Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip Rumours Thread 2011/2012

Liam O

killwill wrote: »

One thing is for sure, Morrison is not going on loan. Ha can you imagine him let loose?

send him as far away from Manchester as possible for the season IMO. Get him away from his mates and see if he can cut it. Something has to be done to make him cop on, his friends will only drag him down and get him into dodgy situations imo.

killwill

Liam O wrote: »

send him as far away from Manchester as possible for the season IMO. Get him away from his mates and see if he can cut it. Something has to be done to make him cop on, his friends will only drag him down and get him into dodgy situations imo.

Don't think that is the answer, the following season he comes back and starts to hang with the same crowd then. I think promote him to the 1st team and tell him it is sh1t or bust.

double GG

To be honest, I don't want to sign Modric or Sneijder or anyone for that matter. Look at the reserves, look at the academy and for everyone who has seen a few games will see we have probably the most talented bunch of guys at this level than we have ever had, EVER! They waltzed through to the FA Youth Cup Final and tore Chelsea to shreds on the way.

Take a look at Tunnicliffe, Morrison, Pogba. Now add in Modric what does that leave? Much lesser chance for any of these guys to make it.

If anyone here has watched either of these 3 guys play you will know exactly what I am talking about. Morrison, with his problems and what-not but the way the guy floats about the pitch. His devastating turn of pace and how he seems to glide past opponents, he is such a talented guy. Probably one of the most talented English players out there.

Pogba, what more can I say. Probably the most well-known of the three due to the media about his move from Le Havre. Some liken him to Viera, but I see him as a much better ball player than Patrick. Another ridiculously talented player who has been an absolute revelation in the academy ranks. His power and poise are top notch. He can pass and boy he can shoot!

Tunnicliffe, the least known of the three but equally talented. A player who can ping balls similarly to that ginger guy who used to play for us. Amazing vision and can score some absolute peaches. Very sharp in the tackle (Which Scholes wasn't)

Let me tell you something, Pique the best CB in Spain last season and in the top 3 CB's in the world, we let him go.

Shawcross immense for Stoke last season and has been class for them for the past few seasons and now is carrying a very hefty price tag, and he deserves it.

Rossi, Barcelona offering 25+Million? 20+Goals for the past few seasons. Enough said.


For everyone calling for Sneijder and Modric and spending ridiculous money on them would be catastrophic for our Academy. People may say you can't throw a 18 or 19 year old kid into the deep end. Busquets, Phil Jones, Class of '92 etc etc.... tell me differently. Busquets for example, thrown in at 18 and now he is the best holding midfielder in the world bar none (Wheter all the haters admit it or not)

I for one would love to see these guys get minutes next season rather than splashing 40 million on Modric or Sneijder and then watching on as these guys strut their stuff for another club.

Also, Will Keane, Joshua King, Petrucci among many others have the talent to make it at OT.

lordgoat

Paully D wrote: »

No surprise. She'll have realised that without him she can't spend 5k on shoes every week.

Think that's a bit harsh dude.

Liam O wrote: »

send him as far away from Manchester as possible for the season IMO. Get him away from his mates and see if he can cut it. Something has to be done to make him cop on, his friends will only drag him down and get him into dodgy situations imo.

I disagree as well, promote him and give him responsibility see how he deals with it.


Can't wait to see how Tunni does at Peterb, hoping he'll come back into the squad in a few months and makes the grade.

homerjay2005

Liam O wrote: »

send him as far away from Manchester as possible for the season IMO. Get him away from his mates and see if he can cut it. Something has to be done to make him cop on, his friends will only drag him down and get him into dodgy situations imo.

Yep, agree, if they could get somebody to look after him, for instance ole at molde. probably wont happen though, he may not even be allowed to leave given his convictions, fergie coud have plans for him. He also seems to be missing baeic intelligence having seen some of his twitter posts. wonder is he not being selected for england teams due to his problems?

On cavani, not seen much of him but a lot of my mates rave about him.

Nemanja91

Liam O wrote: »

send him as far away from Manchester as possible for the season IMO. Get him away from his mates and see if he can cut it. Something has to be done to make him cop on, his friends will only drag him down and get him into dodgy situations imo.

Send him on loan to San Marino or Faroe Islands so!

Discodog

Sanchez will end up at Chelsea according to the NOTW. They are saying that Andre had a personal phone chat with him & is willing to spend 40m. All the other papers reckon that Chelsea are going to sign everyone !

