Manchester United Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread - 2013/14 Mod warning post #718

Mitch Connor

IamtheWalrus wrote: »

Kagawa has been muck since he arrived. He has to prove he's a starter.

How often has he played in his proper position though?

People excused Rooney's poor performances last season because we were playing him on the left. Nani performs better on the right than the left. Carrick doesn't do great when we play him CB.

Simple fact is that we have generally played him as a left sided midfielder - not even from the left as you would see for Japan, not in the attacking wide role we would have seen Ronaldo occupy here at United.

He isn't a left sided midfielder in the sense Valencia is a right sided midfielder, so playing him in that way is never going to get the best out of him.

It is, imo, bollix that we want him to earn a first team spot while barely giving him a proper chance to do so. Were we to sell him it wouldn't be that he failed to reproduce his dortmund form, it would be that we failed to play him in the position he plays.

Playing him wide left is similar to England playing Scholes wide left. Just not going to get what you want from the player. And we still slag England off for playing Scholes on the left.

Mitch Connor

Timmyctc wrote: »

IMC cinemas Screening Class of 92 in Athlone,. Galway etc but theres a Q&A with Giggsy et al via webcam after apparently. What would you ask if you could? I was thinking I'd ask Giggsy "What was it like ploughing Imogen Thomas"
Hope I can get work off now on Sunday night

SGC/Movies@ cinemas in Swords, Dundrum, Gorey, Mayo, Dungarvan are showing it too.

Pro. F

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

For me there's no argument about who should be in the hole, it just has to be Kagawa. Almost every good game we've had this season, very few in fact, Kagawa has been there. It's just not a coincidence and that link between the forwards and the midfield is what we've been missing. Rooney and RVP being rotated is best for the team, Rooney is in super form so it must be him there the weekend.

No player is bigger than the club, the two lads may not like being rotated but if it gets us playing like we did at times last night consistently well then it's what's best for the club and they'll have to get used to it.


Last night was the first in a long time that I've thoroughly enjoyed watching 90 minutes of United, I don't even care that Leverkusen were muck.

Other than last night what games are you talking about?

onemorechance

Pro. F wrote: »

Other than last night what games are you talking about?

Second half at home to Real, but that's not a full game! :pac:

homerjay2005

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

Also Rio is approaching his expiry date, Garay doesn't seem so bad now.

is he any better than the 4 other options we currently have? id rather Rio is replaced with a genuine world class center half if possible and im not fully convinced Garay is the one.

either way, it is odds on at this stage that our next 3 signings will be a LB, CB and ACM to replace Rio, Evra and Giggs.

thats some amount of experience that we will lose, so these signings need to be top quality.

Rayne Wooney

Pro. F wrote: »

Other than last night what games are you talking about?

Probably should have said periods instead of games.

First half against WB, the second half against Real, Last night.

Other than that I can't think of any good periods without him other than Fulham first half and maybe times in the Arsenal game when he went off.

homerjay2005

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Playing him wide left is similar to England playing Scholes wide left.

it really isnt. people think playing left means being outside hugging the touchline like Evra or Valencia do, but this isnt the case. look at the role that Iniesta plays on many occasions for Spain. he is the left of a midfield 3 and covers that side of the pitch (mainly only when they dont have the ball) but the reality is he is free to roam whereever he is comfortable with. Silva is the same. they tend to spend a huge amount of time floating between the DM and front two and most of that is spent in the middle. Kagawa is the same.

Kagawa needs to adapt his game a little, his main problems so far have actually come when he comes into the middle, his alleged favourite position - he gets crowded out and keeps giving the ball away. last night he was much better, but for all those who say its to do with him playing in a different position, you need to accept also that its against a team who are not a PL team and wouldnt be as physical as the likes of Stoke, Southampton and West Brom who he struggles against. a team who on the night were really poor and a team who let us play by standing off us.

his performance was great, but lets see him do it at WHL on Sunday now and then against Everton and Newcastle before we can come to any conclusions that he is good enough to see either Rooney or RVP dropped. at the moment, he is still 3rd choice IMO thought his CL performances are much more encouraging.

