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

TheTownie

Michael Keane set for Cardiff loan?

Wales Online

A final decision on where Keane will play this season is to be made on Monday and the Bluebirds are hopeful they can sign the promising centre-half on a season-long loan.

RobertKK

irishfeen wrote: »

We're waiting in the long grass Robert

Yes we hope we meet Cork, rather than the Liverpool/Man City of hurling - combined rival of United and a county Niall Quinn a Man City fan supports in hurling.
Cork can be Real Madrid without the Galacticos and the decima in terms of most titles :P

Gazzetta dello Sport seem to think this is the week for Vidal, €60 million, €8 million a year plus bonuses.
https://translate.google.ie/translate?sl=it&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gazzetta.it%2FCalciomercato%2F10-08-2014%2Fjuventus-vidal-agente-londra-tavolo-anche-hernandez-9096355811.shtml&edit-text=

Strumms

TheTownie wrote: »

Michael Keane set for Cardiff loan?

Wales Online

Pretty much means that we have to have two players lined up. Rumours tonight suggest Blind could be tied up by Midweek.

irishfeen

RobertKK wrote: »

Yes we hope we meet Cork, rather than the Liverpool/Man City of hurling - combined rival of United and a county Niall Quinn a Man City fan supports in hurling.
Cork can be Real Madrid without the Galacticos and the decima in terms of most titles :P

Gazzetta dello Sport seem to think this is the week for Vidal, €60 million, €8 million a year plus bonuses.
https://translate.google.ie/translate?sl=it&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gazzetta.it%2FCalciomercato%2F10-08-2014%2Fjuventus-vidal-agente-londra-tavolo-anche-hernandez-9096355811.shtml&edit-text=

Cork beating the Cats in Croker and United signing Vidal would make me a very very happy feen indeed

Mitch Connor

Daily Mail saying Anderson, Nani, Fellaini, Hernandez and Rafael have been told they can leave...

I can see the merits in selling all of them apart from Rafael - our only right back, and a good one at that, imo. I can't understand selling him at all.

If we are going to play wing backs in every game, and we bring in Cuarado or however you spell it I can see some argument in it - but it would mean we don't have an actual right back if we want to play more defensively or with a more conventional back 4.

I also don't believe Janko or Varela are near good enough either, so I don't think they make the argument for selling Rafael any better.

dahat

Rafael, Marouane Fellaini, Nani, Anderson and Javier Hernandez told by Louis van Gaal they have no future at Manchester United

Bloody harsh on Rafael I tell ya. Must mean Cuadrado is coming plus Blind must be a cert now.

TheTownie

Fellaini to Napoli has gone quiet. Talk of Lucas going to Napoli now too so Fellaini deal most likely dead.

Fescue

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

United beat Liverpool and it's a meaningless nothing friendly with absolutely no significance whatsoever, Liverpool beat a second string Dortmund and they're going to win the league the champions league and the eurovision

Paddy Power tweeted that earlier today.

irishfeen

dahat wrote: »

Rafael, Marouane Fellaini, Nani, Anderson and Javier Hernandez told by Louis van Gaal they have no future at Manchester United

Bloody harsh on Rafael I tell ya. Must mean Cuadrado is coming plus Blind must be a cert now.

Nooooo :mad: i'd be sickened to see him go ... remember this ... the little legend..

J. Marston

Not bothered if Rafael leaves. I've grown tired of his injury problems, headless chicken defending and petulance.

Mitch Connor

TheTownie wrote: »

Fellaini to Napoli has gone quiet. Talk of Lucas going to Napoli now too so Fellaini deal most likely dead.

surely Fellaini can't still be seen as a defensive midfielder.

Lord TSC

Would hate to see Rafael go. Before Fergie left, I felt he was a future club captain and legend. I can see the argument for dropping him but that reads like we are keeping Valencia and letting Raf go.

dahat

J. Marston wrote: »

Not bothered if Rafael leaves. I've grown tired of his injury problems, headless chicken defending and petulance.

And Valencia will not frustrate just as much?

Montroseee

Nobody else bar UTD. fans rate Rafa highly, honestly he is one of the biggest cases of red tinted glasses I've ever seen. It'll be quite telling when we see what level of clubs would actually buy him and the price. Always injured and unreliable, will never forget that red against Bayern.