If the rumours are true then most of the City & Chelsea squads are up for sale. Loads of old crocks & has beens. Apparently City hope to get 25m for their "job lot".

dahat

Discodog wrote: »

Sanchez will end up at Chelsea according to the NOTW. They are saying that Andre had a personal phone chat with him & is willing to spend 40m. All the other papers reckon that Chelsea are going to sign everyone !

If the rumours are true then most of the City & Chelsea squads are up for sale. Loads of old crocks & has beens. Apparently City hope to get 25m for their "job lot".

NOTW hacking phones again!!!........Sanchez saga is getting boring now tbh,Udinese are doing a great job on getting top dollar though

Mars Bar

killwill

mars bar wrote: »

Mars Bar, were you over for the Gold Cup????!!!

Mars Bar

killwill wrote: »

Mars Bar, were you over for the Gold Cup????!!!

Oh shucks, you caught me!

In all seriousness, I think it's MikeyT086 hiding behind there.

homerjay2005

Hernandez really has had the year that every kid dreams of. World cup, goals against the top nations of the world, 20 goals for united, 20+ international goals and every woman in Mexico willing to drop their knickers for him. all he needs now is to bang this one and he is sorted for life!

flahavaj

eugeneious wrote: »

It seems pretty common knowledge amongst pretty much everyone that Jones wasn't a planned signing so that means he was signed on top of Fergie's planned 3 (Which also could be BS) and considering it's not even July I struggle to see how you can be so confident that our businesses is done.

You have no idea whether Jones was planned or not, its just speculation peddled by United supporters who'd prefer him not to be one of the three we're supposed to be getting. Of course Fergie could be talking crap about there being three new names, it wouldn't be the first time he told porkies to the media, but its about as close to a credible source as we have at the moment. This talk of there being 5 in total is based on what people want to happen rather than any solid fact. "Common knowledge" means very little to me.,

If anything I'd be nearly certain that we'll sign at least one more player. As I've mentioned Fergie supposedly wanted 3 signings and has got 2 of them along with Jones. We have a gapping hole in central midfield now that Scholes and Gibbo are both Gone/likely to be gone as well as our top goal scorer looking increasingly likely to leave and the club have not yet said their finished signing players. Add to that the fact that many decent sites such as the BBC, Guardian and the Times suggesting Fergie wants a total of 5 players I can't for the life of me see why you are confident we won't sign anyone else.

The Guardian and Times are as capabale as anyone of peddling bullsh*t rumours. There has been no solid quote to say that there will be 5 signings, as I said peole want it to be true so badly they're clinging onto to it with all their might.

eugeneious

flahavaj wrote: »

You have no idea whether Jones was planned or not, its just speculation peddled by United supporters who'd prefer him not to be one of the three we're supposed to be getting. Of course Fergie could be talking crap about there being three new names, it wouldn't be the first time he told porkies to the media, but its about as close to a credible source as we have at the moment. This talk of there being 5 in total is based on what people want to happen rather than any solid fact. "Common knowledge" means very little to me.,


The Guardian and Times are as capabale as anyone of peddling bullsh*t rumours. There has been no solid quote to say that there will be 5 signings, as I said peole want it to be true so badly they're clinging onto to it with all their might.

Actually the first 2 journos to report it that I seen were L'pool based Paul Thompson and Richard Buxton. Neither are Utd fans in fact the only Utd journalist who I have seen report it is Daniel Taylor, as for your comment about the Guardian and the Times I know they can report BS too but they are better then most and I would have been sceptical too until i seen it on the bbc. And I'm not hoping we sign 5 players because I believe the other 2 signings would be Parker or Adam or some one low key and then an unknown. I know where you're coming from but I do think there will be 5 signings just from what we've done so far and from what has been reported.

Nailz

dahat wrote: »

Utterly stupid statement,Barca want Fab for as cheap as possible.Why not put out feelers to save a few million on a purchase price.......
In no way is Fab past his best as you said,ridiculous

I didn't say Cesc was past his best, did I? I said Barca think he's past his sell-by-date, and I say that from a Barcelona perspective, hinting at the fact that they don't need him as much as they thought they did last summer, therefore they won't pay as much for him. Feck sake, talk about taking stuff out of context. I'm not arsed posting in the Soccer forum till the start of the season, too many jumpy aggravated posts over the last while for me.

homerjay2005

Neil ashton is fairly adament we will bid for nasri this week, he had the story in paper and says its 100%. He does write for notw though!

Mikeyt086

mars bar wrote: »

Oh shucks, you caught me!

In all seriousness, I think it's MikeyT086 hiding behind there.

