a most in this circumstance.

I would also argue that whilst signing Ronaldo/Bale would be out of this world and instantly improve our starting 11, for the overall cost of either player we could sign 2 of potentially Gotze, Isco or Rodriguez and this would make better financial sense and also enhance the team more as we would get 2 potentially world class players.

We would then have a front 4 of Kagawa, RVP and 2 of those 3.

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So a gentleman's agreement can't be made then?

Why can't a sponsor fund a move? {Ed002's Note - Read my rtesponses. There is no agreement for the transfer of Strootman at this time. The rules forbid third party ownership of players who are in the EPL.}

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Ok, maybe third party ownership is the wrong description but why can't a sponsor (s) fund a deal?

There maybe nothing on the dotted line for Strootman but a gentleman's agreement in January may of happened! We will find out in a few months! {Ed002's Note - I really have no interest in trying to explain how any of the financial side works at all. There is a simple explanation of the FFP rules you can find by searching on FFPR. There is no agreement for Strootman to join at this time - you are simply making this nonsense up.}

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I think the point with regards to any notion of Nike 'sponsoring' a deal is that it would be the club asking for more cash up front as part of a new kit deal,, because it's plainly obvious that players cannot be owned by a 3rd party. That we could do. It could be something Nike would be interested in too, with the promise of more shirt sales if we signed Ronaldo.

Still won't happen though IMO!

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Talking about sponsors funding these deals, you can look for loopholes etc but even then either UEFA or FIFA might look at it and slam the door shut.

There was talk of them looking at the ETIHAD sponsorship but I don't know what happened with that.

I won't pretend to know the ins and outs of the financial rules in football because I don't, but it isn't difficult to see why certain things won't happen.

In most cases the idea of the sponsor financing mega deals is implausible, it just doesn't make business sense.

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The central principle of the FFP is that clubs should "live within their means" or break even based on football-related income at least matching their football-related outcomes!

Therefore a club can still get a loan for a player, as long as they can afford the interest. Who's to say Nike and Chevrolet cannot give the loan and offer an affordable interest?

Real Madrid sold 1 million shirts in 6 months when Ronaldo signed so with our fan base it would make sense for Nike!

PSV signed Oscar Hiljemark to replace Strootman in January, why couldn't a verbal agreement between United and PSV have taking place? "We will sell you Strootman in the summer if we can keep him til then!" Why didn't United sign the much needed CM we needed in January, we were after one in the summer so why not in January? Like I said, we will find out in the summer then you can apologise to me ;) {Ed002's Note - Sorry, you have no grasp of any of this at all. You only know about Manchester United's interest in Strootman at all because I told you originally. You are wasting your time with all this loan nonsense as you don't understand the financial rules at all. There is no "gentleman's agreement" for Strootman and he remains of interest to other clubs as well. Please don't waste everyone's time with this crap any more today.}

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When people say that we could buy 3 for the price of one. Its like saying I could get an Aston Martin, but instead I'm going to get 3 BMWs which aren't as good but I could get more of them. I'd rather have 1 of the very best option there is than 2 or 3 of different options that aren't as good. Ronaldo or Bale would complete our forward line in my opinion, they would be feared which is what we are lacking.

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Ports, IMO I don't think it's about sponsors "funding" it as such. I don't know how these things work but I would imagine that the most they could do would be through sponsorship etc i. e. have X player as an ambassador to their company which would help make up for any lower wages that we had to offer, but as I say I'm not entirely sure. I'm sure I will be corrected if I am wrong.


TK-Red

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03 Apr 2013 11:57:26
Ed, where did my post go that I sent in last night? {Ed004's Note - Am not sure i wasn't about}

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03 Apr 2013 11:55:59
This year we clearly have the best squad in the league. That is indisputable. We have so much depth that we have sailed into a massive league despite numerous injuries and players like Valencia going off the boil. I would go so far as to say that we have one of the top squads in Europe.

Football is a squad game and seasons last a whole year, I know this. But I think that for the last few seasons we have plugged transfer money into our squad at the expense of our first team. Since 07/08, which I think we can all recognise as our biggest summer in the transfer market, we have spent close to £200m on players. Yet, of the players we have bought during this time, only 3 can be considered clear first team starters, RVP, De Gea and Valencia (and Valencia wouldn't be starting if we had better options on the wing).

I know that there is a lot of merit in investing in youth, promoting young players and building an experienced base of senior players. But we have to ask why we are refusing to invest any money in players that will walk straight into our first team. RVP should not be a one off. Despite his poor recent form he has shown us how much impact one top class player can have. This summer we should be looking for 3 top class players that will be immediate starters: a cm, a winger and a lb. There is a case to be made that we shouldn't prioritise a lb when we have Evra, but if we don't invest heavily in the other two areas we will see very little improvement next season.

