How good is our squad, really?

[bishblaize]

Your have Herrera and Di Maria who can penetrate the box. If you watch Chelsea even though Matic plays with Fab, Fab hardly penetrates the box, but he gets up there every now and again, and I see no reason why Blind coudln't. In fact he has already shown he can get forward at United.

Fabregas already has 15 assists to his name. The most any player has had in a season is 20. Blind really can't offer that kind of threat.

 

[Cassidy]

Fabregas already has 15 assists to his name. The most any player has had in a season is 20. Blind really can't offer that kind of threat.

Yes and we have Di Maria and Herrera (not to mention Mata). Whilst Herrera doesn't have 15 assists, he has a very good assists+goals to minutes ratio, for this reason I think its a real shame hes not been playing very much, whilst Di Maria created the most chances in Europe last season, so we know what he can bring (when he is playing in midfield and not as a Striker)
Blind can also contribute more than I think some people care to see, but you need to play to the strengths you have in the squad.

Funnily enough Strootman (who many saying we should sign) isn't going to get assists like Fabregas, in fact probably no one else will except maybe Di Maria (if we set the team up right)

 

[jojojo]

We know LvG's worried about the defence, I think the Leicester defeat did more damage to us than just the three points. It's the attempt to fix it by moving to a formation that very few of our players fit that seems perverse.

If this is really about defending take a look at Atletico Madrid's 442. The "wide men" there are Koke and Arda who patrol and use the width, but aren't wingers. Lets say our midfield 4 was:
Blind Carrick
Herrera Di Maria
Would the defence really be more exposed than with the 3/5 at the back setup? It might not be the most aggressive setup, but with a different combination of players in those positions it could easily be a more attacking one for games where we could risk that. More important though, it puts more players into the positions where they are likely to play well.

And yes that probably does mean that Mata, Rooney, Falcao, RvP are scrapping for two places but given none of them are actually delivering "must start" performances right now, I don't think that matters.

 

[bishblaize]

Yes and we have Di Maria and Herrera (not to mention Mata). Whilst Herrera doesn't have 15 assists, he has a very good assists+goals to minutes ratio, for this reason I think its a real shame hes not been playing very much, whilst Di Maria created the most chances in Europe last season, so we know what he can bring (when he is playing in midfield and not as a Striker)
Blind can also contribute more than I think some people care to see, but you need to play to the strengths you have in the squad.

Funnily enough Strootman (who many saying we should sign) isn't going to get assists like Fabregas, in fact probably no one else will except maybe Di Maria (if we set the team up right)

We're talking about playing Blind and Carrick here. Herrera and Di Maria may also play, but that doesn't mean we can get away with having two reserved players in midfield without it blunting our attacking threat. Strootman may not get as many assists as Febregas does (who will?) but he's a proper box to box player who comfortable at the edge of either penalty area.

I love Blind by the way, but you really cant argue that he's a box to box midfielder who could offer anything like as much going forward as the likes of Fabregas or Strootman.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

We know LvG's worried about the defence, I think the Leicester defeat did more damage to us than just the three points. It's the attempt to fix it by moving to a formation that very few of our players fit that seems perverse.

If this is really about defending take a look at Atletico Madrid's 442. The "wide men" there are Koke and Arda who patrol and use the width, but aren't wingers. Lets say our midfield 4 was:
Blind Carrick
Herrera Di Maria
Would the defence really be more exposed than with the 3/5 at the back setup? It might not be the most aggressive setup, but with a different combination of players in those positions it could easily be a more attacking one for games where we could risk that. More important though, it puts more players into the positions where they are likely to play well.

And yes that probably does mean that Mata, Rooney, Falcao, RvP are scrapping for two places but given none of them are actually delivering "must start" performances right now, I don't think that matters.

I wouldn't care but even with the 3-5-2 we are still giving away opportunities to the opposition. It is only DDG who is keeping them out half the time, not the exploits of the defenders. We might just as well go for it.

