Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread - Mod Note in OP, 25/08

Hank Scorpio

Interview post match

Quandary

redbaron_99 wrote: »

One thing I have noticed is VG is very relaxed about it all. With such awful performances he would usually be spitting fire. Instead he's quite calm about it all.

The only explanation i can think of is that he doesn't expect the majority of that team to be playing in a few weeks.
I expect two more players, or one world class player.

The team will look completely different this time next month.

The big worry though, is we could have dropped a lot of easy points against bottom tier teams like these last 2 weeks and find ourselves really on the back foot.The injured list is so bad it's hard to see what can be done to change things around with the currently available players.

I actually thought Januzaj did ok when he came on in midfield. He was always looking up to pick out a pass and he had pretty good awareness of where the Sunderland midfielders were around him. I wouldn't mind seeing him get a run out in midfield on Tuesday night. Anything is better than Cleverley and fletcher in there.

DM_7

Trilla wrote: »

It's too close to what he said on sky. Guarantee you that tweet is a misquote.

Van Gaal said he also likes Messi and Vidal but cannot talk about transfers, or something to that.

He tweeted this link later

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/van-gaal-name-drops-arturo-vidal-7665923

And he repeated his admiration for the Chilean midfielder, who has been linked with United all summer, in his press conference at the Stadium of Light.

Van Gaal said: "I cannot say anything about transfers and you have to understand that.

"When a transfer is finished, then we say anything.

"But now you have to wait and see. If the moment is there Manchester United shall announce it.

"But it is not only Di Maria. Maybe Vidal or Messi. We are a big club.

EDIT: I am not trying to suggest he is actively going after Vidal, just to be clear

Your Airbag

Kagawa's days could be numbered

Van Gaal was also asked if Kagawa could play central midfield. "I have tried him there . . he couldn't perform my wishes."

https://twitter.com/DTguardian/status/503597703319011330

glued

That was LVGs way of saying that Vidal won't join.

jaykay74

In the long run I hope/think that these 2 results and performances will do us more good than harm. An open transfer window is no time for false dawns.

Your Airbag

According to Tancredi Palmeri this happened

Manchester United was asked for 40m€+1 player by Roma for Benatia after telling them they would offer 30m€.No reply since then

If true teams are really putting the squeez on us


https://twitter.com/tancredipalmeri/status/503593208124043264

redbaron_99

Quandary wrote: »

The big worry though, is we could have dropped a lot of easy points against bottom tier teams like these last 2 weeks and find ourselves really on the back foot.The injured list is so bad it's hard to see what can be done to change things around with the currently available players.

I actually thought Januzaj did ok when he came on in midfield. He was always looking up to pick out a pass and he had pretty good awareness of where the Sunderland midfielders were around him. I wouldn't mind seeing him get a run out in midfield on Tuesday night. Anything is better than Cleverley and fletcher in there.

Too many injuries in key positions right now. We literally had nothing in midfield today, and the wing backs who are so important for this system offered very little going forward and were weak in defence.
The whole middle of the team was in tatters today. It makes the defenders look nervy, and it starves the forwards of possession and chances.
Carrick and Herrera are a major upgrade on cleverley and fletcher.
Rafeal and shaw are also a serious upgrade on Valencia and young.
Also with Evans, Rojo and Di Maria to come in, things will get a lot better soon.

NTMK

Quandary wrote: »

The big worry though, is we could have dropped a lot of easy points against bottom tier teams like these last 2 weeks and find ourselves really on the back foot.The injured list is so bad it's hard to see what can be done to change things around with the currently available players.

I actually thought Januzaj did ok when he came on in midfield. He was always looking up to pick out a pass and he had pretty good awareness of where the Sunderland midfielders were around him. I wouldn't mind seeing him get a run out in midfield on Tuesday night. Anything is better than Cleverley and fletcher in there.

januzaj did ok in mid he showed a lot more than fletch and courage the cowardly dog in the 30 he was on

overal review for me

De gea - was solid
Jones and blackett - played well consider they had no protection from the midfield
Smalling - someone needs to start an als charity drive for him to get some hamstrings
Val and Young - ****e
Clev and fletch - can we leave them in sunderland and take o shea back
Mata rooney rvp - starved of ball kept coming back to collect the ball
Jan and welbeck - did well imo

Smithwicks Man

Taok wrote: »

He said that Young lifted the ball over the defender and was then tackled, after which he exaggerated the fall. But what counts is that he was tackled by the opponent and so the referee can give the penalty.

Yeah and then he quite clearly asks him - "Just to clarify, do you think it was a dive by Young?" To which Van Gaal replies - "No, I don't think so because he was tackled but after that he was exaggerating"

Nalz

NTMK wrote: »

Clev and fletch - can we leave them in sunderland and take o shea back

It's so sad that this is 100% accurate

Ed The Equalizer

Smithwicks Man wrote: »

Yeah and then he quite clearly asks him - "Just to clarify, do you think it was a dive by Young?" To which Van Gaal replies - "No, I don't think so because he was tackled but after that he was exaggerating"

So what's the problem? He's not defending him, if anything he's saying it more likely would have been a penalty if Young hadn't exaggerated the fall.

redbaron_99

And I don't think it's fair to have a go at Rooney, rvp or mata today. These guys are world class in properly functioning teams. They need good passes, they need movement around them, and they need the ball earlier.

By the time the ball gets to them they are standing still, surrounded by defenders and midfielders.

Di Maria alone will make a serious difference.

Fescue

Real Madrid’s Angel di Maria is often regarded as a winger, but he’s spent much of his career playing in much deeper, more central positions.

