Manchester United Rumours Archive July 09 2013

09 Jul 2013 09:52:51
Strootman has agreed to join Roma, either Moyes didn't want him or he didn't want to work with Moyes.

In a way this is good because it shows that Moyes has his own ideas, and has full power at the club. He isn't going to be anyones yes man.

Thiago deal should be announced in the next few days, Bayern Munich are plan B.

Also good luck to Darren Fletcher who's having one last op, which hopefully will see him back playing again.

Andyp MUFC

This hints at an attempt to bring in Fellaini.

We know he was a SAF target so perhaps Moyes will go with Thiago and use Jones in midfield. That would make a move for Garay more likely too.

Sydney!

That would be a massive mistake. The only positive to him going there would mean potentially we could get him next year when we realise what we have missed out on. All be it for about 10m more

If Fellaini is a result of this then i'm not happy.

Ozwald

I don't think we wee intrestedv, it was just some enquireis, he said ‘There are several clubs interested, but only when they reach an agreement with PSV do I come into the picture, ’ said the Dutch international.

‘This not to say that any are in the world’s top six. There is also interest from Russia, but that is not an option for me. I just do not take hasty decisions about my future.

‘Whether the club I leave for must play in the Champions League? That wasn’t the case when I moved to PSV. ’

If this is true I can see fellani being signed.

Nothing concrete in the Italian press. A little bit about Tottenham trying to sign him.

Supasub

I really, really hope we don't go for Fellaini now.

Thorne

Tottenham surely can't be linked with him? Just signed Paulinho not to mention Sandro, Dembele, Dempsey and Holtby.

Ozwald

I apologise, there is a report stating strootman has agreed in principle to join roma but roma only want to pay 11 million euros and psv want 15-20 million euros. So a little way to go on that one.

Supasub

I've been checking flights, and only flight in today arrived in at 2. 55, so if this is true ( I really hope so), he'd have to of arrived yesterday.
Wonder if anyone saw him in the airport yesterday.

I didn't want Strootman

Hope it's Fellaini. we need someone like him as the current team of players are just too sweet/shy for tackling. He is the kind of player who can annoy opposition and disrupt their momentum!

Well I for one don't want the same midfield as the last 4 years its been shyte. I can see Fellaini tbh as Moyes choice foregoing Strootman

Will hughes and Fellaini will be the midfield pair we sign and we should all be over the moon with that. Katef

Fellaini?please No!No thanks, let him stay where he is or anywhere else but utd. if Moyes brings in that out and out bag near our club, il never forgive him!id rather have Roy Keane in his fifties than that long steel of misery. he throws more elbows than he touches the ball, you could count the amount of touches of the ball with his feet on one hand!hes a clown.

SuperRed

Kate, I wouldn't be surprised to see either bought. Daehli leaving could leave a space for Hughes.

Sydney!

Garay and thiago that's all I think!

Sparkyred

Hughes makes sense Moyes has had him watched last season he is big strong English left footed he has a lot going for him and all the Fellaini haters out there he would be the perfect beast for us ok he is a little ok a lot dirty lol but this is not a game a tickerling and to my knowledge he has not ended anyones career with his rough stuff and he has wonderful control the best chest and head control of any player and yes guys the ball does go in the air at some points I would like Thiago and Garay but can't see Moyes making them his first players in maybe Baines and Felliani and I hope young Hughes who is also going to be a Beast in the middle. katef

I don't understand all you Fellaini haters. He would be an immense signing, big powerful, mobile, versatile and very useful with his feet despite what some of you say. I always hate seeing him on the Everton team sheet against us, because he dominates games. We haven't had somebody dominate the midfield since Keane, we have been crying out for somebody like him for years.

If we sign him he will become a legend at our club.

Sween

Us not being in for Strootman doesn't hint at Fellaini whatsoever what are you all on about? All it hints was we were not interested in buying Strootman as I expect the next couple of weeks wills reveal we are not interested in Garay either.
although we know Ferguson bid for Thiago there is actualyl no concrete evidence we are actually trying to sign Thiago yet, just press talk. I do think there is interest there, there does seem to be interest in Baines from a bid being made. I think there may be some kind of surprise signing as well or plan b's if we don't get these targets. I don't expec Strootman, Garay or Fellaini to be signed myself though
Invisible STuey

Fellaini is the perfect beast for united no doubt the only real mid we need big strong good in air good technique can pass run all game and yes he is dirty player but this is top flight football not a game of tickerling each others feet. katef

All these rumours. We are going to buy him no we are going to buy the other one. Medical booked for weekend. Well we go ontour and who has come. No one. Did you not read what our new ceo said "We do not need any major signings maybe a little tinkering here and there". Another squeeze by our beloved owners. Did Gill and Fergie know something. Who is the best manager to get who has managed on a virtuall zero budget. Yes its starting to make sense isn't it

I washed David Peggs car

Kate, I couldn't care about Fellaini having a dirty streak. It's his poor control, his lack of awareness and his limited passing range that is questionable. He can score with his head, defend with his head, but in midfield he is not that great at all.

