Who would be your striker target
What do we still need? Aka The never ending story
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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.
Who would be your striker target
If Dalot keeps improving, this is a second priority for me
While we may indeed need a RB based on how Dalot does this season, even at present he offers much more going forward than Malacia. And Dalot is far from great going forward himself.
Malacia seems to be the recent victim of our fanbase' tendency to overhype new signings after a couple of spirited displays and then be shocked when they revert to type. Malacia offers a lot of tenacity and does show promise but he hasn't shown any great attacking output yet.
We have Laird, I think LB is more of a priority
GK
Striker
CM (Someone able to carry the ball, help us keep it better)
CB (young cover with pace)
Striker
CM (Someone able to carry the ball, help us keep it better)
CB (young cover with pace)
Still quite a few positions to think about
- Striker - unless Martial does something incredible this season, we're going to need a first choice striker.
- Midfield - still work to be done here. I don't see room for both McTominay and Fred, and Eriksen and Casemiro are both 30 and will probably need replacing within 3 or 4 seasons. So that's 3 or 4 midfielders in 3 or 4 seasons. Better to do that gradually rather than let it reach crisis point down the line. My preferred starting point would be a another progressive deep player, playing where Eriksen is now. That would give Eriksen a rest when needed, or it would give Bruno a rest if we pushed Eriksen further up.
- RB - either first choice or backup, depending on how Dalot develops. Laird may obviate this need, but not yet.
- LB - depends on Shaw. Its a long season and ETH has already got other players to a high levels, so lets not write him off just yet. But as things stand we'll need another LB. The form of Malacia will determine whether that's a first choice or a backup.
- Goalkeeper - most pressing position on the pitch. I would happily spend most of our budget on the right keeper.
---------------GK
RB Varane Martinez LB
----Casemiro CM
Antony Bruno Sancho
---------------ST
GK - For us to take the next step with "total football" we need more out a GK then him to stop the ball, we need a GK that can almost be like a libero when we are starting the attacks.
RB/LB - Both Dalot and Malacia are good players with potential, but there is a lot fullbacks out there that are on higher level right now and both out of them could be replaced in a world where we could pick and chose without carrying about economics and reality.
CM - If Eriksen could play in all games and was better at defending then we would have good here, but right now he is the only deep playing CM that has a WC passing ability. Bringing in FDJ would make it possible to always have one deep playing "quarterback" playing alongside a ball winning CDM like Casemiro or McTominey.
ST - Rashford is doing a great job right now and Martial was amazing during the preseason. Adding Ronaldo to that mix makes it on paper like we have three strikers with the highest quality. Problem is that Rashford just started to produce again after 12 months, Martial is either injured or not in form and Ronaldo is 39 years old in a couple of months.
Now, we would be able to buy 5 world class players in januari or next summer. Dalot and Malacia will be the first choices this season with AWB and Shaw as back ups. Hopefully both of them will take further steps and make that position theirs for years to come. We have also two huge talents in Marc Jurado (RB) and Alvaro Fernandez (LB). If Dalot and Malacia reach their potential then offloading AWB and Shaw, to cash in while we can, might be an option in 1 or maybe 2 years.
The central midfield is looking good right now, adding FDJ would make it perfect. Also here we have some good talents, but no one ready to take this yet. Hannibal is a interesting but my favorite player in the u18s is Kobbie Mainoo, i believe that this kid will be a great player in 2-3 years and play fot the first team.
I believe that our priority next summer will be a new GK and a striker. Right now, I have no suggestions for which GK would be our dream signing. And here is where we don't really can't have a lot of hope that we will give a talent the chance, I cant think of one GK from the youth system that has been close to making it (other then Henderson, and we gave him 29 games). Our scouts should be working on this problem already. When it comes to the striker, much depends on Rashford and Martial, if they keep performing and even does it better then now, we might continue with them, ETH seems to value both them highly right now at least. Another thing that is important is that our wingers play good (Antony, Sancho, Elanga, Garnacho) so that our strikers can keep playing as strikers and get use to the system and the we want to play. We have some talents with huge potential in Charlie McNeill, Joe Hugill etc but can't see them be ready to be the first choice upfront in the next 12 months.
If Dubai buys the club from the Glazers (not putting any value on the discussion if Dubai would be the right new owners) and invest crazy money like some twitter accounts are reporting and i could pick a player for each mentioned position above, then it would look like this.
