The glazers will have to spend possibly that amount to get out of their ESL commitments, punitive clauses, legal fees etc ....her's hoping there's something left over for the war purse.
Beware what you don't wish for...
Who is going to buy De Gea?
300k a week for a keeper that's been on the decline for years and will cost you a 4/5 goals a season.
comment by HB Fash - "like a pack of cards" (U21935)
posted 5 minutes ago
Who is going to buy De Gea?
300k a week for a keeper that's been on the decline for years and will cost you a 4/5 goals a season.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Someone would take him at a low fee with a huge signing on fee I'm sure.
Guessing Pogba had a bad game last night then?
comment by Netan Sansara (U1734)
posted 48 seconds ago
Guessing Pogba had a bad game last night then?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
No worse than anyone else on the pitch really Barry. I just think if we are to push on he either has to be in midfield (ideally a three but that's unlikely).
Good post Diafol, I give it five. Busy now so add to it later
I don’t think selling Pogba (with a year left on his contract) and replacing him with a quality DM better suited to play alongside Bruno is a good idea really. We’re still a far far better side when Pogba does play even if some refuse to accept that.
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 3 minutes ago
I don’t think selling Pogba (with a year left on his contract) and replacing him with a quality DM better suited to play alongside Bruno is a good idea really. We’re still a far far better side when Pogba does play even if some refuse to accept that.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If we could get an absolute top class DM then I'd be all for keeping Pogba. I just feel that Ole wants two workhorses in the '2' so maybe Pogba isn't the best for that. My selections above were based on what I think Ole will do as well. I don't think he'll go to a 4-3-3 with Pogba and Bruno either side of a top class CM. Perhaps he should. Bruno's output may not be as high but maybe we'd be better overall?
i agree with mu82, you say we need midfielders better on the ball, but then advocate selling our best on the ball midfielder.
leaving that aside, my big worry is the competence of our recruiting team...i'd love to believe that under the new structure we suddenly become brilliant in the transfer market, but for now i'd rely on the evidence of the past decade, rather than some blind hope.
so, sell pogba and buy two energetic, good on the ball midfielders? ok, that could work, in theory. but our midfield signings over recent years are vdb, fred, schneiderlin, schweinsteiger, matic and herrera. not one unqualified success amongst them.
in practice, we'd likely sell pogba for £40m, then go and spend £100m on whichever longstaff is flavour of the month, and john mcginn. then in 6 months we'll all be wondering why our midfield is so lacking in creativity.
And that for me is an issue with Ole. I definitely think that Bruno and Pogba can play together with a top quality DM behind them but Ole seems reluctant to try. It would be a big shame if we did sell Pogba simply because Ole can’t fit him into a cohesive XI.
comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 11 minutes ago
i agree with mu82, you say we need midfielders better on the ball, but then advocate selling our best on the ball midfielder.
leaving that aside, my big worry is the competence of our recruiting team...i'd love to believe that under the new structure we suddenly become brilliant in the transfer market, but for now i'd rely on the evidence of the past decade, rather than some blind hope.
so, sell pogba and buy two energetic, good on the ball midfielders? ok, that could work, in theory. but our midfield signings over recent years are vdb, fred, schneiderlin, schweinsteiger, matic and herrera. not one unqualified success amongst them.
in practice, we'd likely sell pogba for £40m, then go and spend £100m on whichever longstaff is flavour of the month, and john mcginn. then in 6 months we'll all be wondering why our midfield is so lacking in creativity.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm advocating selling him purely because Ole doesn't really trust him to play midfield. In an ideal world we'd make Pogba and Bruno work. Pep would probably play Bruno as a false 9 with Pogba on the left of a midfield three in a 433 and make it work.
