Manchester United Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 11/12

Mitch Connor · 18-12-2011 3:02pm

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en_US&formkey=dGt5MFhUbHZ4cy1la1B6WlBCbE44OVE6MQ#gid=0

Man United player ratings link for the QPR game.

Giggsy11 · 18-12-2011 3:10pm

Professional Griefer · 18-12-2011 3:20pm

Blatter wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/premier-league/united-tie-up-deal-for-benficas-gaitan-2966956.html

Independent running with the Gaitan story as well, sounds like there's definitely something in it.

Just to let you know your link is boards.ie/http:www......

Also 404'd.

Interesting stuff though, I need to see more of the lad. Don't think I've ever seen him play, didn't notice him when they played us.

Anyways, another away win. Thank god we left last seasons away form behind us. Hopefully now Arsenal will do a job for us later.

homerjay2005 · 18-12-2011 3:25pm

Blatter wrote: »

Mark Ogden is one of the more respectable United journalists so there might be actually something in this.

ya, there is substance in it alright. i work with a benfica lad, who is working towards being a football scout.

we went to the united v benfica game together and before it, he was telling me there was alot of talk about us and Guitan. i kept a close eye on him during the game as a result, wasnt that impressed with him at all, he played ok, was taken off. seems a bit light to be honest and we are overflowing with width, so it would be a signing we dont need at all.

29million is crazy money, though he is really highly rated and my colleague reckons he is going to be better than di maria. benfica are unbelievable at nurturing south america talent and getting big money for them.

aperture_nuig · 18-12-2011 3:37pm

homerjay2005 wrote: »

ya, there is substance in it alright. i work with a benfica lad, who is working towards being a football scout.

we went to the united v benfica game together and before it, he was telling me there was alot of talk about us and Guitan. i kept a close eye on him during the game as a result, wasnt that impressed with him at all, he played ok, was taken off. seems a bit light to be honest and we are overflowing with width, so it would be a signing we dont need at all.

29million is crazy money, though he is really highly rated and my colleague reckons he is going to be better than di maria. benfica are unbelievable at nurturing south america talent and getting big money for them.

Will he solve some of our problems in the centre of the park? I'm not going to ask will he solve all of them because that's a 2 man job.

Mitch Connor · 18-12-2011 3:38pm

homerjay2005 · 18-12-2011 3:47pm

aperture_nuig wrote: »

Will he solve some of our problems in the centre of the park? I'm not going to ask will he solve all of them because that's a 2 man job.

my colleague reckons Guitan is not a central player at all, unless playing behind the striker.

he said also there is alot of talk in portugal about Javi Garcia to united, who is a defensive midfielder. apparently we are going for both, Garcia is about 20million.

Mitch Connor · 18-12-2011 3:54pm

CongoPowers · 18-12-2011 3:55pm

Wasn't Javi García signed for €6-7m from Real Madrid? Good business to sell him on for 20.

Mitch Connor · 18-12-2011 3:56pm

Here is a link to ALL the November Voting information, if you want to take a look.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqNp5FJ_qnMYdFF0RUlaVzJnSnpsUFEtWFRDS3pfMkE

Samich · 18-12-2011 3:58pm

Hear the story about the swiss team sion, unless the swiss fa sanction them then uefa might ban swiss teams from the champs league and Man Utd have a tiny tiny tiny chance of getting back in.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11667/7384445/United-play-down-CL-lifeline

Son Of A Vidic · 18-12-2011 4:00pm

Fecking missed the match, thought today was Saturday for some reason. Will have to watch the highlights later. Reading BBC match reports, it seems to have been a good performance overall. Evra's vulnerability in defence was mentioned though, how bad was he?

Nalz · 18-12-2011 4:04pm

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

Fecking missed the match, thought today was Saturday for some reason. Will have to watch the highlights later. Reading BBC match reports, it seems to have been a good performance overall. Evra's vulnerability in defence was mentioned though, how bad was he?

Very poor for 60mins especially on the back foot.

United could have conceded three but could have scored six or seven easily

keane2097 · 18-12-2011 4:05pm

Phil Jones was godlike today imo.

Nalz · 18-12-2011 4:07pm

keane2097 wrote: »

Phil Jones was godlike today imo.

Almost. Gave the ball away when the easy option was on on two occasions and took a yellow card at one point to redeem his mistake, apart from that he was very good.

Nani was lively but end product wasn't great. Rooney and Valencia were solid I thought as was Carrick

Son Of A Vidic · 18-12-2011 4:08pm

Trilla wrote: »

United could have conceded three but could have scored six or seven easily

Ya the match report gave that impression, they need to keep chipping away at City's goal difference and get more clinical.

