Manchester United Banter Archive August 05 2014

05 Aug 2014 19:37:43
I was hoping the edds or somebody else can clear this up for me is there a reason why Utd seem to always sell players on the cheap? There are rumours 8m for cleverly whilst some one like Rodwell who has been injury ravaged and hardly played gone for 10m . Southampton manage to sell Shaw and Llana for over 50mil and we are hearing numbers like 30m for kagawa and hernandez combined these areproven champions league and international players. Even Beckham went cheap is it just me or is this not a recurring theme with Utd?

I've been wondering this for a while. Only thing I can think of is that when United sell a player, it's a player that they want rid of. When Ronaldo left, we all wanted him to stay and United got a large fee for him. It's no secret that LVG wants to trim the squad and the club will therefore take the best they can get for players that are considered surplus. With players like Beckham and Stam the fees could have been higher but they were players that had crossed Fergie and therefore had to be moved on. I'm sure that if United wanted to hold onto a player then the fee would be high.

The reason we sell players 'on the cheap' is because the bulk of our outgoings are players that have been out of the squad for some time or under-performing.

The Lama and Shaw were sold on the back of good seasons. Hernandez and Kagawa, by comparison, were poor last season.

I think sometimes it has a lot to do with the players salary. Who will want to buy Fellaini and pay him 100k a week? Sell him for cheap and the buying team will match his salary.

I think its because of two things
1)the players southampton are selling are "wanted" by other teams and the players we are selling are being rejected by us to other teams.
2)They are english.

If we get £8m for Cleverly I'd say we've robbed someone

05 Aug 2014 22:00:37
It's all to do with the stock of a player e.g. Shaw had high stock = high transfer fee

Stand-United
I believe someone added the m by mistake to cleverly fee.

Ronaldo = World record fee.

06 Aug 2014 08:55:04
You could even argue that Ronaldo was sold too cheaply

05 Aug 2014 19:10:08
"It's just pre-season" shout all the other teams' fans. Let's cast our mind back to last year. DM, looking like a frightened rabbit, aspiring to be as good as City, saying well, do our best, try our hardest. Fast forward this year and what a change. Last year, the players looked at DM and said "go on then, impress us", whereas this year they have looked at LVG and realised they. Have to impress him.

Pressed send when I was spell checking! The other point to remember is we have won all our pre season games playing a new formation. Imagine when we get used to this system. I believe with a couple of new signings we will be competing this year, you cannot begin to imagine the impact LVG has had on our existing squad.

Imagine AJH, when we get RVP and Januzaj involved as well as a couple of new signings like Hummels and Vidal.

Tell me about it Fresh, LVG thinks it may take 3 months. It I am genuinely excited for the new season and at my age that is a little unusual

Most excited that I have been for some time. I just think that he is going to get so much out of the attack, RVP, Rooney, Januzaj, Mata. he's got Herrera in who is a gem, Shaw can be a world beater and even Young is very impressive.

Guys I agree we will be good in attack but we will get caught out if we don't sign a top defender and a midfielder.

05 Aug 2014 23:07:25
I honestly think we would have been favourites for the title this season if we didn't let Bebe go

When you compare this pre season to last is miles better and we all should be excited with moyes pre season we was losing and drawing to teams from asia now we won all our games against higher much better teams

05 Aug 2014 18:30:06
Chile manager Sampaoli: "I know that the main problem in Vidal's $80m transfer to #MUFC is LVG's doubt over the improvement of Vidal's knee"

Make of it what you will.

It was reported a few weeks ago .
People won't like it

That would explain a lot. It's positive because its almost as if a deal is agreed but we are waiting to see how he does in a few matches for Juve.

There have been rumours over the past few weeks saying MU are happy with the medical done on Vidal's knee. God knows if there's any truth in that? Also about a month ago Juve were trying to get Chile's reports about his knee, but Chile couldn't find them or something. I think it's clear that Chile were playing Vidal whilst he was still injured and it would be a bummer if this is the reason we do not sign him. I will be glad when all of this is over one way or another, it's getting a bit tedious now :)

What do people make of Atletico's apparent €31.5m bid for Kagawa and Hernandez? What's that £25m? Add another £5m and it could be a good bit of business.

I think there where rumours that lvg had concerns over vidals fitness about 3 week ago so if true we can only hope united have been working on something else .
Unless of course lvg is going to wait for vidal or strootman to prove there fitness before he blows a load of cash on a plan B .
It might be hummels and vidal next summer .
That would tie in to what he has been saying.