I do realise it's counter-intuitive to advocate selling our best one the ball midfielder but if he's not playing midfield then it changes things. Also, in the two I'd argue Pogba can dwell on the ball too long. I think our forward line needs the early pass into them.
comment by Diafol Coch 77 (U2462)
posted 20 seconds ago
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm advocating selling him purely because Ole doesn't really trust him to play midfield. In an ideal world we'd make Pogba and Bruno work. Pep would probably play Bruno as a false 9 with Pogba on the left of a midfield three in a 433 and make it work.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
yep, i think there is some truth to that.
the other wildcard is garner, who seems to have shone on loan at forest, and is now 20, an age when plenty of other midfielders are establishing themselves at pl level.
if he could at least become a squad option that would help immensely (given that vdb has failed to make any impact, and matic is really looking on his last legs these days):
https://www.manutd.com/en/news/detail/has-james-garner-found-his-best-position-in-midfield
I think the Spurs at Old Trafford game scarred Ole a bit - he has been reluctant to start Pogba in a 2 in a big game ever since. But that game has to be put into context now really - 10 men against a team who were far, far further along in their fitness schedule than us.
As Nev said a couple of times yesterday he really has to make a decision on what he wants to do in these big games. I don't mind Pogba off the left so much but it should mean dropping Rashford, not moving him over to the right because Greenwood is far better than him on that side. If you want to play Rashford then decide whether or not you want to drop Pogba or not (and we shouldn't)
A defensive mid is a difficult one because there is no point just buying a destroyer type - they have to be very, very good on the ball otherwise they'll end up offering not much more than Fred or McT. Bissouma is my pick, I can see us passing on him though and he'll end up killing it for one of our rivals.
Agree with nearly all of it Diafol.
I don't know if it's feasible but I wouldn't want to sell Pogba until we make the midfield work better.
McT was poor yesterday, but he's had plenty of good games, so I'd keep him and let Fred go.
I wouldn't know who to go for though.
Rashford on the left and Sancho on the right gives us a balanced attack with plenty of pace and goals in it.
The problem with Pogba imo, is that although he is a top player, he can only play one position.I don't see him tackle well, so he's definitely not a box to box. It's a problem to which I don't have an answer.
Agree with the defence and keeper.
Don
Yeah I really like the sound of Garner. Technically sound and also willing to push forward, exactly what we could do with in midfield
Outs
Lindelof
Lingard
Fred
Pogba if he won’t renew.
Matic
DDG starts as No 1 but the GK is picked on merit going forward.
AWB, Bailly, Telles, Donny and Martial get another season to improve.
In
A quick CB who is comfortable on the ball.
A DM comfortable receiving the ball under pressure
A CM to compete with DVB and McTom for a CM spot (if Pogba goes)
The best forward we can get, be that a CF or RW.
4 in is probably a push but do able if we get decent money for Pogba and Lingard.
A CB, DM and forward should be achievable if we keep Pogba.
i agree with mu82, you say we need midfielders better on the ball, but then advocate selling our best on the ball midfielder.
---------------------------------------------
The problem is Pogba isn't really playing in midfield for us.
If we're only going to use him in midfield occasionally then letting him go and adding more creativity elsewhere might be worth doing.
We're suffering for not having a midfield that we can trust in any game. McTominay and Fred provide energy and mobility and they're useful at breaking up attacks but they're both pretty poor when it comes to retaining and progressing the ball. Matic is better at the latter and I think he still reads the game better defensively than those two but being the age he is his levels have obviously dropped and he's not able to get about the pitch like he used to. Then there's Pogba who we don't seem willing to trust in one of the deeper roles unless it's against weaker opposition or we've had to take handbrake off.
It's not ideal for a side looking to challenge for major honours.
