Manchester United Banter Archive April 17 2014

17 Apr 2014 22:31:20
Guys, what's everyone's view on Reece James? Contender for player of the year in the under 21's, does anyone think he could make it here? Seen him a few times and have been impressed! Any of the more regular youth game watchers what do you think of him?

Fairly talented lad, will never be a full back at top tier level. Has a decent shot in central midfield though, I'd like to see him given more of an opportunity in his favorite position, but with Pearson and Rothwell, who are outstanding talents in their own right, it's quite unlikely.

17 Apr 2014 21:21:36
I think 260,000 a week would obviously attract Toni Kroos but are we seriously willing to give him that much

Could be above 300,000 after the World Cup

Wayne rooney gets 300k a week, need I go on?

17 Apr 2014 17:56:14
See the fabregas rumours are doing the rounds again, if only these were true our poor midfield would be vastly improved

17 Apr 2014 16:33:18
The under 21s play Norwich at OT tonight Pearson and Wilson to start and if they have a good game and get no knocks may well get on the bench for next Saturdays visit from Norwich this will be an achievement that should not be overlooked by fans. Something very good is about to come from our youth set up Pearson and Wilson are the two best young English footballers to come along for a long time and its rare to get two this good at once I have heard Nicky Butt and Scholes talking about there potential and both Butt and Scholes have said Pearson is right up the with Scholes himself in terms of ability and Wilson is the best player they have ever seen Ronaldo included at the same age throw in Januzaj and one or two others were a very lucky club and this soon influx of youth talent could not have come at a better time with all these super rich owners buying up every good player sometimes just to stop others buying them well there is two here that no Real Madrid or Man city can ever get there hands on read it and weep boys the class of gems like 92 is coming

Thanks Katef I'll be watching for them. Mick1 is being lazy :) and not posting as much about our youth.

17 Apr 2014 17:42:55
Hi Katef,
I think we have 3 potential top class players in Wilson Pearson and Rothwell, I would like to see Wilson promoted at the expense of Hernandez next season. I would like to see Rothwell and pearson go on loan as a pair to Brighton in the championship next year to work under a top continental coach that would nurture and improve their movement and technical ability. I see both coming back after a successful season 14/15 to replace fletch and carrick as 1st Team players at the begining of the 15/16 season.
Janko needs another season at u21 level for me Perriera has a lot in his locker no doubt but the right loan move is essential Ideally i'd like to see him and Keane on loan Sunderland under Poyet if they get relegated
Michael Keane I'd like to see him on loan in the premiership if we sign a top class experienced centre half for the 1st team maybe Leicester
Lingard promoted at the expense of young/valencia/nani
Powell needs a PL loan maybe Southampton as part of any shaw deal with Lambert a year older and Rodriquez out till xmas

A lot of the young guys 19 to 21 on loan all over the leagues have done nothing special this season they will all return till at least xmas next year.

MU are scouting Gaston Pereiro for the U21's. 18 year old midfielder who plays for Nacional.

I see Wilson getting one or two appearances before the season is up. He deserves it.

17 Apr 2014 18:14:19
You may well be right Syd but RVP will be back to prove his fitness before the WC and will need the games . I think it may well be pre season while WC late comers are away before we him getting game time. but he will be in and around the squad no doubt. It will be a big summer for him if he comes back, stronger fitter and fills out he may well save us a fortune all those in the know have the highest of hopes for him. Shearer like in my opinion scores tap ins headers volleys solo dribble goals long range efforts free kicks and holds the ball up well and he has movement you just can't coach he is a natural born footballer and goal scorer

Sorry Grund, here's my take on it.

Wilson for me is a top class talent, one of the best I have seen at the academy. I believe he is more talented than Lingard, Keane, Welbeck and all your other garden variety outstanding talents. He's imo up there with Januzaj, Daehli and Rossi in terms of ability ( his physical qualities might even push him further ). The only player who has a higher ceiling than Wilson is Ravel Morrison, who is an absolutely world class talent ( with your Draxlers and Max Meyers ) but whether or not he will reach such heights is a mystery.

After Wilson, in terms of sheer talent, you have Pereira. I recall when there was comparisons between Daehli and Januzaj, with Daehli proving to have superior close control and technical ability but was not as arrogant or self confident as Januzaj, therefore making him more inconsistent. Pereira has the self belief of Januzaj but has a wee bit more technical ability to his game, especially when it comes to defensive work but he has the inconsistency of Daehli.

