01 Jun 2020 15:44:05
Personally i'm pleased with the extended loan of ighalo.
It lessens the need for anymore expenditure on a cf with martial ighalo and greenwood effectively fighting it out for 1 spot as cf.
Rasford and James need the same sort of like for like competition with our other wide options being mata jesse and chong.

1.) 01 Jun 2020
01 Jun 2020 18:12:35
Surely Lingard will be off in the next window. When someone hasn't played well for 24 months, I don't think it's a dip in form, I think that is the level he plays at.

2.) 01 Jun 2020
01 Jun 2020 19:39:03
Lingard can play better than he is currently, I think now though he needs a fresh start somewhere else. I'll wish him well, and hope he finds his best form again.

I think Greenwood might compete for a RW spot next season with whoever else we sign for RW.

That will give us 6 options for three positions. All pretty flexible and can play in multiple positions in the forward line.

I think Chong and Gomes if he signs a new deal will be loaned out next season. With maybe Ramazani stepping up from the Under 23's if we suffer injuries. I'd imagine Andreas Pereira will still be here and he can play wide in a pinch if needed.

3.) 01 Jun 2020
01 Jun 2020 21:59:45
Yeah I think Lingard would have been gone in the summer before the virus hit, don’t think it would be likely now. Maybe one for next summer. The only way I see it happening this summer is if somebody offers to take him off us in part exchange.

4.) 02 Jun 2020
02 Jun 2020 09:33:18
chong and gomes along with perrera and lingard are knowhere near the quality to take us to the next step.


theres not a lot of "deadwood" left to get rid of.

5.) 02 Jun 2020
02 Jun 2020 09:50:28
Shappy its not just about options its the quality of the options and the fact that none of them are in the same mould as james or rashford.
They don't stretch teams they don't run well off the ball into wide areas. They are not fast counter attacking players. So none are like for like. As a result the whole team dynamic has to change. We have to play differently. We become a lot easier to play against. It one of the reasons Changing to 3 at the back had to happen when rashford was out.

When players are out injured the whole team dynamic shouldn't have to change to accommodate the incoming player.
So if sancho for example where to come in james could cover both sancho and rashford without the team having to change or become unbalanced as they all have a similar style.

We have the same problem in dm position. Matic is the only specialist and when on his game he is still very good but can only play 1 game a week to a high level or runs of 6 or 8 games before he needs a break. Yet when he is out nobody has excelled in his position so w need to change quite a bit to fill the hole as we have no like for like replacement.

Keeper position has great depth
Rb we again are very well stocked.
Lb Williams has come in to challenge shaw
Cb not found the right partner for maguire yet perhaps bailly can step up or Tuanzebe but decent options.

Cf ighalo greenwood martial good options. Nothing had to change too much
Cm fred mctom bruno pogba fighting for 2 positions ahead of matic.
Mctom could make the dm role his own but its not what appears to be his natural game. He doesn't have the positional awareness or discipline yet but that could come if he dedicated himself to that position.

I don't see it as the long term fix tbh. Fred is not the man for that role at all.
Dm and rw we are short of like for like players style wise for the coaches ideal preferred system so when the 1st choice are not available it all gets very messy.

6.) 02 Jun 2020
02 Jun 2020 19:56:23
Ken, I agree it's about the quality of the options available. Squad make-up can vary depending on team philosophy. If you have a very specific way of playing and you don't alter that approach much at all then you want multiple players with similar skill sets for each position. However, if your philosophy bis to adapt the shape and tactics of your team dependent on your opponent then you need a squad of players with different qualities.

I agree the two most important positions now that Ighalo has signed is RW and CDM, with maybe a CB depending if we can shift Smalling, Jones and Rojo.

Clearly Sancho is the first choice at RW.

While players like Zakaria, Kalvin Phillips and Ibrahim Sangare could be decent options for CDM, although personally from what I've seen of Marc Roca this season he could be a great option. I prefer a playmaking CDM over a destructive tackling/ intercepting type player. Eduardo Camavinga is one to keep an eye on.

7.) 02 Jun 2020
02 Jun 2020 20:13:57
We have matic and Fred who are cdm as well as maybe mctom, the ed has said it not a priority and I tend to agree.