..........DDG
AWB CB Maguire Shaw
......Bruno DM Pogba
Sancho Cavani Rashford
Henderson
Williams
Bailly
McTom
VDB
Amad
Martial
Greenwood
comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 2 hours, 48 minutes ago
i agree with mu82, you say we need midfielders better on the ball, but then advocate selling our best on the ball midfielder.
leaving that aside, my big worry is the competence of our recruiting team...i'd love to believe that under the new structure we suddenly become brilliant in the transfer market, but for now i'd rely on the evidence of the past decade, rather than some blind hope.
so, sell pogba and buy two energetic, good on the ball midfielders? ok, that could work, in theory. but our midfield signings over recent years are vdb, fred, schneiderlin, schweinsteiger, matic and herrera. not one unqualified success amongst them.
in practice, we'd likely sell pogba for £40m, then go and spend £100m on whichever longstaff is flavour of the month, and john mcginn. then in 6 months we'll all be wondering why our midfield is so lacking in creativity.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah this is the problem with moving on Pogba. Though the creativity issue becomes less of a problem if we sign a creative right winger. We don’t actually need to have creative cm’s, we need good all rounders that can improve our ball retention, build up play and ability to protect the defence.
Getting those signings is the problem, as you say. And the midfield is as much an issue of how it’s coached as it is the individuals in it - which goes for all the areas on the pitch.
We need to upgrade the quality of the squad, but it’ll always be limited by this coaching staff. So we’ll keep complaining about the players not being good enough.
The frustrating thing is that I think we'd be better playing a proper 4-3-3 instead of a 4-2-3-1. Perhaps that would mean Bruno's goal output drops a bit but having him right midfield and Pogba left (with a really good, technical and defensively minded midfielder between them) would IMO make our team better overall.
Having said that if Ole does persist with the current formation Pogba does present an issue. It either means playing him in a midfield two or playing him at the expense of our most potent attacker (in terms of goals and assists in Rashford).
We don’t actually need to have creative cm’s, we need good all rounders that can improve our ball retention, build up play and ability to protect the defence.
---------------------------------------------
Yup and we don't need strict defensive midfielders either because we don't play with them.
-------------------------------------------
And the midfield is as much an issue of how it’s coached as it is the individuals in it - which goes for all the areas on the pitch.
We need to upgrade the quality of the squad, but it’ll always be limited by this coaching staff. So we’ll keep complaining about the players not being good enough.
----------------------------------------------
Diafol, yep that could work, and I wouldn’t be opposed to it. What won’t work, and what I would be opposed to, is trying to set it up like City did with Silva, De Bruyne and Fernandinho. Even Pep doesn’t really use this midfield set up now, but people seem to think that most teams should use it despite having inferior, and less suitable players for it, and inferior coaches to Pep Guardiola training them.
But I don’t see Ole changing the way he sets his midfield up. There’s been no indication of it since he’s been here. And Bruno’s end product is too good for him to compromise.
I’m actually not that against Pogba playing in cm anyway really. He has his weaknesses, but he’s still a much better central midfielder than anyone we have. But there’s clearly an issue with our central midfielders being a collection of good players but don’t really collectively compliment one another on a consistent basis - and why Ole’s facked around with it so much.
Watching Matic against Leicester the other day (he was excellent), it's a bit frustrating that he hasn't been given a more prominent role for us. He may not be the player he was 5 years ago, but he's still in his early thirties - an age in which many players are still doing the business - and he's better than Fred & McTominay. He's not the long term answer, obviously, but I think we look better when he plays.
We need a quality attacker - ideally from the right hand side, and if Ole isn't (or feels he can't) going to give Tuanzebe a run alongside Maguire (he was also very good against Leicester), then he needs to go and get a quality CB, too.
CB
CM
RW
That's what I'd look to sort out. Be interesting to see what Ole does with Garner, who's coming along brilliantly by all accounts.
The thing with Matic is that he doesn’t really play enough games consecutively for people to remember how shiiiiiit he can be after a purple patch.
Maybe if we offer Matic a new contract every few weeks then he’ll always be in a purple patch.
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DC's summer transfer madness
Page 1 of 3
posted on 14/5/21
The glazers will have to spend possibly that amount to get out of their ESL commitments, punitive clauses, legal fees etc ....her's hoping there's something left over for the war purse.
Beware what you don't wish for...
posted on 14/5/21
Who is going to buy De Gea?