Pro. F

homerjay2005 wrote: »

it really isnt. people think playing left means being outside hugging the touchline like Evra or Valencia do, but this isnt the case. look at the role that Iniesta plays on many occasions for Spain. he is the left of a midfield 3 and covers that side of the pitch (mainly only when they dont have the ball) but the reality is he is free to roam whereever he is comfortable with. Silva is the same. they tend to spend a huge amount of time floating between the DM and front two and most of that is spent in the middle. Kagawa is the same.

Kagawa needs to adapt his game a little, his main problems so far have actually come when he comes into the middle, his alleged favourite position - he gets crowded out and keeps giving the ball away. last night he was much better, but for all those who say its to do with him playing in a different position, you need to accept also that its against a team who are not a PL team and wouldnt be as physical as the likes of Stoke, Southampton and West Brom who he struggles against. a team who on the night were really poor and a team who let us play by standing off us.

his performance was great, but lets see him do it at WHL on Sunday now and then against Everton and Newcastle before we can come to any conclusions that he is good enough to see either Rooney or RVP dropped. at the moment, he is still 3rd choice IMO thought his CL performances are much more encouraging.

Playing on the left for City and Barca is not the same as playing on the left for United. Our CM is considerably worse than both of those teams and so the wide players have to do more scrapping for the ball. And this season Moyes' style of play has made things even worse.

Even if there wasn't those differences it is still irrelevant whether other naturally central players are able to adapt their games, Kagawa isn't. Just like Scholes and Rooney weren't. And just like it was idiotic to blame Scholes and Rooney for their poor form when playing on the left, it's the same deal with Kagawa.

Pro. F

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

Probably should have said periods instead of games.

First half against WB, the second half against Real, Last night.

Other than that I can't think of any good periods without him other than Fulham first half and maybe times in the Arsenal game when he went off.

He played on the left against WBA. He played centrally behind Rooney for 10 minutes in the home game against Sociedad and for 30 minutes in the away game. Kagawa did well enough, but it was nothing amazing and the team performances in those 40 minutes was the same crap we've seen all season.

ericzeking

homerjay2005 wrote: »

is he any better than the 4 other options we currently have? id rather Rio is replaced with a genuine world class center half if possible and im not fully convinced Garay is the one.

either way, it is odds on at this stage that our next 3 signings will be a LB, CB and ACM to replace Rio, Evra and Giggs.

thats some amount of experience that we will lose, so these signings need to be top quality.

We don't need to be spending 'world class' money on replacing Rio, if he retired in the morning we still have 4 damn good (if not not world class-whatever you consider that to be) senior centre backs, if we're gonna be signing proven world class players and spending big it should be in the middle of the park and maybe a winger.
If we're replacing Rio I'd buy an up and coming centre back as Vidic has only a season or 2 left at the top also.

Cantona's Collars

ericzeking wrote: »

We don't need to be spending 'world class' money on replacing Rio, if he retired in the morning we still have 4 damn good (if not not world class-whatever you consider that to be) senior centre backs, if we're gonna be signing proven world class players and spending big it should be in the middle of the park and maybe a winger.
If we're replacing Rio I'd buy an up and coming centre back as Vidic has only a season or 2 left at the top also.

We had Evans + A N Other at the back.Rio wasn't really missed when he didn't play.

The big need,same as the last few years is to address the midfield,since Keane left there's been a huge hole there.Nobody actually drives the team on,I know there's only been one Keane but even looking at Witsel covering nearly every blade of grass the other evening showed just how deficient we are in midfield.It's stark contrast to watching our current crop playing as if they have concrete blocks tied to their legs.The shackles came off last night & the difference was immense.
Will we get away with playing like that while being pressed in the EPL? I don't know but it has to be better trying it out than the rubbish we've been serving up until last night.

DM_7

Both Keanes are gone on loan and could play against each other this week! Will to Wigan and Micheal to Derby.

Tom Lawrence gone to Carlisle on loan.

homerjay2005

ive made my doubts clear about jones at center back for a long long time, but i do think that CM is his best position if he is to make it at the club. it is not pretty, but he is effective at man marking and negating good players - something he cannot do at center back. it helps to stop us being over run also and allows players like Giggs and Kagawa to flourish.

its not ideal to have a limited ball player in midfield and i would rather that player was able to be driving force and help dictate tempo, rather than distroy but Jones in midfield is not as bad as it looks. he is the physical presence that we all hoped Fellaini would be, but of course its early days for him.