Funny thing is, I was at the game haha.

Cracking match, Chich is an angel. pics to come.

By the way, the sound in the 90,000 seater stadium when the announcer called Chicharito's name is something I will never forget.

flahavaj

homerjay2005 wrote: »

Neil ashton is fairly adament we will bid for nasri this week, he had the story in paper and says its 100%. He does write for notw though!

(1) Even if we did bid, they would surely never sell to us. It would be as god as admitting to all the world they are a tier below us in the pecking order.

(2) He dosn't fit anywhere in our team, if we are assuming we will be playing the 4-4-1-1 we played in all the big games at the end of the season.

allthedoyles

Utd need to buy an attacking midfielder , and Nasri fits the bill .-- imo

flahavaj

allthedoyles wrote: »

Utd need to buy an attacking midfielder , and Nasri fits the bill .-- imo

No they don't. When is the last time they even used an "attacking" midfielder?

Mars Bar

Mikeyt086 wrote: »

Funny thing is, I was at the game haha.

Cracking match, Chich is an angel. pics to come.

By the way, the sound in the 90,000 seater stadium when the announcer called Chicharito's name is something I will never forget.

Hah! I completely forgot you were over there!

homerjay2005

Nasri doesnt excite me, but thiago does...mirror linking us to him. I doubt arsenal and Barcelona wud sell to us so both are unlikely to happen. Gill is supposed to be on holidays next week so de gea should be tied up this week.

flahavaj

The Thiago link is a joke - Player scores 40-yard wonder goal, next day the Mirror link him with United.

DOC09UNAM

flahavaj wrote: »

The Thiago link is a joke - Player scores 40-yard wonder goal, next day the Mirror link him with United.

He was linked before the goal IIRC.

flahavaj

DOC09UNAM wrote: »

He was linked before the goal IIRC.

It can't be a co-incidence the goal co-incides with a big bid from a top team though. Even if he came to United the big danger is that old Barca DNA which would eventually have him agitate to go back.:pac:

Bodhisopha

homerjay2005 wrote: »

Nasri doesnt excite me, but thiago does...mirror linking us to him. I doubt arsenal and Barcelona wud sell to us so both are unlikely to happen. Gill is supposed to be on holidays next week so de gea should be tied up this week.

I don't see why Barcelona wouldn't sell to United. They won't be selling him but if they were i'm sure they'd sell to just about anyone except Real Madrid.

eZe^

Both the player himself, and his father have come out in the past two weeks and stated his desire to stay and make it in Barca. He won't be leaving. Regardless of how many twitter people link him to Chelsea/ United/ Bolton.

flahavaj

eZe^ wrote: »

Both the player himself, and his father have come out in the past two weeks and stated his desire to stay and make it in Barca. He won't be leaving. Regardless of how many twitter people link him to Chelsea/ United/ Bolton.

What I can't understand is why Barca are still chasing Fabregas when they have this little fella and probably more on their books. I agree theres no way they'll sell, or the player will want to leave either. He has already had a taste of first team action at the end of last season and played really well too. His brother is at Barca too AFAIR.

eZe^

flahavaj wrote: »

What I can't understand is why Barca are still chasing Fabregas when they have this little fella and probably more on their books. I agree theres no way they'll sell, or the player will want to leave either. He has already had a taste of first team action at the end of last season and played really well too. His brother is at Barca too AFAIR.

Ya, Rafa Alcantara, he's a striker, bit taller, much stronger, more highly rated too. He'll hopefully fill the La Masia striking void that Bojan unfortunately couldn't live up to. Himself, Javier Espinosa, and Gerard Deulofeu are 'the next big things', they'll hopefully be mainstays in the Barca and Spanish teams for the next 15 years.

The Cesc pursuit is more of an ego thing, La Masia is the best academy in the world right now, and the Barca team want to showcase it's talents, and Fabregas is seen a major part of that. He'd also bring massive revenue streams, as this is seen as 'the return of the prodigal son' kinda thing.

Barca are also a long way off the depth that Madrid have in their squad, so a midfield squad of Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta, Thiago, Fabregas, and Keita will go a long way to competing with them.

ScummyMan

flahavaj wrote: »

He dosn't fit anywhere in our team, if we are assuming we will be playing the 4-4-1-1 we played in all the big games at the end of the season.

Why he no fit in?