300k a week for a keeper that's been on the decline for years and will cost you a 4/5 goals a season.
posted on 14/5/21
comment by HB Fash - "like a pack of cards" (U21935)
posted 5 minutes ago
Who is going to buy De Gea?
300k a week for a keeper that's been on the decline for years and will cost you a 4/5 goals a season.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Someone would take him at a low fee with a huge signing on fee I'm sure.
posted on 14/5/21
Guessing Pogba had a bad game last night then?
posted on 14/5/21
comment by Netan Sansara (U1734)
posted 48 seconds ago
Guessing Pogba had a bad game last night then?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
No worse than anyone else on the pitch really Barry. I just think if we are to push on he either has to be in midfield (ideally a three but that's unlikely).
posted on 14/5/21
Good post Diafol, I give it five. Busy now so add to it later
posted on 14/5/21
I don’t think selling Pogba (with a year left on his contract) and replacing him with a quality DM better suited to play alongside Bruno is a good idea really. We’re still a far far better side when Pogba does play even if some refuse to accept that.
posted on 14/5/21
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 3 minutes ago
I don’t think selling Pogba (with a year left on his contract) and replacing him with a quality DM better suited to play alongside Bruno is a good idea really. We’re still a far far better side when Pogba does play even if some refuse to accept that.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If we could get an absolute top class DM then I'd be all for keeping Pogba. I just feel that Ole wants two workhorses in the '2' so maybe Pogba isn't the best for that. My selections above were based on what I think Ole will do as well. I don't think he'll go to a 4-3-3 with Pogba and Bruno either side of a top class CM. Perhaps he should. Bruno's output may not be as high but maybe we'd be better overall?
posted on 14/5/21
i agree with mu82, you say we need midfielders better on the ball, but then advocate selling our best on the ball midfielder.
leaving that aside, my big worry is the competence of our recruiting team...i'd love to believe that under the new structure we suddenly become brilliant in the transfer market, but for now i'd rely on the evidence of the past decade, rather than some blind hope.
so, sell pogba and buy two energetic, good on the ball midfielders? ok, that could work, in theory. but our midfield signings over recent years are vdb, fred, schneiderlin, schweinsteiger, matic and herrera. not one unqualified success amongst them.
in practice, we'd likely sell pogba for £40m, then go and spend £100m on whichever longstaff is flavour of the month, and john mcginn. then in 6 months we'll all be wondering why our midfield is so lacking in creativity.
posted on 14/5/21
And that for me is an issue with Ole. I definitely think that Bruno and Pogba can play together with a top quality DM behind them but Ole seems reluctant to try. It would be a big shame if we did sell Pogba simply because Ole can’t fit him into a cohesive XI.
posted on 14/5/21
comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 11 minutes ago
i agree with mu82, you say we need midfielders better on the ball, but then advocate selling our best on the ball midfielder.
leaving that aside, my big worry is the competence of our recruiting team...i'd love to believe that under the new structure we suddenly become brilliant in the transfer market, but for now i'd rely on the evidence of the past decade, rather than some blind hope.
so, sell pogba and buy two energetic, good on the ball midfielders? ok, that could work, in theory. but our midfield signings over recent years are vdb, fred, schneiderlin, schweinsteiger, matic and herrera. not one unqualified success amongst them.
in practice, we'd likely sell pogba for £40m, then go and spend £100m on whichever longstaff is flavour of the month, and john mcginn. then in 6 months we'll all be wondering why our midfield is so lacking in creativity.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm advocating selling him purely because Ole doesn't really trust him to play midfield. In an ideal world we'd make Pogba and Bruno work. Pep would probably play Bruno as a false 9 with Pogba on the left of a midfield three in a 433 and make it work.