Smegball · 18-12-2011 4:09pm

For all the flak Evans receives apart from that one game against City he has been solid, was excellent today and deserved a goal. First time he has really looked a threat from corners for me.

Ordinary man · 18-12-2011 4:34pm

Ah here, what going on? I'm after reading posts praising carrick and evans for good performances. It must be the christmas goodwill or something:D:D:D

Son Of A Vidic · 18-12-2011 4:54pm

Smegball wrote: »

For all the flak Evans receives apart from that one game against City he has been solid,

Don't know what player you've been watching this season, but that would make a change for him. Whenever I have seen him play this season he has been pretty useless and he always makes me nervous. He seems to unsettle his defensive partners, panic under a cross and give away possession with abandon. On top of being utterly shyte last season of course.

parc · 18-12-2011 5:04pm

gotta remain strong here and maintain that evans is terrible

one good game does not make a good CD

3hn2givr7mx1sc · 18-12-2011 5:09pm

His talent was clear to see two seasons ago. He is a good player, but struggles with confidence levels, imo.

Mitch Connor · 18-12-2011 5:11pm

parc wrote: »

gotta remain strong here and maintain that evans is terrible

one good game does not make a good CD

I don't think you are being fair to him. He has had a couple of dodgy moments this season alright - remember one game in particular where he partnered Smalling at CB and they were both very poor imo - and people will point to the red card vs City, but overall I think he has been quite good this season - Vidic and Rio have played as many bad games as him imo. His defensing has been solid enough, his distribution of the ball excellent.

He is certainly not terrible, and I think to summarise his season thus far as terrible is extremely harsh.

eugeneious · 18-12-2011 5:19pm

Very good performance today. It felt like the the early days of the season in terms of how we dominated the game so much. I think Carrick has found the perfect partner in Phil Jones in midfield, someone strong and athletic who will burst foreword while Carrick sits back and controls the game, it was very pleasing to see. It'll be interesting to see (if the rumours are true) how exactly gaitan would fit in to the team.

The_Kew_Tour · 18-12-2011 5:47pm

knew was while since Carrick scored, but that was his first in 70 matches.:eek:

PHB · 18-12-2011 6:06pm

Evans is kinda exciting again. He has been poor for 2 seasons to be honest, but the season before, he looked a real talent. These last few games, he's been really composed and assured in defense. Also, I think in time he'll become a goal threat.

lordgoat · 18-12-2011 6:10pm

Ordinary man wrote: »

Ah here, what going on? I'm after reading posts praising carrick and evans for good performances. It must be the christmas goodwill or something:D:D:D

Or people know what they're talking about and give praise where it's due.

eugeneious wrote: »

Very good performance today. It felt like the the early days of the season in terms of how we dominated the game so much. I think Carrick has found the perfect partner in Phil Jones in midfield, someone strong and athletic who will burst foreword while Carrick sits back and controls the game, it was very pleasing to see. It'll be interesting to see (if the rumours are true) how exactly gaitan would fit in to the team.

Jones does get forward a bit more but at times Jones will sit and Carrick will drive, his goal is a good example, but i remember him getting in the box alot more recently. Had a really good header that went just over the bar in the last match. But i think they'll be a good pairing for most games especially when Rooney drops deep to make a 3.

Blatter · 18-12-2011 8:16pm

And it should be said that Ferdinand has been absolute quality over the last couple of months despite waves of people writing him off.

MANUTD99 · 18-12-2011 8:29pm

From what I remember. 2 or 3 times against Wolves and again today, Phil Jones standing on the edge of the box with his arms in the air screaming for the ball. Although his future will probably be CB it is so refreshing to see a Utd CM demanding the ball. Unlucky not to score today I thought. Also the frustration on his face when Welbeck played a bad ball into him. For me personally I thought he was the best player of the day. He has played his nuts off today and this kid is gonna be superstar

Patsy fyre · 18-12-2011 8:32pm

Anybody know anything about this Gaitan ?
Is he likely to join in January or will it me the summer? Cant remember much from him when we played them, perhaps not a good sign...

Jax Teller · 18-12-2011 8:34pm

Yeah phil jones motm for me and last week. Easily player of the month for me

keane2097 · 18-12-2011 9:41pm

Jones + Cleverley is going to be sexual.

n32 · 18-12-2011 9:47pm

If jones keeps playing like this in midfield it would be absolute madness putting him back centre half. He s naturally a gung ho type player which means he ll have to curb his natural instincts to be a centre half which would be a real pity. If you took that streak out of him it would be akin to taking the aggression from rooneys game

MagicMarker · 18-12-2011 10:37pm

What's going to happen with Jones when Cleverley is back? SAF isn't going to start both him and Jones in midfield and I cant imagine him going for 5 in the middle.