--------------Oblak
Hakimi Varane Martinez T.Hernandez
-------------Casemiro FDJ
-----Antony Bruno Rafael Leão
-----------------Rashford
Eriksen, Sancho to play in a rotating system. Eriksen with FDJ and Bruno and Sancho with both wingers. And keep many of the starting ones today in the squad.
RB Varane Martinez LB
----Casemiro CM
Antony Bruno Sancho
---------------ST
GK - For us to take the next step with "total football" we need more out a GK then him to stop the ball, we need a GK that can almost be like a libero when we are starting the attacks.
RB/LB - Both Dalot and Malacia are good players with potential, but there is a lot fullbacks out there that are on higher level right now and both out of them could be replaced in a world where we could pick and chose without carrying about economics and reality.
CM - If Eriksen could play in all games and was better at defending then we would have good here, but right now he is the only deep playing CM that has a WC passing ability. Bringing in FDJ would make it possible to always have one deep playing "quarterback" playing alongside a ball winning CDM like Casemiro or McTominey.
ST - Rashford is doing a great job right now and Martial was amazing during the preseason. Adding Ronaldo to that mix makes it on paper like we have three strikers with the highest quality. Problem is that Rashford just started to produce again after 12 months, Martial is either injured or not in form and Ronaldo is 39 years old in a couple of months.
Now, we would be able to buy 5 world class players in januari or next summer. Dalot and Malacia will be the first choices this season with AWB and Shaw as back ups. Hopefully both of them will take further steps and make that position theirs for years to come. We have also two huge talents in Marc Jurado (RB) and Alvaro Fernandez (LB). If Dalot and Malacia reach their potential then offloading AWB and Shaw, to cash in while we can, might be an option in 1 or maybe 2 years.
The central midfield is looking good right now, adding FDJ would make it perfect. Also here we have some good talents, but no one ready to take this yet. Hannibal is a interesting but my favorite player in the u18s is Kobbie Mainoo, i believe that this kid will be a great player in 2-3 years and play fot the first team.
I believe that our priority next summer will be a new GK and a striker. Right now, I have no suggestions for which GK would be our dream signing. And here is where we don't really can't have a lot of hope that we will give a talent the chance, I cant think of one GK from the youth system that has been close to making it (other then Henderson, and we gave him 29 games). Our scouts should be working on this problem already. When it comes to the striker, much depends on Rashford and Martial, if they keep performing and even does it better then now, we might continue with them, ETH seems to value both them highly right now at least. Another thing that is important is that our wingers play good (Antony, Sancho, Elanga, Garnacho) so that our strikers can keep playing as strikers and get use to the system and the we want to play. We have some talents with huge potential in Charlie McNeill, Joe Hugill etc but can't see them be ready to be the first choice upfront in the next 12 months.
If Dubai buys the club from the Glazers (not putting any value on the discussion if Dubai would be the right new owners) and invest crazy money like some twitter accounts are reporting and i could pick a player for each mentioned position above, then it would look like this.
--------------Oblak
Hakimi Varane Martinez T.Hernandez
-------------Casemiro FDJ
-----Antony Bruno Rafael Leão
-----------------Rashford
Eriksen, Sancho to play in a rotating system. Eriksen with FDJ and Bruno and Sancho with both wingers. And keep many of the starting ones today in the squad.
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I think we can forget about FDJ coming in future.
The likelihood now is a long shot.
If he leaves Barca next summer, the only realistic EPL destination will be City, to replace Gündoğan, who is probably in his last season there.
Our effort to sign him effectively finished in July and according to Romano, Chelsea came in with a much better offer in August, but the player wasn’t budging.
We’ll need to look elsewhere for that key CM spot.
Top priority now, need to be a CF/striker.
.
The likelihood now is a long shot.
If he leaves Barca next summer, the only realistic EPL destination will be City, to replace Gündoğan, who is probably in his last season there.
Our effort to sign him effectively finished in July and according to Romano, Chelsea came in with a much better offer in August, but the player wasn’t budging.
We’ll need to look elsewhere for that key CM spot.
Top priority now, need to be a CF/striker.
.
These things don't align. Oblak might be a brilliant shot-stopper and a very good keeper overall, but he is not proven in this sort of role at all.
Or we can look in exactly the same place and take Gavi.
Also, I'm not convinced the FDJ saga is finished just yet. His salary increases rapidly each year, and his value falls as his contract runs down. I think Barca may eventually agree to a sale with the deferred wages included if it means they get a reasonable transfer fee. You say City is his only reasonable destination in EPL, but by next year we will be in Champions League, and maybe FDJ wants to work with ETH again.