Sydney!

If true, the news we're not interested in Strootman is great news. I think Roma offering 11 million Euros is about his worth. I would love us to get Fellaini and Thiago - steel and silk. Fellaini can play anywhere in the midfield, except the wings, as a second striker, as an out and out striker, but best of all for us is as a defensive midfielder. The idea of Fellaini palying alongside Carrick, with Thiago, Kagawa and Rooney being the attacking 3 behind RVP sounds exciting. If Rooney was to leave we should break the bank and buy Draxler. Draxler - Thiaga - Kagawa sound a great young attacking three. I think that Thiago, Fellaini, and Baines coming is a possibility. If Rooney goes then I'd love Draxler rather than an out and out striker. 38m is a lot, but maybe we could get him for a little less. Even at 38m he's a good deal when you compare it to the 80m Bale would cost or CR7 who will be 29 this season.
Mik

He mite not have the control of a Scholes or a Xavi Sydney but who has there very few and far between and his touch for a big man is much better than you are saying and not just you Sydney but a lot don't rate him, he is a beast and will be great for us I hope above all players we can get for the middle its him I would love thiago to but can't see him leaving Barca there his team and if he did he would probably make sure he has clause to go back I like the look of Hughes he is also big and strong if ya want a team for dominating the prem we should go more Bayern munich big guys rather than Barca style small guys. Katef

And this is for David Peggs car washer the reason Moyes got the job is because we like dynasties not flash in the pan success which is why we have another scot manager we have always had our best years with a scotch so why would we change now I love untied and would hate us to change into a city psg Monaco Chelsea type club and glad we do things the right way Moyes will have plenty of cash and plenty of time to get it right. Katef

Fellaini is too slow and not technical enough. He is great in premier league games but would be useless in Europe, where small, technical players will run rings round him.

I wouldn't say no to a big guy, but they need to be quick and decent on the ball too, like Toure. Not many like that around so I really hope we don't get a big guy like Fellaini.

Thorne

People jumping on the Felliani boat should realise one thing. If we sign Felliani, we will have to continue playing compressed football. That is - playing a very tight game, and then looking to players of great quality to produce moments that win us games. van persie/rooney.

We have played this way for the past 3 years due to ageing and slow, even if, brilliant midfielders. Felliani is a very slow player, but does have qualities that perfectly suit a compressed system.

If we wish to once again become a side that can win playing with a swagger to our game, we will need to sign players with the physical capacity to cover ground quicky. The point is that other players can continually burst forward when the midfield has the engine to recover its shape and balance once possession is lost.
Remember 94 anyone? Keane/ince? that's why we could have 2 wingers constantly going forward rather than just 1 like the ji sung park/ ronaldo era. 94 was definately uniteds most stylish team under feguson.

strootman is the type we should be after in my opinion given his obvious stamina and speed, but if we can't sign him, any decent high stamina and speed player will do really. wanayama looks available.

Sign em up moyes.

Please so Martinez and schweinsteiger are fast players and scholes and xavi get real boys the place you have to be fast is every were else so stop putting a obviously good player down he will be amazing for us u tube him and watch his high light reel from last season and watch his game v city he is a beast and would SMASH teams home and away in Europe or the prem if you don't see it ya need speck savers. katef

Whilst Fellani wouldn't be my first choice for a midfielder, what most people are missing is that he would improve one of weakest area's of our team.

Thiago is a must though. Regardless of the formation we look to play whether a 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3 or any variations on these he would slot in perfectly. I think he would link up terrifically well with Kagawa, RvP but also some of the younger players.

I'd very much like us to put in a bid for DeRossi if Roma get Strootman or Marchisio. Like Fellani these aren't the fastest players but neither is Carrick and he didn't do too badly for us last season did he?

Katef, I don't think you understood the point being made about fast and slow midfielders. The point was not about the quality of the players, it is about style of play.

Bayern munich of all the top teams in europe, - do - play more of a compressed game. Much more so than real madrid, barcelona or even dortmund. Their success is not about having an attacking style of play. success does not equal attacking football. you can win with any style.

Man U as we have seen this season, have also been successful with a compressed style of play, and could well be more successful with a player like felliani, simply because it will improve our quality overall.

Bear in mind however that felliani/ carrick is a much slower combination even than martinez and schweinsteiger. With felliani/carrick, we will have to play deeper and more constricted than almost any major team in europe, which we are probaly doing already.

