Like, say Gibson and Hargreaves leaving?
Or have we had too many central midfielders all these years?
Or have we had too many central midfielders all these years?
Paul Pogba
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I can only disagree.Our players are good but not to the extent of carrying us throughout a season and fully competing for many trophies.You overrate the overall quality of our midfield.
We definitely need a midfield signing
Gibson and Hargreaves started what, about 10-15 league games between them over the last three seasons. And have added Cleverley and Jones in the last half a year.
And yes, I do think we have had too many midfielders for quite a few years.
And if we do sign that required midfielder, and partner him with Carrick, what do we do with the likes of Cleverley, Anderson, Jones and Pogba?
Jones we can probably give a decent amount of games to at the back, but the other three would struggle getting enough games between them.
SAF likes rotation anyway.Cleverley (specially) and the others would still get plenty of game time.I wouldn't worry about it, SAF has shown he's good to handle that sort of squad.
As good as reason as any not to buy another!
Jones would continue his development in defence. Cleverley would be a backup midfielder and would get plenty of games, given the inevitability of injuries. Pogba is a kid and would have to bide his time. And Anderson - if we bought a top notch midfielder - would probably have to move on.
I can't see this as a reason not to strengthen in midfield.
That's racist.
Depends if you belive, given the chance, the players we have over time will develop into top midfielders or not.
As for Jones, I would like to see more of him in midfield. We know he can be a top defender. Would be great to see if he can develop into a top midfielder though.
You didn't watch Bilbao demolish us?
Ok then, Modric? Have you seen him?
I still find it hilarious that you think we should spend 30m+ on Gareth Bale, and leave our midfield as it currently is.
Really?
I've been saying Anderson will for years. I'm losing faith. Pogba will be a long wait either way. Clev is nearly there. But ffs, we are Man United, competiton for places is good, if Clev is good enough he'll make it whether we buy a midfielder or not.
Injuries. They happen. It's good go have depth.
Luckily I was spared the Bilbao game.
Modric is a very good, little player. Costs too much.
And yes, if it came to it, I'd rather spend the money on Bale than Modric.
Yes, could be that time is running out for Anderson. But I doubt Sir Alex will ne getting rid this summer already.
Why too early for Pogba? If he is that good as people claim, then at 19 he should be getting quite a few games.
Injuries do happen, but we are talking about 6-7 players at the moment competing for basically two spots.
If anything, it is a young understudy for Carrick which is required.
Fully agree. And therefore I think it might be time to get that old ruthlessness back and let someone go. We've kind of been waiting for the same, or nearly the same, group of players to get it right - top level stuff, consistently - for years now. Might have to accept they can't and need some outside help.
Obviously Anderson would be the obvious candidate to go, although the fact Scholes and Giggs can't have too much time left would make it difficult. We could lose at the same time and suddenly be a little thin on numbers. I'd say we're kind of stuck, unless we make a tough decision.
I don't think numbers would be an issue if we took out ando and replaced him with another player. We'd still have rotation be able to play the likes of clev enough. We might even go to a three in some games. Pogba will still need to be eased in if he's here, I wouldn't expect him to start much next season. Hopefully we can get him to a point where he's ready to contribute more regularly at the end of of the season as scholes likely retires, again. Jones will get games in defence and if he matures might be an understudy in the holding role.
The young players do need games but they don't have to play every game and by having them as our options in games where we want to rest some players will give us some real quality in these positions. They'll get plenty of games and we'll have the security of having another quality midfielder who can be relied upon to be fit for most games and has the experience to help the younger players.
The young players do need games but they don't have to play every game and by having them as our options in games where we want to rest some players will give us some real quality in these positions. They'll get plenty of games and we'll have the security of having another quality midfielder who can be relied upon to be fit for most games and has the experience to help the younger players.
I have a hard time understanding you.Scholes will probably retire and Anderson is not good enough/injury prone.Who does that leave us in central midfield ?
It is tough, I don't doubt andersons ability it potential but his injuriedms have and are costing him vital development years. He needs experience and hes just not going to get it if he can't stay fit and there's nothing to suggest he can. I think giggs is still a quality player and still very important. He might give away the ball at times but he's a match winner. Plus there really is nothing to suggest he couldn't play for another few seasons.
Then it's between ando and scholes. Scholes probably wouldn't last beyond another season but the thing with him is that I you play him in the right games, he can destroy teams. He's still got that passing ability and it's really about keeping him fresh. I think ando would need a couple of seasons to really push on and that's assuming he doesn't get injured for a considerable period. I think it might be time to call time on him personally. If fletch came back at full fitness and got to form I don't think a midfield signing would be as essential but with him out we need another midfielder in their prime.
Scholsey has to stay on doesn't he? He's still first choice, and a awesome player. Still wanna see him with Cleverly.
Jones is no understudy to Carrick, totally different type of player.
If we buy this new, top quality midfielder, you'd expect him to start at least 30 of the league games. With Carrick playing the similar amount, you'd have about 15 games to share between Cleverley, Scholes (hopefully), Giggs, Fletcher (hopefully), Jones and Pogba (hopefully). And that's if Anderson leaves.
He doesn't have to be like carrick but he can still be a defensively sound midfielder. Maybe like a better version of song who's good defensively but likes to burst forward at times.
Yeah but we'd likely go through in the cl next year which would probably change how certain players are used. Fletch will always be a doubt now surely, we can't plan assuming he'll be fit. Pogba is still going to be eased in and as I said jones doesn't necessarily have to play midfield all the time. In fact if we bring in a midfielder he'd probably play right back most the time. Plus we can always go to a three in some games. I don't think it would be a problem and in that scenario i would expect scholes to be the one eased out (form provided). Either way I wouldn't go in to next season with what we have unless we were guaranteed that fletch would be back for good.