I do realise it's counter-intuitive to advocate selling our best one the ball midfielder but if he's not playing midfield then it changes things. Also, in the two I'd argue Pogba can dwell on the ball too long. I think our forward line needs the early pass into them.
posted on 14/5/21
comment by Diafol Coch 77 (U2462)
posted 20 seconds ago
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm advocating selling him purely because Ole doesn't really trust him to play midfield. In an ideal world we'd make Pogba and Bruno work. Pep would probably play Bruno as a false 9 with Pogba on the left of a midfield three in a 433 and make it work.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
yep, i think there is some truth to that.
the other wildcard is garner, who seems to have shone on loan at forest, and is now 20, an age when plenty of other midfielders are establishing themselves at pl level.
if he could at least become a squad option that would help immensely (given that vdb has failed to make any impact, and matic is really looking on his last legs these days):
https://www.manutd.com/en/news/detail/has-james-garner-found-his-best-position-in-midfield
posted on 14/5/21
I think the Spurs at Old Trafford game scarred Ole a bit - he has been reluctant to start Pogba in a 2 in a big game ever since. But that game has to be put into context now really - 10 men against a team who were far, far further along in their fitness schedule than us.
As Nev said a couple of times yesterday he really has to make a decision on what he wants to do in these big games. I don't mind Pogba off the left so much but it should mean dropping Rashford, not moving him over to the right because Greenwood is far better than him on that side. If you want to play Rashford then decide whether or not you want to drop Pogba or not (and we shouldn't)
A defensive mid is a difficult one because there is no point just buying a destroyer type - they have to be very, very good on the ball otherwise they'll end up offering not much more than Fred or McT. Bissouma is my pick, I can see us passing on him though and he'll end up killing it for one of our rivals.
posted on 14/5/21
Agree with nearly all of it Diafol.
I don't know if it's feasible but I wouldn't want to sell Pogba until we make the midfield work better.
McT was poor yesterday, but he's had plenty of good games, so I'd keep him and let Fred go.
I wouldn't know who to go for though.
Rashford on the left and Sancho on the right gives us a balanced attack with plenty of pace and goals in it.
The problem with Pogba imo, is that although he is a top player, he can only play one position.I don't see him tackle well, so he's definitely not a box to box. It's a problem to which I don't have an answer.
Agree with the defence and keeper.
posted on 14/5/21
Don
Yeah I really like the sound of Garner. Technically sound and also willing to push forward, exactly what we could do with in midfield
posted on 14/5/21
Outs
Lindelof
Lingard
Fred
Pogba if he won’t renew.
Matic
DDG starts as No 1 but the GK is picked on merit going forward.
AWB, Bailly, Telles, Donny and Martial get another season to improve.
In
A quick CB who is comfortable on the ball.
A DM comfortable receiving the ball under pressure
A CM to compete with DVB and McTom for a CM spot (if Pogba goes)
The best forward we can get, be that a CF or RW.
4 in is probably a push but do able if we get decent money for Pogba and Lingard.
A CB, DM and forward should be achievable if we keep Pogba.
posted on 14/5/21
i agree with mu82, you say we need midfielders better on the ball, but then advocate selling our best on the ball midfielder.
---------------------------------------------
The problem is Pogba isn't really playing in midfield for us.
If we're only going to use him in midfield occasionally then letting him go and adding more creativity elsewhere might be worth doing.
We're suffering for not having a midfield that we can trust in any game. McTominay and Fred provide energy and mobility and they're useful at breaking up attacks but they're both pretty poor when it comes to retaining and progressing the ball. Matic is better at the latter and I think he still reads the game better defensively than those two but being the age he is his levels have obviously dropped and he's not able to get about the pitch like he used to. Then there's Pogba who we don't seem willing to trust in one of the deeper roles unless it's against weaker opposition or we've had to take handbrake off.