This is just a tactical reality in football. When an opponent has the ball, if space is left around players in the center, the defensive demands on them are increased, - and they will have to move more quickly to deal with them. When they are not closing down, the midfielders need to reposition themsleves continually to maintain the formational balance. How quickly can they refind their position and the team's shape when the ball is being passed around? With less support, the area becomes greater that they need to cover, - so more running required. The holes to pass through also become larger, so the speed they need to run into the positions that shut out through passes, also becomes greater. Again its just tactical reality that slower players will need to play in more compressed systems. That dosent mean u need to have the worlds fastest midfielders, because there is a balance. its as important to find good passers, with vision, or even players that can tackle.

You mentioned xavi at barcelona, so it should also be pointed out that barcelona are exceptional for one thing, and that spanish style of play is also different. The shape is never lost when spanish teams move forward, because their build up play is very slow. They might make 10 passes to just move forward 10 yards. i. e. They don't loose their shape or formation as they move forward. Its well known that slower players have an easier time in both spain and italy for example. To play this way and really be exciting, you indeed do need to be as good as barcelona. Regular spanish teams are not known for exciting football, - often playing the ball sideways more than forward. This is one of the reasons the premier league's tv deals have outsold most of the foreign leagues as competitors since the mid 90's.

It's a good point made about a compressed team, and I have grown more and more frustrated with our lack of attacking focus over the years. Very few shots on target a lot of games last season.

However - with Valencia, Young, and Nani, all looking bad or uninterested we have no real option but to be a more compressed team and the key with Fellaini is that he attracts two players to pick him up whenever he moves forward, if you don't double up on Fellaini he will dominate. This means that more space is created for our dynamic creative players - Kagawa, Rooney, RVP even Carrick.

I also think Fellaini is pretty quick, he has a big stride and I often see him bombing up and down the park in an Everton shirt. There are lots of quality aspects to his game which will benefit Utd at the moment, yes he has areas he needs to improve but so do the vast majority of players. I just see him as a perfect fit a threat going forward, quality defensive cover, great at set pieces and somebody that gives opposing midfields something to think about for once as opposed to just standing off and waiting to counter, which equals the boring football we regularly see.

He is tough, unpredictable and means opponents spend more time planning how to deal with him than the other superstars that should have the room to play and dominate as well.

With Fellaini we will be almost unstoppable.

Sween

Sween
I agree that signing felliani will be better than doing nothing. Chelsea in 2003 & 4 played a very contained, counter attacking team, (out of choice on mourinhos part rather than a need to. ) - but they were imperious. They were even enjoyable to watch, just because there was a lot of quality to appreciate, despite playing from deep.

If we are ok, with going down this route, felliani could launch a strong period of success for us, and it certainly isn't a bad option. For me though, this is still something that should be a secondary option. The money and potential is there at the moment to aquire midfielders of any type we want. We should try to make use of that, since the rest of our squad is in good shape and dosent need adding to.

If the transfer window goes badly in terms of signing any of these types of targets, then I think we ought to step in for felliani near the end, and make peace with being perhaps a more defensive, yet very high quality big team. With more quality in midfield, there no reason we can't be like a bayern munich indeed, or a chelsea style from 2004, both of which have been great teams in their own right.

To the well wrote out no name post I have not missed the point at all and your very chauvinistic way of saying I don't get what people are saying about Fellaini not being good enough is rubbish I have seen him play against us enough times to know he is a real handful in the middle and when playing for us he would be even better he is a very very good player indeed and not even that slow as some say like Sween states it normaly takes two players to get the ball off him because he is so strong much stronger than any one in the league bar none and is one of the best mids in the world at what he does so take your head out of your butt and please don't belittle me you have no grounds to say I don't understand because i'm kate if I was a Jeff would you explaine it that way I doubt it, Fellaini is as good as any player you can name were he will play for us javi Martinez Sergio busquets are not as good as this guy so please its you who needs to learn a bit about football my good sir Katef

Katef, i'm not sure what you mean by chauvinistic. i'm only expressing a point of view. You are making assumptions about me.

As I stated in response to Sween, I agree that Fellaini is a very good player, and I have no doubt he would improve this united team. The point I am trying to get across however is that a player like Felliani, will ensure that we continue to play the same system as we are now, which isn't very exciting. I agree we would indeed be able to play this way much better with fellaini, but personally i'd still rather see us get someone even of a slightly lower quality, but at least go for a player that will allow us to start opening up and playing engaging football once again.

Iv seen fellaini running by the way, and I know he's got a big stride and everything, but honestly if you watch his workrate off the ball, he isn't a player that moves around a lot.

