So would you be happy with Rafa taking over from Van Gaal?
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So would you be happy with Rafa taking over from Van Gaal?
We shouldn't get Comolli because he's terrible at what he does, his Liverpool past is irrelevant. Not sure if Woodward knows what he's doing if he does appoint Comolli.
No, because I don't think Benitez would really be good enough to be United manager if we were looking to win the league and more.
But if Benitez was good enough for the job here then I'd happily take him, despite his past with Liverpool. He's not though, which makes the question sort of pointless.
Comolli has a record of burning bridges and pssing off managers at every stop
St. Etienne:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damien_Comolli
Spurs:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/nov/02/newsstory.tottenhamhotspur?INTCMP=SRCH
And he ended up buying Carroll, Downing, Charlie Adam and Henderson dross at Liverpool.
St. Etienne:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damien_Comolli
Spurs:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/nov/02/newsstory.tottenhamhotspur?INTCMP=SRCH
And he ended up buying Carroll, Downing, Charlie Adam and Henderson dross at Liverpool.
Fair enough, personally speaking I don't think former Liverpool employees should work for United. I'm not doubting they'd be professional about it but if you are embedded in Liverpool, in its culture and its traditions, how can you just switch that off and say 'yes I'm Man Utd now'?
So what about Sir Matt Busby then?
The atmosphere between the two clubs was totally different back then. There hasn't even been a direct transfer between United and Liverpool since the mid 1960s. Fergie used lawyers to stop Heinze going to Liverpool. That would not have happened when Busby became United manager. Nor, I think, would people have thrown cups of urine, coins, sharp objects from the stands back then. The rivalry has intensified and as time has passed, incidents between the two clubs and their fans have deepened the rivalry by becoming history. You can't just rub out everything that has happened between United and Liverpool over the past 40 odd years. And if you buy into that history, if you think its important to represent it and live up to it I dont get how you can turn around be happy to swap sides.
I can't believe we might be considering Comolli. Considering his brief at Liverpool was to sign players with sell-on potential...he signed Andy Carroll for £35million.
If United want to employ someone who knows FA about football & wastes money on shiney trinkets, they can always have my number.
If United want to employ someone who knows FA about football & wastes money on shiney trinkets, they can always have my number.
LVG is most likely to be our best transfer this summer. Make no mistake, we will sign players but he most likely will make the biggest difference.
Good read.
Based on that, I'd say he could go for something like:
De Gea
Rafael - Jones - Evans - Shaw
Fellaini
Strootman - Rooney
Januzaj - Van Persie - Welbeck
Rafael - Jones - Evans - Shaw
Fellaini
Strootman - Rooney
Januzaj - Van Persie - Welbeck
I don't know how anybody can think that's actually viable in real life, not in FIFA game simulator. I don't know how United will play, but i am 99% sure that it won't be like suggested in this scheme.
But if he put it like this:
De Gea
Rafael - Jones - Evans - Shaw
Strootman - Fellaini
Januzaj - Rooney - Welbeck
van Persie
It'd be seen as okay, and in fact we've played so many games just like that this season... Formations are folly, it's the roles the players are instructed to take out and the shape and positions they actually retain in game.
That is okay, but i doubt that will be LVG system of choice. Although you have to say, that Strootman-Fellaini is a very questionable midfield center in general. Carrick with either of them would make much sense, though as we seen Carrick-Fellaini as a two man midfield does not seem to work.
Its not half as bad as some of the stuff I've seen on here. There's been formations where people think 4-3-3's just means shoving 2 number 10 players into CM or unbalanced formations with a lack of defensive/holding midfielders. The only thing questionable is Fellaini, he would have to be swapped out for a more intelligent holding midfielder like Carrick. Although given the way Carrick has played this season, I wouldn't even have him starting for Stoke.
Yeah I agree. Getting the manager right was the most important piece of business. We'll still struggle if we don't sign I think, but if I had to choose between players or a manager I'd have taken the manager.
And yeah bench the record signing and probably best final ball player in the team?
How LVG fits in Mata/Rooney/RVP and a Januzaj is one of the things im looking forward to the most.
Yeah, 'Holding player' and 'Carrick' you need to pick one.
That's funny, because I bet you wouldn't have said anything if I put something like:
De Gea
Rafael - Jones - Evans - Shaw
Strootman - Fellaini
Januzaj - Rooney - Welbeck
Van Persie
Rafael - Jones - Evans - Shaw
Strootman - Fellaini
Januzaj - Rooney - Welbeck
Van Persie
Fitting the best individual players into the line-up doesn't always make the best team.
That starting XI is missing someJuan
Cause that is actually a different playing system, strange you don't understand that.
replace Fellaini with a competent CM and you've got a competitive side.
Yet you are playing Rooney in a role most will agree he isn't the best at?
Had a dream last night that we were playing against Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena under van Gaal, we were losing 4:2 at half time and beat them 4:6 by the end...great game that was! 
Agreed! It's important to have the right players but it's even more important what manager we have to get the most out of our players. Exciting time.
Strange you don't understand that a 4-2-3-1 could easily transform into a 4-3-3, especially with the players I put in my line-up. It's like people saying we play a 4-4-2 when we play Rooney and 4-4-1-1 when we play Mata, when they more or less play the same roles, yet because is a striker, it means he can't move out of the striker role.
