Manchester United Rumours Archive August 25 2012

25 Aug 2012 23:54:09
Guys just watched highlights of the game today, Dembele had a great game. He looks skillfull and strong too.

Only hope we can get Berba away and that would free up a space for a bid for him. I truly believe he would make the grade at United. Hopefully we would bid about £12 -15 million and get our man. None of this stupid low bids, just go straight in and get him quick......the clock is ticking and we need a man like him.

I'll hold my hands up as I did not rate Dembele as Utd standard but after going to the Fulham game I think he could improve our midfield IF he can consistently perform like he did.
JR-Red

That's always the problem JR-Red, the big IF......however we'll never know unless we sign him and try him.

25 Aug 2012 22:07:33
Man United launch an enquiry into 19 year old Sao Paulo defender Luiz Eduardo. Sao Paulo are likely to ask for around $6.5 million.

25 Aug 2012 21:18:31
To all united fans who think the midfield is ok, how many more times must we watch our midfield get dominated by one player. A lot of people saying Dembele and Fellani aren't good enough for our midfield? Well watch the last two Games have highlighted the problems at united are still the same. We need midfielders who can close games down, hence the need for a ball winner, defensive midfielder. Giggs, scholes are nearly forty, and Carrick is 31. Anderson is a fat b****** whie cleverley and Powell are too young. Sahin on loan would of helped with possession. Against the bigger teams, we will struggle!

It's not possession we struggle with, it's more the physical side of the game. I can't think of one of our CM's that I would consider strong or a bully.

#ags

Agree totally against the big physical teams we will struggle we are crying out for a Roy Keane type player and I think we lack leaders on the pitch apart from vidic we have nobody.

Damian M

Totally agree!
how it cannot be seen that we need a holding mid is beyond me. NO team can work with 2 central mids, neither one knows whether to go forward or who should stay back. Not to mention we have nobody who can actually put a tackle in.

melwing28

How is cleverly young he almost 24 an Powell is 18 there is a 5-6 year diffrence there no name

Dio

Did you actually watch the game?

Utd took the piss all game until DDG made that f*ck up

Anderson played as he can and should was brilliant

Pardoe

Agreed. Anderson & Cleverley played well. We know what they're capable of following the early part of last year. They need games and to stay fit. That being said Dembele was excellent and I'm sure he's on the radar. The bigger issue is getting the defenders fit and finding a permanent position for Phil Jones who is a future leader and has awesome potential. As a side issue, how good was Rafa ? He could have had a hat-trick.

Cleverly is definately a high quality player. We see it from him almost every time he plays.
Anderson is also good, but he has the same problem as scholes and carrick in being burnt out fast and not being mobile. Ironically with him this just comes from being fat, as apose to age. Unless he decides to get into the type of fitness you expect from a proffesional footballer, we will still have to replace him, the way we need to replace scholes and carrick despite their passing ability.

Pardoe

Obviously you didn't watch the game if you that that Anderson played well. He was rubbishe and looked embarrassingly unfit and over weight. I can't believe that this useless nappy arse gets anywhere near the first team.
By some proper glasses Pardoe!

Simmo

I heard that we made a 5m bid for dembele 2-3 weeks ago. But that was before we signed rvp, buttner and henriquez.

Doubt anyone else will be signed tbh. We've bought 5 players which is unusual for us.

Philiphs93

It most certainly is retaining possession we struggle with and winning the ball back against the better teams.We lose the ball far too cheaply and then it is hard for the midfield to get it back.We need midfielders who can close down in the Barca fashion which is usually 2-3 players putting someone under pressure very quickly.Our midfield is far to slow in their pressing of the ball giving players way to long to offload.

It's like monkey see, monkey do in here sometimes.

Last week it was Fellaini, this week it's Dembele....are we going to throw our toys out of the pram everytime we face a half decent opponent?

We can't buy everyone. We don't play like Everton, or Fulham, so just because Fellaini and Dembele can play in their respective teams, there is absolutely no guarantee that they would work for us.

RedMist

Simmo

Anderson had a good game. Kept possession for the majority of the game making only a couple of poor passes, he closed down and chased the ball non stop and when it came to holding off ppponenta he did it very well. So maybe you need the glasses mate.

AR

If we sign someone, then it has to be the right player. Not the latest guy we have seen play well against us. This is Football Manager style tyhinking and thank God we don;t have the kind oif manager who thinks like this.

With that said, Carrick has been playing in the back four, wait till he gets back into the centre. The guy breaks up so much play (far more than he is given credit for) and will bring structure and discipline back to our midfield.

I think it is obvious that Scholes and Cleverly don;t work together and Anderson (well, I think opinions are as split on his ability as they are on Nani), but Carrick is a HUGE ommission from out current midfield and when he is back, we will be up and running.

Maybe delusional, but always optimistic.

MDJ

25 Aug 2012 17:58:41
Must admit when I read about bidding for Dembele a few weeks ago I thought 'Not a chance, not good enough'. He proved me wrong today though. Powerful, skilful, decent passer, good engine, box-to-box. Could be just what the midfield needs. Eds, was a bid definitely put in? I heard it was about £5 mill. Any idea what he would cost? No more than 12-15 I'd imagine. Decent value if he can perform like he did today on a consistent basis.

Matt

Few more performances like today and his value will be going up. I can even see one of the big foreign clubs coming in for him. I think he has a year left on his contract and has not extended, will be interesting to see what happens in january if he does not go anywhere in the next week or so. shahram

If he played in our midfield instead of andesron! We would be a much better team.

