30 Nov 2013 12:55:26
Alright Lads, Hope the weekend is going well for everybody.

I was just wondering about future purchases and who we could be potentially looking at as replacements for the likes of Carrick, Vidic and with the potential sales of players who are on the periphery of the team and don't seem to have the potential to do it at United, e.g Young, Anderson, Fabio.

As a good replacement for Carrick I think Joe Allen of Liverpool would be a good addition. Rarely loses the ball, Crisp and fast passing. Probably wold be possible given that he plays for liverpool and with the heinze incident (us refusing to sell to liverpool because of the rivelry) So maybe if he were to go to another club before we try to sign him. I honestly thing he does a lot of the same as Carrick but a little bit faster.

As for Vidic I think it would more difficult to replace him, With Garay stating he is happy at Benfica and IMO is not the right player we need someone who will give his all. I think we have his replacement already in our ranks already in the form of Evans, I see the partnership of Smalling and Evans being the main partnership once Ferdinand and Vidic are gone. With Keane and Jones being backups, However Jones will most likely be used all over the pitch due to his versatility. So another CB could be needed to ensure we are never left light at the back. Hummels is my first followed by Kyriakos Papadopoulos (of Schalke) to challange both Evans and Smalling for the CB position.

LB is a position which we ill most definitely need to fill. Evra won't be around for many more years and Buttner or Fabio do not seem up to the task of taking the position. So a Quality Lb is needed. Many people want Fábio Coentrão, But he seems a bit of a light weight to me and throws himself to the ground very easily. Shaw seems to be th most popular but he seems destined to be Ashley Coles replacement at Chelsea. Ben Davis and Davide Santon are good laft backs with Premier league experience. With Santon able to play at RB aswell. I would like both as we need cover for Rafael and I think I speak for most people when I say I am tired of seeing our Centre backs playing at rb. Santon would act as cover for both Lb and Rb and Davis is an assured lb. Alex Sandro has also been mooted as a potential target.

Squad players like Young and Anderson just don't seem to warrant selection in the first team. I would Replace Young and Anderson with Januzaj as he can play both wide and in the centre of the the attacking third. A winger would be needed to ensure we are not left wanting and if we were to give Zaha a chance I feel he could do well, But I do not think he could reach the heights many expected, I would look into the possibility of signing Griezmann or Dzagoev as Left winger

A tenacious Midfielder is still needed and as it is such an important position within the team, however many would argue that tackling is going out of the game and Interceptions aswell as reading the game are the future of winning the ball back. I would go all out for one of Alex Song, Gundogen or Sven Bender to provide either strength although Gundogen is more of a ball player than a ball winner. Alex Song is my prefered choice. Previous link up with RVP and Premier league Experience.

If Hernandez were to leave we would need another Striker as Welbeck just does not seem to have the finishing ability needed.
We have some young talented strikers in our academy at the minute but should look for a ready made replacement as Hernandez seems to be getting some attention for elsewhere and who would begrudge him leaving for first team football. Luuk de Jong is a very good player and has a few international caps. He is 6 foot 2 and could bring another dimension, it may also improve our chances of scoring from crosses as he is a very good header of the ball.
Otherwise Lewandowksi but who knows what's happening with that situation. Whether he is going to Munch or not only time will tell.

So that would be a list of possible targets would be:
Hummels or Papadopoulos
Ben Davis, Santon, Alex Sandro,
Joe Allen, Alex Song, Sven Bender.
Griezmann or Dzagoev.
Luuk De jong (or Lewandowski if available).
The players listed above are targets not definite purchases. I feel they could be looked at in the future.

Sorry for the long post. Looking forward to the spurs game tomorrow after the very good display in midweek.

{Ed007's Note - Can I ask you to register and log-in in future to make sure your posts get through to is.}

1.) 30 Nov 2013
The only played that I would look at was either Hummels or Papadopoulos. There is no way on earth Joe Allen can replace Carrick, he's not even on Cleverly's level. Griezmann is not top rate and neither is Dzagoev, that's why he is still stuck in Russia and hasn't stepped up to a top side. We need a forward thinking playmaker.

2.) 30 Nov 2013
Sorry Ed, I thought I was logged in. Will do next time. Thanks.

3.) 30 Nov 2013
Thats very considerate of you Ed, you allowed JaMaxs post even though he did not sign in.
Otherwise he wudve had to type the whole this again.

{Ed007's Note - Exactly MB. He had obviously spent a bit of time on it and it would have been wrong IMO to just bin it because he forgot to sign in.}

4.) 30 Nov 2013
That was nice ed007, u let his post trough.thank god we have u to help us, have a nice eweing ed007 zee:)

5.) 30 Nov 2013
Fresh, Joe Allan and Cleverly are two different players, When Allan was playing at Swansea he was what kept them ticking, kept possession and was at the hub of most of their attacks. His passing is much better than Cleverly's passing and he certainly has more pace than Carrick.

Both Griezmann and Dzagoev are young (22 and 23) but are both very skillfull and better than Nani and Young. Both are forward thinking and Dzagoev can also play attacking midfielder.

6.) 30 Nov 2013
You would expect to see Joe Allen become a wholesale name given that he is at a high profile club but he hasn't, he isn't what we are looking for.

7.) 30 Nov 2013
Lol not so sure Bond should have let it through Joe Allan in the first sentence should have consigned it to the bin the bloke can't hack it at liverpool so what chance at a big club.

Other than that good post JaMax

8.) 30 Nov 2013
Fresh just because he doesn't fit into Liverpools style of play doesn't mean he would not fit into ours.

Liverpool don't really play with a Carrick style player as their attack is based mostly on Pace with Sturridge and Suarez. But With our build up play and use of link players in the hole we need a Carrick style player to slow down and keep possession and play patiently.

9.) 30 Nov 2013
Lads, Different teams play different styles.

If we put let's say Iniesta into our team straight away from Barcelona, he would not be the same player we see at Barcelona, It would take him time to adjust and we may not play to his strengths.
(Not Comparing Joe Allan to Iniesta)

My point being his style of play suits us more than it does Liverpool's style of play.

10.) 30 Nov 2013
JaMax, it doesn't matter how many times to say it, Joe Allen is not what is needed. Unless you support Liverpool, they would probably love us to sign him - then they could then sign a decent player and wave to us as they leap frog us in the table.

I agree with Ben Davies, cracking solid player. At a time when left backs are in short supply IMO.

I hate it when people start their opinions with "I believe I speak for everyone when I say. ". Please don't, you are perfectly entitled to your opinion, but you don't speak for me.

I think Smalling has been getting much needed game time covering rightback, last game I thought he was excellent. We won the UCL playing Wes Brown at rightback for a season. Get over it. Rafael will slot back in when fit and continue to develop into a world class player. Until then Smalling gains more experience.

11.) 01 Dec 2013
Dodgy, I am not saying he didn't play well in the right back position, and I am glad he gets game time, my point was that a replacement rb is needed as we can't keep relying on playing Centrebacks there. It is plain for all to see that Smallings future is not a Rb but in the Centre. Yes, he can fill out that position if needed but he is much better utilized in the Centre and an over reliance on playing someone out of their natural position can prove costly.

And just because we sign one player from liverpool who doesn't fit entirely into what you think we need does not mean liverpool will leap frog us in the table. (Yes they are ahead of us now) I don't know how you figured that one out.

Can you tell me what is so wrong about suggesting Joe Allan rather than shooting it down as nonsensical without any other information as to why you don't think he is good enough. Is it his passing? His positioning? His defensive side of the game?