I agree with most of what you are saying but I expect more than 4 signings over the next two seasons summer windows. Chelsea had a slightly better squad than us when Mourinho signed but he ripped it apart within two years and built his own team.
Jose's signings and those possibly leaving this summer?
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
Another article reiterating what Duncan Castles has previously stated: Mou is not looking to do major surgery this summer unless he feels its absolutely needed.
We need depth so not getting rid of loads of obvious people but also improving the key areas makes sense. Just get rid of Phil Jones who only adds depth to the injury list.
You'd do have to say that Zlatan hasn't exactly set the Euros ablaze.... so I'll stick to my original thoughts. If we get him, meh ok let's see how it does in the PL. If we don't, I won't be shedding any tears
I imagine this is a bit of an exaggeration as he'll have 2 or 3 he already knows he'll be getting shot of, but hopefully this means he plans on giving Pereira and Januzaj a chance.
Castles said Jose wanted signings in the spine of the team: striker, centre midfield and central defence. That's three players. Nothing to all the comings and goings under Van Gaal.
He said that but now we are clearly trying to get Mkhitaryan who doesn't play any of those positions and we have been linked with Fabinho and Azpilecueta which suggests Jose is possibly looking at sorting out RB once and for all. I don't think he'll ship players out en masse like LvG did but I'd be surprised if he doesn't jettison a few.
Right winger was a possibility he mentioned.
As for the others, I imagine we're scouting lots of players. I'd be surprised if we signed most of who we've been linked with. I think its just the case of the club covering itself if Jose looks at certain players and thinks 'bin X'.
I expect quite a lot more movement in and out.
Most of the players in our squad are at best average and many are barely PL standard. Jose knows this, I am sure.
Most of the players in our squad are at best average and many are barely PL standard. Jose knows this, I am sure.
By Castles?
Our links have been much less erratic this summer IMO but of course we wont sign them all as we are probably covering multiple options for they key position Jose wants. However do you really see him not selling anyone?
Oh he'll definitely sell. I just think he'll give everyone a fair chance.
The thing is how much does he need to give players like Mata and Fellaini for instance? He's managed one and faced the other many times, and we only have 2 pre-season games before the Charity Shield.
He has managed against most of our players at some stage or another. I think he will want to see them on the training pitch. Assess if they can do what he wants, if they are willing to give him the output he wants. A big part of Jose's team building is siege mentality. Making everyone feel like they have had a fair chance will help build an 'us and them' mentality. When people do get sold they won't feel like they had black marks against them before they even kicked a ball. I guess Mou think that by giving even Mata a go it will encourage everyone to feel like they can impress him, and that will get the best out of the group.
I honestly hope he's a bit more decisive than that, we need to arrange moves for these players that we sell and be settled by the time the season starts, I just think there are some that clearly need to be gone and stalling wont help with preparations for the season, especially since the Euros will mean some are late back to start with.
http://talksport.com/football/manch...ial-xi-if-jose-mourinho-lands-all-his-targets
This team looks the nuts:
DDG
TFM Smalls Bailly Shaw
Pogba Rooney
Draxler Mkhitaryan Martial
Zlats
This team looks the nuts:
DDG
TFM Smalls Bailly Shaw
Pogba Rooney
Draxler Mkhitaryan Martial
Zlats
A midfield that can't defend and can't control games.
doesn't actually look that great, and would be the least balanced centre mid in history.
Both valid points but it'd be a hell of a lot more entertaining than this year
Well he did say it looks nuts.
I see the next season as being
De Gea
Darmian Smalling Bailly Shaw
Rooney Schneiderlin
Star Winger Mkhitaryan Martial
Ibrahimovich
And I'm more than happy with it for the upcoming season.Darmian Smalling Bailly Shaw
Rooney Schneiderlin
Star Winger Mkhitaryan Martial
Ibrahimovich
Almost as good as SmallBlindZlats & Smalls
And that's even if Pogba doesn't go missing, I really don't know if he'll be suited to a hard league at all.
He's a bit of a prima donna.
Strictly speaking he can't. LVG left a side that lack bodies. Even if he brings 5-6 players in the squad wont be too big to manage especially considering that we're in the Europa league which is a logistics nightmare (more games etc). Mou will rather keep a player like Blind rather then risk having to rely on Mcfail.
Rooney needs to start on the bench. Any line up with him starting doesnt look impressive anymore
I can see him play as no 10 behind Zlatan. However I would be very surprised if Mou doesn't add another player there as plan B
Rooney is the only player whose sale would immediately make the team stronger. But that is not going to happen.
Regarding others, Valencia, Young and Fellaini are definitely staying. Not so sure about Bastian, Janujaz and Mata.
Regarding others, Valencia, Young and Fellaini are definitely staying. Not so sure about Bastian, Janujaz and Mata.