05 Aug 2014 23:09:02
I would prefer that, jred, rather than spending money on stop-gaps, that we end up being stuck with on high wages, before offloading them for a big loss a year later.

There's only the premiership to focus on this season, and I think the squad as it stands, can get top 4.

Once we get back in the ECL, we become a more attractive option for the very best players.

05 Aug 2014 23:11:10
IMO Syd Kagawa and Chica for £30m isn't good business, not in todays market when awful players are going for £30m alone. The goal them two scored/assisted against Madrid the other night was worth £30m alone.

The press are only reporting this as the majority have already said that Vidal wants the move and are now looking for a way to avoid the embarrassment of having clearly fabricated the stories.

It's not too dissimilar to the time LVG suddenly decided that he wasn't interested in Kroos despite a deal having already been agreed.

05 Aug 2014 16:35:50
Well after this tour I have to say the youngster I was most impressed with was Tyler Blackett. I was quite solid at the back and once he improves his distribution of the ball from the back he might be able to fit into our first team.

I am very impressed with LVG so far though and he is either showing that moyes was really bad or that he is indeed a genius.

I don't like these rumours of kagawa for Turan though I don't see much sense so let's hope that they stay rumours and not fact.

Who were you guys impressed with most on tour?

Ashley Young surprisingly but Blackett was good aswell

The 1 guy that stood out more than anyone else is without a doubt LVG.
What a difference he makes.

All of the old guard, Rooney, Fletcher and Young. All 3 have stepped up to the mark when their role at the club has been questioned, really like seeing players fighting for their place, brings out the best in them. All footballers are extremely competitive people and this healthy competition is clearly bringing out the best in them, players like Rooney and Evra got way too complacent in their roles as they knew they wouldn't get dropped.

05 Aug 2014 17:48:26
Young stands out because of how poor he has been at times over the last couple of seasons, really hope he can keep playing this well. Shame we didn't get to see more of Reece James, would have been good to see how he coped against higher quality players, he didn't really get tested.

And the nail on the head award goes to? Herbie :)

Fletch and Evans were poor in the first half. We looked much stronger in the second half with Clevs and Blackett.

In this 3 man back line Blackett could profit the most, I also think Smalling looked the strongest at the back against Liverpool - many on here would keep Jones and Evans over Smalling, I think Smalling will be the best if the three.

05 Aug 2014 15:13:44
If Rooney, RvP and Mata hit it off I think those three can score at least 50 goals among themselves in the league ;)

I suspect more goals, but they need support from the midfield, who will need support from the defence.

I think Rooney and RVP could both get 30 a piece if they stay fit. Welbeck will get about 15 and Mata the same. The rest of the team I think will share the goals quite evenly, I expect Herrera to get a few, Young if he plays should get some too as well as Januzaj. There are a lot of goals in this team.

Fresh, I love you mate but you are suggesting more goals than we have ever seen. 1 getting 30 and 1 getting 20 would be good, I don't see anyone else getting 15, certainly not 2 players

Rooney and RVP in their own right are 25+ strikers. Mata should get at least 10, he got 5 last season in half a season. Welbeck is looking better as well. I think we could see a lot of goals, especially against the smaller teams.

AJH, Fresh, 30 each is very optimistic granted, but I can certainly see 25 goals each, and Mata and Welbeck could easily score 10 more each. Hernandez would also score another 10 if we keep him, and if we don't, Wilson and Keane would score enough goals between them. I expect Herrera will score maybe 5 goals, and probably the same for Januzaj, and again, Kagawa could score a few if we keep him. Even Fellaini could be kept as an impact players, and potentially add 5 goals when we really struggle to pass our way through a defence. As Fresh said there are a lot of goals in this team.

05 Aug 2014 13:35:27
Well overall it has been a pretty good pre season!

Positives:

1) the new system works well, everyone has adjusted well and are enjoying the football. The fact that it allows us to play our best players in the starting 11 is a bonus.

2) Louis Van Gaal: he is a genius, the new system he has brought to the team is strong. He is also getting the best out of players such as Young, Smalling and Fletcher. However, I found a point that seperates him from Moyes. If I can remember correctly we lost a pre season game last year 3-2, it was a pretty poor performance, moyes came out after that game and said that we played well. Now, we have just beat Liverpool 3-1, but Van Gaal was unimpressed with the performance! This just shows the differant level of expectation from the two managers.

