Manchester United Rumours Archive July 16 2014

16 Jul 2014 19:03:29
Enquiry for Nani from Milan.

16 Jul 2014 12:56:22
believe Barcelona will target Vertonghen as they (Barcelona) believe MU are ahead of them in the race to sign Hummels.

Lets hope so syd :)

16 Jul 2014 13:57:37
Yeah I saw that on Twitter as well.

16 Jul 2014 14:00:03
Or dortumund simply don't want to sell him this window. And braca has to address their defensive crisis this window in someway.?
They could buy/try him next window.
They can buy anyone with any price tag unlike united at any point of time. Ref prices of neymar. Suarez.
How does this sound Syd?

Rodio, I think we will try very hard for Hummels once this Vidal mess is cleared up one way or another. Hummels is open to the move if certain sources are to be believed. The issue is convincing BvB to sell and this summer we have plenty of cash to do just that. Fingers crossed.

Agree . but united is not the club which make statement signings by splashing out big amount cash on single player.
While barca do it every window.
So if it comes between us and barca. They have more pulling power

But have less money.

He didn't have much of a game against Argentina. Obviously a top centre back, and his performance in the world cup was good, but Rio and Alan Hansen had a point when they said Hummels was being stripped for pace throughout the first half of the final.

Not sure i'm so eager to see Hummels come in above the likes of Mangala, who for me has a complete game.

Im not saying we shouldn't sign Hummels, but a player's deficiencies get found out much faster in the premier league than they do in the bundesliga. Real madrid signed Mertesacker thinking he was the epitomy of german defending, but the lack of pace and mobility soon became apparant when pitted against explosive, world class forwards in la liga. The same has been true for Mertesacker at Arsenal, who has played well 80% of the time, but made very costly errors when outnumbered in defence.

If we cannot find a big name centre back, we should do what we did with herrera and shaw. Invest in talented players, ready to make the step up. They don't even have to be young. Gary Cahill went to Chelsea and became a very good player there, even if he is not in the top 10 defenders in the world. I would rather sign someone decent with all round qualities, and wait for the right centre back to become available, than sign a potentially world class player straight away, that has some kind of flaw, - like a Mertesacker or god forbid, a David Luiz.

Given the market at the moment, the centre back position ironically might prove to be Ed Woodward's biggest challenge of the summer. let's hope his good form continues.

Don't splash a big amount on a single player? Is £30m for an 18 year old left back not exactly that.

Excellent point redlsotope

Red Isotope when did Mertesacker play for real?

He didn't Walrus in fact I don't believe he ever played in la liga. He also called David Luiz a potential world class player lolz.

He is getting mixed up with metzelder lol

He's also missing the fact that the Bundesliga is faster paced than la liga, and more similar to the epl.

Pace is more of an issue in the Bundesliga and EPL than in la Liga.

If any league can prepare players for the EPL it's Germany.

Yes sorry. i'm talking about Metzelder at Real, Mertesacker at Arsenal. In fairness you could argue that Metzelder's lack of pace was due to injuries, but the result is the same.
We could look at the last 2 years of our own defensive partnership, Ferdinand and Vidic, and find the same problem. Despite the level they performed to for years, both suffered injuries in their early thirties and went into physical decline in the last 2-3 years. They did the majority of their defensive duties to a very high standard, but there was a weakness in their game and it proved costly against the likes of Aguero and Bale if I remember correctly.

David Luiz is not a world class player, or close. I think it was fairly straightforward that I was refering to him as a player to avoid(?) Chelsea paid 25m for him as a young player, because he was *potentially world class.

The point i'm trying to make is that there are players with a lot of ability, that still have flaws in their game. Those flaws sometimes go unnoticed because of the standard they are playing at, or due to the tactical setups they are playing in. For me these types are higher risk, than players with more rounded games.