8.) 02 Jun 2020
02 Jun 2020 20:37:58
I like ndidi from Leicester. Or Neves from wolves. A midfield of neves, Saul and Bruno with Mctominay, Fred and one youngster stepping up next year will put us in a good place.

9.) 03 Jun 2020
02 Jun 2020 21:58:27
I agree its not a priority. But fred is awful in that role but plays well in a 2 man set up. It would be more preferable to have a like for like positional replacement imo.
I do think mctom could do it but as i said it doesn't appear to come naturally to him to sit and cover. But if he dedicated himself to that position he could become the no1 there.

10.) 03 Jun 2020
02 Jun 2020 22:04:09
Is Neves that good or does he just score a few long range goals? I thought he was the worst player on the pitch for wolves at Old Trafford this season, so much so that I assumed I had the wrong player, extremely negative when he had the ball and hardly got near our midfield with it.

I admit I don’t watch much of wolves so I may be totally wrong and he might have just had a crap game. Not better than what we’ve got on that performance though.

{Ed001's Note - he did struggle a bit last season, his form dipped.}

11.) 03 Jun 2020
03 Jun 2020 11:10:53
Jred, I think both Fred and McTominay are better as box to box midfielders rather than holding midfielders who sit.
Matic I agree is that kind of midfielder, but he has struggled to maintain his form over a whole season. Plus he has only extended for one year.

If Pogba doesn't leave then the accepted logic is he will start with Bruno. However that would need a proper DM to anchor the midfield. I'm not sure that plays into either Fred's or McTominay's strengths. They have looked good when playing together as we then have two midfielders doing the defensive work. I'm not sure they would do so well as the single defensive midfielder.

I remember the AC Milan side of the early 00's, they had a fantastic balance with Pirlo sitting deepest pinging the ball about, Gattuso running around like a mad dog off his leash mopping up and Kaka scoring and creating goals further forward.

For me both Fred and McTominay are a closer fit to Gattuso's role. While Bruno fits Kala's role.

Pogba doesn't fit any role, but is really an offensive version of what Gattuso used to be, box to box but focusing on scoring rather than defending.

We need someone who could fit the Pirlo role, someone who could play in a similar way to Carrick, to play alongside one of Fred and McTominay in a double pivot when you want a stronger defensive midfield or with Pogba if you want a more offensive set up, with Bruno further up. At the moment that is Matic, and when on form he is very good at it. But he needs resting/ rotating if you want him to maintain that level all season.

12.) 03 Jun 2020
03 Jun 2020 14:17:33
Fred will play the deep lying or DCM this season imo. Improving player and ole appears to have confidence in him .

13.) 03 Jun 2020
03 Jun 2020 14:56:46
Jred, I like Fred yet his best displays have always come as part of a double pivot sharing the defensive workload. He plays better when he is free to move around and chase the ball. However, alongside a player like Pogba who isn't the most disciplined positionally, and who often doesn't track back as much as he should do, that leaves the chance of our midfield being exposed.

14.) 03 Jun 2020
03 Jun 2020 15:11:35
shapy just because a player has done something doesn't mean he can't do something else.
Fred out of the cm we have has the attributes to play the role. I will be surprised if he doesn't.
We will see soon enough.

15.) 03 Jun 2020
03 Jun 2020 17:08:53
He is crap there in comparison to most. 1st touch is poor
Ball retention is poor our results where poor when he played there.
If he becomes our cdm ole will be fired because results will go with just like they did when he was playing there before.

16.) 03 Jun 2020
03 Jun 2020 21:40:02
Jred, Fred is 27 and has rarely played as the sole DM. When he has he has struggled and become exposed. His best defensive attribute is his pressing, closing down passing lanes, making interceptions, nicking the ball away and forcing mistakes. He isn't a sit and dictate sort of player, he doesn't seem to have the passing range, plus his first touch is iffy to say the least, meaning you don't want to be playing the ball into him if he is marked or pressured.

Of the three Matic is best suited to playing as a sole DM, but he lacks mobility and can be turned and run off of. Which is a problem when there is no one to cover. The solution could be to play a back three and have one of the CB step forward to cover players running off of Matic. But then you lose a player further forward, probably James or Greenwood.