You'll be the first one in Pogba's thread to complain about how he is playing as a CM.
McTominay has surgery on groin injury
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You'll be the first one in Pogba's thread to complain about how he is playing as a CM.
You expect him to be back 2 and a half weeks after groin surgery?
If he plays badly, of course I will. Are you saying he’s completely incapable of playing as a CM?
Depends on what’s wrong with him. With keyhole surgery and mesh repairs they can get back very quickly. He certainly seems confident he’s only missing one game for us in his tweet.
I went through the latter years of SAF era where we're begging for a CM/DM and now I'm doing the same. It really needs to be done.
i don’t think that’s any of your business.
Sure, I still think Pogba will be our best player on the left this season. So, I’d rather see us bring in another midfielder.
I wouldn't say any of those three are capable of playing in midfield without causing us to basically not have a midfield, so I'd say we're closer to 2 than 5.
Pogba is occasionally very good there but just isn't suited to the pressing/defensive discipline side, even when he is trying. Matic literally just goes and sits in our defence, and VDB has played there for us, what, twice maybe?
There's a difference between how many midfielders we have and how many who are actually good enough to do the job. Arguably you could say the later is actually none since a lot of people don't really rate Fred or Mctominay, and yet you definitely wouldn't want to see our midfield line up with neither of them in it.
This will open VDB to get more minutes and if VDB doesn't start vs Wolves, he should send transfer request to leave because Ole only sees him as Bruno's backup which he will never gonna play because Bruno will play most of the time.
This is the kind of infuriating nonsense that's becoming common here.
If we knew about it, why didn't we get it fixed over the summer? Mid season is the time to 'try all other treatment options', not pre-season. Pre-season is the time to get it fixed properly, and if it was so bad that it needs surgery why did we play him against Leeds and Southampton? Or did we play him injured and have now made it worse?
If we knew about it, why didn't we get it fixed over the summer? Mid season is the time to 'try all other treatment options', not pre-season. Pre-season is the time to get it fixed properly, and if it was so bad that it needs surgery why did we play him against Leeds and Southampton? Or did we play him injured and have now made it worse?
No, I think he's fine there against most weaker teams. It's just what you are arguing against in this thread, that a minor injury to a player, that should be a squad player anyway, highlights our issues in midfield. It's not hysterical, it's just pointing out how little it takes for a less than ideal situation.
Rational post alert!
If we have players in squad who aren’t good enough then they need to be replaced.
If we have players in our squad who get injured, then they do not need to get replaced. So I do think anyone who thinks we need to sign a new midfielder because McT got injured is being hysterical.
It’s not as though having to choose one from Pogba, Matic or VdB in CM while McT recovers is the end of the fecking world.
So, Nemanja Static for the foreseeable future, then?
We can also leave pogba in the bench... But in reality he should play left attacking midfield until rashford is back at the very least. It is a free role, it is his best position. We lose a lot of his output and become more porous when he plays in a double pivot. Get double pivot players to play there
What people are saying is, that we needed to sign a midfielder before McTominay got injured and now that he is injured, it becomes a bigger problem.
We need to assume every player will get injured at least once in a season so if we really do need another new signing in midfield that need was no less critical before McT’s injury then it is now.
No one is suggesting Pogba moves back to CM permanently but he can do a job there for a few weeks surely? I actually suspect Ole will stick with Matic and Fred for the most.
Any team has to cope with injuries and make changes to ride it out, we’re no different and if necessary Pogba will have to take one for the team as we have more options for the attacking positions. Sancho, Cavani and Greenwood is not a bad frontline eh?
Just out of curiosity, as you and some others seem to think players should be cemented to their roles irrespective of other needs, what will happen to Pogba on the left when Rashford comes back?
At least we're publicising this injury now, so we can pay up more when clubs see we're desperate for a CM.
Neither is Matic suited to the 2 since he has no legs. Pogba is often preferred ahead of Matic on the 2, as evidenced.
I'm arguing for sanity sake, which seems to be lacking from your posts here. Pogba might not be the first choice for CM, sure, but in the absence of McT he could well drop in there to play next to Fred, with Sancho on the left wing, Greenwood on the right wing and one of Martial/Cavani up top. He's as much (if not more) of an option as Matic. We don't have only 2-3 CMs left, however your try to frame your argument.
Before his injury we were stretched. Now we are fecked.
Interviewed after the Southampton game, Solskjaer said "Matic was excellent today"..........
He can do a job but why don't we just sign a double pivot player. Every team has to cope with injuries that doesn't mean you just don't buy players that you need.
What will happen to pogba on the left when rashford comes back - whatever the coaches who actually watch this players for hours and hours a week decide to do
After last weekend's performance we shouldn't be looking at Matic at all.