Liam O

homerjay2005 wrote: »

ive made my doubts clear about jones at center back for a long long time, but i do think that CM is his best position if he is to make it at the club. it is not pretty, but he is effective at man marking and negating good players - something he cannot do at center back. it helps to stop us being over run also and allows players like Giggs and Kagawa to flourish.

its not ideal to have a limited ball player in midfield and i would rather that player was able to be driving force and help dictate tempo, rather than distroy but Jones in midfield is not as bad as it looks. he is the physical presence that we all hoped Fellaini would be, but of course its early days for him.

Jones has played a handful of games at CB. At his age Evans and Rio were making plenty of mistakes while getting a lot more time to adapt to the position. I have faith he can make in CB. I also think he has excellent ball control and drive for someone with his build and his passing is pretty good too. A very useful player to have.

Rayne Wooney

Jones' passing has been excellent in fairness, one of our best this season possession wise.

Robson99

We dont need another CB if Rio goes this summer. Smalling has the class to replace Rio and should be played there instead of being played right back.

We have 4 very good CBs without Rio. We would be better going for Coleman as cover for RB rather than spending 25m on another CB. The only reason I think we should look for another CB is if Moyes sees Jones as a defensive MF.

Backstreet Moyes

Robson99 wrote: »

We dont need another CB if Rio goes this summer. Smalling has the class to replace Rio and should be played there instead of being played right back.

We have 4 very good CBs without Rio. We would be better going for Coleman as cover for RB rather than spending 25m on another CB. The only reason I think we should look for another CB is if Moyes sees Jones as a defensive MF.

How do you think spending 15-20 million for a rb as cover makes more sense than spending 25m on a world class cb. If we didn't have Rafael i would love Coleman but it would be a pointless signing.

Backstreet Moyes

homerjay2005 wrote: »

ive made my doubts clear about jones at center back for a long long time, but i do think that CM is his best position if he is to make it at the club. it is not pretty, but he is effective at man marking and negating good players - something he cannot do at center back. it helps to stop us being over run also and allows players like Giggs and Kagawa to flourish.

its not ideal to have a limited ball player in midfield and i would rather that player was able to be driving force and help dictate tempo, rather than distroy but Jones in midfield is not as bad as it looks. he is the physical presence that we all hoped Fellaini would be, but of course its early days for him.

I really think you do be very harsh on Jones. When he first joined he was shaky and made some mistakes. But it was an unsettled defence leaking goals all over the place. It's hard enough at a young age at a club like United without playing in a changed defence every game.

At the end of last season he got a run of games at cb and was impressive and looked very assured. Everytime he was placed cb this season he was played well. He also was putting in good performances as a 17yr old for Blackburn. He has done well in midfield but i think long term he will be a cb.

Rayne Wooney

I just want to know what the league table will look like on the 1st of January, huge 7 games coming up, a good run is all we need

Robson99

Nuts102 wrote: »

How do you think spending 15-20 million for a rb as cover makes more sense than spending 25m on a world class cb. If we didn't have Rafael i would love Coleman but it would be a pointless signing.

where did I say 15-20 million??? And i dont think Coleman would command a fee of 15m either. And I didnt say 25m would buy a WORLD CLASS CB. IMO it would be a waste buying another CB

jameshayes

Watching Nick Powell play for wigan in the europa league, he really plays his socks off, i'd say he's a few inches shorter when he leaves the field.

Really good player

Vic Vinegar

jameshayes wrote: »

Watching Nick Powell play for wigan in the europa league, he really plays his socks off, i'd say he's a few inches shorter when he leaves the field.

Really good player

Was he up front again?

jameshayes

Bombleswizzum wrote: »

Was he up front again?

yep, played well up there for most of the match, fortune came on and he seemed to play in the hole later on

Mars Bar

With Will Keane joining Wigan, I'd imagine he'll play up top and Powell will player further back.

I hope that'll be the case anyway.

Rayne Wooney

Saw on Twitter that Montoya will probably leave Barca in January.

