Lacking a consistent virtuoso matchwinner

Ram1fy said:
In many ways, Rooney is still the only one who puts world class quality on the ball. Zlatan too to an extent, but his strength is more his ruthlessness and his intent. It's a shame that he is not able to get himself into positions. I think the biggest problem that led to Rooney's decline is the fact that he misinterprets his role on the pitch and that can be seen in the positions he takes up. It could be a combination of United's midfield being so poor for so long that he constantly had to go put the balls forward himself and then being played in the midfield for so long.

I still remember Falcao's cross( his first assist), some of Di Maria's goals and assists.. now those are world class and that can just win matches on their own. In our current side, I think only Pogba, Zlatan and Rooney are the ones who are capable of producing those moments. Rooney is on the decline, Zlatan is not a permanent option. Pogba can, but he doesn't play in the right position. So, Griezmann is probably our best bet if he comes here.
Click to expand...

In a weird sort of way I kind of get what you're saying with Rooney. It is a trend that where we are struggling to get a result, Rooney comes on and we somehow turn the game around.

Now I know it isn't through his brilliance, he's usually woeful when he comes on but he used to be one of our virtuoso matchwinners and his presence on the pitch does tend to give the players around him that extra edge. Whenever he gets on the ball, you can sense he's trying to force the play and be that dynamo for the side. Problem is he is also a liability on the pitch too so we can't start him.

Someone needs to take the mantle from him.
 
Raees said:
In a weird sort of way I kind of get what you're saying with Rooney. It is a trend that where we are struggling to get a result, Rooney comes on and we somehow turn the game around.

Now I know it isn't through his brilliance, he's usually woeful when he comes on but he used to be one of our virtuoso matchwinners and his presence on the pitch does tend to give the players around him that extra edge. Whenever he gets on the ball, you can sense he's trying to force the play and be that dynamo for the side. Problem is he is also a liability on the pitch too so we can't start him.

Someone needs to take the mantle from him.
Click to expand...

His first touch, dribbling and pace have all gone to shit.

Ibra has taken the mantle and given us the strong personality we craved for. Hoping Pogba comes through eventually to put in some matchwinning performances. You just feel he is close.
 
giorno said:
Someone already did
Click to expand...

DevilRed said:
His first touch, dribbling and pace have all gone to shit.

Ibra has taken the mantle and given us the strong personality we craved for. Hoping Pogba comes through eventually to put in some matchwinning performances. You just feel he is close.
Click to expand...

That's the point both of us were making. No one said he did not decline! But as a benchmark, that is the kind of quality you want in a ball to generate a genuine goalscoring moment. Rooney, RVP, Zlatan, Falcao, Di Maria pull them out of their hats more frequently than anybody do. The other parts of their game is what differentiates some from the others as to where they are now.
 
I thought Mata was becoming that matchwinning player, his netted some very important goals but last game's miss was horrific. Pogba can become that player as we've seen he's capable to create chances out of nowhere, he just needs to show up consistently.
 
I swear I must have seen the same criticisms every year.

Lack of cutting edge
Lack of ruthlessness upfront
Lack of leaders
Lack of matchwinners
Lack of creativity
We need X player

https://www.redcafe.net/threads/ronaldos-brilliance-masks-uniteds-problems.192299/
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/utd-midfield-problems.129617/
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/uniteds-attack.191695/
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/our-attack-was-ineffective.255283/
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/no-creativity-in-midfield.180781/
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/the-lack-of-creativity-debate-and-how-to-solve-it.342403/

The tools and the players are there. I think our problem does not lie in what we lack, we already have the players. But rather how should we improve their performance, because frankly speaking, they are just not performing at a peak and consistent level for a variety of reasons.
 
DanBorja said:
I thought Mata was becoming that matchwinning player, his netted some very important goals but last game's miss was horrific. Pogba can become that player as we've seen he's capable to create chances out of nowhere, he just needs to show up consistently.
Click to expand...

Pogba can if he plays with the right players.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.