3) Wayne Rooney is on the right path to becoming him old self. Iv never doubted rooney and always thought he was world class. But the past two seasons he has lost his touch and a yard of pace. But now, he looks in great shape, he works continuously and has scored 5 goals in 287 minutes on tour. That is a goal every 57 minutes, which is what we need. His goals have been good aswell. Linking up well and also bringing out peices of genius( that goal against Roma!) But what deserves a mention is his link up play with Juan mata! The cohesion between them two is growing every time they play! (Rooneys pass to mata against Roma for him to score)

4) players who were on our list to sell this summer have changed our heads a bit. More specificallly speaking Ashley young! Well, he has adapted well to the new position, he has improved his delivery and now has goals to his game.

5) we still got RVP and Janazuj to come!

6) the youngsters are also playing very well, lingard, Blackett and shaw.

7) Herrera and shaw have settled well.

But there are some negatives!

1) the back 3 at times haven't been good enough, jones doesn't have any patience, diving into tackles running out of position. Evans is struggling to adapt to the new system, he looks lost at times. However Smalling has probably been the best of the three. So, this proves that we need a new centre back or two, but I'm not just saying any CB, I'm saying experianced and world class CB ( hummels).

2) our midfield still looks extremely light. I'm still struggling to see what Tom Cleverley is bringing to the team. And also, last night showed fletcher does have bad games. So Vidal is a must, he breaks down play and also would have stopped sterling on most occasions.


So overall. More positives than negatives which is great!
Now we need to use this confidence and kick on into the season.
A 100% record for LVG so far, let's keep it that way for as long as possible.

My take on the summer:
Out:
Hernandez
Kagawa( I like him, but for his personal career he needs to go)
Fellaini
Anderson
Nani

In:
Vidal
Hummels
Vermalan

Trev - Great post agree with everything. Obviously I have been impressed with the new slim line Rooney, however let's not get carried away with his goal-game ratio, 2 were penalties.

We do look very light in midfield, last night when Liverpool scored we were all over the place for the rest of the half pretty much because our players hid from the ball. We had nobody to grip the midfield and players went missing. Defensively it was a shambles, 3 players sitting passing to each other and making errors.

Personally I haven't been that impressed with Herrera in the games I have seen, (Madrid, Roma and Liverpool). He didn't do much and gave the ball away a hell of a lot. I want to help support our new players as much as possible, but he hasn't stood out at all in those games, if anything he looked very poor. Shaw on the flip side, has looked very promising.

All of our CB's lack composure, they also can't pass very well. It is concerning that they have the time on the ball and when our wing backs break they either lack the confidence to play a long pass or seriously mis-place it, this needs looking at quickly.

Optimistic though.

This is pretty spot on. With Janusaj perhaps being perceived as the stand in for Mata, who has shown his quality throughout the pre-season and will be the #1 in the 10 position, Kagawa seems redundant.

With van Persie, Rooney and Welbeck ahead of him, Chicahrito most likely will and should move on. My guess is the 4th forward may well be one of the youngsters.

You cannot see any possible role for Nani in this system even if he were playing well. His defense is atrocious - like last night when he gave the ball away on the edge of the penalty area.

Pending the acquisition of a star quality midfielder, Cleverley and/or Fellaini will also become redundant. Could LVG decide it's worth keeping Fellaini for at least one more season? Someone obviously sees something in him: the guy is, when all said and done, a fixture in a very decent Belgian team.

The distribution out of defense against Liverpool was very poor in the first half in particular, but as much as we may well need a top class defender I go back to my earlier point -we did not concede an open play goal throughout pre-season, except for the 65 yarder in the Denver air. That's pretty impressive.

Peashooter.

I think the opposition we were up against helped with the defensive record. They didn't play with a decent striker and were majorly unfit. Roma were carving us open at will, just really lucky not have scored. I think in 4 similar games (not counting Galaxy), it could have been 8 goals conceded.

My last post wasn't meant to be too negative as I think the inexperienced players adapting to a new system did relatively well. Just if we are to compete against the top teams there is a hell of a lot of improving to do both on the ball and without.

05 Aug 2014 13:42:30
Does anybody know if strootman is back in training, and if so is he fit enough to pass a medical?

Cheers

Due to start running in the next week or so

Ahh yeah! Good work Woodward! Is this where you do your research, is it?