I'll be disappointed if we're not in for him to be honest, he's one of the hottest prospects at fullback IMO, can play both sides and will go for dirt cheap with him only having 7 months left on his contract.

He'll probably go for just a bit over what we paid for Buttner to put things into perspective.

Bayern, Spurs and Liverpool(who apparently have people over negotiating this week) all interested.

onemorechance

Unless Liverpool seal the deal first.

Liverpool are on the verge of a major transfer coup, with MD Ian Ayre flying to Spain on Thursday to open talks with one of the country's most exciting youngsters.

Anfield chief Ayre was in Barcelona for talks over Spain Under-21 defender Martin Montoya - who is set to become a free agent at the end of the season after negotiations over a new contract broke down.

There is anger among fans of the Nou Camp giants at what is seen as negligence that such a highly-rated local youngster has been allowed to get so close to the end of his contract.

But that is Liverpool's gain - with sources at Barcelona indicating that talks have stalled fatally - and the 22-year-old is free to discuss terms with interested parties.

The Reds are at the head of a queue that also includes Arsenal and Inter Milan, after forging strong links with the Barca board during ongoing talks over the future of goalkeeper Pepe Reina, who could still move back to his former club at the end of this season following a year on loan at Napoli.

Liverpool were hoping to secure Montoya on a free at the end of the season, but it is thought Ayre has travelled out to discuss the possibility of a move in January.


...

Mirror

Hulk Hands

SirDelboy18 wrote: »

Lets not shuffle Kagawa back onto the bench now please. Or back to the left. It's remarkable how much more threatening we look when we have Kagawa and Rooney in positions they are fully comfortable with.

Nuts102 wrote: »

The big question now is has Moyes got the ba!ls to play Kagawa and rotate Rooney and RVP.

n32 wrote: »

Last night was the first time in a long long time that we looked really good on the break. Its a great sight to see united players breaking forward at speed instead of that slow ponderous build up we ve had to endure recently. After seeing Kagawa play so well in the no.10 role Moyes has a big selection dilemna whether to drop him when RVP comes back.

This seems to be it. There's no way to fit all 3 in, so its coming down to which 2 you prefer. A few are suggesting that Kagawa cant be dropped. Simple question is, which of RVP or Rooney do you want to drop in his stead?

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

For me there's no argument about who should be in the hole, it just has to be Kagawa. Almost every good game we've had this season, very few in fact, Kagawa has been there. It's just not a coincidence and that link between the forwards and the midfield is what we've been missing. Rooney and RVP being rotated is best for the team, Rooney is in super form so it must be him there the weekend.

No player is bigger than the club, the two lads may not like being rotated but if it gets us playing like we did at times last night consistently well then it's what's best for the club and they'll have to get used to it.

Considering the 'thanks', it seems many agree with you. Again the question has to be asked, which of Rooney or RVP do you drop? One of the clubs great players in scintillating form, or the best player in the PL in the last 2 years?

My answer? Neither. I love Kagawa. This isnt a case if the hipsters loving Berbatov despite the under performance and the traditionalists hating. I genuinely think everyone likes Kagawa and hopes he can show his true form. We've all seen what he can do in glimpses, but sometimes the heart rules the head. Good performances against Norwich, Socidead (20 mins) and Leverkusen arent going to make me call for him over a Rooney who has basically saved our season thus far, or RVP who dragged us to a title last season. Granted he hasn't been played centrally enough. But there's been occasions he has that people are overlooking.

The notion that the 'no.10' has to be the creative fulcrum of the side is nonsense also. Creativity can come from many ways, be it through midfield like Barca, wingers like us in 99 or a 'no.10' like Milan in 07. Rooney has been terrific this season and the suggestion of dropping him is nonsensical to me. As is dropping Van Persie. If creativity is a problem, sort it out on the training field or formation wise. Lets not drop either of the guys that can (and have) drag us to victory's and titles. Kagawa's a great player, but he hasn't shown near enough to dislodge either.

Liam O

Rooney should be wide imo, not on the wing but inside right or left. He can come inside and rotate with Kagawa and RvP. It may not be his favourite position but it's best to accommodate the rest of the players at the team's disposal imo.