He tends to disappear a lot in games but he is capable of the sublime. Right now he is playing as a number 10, but I believe his long term future lies at number 8, where he will be more capable of asserting his dominance on a game.

After Wilson and Pereira, we have Rothwell and Pearson.

Pearson is technically sound, but without much skill/ability to drive forward. His passing is consistent, crisp, and rarely mirubbishs. Imagine if Cleverley was better defensively, and you have Pearson. He's not very creative, except for the odd long ball and does not contribute much offensively, but he displays a very good reading of the game and tactical awareness. He is a more tenacious Carrick if you'd like ( with more pace ) I'm not one of the fans who rave about every young talent that comes through and I have a lot of doubts about him. He is likely to progress a la Cleverley, loans and what not, unlike Wilson and Pereira who can break into the first team like januzaj did.

Rothwell on the other hand has impressed me more than Pearson. Last season, when they were both playing at U18 level, they looked equally impressive. Pearson had more games to his names, and his off the ball movement, along with his short passing and consistency of his occasional long ball had some similarity to the way Paul Scholes played, therefore he was kind of over rated by some of our fans, with Rothwell ignored. Rothwell didn't have an easy time with health issues and injuries, but when he played he was just as impressive. Imagine Ryan Tunicliffe. Now improve his passing, his technical ability, keep his engine and take away some of his tackling ability and there you go. In easier terms, a more talented Fletcher.

That's about it for the U21s. I don't rate Janko as a winger, he reminds me too much of Valencia but I believe he'd make a good full back. James has been playing at left back for 2 years now, and despite doing a very good job, he is a central midfielder and i'd like to see him get more minutes there. Varela is ready to be slowly blooded in.

Mick, it is thought that Janko will be a fullback. MU are doing like they do with a lot of youngsters and are keeping him versatile. Michael Keane has been a RB for a lot of his youth, but will be a CB by trade. MU like to keep their youth players versatile. I think later on Janko will move back and learn his defensive trade.

Thanks for the summary Mick1. Future looks bright and it would be nice to see some of our young English players progress into the first team.

Syd, I certainly hope his future is at full back. In one game in particular ( cannot remember which one ) Janko tried to keep swapping wings. He popped up on the left and tried to go Ribbery on his fullback's back side, fair to say he has not appeared on the left again.

Ekangamene is playing in defense, Thorpe played in midfield, Januzaj played as a false 9, versatility is very important in today's game, but sometimes we seem to overdo it. Blackett seems lost both at full back and center back ( he was progressing nicely as a fullback ), James has the look of Anderson on his face every time he plays on the left despite having played there in 2 years. God knows where Tom Lawrence played.

I just hope that Moyes does not decide he needs another Valencia in the team.

17 Apr 2014 11:46:59
Does anyone think that "Goal Difference" could decide the 4th position in PL this year?
Looks more likely now

Well, Everton's loss last night puts them firmly in striking range. Arsenal have to lose to Hull for us to have any realistic chance of nicking 4th spot.

We would have been top 4 had it not been for last minute equalisers to Cardif and Fulham. I think we will finish 3 points outside top 4.

Shahram, if my Auntie had a beard she would be my Uncle. Every team can point to might have been although our home forms has been nothing short of disgraceful. There was a run of losses at OT that killed us.

AJH

The losses is not what killed us. what killed us was the last minute equalisers against the lesser teams including the sunderlands of this world in the league cup.

I do agree we dropped too many points between the draws and run of losses. But the losses and some of the draws where such school boy errors it was quite pathetic. Forgot the last minute goal by Lovren at OT by southampton with giggs failing to mark him.

Cardiff Fulham Stoke West Brom just to name a few losses that's 12 point we could or at least should have had by Uniteds expectations

We are where we deserve to be, how many of the teams above us have we beaten? We haven't just been beaten either, in some we have been embarrassed and showed tactical naivety. It is utter folly to presume we are anywhere but where we should be given this years failings. The home form is the main part of the problem and our mental approach has been all wrong.

17 Apr 2014 10:00:48
Did anyone watch Porto v Benfica last night? Who shone? Did Garay outshine Mangala? I hope he did because I think that he is far superior and better on the ball.

Fresh, for me Garay is far better at reading the game, but Mangala is superior in the air, faster, stronger and younger.

Buy both