Danny Pughnited

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I agree, we have a really good, young squad that has plenty of depth. We just need 2 or 3 quality players, a left back, a cm and a world class wide man. We would then have the depth of squad to rotate but also more quality which I think is what is lacking and is why we haven't swept up everything this year. People slate the likes of Young, but without players like him you don't have a squad. The people that are happy to be rotated and left out are sometimes the most important.

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Totally agree with your assessment of the squad and how it's been put together. CM and wings are crutial this summer, LB would be a bonus. If we don't address the midfield/wide areas I will be disappointed and a little worried for next season!

I do have faith in SAF to make the right changes though.

HBadger

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So how come you haven`t won the treble like you were bragging about a couple of weeks ago! simple -- not good enough

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"not good enough" to win the treble?

Wow that is a real put down isn't it :)

I'm guessing whatever team you support wins the treble all the time, nameless wonder?

HBadger

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United are on course for a record points haul in the league despite major injuries to key players like Vidic, Rooney's lack of fitness, and all our wingers playing poorly. That is an indicator of how good the squad is because the league is won over the course of the season. We have been by far the strongest and most consistent team because of the depth in our squad. Anyone who thinks otherwise either doesn't understand football or is a scouse on the windup (in my experience these things are closely related).

We have not done well in the cup competitions because (perhaps I could direct you to the first post) our first team is lacking in a few key areas. Yes, "we woz robbed" in the Madrid game, but the game would have been already killed off if we had more quality at our disposal. Same in the cup quarter final, Chelsea would never have come back in the first leg if we had a top class cm next to Carrick.

To simplify league win = fantastic squad.
Cup defeats = need more quality in our best 11.

Danny Pughnited

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Danny, I said this at the start of the season. I said this is our best ever squad, but not our best first XI. I wa proper crucified by some on this page. I thought it was pretty obvious personally. The manager has done well building a great squad, I think the manager may work on the first XI a little more this summer.

Sydney!

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Just by the fact that our wingers have all performed badly this season, and we're still 15 points ahead of city, then that should tell us that wingers are no longer the prerequisite to a good team. You need one winger but you don't need to play 442.
Nomidfield

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Nomidfield, you are spot-on with the one winger comment. When people do formations (myself included) always make the formations symmetrical, but in reality you can have one winger attacking on one side and one defensive, hard working winger on the other side.

Sydney!

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I agree Danny/Syd - this is clearly our best and deepest squad but the quality of the starting 11 has been lacking at times, hence finding it hard to finish of teams and control games. I'd say that much is pretty obvious.

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I agree Nomidfield, imo the best teams play 4231 with one winger as part of the three to offer a more direct route and to push the oppersition back and two attacking midfielders who can keep possession and probe a stubborn deep sitting defence.

Imo Chelsea's main problem is they play three attacking midfielders who maybe good at keeping the ball but if teams push high against them then they don't have a winger to run in behind them. {Ed004's Note - But surely they should be telling Hazard to do that? He is quick enough and very good at running at players}

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04 Apr 2013 08:12:02
Ed, he could do that but Hazzard always looks to go on the inside of players and make his way towards goal. What they need is someone who will pull wide beat his man on the outside thus stretching the play then whip a cross into that space for the other forward players to attack. But he always goes on the inside which compacts the space and makes it hard to create chances against a well drilled defence. People moan about Valencia but I see him as a key player in our squad as no one is better than him at stretching a defence by pulling wide in the league. Yes he's out of form, but he won't be forever.

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03 Apr 2013 00:50:19
A quick question for the eds regarding some of our youth next year. I was just wondering which of them you's think may get into the 25 man squad, which will go out on loan and which will be dropped and sold? {Ed004's Note - Not sure many reserves are ready for the steep up I reckon Keane, Powell and Petrucci might get premiership loans though. Maybe Amos if Lindengaard is sold}

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Only players over the age of 21 will have to go into the 25 man squad, so Petrucci and Wootoon if he's still here will have too along with Jones who wasn't part of the 25 man squad this year. All players under 21 don't have to be named.

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M. Keane will get an EPL loan, hopefully to a newly promoted team where he will get plenty of games. Powell should go to Wigan if they stay up and hopefully get the same excellent treatment that Cleverly got. I have a feeling we might not see Petrucci make it and he may be sold. And I also predict that Lindegaard is sold and Amos / Johnstone are the back ups. Santangelo also might still be around. Tunnicliffe should get a loan along with Lindegaard, and hopefully Henriquez will go somewhere to get plenty of games, maybe somewhere like Osasuna / bottom half Spanish side. I'm not too sure what will happen to Vermijl. he is almost there but not quite.

