Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread - Mod Note in OP, 13/8

Al Capwned

Not a bit disappointed that Vermaelen seems to be off elsewhere.....

PhlegmyMoses

I would have wanted Vermaelen but it's quite hard to buy off a rival for a reasonable price.

No surprise if he has gone foreign, Wenger would have wanted it that way.

Nalz

Saucy McKetchup wrote: »

I reckon they wanted Hernandez, Arsenal would be absolutely with Hernandez up front

I liked your post better when you left out lethal

beakerjoe

duffman13 wrote: »

Right ten pounds I'm in

Grand, you've a week worth of posting before the ban

macslash

I knew it would be Smalling. I remember Wenger was interested in him when SAF got him from Fulham. Heard he was an admirer of him still since then. Smalling is English and younger so I'm glad it didn't happen!

Al Capwned

Al Capwned wrote: »

Not a bit disappointed that Vermaelen seems to be off elsewhere.....

Just to add - the above opinion is based entirely on another, better CB coming in.... We need a CB. Badly.

________

BBC Sport ‏@BBCSport 47s
.@Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen joins @FCBarcelona for a fee of around £15m http://bbc.in/1msvqaZ

beno619

First of all nobody has a clue who the player Arsenal wanted was.

Secondly we shouldn't be pursuing players that couldn't get into Arsenals defence, quite happy to miss out on Vermaelen.

ElChe32

They wanted Bebe...we all want Bebe. God I miss Bebe.

Lord TSC

beno619 wrote: »

Secondly we shouldn't be pursuing players that couldn't get into Arsenals defence, quite happy to miss out on Vermaelen.

Just cause a player can't get into a top team's first 11 doesn't mean he couldn't play a role in our squad.

15m for a defender with Top 4 experience (and captaining a top 4 team), with PL experience too, would have been good business imo, and would have improved an area of the team we desperately need to improve over the next 22 days.

Onwards and upwards though anyway...

PhlegmyMoses

And although I wanted Vermaelen, £15m is eye watering for a 29 year old defender in his final year of a contract who didn't play a whole lot last year. I usually don't go in for all the transfer fee stuff as it's pointless if your club can afford it, but this is particularly striking.

twam2008

It's official, he's gone to Barcelona. I think we can get better.

Jules.Winnfield

advertsfox wrote: »

I would have had that swap deal me.

Would so many people really be glad to see the back of Smalling? I'm convinced he's gonna be great for years to come. I'd be sorry to lose him, particularly for an injury prone (although I am a fan) 29 year old CB.

Think Arsenal would be laughing all the way at us if they got Smalling in any sort of deal.

beakerjoe

Lord TSC wrote: »

Just cause a player can't get into a top team's first 11 doesn't mean he couldn't play a role in our squad.

15m for a defender with Top 4 experience (and captaining a top 4 team), with PL experience too, would have been good business imo, and would have improved an area of the team we desperately need to improve over the next 22 days.

Onwards and upwards though anyway...

And I cant see anyone available thats better than him to be honest. Anyone better than Tomas doesnt seem to be going anywhere.

Blatter

It seems like Kagawa will be staying, otherwise a strange interview.


http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2014/Aug/shinji-kagawa-and-manchester-united-will-use-last-season-as-trigger.aspx

Shinji Kagawa has vowed he and Manchester United will use the disappointment of last season as a "trigger" to improve this term.
The Japan midfielder made 14 league starts in 2013/14 but was not entirely satisfied with his contribution as the Reds finished outside the European places in seventh. He believes team-work and honest endeavour is the key for both him and United to achieve success under new manager Louis van Gaal.

"When I look back, last season was tough," Kagawa told ManUtd.jp. "I will use that frustration as a trigger to express myself this season, challenging myself to do new things. I'll work hard to achieve goals and results. I'm really enjoying myself, it's my third year with United and I know my team-mates very well.

"We've learned a lesson from last season. It is important for us to stick together and work towards the same goal. We can do much better if we can bring out the best of ourselves. We want to keep succeeding in the manager's new system, and we want to win trophies. That's what the fans expect."