Or even one of them drop back. I've no doubt that Kagawa could do a job beside Carrick, Fellaini or Jones. Everyone would like Modric to be signed seemingly and Kagawa possesses pretty mich the same skills with better attacking instincts from what I can tell. He surely can't be that much worse at defending than Giggs right?

brinty

homerjay2005 wrote: »

ive made my doubts clear about jones at center back for a long long time, but i do think that CM is his best position if he is to make it at the club. it is not pretty, but he is effective at man marking and negating good players - something he cannot do at center back. it helps to stop us being over run also and allows players like Giggs and Kagawa to flourish.

its not ideal to have a limited ball player in midfield and i would rather that player was able to be driving force and help dictate tempo, rather than distroy but Jones in midfield is not as bad as it looks. he is the physical presence that we all hoped Fellaini would be, but of course its early days for him.

On this does anyone think Jones could be played in the Busquets/Alonso type role, with two ball playing midfielders in front of him Carrick and one other (possibly herrera) and play Kagawa as a 10 and rooney and RVP up top with those 3 rotating around so they'd be difficult to pick up for anyone and if ye take your eye of one you'd let the other in. Playing a system like that could be dynamite?? With Jones at the base when we're attacking he can sit and allow the full backs to bomb onand we should be ok on the counter if it breaks down!! This style would suit someone like Rafael to bomb forward, maybe even Fabio on the left, although we all think that ship has sailed. Would be suitablle for baines too (even though I don't want him) or possibly Shaw?? Still think we'd need a no nonsense Centre half ala Vidic (Subotic) to play alongside Evans/Smalling.... Big Dave would be solid as a rock behind that!!!

thoughts????

FutureGuy

RVP up front.

Rooney, Kagawa and Nani rotating amongst themselves all day long.

Lovely Bloke

Happy Birthday Ryan Giggs

homerjay2005

...the term once in a lifetime really is defined by Giggs.

Oregano_State

brinty wrote: »

On this does anyone think Jones could be played in the Busquets/Alonso type role, with two ball playing midfielders in front of him Carrick and one other (possibly herrera) and play Kagawa as a 10 and rooney and RVP up top with those 3 rotating around so they'd be difficult to pick up for anyone and if ye take your eye of one you'd let the other in. Playing a system like that could be dynamite?? With Jones at the base when we're attacking he can sit and allow the full backs to bomb onand we should be ok on the counter if it breaks down!! This style would suit someone like Rafael to bomb forward, maybe even Fabio on the left, although we all think that ship has sailed. Would be suitablle for baines too (even though I don't want him) or possibly Shaw?? Still think we'd need a no nonsense Centre half ala Vidic (Subotic) to play alongside Evans/Smalling.... Big Dave would be solid as a rock behind that!!!

thoughts????

Don't think we have the ball retention ability to do that against the best teams.

As I said a few weeks back, the Dortmund counter-attacking model suit us much better. I think we only had about 53% possession on Wednesday night.

Oregano_State

Hulk Hands wrote: »

This seems to be it. There's no way to fit all 3 in, so its coming down to which 2 you prefer. A few are suggesting that Kagawa cant be dropped. Simple question is, which of RVP or Rooney do you want to drop in his stead?



Considering the 'thanks', it seems many agree with you. Again the question has to be asked, which of Rooney or RVP do you drop? One of the clubs great players in scintillating form, or the best player in the PL in the last 2 years?

My answer? Neither. I love Kagawa. This isnt a case if the hipsters loving Berbatov despite the under performance and the traditionalists hating. I genuinely think everyone likes Kagawa and hopes he can show his true form. We've all seen what he can do in glimpses, but sometimes the heart rules the head. Good performances against Norwich, Socidead (20 mins) and Leverkusen arent going to make me call for him over a Rooney who has basically saved our season thus far, or RVP who dragged us to a title last season. Granted he hasn't been played centrally enough. But there's been occasions he has that people are overlooking.