J. Marston

dahat wrote: »

And Valencia will not frustrate just as much?

Of course he would, I'm just hoping we have someone new lined up.

Nemanrio

J. Marston wrote: »

Not bothered if Rafael leaves. I've grown tired of his injury problems, headless chicken defending and petulance.

Reminds me of Jones at times as well tbh.

Mitch Connor

dahat wrote: »

And Valencia will not frustrate just as much?

I can only assume that it means we are very confident on Cuadrado and that the initial plan is to stick with wing backs and Cuadrado will be first choice - with Valencia and Young providing adequate (in LVGs opinion) cover. Maybe Raf was told about the formation/Cuadrado plans and said he'd prefer to leave rather than be second choice (pure speculation, nothing to suggest this is the case)

My worry comes from the fact that LVG has said he is using 352/532 at the moment cause the players need to learn it - while 433 remains a possibility into the season; none of Cuadrado, Valencia or Young are right backs, and Smalling/Jones absolutely stink there too - we sell Rafa and a switch to a 4 man defence is an absolute disaster.

Fescue

Montroseee wrote: »

Nobody else bar UTD. fans rate Rafa highly, honestly he is one of the biggest cases of red tinted glasses I've ever seen. It'll be quite telling when we see what level of clubs would actually buy him and the price. Always injured and unreliable, will never forget that red against Bayern.

Remember the first half he had against Real Madrid in the CL a few years ago. One of the worst performances from a professional footballer I ever seen.

To be fair to him he pulled himself together for the second half.

Blatter

The journo that reported that on the Daily Mail is a nobody I think. Wouldn't trust for a moment he has heard Rafael could leave from a good source within the club.

Liam O

Montroseee wrote: »

Nobody else bar UTD. fans rate Rafa highly, honestly he is one of the biggest cases of red tinted glasses I've ever seen. It'll be quite telling when we see what level of clubs would actually buy him and the price. Always injured and unreliable, will never forget that red against Bayern.

Maybe because they only watch him 3 or 4 times a season. Also if you are bringing up an (imo) unjustified 2nd yellow card from ages ago when he was still very young against Franck Ribery, one of the best players in the world it really shows that you have very little to base your argument on.

glued

dahat wrote: »

Rafael, Marouane Fellaini, Nani, Anderson and Javier Hernandez told by Louis van Gaal they have no future at Manchester United

Bloody harsh on Rafael I tell ya. Must mean Cuadrado is coming plus Blind must be a cert now.

Don't see the merits in selling either Nani or Rafael and to send Fellaini away after one poor season under Moyes is harsh. Nani is our only true player that can offer width. With a consistent run he is an effective player and a lot of our best play over the past three years has been when Nani was in the side. Rafael is our only right back. It's just senseless to let him go. The guy gets a bad time because he's rash at periods but he has exactly the skill-set you need to become a top right back. Even if we're signing a right back why not let Rafael and him compete for the wing back or right back position. Fellaini is someone who was awful last year and showed no promise but he has been effective for Everton and for Belgium too. He has an awful year but Moyes didn't instil confidence in any of the players so it's hard to judge him solely under Moyes.

Honestly, I think we're in grave danger of becoming far too rigid under Moyes. Currently we appear to be focused on players leaving the club rather than players joining. We don't have the players for 3-5-2 nor do we have the players for a two man midfield either. When is the talent coming in? Herrera and Shaw seem to be good purchases but we're still 2-3 players off being competitive again. If we're going into the start of the season without another CB and a CM then we can forget about mounting any serious challenge next season. There is time left to do business but there is little time left to prepare the team and this was always going to be a challenge bringing in van Gaal in a World Cup year. I don't really understand how van Gaal needed to really look at that midfield to realise that we need another central midfielder. His coaches he left in Manchester could of told him that studying basic tape. Until we get a CB and CM in then I'm going to remain very edgy about our chances of signing any more players.