Whether the flaw is physical, (mertesacker, metzelder, - ferdinand/vidic in later years, ) mental (e.g. david luiz!, ) or even technical ( - antonio valenica/cuardado?) I would be careful paying a hefty fee for that type of player. I think its something we discovered with Berbatov come to think about it, and it should have been a good lesson.

To get full value out of players with flaws, I think you need to tactically adapt to their strengths and weaknessess. It is a difficult thing to do at a club like United where there are many great players. Tottenham could build their team around Berbatov who was by far and away the star of the team. At united, he needed to adapt to being one of the great players, and his role changed because of that. He needed to offer as much off the ball as he could on it, - which is where things went wrong unfortunately.

I may be wrong about Hummels, but after 4 years of watching a more conservative Manchester United, I want to see us sign players that give the team the ability to push players forward in numbers. That means having the combination of technical qualities, and the physical abilities needed to run up and down the pitch for 90mins. I still think the midfield engine room of 94, keane, ince, giggs and kanchelskis produce by far the best football of the Ferguson era. Those players all had a great balance between their technical ability and physical contribution. - United have always been a cavalier side. I would love to see us return to a style that better represents us.

Red Isotope, I don't quite understand what most of that has to do with Hummels, are you suggesting that he isn't a complete defender just because of a slight lack of pace which he got shown up for on few occasions, he was phenomenal defensively for all of the world cup. Equally if you've watched him in the bundesliga which is a high energy league he dominates and quite often creates chances by recovering possession and bringing the ball forward similar to what Kompany does for City.

I personally believe we should be doing everything humanly possible to bring him to Old Trafford, he's for me one of the top 3 defenders in the world, proven in the bundesliga, the UCL and he's just won the world cup! as for Mangala, I'm not quite convinced it's worth paying 30 million for a defender from the Primera Liga.

I personally think the Bundesliga is a slow pace compared to the epl, how do you think man united last season beat Bayer Leverkusen 0-5 with giggs playing for 90 minutes, should sign ryan shawcross if you ask me, good physical defender, scores goals, wins headers and used of the epl. but it won't happen instead we will pay over the odds for someone

I started by saying I do indeed think Hummels is a top centre back. But up to a certain point so is the likes of Mertesacker & co. - until they are in situations they are unable to deal with physically.

I have watched Hummels a few times in Champions league games, and then through this world cup. Not so much in the Bundesliga. I am indeed judging him on the game against Argentina. Admitedly I may be wrong since the game might be a one off, (maybey he was tired because of the accumulation of games, maybey he didn't sleep well etc.) but I think there were some telling signs. The pundits made a good point about him. If you watched the bbc coverage, at half time both Ferdinand and Hansen highlighted him for a number of minutes, detailing the way Argentina's attacks were created through the exploitation of Hummels lack of pace in a German high line of defence. The Argentina game was the first time in the world cup that Germany's system was really tested by a collection of world class forwards. Personally i'd like to see United play a high line of defence.

I acknowledge the point about the Bundesliga being a physical league, but its not only about attackers with pace. A player that can run with the ball, and at the same time retain its control, + perform feints & skill at high speed, is a different proposition from the likes of Atouba Kone's, or Jason Roberts of this world, - examples of high speed/powerful, - relegation standard players, that are found in frequency in the Bundnesliga, outside the top 4. A top centre back can deal with that kind of player, but may still be exposed by higher quality players with pace.

If united want to be able to attack in big games, we need to think about these types of situations. Since we are finally beginning to reinvest, - and are doing so heavily, it seems to me we have the option at this moment of assembling a squad capable of playing very attacking football. Its good for the owners, because they will empower their brand, and of course it will be great for us as fans. I don't see any reason to do anything else really. I think the glazers have already realised it and want lvg to play attacking football. We have seen the signings of Herrera and Shaw, who offer as much physically as they do technically, and I hope to see more of that. Players that can allow us to push up and play a high line, and players that will bomb up and down the pitch making runs, creating options and space in the final third.