Van Gaal tried some of his squad members in new positions on the pre-season tour of the United States. Ashley Young was deployed as a wing-back, Wilfried Zaha played up front and Kagawa adopted a holding midfield role.

"It has been seven or eight years since I played as a defensive midfielder, but the important thing is I do my best in whatever position I am asked to play in," Kagawa said. "I have to achieve results wherever I play.

"The boss told me to be mindful about the distance between defensive midfielders and to be more conscious of the choices I make when I receive the ball – in other words, how I should help build the attack."

beno619

Lord TSC wrote: »

Just cause a player can't get into a top team's first 11 doesn't mean he couldn't play a role in our squad.

15m for a defender with Top 4 experience (and captaining a top 4 team), with PL experience too, would have been good business imo, and would have improved an area of the team we desperately need to improve over the next 22 days.

Onwards and upwards though anyway...

I didn't say a top side I said Arsenal.

beakerjoe

Jules.Winnfield wrote: »

Would so many people really be glad to see the back of Smalling? I'm convinced he's gonna be great for years to come. I'd be sorry to lose him, particularly for an injury prone (although I am a fan) 29 year old CB.

Think Arsenal would be laughing all the way at us if they got Smalling in any sort of deal.

Id keep him til 2 better CBs better comes along. That being said I think hes poor enough to be honest, looks lost in a lot of games and dont think he should be playing in a top 4 defense.

Lucas Hood

Mata couldn't get into Chelseas first team towards the end of his stay there. Doesn't prove he's not a capable player.

MagicMarker

beakerjoe wrote: »

Id keep him til 2 better CBs better comes along. That being said I think hes poor enough to be honest, looks lost in a lot of games and dont think he should be playing in a top 4 defense.

Yeah but then you'd be wrong.

Coat22

Does anyone seriously believe we can aspire to a top 4 finish, playing 3 centre backs with Jones, Smalling, Evans and maybe one other CB?

I haven’t seen them play yet under LVG so maybe 3-5-2 will suit these 3 players but by all accounts Smalling and Jones looked poor against Liverpool and Evans is very injury prone. What will the alternatives be? VG has signalled that Blackett and Keane are not there yet so hard to see them considered.

I’d say Smalling has been told he’s not in VGs first team plans but I’d love to know who is in his plans if we can afford to turn our nose up at Varmaelen.

The_Kew_Tour

Signing would be nice.

Ed is working overtime I hope

Lord TSC

Coat22 wrote: »

Does anyone seriously believe we can aspire to a top 4 finish, playing 3 centre backs with Jones, Smalling, Evans and maybe one other CB?

Sure do. I think with LVG as coach, and Mata, Rooney and RVP all playing together up front, we can out score all other teams :pac:

Cookiemunster

Coat22 wrote: »

I’d love to know who is in his plans if we can afford to turn our nose up at Varmaelen.

How did we turn our nose up at Vermaelan? We were prepared to pay £15m. If we swopped Smalling we'd still have the problem of having to sign 2 more defenders.

DM_7

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Signing would be nice.

Ed is working overtime I hope

Nah, he is on Holiday until September.

Coat22

Cookiemunster wrote: »

How did we turn our nose up at Vermaelan? We were prepared to pay £15m. If we swopped Smalling we'd still have the problem of having to sign 2 more defenders.

If we’d swapped Smalling we’d still have needed 2 CBs alright but Vermaelan would be a first team CB, Smalling would not. So we’d be looking for a new squad CB to replace Smalling, which I think would be easier to do. We’d have 2 of our 3 first choice CB positions filled.

As it is I’d say we only have one (Evans) so the search continues – we’ll be fleeced.

Jules.Winnfield

beakerjoe wrote: »

Id keep him til 2 better CBs better comes along. That being said I think hes poor enough to be honest, looks lost in a lot of games and dont think he should be playing in a top 4 defense.

I personally think our entire back line has looked choppy at the best of times for the last couple of seasons tbh. Ferdinand has been combating regular injuries for a while now, while Evra as far as I've been concerned has been on a spiraling decline and I called for his head I think 3 seasons ago, great with the ball but hasn't looked at all arsed tracking back or defending. An injury plagued Rafael on the right as well didn't help. While I'm not saying we've had a defence held together with sticky tape and blu-tak, It hasn't been the stopping wall it used to be when Rio/Vidic where at their best.