Mitch Connor

glued wrote: »

Don't see the merits in selling either Nani or Rafael and to send Fellaini away after one poor season under Moyes is harsh. Nani is our only true player that can offer width. With a consistent run he is an effective player and a lot of our best play over the past three years has been when Nani was in the side. Rafael is our only right back. It's just senseless to let him go. The guy gets a bad time because he's rash at periods but he has exactly the skill-set you need to become a top right back. Even if we're signing a right back why not let Rafael and him compete for the wing back or right back position. Fellaini is someone who was awful last year and showed no promise but he has been effective for Everton and for Belgium too. He has an awful year but Moyes didn't instil confidence in any of the players so it's hard to judge him solely under Moyes.

Honestly, I think we're in grave danger of becoming far too rigid under Moyes. Currently we appear to be focused on players leaving the club rather than players joining. We don't have the players for 3-5-2 nor do we have the players for a two man midfield either. When is the talent coming in? Herrera and Shaw seem to be good purchases but we're still 2-3 players off being competitive again. If we're going into the start of the season without another CB and a CM then we can forget about mounting any serious challenge next season. There is time left to do business but there is little time left to prepare the team and this was always going to be a challenge bringing in van Gaal in a World Cup year. I don't really understand how van Gaal needed to really look at that midfield to realise that we need another central midfielder. His coaches he left in Manchester could of told him that studying basic tape. Until we get a CB and CM in then I'm going to remain very edgy about our chances of signing any more players.

Fellaini has been effective in teams playing direct football to get the best out of his strength and pressence. I thought he was a better ball player than he has proven to be. I don't think he is half as bad as he looked for us last season. but I don't see how he fits in an LVG side that will, regardless of formation, look to play high tempo, possession based football where technique, control and movement are the biggest requirements no matter the position. The only position you can argue he could be effective is either as a number 10 or right up front, and we have far better options in both those roles.

MagicMarker

Why are people paying attention to the daily fúckin' mail all of a sudden?

Quandary

We have 3 weeks left to get in a decent centre half and another quality midfielder. Shaw and Herrera are great additions to the first team but they are not enough.

The squad is paper thin right now. If we don't sign another central midfielder and centre back we could find ourselves in real trouble this season, especially given our appalling history of players picking up injuries.

twam2008

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Fellaini has been effective in teams playing direct football to get the best out of his strength and pressence. I thought he was a better ball player than he has proven to be. I don't think he is half as bad as he looked for us last season. but I don't see how he fits in an LVG side that will, regardless of formation, look to play high tempo, possession based football where technique, control and movement are the biggest requirements no matter the position. The only position you can argue he could be effective is either as a number 10 or right up front, and we have far better options in both those roles.

He has stated himself that he would like to play in defence, given how short we are in defence why not give him the opportunity?

Montroseee

Liam O wrote: »

Maybe because they only watch him 3 or 4 times a season. Also if you are bringing up an (imo) unjustified 2nd yellow card from ages ago when he was still very young against Franck Ribery, one of the best players in the world it really shows that you have very little to base your argument on.

Or maybe it's because he is simply not that good. Chelsea have azpilicueta, Arsenal have debuchy, City have Zabaleta etc. He's nowhere near the standard to be starting for UTD., there is such a gulf in class between the other club's RBs and Rafael and that's before you take into account the fact that he will miss half the season the injury, he's actually already injured surprise surprise. RB/RWB is just a big a need for us as a CB IMO.

DM_7

I thought that (Yesterday) the daily mail had Kagawa going, I guess they swapped him for Rafael for the sake of an update to the story.

kryogen

Rafael is a super player.

bucketybuck

I don't believe for one second that United are planning to sell Rafael, Nani and Felliani.

Montroseee

kryogen wrote: »

Rafael is a super player.

That is only something a UTD. fan would say.

Liam O

Montroseee wrote: »

Or maybe it's because he is simply not that good. Chelsea have azpilicueta, Arsenal have debuchy, City have Zabaleta etc. He's nowhere near the standard to be starting for UTD., there is such a gulf in class between the other club's RBs and Rafael and that's before you take into account the fact that he will miss half the season the injury, he's actually already injured surprise surprise. RB/RWB is just a big a need for us as a CB IMO.

All I know is when he was fit last season United looked a far better team and he played very well. Azpilacueta is someone I like but he was LB last season and has yet to set the world alight on the right. Debuchy is yet to play in a top team consistently but I'd still have Rafael ahead of him. Zabaleta is great yeah but that doesn't automatically make Raf bad.

irishfeen

Can you just imagine the outcry from fans if we were to sign nobody and drop points to Swansea :eek:

Mitch Connor

twam2008 wrote: »

He has stated himself that he would like to play in defence, given how short we are in defence why not give him the opportunity?

where has he said this?