The notion that the 'no.10' has to be the creative fulcrum of the side is nonsense also. Creativity can come from many ways, be it through midfield like Barca, wingers like us in 99 or a 'no.10' like Milan in 07. Rooney has been terrific this season and the suggestion of dropping him is nonsensical to me. As is dropping Van Persie. If creativity is a problem, sort it out on the training field or formation wise. Lets not drop either of the guys that can (and have) drag us to victory's and titles. Kagawa's a great player, but he hasn't shown near enough to dislodge either.

Dude, if you can't see that Kagawa was the main difference between Wednesday night and our limp attacking play for most of the season then we're gonna have a bad time.

Agueroooo

homerjay2005 wrote: »

...the term once in a lifetime really is defined by Giggs.

excellent pro and also admired by many opposition fans.
I actually remember specifically going out of my way to see UTD games or highlights when he first broke onto the scene to see how he had done in a particular game - really exciting to watch as a kid and I remember finding myslef on my feet applauding when he scored that wonder goal against Arsenal.

40yrs old and still able to produce at the current demanding levels of modern day football is some achievement.

I always wonder would he still be going if he had played at the highest International level.

Backstreet Moyes

What made a huge difference during the week is Valencia played like this old self. He was running at the full back and not slowing down every counter attack. Hopefully he can get a run of form together but their lb must be very poor. Valencia has played 2 good games in the last 18 months and both against him.

On another note in what was a horrible night in the end just watched the first half of United v Bayern from a few years ago. The first half Nani and Valencia were in top form it was unreal to see they tore Bayern in half. If they can return to their old form and Kagawa is played in the hole i would fear very few teams but it's a big if.

Speaking of wingers does anybody know anything about this guy we have been linked too. http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11667/9047614/transfer-news-no-offers-for-cruzeiro-star-everton-ribeiro-after-manchester-united-link

sReq | uTeK

My team would be something like this if all players were happy with it.

Raf

---

Vidic

---

Evans

---

Evra
Nani

---

Rooney

---

Carrick/Fellani----Adnan

---

Kag

---

---

RVP

---

Rooney is at the age where scholes dropped deep and became one of uniteds best ever midfielders, he has the engine, he has the skills and more importantly he has the vision,,,,, but it wil never happen.

VW 1

Nuts102 wrote: »

What made a huge difference during the week is Valencia played like this old self. He was running at the full back and not slowing down every counter attack. Hopefully he can get a run of form together but their lb must be very poor. Valencia has played 2 good games in the last 18 months and both against him.

On another note in what was a horrible night in the end just watched the first half of United v Bayern from a few years ago. The first half Nani and Valencia were in top form it was unreal to see they tore Bayern in half. If they can return to their old form and Kagawa is played in the hole i would fear very few teams but it's a big if.

Speaking of wingers does anybody know anything about this guy we have been linked too. http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11667/9047614/transfer-news-no-offers-for-cruzeiro-star-everton-ribeiro-after-manchester-united-link

Agreed Valencia looked better on Wednesday than he has done in some time, but you have to take it for what it was.

He was playing against a winger filling in at LB who was clearly not comfortable there or much use at defending. That may have given the confidence to attack but I can't see him taking on a top fullback in that manner.

Sydney Sam was a big loss to them on Wednesday, Can was probably the equivalent to us having to put Nani at full back.

I guess we will see on Sunday when he is up against Vertonghen (if tony plays).

Kerrydude1981

sReq | uTeK wrote: »

My team would be something like this if all players were happy with it.

Raf

---

Vidic

---

Evans

---

Evra
Nani

---

Rooney

---

Carrick/Fellani----Adnan

---

Kag

---

---

RVP

---

Rooney is at the age where scholes dropped deep and became one of uniteds best ever midfielders, he has the engine, he has the skills and more importantly he has the vision,,,,, but it wil never happen.

Ya if that happened Rooney wouldn't be long moving elsewhere,

Somehow Moyes has to get all three playing together,maybe he will have to just let the full backs provide the width as they are doing anyway and have Kagawa and Rooney both playing behind RVP or play Rooney and RVP together up front with Kagawa playing behind them,for home matches anyway.

sReq | uTeK

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

Ya if that happened Rooney wouldn't be long moving elsewhere,

Somehow Moyes has to get all three playing together,maybe he will have to just let the full backs provide the width and have Kagawa and Rooney both playing behind RVP or play Rooney and RVP together up front with Kagawa playing behind them,for home matches anyway.