If FdJ genuinely does have an interest in joining, we should go back in for him (assuming Barca aren't still behaving like complete feckwits by then, sounds unlikely). If not, move on.
It would be great to get Vlahovic in. If Juventus miss out on CL, you'd have to imagine there's a chance he'd want to move on? The PL is the place to be and we'll hopefully represent an even better option for top young talent next summer.
It would be great to get Vlahovic in. If Juventus miss out on CL, you'd have to imagine there's a chance he'd want to move on? The PL is the place to be and we'll hopefully represent an even better option for top young talent next summer.
Maybe they will give that Fernandez a chance depending on how his loan goes at Preston
Yeah I am thinking that GK and ST might actually now be above CM in priorities
Between Malacia and Shaw we are set at left back. I don't see us signing another left back, centerback, winger for a good bit.
It's 100% GK, ST, a deep playmaker since eriksen can't do this long term probably, and then someone to replace Wan Bissaka (though it might be Laird as you say).
Shaw isn’t it. He won’t be here next season
We possibly have Fernandez at LB.
I think CB may be an area where we could be a bit short if there are injuries to Varane and/or Martinez.
Maguire only seems to be a shadow of the player he once was, and with Ten Hag looking for a more athletic type of CB, I think Harry's days at OT may be numbered, also Lindelof is a player i've never really rated, but if he can adapt to what Ten Hag requires of him, he may be ok, but I'm not sure he can.
Bailly, I thought, was a direct replacement for Martinez, but now he's gone we'll never know.
Tuanzebe has never really shown what he is capable of, and with his last couple of loans being disastrous, and with his injury problems, will Ten Hag give him an opportunity? I really hope he can show in training what he can do, he certainly has a great physique, but whether he is actually good enough? Possibly cup matches will be his only chance, as it is with Mengi, who has shown tremendous potential, but seems to have stagnated recently. Cup matches will be his only chance. Let's hope he can deliver.
Jones, although being probably United's best player against Wolves last season, has this unenviable injury record, which will undoubtedly lead to an early retirement from the game. If by some quirk of fate, become free of injury, then I hope he can find a good club to spend the remainder of his football career.
Maguire only seems to be a shadow of the player he once was, and with Ten Hag looking for a more athletic type of CB, I think Harry's days at OT may be numbered, also Lindelof is a player i've never really rated, but if he can adapt to what Ten Hag requires of him, he may be ok, but I'm not sure he can.
Bailly, I thought, was a direct replacement for Martinez, but now he's gone we'll never know.
Tuanzebe has never really shown what he is capable of, and with his last couple of loans being disastrous, and with his injury problems, will Ten Hag give him an opportunity? I really hope he can show in training what he can do, he certainly has a great physique, but whether he is actually good enough? Possibly cup matches will be his only chance, as it is with Mengi, who has shown tremendous potential, but seems to have stagnated recently. Cup matches will be his only chance. Let's hope he can deliver.
Jones, although being probably United's best player against Wolves last season, has this unenviable injury record, which will undoubtedly lead to an early retirement from the game. If by some quirk of fate, become free of injury, then I hope he can find a good club to spend the remainder of his football career.
As a backup/rotation/challenge for Malacia? Of course he's good enough. He was class 2 years ago. He lost form, sure, but he's still capable of being a very good player, but he just can't be relied upon enough as a starter. Which he no longer is. So it's fine. If he wants to go it's a different matter, but as a challenge to Malacia he is great.
GK - a ball playing GK would be absolutely essential for us to play possession football (20-40m)
RB - if Dalot continue his good form, we will only need an attacking RB in backup role (15m)
CM - we should have another go on FDJ, or someone similar (75m)
CF - I hope we could get Nkunku (80m)
GK
Dalot/RB Varane Martinez Malacia
Casemiro FDJ
Antony Bruno/Eriksen Sancho
Nkunku
GK - new GK, De Gea/Henderson
RB - Dalot, new RB
LB - Malacia, Shaw
CB - Varane, Lindelof
CB - Martinez, Maguire
DM - Casemiro, Mctominay
CM - FDJ, Eriksen, Fred
AM - Bruno, Eriksen, Nkunku
RW - Antony, Elanga
LW - Sancho, Rashford, Garnancho
CF - Nkunku, Martial
RB - if Dalot continue his good form, we will only need an attacking RB in backup role (15m)
CM - we should have another go on FDJ, or someone similar (75m)
CF - I hope we could get Nkunku (80m)
GK
Dalot/RB Varane Martinez Malacia
Casemiro FDJ
Antony Bruno/Eriksen Sancho
Nkunku
GK - new GK, De Gea/Henderson
RB - Dalot, new RB
LB - Malacia, Shaw
CB - Varane, Lindelof
CB - Martinez, Maguire
DM - Casemiro, Mctominay
CM - FDJ, Eriksen, Fred
AM - Bruno, Eriksen, Nkunku
RW - Antony, Elanga
LW - Sancho, Rashford, Garnancho
CF - Nkunku, Martial
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There are people out there that genuinely believe that we need another left back 
There are people out there that genuinely believe that we need another left back
Because some feel Malacia isn't offering threat
He isnt good enough our standards are higher than what they used to be. As a backup option you need to bring the energy and tenacity Malacia brings and he isn’t it.