 

[jojose]

This....is bullshit. Evra, O'Shea, Brown and Rafael have all been significantly better than Luke Shaw is currently. And he is far from an outstanding left back.

He has potential though and can surprass them all. But until then, he is just a decent prospect.

as i say, give him half a dozen games at left back and you'l change your mind

 

[Cassidy]

We're talking about playing Blind and Carrick here. Herrera and Di Maria may also play, but that doesn't mean we can get away with having two reserved players in midfield without it blunting our attacking threat. Strootman may not get as many assists as Febregas does (who will?) but he's a proper box to box player who comfortable at the edge of either penalty area.

I love Blind by the way, but you really cant argue that he's a box to box midfielder who could offer anything like as much going forward as the likes of Fabregas or Strootman.

No we're talking about my previous posta where I stated we could play a midfield of Blind Carrick Herrera and Di Maria, where I also stated that Herrera was a box to box player.... We don't have to play a midfield 2 with one holding and one box to box, that is just one way to do it. We need to play a formation that suits the players we have currently.

Would you say Southamptons attacking play is blunted? Even though they play to quite reserved players infront of the back 4 (that doesn't stop those players from getting forward)

I'm not arguing he is a box to box player or that he offers more or anything like Fab or Strootman going forward, I would suggest you read up on the start of the conversation so you can get a better context of that I was saying.

Which was, with the players we have now in midfield, we can put out a good balanced midfield, one which would probably be one of the best in the league. Where we have problems is in attack (lack of pace and movement) and defence (lack of realiable players who can stay fit)

Strootman would be a great addition, but I don't think that is as pressing as signing a pacey tricky forward player, and reliable defenders who can stay fit.

 

[ScarleyUtd]

Sense.

As I said, people are pointing out Mourinho buying Fabregas and Costa to finish their squad and complaining that we didn't do that.

Well why didn't Mourinho do that in summer 2013? What's with the big delay for a year complaining about his squad not being good enough?

It's a rebuilding process. You work with what you have, assess, tinker, reassess and then change as you see fit, then you keep building on that.

Van Gaal is in the first six months of working with this squad, people expect miracles.

Truth.

 

[Moonwalker]

I disagree with most of the OP, since I haven't had the 'painful ralisation' yet, but that's an old argument.

As far as this squad is concerned, I think we have plenty of quality, but a lot of is not complementary. We lack a bit of pace and some leadership at the back.

If our squad is so poor, and Arsenal's so great, surely then Van Gaal should be praised for over-achieving, rather than being lacerated as he currently is.

 

[bishblaize]

Would you say Southamptons attacking play is blunted? Even though they play to quite reserved players infront of the back 4 (that doesn't stop those players from getting forward)

Yep. Their goalscoring stats are completely warped by that one off outlandish 8-0 result. They've scored 1 or 0 goals on 13 occasions this season. They're where they are because they're great in defense and well balanced elsewhere. But not offensive.

I'm not arguing he is a box to box player or that he offers more or anything like Fab or Strootman going forward, I would suggest you read up on the start of the conversation so you can get a better context of that I was saying.

Sorry if I've got the wrong end of the stick here, you said at the outset that you didnt think that Blind and Carrick together were too defensive, its to that I was responding.

we can put out a good balanced midfield, one which would probably be one of the best in the league. Where we have problems is in attack (lack of pace and movement) and defence (lack of realiable players who can stay fit)

On this point I still dont agree (other than your points about attack and defense which I do agree on). The problem we have in midfield is certainly one of balance. Blind and Carrick do their best work in front of our back four, which means we're short of numbers up front if they play together. Plus none of them are particularly phyical, even though Blind and Herrera are willing.

Swap Blind for Fellaini and we lack a reliable tackler. Swap Carrick for Fellaini and we lack someone to dictate tempo and play. We're always short of something we need in the midfield with our available players at the mo, imo anyway.