I was shocked to realise that towards the end of last season was the first time Smalling and Jones had played together as our CB pairing and they've been with us as long. I think Fergie had a vision of the pair being the future centre backs yet continually played them at RB or DM.

Smalling has looked headless at times, but he's also been solid. I feel a consistent run in the team and we will see the defender that apparently Mr. Wenger and SAF have admired from a young age.


apologies for the novel,

TL;DR - plenty of games at CB I think Smalling will come good.

TheDoc

Unfortunately, regarding that Shinji interview, he does a lot of talking about " being ready" and "going to stake a claim" then fails to do so.

I've been a staunch defender, appreciating that he was bought to do one thing, and then the RVP singing has completely scuppered and stalled his career, which is a major shame. But he needs to adapt and really impose himself on what he is doing.

He is a clever player, with a serious amount of stamina. PLaying in a CM role, rather then no.10 or out left, should suit him.

I think the time for talk if firmly over, and he needs to start playing in a way that the manager simply can't afford to drop him. We have seen it in glimpses, himself, Mata and Rooney being absolutely outragous combining. But he's always the weaker of the three and inevitably get's the boot.

Skylinehead

beno619 wrote: »

Secondly we shouldn't be pursuing players that couldn't get into Arsenals defence, quite happy to miss out on Vermaelen.

Poor logic, seeing as Arsenal's central defenders are better than yours.

beno619

Skylinehead wrote: »

Poor logic, seeing as Arsenal's central defenders are better than yours.

Koscielny maybe, I wouldn't rate Mert. Last season they were collectively solid without any of them necessarily being top players.

Liam O

TheDoc wrote: »

Unfortunately, regarding that Shinji interview, he does a lot of talking about " being ready" and "going to stake a claim" then fails to do so.

I've been a staunch defender, appreciating that he was bought to do one thing, and then the RVP singing has completely scuppered and stalled his career, which is a major shame. But he needs to adapt and really impose himself on what he is doing.

He is a clever player, with a serious amount of stamina. PLaying in a CM role, rather then no.10 or out left, should suit him.

I think the time for talk if firmly over, and he needs to start playing in a way that the manager simply can't afford to drop him. We have seen it in glimpses, himself, Mata and Rooney being absolutely outragous combining. But he's always the weaker of the three and inevitably get's the boot.

He wasn't the weakest of those 3 when they linked up last season at all. I actually made the point of saying in one game that Mata's goals will get the headlines but that Kagawa was the outstanding player or words to that effect. So many of the good things he does goes under the radar to the non astute viewer who wouldn't place as much of an importance on very rarely losing the ball or making the wrong decision. Mata should have been on the left instead of him, it would have hamstrung him far less than Kagawa.

MagicIRL

United will regret not signing Vermaelen. He's a great CB and for whatever reason came back post-injury to the Arsenal bench. Shame he's gone to Spain.

RobertKK

Blatter wrote: »

It seems like Kagawa will be staying, otherwise a strange interview.


http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2014/Aug/shinji-kagawa-and-manchester-united-will-use-last-season-as-trigger.aspx

Yeah, indeed it seems Kagawa is going nowhere by those comments, and is prepared to play wherever he is required.


"It has been seven or eight years since I played as a defensive midfielder, but the important thing is I do my best in whatever position I am asked to play in," Kagawa said. "I have to achieve results wherever I play.

"The boss told me to be mindful about the distance between defensive midfielders and to be more conscious of the choices I make when I receive the ball – in other words, how I should help build the attack."

Would be great if LVG can play Mata and Kagawa in the same team and most importantly make it work.

bangkok

MagicIRL wrote: »

Interesting. I wonder were United ever even in for him? I would've liked him at United. Would've brought some nice Premier League experience to the back line.

yes there were 100% and it was vermaelens preferred destination

beakerjoe

MagicMarker wrote: »

Yeah but then you'd be wrong.

Well he shouldnt be, thats my point.

irishfeen

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Signing would be nice.