Strumms

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Daily Mail saying Anderson, Nani, Fellaini, Hernandez and Rafael have been told they can leave...

I can see the merits in selling all of them apart from Rafael - our only right back, and a good one at that, imo. I can't understand selling him at all.

If we are going to play wing backs in every game, and we bring in Cuarado or however you spell it I can see some argument in it - but it would mean we don't have an actual right back if we want to play more defensively or with a more conventional back 4.

I also don't believe Janko or Varela are near good enough either, so I don't think they make the argument for selling Rafael any better.

If the reports are true which they may not be..

The only one of those I'd be disappointed to see leave would be Rafael. I'd like to see him given another chance under LVG he had a crap year last year but has been overall very good for us and a very likeable player who always gives 100%. With his attacking prowess I'm surprised he wouldn't make the Right wing back slot his own.

Nani, please close the door on your way out. A great shame how his United career turned out after a great start. A great player on his day when he was motivated but the last two seasons he's just been poor, petulant, moody and unproductive and not even capable of making the bench at times. You can blame Moyes for a lot but not this clown doesn't deserve to wear the shirt. Like Anderson, been taking up a squad number for far too long.

Fellaini. Well not much to say really. Seems like a likeable sort but not United quality or anywhere near it. The circumstances that enabled a transfer to OT should have been looked at considering the fee we paid and how in truth he isn't worth even a third of that.

Sad to see Hernandez go. Him staying I don't think would benefit his career. I think he probably lacked the quality outside the final third to be considered among the elite forwards in the history of the club and to get some starts and continue his career a move might be best. Bust he will be fondly remembered as a scorer of important goals, an infectious enthusiasm and another 110%er

Now then , once again going by the fact this article might be accurate that means more potential holes in the squad to fill.

twam2008

Mitch Connor wrote: »

where has he said this?

http://metro.co.uk/2013/10/02/marouane-fellaini-id-love-to-be-a-centre-back-for-manchester-united-4132027/

keane2097

The Daily Mail saying it is about as noteworthy as the Daily Mail not saying it really.

KH25

kryogen wrote: »

Rafael is a super player.

This. He has a reputation as a hot head after the red against Munich. He has done very little since then to merit the reputation. I really can't see why people seem to have so much hate for him.

homerjay2005

TheTownie wrote: »

Fellaini to Napoli has gone quiet. Talk of Lucas going to Napoli now too so Fellaini deal most likely dead.

last thing i saw written about it was that Napoli are refusing to meet our demands in terms or paying his wages.

billyhead

I will be very concerned for our chances of finishing inside the top 4 this season if we don't sign a proper center back. We cant last the whole season with a defence made up of Smalling. Jones and Evans. We will leak to many goals and could well drop points next weekend to Swansea. Surely LVG realises this and has let Woodward know. Time to pull the finger out and get deals done:(

Rayne Wooney

Rafael was one of our best players and one of the best right backs in the league in the title winning 12/13 season, and incidentally that was his first "full" season

He made 18 appearances last season, 10 in 11/12 and 15 in 10/11

I have no worries at all about Rafael in terms of being good enough, he is

The_Kew_Tour

Just from reading posters the last few days its clear a sense of worry is starting to build on transfer front.

I do hope we land at least 1 deal this week. It would ease us all tbf.

RobertKK

Rafael's is often missing - either injured or suspended.

He can be very good, but often is a liability due to the above.
That said Cuadrado also seems to pick up a lot of yellow cards.

I am not concerned if he stays or goes. We often have to play other players in his position anyway.

bucketybuck

irishfeen wrote: »

Can you just imagine the outcry from fans if we were to sign nobody and drop points to Swansea :eek:

Everybody assumes we are going to rock up and beat Swansea, then swan through these easy 6 games we have.

Our midfield is going to have Cleverley or Fletcher in it, we'll have Valencia or Young out wide, personally I'm not going to be overly shocked if things don't go quite to plan.

homerjay2005

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Just from reading posters the last few days its clear a sense of worry is starting to build on transfer front.

