10 Jun 2019 08:35:51
What do guys think of Kostas Manolas for the CB position?

I watched a few clips on Youtube and he seems good on the ball, physically strong, has decent pace, good tackler, aerially strong and also seems to be a threat from corners and free kicks in the opposition half. And at 27 he would provide the vital experience to our backline for the next 5yrs or so.


Would you guys be happy with him as one of our CB's?

1.) 10 Jun 2019
10 Jun 2019 10:51:02
Good player with some strong attributes. He’s an upgrade on what we have perhaps bar lindelof so he would improve us. But I think we can go for better in my opinion. I’ve seen people refer to him on twitter as on smalling or jones’s Level which is a joke tbh. I’ve watched a lot of serie A football this year and they have a strong cohort of cbs.

You have koulibaly, skriniar, chiellini, Romagnoli and I would say Manolas/ de vrij as the top 5. I didn’t include bonucci because he’s made a lot of mistakes this year.

The next tier would be Milenkovic, bonucci, Andersen, caldara, acerbi. Demiral has had a great season for Sassuolo so he deserves a mention.

Out of that list, I would take koulibaly (expensive), skriniar (signed a new deal), Romagnoli, Milenkovic or manolas. Andersen looks promising but a step up would be too soon. He’d be better off having one more move to develop more then a big club.

So yes I would be happy with manolas. But at 50m euros, I think there is better out there. If there is potential for a deal to be struck for Dias then I would be all over it.

2.) 10 Jun 2019
10 Jun 2019 11:10:00
No, he isn't good enough. Wan Bissaka and Koulahby would be 2 good buys.

3.) 10 Jun 2019
10 Jun 2019 11:19:12
Same as Park, would definitely improve our defence but for 50m are we seeing a good investment for price?

If we're going to overspend on a CB we atleast need a world class one, Koulibaly would be a better choice.

However, I'd prefer if the club invested in some upcoming defenders who could offer more years to the club and grow partnerships with the rest of the young defence (hopefully wan-bissaka, lindleof and shaw)

4.) 10 Jun 2019
10 Jun 2019 11:24:48
I agree with you Park3lung, but I was wondering given Manolas is a much experienced player could be what we need at the moment to organise our backline.

I am hearing a great deal about Dias who is much younger and has great potential, have you seen him play on a regular basis and do you think he would be able to step up to the PL and to the expectations of our club?

5.) 10 Jun 2019
10 Jun 2019 11:26:01
Nice compilation Park, my personal Pick would be Milenkovic, he is turning 22 this year and he has in my opinion been at par if not even better than Manolas this season. If his development doesn't stagger it stand to reason that by age 27 he would be one of the best center backs in the world. He had a decent world cup and Euro League as well . He has covered the RB position a few times thus showing his versatility. A lot of people I talk to liken him to Vidic, this is probably because they have hardly seen him play yet know he is a serbian linked to utd, thus must be a vidic mould. To me he is more of a VVD than a Vidic. Knows how to use his body very well, has great positional play, wins loads of aerial duels and can pick a long pass successfully unlike smalling :)
I would really like him at Utd, only negative I can think of, (if it can be considered negative) is having a very young CB pairing ie Lindelof and Milen. But then again De Ligt is still a teenager.

6.) 10 Jun 2019
10 Jun 2019 12:32:50
Sorry to disagree with you there Weggy.

Our defence needs an instant fix. We can't go into another season with Smalling and Jones as our most experienced centre backs.

We need an instant fix, and hopefully let one of the two go, although that's unlikely with them recently signing new contracts.

7.) 10 Jun 2019
10 Jun 2019 13:30:11
Agree with wazza if we are serious on wanting to get back to the top teams we need to fix the defence asap.


Another season with this back 5 and we are in for another poor one.

8.) 10 Jun 2019
10 Jun 2019 13:34:59
Wazza, you're right we need an instant fix. But when the only available CB's who are proven we will end up spending crazy money for players who can only offer a few years at the top level before they need replacing.

I would prefer to go young and potential for a few years and build a world class defence from the bottom up. This way we would have (hopefully) a world class back line who know how to play alongside each other in a couple of years.

All comes down to if we honestly think we could compete in the next season or two if we spent 100m on Koulibaly or 50m on Manolas. Or if investing the same money on players such as Ruben Dias or Milenković and allowing them to grow into the team. may be more beneficial long term.

9.) 10 Jun 2019
10 Jun 2019 14:09:55
Manolas is a great player, some excellent attributes. He does have a mistake in him and switches off from time to time. He would be better than all our current defenders bar Lindelof.

It's just a question of do we go for a quick fix or do we try and build something that has more scope.

If we are going for a quick fix then Alderweireld is the obvious solution, a couple of years older than Manolas but Premier League proven and available at half the price.

However, if we are looking longer term then Milenkovic or Dias would be much better options. Although my personal favourite is Romagnoli, although it doesn't look like we have an interest in him.