 

[Tim Henman]

De Gea - No comment

Rafael - Great when healthy, big when.
Valencia - Adequate cover for RB, can't really expect too much better.
Smalling - Very solid when healthy.
Jones - Too injury prone, shame really. Worthy of a place in a title winning team if he can play 30 games a season injury free.
Evans - Regress massively. Shame when you think how much promise he showed in the 08-09 season.
Rojo - Meh. Hasn't been impressive for me.
McNair - Young.
Blackett - Young
Shaw - Very solid and will get even better. Up there with the best LB's in the league for me.
Young - Looked very good before his injury. Easily good enough as cover.

For me, defensively, it is all about staying injury free and finding the right combination. We won't have the best defense in the league but it will be top 3.

Carrick - Still top class for me. Cool head, great passer, anticipation and reading is incredible.
Blind - Younger Carrick with slightly worse passing. Not quite world class but very good.
DI Maria - World class
Fellaini - Adequate. Seems to do what LVG wants him to do. Should just be an option really.
Herrera - Very smart and elegant player to watch but doesn't seem to have what LVG wants (Feck knows what that is).
Mata - See Herrera.
Januzaj - Young and lernin'
Fletcher - Past it unfortunately. Cruel health problems took it out of him.

The midfield can purr with the right tactics and combination. We have the quality in there, and we have depth. Only name I cringe at seeing on the team sheet is Fletcher. Could use a very athletic defensive midfielder and maybe a great box to box player. Someone with speed, as that is perhaps what we lack most in the side.

Wilson - Prospect.
Rooney - World class, if played in or around the box.
RVP - World class but getting on in age. Snatched at some chances this year as we haven't created much and it puts that much more emphasis on the chances he will get.
Falcao - See RVP. Also, confidence and desperation to show he has fully recovered from his injury seem to be affecting him mentally. I think if signed permanently it would take the pressure off him and he would shine. Only question mark is about his age for me with regards to the transfer fee.

I think we need one CB and possible a first choice athletic, strong RB. I love Rafael but he keeps getting bloody injured.
We need one CM, the type I described.
We possibly need one striker depending on whether we keep Falcao or not. Or, we go with Wilson next year and hope he shines.

We have a great team for me, but we need to find the right combination and tactics.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I disagree with most of the OP, since I haven't had the 'painful ralisation' yet, but that's an old argument.

As far as this squad is concerned, I think we have plenty of quality, but a lot of is not complementary. We lack a bit of pace and some leadership at the back.

If our squad is so poor, and Arsenal's so great, surely then Van Gaal should be praised for over-achieving, rather than being lacerated as he currently is.

That's kind of what I was getting at. Although I think Arsenal have under-achieved woefully up until this point in the season. Which should also be taken into account.

 

[finneh]

It's got a core of very good players but squad players who just straight up aren't good enough no matter what excuses are made for them and we are currently having to rely on them.

GOALKEEPERS
De Gea
Valdes

DEFENSE
Shaw
Rafael
Smalling
Jones
Rojo
Evans

WINGERS
Valencia
Young

CENTREMIDS
Di Maria
Blind
Fellaini
Herrera
Carrick
Fletcher

ATTACK
Rooney - Top Class - reasonable age vital experience.
Wilson - Great Prospect - Great age huge potential.
Mata - Top Class - good age and will be a vital tool.
RvP- Top Class - Not a good age, declining clearly.
Falcao - Who Knows - big question marks.


PURPLE - Great players, no questions.
BLUE - Good squad players, few questions over age, injuries or ability as first choice.
GREEN - Good players but not long left.
RED - Not good enough for United as an elite club.


Obviously just my opinions but that's the shape I think it's in. I've not included players I think don't have any real future here. That includes all first team loan players and McNair and Blackett who are just filling in a role in exceptional circumstances.

We're desperate for a right back, a replacement for Evans and genuine top class attacking wide players to offer us something different in attack.

All in all good shape going forward, good ages and potential but the development of the squad as a cohesive unit has been severely hampered by injuries. The more they play together the better they will become.

Agree with this. I imagine Van Gaal will be looking to replace the four reds with a few purples and suddenly you see a squad that is similar to Chelsea's. Swap Evans for a top level CB, Fletcher for a quality midfielder and Valencia/Young with a top class RB and winger and you have a great squad.