Big blow for United
Since you added this bit, let me address it. You are regularly in Pogba's thread, when he isn't performing as a CM, which suggest that you don't rate him there, neither does Ole anymore, since he's only playing him there situationally. Ole definitely doesn't rate van de Beek by looks of it, if he can't get ahead of a past it Matic and a McTominay that needs surgery. You also made a thread about our pass completion following the Southampton draw, which implied that Fred's passing isn't good enough, which I agree with. So on paper we might have players, but the quality isn't there.
Considering McTominay is one of our starting midfielders, which is an issue in itself, and as pointed out above our other options aren't as good, all people are doing in here, is pointing out that a minor injury, turns our midfield from possibly passable to an issue.
Hopefully he's just saying that because he can't say what he feels deep down - but after this news he'll be screaming at the board saying we need to sign a CM now because Matic is going to cost us games!Interviewed after the Southampton game, Solskjaer said "Matic was excellent today"..........
You have one job Ole, sign a fecking midfielder and a good one.
You keep coming back to whether the players in our squad who can play CM are good enough for the whole season. If they are, fine, we have plenty of options. If they’re not, then we need a new signing. McT’s injury is completely irrelevant either way.
Personally, I’d like to see VdB get a shot. I rate him. Pogba can play deep in easier games, later on in the season, where his flaws are less of an issue. He’s certainly not going to play LW all season. Not when Rashford’s back. That’s for sure.
Why didn't he get sent to get the operation after the Euros?
Our medical department needs a look at - delayed Rashford, and now McT...
Our medical department needs a look at - delayed Rashford, and now McT...
I wouldn't think so. It has been clear for a while that the best defensive midfielder at the club is Dan James so I expect to see him in the pivot destroying Wolves players on Sunday. It perfectly explains why Ole didn't want to sell him and that tackle in the Leeds game was levels above anything Fred or Matic have managed in years.
Here's what I'm furious about.
If they knew that McTominay playing was very uncomfortable for him and that he'd need surgery imminently, then why in the feck did Ole bring McTominay on vs. Southampton instead of a fully fit VDB? That's a level of incompetence that I cannot fathom. Its baffling incompetence. Either Ole is taking the piss, or the medical team are.
If they knew that McTominay playing was very uncomfortable for him and that he'd need surgery imminently, then why in the feck did Ole bring McTominay on vs. Southampton instead of a fully fit VDB? That's a level of incompetence that I cannot fathom. Its baffling incompetence. Either Ole is taking the piss, or the medical team are.
Don't joke about that. I'm not convinced that Ole wouldn't play James in CM ahead of VDB.
I can't give you the answer, but I think we can safely assume all possibilities were considered. I don't think between McTominay, our management and coaching staff, as well as the internal and external medical professionals currently working with Mctominay, they wouldn't have thought about the impact of having an operation 2 weeks into the season.
Guess we have to play VDB.
Tbh Injuries are nothing new, club's lethargy about addressing issues also. October fixtures will verify this club very quickly, from ambitions to actual quality of coaches, players and manager. Still time to do something about it.
Get back very soon McT !
Get back very soon McT !
Time for Phil Jones to make a comeback as a DM
We're fecked. Sign Neves or loan Saul. Anyone? any minute now?
I don't see it happening. The whole Southampton game regarding our midfield and Ole felt like Mourinho was in charge. And that he was trying to send a message, that he doesn't rate van de Beek and Matic is what he has to work with.
Again our staff making wrong decisions... If Scott was injured, then why did he come in second half? Also he was injured for some time a playing with pain like Rashford, so why wait so long to access the injury?
Having said that, i don't think his injury changes anything regarding our plan. We wanted a midfielder before and we still do. But we have to make room by selling Lingard. Scott will be out for about a month, so its just a few games. The wolves match he was going to miss anyway, and even if he's out all september, that's just 3 PL matches and 2 UCL matches. So this could be a blessing in disguise for VDB, because he'll have those 5-6 games to prove that he can consistently play in the double pivot.
Having said that, i don't think his injury changes anything regarding our plan. We wanted a midfielder before and we still do. But we have to make room by selling Lingard. Scott will be out for about a month, so its just a few games. The wolves match he was going to miss anyway, and even if he's out all september, that's just 3 PL matches and 2 UCL matches. So this could be a blessing in disguise for VDB, because he'll have those 5-6 games to prove that he can consistently play in the double pivot.
It's not so much a case of not considering all possibilities, it's the making of the wrong decision. Instead of a player's absence being done with during pre season, it now covers the actual season. And did they make it worse by playing him?
If it were an isolated case it wouldn't raise so many flags but our management of player injuries has been terrible for quite some time. We frequently mess about with timings, force players to play through injuries, or rush them back early.