It's not ideal for a side looking to challenge for major honours.
posted on 14/5/21
..........DDG
AWB CB Maguire Shaw
......Bruno DM Pogba
Sancho Cavani Rashford
Henderson
Williams
Bailly
McTom
VDB
Amad
Martial
Greenwood
posted on 14/5/21
comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 2 hours, 48 minutes ago
i agree with mu82, you say we need midfielders better on the ball, but then advocate selling our best on the ball midfielder.
leaving that aside, my big worry is the competence of our recruiting team...i'd love to believe that under the new structure we suddenly become brilliant in the transfer market, but for now i'd rely on the evidence of the past decade, rather than some blind hope.
so, sell pogba and buy two energetic, good on the ball midfielders? ok, that could work, in theory. but our midfield signings over recent years are vdb, fred, schneiderlin, schweinsteiger, matic and herrera. not one unqualified success amongst them.
in practice, we'd likely sell pogba for £40m, then go and spend £100m on whichever longstaff is flavour of the month, and john mcginn. then in 6 months we'll all be wondering why our midfield is so lacking in creativity.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah this is the problem with moving on Pogba. Though the creativity issue becomes less of a problem if we sign a creative right winger. We don’t actually need to have creative cm’s, we need good all rounders that can improve our ball retention, build up play and ability to protect the defence.
Getting those signings is the problem, as you say. And the midfield is as much an issue of how it’s coached as it is the individuals in it - which goes for all the areas on the pitch.
We need to upgrade the quality of the squad, but it’ll always be limited by this coaching staff. So we’ll keep complaining about the players not being good enough.
posted on 14/5/21
The frustrating thing is that I think we'd be better playing a proper 4-3-3 instead of a 4-2-3-1. Perhaps that would mean Bruno's goal output drops a bit but having him right midfield and Pogba left (with a really good, technical and defensively minded midfielder between them) would IMO make our team better overall.
Having said that if Ole does persist with the current formation Pogba does present an issue. It either means playing him in a midfield two or playing him at the expense of our most potent attacker (in terms of goals and assists in Rashford).
posted on 14/5/21
We don’t actually need to have creative cm’s, we need good all rounders that can improve our ball retention, build up play and ability to protect the defence.
---------------------------------------------
Yup and we don't need strict defensive midfielders either because we don't play with them.
-------------------------------------------
And the midfield is as much an issue of how it’s coached as it is the individuals in it - which goes for all the areas on the pitch.
We need to upgrade the quality of the squad, but it’ll always be limited by this coaching staff. So we’ll keep complaining about the players not being good enough.
----------------------------------------------
posted on 14/5/21
Diafol, yep that could work, and I wouldn’t be opposed to it. What won’t work, and what I would be opposed to, is trying to set it up like City did with Silva, De Bruyne and Fernandinho. Even Pep doesn’t really use this midfield set up now, but people seem to think that most teams should use it despite having inferior, and less suitable players for it, and inferior coaches to Pep Guardiola training them.
But I don’t see Ole changing the way he sets his midfield up. There’s been no indication of it since he’s been here. And Bruno’s end product is too good for him to compromise.
I’m actually not that against Pogba playing in cm anyway really. He has his weaknesses, but he’s still a much better central midfielder than anyone we have. But there’s clearly an issue with our central midfielders being a collection of good players but don’t really collectively compliment one another on a consistent basis - and why Ole’s facked around with it so much.
posted on 14/5/21
Watching Matic against Leicester the other day (he was excellent), it's a bit frustrating that he hasn't been given a more prominent role for us. He may not be the player he was 5 years ago, but he's still in his early thirties - an age in which many players are still doing the business - and he's better than Fred & McTominay. He's not the long term answer, obviously, but I think we look better when he plays.
We need a quality attacker - ideally from the right hand side, and if Ole isn't (or feels he can't) going to give Tuanzebe a run alongside Maguire (he was also very good against Leicester), then he needs to go and get a quality CB, too.
CB
CM
RW
That's what I'd look to sort out. Be interesting to see what Ole does with Garner, who's coming along brilliantly by all accounts.
posted on 14/5/21
The thing with Matic is that he doesn’t really play enough games consecutively for people to remember how shiiiiiit he can be after a purple patch.
posted on 14/5/21
Maybe if we offer Matic a new contract every few weeks then he’ll always be in a purple patch.
Page 1 of 3