05 Aug 2014 13:40:04
Center mids:
Herrera, Fletcher, Carrick. I strongly feel that none of Cleverley, Fellaini, or Anderson are good enough, even for the squad.

Herrera will be a fantastic player. I think we will see it more and more as the season goes on. Fletcher and Carrick are solid veterans, great to see Fletcher back and playing well!

Worst case scenario: somehow how Vidal stays at Juve and Carvalho goes to Arsenal. But I still believe we can get Vidal. For all the mixed messages we are getting, he has not definitively stated that he is staying with Juve. Come on, Arturo!

I think we will get at least 1 cb and a cm

Both Carrick and Fletcher are not good enough, they should be back up players for this season.
A new midfielder is a must!

We are in desperate need of atleast 2 defenders & 2/3 midfielders. Regardless to how well our pre-season has gone, our squad is not strong enough to compete for the top 4 again this season!

We need a worldie CB and a worldie CM. We have plenty of decent back-up players.

Spot on Syd

Simmo, exactly, and the most important thing is the club seem to agree. We have enough potential, enough cover, what we have needed for a while is a couple of marquee signings.

05 Aug 2014 12:56:24
Tuttosport has confirmed that the instagram account is fake.

Also his official twitter page had the caption Jakarta we are ready!

Everyone needs to stop responding to click bait articles. The club is not releasing any information. Even Van Gaal just came out and said there won't be a mass clearance and the press is misrepresenting his words.

Relax and wait for official news if any!

05 Aug 2014 15:05:09
Twitter can circle the world several times over before common sense wakes up to have it's morning coffee and perquisite smell of the roses.

05 Aug 2014 13:22:09
Which centre back do you think we will end up with? I think it will only be one and Smalling, Evans, Jones and Keane will all get their chance. Will the 5th be Hummels or Vermaelen?

Its obvious that Vermaelen wants a transfer and if rumours are to be believed its just a case of waiting for us/Barca to make a move.
I think we will end up with Vermaelen for 10mill.
Hummells seems content on staying put for now.

Hopefully Hummels. But I think Blackett has earned his place as well.

05 Aug 2014 12:22:44
Did anyone else notice how Trevor Francis cannot tell the difference between Jones and Evans? Jones got the blame for everything, even when it was Evans and not Jones :)

I've watched a few of the Champions Cup games on Sky and he's been terrible every time.

The man's an person.

05 Aug 2014 13:54:43
What I thought was worse was the fact that he clearly hadn't bothered to watch any of our previous matches, at half time he said that the system would work but MU fans wouldn't like the slow laboured build ups etc. I don't think he could be any more wrong.

05 Aug 2014 11:01:22
Well first half performance was shocking, it really was. Sterling was unplayable, but what was worse for me was the way the back 3 dealt with having the ball. In previous games they looked much more assured, but last night was very panicky. The decision to bring on Tyler Blackett changed the game for me. It meant we were much more comfortable at the back with a natural left footer, I really hope he gets his chance this season because he deserves it from his tour performances.
Second half was slow to start, Liverpool began better but we grew into the game. The equalising goal was fantastic, strong play from Herrera, who played Hernandez a great cross to Rooney who finished brilliantly. From there on I felt we dominated. Think cleverly had a fairly good second half, brought a bit more energy than fletcher to the game!
Overall I felt it was a good workout, we dug in and got the result. Off course many can and will say it was just pre season, but Liverpool Vs United is never pre season! So I'm delighted about the result last night, even though LvG isn't happy, a win over Liverpool is always sweet!
P.S
Herrera really hates Liverpool doesn't he?

05 Aug 2014 10:10:14
I think this morning showed exactly why we need Hummels to lead our defence. We always knew Smalling was dodgy on the ball, but he was by far the best of the three. Jonny Evans was tragic, by far the worse player on the pitch and rightly replaced by LvG at HT. I think Blackett was far better when he came on although far less experienced. Jones jumped in again and shouldn't be surprised a pen was given. Okay he touched the ball and it could be argued it was a fair challenge, but when you fly in like that you are not making the ref's decision very hard. So I think we can all agree that the club are doing the right thing by going all out for Hummels.