Jax Teller · 18-12-2011 10:58pm

MagicMarker wrote: »

What's going to happen with Jones when Cleverley is back? SAF isn't going to start both him and Jones in midfield and I cant imagine him going for 5 in the middle.

Stick jones up front or in goal simple solution .

dubmick · 18-12-2011 10:59pm

Blatter wrote: »

And it should be said that Ferdinand has been absolute quality over the last couple of months despite waves of people writing him off.

He was appalling against City. Poor against Basle too.

flahavaj · 19-12-2011 12:43am

Jones is some yoke ain't he? Incredible to be that good playing out of position at the age of 19. Frightening talent. Carrick seems to like playing beside him as well and continues to be one of our best players the last few months. Brilliant goal today.

Blatter · 19-12-2011 1:17am

dubmick wrote: »

He was appalling against City. Poor against Basle too.

I'm talking about since the City game really. And he wasn't that poor against Basle?

homerjay2005 · 19-12-2011 1:34am

Blatter wrote: »

I'm talking about since the City game really. And he wasn't that poor against Basle?

him and evra were shocking against Basle. City he was awful, he was at fault for 2, even 3 goals in that game and it wasnt looking good for him, but he has upped his game since then.

luckily the injuries are clearing up, though we seem to be short numbers at the back, only fryers really available, though assume valencia and jones were there as back up defenders so we are covered enough.

hope the twins get back training asap.

kryogen · 19-12-2011 1:37am

Rafael is back in training afaik

Hedman · 19-12-2011 1:44am

dubmick wrote: »

He was appalling against City.

Pretty harsh given the fact he'd been struggling with injuries himself. Not to mention that Utd hadn't been able to field the same back 4 for most of the season at that point and then his partner in CD that he's trained with all week in preperation gets himself sent off before HT. All this vs a pretty sick City front line, hardly fair to lay the blame for that result at his feet.

Liam O · 19-12-2011 1:52am

flahavaj wrote: »

Jones is some yoke ain't he? Incredible to be that good playing out of position at the age of 19. Frightening talent. Carrick seems to like playing beside him as well and continues to be one of our best players the last few months. Brilliant goal today.

I'm starting to think that he is a bit too naive for the centre back role. I'm sure he can have the self control to stay in position and in that game against Blackburn last season he did but I wouldn't mind him being developed as a midfielder, he seems to have good attributes for a defensive minded midfielder.

flahavaj · 19-12-2011 1:54am

Liam O wrote: »

I'm starting to think that he is a bit too naive for the centre back role. I'm sure he can have the self control to stay in position and in that game against Blackburn last season he did but I wouldn't mind him being developed as a midfielder, he seems to have good attributes for a defensive minded midfielder.

He'll develop into a great centre back in time. He's doing a great job asa stop gap midfielder though at the moment - not necessrily a DM though, more and all action box to box player. He covers the ground really well phenomenal athelete. Nailed on club captain in future.

Le King · 19-12-2011 1:56am

I've been one to be very critical of Evans but he put in a decent shift today. Still would prefer him to be a cover CB.

Blatter · 19-12-2011 1:58am

homerjay2005 wrote: »

him and evra were shocking against Basle. City he was awful, he was at fault for 2, even 3 goals in that game and it wasnt looking good for him, but he has upped his game since then.

luckily the injuries are clearing up, though we seem to be short numbers at the back, only fryers really available, though assume valencia and jones were there as back up defenders so we are covered enough.

hope the twins get back training asap.

Are you talking about the first games against Basel? If you are then I agree he was awful in that game and obviously he was terrible v City.

I was on about the recent game v Basel, where I don't remember him doing too much wrong.

Blatter · 19-12-2011 2:00am

Liam O wrote: »

I'm starting to think that he is a bit too naive for the centre back role. I'm sure he can have the self control to stay in position and in that game against Blackburn last season he did but I wouldn't mind him being developed as a midfielder, he seems to have good attributes for a defensive minded midfielder.

He's sensational at centre back for a 19 year old.

John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, you name it. I don't remember them being that good at centre back when they were 19.

Jones is very very special.

kryogen · 19-12-2011 2:15am

Blatter wrote: »

He's sensational at centre back for a 19 year old.

John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, you name it. I don't remember them being that good at centre back when they were 19.

Jones is very very special.