Ed is working overtime I hope

Still holding a massively optimistic view of the window Kew?

beno619

MagicIRL wrote: »

United will regret not signing Vermaelen. He's a great CB and for whatever reason came back post-injury to the Arsenal bench. Shame he's gone to Spain.

We'll have to assume Wenger was playing hard ball,clearly they were asking for someone worth more to the club than Vermaelen could.

Reedsie

twam2008 wrote: »

It's official, he's gone to Barcelona. I think we can get better.

Obviously Vermaelen was chosen by Van Gaal and his (large) team. Undoubtedly after a hell of a lot of scouting and analysis.
There will probably be alternatives on their list and we may or may not get one. But it's highly unlikely that they will be better than the first choice.

Strange to see so many people delighted to have missed out on a genuine target.

Cookiemunster

Skylinehead wrote: »

Poor logic, seeing as Arsenal's central defenders are better than yours.

How many times did Utd ship 5 or more goals last season?
The defence wasn't the issue last season, we conceded the same amount of goals we did the season before when we won the league.

DrPhilG

Given that many expected Kagawa to leave, I wonder what knock on effect that has on potential incoming players.

The_Kew_Tour

irishfeen wrote: »

Still holding a massively optimistic view of the window Kew?

Its hard to know as we may still pull a coup out of bag but im not as confident as I was 3 weeks ago

beakerjoe

DrPhilG wrote: »

Given that many expected Kagawa to leave, I wonder what knock on effect that has on potential incoming players.

Hes not 100% safe of staying yet, I could see him going TBH

Cypher_sounds

We should be trying to tempt someone like Jan Vertonghen to join us. Two years left on the contract, throw €40million at him.

MagicIRL

Cypher_sounds wrote: »

We should be trying to tempt someone like Jan Vertonghen to join us. Two years left on the contract, throw €40million at him.

He's good, but he's no where near €40m good.

Skylinehead

Cookiemunster wrote: »

How many times did Utd ship 5 or more goals last season?
The defence wasn't the issue last season, we conceded the same amount of goals we did the season before when we won the league.

The 5 goals were due to us completely losing our shape/composure, coupled with no midfield cover. There was very little defender error. And for all that, you still conceded more goals than us.

Cypher_sounds

MagicIRL wrote: »

He's good, but he's no where near €40m good.

He is very good. It would have to be that kind of sum though because of the club we would be dealing with.

Rayne Wooney

Looks like some of the itks are latching onto Benatia now that Vermaelen deal is dead, would love it to be true

It's going to be interesting to see which defenders we go after now, Vermaelen Hummels and De Vrij are the only ones we've been linked to the last few months that I can think of so we're probably in for a few surprises

PhlegmyMoses

Cypher_sounds wrote: »

We should be trying to tempt someone like Jan Vertonghen to join us. Two years left on the contract, throw €40million at him.

40m for Vertonghen? Do not want.....

keane2097

If United sell Kagawa I'll burn Old Trafford to the ground.

Morzadec

Liverpool fan here (I come in peace)

Was just wondering what United fans think of their summer business so far? Some Liverpool fans (myself probably included) are a bit underwhelmed by our business this summer, and are getting a bit angsty that with the season around the corner we still haven't signed a striker or any player of noted class.

But United have only made 2 signings (correct me if I'm wrong?) and arguably needed to make at least 4 big signings and maybe a couple more younger squad options.

Shaw and Herrera look like very good young players ready to improve the team right away and perhaps push on and become PL stars, but perhaps a bit comparable to some of Liverpool's signings, neither is the 'star' or big name that many were probably clamouring for.

I know the window is obviously still open, but is everyone still fairly relaxed or are people starting to worry that some key areas won't be addressed? Or is my assessment of United's squad and the signings of Shaw and Herrera way off the mark?

irishfeen

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Its hard to know as we may still pull a coup out of bag but im not as confident as I was 3 weeks ago

Aye, who would have thought we would be saying that with a week to go to premier league kick off.

bmcc10

Cypher_sounds wrote: »

We should be trying to tempt someone like Jan Vertonghen to join us. Two years left on the contract, throw €40million at him.

Silly season is in full swing, For the sake of humanity sign somebody already Ed.