Absolutely, I think he would be rotated like a lot of other players but would be ideal for CL games and big games against the top sides in PL. Who knows `SAF is known for going out and making the unexpected buy when a player performs very well against united and after today might get the owners to sanction a buy with a 12 to 14 million pound bid. EDs what would be realistic price that fullham would sell?

25 Aug 2012 15:59:17
This is a game where we will see if we have learnt our lesson from last season.

3-1 at half time and we have got to make this at least 5-1. Last season we failed to capitalise on games we were dominating, lets see if we will this season.

MPez

Same old same old. sigh

I believe you have your answer!

Charla

Time is needed for the team to gel. rooney's injury could be the best thing to happen. could give time for a kagawa van persie partnership.

We didnt learn,we need top class defensive mid,have done since keano left, we got by in the past but now its obvious.

It's not the top class defensive mid we need even tho it would be nice, we need a CENTRE BACK back like evans

To above post, if we need a consistent centre back, don't bother looking at Evans, Smalling,Rio or Jones, if I was missing from work anywhere near as often as these sick notes, I wouldn't have a job!, can barely manage a full season between the lot of them!

Charla

25 Aug 2012 13:38:14
for people who are after links to todays game try, firstrowsports/iraqgoals/wiziwig

JK92

What is the picture like mate ?

Dio

Firstrow and iraqgoals use flash and aren't great, on wiziwig you have to download sopcast (it's quick n easy to download) and the picture is in HD and like your watching it on your TV, only downside is it is sometimes foreign commentary.

JK92

25 Aug 2012 11:48:35
news coming out from reliable sources that united have bid 12.5m for ryan showcross to solve and find long term replacement for ferdinand( fergie has decided to address this center back problem first, thats why center midfield plan is postponded)... SAF thinks jones isnt ready to be regular at the center or trying to explore him more into defensive midfield position. i think its a wise move as he is former united.. experienced in premier league. has good age and physical presence on his side.. and he would love to represent reds finally. SAF has confirmed in some interview in past that he would never have sold him if he knew that pique wil run away in the name of homesickness.. i m sure any of the ed can confirm something in this..
eds pls.
rodio17

25 Aug 2012 11:54:08
"Defenders have been having more injuries that the forward in recent years. It is strange. You would think it was the other way around. We have a strong squad and we are going to use it. There will be opportunities for everyone to share in that and contribute to whatever we achieve this season.
Phil Jones has started training. Chris Smalling is long term. Rio, I think, will be ready for next week. Evans was doing well but felt it in training on Sunday and hasn't trained since. I'm not sure whether that is long term or a short-term setback"
jred

25 Aug 2012 08:57:23
regarding the posters who have compared Henriquez to the brilliant Gabriel Batistuta the Fiorentina striker of the eighties, I was told by a friend of the Edwards family at the time that United did try to sign Batistuta but the players wage demands would have blown the clubs wage structure "out of the water" apparently Batistutas agent sounded out United first and of course United were very interested, the consensus was that Batistutas agent had used the United interest to secure a better contract for his client, he succeeded! Cheetham Red.

Hi I was the 2nd person who said about Henriquez/ batistuta, yes i had heard that story before. Not a surprise, quite a few agents have tried that one over the years. Great player though.

25 Aug 2012 08:13:16
So no more new blood. I have to say that I'm disappointed that we haven't bought a top class central midfielder. It seems obvious to me that we lack in this area. I also don't have the confidence in Cleverley that others do.

Nonetheless, we have bought quite well, so let's get on with it. Bring on Fulham.

Pip

It is disappointing to see no new midfielder. A world class midfielder could help elevate us to the man city/real/barca level in terms of playing squad.

Personally have a lot of faith in clevery however. I think people need to realise that he is a replacement for darren fletcher as apose to scholes. Its his role to keep the movement of the ball ticking with short passes and one twos, and to cover a lot of ground in the centre. Its not a lack in ability that causes him to play that way. Man United play like this so that a counterpart midfielder (scholes/carrick/anderson) can then have room and flexability in controling the team's rythm. At any point in time, they have the choice to play short or if they can, to disperse the ball to the attackers. If you understand the midfield is designed to function this way, you might appreciate cleverly in a different way, - because he is very, very good at doing just this, - as was darren fletcher in fact.

For me its the other side of midfield is the one we need to upgrade. Although i like anderson a lot, i was very dissapointed to see him come on against everton after a full preseason, - and still be fat. Its a shame. Scholes and carrick are still very good in terms of their distribution, but obviously no player can afford to be completely immobile in the centre. Its a weakness in our team, especially if we have to pair scholes and carrick together.

Despite all this, i think we might be better equipped than most people think, so long as anderson and cleverly stay fit. Our lack of energy if that happens is worrying.

'redbark

Well you should have confidence in Cleverley. SAF has spoken about his potential before, only thing thats held him back is injuries. He's a simple but effective midfielder. Just remember how well we started last season? Anderson and Cleverley were a fantastic combination, no other midfielders got a look in. Then when both got injured Carrick filled in and we had to get Scholesy back, had no where near as much energy but more experience which is why you saw us getting loads of 1-0 wins.

Ozwald

Try Phil jones at central midfield..
last year he showed he can attack from tat position.we have to look developin our potential rather than buyin a new player and wait until he settles in the club

What's Kagawa then? Last time I checked he was a world class midfielder!