Lets analyse Mou's four major teams
Chelsea 2004, Inter treble team, Real team and Chelsea's present side
GK: Previous (Cech, Cesar, Lopez, Courtois). Jose always loved a top quality goalkeeper whose tall and dominating at the back. DDG fits the bill.
Def: He tend to opt for a very physical and tall defense with 1 fullback being essentially a CB (Gallas, Ivanovic, Chivu) while the remaining fullback would be given the licence to go forward and do some damage (Ferriera, Zanetti, Maicon, Azipiculeata etc). I can see Mou adding a defensive minded RB (Fabinho?) or buy another CB and move Bailly to RB. Prediction - Bailly------Smalling--------DC---------Shaw
Mid: He tends to like having 2 hardworking midfielders, one being more technical (Lampard, Cambiasso, Xabi) and the other one being hardworking (Khedira, Zanetti, Makalele, Matic). He did broke the rule with Fabregas but he compensated to that by playing Willian and Oscar (he's more hardworking that Mou's typical forward guys). For the former Carrick, Bastian and Blind can do the job. For the latter Schneiderlin fits the bill but we need to add a cover/competitor
Flanks: Its less clear than in other areas however he tends to have a soft spot to direct winger with plenty of pace and an eye to goal (ex Ronaldo, Duff, Pandev and Eto) and a more technical winger (Hazard, Robben, ADM) who provide a lot of assists. For the former I can see Martial taking the spot. Mou may also decide to give Depay a second chance. For the latter role we need to buy a quality player (ie the Mitchi guy from Dortmund?) with Januzaj and Lingard (more of a Willian rather than a Robben) as cover
AM: Its a key area for Mou. He likes his no 10 to be a complete package ie hardworking, creative, a good assist man etc (Sneijder, Ozil, Gudjohnsen, Oscar). Oscar was the less technical of them all. However his workrate allowed Mou to play a creative midfielder. Is that what he's planning by playing Rooney there (ie Herrera in CM maybe?)? Nevertheless he rarely compromise with the role and while he may give Rooney the nod I am pretty confident we'll add another no 10
STK: He just love a top quality striker who can guarantee him goals. He also have a soft spot for tall strikers (Costa, Drogba, Ibra, Benzema etc). Ibra fits the bill. With Embolo (who will flirt between Flanks and Stk) + Rashford acting as cover
So Id say Mou system could be the following
GK: DDG, Romero
RB: Bailly, Valencia
CB: Smalling, CB, CBJ, Rojo, Jones
LB: Shaw, Darmian
DM: Schneiderlin, DM
DM: Bastian, Carrick, Blind
AMR: MKhit guy, Januzaj, Lingard
AML: Martial, Depay
AMC: Rooney, AMC
STK: Ibra, Embolo, Rashford
Chelsea 2004, Inter treble team, Real team and Chelsea's present side
GK: Previous (Cech, Cesar, Lopez, Courtois). Jose always loved a top quality goalkeeper whose tall and dominating at the back. DDG fits the bill.
Def: He tend to opt for a very physical and tall defense with 1 fullback being essentially a CB (Gallas, Ivanovic, Chivu) while the remaining fullback would be given the licence to go forward and do some damage (Ferriera, Zanetti, Maicon, Azipiculeata etc). I can see Mou adding a defensive minded RB (Fabinho?) or buy another CB and move Bailly to RB. Prediction - Bailly------Smalling--------DC---------Shaw
Mid: He tends to like having 2 hardworking midfielders, one being more technical (Lampard, Cambiasso, Xabi) and the other one being hardworking (Khedira, Zanetti, Makalele, Matic). He did broke the rule with Fabregas but he compensated to that by playing Willian and Oscar (he's more hardworking that Mou's typical forward guys). For the former Carrick, Bastian and Blind can do the job. For the latter Schneiderlin fits the bill but we need to add a cover/competitor
Flanks: Its less clear than in other areas however he tends to have a soft spot to direct winger with plenty of pace and an eye to goal (ex Ronaldo, Duff, Pandev and Eto) and a more technical winger (Hazard, Robben, ADM) who provide a lot of assists. For the former I can see Martial taking the spot. Mou may also decide to give Depay a second chance. For the latter role we need to buy a quality player (ie the Mitchi guy from Dortmund?) with Januzaj and Lingard (more of a Willian rather than a Robben) as cover
AM: Its a key area for Mou. He likes his no 10 to be a complete package ie hardworking, creative, a good assist man etc (Sneijder, Ozil, Gudjohnsen, Oscar). Oscar was the less technical of them all. However his workrate allowed Mou to play a creative midfielder. Is that what he's planning by playing Rooney there (ie Herrera in CM maybe?)? Nevertheless he rarely compromise with the role and while he may give Rooney the nod I am pretty confident we'll add another no 10
STK: He just love a top quality striker who can guarantee him goals. He also have a soft spot for tall strikers (Costa, Drogba, Ibra, Benzema etc). Ibra fits the bill. With Embolo (who will flirt between Flanks and Stk) + Rashford acting as cover
So Id say Mou system could be the following
GK: DDG, Romero
RB: Bailly, Valencia
CB: Smalling, CB, CBJ, Rojo, Jones
LB: Shaw, Darmian
DM: Schneiderlin, DM
DM: Bastian, Carrick, Blind
AMR: MKhit guy, Januzaj, Lingard
AML: Martial, Depay
AMC: Rooney, AMC
STK: Ibra, Embolo, Rashford
@devilish Why would he play Bailly out of position and how can Embolo be above Rashford?