After last Summer Chelsea had possibly 4 "purples": Cech, Hazard, Cahill, Azpilicueta. Adding Costa, Fabregas & Matic (replacing Cech with Courtois) has taken then from a good side to a great side.

This season was always going to be similar to last season for Chelsea and our aim is to finish above Arsenal.

 

[POF]

Just so we're clear, I think it's possible that we have a squad that is so weak it will make top four a real struggle and a manager who makes life even harder for himself with tactics and team selection.

Don't really want to discuss the latter in this thread, though, as there's enough threads discussing that already. Just wondering if, man for man, we have a right to consider our squad as one of the elite.

They're not mutually exclusive. By finding a system and a style of play that suits the players you have at your disposal you can make those players look exceptional or plain average.

Di Maria looked amazing at the start of the season, less amazing on the wing and hopeless up front. Jordon Henderson went from an absolute laughing stock to a top class midfield player and now Liverpool captain elect because his athleticism is crucial to their style of play.

A defender like Terry looks world class with protection that doesn't expose his lack of pace but a weak link without it.

There is plenty of talent in the United squad. Finding the right balance to get the best out of those talented players is the key.

 

[Smores]

Swap Blind for Fellaini and we lack a reliable tackler. Swap Carrick for Fellaini and we lack someone to dictate tempo and play. We're always short of something we need in the midfield with our available players at the mo, imo anyway.

That's being very harsh and by that criteria we haven't had a good enough pairing since the Scholes/Keane days.

Blind/Carrick/Di Maria with Januzaj/Mata wide and one of the strikers up top for example is more than balanced enough isn't it?

We might not have a FIFA world 11 but its good enough to challenge. Lets just reflect what we've has in midfield over the past decade.....

 

[Moonwalker]

That's kind of what I was getting at. Although I think Arsenal have under-achieved woefully up until this point in the season. Which should also be taken into account.

Right, well that just means one more thing we disagree about then. I don't think ours is as poor as you make it out to be, and your description of Arsenal is very flattering.

"Then you have the likes of Ozil, Wilshere, Sanchez, Chamberlain and Walcott. At various times, in various games, they've all shown they're capable of absolutely destroying the best opposition around."

Swap those names for Mata, Fellaini, Carrick, Di Maria and Rooney and the same thing applies.

 

[Barney]

You have the biggest names outside of City and Chelsea, no doubt, but your squad is at a similar level to Arsenal and ourselves.

 

[JON.B]

Funny how up until Arsenal started to show a bit of form most of there fans were calling for Wenger to be sacked and constantly moaning that there squad lacked quality, especially in defence. Now all of a sudden they're on a good run, just beaten a lacklustre Man City team and now they potentially have one of the best teams, when in form "on the planet". Sorry but it's a bit hyperbole to make that kind of statement. Meanwhile the OP suggests our squad is "barely capable of qualifying for the Europa League". We probably have one of the best teams we've had in a while, only really missing a top class central defender and a fit and reliable right back. So to suggest our team is that poor and that we've somehow set our expectations too high is quite frankly laughable.

 

[Moonwalker]

You have the biggest names outside of City and Chelsea, no doubt, but your squad is at a similar level to Arsenal and ourselves.

By 'big names', do you mean we have a collection of over-valued players with inflated reputations, or genuine individual quality that just doesn't click as a team?

 

[bosnian_red]

Its a mixed bag really. Our squad just isn't balanced at all, and I don't mean number of attackers vs number of defenders or things like that. The type of players that they are. Too many similar players who like to come deep to get the ball and pass it on right away, no incisiveness and cutting edge (for the most part, Di maria and Herrera the exception), nobody particularly fast or really strong (again Di maria and then fellaini the exceptions), a lot of just average physically players. Individually apart from Di maria, nobody takes players on and dribbles past them. You need that balance of players who can do that as well as have players like mata, Carrick, blind. We don't have a good mix of player styles pretty much.