I do hope we land at least 1 deal this week. It would ease us all tbf.

it does look like we are struggling to land our main targets (the Vidal saga is anybodys guess) and now are looking elsewhere.

you'd imagine based on whats being said, that we are after at least 3 players - a CB, a winger and a midfielder. surely we will get at least 2 of them, but this was the summer that was supported to top all summers and so far with 6 days until our first game, its been poor.

we really need to get a player in this week before saturday to ease the worry that has set in - it should never have come to this stage at all.

hogandrew

Montroseee wrote: »

Or maybe it's because he is simply not that good. Chelsea have azpilicueta, Arsenal have debuchy, City have Zabaleta etc. He's nowhere near the standard to be starting for UTD., there is such a gulf in class between the other club's RBs and Rafael and that's before you take into account the fact that he will miss half the season the injury, he's actually already injured surprise surprise. RB/RWB is just a big a need for us as a CB IMO.

At Rafael's age zabaleta was an average player with an average team, debuchy is average and azpilicueta is solid but couldn't play the same position. Rafael offers far more going forward than the other 3 and is way younger than 2 of them. Having a winger stuck in front of him last year without the skill to play a one two and a manager without the balls to let him run past the halfway line didn't help his cause. Rafael is class and IMO will be a serious asset at rwb

irishfeen

bucketybuck wrote: »

Everybody assumes we are going to rock up and beat Swansea, then swan through these easy 6 games we have.

Our midfield is going to have Cleverley or Fletcher in it, we'll have Valencia or Young out wide, personally I'm not going to be overly shocked if things don't go quite to plan.

Yeah that's my big fear too, some might think LVG will solve all our ills. The fact is though, Moyes was responsible for a lot of our problems last year but he wasn't out on that pitch playing for Manchester United.

Reedsie

irishfeen wrote: »

Can you just imagine the outcry from fans if we were to sign nobody and drop points to Swansea :eek:

Signing players in the next week and the result against Swansea have a pretty low correlation.
But you're right, some fans would probably lose the plot. But hey some fans always do.

As Van Gaal has said,

Manchester United shall buy players when we can improve our selection. And that is a lot more difficult than you think.

And from what I have learned of the guy I think he pretty much tells it like it is.

It's a shame we missed out on Vermaelen. A solid, experienced defender who wouldn't have cost a fortune. A lot of people seem relieved and seem convinced that we'll get a better defender instead. But as I mentioned before I'm sure both Man United and Barcelona know the market for defenders and know who's available.

Peanut Butter Jelly

Reedsie wrote: »

It's a shame we missed out on Vermaelen. A solid, experienced defender who wouldn't have cost a fortune. A lot of people seem relieved and seem convinced that we'll get a better defender instead. But as I mentioned before I think both Man United and Barcelona know the market for defenders and know who's available.

The reason some are happy we didn't sign him is that if we signed him and only him for CB, he would likely miss out on a good number of games through injury. I would prefer someone maybe not as experienced but less injury prone.

bucketybuck

Reedsie wrote: »

But you're right, some fans would probably lose the plot. But hey some fans always do.

Snide comments like this bother me very little, because the fact is we heard plenty of them all last summer when we were pointing out how ****ed things were.

Now we are starting the season with Cleverley, Valencia, and four senior defenders fit to play. Yet still we hear comments like that above. Meh.

Mitch Connor

Reedsie wrote: »

Signing players in the next week and the result against Swansea have a pretty low correlation.
But you're right, some fans would probably lose the plot. But hey some fans always do.

As Van Gaal has said,


And from what I have learned from the guy I think he pretty much tells it like it is.

It's a shame we missed out on Vermaelen. A solid, experienced defender who wouldn't have cost a fortune. A lot of people seem relieved and seem convinced that we'll get a better defender instead. But as I mentioned before I think both Man United and Barcelona know the market for defenders and know who's available.

its a lot more difficult when you don't actually go for them, yeah.

Mangala... no interest from United.
Fabregas... no interest from United.
Fernando... no interest from United.
Sanchez... no interest from United.
Kross... pulled out of the deal for him, apparently.

Centre backs moved for: Vermaelen and.... no one? Hummels maybe but I can't see what we have actually done here other than be linked.
Central midfielders moved for: Vidal, maybe unless you actually believe the club.