https://www.ja606.co.uk/articles/viewArticle/219119
Thiago confirmed a few weeks ago that he is leaving bayern. He is one of my favourite footballers and the more I think of it, the more it makes sense to sign alcantara despite the lpool links.
Yes, he is older at 29 but also a lot wiser too. The biggest concern I have watching utd play is the inability to control cm. We are great in advanced position but terrible in deeper position. IMO Alcantara is one of the best I have ever seen when it comes to controlling the tempo of a game. You cannot press the guy nor can you casually sit off him. And unlike the likes of grealish he will not be a level below fernandes/pogba, in fact I reckon both players will have a mighty job to keep their starting place. But all 3 should be able to get game time due to thiago's versatility. cm, deeplying playmaker or #10, I have seen him play all 3 roles excllently.
If we sign thiago, we can play
Matic------Thiago/pogba
--------fernandes----------
and when fernandes needs a rest or is unavailable we can play
Matic-------thiago/pogba
------thiago/pogba---------
also, while I do not like fred or think McT is ready, I actually think they will do much better alongside an intelligent deeplying playmaker like thiago.
Thiago Alcantara 7 years on
posted on 2/8/20
If we were to sell pogba, Thiago would be perfect for us.
posted on 2/8/20
Thiago is all hype
Never made it at Barca. He’s coached through the majority of his Bayern career. He’s never really impacted big games and he’s never stood out in the CL. If Pep didn’t bring him through at Barca, I doubt people would speak about him the way they do.
He is a good player but nowhere near as good as made out to be
posted on 2/8/20
Coasted* not coached
posted on 2/8/20
comment by Busby (U19985)
posted 2 hours, 58 minutes ago
If we were to sell pogba, Thiago would be perfect for us.
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TBH my main concern about thiago is I am 100% sure he will displace pogba from the starting 11. I love pogba but he is not great in a sitting role whereas thiago is worldclass.
ole will need to manage the midfield carefully to give both pogba and thiago enough game time. This where thiago's versatility comes to play and the fact pogba can also play in a more advanced role.
posted on 2/8/20
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 3 hours, 10 minutes ago
I think if we had him you’d need a more combative midfielder like McTominay or Fred beside him rather than Matic, ideally someone of the quality of Kante next to him would be great.
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anyone will be better of with kante next to him rather than matic.
but if you think pogba is good enough next to matic, thiago is more so. And like I said in the OP fred/matic who are our combative cm will actually thrive next to thiago rather than be exposed as they are next to pogba.
posted on 2/8/20
I have huge concerns over Matic. He’s in everbodies starting 11 because of a good 9/10 game run, then he reverted to type.
Only once or twice has he performed over a whole season, and I don’t think Fred or Mctominay are good enough at that tole to cover pogba a deficiencies.
posted on 2/8/20
comment by Busby (U19985)
posted 11 minutes ago
I have huge concerns over Matic. He’s in everbodies starting 11 because of a good 9/10 game run, then he reverted to type.
Only once or twice has he performed over a whole season, and I don’t think Fred or Mctominay are good enough at that tole to cover pogba a deficiencies.
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I share your concerns about matic.
And also see pogba's deficiencies in a deeper role
thiago by no exageration solves all this.
we can play thiago/pogba next to matic. And if matic form tails off we can play thiago next to our combative cms in a way we can't play pogba because pogba will leave holes. Also wih thiago sitting we can push pogba into a more advanced role if fernandes is not available.
His signing offers utd so many options
posted on 2/8/20
Thiago displacing Pogba? Man you guys really don't appreciate him do you?
posted on 2/8/20
comment by Dubbed* (U21815)
posted 5 minutes ago
Thiago displacing Pogba? Man you guys really don't appreciate him do you?
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i am one of pogba's biggest fans but I am also objective. If you think pogba in a "deeper role" is close to thiago, you clearly do not appreciate football
posted on 3/2/21
comment by Mi Pelea (U18355)
posted on 2/8/20
Thiago is all hype
Never made it at Barca. He’s coached through the majority of his Bayern career. He’s never really impacted big games and he’s never stood out in the CL. If Pep didn’t bring him through at Barca, I doubt people would speak about him the way they do.
He is a good player but nowhere near as good as made out to be
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