With the will he, won’t he, situation rumbling on in terms of Maguire’s transfer to Manchester United I was wondering what the approach should be if Maguire did decide to leave.
Personally, I don’t want Maguire to go, but I know that many believe his departure could be quite sustainable especially if he went for a big fee. I think Maguire brings quite a rare talent to the back line with his ability on the ball and to carry it forward. I think we’d miss that.
Having said that I think many Manchester United fans are surprised that Jonny Evans is often cited as being a superior defender. Certainly he was last season in terms of consistency. In fact I thought Morgan and Evans played pretty well together as did Maguire and Evans - but Maguire and Morgan struggled. We’ve seen before that Morgan is much better when paired with a more traditional CB (eg Huth), but also this helps the feeling that defensively Evans is probably a more reliable than HM.
So what, genuinely, do people think is our best option around Maguire? Do we sell and buy? Do we sell and give a squad player a chance? Do we keep him.
We have:
Evans - experienced and solid last season
Morgan - legend, but ageing and losing pace. Will probably only be a squad player unless we have an emergency next season
Soyuncu - has ability on the ball, but I worry he has a Maguire tendency for a lapse of concentration
Benkovic - not really seen much of him, but Mersey says he’s great
Is that sufficient or do we need to buy?
If we do buy who should that be (Dunk rumoured)?
Should we sell and invest in other areas of the team and rely on the talent above?
Should we keep hold of Harry if possible?
What’s the preferred outcome to all this?
In Maguire’s defence
posted on 17/7/19
comment by Jobyfox (U4183)
posted 0 seconds ago
comment by The Artist formerly known as Black Starr (U12353)
posted 13 minutes ago
comment by The_Dungeon_Master (U4830)
posted 10 minutes ago
I think Rodgers has said that Maguire isn't a complete defender yet, that he knows that and has to develop his game further. That's a good thing, knowing that he has weaknesses and wants to address them. My issue is that I've been waiting for him to do that for two years.
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Totally agree. I don’t think he has the pace to be a top class centre back. He’s slower than Morgan, he’s an oddity in the sense that looking at him physically - he should be a Robert Huth. An out and out defender, nothing gets past him.
What he actually is though is a great footballer with an eye for a pass (David Luiz style) but without Luizs pace to recover if he gets in trouble.
VVD has everything (pace, passing, composure, positioning and set pieces) - I cant ever see Harry being in that category
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I’m really torn actually. If I had confidence that we’d re-invest the Maguire money wisely then it would have to be worth the gamble of letting him go. The gamble being that he develops the attributes that Dunge describes - but I’m not convinced he will either.
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Sorry - attributes you described (not Dunge)
posted on 17/7/19
It’s a tricky one Joby. If we believe Benkovic or Soyuncu are ready to step up I’m all for the sale. But if we spend >£40m on a lesser replacement then I don’t think it’s worth it for us.
Tarkowski is actually a brilliant player by the way. I like him a lot but he is like Evans in that he’s an out and out defender.
I do worry that if we let Maguire go without a replacement, we’re at risk of 3 of our 4 centre backs being injured (Benkovic, Evans, Morgan!). I still rate Morgan by relying on him as first choice is not ideal.
So it’s hard to know what’s right until I know what the alternative is. I’d quite like to see Benkovic in the Maguire role should he leave, but his plastic straw tendons and dried spaghetti ligaments could cause him problems.
What I will say is that the club look to have handled this really well. Even through to Rogers quote last night which, if you read between the lines said: There is a price, and there is a deadline, you won’t bully us so put up or shut up.
Beauty 👌
posted on 17/7/19
I doubt that Maguire will suddenly become a great defender, he just doesn't have the awareness. Also he's 26 not 22 so how much better is he likely to get defensively? Maybe a bit by playing with Evans who is a quality defender?
I don't have a problem with keeping Harry though, he offers so much going forward (even if prone to losing the ball up the field) that the balance of the side at the back would be impacted if he left and was replaced by someone more defensively minded.
We'd still have quite an offensive line up with Ricardo and Chillers as fullbacks and should certainly tighten up defensively with say Tarkowski partnering Evans, but we'd certainly have lost an attacking option.
I don't see either option being a complete disaster, just different. I don't particularly want him to go, and don't see much benefit if we get £80M for Harry, part of which we have to give to Hull, then spend £50M on Dunk and have the disruption of a new player coming in to the squad who hasn't had a pre-season. Hardly a good recipe for hitting the ground running.
posted on 17/7/19
Lewis Dunk wouldn’t cost £50m and Hulls cut is 15%. Also the price Leicester are looking for is closer to £90m. If united offer that then we”d be daft not to sell imo.
posted on 18/7/19
But what's the latest offer BS, £60M + Jones?
We don't want this happening a couple of days before the season starts.
posted on 18/7/19
comment by Nuneaton_fox (U7936)
posted 52 minutes ago
But what's the latest offer BS, £60M + Jones?
We don't want this happening a couple of days before the season starts.
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There’s been no offer involving Phil Jones - that would be a disaster. Something United are apparently considering but I don’t think Leicester would take it
posted on 18/7/19
I’d take £60m and Anthony Martial, although he’d obviously have to compete with Demarai Gray for a starting berth:
posted on 19/7/19
comment by Jobyfox (U4183)
posted 1 day, 7 hours ago
I’d take £60m and Anthony Martial, although he’d obviously have to compete with Demarai Gray for a starting berth:
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When you say compete, do you mean for looking the most like they’re sulking whilst on the football field?
posted on 19/7/19
I love the way the media can't handle our approach and are now at the stage of rubbishing a transfer at the price we want, amazing how entrenched they are in the past hierarchy of teams like Utd taking who they want for how much they want that they can't handle the new order.
The price isn't about how valuable he is, it's the price set if they want to buy OUR Player.
posted on 21/7/19
Lukaku being a prime example
Manchester United have rejected a 60m euro (£53.9m) bid from Inter Milan for striker Romelu Lukaku.
The bid falls well below United's valuation of the 26-year-old Belgium international, who joined them from Everton two years ago for £75m.
This obviously only applies to their players,
Liverpool started the silly prices when they gambled on vd
And utd put the nail in the coffin
Paying 50 million for a kid with 1 yrs experience automatically raising the price of every experienced defender,
At this comparison
Maguire is £100/120m and vd is £150/180m