Small sample size to be fair though. He's barely scratched his arse in a United shirt.
Only youtube and one game for Holland, but he looks godo going forward from waht I have seen. He hasnt really got forward for us to judge.
Appreciate the over hyping new signings comment. NOt criticising any of them as they have all done well so far, but Martinez, Malacia, Casemeiro and Eriksen have all had sloppy moments for us and none of them have looked perfect, some of these moments we have been lucky not to get punished by. But on the whole, the fighting spirit and tenacity of these players has been excellent including Malacia and it is rubbing off on other players. Whether that means they go on to be top players, only time will tell, jsut as whether the likes of McTominay, Dalot and Rashford can continue to improve performances consistently as they have in the ast couple of games as they have all had 2/3 game spells and then been dreadful in the past.
Far too early to judge the side. As for what we need, a striker is most likely a certainty, I still think a second central midfielder is and somebody to challenge DeGea, a keeper goo with the ball at his feet is someting I expct the manager will be looking at
Yes, isnt he in the last year of his contract?
ST - Toney
GK - Raya
CM - FDJ
CB - Pavad
£160m
GK - Raya
CM - FDJ
CB - Pavad
£160m
Pavard is not good mate. Sanchez for me over Raya. Agree with Toney though. How much do you think he would cost ?
A RB is a must too. Can’t think of anyone outstanding. Seen gusto and Vanderson but they are just prospects at this point. Would like abit more established one.
Definitley another midfielder like Eriksen who can ping a perfect pass, another centre back too with Maguire and Lindelof on the outer by January.
I was thinking Pavad as a utility player for RB and CB but i trust your judgement.
Sanchez is still abit suspect and I reckon Toney is costing £50m unfortunately.
Yeah Sanchez has that in him and agree with the fee for Toney. I reckon it should be enough and I hope ten hag has his eyes on him.
Centre midfield is the clear one.
We have other key needs but are yet to see whether we will opt for solutions from within. We need a striker, but depending on how things go this season, I don’t know if we need someone to replace or simply supplement Martial.
We need a goalkeeper, but we also have Dean Henderson who we may look to bring back and play (wouldn’t be my choice).
At full back we have two promising ones on loan in the Championship.
But centre midfield, Eriksen is not the long term solution for me, in fact, I expect more questions to be asked there even this season as it goes on. Behind him, there is nothing. It seems the manager does not fancy Hannibal at all which is a shame as I had high hopes for him in that role.
We have other key needs but are yet to see whether we will opt for solutions from within. We need a striker, but depending on how things go this season, I don’t know if we need someone to replace or simply supplement Martial.
We need a goalkeeper, but we also have Dean Henderson who we may look to bring back and play (wouldn’t be my choice).
At full back we have two promising ones on loan in the Championship.
But centre midfield, Eriksen is not the long term solution for me, in fact, I expect more questions to be asked there even this season as it goes on. Behind him, there is nothing. It seems the manager does not fancy Hannibal at all which is a shame as I had high hopes for him in that role.
Agree with all this (especially Sanchez over Raya), but I was very impressed with Vanderson in those PSV games. Aggressive and good technically. Signed a new deal I think, so would cost a ton. Haven't really seen Gusto apart from their highlights and a game or two I wasn't watching close.
I think Timber would be a better and more likely shout than Pavard for that sort of role. Could cover CB and RB, possibly even DM if we had a load of injuries OR Ten Hag wanted to get creative and spice thing up.
As a striker - it is hard to look past Ivan Toney if he continues his current form. 2 of the goals he scored at the weekend were outstanding - and he is a Ten Hag kind of player. Nkunku is of course another option. Lautaro Martinez will of course be hard to get hold of, but with our own Martinez in the team, he could maybe persuade him to come.