Individual quality wise we are ok, and we could even put out a nicely balanced team, it would just require dropping a few big players and playing lesser players to balance us better.

Player wise, we have the best keeper in the league, but then the defence is inconsistent and injury prone at best. If they magically get past their injuries, then Rafael, Jones, smalling and Shaw could turn into an excellent defence IMO. That won't ever happen though.

In midfield, Carrick and blind are class as deeper lying playmakers and I want to see them together in a double pivot type formation. Then we have Herrera who provides a good different type of quality along with fellaini providing physicality and height. So not too many problems there, but a Strootman would be very helpful to be an all rounder type who is physically strong as well as a good passer and energetic.

Up front is where the most problems lie. Rooney, Falcao, RvP and Mata are all pretty slow, or at least, not fast or explosive. You want some pace to stretch teams as Van Gaal said, but you don't want to sacrifice Di maria who's our best player in his correct position and offers basically everything the rest of our squad lacks (pace, dribbling, incisiveness, great eye for a forward pass, that bitbof individualism, etc). Wilson is still too young and raw to really play a role, but you can see what he offers. RvP, Falcao, Rooney and mata really can't play together though, or at least it has to be Rooney behind Falcao or Mata behind Rooney, nothing else really. If I was in charge I'd let both RvP and Falcao go and bring in a more dynamic striker, one of these so called new agueros who have pace and are good on the ball and can really stretch teams with their ability, so we have rooney, new striker, Wilson and mata for the #9 and #10 roles so to speak.

So in summary, individual quality isn't the problem. Its having too many quality players of the same type and not enough different players like Di maria. For what its worth, I think our signings were really good for the most part. Blind provided that replacement for Carrick who is very versatile, Herrera provides an injection of pace, energy and creativity from deep, Di maria is that world class quality with real pace and ability to go past players and can create chances constantly, provided there are runners in behind. Shaw has obviously huge potential as a left back. Rojo still has a few quedtion marks if he's good enough, but he seems decent on the ball and good with the ball on the floor, question still out on him. Falcao the only pointless one of course, I doubt we'll keep him as he lacks that pace and physicality we need.

 

[Cheesy]

It's a good squad in my eyes, a very good squad in places really, but one which is incredibly unbalanced, lacks cohesiveness, and is weak in defence despite how strong our attack looks on paper.

 

[caisenma]

It's a great squad, just a shit team

bingo. for the players we have, the money that was invested, the product that's on display is simply not good enough. not even close.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

bingo. for the players we have, the money that was invested, the product that's on display is simply not good enough. not even close.

Isn't that the manager's job make them a team. He has just made them more disjointed. There are clubs with not as good a quality squad as ours who can play as a team. Southampton for one.

 

[sullydnl]

Its a mixed bag really. Our squad just isn't balanced at all, and I don't mean number of attackers vs number of defenders or things like that. The type of players that they are. Too many similar players who like to come deep to get the ball and pass it on right away, no incisiveness and cutting edge (for the most part, Di maria and Herrera the exception), nobody particularly fast or really strong (again Di maria and then fellaini the exceptions), a lot of just average physically players. Individually apart from Di maria, nobody takes players on and dribbles past them. You need that balance of players who can do that as well as have players like mata, Carrick, blind. We don't have a good mix of player styles pretty much.

Individual quality wise we are ok, and we could even put out a nicely balanced team, it would just require dropping a few big players and playing lesser players to balance us better.

Player wise, we have the best keeper in the league, but then the defence is inconsistent and injury prone at best. If they magically get past their injuries, then Rafael, Jones, smalling and Shaw could turn into an excellent defence IMO. That won't ever happen though.

In midfield, Carrick and blind are class as deeper lying playmakers and I want to see them together in a double pivot type formation. Then we have Herrera who provides a good different type of quality along with fellaini providing physicality and height. So not too many problems there, but a Strootman would be very helpful to be an all rounder type who is physically strong as well as a good passer and energetic.