--Valencia

---

Jones/Carrick/AN Other

---

Young-

---

Nasri

---

---

Rooney

---

Hernandez----


Come off it, we need an attacking midfielder, someone with a bit of creativitity a la scholes. Ive got more creativitity in my left bum cheek than Carrick and Giggs had vs Barca.

flahavaj

eZe^ wrote: »

Ya, Rafa Alcantara, he's a striker, bit taller, much stronger, more highly rated too. He'll hopefully fill the La Masia striking void that Bojan unfortunately couldn't live up to. Himself, Javier Espinosa, and Gerard Deulofeu are 'the next big things', they'll hopefully be mainstays in the Barca and Spanish teams for the next 15 years.

The Cesc pursuit is more of an ego thing, La Masia is the best academy in the world right now, and the Barca team want to showcase it's talents, and Fabregas is seen a major part of that. He'd also bring massive revenue streams, as this is seen as 'the return of the prodigal son' kinda thing.

Barca are also a long way off the depth that Madrid have in their squad, so a midfield squad of Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta, Thiago, Fabregas, and Keita will go a long way to competing with them.

And Masch. Give the rest of us a chance FFS.:(

flahavaj

Man.UnitedLad wrote: »

Why he no fit in?

--Valencia

---

Jones/Carrick/AN Other

---

Young-

---

Nasri

---

---

Rooney

---

Hernandez----


Come off it, we need an attacking midfielder, someone with a bit of creativitity a la scholes. Ive got more creativitity in my left bum cheek than Carrick and Giggs had vs Barca.

You honestly think a pairing of Nasri/Carrick is solid enough defensively to protect the back four adequately week in. week out?

And yes I know the standard answer is "Giggs did fine in there beside Carrick!" The answer to that one is that the Giggs/Carrick pairing did do well, but they also necessitated the inclusion of Park and Valencia on the wings to help out with their workrate. I'm not sure if they'd work as well on a regular basis with Nani and Young out wide for example. Unless you play Park all the time to help them out I think they'd struggle.

Saying the midfield needs creativity is fair enough, but what the team needs is someone who can dictate play from deeper positions, but is physically robust enough to do a decent job defensively as well. And players like that who are available and willing to come to United are like hens' teeth.

Discodog

homerjay2005 wrote: »

Neil ashton is fairly adament we will bid for nasri this week, he had the story in paper and says its 100%. He does write for notw though!

Well why wouldn't we ? It will piss off Wenger. It will send a firm message to Samir that we want him. Many sources are reporting that Nasri is about to sit down with Wenger for a chat so the timing would be ideal. And if Arsenal really won't let him go then we make it clear that we will be very interested in signing him next summer to encourage him not to renew.

Apparently Platini complained about Chelsea & the Torres signing - not in the spirit of the forthcoming Fair Play regulations. I wonder what he will make of the new spending rumours. Might make him look for an earlier enforcement.

eugeneious

Discodog wrote: »

Well why wouldn't we ? It will piss off Wenger. It will send a firm message to Samir that we want him. Many sources are reporting that Nasri is about to sit down with Wenger for a chat so the timing would be ideal. And if Arsenal really won't let him go then we make it clear that we will be very interested in signing him next summer to encourage him not to renew.

Apparently Platini complained about Chelsea & the Torres signing - not in the spirit of the forthcoming Fair Play regulations. I wonder what he will make of the new spending rumours. Might make him look for an earlier enforcement.

Also add to the fact that Arsenal have entered the race for Mata who could replace Nasri on the left... Who knows????

ScummyMan

Flahavaj- I still think Nasri would be perfect though. If we were to sign someone like Diarra, he could more than adequately protect the defence, leaving the front 5 attack at will. I think Fergie might be moulding Jones into this position. We are in desperate need of a bit of class, someone to cut teams open. Nasri fits the bill, and he has an eye for goal aswell.

I see your point however, that Carrick wouldnt protect the defence. (Im not sure what Carrick actually does do, but thats a different story)

anonymous_joe

Carrick can't be bad, he's gotten this far, but I just don't get him.

#15

Man.UnitedLad wrote: »

Come off it, we need an attacking midfielder, someone with a bit of creativitity a la scholes.

Utd don't need creativity, they create mountains of chances every week.

They need someone to help retain possession, dictate play and keep things ticking over. Someone who can relieve pressure and deliver the ball to the creative players, of which Utd have many. Having an eye for a killer pass would be a bonus, but it's down the list of things Utd need in a midfield player.

There's a reason why aggressive teams like Barcelona and Liverpool have the Indian sign over Utd, and it's not because Utd lack creativity.
It's because Utd struggle against high tempo pressing in midfield.