Both Terry and Rio were held in much the same regard as Jones now

More so Rio who won player of the year at West Ham and had his first English cap at the age of 19. Leeds were prepared to splash 18million on him not long after, and not long after that United paid 30million for him

Terry was talked about an awful lot while coming through the ranks at Chelsea, made his first team debut at 17 then went on loan to gain first team experience and in the 2000-01 season he made 23 starts as he began to establish himself and was voted club player of the year.

Both very good players with success from a young age

Son Of A Vidic · 19-12-2011 2:20am

flahavaj wrote: »

He'll develop into a great centre back in time. He's doing a great job asa stop gap midfielder though at the moment - not necessrily a DM though, more and all action box to box player. He covers the ground really well phenomenal athelete. Nailed on club captain in future.

Now if SAF could mould him into our new Bryan Robson I'd be quite happy.

flahavaj · 19-12-2011 2:35am

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/transfers/30m-gaitan-on-way-to-united-6279046.html

The agent Jorge Mendes has cemented his position as a major driver of Manchester United's transfer business by brokering the deal which is likely to see Benfica's Argentinian midfielder Nicolas Gaitan sign for Sir Alex Ferguson at a price of €35m (£29.3m) next summer.

Mendes, who has delivered Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, Anderson, David de Gea and Bebe to Old Trafford in the past eight years, is a respected figure at Old Trafford and helped secure the informal agreement which, the Independent on Sunday revealed, should make Gaitan a United player next June. Benfica did not deny the story yesterday.

The negotiating process has been complicated by a €45m (£37.7m) release clause, which United had categorically refused to meet, written into a new contract signed by the 23-year-old in October. Gaitan is also one of a number of players at the Portuguese club who are effectively only part-owned by Benfica, a proportion of their economic rights having been sold to the Benfica Stars Fund, a football investment fund set up in 2009 to raise short-term money for the club. Around 15 per cent of any transfer fee for Gaitan – around £5.25m – would have to be paid into the fund upon completion of the proposed move to Manchester.

Benfica's requirement to pay Boca Juniors 20 per cent of the final transfer fee – probably £7m – under the terms of the deal by which they signed him in May 2010, also explains the Portuguese side's firm negotiating stance. But after United's scouting efforts left them satisfied Gaitan could play a major part for them, Mendes has helped find a way through the complications. Gaitan's agent is Rafael Irribarren, though Mendes also concluded the deal which delivered Gaitan to Lisbon, 18 months ago. It remains to be seen what will happen if another club comes in with a far higher offer this summer.

While no firm contractual agreement has been reached between the clubs, The Independent understands that the loosely agreed deal could potentially see United paying up to €40m (£33.5m) if Gaitan has a particularly prolific second half to the season. The final fee will be contingent on the player's appearances and performances. Sources in Portugal say that United's own performances in domestic and European competition may also affect the final figure.

United's agreement with Benfica does not appear to involve a move for Gaitan's fellow midfielder Javi Garcia, who also impressed in this autumn's fixtures against United in the Champions League. This newspaper revealed earlier this month that United had asked Benfica to notify them of any moves from other clubs for both Garcia and Gaitan, who is also understood to have been the subject of interest from Valencia. United scouts watched both players at Benfica's recent matches against Naval and Sporting Lisbon – specifically to develop a clearer picture on them, rather than to prepare for United's encounter with Benfica on 22 November, in which both played.

Though Gaitan's services would be of immediate value to Ferguson, Benfica fans would respond fiercely to any sale in January. Many of them still blame the club's board for ceding the title back to Porto last season, having sold Angel di Maria to Real Madrid and David Luiz to Chelsea within six months of taking their first championship in five years. Benfica and arch-rivals Porto are again neck and neck at the top.

Third-party ownership arrangements are rare in Portugal, though Luiz fell into the same category as Gaitan in January, when £6.4m had to be paid into the Benfica Stars fund. Benfica's brinkmanship made that transfer complicated, though United's informal agreement may smooth progress this time around.

Story is becoming persistent. Would still be wary of lines such as the bolded ones though, I wouldn't believe anythig until its fully sealed.

kryogen · 19-12-2011 2:44am

I remember having informal agreements (and more actually) for Ronaldinho to sign with us also, they mean nothing in reality, just help keep the story going

Why oh why we are apparently going to spend so much money on yet another wide player boggles the mind if true however, if he signs up then it means the end of Park i guess. Unless he would be happy with a much reduced role

Le King · 19-12-2011 4:18am

Silva role is what he'd take up I hear. I have never seen him play and from quick reading on him he seems to be a very talented players in a team that far too often can't control the pace of the game and are too direct.

I bought him in Fifa and he is world class.
That's pretty conclusive to me.

Manchester United Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 11/12

Comments