I'd rather have maybe slightly too many an have lots of competition then not enough and be forced to play out of form players or unbalanced teams because we don't have the right options.
Odd one, they're both probably overpriced, but Modric plays in a position we could actually do with adding to.
Definitely a player with Carrick's qualities. But preferably not an understudy, for me. With so many kids coming through, we could do with an experienced head. A ball winner and leader.
Maybe Pogba is a bigger factor than I am giving him credit for but I feel nervous taking the hype at face value, having not really seen it yet with my own eyes.
I am softening my stance on this tho. I've been in the Need A Midfielder camp for years and our success has demonstrated SAF knew what he was doing. So if he really believes Clev and Pogba are up to it, if he doesn't buy, my displeasure will be muted.
To be honest though we look a bit lightweight there. I see it as Carrick, Cleverley and Anderson competing for two spots. Pogba may add another decent option. Scholes could continue in his Indian summer but it's prudent not to rely on it.
I'd say we have more quality on the wings than in midfield atm so prioritising Bale would be wrong IMO.
Oi you fecktards, this is a thread about Pogba, not should we/shouldnt we buy a midfielder. I'm sure there are plenty of threads you can argue the toss about our midfield abundance/frailties, no?
It still amuses me it always descends into this.
Pogba tho. Good prospect, let's wait and see how it pans out before we get carried away with him.
Pogba tho. Good prospect, let's wait and see how it pans out before we get carried away with him.
Whether Scholes re-retires you and I don't know.
Anderson is a very talented player. He needs to fullfil it and stay fit. Whether he gets the chance to do that at United, I don't know. I expect him still to be at OT next season though.
In my opinion, we need no more than 4 midfielders, in addition to Jones and hopefully Pogba.
We know Carrick, Cleverley and Giggs will be here next season. No indications that Anderson are going anywhere. And hopefully at least one from Fletcher and Scholes will be available.
Yeah I agree with that. I think next season currently we only have Carrick, Anderson, Cleverly, Giggs and Jones realistically competing for the two places. Scholes will probably retire and it's uncertain what condition Fletcher will be in, at the very least it will take him a while to get back to his best after a year out.
I can't see Pogba playing a major role in the first team at all, we're already trying to integrate Cleverly into the side and give him games, same with Jones and to a lesser degree Anderson, so giving him game time as well seems a bit much. Might be a good option to send him out on loan next season, if he's as good as is being reported then he'd get into a Premiership side, Norwich would be good under Lambert. If he can get a seasons first team experiance like Welbeck and Clev then maybe the season after he could play a major role for us, but can't see it for at least a year.
Modric is 27(?), Bale is 22.
26.
Yeah it's all about age isn't it?
It's not like we already have 3 of the leagues best wingers or anything, y'know?
How you could possibly think we should splash out 30m on a winger as opposed to a midfielder is either stupid or just a big old WUM.
But eh, HOPEFULLY Pogba and the rest of them fix all our midfield problems, hopefully.
But why is that a "only" for the two midfield places? If we had 5 strikers, would that be "only" five strikers?
A loan for Pogba I'd agree with though.
Obviously not all about age. As you well know. Two very good players, playing at the same club, with years left on their contracts. The younger one is likely to give us the longest service, though.
I don't think we have a midfield problem.
I don't mention Giggs. It's true we can rely on him being there too. Somehow I see Giggs more as a hybrid member of coaching staff, who can also play. Thinking long term Giggs can't be factored in. He will play a role next season but it'll be less than this season, and increasingly it'll be about his sheer experience and the example he sets. The fact is soon he won't be there and that should be addressed sooner rather than later.
But it's context isn't it. Out of those 5, you have one real midfielder, two midfielders who are still learning and currently don't have the full know how of playing central midfield (both would be at their best at the head of a three currently imo) and both seem prone to getting knocks, one player who is quality but can't play every game and another who is not really a midfielder and has loads to learn not only there but in general.
As I said if Fletcher was fully fit it wouldn't be such an issue, but as he isn't and is probably not going to be fully fit again we need to have another midfielder who has experience of playing midfield and is physically capable of playing every game. That's how we should look at it. Then the likes of Scholes are extra's that aren't necessities but obviously if we have room we'll take them. If we don't get anyone we're going to have the same problem as this season as we have to many injury prone players and to many who are only suited to certain games, not to mention no defensive alternative to Carrick.
So, Pogba then, what do we all think about him?
Really? Personally I see no signs of Giggs slowing down. I think he's taken a bit of harsh stick at times on here. He might lose the ball a bit more than we like but at least he's trying to make things happen and often can. I think he's got enough for at least two strong seasons unless he has some dramatic drop in the next year of so that would be quite random.
I'm hoping to wake up tomorrow to news about Pogba signing an extension...
It wouldn't be quite random, it'd be age finally catching up with him. But no, I am not saying Giggs is past it, he has been fantastic this season. I'm just all about the orderly transition. I prefer to think about the inevitable now, plan for life after Giggs, even as we get a season or two more out of him. It'll be gradual, less appearances next season, maybe some the season after. But when he isn't there you have all your options bedded in.
The only way the young ones will learn the game is to play them. With a new "midfielder who has experience of playing midfield and is physically capable of playing every game", there won't be many opportunities left for them.
There's 76 starts for two midfielders in the league. Carrick and this new, required midfielder will start 70-80% of them, injuries permitting. That's 20-30% starts for Cleverley, Giggs, Anderson, Jones and whoever else is around.
And alternative/understudy to Carrick though makes sense. A player taking away games from the others does not.
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