Manchester United Rumours Archive September 20 2012

20 Sep 2012 23:02:23
Just wondering here, Jonny Evans for defensive mid? Yeah yeah I know, slate me all you will, but he can play with the ball at his feet and does have an eye for a pass. I'm not saying he would be amazing, but would be capable.

Your thoughts are welcome and very much appreciated.

Yellowcar

I think that is a great suggestion Yellowcar but as we have seen SAF prefers to play Carrick and even Jones in the holding midfield role (we dont play a DM).

Dan

Take our best defender from last year and fiddle with his position? Yeah great idea..

Dear mr yellowcar
as you requested ngiak shall oblige
Evans made one little dribble and suddenly he is a midfielder?
ngiak is astounded at the knee jerk reactions on this site
he is nowhere near whats required in terms of skill or distribution to even be a centreback for a top team in the BPL
let alone centre mid
one small dribble even kids can do
and lotsa sideways passing
hopefully he gets better but he still has a long way to go despite giving so many opportunities these few seasons
even pique was kicked out for him
ngiak is amaze
gan

I am not too much of a fan of Evans in the CB role, but I can I see this working as I was quite surprised how well he played another position, LB, which required more agility.

AIJ

Gan?
Your deluded! Piqué left because he was homesick and saf revealed it was a call from the players mother that persuaded him to part with pique.
Evans is a good cb, your grammar and the way you put (one little dribble) is pathetic.

So do us a favour and stop portraying yourself as high and mighty!
Q

You really haven't got a clue have you gan.

Lads NO way could Evans play CM he is a centre back who with time on the ball looks good in possession but put him facing his own goals with a top Cm at his heels and him having to control the ball get his head up and find a pass....fish out of water comes to mind.

Its bad when ngiak is completely right.

Devil Dust.

I remember reading a few years ago in an interview with Evans that he wanted to get better on the ball and start moving into midfield from the back to be more creative, I think he used Rio as an example. Since then neither of them seem to do it much at all (for different reasons) and I think that is something we currently lack, which would mean that teams plaing one man upfront would need to send a midfielder in to harrie, creating space for our more creative players. Same problem England had the other night, with Jagielka and Lescott playing Chuckle Brothers footy.

The sad fact is that Evans isn't good enough for Utd's first team even as a defender, similar to John O'Shea. As a midfielder never in a million years. If that were ever to happen or the indication was that it could then I think we would be in mid-table obscurity and it would be the least of our worries. I wont even bother putting all the reasons why Evans isn't suitable, but we certainly need some out of the box thinking as the obvious problem area doesn't look like it is being adressed in the near future.

Sween

He'd probably do an OK job but that's not the point.

Why is it that when a centre half shows a little technique and ability on the ball they start being viewed as a candidate for a defensive midfield role?

Wht can't we just celebrate the fact that we have a young centre half who has developed leaps and bounds recently and looks like he can add to the attack by bringing the ball out of defence.

Far better to complement that with a decent midfielder who can read the game from that position and drop back to cover if Evans, Jones or anyone else decides to go forward.

Andrew B

Sween Evans is our best defender and was most of the reason for our stunning late winning streak last season. A bad game against Everton yes but I would put that down to nerves. Part of why SAF was willing to sell Pique to Barca was because we had Evans as well and Barca have had real interest in Evans as well in the past (Ed could you confirm?). He is brilliant at bringing the ball out of defense, can pick out a pass as well as being pretty solid. Him and Vidic are a defensive partnership made for each other and I bet they will do great over the course of this season.

Dan

Just no, we're not that desperate. I hate the idea of 'why not play Rafael on the wing (also on this site today) or Evans in midfield'. Not for me! He is a very good ball playing CB IMO though and should stay there

Gav

20 Sep 2012 19:01:20
What I think;

Jan - I think we need to keep our cover in the CB position and bring one in to partner Vidic. Obviously I'd prefer Hummels but Ogbonna will do.
Give Nani a few more games, if this level of play continues, bench him. Give him one more chance, then ship him off. Bring in Isco, James Rodriguez or Munian. Navas also a good option. Maybe a new LB that will keep playing since Evra is awful? Jetro Wiliems.