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Same treatment as cleverley got fresh! what about the treatment Henriquez is getting at Wigan. I wouldn't send a pie there

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03 Apr 2013 09:33:26
One of the problems we've got at the moment, is that we don't have a lot of leaders on then pitch. Vidic is one. Rooney used to be, but nowadays he's not as passionate. And evra tries to be. That's it.
In the days when we were a team to be feared, we had schmeichel, Neville, Bruce, pallister, Keane, Beckham etc. Before that, the team contained steam, since, Keane, Hughes etc.
When we needed a leader on Monday, there was no one there to get the team going. This happens a lot of the time these days, no one to shout and encourage them.
I'm sure all the players are very passionate and motivated, but sometimes it needs two or three leaders to ensure we go through games.
Nomidfield

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Steam and Since were my favourite players ;)

I agree though, we need someone who can give a good rollicking every now and again, and pick others up when they are pulling their weight

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Whoops meant stam!

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03 Apr 2013 00:55:02
What do people think of Romain Alessandrini? I haven't seen much of him but he does have an eye for the spectacular goal and from what I have seen takes a man on, which have been lacking from our wings lately.

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03 Apr 2013 00:11:56
What do people make of Gaston Ramirez?

I was having a disscussion with a Saints fan and ex scout about him today.

Could he fill the left footed attacker role we need, he has all the skills, great vision, fantastic passing, work rate, good shot, able to beat a man. He's still young and has now had a season to acclimatise to our league. He shouldn't have much of a language barrier issue, and around better players he should blossom.

The ex scout was waxing lyrical about him, and feels that he could be one of the best players in the league in a few years time.

I've since gone back a watched a couple of games he's played in and when you focus on just him you do start to see just how good he is, he is always in space waitinf to recieve a pass and he rarely gives the ball away, he plays in a very positive way and sees those passes that only the best can see and only the greatest can pull off.

I think he could be a very good option.

Believable13 Unbelievable10

I thought it was a massive coup when the Saints got him last summer, but I also think he plays a too central for us right, compared to Isco etc however I think he could be great and he has shown his talent in glimpses this year, so I say give him another year or two at Southampton under Pochettino, who looks like he could be an excellent manager, playing good football on a regular basis and then see how he's doing

Jaxer

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Ramirez would demand a fee of £20 million plus and for that money much better options are available. He is a good player but just doesn't have that extra something that is needed for a high calibre player. I would love us to adopt the Chelsea formation with 3 players behind one forward all interchanging like Hazard, Mata and Oscar. So If we sold Rooney and Nani we could get Gotze and Rodriguez. Rod, Gotze, Kagawa and RVP would be mouth watering.

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I'd prefer the more direct approach of a Ronaldo or Bale. I think its more effective in our League. That's why Chelsea have come unstuck, fantastically gifted players but when people park the bus they can't go round the outside.

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We couldn`t afford them or their wages - if they came, rooney and rvp would want more money - cause too many problems

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Hi Shappy-can see your point, but why do you think Saints bought him in the summer? Just for the reasons you point out and they will not be selling him.

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02 Apr 2013 23:55:05
First time poster in here. Nice site beautiful contributions. Anytime I read a comment praying for Nani to be sold, I wonder why Nani not Valencia? is it that people here consider Valencia better than Nani or feel we will get more from selling Nani instead? I for one will feel beter that the one legged player be sold> his form is dropping too quick for my liking.
Yokoman

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Get rid of both and throw Young in there as well, all 3 play are wingers and as far as I'm concerned they are not good enough to play in Utd shirts.

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Nani has been frustrating for years. He has had 1 patch of sustained from for about 4 months but apart from that we only see glimpses of what he is capable of, interspersed with him falling over clutching is face, giving the ball away, hitting the 1st man from a corner, or picking the wrong pass. Whilst Valencia has been poor this season, he has built up credit over a couple of full seasons for being solid, dependable, and last year, making a real difference. That is the difference.

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Yokoman, I'm with you, Valencia has never impressed me as he's too predictable. One footed. Same can be said for Young.
I've always had time for nani, but he's been injured a lot and has not performed consistently.
I would like to see us sell all three of them (if anyone will have them). Then buy one more winger and buy some midfielders. We will have zaha and the new winger, and in my opinion, that's plenty. We need to be relying less on wingers and more on midfield.
If saf decides to do that, then I hope we can buy one of the top wingers, ie, Ronaldo, bale or Rodriguez.
Nomidfield

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It just makes more sense IMO. There is clearly a disagreement between Nani and the club over contract terms so he needs to go for that reason. He only has 1 year left on his contract so we don't want to lose him for free in 12 months. Valencia has been poor this season but has at least performed consistently for us in the past and is modest and a very hard worker. It just makes to get rid of Nani now before he runs his contract down.

HBadger

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