But Toney will be the cheapest option - Martinez and Nkunku will probably be north of £80 million - Toney should be possible to sign for £60 million
But Toney will be the cheapest option - Martinez and Nkunku will probably be north of £80 million - Toney should be possible to sign for £60 million
an interesting thing to consider is the contract situation at United
some may have +1 in place but according to Transfermarket we have Rashford, Shaw, Fred, Dalot, Ronaldo and De Gea out of contract
Id only be keen on extending Rashford, Fred and Dalot from that list....Marcus is looking back on form, Fred has been really useful from the bench and Dalot has been much improved. We could use a RB with a bit more quality on the ball in terms of passing/crossing
Shaw will be on a decent wage I'd imagine and I think I'd rather bring in another Malacia style signing than extend an underperforming player
We need to develop into the ETH style so in order of importance I think we are in need of
A playmaker in midfield
A goalkeeper
An improved RB
A striker
A backup LB
some may have +1 in place but according to Transfermarket we have Rashford, Shaw, Fred, Dalot, Ronaldo and De Gea out of contract
Id only be keen on extending Rashford, Fred and Dalot from that list....Marcus is looking back on form, Fred has been really useful from the bench and Dalot has been much improved. We could use a RB with a bit more quality on the ball in terms of passing/crossing
Shaw will be on a decent wage I'd imagine and I think I'd rather bring in another Malacia style signing than extend an underperforming player
We need to develop into the ETH style so in order of importance I think we are in need of
A playmaker in midfield
A goalkeeper
An improved RB
A striker
A backup LB
I like Toney just fine (wins a ton of headers, strikes the ball well) and think he'd start for us and makes sense in both a counter-attacking team AND if we ever become a Ten Hag Ajax team that dominates possession and needs to break teams down, but 60M for a 26 year year old (so little resale value) who presumably won't suddenly start scoring 30+ goals in all competitions a year as a #9 seems like poor value, though the market for #9s is pretty ugly. Not a lot of guys to get excited about. Hopefully a young player or two pops like Nunez did and we can buy them.
A first choice striker as Ronaldo will be gone next summer, a first choice yet modern ball playing sweeper keeper as De Gea is finished at this level and is nothing more than a shot stopper and a deep lying playmaker who can progress the ball and break the lines whilst being press resistant are the final pieces for an ETH team.
Obviously De Jong is the dream as our deep lying playmaker but I’d seriously look at Bennacer at Milan as an alternative who already knows the league and country plus would be a lot cheaper unless Barca are struggling as much financially.
To replace De Gea I’ve only seen Raya, Sa and Sanchez to have caught my eye but in all honesty I’ve not really looked at keepers very much, what I do know is that De Gea has gotten progressively worse every year for the past 4 years and his limitations seriously impact our defenders which has caused such disarray a lot of the time.
As for up top it’s a hard one as there’s a dearth of genuinely talented strikers after having a period of Messi, Ronaldo, Benzema, Lewandowski, Neymar, Salah, Suarez, Zlatan, Aguero, Kane, Rooney, Villa etc there’s only really Mbappe and Haaland that have come through in recent years.
So many now like to play from the left and cut in than play centrally like Leao and Nkunku or are so young they can’t really be judged yet like Sesko, I like Vlahovic but then I’d like someone more diverse and fluid so our forward line is interchangeable like how Liverpool’s had been for the last few years.
Obviously De Jong is the dream as our deep lying playmaker but I’d seriously look at Bennacer at Milan as an alternative who already knows the league and country plus would be a lot cheaper unless Barca are struggling as much financially.
To replace De Gea I’ve only seen Raya, Sa and Sanchez to have caught my eye but in all honesty I’ve not really looked at keepers very much, what I do know is that De Gea has gotten progressively worse every year for the past 4 years and his limitations seriously impact our defenders which has caused such disarray a lot of the time.
As for up top it’s a hard one as there’s a dearth of genuinely talented strikers after having a period of Messi, Ronaldo, Benzema, Lewandowski, Neymar, Salah, Suarez, Zlatan, Aguero, Kane, Rooney, Villa etc there’s only really Mbappe and Haaland that have come through in recent years.
So many now like to play from the left and cut in than play centrally like Leao and Nkunku or are so young they can’t really be judged yet like Sesko, I like Vlahovic but then I’d like someone more diverse and fluid so our forward line is interchangeable like how Liverpool’s had been for the last few years.
Keep the midfield strong. A young player to challenge Eriksen would be so good.
We will need someone to rotate in with Eriksen.
If Eriksen gets injured we don't have anyone else who can come in for him.
If Eriksen gets injured we don't have anyone else who can come in for him.