Up front is where the most problems lie. Rooney, Falcao, RvP and Mata are all pretty slow, or at least, not fast or explosive. You want some pace to stretch teams as Van Gaal said, but you don't want to sacrifice Di maria who's our best player in his correct position and offers basically everything the rest of our squad lacks (pace, dribbling, incisiveness, great eye for a forward pass, that bitbof individualism, etc). Wilson is still too young and raw to really play a role, but you can see what he offers. RvP, Falcao, Rooney and mata really can't play together though, or at least it has to be Rooney behind Falcao or Mata behind Rooney, nothing else really. If I was in charge I'd let both RvP and Falcao go and bring in a more dynamic striker, one of these so called new agueros who have pace and are good on the ball and can really stretch teams with their ability, so we have rooney, new striker, Wilson and mata for the #9 and #10 roles so to speak.

So in summary, individual quality isn't the problem. Its having too many quality players of the same type and not enough different players like Di maria. For what its worth, I think our signings were really good for the most part. Blind provided that replacement for Carrick who is very versatile, Herrera provides an injection of pace, energy and creativity from deep, Di maria is that world class quality with real pace and ability to go past players and can create chances constantly, provided there are runners in behind. Shaw has obviously huge potential as a left back. Rojo still has a few quedtion marks if he's good enough, but he seems decent on the ball and good with the ball on the floor, question still out on him. Falcao the only pointless one of course, I doubt we'll keep him as he lacks that pace and physicality we need.

This is right.

 

[mu77]

not very. the pieces haven't fit well and it shows. we have 3 cb's on the team that are horrible and rojo is still finding his way. fb's consist of two players in a twinjury and a 30m pound lb , both look out of shape. we have a mixed bag of players in midf with one thing in common , zero pace or dribbling ability. and our attacking players are very good bordering on great if all are in form and healthy. they'd be hitting on all cylinders if we had a winger worth his salt.

 

[Cassidy]

not very. the pieces haven't fit well and it shows. we have 3 cb's on the team that are horrible and rojo is still finding his way. fb's consist of two players in a twinjury and a 30m pound lb , both look out of shape. we have a mixed bag of players in midf with one thing in common , zero pace or dribbling ability. and our attacking players are very good bordering on great if all are in form and healthy. they'd be hitting on all cylinders if we had a winger worth his salt.

Except Di Maria has bags of pace and dribbling ability and Herrera also has a bit of pace and is a very good dribbler of the ball. I agree in essence we need more of these players in the squad, but we have a few and are either not using them (Herrera) or refusing to use them properly (Di Maria)

 

[Roboc7]

This squad is nowhere near as good as a lot of people think, it looks better on paper than it actually is and major work is needed to correct it. There is a lack of balance, a lack of quality, no pace, players whose careers have stagnated and a few important players who are or will soon be on the way down. Failure to invest properly in the squad under SAF, appointing the wrong man to succeed him who then again failed to invest and bought players we didn’t need left a real mess that couldn’t really be resolved by a manager who was away at the world cup and didn’t have an in depth knowledge of the squad.

We need a centre half, a fullback, a midfielder, a winger and a striker, maybe even more than one in some areas. I don’t see where the solutions to our current issues will come from with this group of players so we need another big transfer window with lots of players coming and going.

We also need a really top class player somewhere in midfield or up front, we don’t have anyone in the same class as Aguero, Toure, Silva, Sanchez, Hazard, Costa or Fabregas. We have players who were in that class but no-one who actually is and probably only Di Maria who potentially could be.

 

[mu77]

Except Di Maria has bags of pace and dribbling ability and Herrera also has a bit of pace and is a very good dribbler of the ball. I agree in essence we need more of these players in the squad, but we have a few and are either not using them (Herrera) or refusing to use them properly (Di Maria)

true and ADM - forgot about him. herrera is not very pacy but he is a quick thinker and i'd be playing him. ADM needs to play a lot better than he has because he couldn't control a ball into his feet for love or money and TBH his crosses haven't been up to snuff. but he's a potential bright spot. the rest of it is unfortunately true. spanish dave has been brilliant as well. was the last keeper to win player of the year timmy?