You do realize that United '99 conceded two times more goals than United in '08 so there are different ways to build a team. The Barcelona dream-team was the best or second best team in Europe and was heavily gung-ho as well.
United of 99 conceded 45 goals and won the league, the highest conceding winners I can think of in the EPL. Arsenal this year conceded 41, Southampton 46 and United 43 to put it in to perspective of exactly how gung-ho we were. We scored the same amount as United 99 did as well.
Most people would say Barcelona were not defensively balanced either considering how offensive Xavi and Iniesta play and how Busquets was a young DM breaking through who didn't have the physicality to balance it out.
Instead they balanced the weak defense out, with high pressing and high possession football. Something LVG also likes to use for his teams.
You mean the role he's been playing for the last 2-3 seasons, because he definitely hasn't been playing up top?
Like I said to @Lane, if I was to put a 4-2-3-1 with Rooney as an attacking midfielder behind the striker - the position he's been playing for the last few season - no one would have said anything, yet because I put him in a 4-3-3, where he'll be playing as the most advanced midfielder (same position in a 4-2-3-1), it's not his best position.
True. Do you think LVG would go with Mata and Kagawa in midfield, though, as from what I've researched, he normally likes to go with a box to box playing in his midfield three, with a holding playing and a creator?
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Not sure where to put this but here's a funny trailer and I smiled watching it. Warning: If you can't laugh at yourself you had better not watch this because you are too serious haha....alright never mind just watch:
http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/parody-the-manchester-united-movie-trailer-talksport/
http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/parody-the-manchester-united-movie-trailer-talksport/
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I think it is an option he will only consider if we fail to attract those complete midfielders we want. Ideally he wants to play 4-2-3-1 but for that we need new central midfielders of absolute top quality and they are rare to come by and expensive to sign. Do we offer more wages and higher transfer fees than PSG/Monaco/City/Chelsea/RM? Are we more attractive as a club than Bayern/Barcelona/RM? The answer is no, so I think us signing two of the worlds best midfielders in a transfer window is very unlikely and nothing but a huge surprise if it happens.
If we don't sign these complete CM's then I believe our best way to improve would be to sign one of the best DM's in the world and play him behind two of our current players and giving that a try.
If that is the case then I believe the formation with Kagawa and Mata as CM's is the most ideal solution. It means Rooney can be played in an ideal position as he'd have space to drop down too - which we don't want in a 4-2-3-1 which is why PSG plays 4-3-3 for Zlatan(who is a playmaking striker like Rooney).
It also ticks the necessary boxes of dominating possession and Kagawa and Mata are the most experienced players and in Kagawas case one of the best in a high press which LVG will use unless he changes his style.
It also means we would have by far our strongest amount of individual quality on the pitch and could afford to upgrade the team with a winger as we would have money left from not buying CM's for 70-90 millions.
If it works I think this team:
-----------Martinez--------
------Mata---------Kagawa
Januzaj--RVP/Rooney--Draxler/Nani
is better than:
----Martinez---Fellaini---
Januzaj--Mata----Nani
----------RVP
Of course, if it doesn't work LVG will notice it quickly and we can buy players either at the end of the transfer window or in January. If we miss the deadline we can still play Fletcher-Martinez or whatever during the less important part of the season to improve towards the end of the cups and the league.
It will all come down to which players has the right mentality and intelligence and learns LVG's philosophies and their roles in it the best. Rooney may very well surprise us and show he can push RVP out of the team, or take a midfield/LW role or whatever. With LVG here the only thing we know is that every possibility may happen, and even the things we are most certain about may not happen.
He is the type of manager to send DDG packing home to Spain because DDG's personality is off in his eyes. It is his strength and weakness.
If we are going to play Mata & Kagawa in midfield, it has to be a diamond with another midfielder shouldering some of the defensive burden. The wing backs will provide the width and the defensive midfielder will essentially function as a third center back.
Carrick
CM Kagawa
Mata
Januzaz RvP
If the attack gets narrowed we can always switch to 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 on the fly with that set up.CM Kagawa
Mata
Januzaz RvP
I'm not arguing against any of this, I'm simply saying that I don't think we can't replicate the Barcelona 4-3-3 system with the players we have, especially by dropping two 'in the hole' players into central midfield. We are talking about Xavi and Iniesta here, players who in their prime were two of the best midfielders to ever grace a football pitch, not to mention a top CDM in Busquets behind them. We can't drop back Rooney/Mata/Kagawa into these CM slots and pretend it will be anywhere near as effective. In my opinion the only way to utilise both Mata and Kagawa with strikers would be the 4-2-2-2 box formation.
van Gaal likes to have lots of space in the middle for the creative players to exploit. This setup will only result in congestion in the midfield, and we'll struggle to create chances as a result. The opposition will simply bunch up into the centre leaving full backs to cross the ball in for chance creation. van Gaal has stated that he doesn't want to get drawn into crossing the ball in all the time and would rather prefer the space in the middle rather than the space out wide.
Anyways, the diamond formation is best played in a more counterattacking, fast-paced setup i.e. AC Milan under Ancelotti. If the pace lowers, then the diamond formation nullifies much of the threat as crosses into the box are more easy to deal with than chances through the middle.
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