ScummyMan

#15 wrote: »

They need someone to help retain possession, dictate play and keep things ticking over. Someone who can relieve pressure and deliver the ball to the creative players, of which Utd have many. Having an eye for a killer pass would be a bonus, but it's down the list of things Utd need in a midfield player.

I cant think of anyone really who does that well though. Claud Makalele? :pac:

flahavaj

Man.UnitedLad wrote: »

Flahavaj- I still think Nasri would be perfect though. If we were to sign someone like Diarra, he could more than adequately protect the defence, leaving the front 5 attack at will. I think Fergie might be moulding Jones into this position. We are in desperate need of a bit of class, someone to cut teams open. Nasri fits the bill, and he has an eye for goal aswell.

I see your point however, that Carrick wouldnt protect the defence. (Im not sure what Carrick actually does do, but thats a different story)

This commonly held opinion confuses me as well. If we have a problem breaking teams down then how come our goals column is so healthy? We scored more goals than any team lst season in the PL. We have plenty players capable of picking a pass or creating a bit of magic in the final third - Rooney, Nani, Giggs. We create lots of chances in every game. Our problem doesn't lie in the final 1/3 of the pitch, if we have a weakness, its in the middle third.

Our problem, if any, is that none of the midfielders we have are accomplished at dictating the pace and tempo of a game from deeper positions, or at pinging the ball wide to our wingers to hurt people and none of them is truly world class at maintaining possession in tighter areas.

flahavaj

Man.UnitedLad wrote: »

I cant think of anyone really who does that well though. Claud Makalele? :pac:

This is part of the problem IMO(though Makalele is barking completely up the wrong tree). While its all very well talking about what we need and bemoaning the club's reluctance to rectify it, theres a pretty small pool of players that tick all the boxes.

#15

Man.UnitedLad wrote: »

I cant think of anyone really who does that well though. Claud Makalele? :pac:

Xabi Alonso.
Bastian Schweinsteiger.

They're different in the way they operate - Schwein can utilise his footwork to dribble out of tight situations. He's both mobile and strong. Good passing range too.

Alonso - Much more stationary, but far more incisive. Can take multiple opponents out of the game and/or put them on the back foot with a single diagonal pass.

Busquets and Modric are also players who can fill that role.

I'm not saying they're realistic targets, but they are definitely the profiles of players that Utd need IMO.

Signing a #10 style player is a bit redundant when Rooney is already one of the best around. That said, I still wouldn't turn down Sneijder:cool:

eZe^

Utd need a player like Javi Martinez, he is so comfortable at taking the ball from the defense, and he is as strong as an ox, he'd fit right in, he has excellent ball skills too. He'd be perfect imo.

flahavaj

eZe^ wrote: »

Utd need a player like Javi Martinez, he is so comfortable at taking the ball from the defense, and he is as strong as an ox, he'd fit right in, he has excellent ball skills too. He'd be perfect imo.

Yup he fits the bill 100%, much more so than Thiago, if we're talking young Spanish players. Capable of box to box running as well which you need in what is essentially a 4-4-2. Big strong lad, he'd be well able for the physical demands of English football and has a good few seasons already under his belt at club level.

Vic Vinegar

eZe^ wrote: »

Utd need a player like Javi Martinez, he is so comfortable at taking the ball from the defense, and he is as strong as an ox, he'd fit right in, he has excellent ball skills too. He'd be perfect imo.

It would be class if we got him. I'm amazed no club has been in for him yet, although i heard his buyout clause is €40 million.

Cypher_sounds

homerjay2005 wrote: »

Yep, agree, if they could get somebody to look after him, for instance ole at molde. probably wont happen though, he may not even be allowed to leave given his convictions, fergie coud have plans for him. He also seems to be missing baeic intelligence having seen some of his twitter posts. wonder is he not being selected for england teams due to his problems?

On cavani, not seen much of him but a lot of my mates rave about him.

Cavani signed a new 5 year contract with Napoli in May so its pointless even mentioning him in the transfer gossip, will be good to see him in action in the CL the new season though.

MagicMarker

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Transfer-news-Manchester-United-bid-for-Thiago-Alacantara-of-Barcelona-article752948.html

United's shock bid for Spain and Barca hero

Sir Alex Ferguson has made a £15million offer for Barcelona youngster Thiago Alcantara.

The Manchester United boss wants the star of Spain’s European Championship Under-21 side in an outright cash deal – but Barca are reluctant to sell to a *Champions League rival.

United’s offer is bigger than any other interested club and Fergie made his move before Thiago’s stunning 45-yard free-kick strike in the Euro final at the weekend.