 

[Cassidy]

This squad is nowhere near as good as a lot of people think, it looks better on paper than it actually is and major work is needed to correct it. There is a lack of balance, a lack of quality, no pace, players whose careers have stagnated and a few important players who are or will soon be on the way down. Failure to invest properly in the squad under SAF, appointing the wrong man to succeed him who then again failed to invest and bought players we didn’t need left a real mess that couldn’t really be resolved by a manager who was away at the world cup and didn’t have an in depth knowledge of the squad.

We need a centre half, a fullback, a midfielder, a winger and a striker, maybe even more than one in some areas. I don’t see where the solutions to our current issues will come from with this group of players so we need another big transfer window with lots of players coming and going.

We also need a really top class player somewhere in midfield or up front, we don’t have anyone in the same class as Aguero, Toure, Silva, Sanchez, Hazard, Costa or Fabregas. We have players who were in that class but no-one who actually is and probably only Di Maria who potentially could be.

Di Maria clearly is.

 

[bishblaize]

Blind/Carrick/Di Maria with Januzaj/Mata wide and one of the strikers up top for example is more than balanced enough isn't it?

Again its a just about balance. Its not a case of us being awful, we're not. But we keep ending up with square pegs in round holes. Blind/Carrick/Di Maria is a great combo, I'd be happy with that. But Januzaj and Mata in a 4-3-3 (seems to be the formation you're saying) would be problematic. Mata, frankly, would be a bit rubbish in that outside left role, not his thing at all. He needs to be close to other players, not running into space and facing up full backs.

Januzaj would be much better, but of course he's out of form. That'll return, but we don't know when. And its a bold decision indeed to play a formation where you have to play an out of form youngster over all the other players who would be benched as a result.

Finally I don't really rate any of Rooney, Falcao or RVP as a lone striker who can make a 4-3-3 work. RVP used to be ideal, but he's not as sprightly as he used to be. Rooney has never been best with his back to goal, albeit he's the best of the 3. Falcao certainly not. Again, they could do it but its another square peg/round hole situation.

Its not far away though. If you could get Januzaj into form, cough up for Bale on the other side then pop back in time and bring back Ruud circa 2003 and stick him up front, you'd have an ideally balanced team. You dont need 5 or 6 new players. But its players with qualities we dont have right now. And if you change the formation, some players end up playing where they want to, but then yet others end up out of position too.

Bit silly really, but I reckon a straight upgrade in quality at CB, a tactical 2 in 2 out next summer and we'll have a clear vision for our first team. Look at Chelsea. Sell Luiz & Mata, bring in Matic, Fabregas & Oscar, and bang, a slightly disjointed Chelsea are suddenly a perfectly balanced team in every department.

 

[BEST No7]

I'd say it's a good squad with the potential to be a great one, at the moment there's still massive weaknesses all across the defense. Still feel we're lacking in Midfield, definitely room for improvement in that regard. The spine of the team just isn't where it should be, hopefully that's addressed in the summer, it was always going to take at least 2 summer windows to rebuild.

At the moment though we've got enough in that squad to be finishing in the top four, no excuses if we don't.

 

[Will Singh]

I think LVG is trying to prove to many people to many things and just because "the philosophy" worked 10 years ago doesn't mean it still works today and Arsenal are a perfect example of that!

On paper we are better then Arsenal but on the pitch I can't see UTD do to city what Arsenal did, we are miles away from that and just like last season are players ain't comfortable on the ball and that negativity has leaked into our new players like ADM and Herrera!!

I think our players and the club ain't got over SAF leaving as we are going backwards instead of progress. If the other teams below us didn't drop points we would be not in the top 4!!!

Out of 10 I'd say we are 6/10!

 

[caisenma]

Isn't that the manager's job make them a team. He has just made them more disjointed. There are clubs with not as good a quality squad as ours who can play as a team. Southampton for one.

Oh, I would certainly agree. LVG is not doing a good job as far as I'm concerned.