Oh, the famous central midfield debate. it must end. NOW. Bring in Cristian Erikson or Fehgolui in Jan, and end our sorrows. Seriously

-Ole

Clearly we have too much potential in Jones and Smalling to be spending big on CBs maybe even spending. A loan would be a much better option.

As much as i'd like Rodriquez, Porto are absolute stinge bags when it comes to selling a player. Muniain as we know has been touted around Europe (so we know he's available) however for a fee, yet again which is way too much.

Evra isn't all that bad, 90% of the LBs at top clubs around the world are worse than him. Also you seen that guy who played his absolute heart out the other day.. Alexander Buttner!?! he's 23 and with Fabio a year younger. Jetro Williems is a name we shouldn't be mentioning anymore.

Ozwald

Why would we bring in a CB? So when we have them all fit, who exactly is going to sit out?
Vidic, Ferdinand, Evans, Smalling, Jones. That alone is 5 players, only 2 can start.

melwing28

I do believe we have a new LB already in buttner!!

Evra has been awful for two years.A good footballer but he's got far too big for his boots.Lazy,doesn't track back and his positional play is woeful.Should've signed a more experienced left back in the summer to challenge him for his place now.I like the look of Buttner and i rate Fabio but cannot see Fergie choosing either ahead of Evra for the big games for at least two years and thats where his defensive frailities are found out most.He cost us 15 goals on his own last season with his mistakes.

Last 'no name' poster. I do believe that not only was the signing of Alexander Buttner meant to improve the squad/team but also put pressure on Evra to work harder for his spot in the team. So sit back and watch Evra either up his game, or Buttner will take his place and without a doubt become a solid full back for us.

Ozwald

Lets not get to excited about Buttner he is good but not as good as a lot of people think he is. Evra would be a lot better if he could discover his old form and I think that is why SAF brought in Buttner. Not to replace Evra but to try and make sure Evra gets back to his best. Also, I can almost guarantee that SAF sees Fabio as the long term lb and Blackett as his long term competitor. I say keep the faith in Evra I still think he will come good this season again now that he is challenged but could still be sold next summer as he will only have a year on his contract.

Dan

Erikson wouldn't be able to hack in the premier league, he's small and slow plus he is bang average.

Would've loved to see Dembele or Witsel or even Moutinho... but no cigar.

Everyone is slating nani after his penalty miss, but his performance was actually good, especially in the second half. Some people dont really watch the players throughout the match and just jump to conclusions based on the main events.
Like the penalty.

Nani has low confidence right now. He hasnt performed well so far this season, (although he wasnt bad against wigan or galatasaray,) and he has been out of form for several months now.

Everyone loves valencia because his form was good in the last half of last season, but actually he has started this season worse than nani. Those who actually pay attention to the play going on in a game, as apose to just what players do in key moments, will have to agree that valencias end product from his crossing and his decision making at times has been more or less crap.

Does this mean valencia is an awful player? - No.
Would it mean he is awful if he plays this way for 6 months? The answer is still no,
- especially if the team is struggling for fluency as awhole, the way we were last season.

All im saying here, is stop jumping to conclusions so quickly. Dont buy into the nonsense that players like rodriguez or gaitan are any better than nani. Nani was in their position when he arrived at man u. Thier price tag is an illusion of the hyper-inflated transfer market. It dosent really represent their ability. Right now nani has as much chance of progressing to world class level as those types of players. The only way replacing nani actually makes sense is if we are prepared to make a marquee signing. Someone like gareth bale. As long as we are talking about the 20-30m level, people would do better to get behind nani and encourage him, rather than look to the other side of the grass to see if its any greener. Give the guy a break.

Our attack is strong, - its the age and immobility of the midfield that is a problem. We cannot hold possession because other teams are holding it with ease. Its not the attackers failure to pass the ball around.