Barca would like to farm the midfield prodigy out to a Premier League club, but want a buy-back clause, which United will not agree to.

Thiago is unlikely to play often for Barca next season, a problem that is troubling coach Pep Guardiola who does not want to lose him long-term.

The 20-year-old would be ideal to replace Paul Scholes at United but Barca are desperate to see him go somewhere else.

Fergie cannot even get between the player and the club to win the day – his agent is Guardiola’s brother Pere.

Barca would put Thiago in the Cesc Fabregas deal with Arsenal if they can have a recall on him – a plan that’s not much use to the Gunners as the talks for their skipper drag on.

Bizarrely Bolton Wanderers, who have been on Thiago’s trail for over a year, may have a chance as they are prepared to take him on Barca’s terms.

lol, Pep's brother is his agent. No chance!!

Discodog

flahavaj wrote: »

This commonly held opinion confuses me as well. If we have a problem breaking teams down then how come our goals column is so healthy? We scored more goals than any team lst season in the PL. We have plenty players capable of picking a pass or creating a bit of magic in the final third - Rooney, Nani, Giggs. We create lots of chances in every game. Our problem doesn't lie in the final 1/3 of the pitch, if we have a weakness, its in the middle third.

Our problem, if any, is that none of the midfielders we have are accomplished at dictating the pace and tempo of a game from deeper positions, or at pinging the ball wide to our wingers to hurt people and none of them is truly world class at maintaining possession in tighter areas.

I would agree with our need for a defensive CM but you can never have enough creativity & a lot of ours came from Scholes. Thanks to the brilliant Liveonlinefooty I watched every game last season & there were occasions when we were desperate for some creativity. Stats never tell the whole story. We could of been struggling all game & then got a late winner.

I will stick to my belief that, if possible, SAF would sign Nasri above all the other rumoured prospects.

Samba

Discodog wrote: »

I would agree with our need for a defensive CM but you can never have enough creativity & a lot of ours came from Scholes. Thanks to the brilliant Liveonlinefooty I watched every game last season & there were occasions when we were desperate for some creativity. Stats never tell the whole story. We could of been struggling all game & then got a late winner.

I will stick to my belief that, if possible, SAF would sign Nasri above all the other rumoured prospects.

Sure it could do not harm to bolster our options but I wouldn't call it a priority, not by any means.

To steal #15's post as it sums it up quite well -

They need someone to help retain possession, dictate play and keep things ticking over. Someone who can relieve pressure and deliver the ball to the creative players, of which Utd have many. Having an eye for a killer pass would be a bonus, but it's down the list of things Utd need in a midfield player.

This is precisely what we didn't have in those lacklustre away performances we grinded out all season and Nasri or any other of the high profile AM are not the answer to this problem imo.

PHB

#15 wrote: »

Utd don't need creativity, they create mountains of chances every week.

They need someone to help retain possession, dictate play and keep things ticking over. Someone who can relieve pressure and deliver the ball to the creative players, of which Utd have many. Having an eye for a killer pass would be a bonus, but it's down the list of things Utd need in a midfield player.

There's a reason why aggressive teams like Barcelona and Liverpool have the Indian sign over Utd, and it's not because Utd lack creativity.
It's because Utd struggle against high tempo pressing in midfield.

This post sums it up exactly. I'd like creativity in that person, like Fabregas who provides both of those things, but the other aspects are most important. We simply can't maintain possession in the middle of the pitch against lots of midfields. We struggle because of this. Carrick can do the job against weaker midfielders, but if they play a good high tempo physical game, he disappears.

In terms of the people available, I think Modric provides both, which is why he appeals to me. I disagree that Nasri doesn't provide the possession aspect, he showed this season when Fabregas was out how he could perform not just as an AM but as a CM. I'd be happy with either.

homerjay2005

#15 wrote: »

Utd don't need creativity, they create mountains of chances every week.

They need someone to help retain possession, dictate play and keep things ticking over. Someone who can relieve pressure and deliver the ball to the creative players, of which Utd have many. Having an eye for a killer pass would be a bonus, but it's down the list of things Utd need in a midfield player.

There's a reason why aggressive teams like Barcelona and Liverpool have the Indian sign over Utd, and it's not because Utd lack creativity.
It's because Utd struggle against high tempo pressing in midfield.

i agree with the post, but f*ck me, the bit in bold really bugs me. how do they have an indian sign over us? the beat us once this season and we comfortably beat them in the 3 previous games before that.