Interesting logic there.
In nearly every team Mou managed, he always had a CB playing as fullback or someone with similar traits to that of a CB playing as full back (ie a tall CB whose better in defending rather then attacking). During his first stint at Chelsea he had Gallas. At Inter he used Chivu. At Real he had Ramos and at Chelsea (2nd stint) he had Ivanovic. Even when he broke the rule (ex when he moved Ramos as CB and playee Arbeloa) he always made sure to have a 6ft full back. Another key issue in Mou's defenses is the role of the ball playing CB. He seem to always have one (Carvalho, Lucio, Cahill and he even moved Ramos to CB when Carvalho got injured). In matter of fact he went for Stones in his last season at Chelsea.
Bailly is described as a versatile and pacey defender. However he doesn't strike me to be a ball playing CB. Also I cant see us moving Smalling as RB to accommodate a ball playing CB
I don't think Embolo would strictly speaking be ahead of Rashford. TBF I can see Mou flirting with the idea of either playing Embolo upfront or on as a Right/Left side forward (similar to Pandev, Etoo, Ronaldo etc). However Embolo ticks alot of boxes in terms of being a Mou type of striker. He's a good finisher, he's hardworking, he's tall (6ft1) and strong. The list I've made can be quite deceiving in terms that once you leave the first team its very difficult to determine no 2 and no 3 choice. For example I rate CBJ greatly but I doubt he would be ahead of Rojo and a fully fit Jones, at least not in Mou's first season. So don't stress too much on that
The thing is that Bailly barely played fullback unlike the other player mentioned who regularly played there before meeting Mourinho. Personally I think that he is going to play a fullback at the fullback position someone like Paulo Ferreira.
That would surprise me TBH as it would break 2 of Mou's rules
a- a ball playing CB. He always had one (Carvalho, Lucio, Ramos, Cahill and he nearly got Stones)
b -a CB as full back. (the only team he didn't had one was at Porto. There again its been a long time since Mou was there and his tactics did change in time)
As fullback Bailly was quite efficient against the likes of Ronaldo and Bale. So he's not that bad in that role
He played 4 games at fullback that's why I'm skeptical.
Well mine is an educated guess based on what Mou did in the recent 10+ years (hence why its an educated guess although I insist its still a guess). So I wont be shocked if you're right and I am wrong.
I don't think Mou would be too concerned if Bailly failed as RB. CB will always need competition (can you imagine Jones staying fit for 1 season?) and Valencia had served us reasonably well in that role throughout the years. He can do it again next season if needs be. Having said that while I do agree that Bailly's experience as RB is somehow limited its also true that he did stopped some great players in that role. There's not many wingers who can claim to be as good as Bale and as Ronaldo
The second one isn't a rule of him. At Chelsea, for most part Ferreira and Cole played as full backs. At Inter, Madrid and Chelsea he played a CB as right/left back but all three of Chivu, Ramos and Ivanovic had played there a long time before Mourinho became their manager. And well, Ramos played as CB plenty of time for Madrid during Mourinho's spell.
I don't think that we will play a CB in right back position. Both Darmian and Shaw are taller than most of full backs so we are fine in that aspect.
Not having a ball playing CB is an another matter though, and it is difficult to see Smalling and Bailly doing well together considering that neither is that good at passing. Still hoping that we'll go for another CB, or that Mourinho fancies Blind there like LVG.
I think the injuries last season made his season with us not as promising as it could be. A player of his ability and game awareness can still make a great impact even after slowing down in pace (Giggs & Scholes did it for years). Bastian still has a lot to offer on the pitch. And considering the fact that he has a huge list of competitions he has won for Germany and Bayern, he commands respect and is a great role model for our youth. The club would be stupid to let that walk away in just a season, where injuries and LVG's tactics did not do him a great deal of favour. LVG didnt use Bastian the right way. He shied away from his trademark long range shots he would normally take & overhead long forward passes. He was mostly on defense sideways and short passing, just like other midfielders.
Rest is upto Jose I guess!
Hearing lot's of murmurs in the media about Pogba. Could mean nothing, but it would be exciting.
If true, £19.7 to bring Kante into a Mourinho team would be criminal not to pursue.