FOR GODS SAKE HE HAS HAD YEARS TO STEP UP HIS GAME! We have Kagawa, young and Welbeck who can all do a better job than Nani in that position (even Welbeck yes). Money from his sale could be put to much better use!

Yes we do need a centre back as phil jones is out for a while after having surgery smalling is injured and rio will proberly stub his toe next week and be out for the season or something

20 Sep 2012 08:46:56
Now that everyone has gotten to sleep it off and all the opinions on our wing play and wingers. What does everyone think of Navas from Sevilla and Eds have we ever showed any interest in him. He ripped the Real Madrid defense to pieces the other night and was excellent. I am personally a big Muniain fan but unfortunately as usual can't see us ever getting the guy. Shahram {Ed002's Note - Navas is not an option. He won't leave Spain.}

Leave Spain ? would he even ever leave Sevilla ? Munian on the other hand is the guy for United!

The guy gets home sick when he's on international duty! He'd never leave to play in another country

19 Sep 2012 23:52:33
Ed has Isco got a 15m release clause in his contract?

Reg {Ed002's Note - I would not read anything in to "release clause" which will be 22M euro next summer.}

20 Sep 2012 00:21:01
Nani wasn't the problem tonight(although him and Valencia were not good) the problem is far bigger, the problem lies with the coaching, we haven had a clue tacitly since Carlos queros, and also trying to play two wingers in a free form attack is bonkers!! we look very predictable !

roonbest

Whilst I agree with your statement, what is free form attack ????

Oxred

Oxred, barca play freeform football, constantly changing positions so as to make it difficult for the opposition to pick them up

roonbest

Roonbest, that is why I keep saying we are playing a 4411/442 formation because SAF continually plays 2 wingers, even though the majority of people keep saying we are playing 433. You can play 433 with two forward wingers, but you need 3 in the middle if its a 433 system. We will keep getting run over in midfield, especially if SAF persists in playing Carrick and Scholes as his midfield two.
We have learnt nothing from our disgraceful CL exit last year.

J Bones.

Are players also seem to be losing the will to beat a player.

Only on who still does it is Nani (i know alot will disagree) obv Valencia still can but he hardly does compared to how he was before.

Roone was great at beating player/s Kagawa was suppose to be able to beat players but it seems as if when there playing(united) they seem to lack the creativity, spark, and mainly Cohonas!

Can any one tell my why this is ?...

I completely agree, tactically we are a complete mess......the players dont seem to even know the colour of the grass they are playing on its that bad.....

but seriously tho, something needs to happen quick....the past 3 years now we have been playing scrappy football and luckily we have gotten results from nowhere, we have not dominated for years now in matches....people look at it on a season by season basis rather than looking at the overall picture....this is the 3rd season running now where we have been awful.....really really awful to watch more so over the past year, it seems it doesnt matter what team we are playing against it always turns out to be the same predictable performance....our midfield is crying out for a general to come in and take control of it....darren fletcher the good servant that he was, is noway in hell going to make the levels which we need in there to boss games.....wait until we come up against a decent side (which we havent done so far this year bar everton) i can honestly see a complete tanking if we dont get our act together, a midfield general is needed as well as sorting our tactics out!!!!!!

phelan is not assistant manager material, hes merely there due to his close friendship with fergie and his years loyalty to the club.....he should be one of the coaches thats all....would love to see pep come in as assistant manager for 6months before taking over in the summer, that wud be the ideal solution, plus sign the likes of mascherano or another similar type of player to win the ball in the midde for us.......fellaini would also be a good option as he's excellant in that position also

Robbo

Completely agree robbo, pep is deffo the way forward, a year under the masters wing first so as to learn all about the values of our great club

roonbest

5 games into the new season and were talking like this. IMO you are all bonkers.

Aaronaldo7

Aaronaldo7 I think ull find most of us have been saying the same things for the last season and a half, maybe 2

roonbest