Midfield, Fletch struggled. Passed it to the wrong team a few times in the space of ten minutes. Great character and defo a great squad player, but we really need a player of Vidal's quality to play alongside Herrera. Again, I think we can all agree that the club are doing the right thing by pursuing Vidal. Herrera did okay seems it's his first derby. Cleverley did okay in the second half, but again at best he is just a squad player like Fletch. Young was moved to RWB after Valencia went off. I think he did well and that could be a place for him next season? Defo a position that could be strengthened this summer. I think Shaw did much better in the second half. As did Jones.

In attack I was well impressed with both Rooney and Mata. Hernandez did okay apart from missing a good chance early on and put in a great cross for Rooney, but we certainly need a fit and firing Van Persie up there. So for me I think our summer should be focussing on two more signings. Hummels and Vidal. Obviously the club are working hard, but I think these players will fix so many issues in our first XI. Fingers crossed that the issues in these transfers can be sorted out as our current midfield and defence is simply not good enough. We can use youth in some parts, but need two more top signings. Season begins soon, so excited :)

Hummels and Vidal are of course the priority. I'd love to see another wing back come in though. Shaw looks good but needs a deputy like Blind. The right hand side is the dodgy side what with Rafael's fitness and Valencia struggling to adapt - Young looks best on the right though. Would love someone like Piszczek or Dani Alves to strengthen us down that side but that may be asking too much.

Hummels, Vidal and Blind would round off an excellent window for us.

Fresh, if we could sign them three or even just Hummels & Vidal, I would be very optimistic going into next season. I thought Young was excellent as a RWB. It could really work. Young for me has never been good enough to be a fullback or a winger for a club like MU, but he looks at home as a wingback and Young on the right, Shaw on the left, I think it could really work well next season.

05 Aug 2014 14:51:47
I found it funny how confident and unfazed Blackett was on the ball when he replaced Evans. After last year people were saying Blackett could be off as he doesn't look like he'll ever be good enough but LVG sees something and rightly so, he's been the best youth player on the tour, good defending and so composed at his age.

I'm glad Young got stuck in with the defensive side of his job in the second half, went in to some challenges looking like he wanted to draw blood.

Completely agree that we could really do with both Vidal and Hummels. Evans and Fletcher both showed they can't perform under pressure in the big games, maybe just a bad game for them but I've always thought that about Evans anyway.

Oz, I was starting to wonder about Blackett as a LB. But then LvG comes in and tells him he's playing as a LCB. Then he smashes it. Keane at RCB was not bad this tour either. Would like to see them playing this way on loan or in the U21's. Keane-Thorpe-Blackett up until Christmas in the U21's. Janko & James as the wingbacks.

05 Aug 2014 09:35:50
Just putting my pennys worth in about last nights performance.
For 53 minutes (up until the Rooney goal) I thought Liverpool were by far the better side.
The two goals completey changed the game.
One thing I did notice was that at least there is a bit of fight and character back in the team unlike last season under Moyes.
On the plus side I thought Shaw had a good game and as he gets fitter and stronger will only get better. He's going to be a top player wether he plays in a 4 man defence or as a wing back.
I thought Rooney played well in patches and I think he's going to have a good season with RVP up top if he stays fit?
Now the down side. for me the three center backs last night are not good enought to play that system. Evans looked very poor and his passing was dreadfull. We definately need a top center half, maybe even 2?
Now the midfield, I have seen a couple of posts on here saying Darren Fletcher has looked great on this tour and he's back to full fitness. Yes he is but if anyone thinks that Fletcher is the answer they are mad. United still need a world class midfielder to help out Herrera in that central area because in the first half Fletcher was terrible.
All in all I thought it was a good tour and it's given the platyers lots of confidence going into the new season.
It's now upto LVG to tell Woodward what players he wants and what players he doesn't want so hopefully in the next 2-3 weeks we will see some movement on the transfer front?
Im crossing my fingers and toes that the two players we bring in are Vidal and Hummels.

Simmo, very similar post to mine mate. I was struggling to stay awake until 12:30am, then by 3am I couldn't get to sleep :)

Simmo - I don't think anybody is suggesting that Fletcher is 'the answer'; but I do think that if we're unable to sign the right player he'd do a decent job in the midfield until January.

He looked tired yesterday - but it's worth noting that he played more than any other player over the course of our pre-season. When he came off against Liverpool he'd played 225 minutes in 5 days in conditions very different than he's used to.

Redseven

If he can't cope with 5 pre-season games then how is he going to cope in a full premiership season?
The midfield is WEAK and had been for 3 seasons.
Signings are desperately needed, that team will not break into the top 4.