To me that would just mean players getting in each others way.
Against good teams with good wingers, Bayern, Madrid, City we would have no protection out wide and would just get raped on a continuous basis.

Liam O

sReq | uTeK wrote: »

To me that would just mean players getting in each others way.
Against good teams with good wingers, Bayern, Madrid, City we would have no protection out wide and would just get raped on a continuous basis.

I guess you could add Cardiff, WBA, etc. to the teams that United should be afraid of? It worked so well against City this season having Valencia give that "protection" to the right side? Playing players out wide and (barring one) in the middle who's first thought is to look backwards rather than forward is small time mentally imo. The team showed against Madrid that all that's needed in those games is a bit of extra effort and tactical nous. Not merely offering protection.

Pro. F

brinty wrote: »

On this does anyone think Jones could be played in the Busquets/Alonso type role, with two ball playing midfielders in front of him Carrick and one other (possibly herrera) and play Kagawa as a 10 and rooney and RVP up top with those 3 rotating around so they'd be difficult to pick up for anyone and if ye take your eye of one you'd let the other in. Playing a system like that could be dynamite?? With Jones at the base when we're attacking he can sit and allow the full backs to bomb onand we should be ok on the counter if it breaks down!! This style would suit someone like Rafael to bomb forward, maybe even Fabio on the left, although we all think that ship has sailed. Would be suitablle for baines too (even though I don't want him) or possibly Shaw?? Still think we'd need a no nonsense Centre half ala Vidic (Subotic) to play alongside Evans/Smalling.... Big Dave would be solid as a rock behind that!!!

thoughts????

Imo Jones doesn't have half the skill on the ball needed for that role unfortunately.

Nuts102 wrote: »

What made a huge difference during the week is Valencia played like this old self. He was running at the full back and not slowing down every counter attack. Hopefully he can get a run of form together but their lb must be very poor. Valencia has played 2 good games in the last 18 months and both against him.

Even with the hopeless fullback did Valencia actually manage to put in many good crosses? I'm open to correction but I don't remember him having done so.

sReq | uTeK

Liam O wrote: »

I guess you could add Cardiff, WBA, etc. to the teams that United should be afraid of? It worked so well against City this season having Valencia give that "protection" to the right side? Playing players out wide and (barring one) in the middle who's first thought is to look backwards rather than forward is small time mentally imo. The team showed against Madrid that all that's needed in those games is a bit of extra effort and tactical nous. Not merely offering protection.

Did you not see the team I said I'd play. I had Nani and Adnan as my wingers with rooney and fellani/carrick in the middle adding protection, I wouldn't have valencia anywhere near the team.

It was the Post one back from my last if you bothered to read it.

Kerrydude1981

Just spotted this

http://www.joe.ie/football/football-features/40-numbers-that-sum-up-the-amazing-career-of-ryan-giggs/

jambofc

Rooney anywhere but number 9 position is wasted imo,if that means rvp is dropped so be it for the good of man united.

Kag at number 10 is a must also.

Mocha Joe

RVP is not fully fit apparently. A great opportunity for Kagawa behind Rooney again in a tough away game to see how they do.

gracehopper

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

Just spotted this

http://www.joe.ie/football/football-features/40-numbers-that-sum-up-the-amazing-career-of-ryan-giggs/

i'm sure its a good article but I just can't get past Cascarino dressed as a gangster in that ad at the side there. He must be feckin smashed.

Nalz

gracehopper wrote: »

i'm sure its a good article but I just can't get past Cascarino dressed as a gangster in that ad at the side there. He must be feckin smashed.

He's some yoke

Holds the record for the longest time picking his nose in a ryanair "queue" in Dublin airport to Bristol that I've ever seen.

Honestly he was a good two minutes at it not a bother!

Now I have ya dude may meet up for a scoop soon?

Cantona's Collars

21 years of stickers.

gracehopper

Trilla wrote: »

He's some yoke

Holds the record for the longest time picking his nose in a ryanair "queue" in Dublin airport to Bristol that I've ever seen.

Honestly he was a good two minutes at it not a bother!

Now I have ya dude may meet up for a scoop soon?

defo, will text you