 

[mu77]

Bit silly really, but I reckon a straight upgrade in quality at CB, a tactical 2 in 2 out next summer and we'll have a clear vision for our first team. Look at Chelsea. Sell Luiz & Mata, bring in Matic, Fabregas & Oscar, and bang, a slightly disjointed Chelsea are suddenly a perfectly balanced team in every department.

they weren't and would not be without that troll of a striker and fabregas. but i agree with the mata for matic deal. matic is what we needed at the time but a panicky DFM bought mata. shows how prepared jose is compared to the two mgrs we've brought in. i think we are in chelsea's place in the league with him as mgr. he'd have sorted out the dead wood on the double quick.

 

[Sammyjunn]

Decent squad, ddg has been world class, bar him nobody has lived up to that standard, not enough game changers and a lot who build on their past performances. Needs some serious working on. Some classes below Chelsea/City.

 

[gza the genius]

Goalkeeper - best in the league
Defence - in need of serious improvement
Midfield - good, but needs strengthening
Attack - very good if utilised properly but needs bolstering due to aging strikers

Overall - good but definitely not great, needs work.

Still though, we could and should be performing better and for me we're being held back by a stubborn manager trying to reinvent the wheel.

This is pretty much exactly what I was going to say. Basically defense is the only area that needs big improvements. We could definitely use one more very good midfielder and winger as well.

I don't think we're too far off where you'd want us to be, all of the above problems could easily be fixed in one transfer window if we buy wisely.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

This is pretty much exactly what I was going to say. Basically defense is the only area that needs big improvements. We could definitely use one more very good midfielder and winger as well.

I don't think we're too far off where you'd want us to be, all of the above problems could easily be fixed in one transfer window if we buy wisely.

It was never going to take one transfer window and as it looks like we won't do anything this one, the summer will hopefully sort it out.

 

[Roboc7]

Our squad depth is good in comparison to Chelsea and City in terms of our first team we are miles behind them, both have a much better balance, more pace and more ability. Other than De Gea and Di Maria I don’t see anyone who gets into the starting 11 of either Chelsea or City, you could argue a few are close calls or personal preference but if you were picking a combined 11 of City/Utd and Chelsea/Utd players anyone would be hard pressed to argue we should have 3-4 players in either and even that is pushing it.

 

[FC Ronaldo]

Our squad depth is good in comparison to Chelsea and City in terms of our first team we are miles behind them, both have a much better balance, more pace and more ability. Other than De Gea and Di Maria I don’t see anyone who gets into the starting 11 of either Chelsea or City, you could argue a few are close calls or personal preference but if you were picking a combined 11 of City/Utd and Chelsea/Utd players anyone would be hard pressed to argue we should have 3-4 players in either and even that is pushing it.

That's a very good point. This season you'd be hard pressed to look beyond:

-------------De Gea-------------
-Ivanovic-Terry-Cahill-Azpilicueta
-Hazard--Cesc--Yaya--Di Maria-
--------Costa-----Aguero---------

That said, City only have 2 there also. I guess Ivanovic and Azpilicueta will be the swappable calls.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Our squad depth is good in comparison to Chelsea and City in terms of our first team we are miles behind them, both have a much better balance, more pace and more ability. Other than De Gea and Di Maria I don’t see anyone who gets into the starting 11 of either Chelsea or City, you could argue a few are close calls or personal preference but if you were picking a combined 11 of City/Utd and Chelsea/Utd players anyone would be hard pressed to argue we should have 3-4 players in either and even that is pushing it.

That is more down to poor deals in the past. Chelsea and City spent a lot of money, then have improved it gradually over a number of seasons. We have held onto players for too long, thinking we were fine, so players who would have improved us passed us by. We have seriously under invested on the defence, buying English young players who we were hoping to be the next best thing. We are beginning to come to our senses and it will take time to put it all right. We have made some changes but more will be needed, especially in that defence. The midfield only needs one and a winger. The strikers if we are going to move Rooney back up there, they are fine.