Simmo. Playing one game a week in the rain is a little different than playing 3 in the space of five days in 30 degree heat - especially as when the tour began he hadn't played a game since the end of last season.

I'm not disputing the fact that our midfield is weak - but think you're being harsh on Fletcher given that this is his first proper pre-season in three years.

The quick turn around won't of helped 2 games in 2 days. fletcher has been very good just had one of those games where most things he tried didn't quite work. we do need another cm but if he plays like he did against real madrid then he is good enough for first team. On another note the passes to the wing backs most of the night didn't give them a chance de gea main culprit but so were a lot of our cbs.

R7, it's not about being harsh mate. MU are not a charity. There shouldn't be any sentiment, if you aren't good enough then you aren't good enough. Fletcher is good back-up, but that is it.

05 Aug 2014 07:03:11
Never mind who might be coming or going. let's give the manager and players credit and congratulations for their excellent achievement and winning the tournament.
Even better if you look at the BBC football site, there's no mention of our win! Can you imagine if the scousers had won? The headlines would have been all over the place.
Well done to all concerned.

05 Aug 2014 03:07:17
Generally speaking I'd say that the result's all that really matters when all's said and done - but when it comes to pre-season I think the opposite is true. How a team plays over pre-season can often be indicative of how a team will play in the months to follow - and whilst I'm thrilled with how our pre-season has gone overall - tonight was easily our worst performance.

We started the game well but the penalty really took the wind out of us. Fletcher and Evans looked tired and were mis-placing too many passes (as were the team as a whole). There should have been a second penalty for Herrera's foul on Sterling and we gave the ball away in some dangerous positions.

The first ten minutes of the second half was terrible and I found myself wondering how many we were going to lose by (Sterling got through twice in quick succession and I'm not sure we had possession in the Liverpool half). I think Rooney's goal came at exactly the right time though and completely shifted the balance of the game. After that we were the better team. Shaw was impressive and Young had another good game.

So what have we learned from our tour of America?

- We need a CB who can defend and is comfortable on the ball. Our central defenders have been fantastic positionally and have done well preventing the opposition getting the ball in dangerous positions. When they've failed on that front, however, they look very vulnerable. They've also struggled when players run at them which has lead to us conceding three penalties over four games (I know one of them was soft - but Liverpool should probably have had a second penalty). Evans and Smalling have been our best CB's and have both looked very good - and I'd be surprised if they're not first choice on either side of a new signing. At this moment I'd probably take Blackett over Jones as back-up - but I think seeing smalling move ahead of him in the pecking order will motivate Jones to step up his game.

- A fully fit Fletcher is a lot better than most of us remember.

- Ashley Young may well have a future at the club after all.

- Nani definitely doesn't.

- We may need to look into signing a right wing back.

All in all I'm really looking forward to next season and couldn't have asked for much more in terms of how pre-season went. I think we're still two or three signings away from being able to guarantee a top four finish - but if we get the right players (Hummels, Vidal and Cuadrado, for example) I think we'd have a good chance of winning the league.

05 Aug 2014 02:59:32
Tyler Blackett was excellent tonight. Good calm presence, did his job, and can play the ball forward to feet. I think he has earned his roster spot.

05 Aug 2014 02:23:56
Has Januzaj played any game in pre-season so far? Haven't noticed him being mentioned much recently.

He was given time off after the World Cup

Surely he'd be back by now?

Nil Satis, Januzai and fellaini and Van Persie back. all started training back at home. too soon for the tour. possibly to soon for Valencia.

05 Aug 2014 02:01:30
First half thoughts:
1. The main story has been Liverpool's pressing, we are under constant pressure, they come hard after the first pass into midfield.
2. Sterling has been an absolute handful to deal with, and Coutinho as well.
3. Evans has been shocking, on both sides of the ball.
4. Hernandez is clearly a step down from Welbeck when you need a forward to hold the ball up and combine.
5. Mata, Fletcher and Herrera all played pretty composed under the heavy pressing from Liverpool.
6. Wish we could see a bit of guile from Rooney, he always goes to the right. If the shot is not on, then it's the big cross field ball to Young at RWB. Too predictable.

05 Aug 2014 01:50:25
Clear to see in this game that we need a quality centre half who can read the game and play with the ball. A high octane box to box midfielder and a wing back with speed good control going forward and able to defend.