All i'm trying to say is that the issue really comes down to the style of play. Since we have the potential to look at different options right now, it has to make sense to see if we can get someone that would help us to return more to the type of team that manchester united has always been associated with. Even in the 70's and 80's man u was known as a cavallier team, that would always be pushing forward. Its one of the reasons the club was respected and appreciated worldwide, even when we hadnt won a league for 23 years. I agree we don't want to go back to that period, and that there is a balance between success and style, but I think we have swung too much to the other side of the pendulum. We are now comprimising our play to too great an extent. We should be looking at ways to improve this issue and now that we are ready to solve the midfield equation, is the best time to do it.

I sometimes post under the name of redwolf.

redwolf

What I was trying to say is don't assume I don't understand how football is played and what different types of players bring to a team and how that will effect our style of play, like you I am no spring chicken I was watching united before SAF with big Ron I take your points on board but my defence of Fellaini was directed towards people who think he is not united quality which is far from the truth he is just what we need ok Jones can do what he can but with less bullishness and I would prefer him at the back Fellaini well make it hard for any team not to double up on him ie giving wingers fullbacks and forwards more room and more one on one chances he is very strong in the tackle great in the air both ends very hard to get off the ball its a no brainer we will sign him and for obvious reasons he is perfect for united we need some one who can bulldoze the opposition ok his passing forwards is not as good as some but we have Carrick for that and Kagawa for the short intricate stuff I think Moyes will bring his own style and I also don't see us playing quite like everton as some think but more like a free flowing big strong team anyway we will soon enough see who is coming and how we play. katef ps I still think were in for Bale and if we do we will be totally unstoppable to many strong players that the opposition would need to double up on and that would be any team in the world in my opinion

The points you are making about fellaini are undoubtedly true. From what I have seen when he plays, his technique is very good, and his airial threat and ability as a target man in particular, is unparralled.

What your saying about doubling up on him to give the attackers more room. that's not something that's going to happen from open play when the ball is on the ground. From set peices and goal kicks, he will be marked heavily. If he is marked in open play, it will mean he is being sent forward to latch onto long balls, which actually did happen a lot at everton last season. - Again this isn't the worlds most flamboyant style. Teams like stoke and bolton have built success based on long ball systems. Bigger teams can certainly do the same and be successful too. Drogba played this type of role superbly under mourinhos chelsea, and of course, it wasnt as laboured as a stoke or bolton. Chelsea's system combined a defensive approach with great quality and moments of magic from star players. That is interestingly, exactly what Man u have at the moment by the way, although without a target man as such.

United would become an extremely solid outfit with fellaini alongside the rest of the team, but we won't win awards for being a fluid and exciting team. i'm of the opinion that being a force in europe is preferable to not being so, and so I rate fellaini as a good option, if we really can't get anyone else near to his quality. Since we have the chance right now to browse the market, however, finding players near to fellaini type quality that have an agile and mobile presence, would be something that allows us to build a much more exciting team for the future.

Look to the way we started the season a few years ago, when we beat arsenal 8. 2 and tottenham 3. 0
United were playing brilliant football at that time and it was a period where Anderson had managed to get himself into good fitness (very unusual), and was being combined with tom cleverly. With those 2 racing around midfield, we could push players forward easily, and the attackers really began to express their talents. A lot of intricate play was being exchanged up front and it was great to watch.
Anderson then got injured and cleverly lost form, so the midfield was inverted to carrick scholes and giggs. These are brilliant players and have performed just as well, if not much better than cleverly and anderson did at that time. United have been more consistent and tougher to beat than ever in the last 2 years, but as we are all aware, it has not been rewarding to watch, and probably tough to take for some fans who have taken pride in the swashbuckling and adventurous style united have long been known for. i'm not saying we should be impractical, but if we can, we should make the effort to sign players that will allow us to return to our footballing heritage.

redwolf

Both redwolf and Katef have some great points in my opinion. The best spell we have had in recent years of attractive football was with dynamism in the central midfield area (Anderson, Cleverly). Fellaini will add this in my opinion as he will improve yet further at Utd. Obviously if we have money to spend then we should go all out for Wilshere, (I think Thiago is off to Munich), but Fellaini is very effective, Moyes knows him, he is used to the English game and playing with better footballers than at Everton will mean he is even more effective.

Whatever happens it needs to change from Giggs and Cleverly options. Great for the squad but hardly world class in the central midfield area, I really rate Anderson when fit, but haven't seen enough of him in a Utd shirt. We have too many fringe players now and need to buy quality. Young, Nani, Valencia, Cleverly, Giggs, Welbeck are all decent enough, but aren't going to take us to that next level.

I stornlgy believe Fellaini will come and will be a great success.

Sween