He first starred in Europe on the left of a midfield diamond at Benfica, a position he also played under Diego Maradona for Argentina. Under Alejandro Sabella he generally played in the centre of a three-man midfield for Argentina, while under Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid he was on the right of a 4-2-3-1, but very close to his central midfielders to compensate for Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil’s lack of interest in defending.

Switching him to a permanent central midfield role would certainly be a risk for Louis van Gaal, especially in a 3-4-1-2 with Ander Herrera alongside him in the engine room. But Di Maria has all the qualities to succeed in a central position – he can turn defence to attack smoothly, is capable of scrapping and protecting his defence, and is highly energetic.

Alternative midfielders offer more of a guaranteed success, and Di Maria is more suited to other roles. But as a central midfielder, he’d still be one of the best in the Premier League.

Some thoughts on Di Maria from Zonal Marking's Michael Cox, which I thought was interesting.

princemuzzy

redbaron_99 wrote: »

And I don't think it's fair to have a go at Rooney, rvp or mata today. These guys are world class in properly functioning teams. They need good passes, they need movement around them, and they need the ball earlier.

By the time the ball gets to them they are standing still, surrounded by defenders and midfielders.

Di Maria alone will make a serious difference.

im sorry but Mata is one of the reasons our play is so slow Jose might have got this one right

Mikeyt086

Your Airbag wrote: »

According to Tancredi Palmeri this happened



If true teams are really putting the squeez on us


https://twitter.com/tancredipalmeri/status/503593208124043264

Depends on the player. If that was €40m + Anderson it would be a fair price. They probably wanted Hernandez or Kagawa though.

Fescue

princemuzzy wrote: »

im sorry but Mata is one of the reasons our play is so slow Jose might have got this one right

Gary Neville certainly doesn't see Mata as a Utd player.

redbaron_99

Fescue wrote: »

Gary Neville certainly doesn't see Mata as a Utd player.

Well, his main view on United is get the ball wide and cross it. That didn't work too well last season.

Ed The Equalizer

princemuzzy wrote: »

im sorry but Mata is one of the reasons our play is so slow Jose might have got this one right

You may well be right. I won't be surprised if either or both of Rooney and Mata fall out of favour with LVG.

Fescue

redbaron_99 wrote: »

Well, his main view on United is get the ball wide and cross it. That didn't work too well last season.

He is somewhat obsessed by pace and power.

redbaron_99

princemuzzy wrote: »

im sorry but Mata is one of the reasons our play is so slow Jose might have got this one right

But what's he supposed to do? He comes deep to get the ball and no one is moving. It's hard to play killer balls when everything is static and no one is making runs off the ball to create space.
And he did get us the draw with his goal.

Mantis Toboggan

80 million euros for Di Maria, my Lord.

How Soon Is Now

I'd like to see kagawa get a run in the team see what he can offer. I think at this moment mata is going missing far to often in games weather it's the system the players around him or hes just off form it's such a waste to have player like kagawa sitting on the bench.

He should be given a real chance to prove himself. Only thing is I feel he wouldn't get that the way the team is playing at the moment would make most players look bad.

kryogen

redbaron_99 wrote: »

Too many injuries in key positions right now. We literally had nothing in midfield today, and the wing backs who are so important for this system offered very little going forward and were weak in defence.
The whole middle of the team was in tatters today. It makes the defenders look nervy, and it starves the forwards of possession and chances.
Carrick and Herrera are a major upgrade on cleverley and fletcher.
Rafeal and shaw are also a serious upgrade on Valencia and young.
Also with Evans, Rojo and Di Maria to come in, things will get a lot better soon.

According to LvG, Rafael has been fit for a couple of weeks now.

redbaron_99

kryogen wrote: »

According to LvG, Rafael has been fit for a couple of weeks now.

Yeah I heard something like that. But surely he would be given a chance. Any fool could see Valencia is not up to scratch in that position.

homerjay2005

the less said about the game the better - static, one dimensional and just poor.

already "starting" the season with a 5 point gap, which is simply unacceptable. i was fully behind the di maria transfer earlier as we need him, but £63.9million is just scary.

at least van gaal apparently said that he wants Vidal also (along with Messi of course!!!) so at least we know for sure now that if its possible, we will sign him.

Smithwicks Man

Taok wrote: »

So what's the problem? He's not defending him, if anything he's saying it more likely would have been a penalty if Young hadn't exaggerated the fall.

Would you not class saying he didn't dive as defending him?

I didn't really have a major point to begin with btw, was more just making an observation :P

Smithwicks Man

Your Airbag wrote: »

According to Tancredi Palmeri this happened



If true teams are really putting the squeez on us


https://twitter.com/tancredipalmeri/status/503593208124043264

Palmeri is a joke, wouldn't pass much remarks on anything he says.


Benatia and Vidal, two best signings United could make and you could probably get them both for about €10m more than Di Maria is costing, assuming the players would leave CL teams to join United of course.

duffman13

Buddy Holly wrote: »

80 million euros for Di Maria, my Lord.

You not happy with the price?

NTMK

we need to accept that until we get to a stage where we can be choosy again we're going to have to overpay

its how a lot of clubs keep the price down.

after today i dont care what we pay as long as we end this dross football

The Pontiac

How Wayne Rooney is on £300k a week beggars belief.

More than Cristiano Ronaldo, sweet jesus.

Larry Wildman

Insane money for Di Maria.

Especially given the work that needed on other areas of the team.

Very poor performance today - 4th looking a long way away.

Depressing.com

kryogen

It is a process, it is not an overnight job, there were mitigating factors for today.

That is what I am repeating in my head for about an hour at this point.

NTMK

The Pontiac wrote: »

How Wayne Rooney is on £300k a week beggars belief.

More than Cristiano Ronaldo, sweet jesus.

Ronnies on a lot more

rooneys Gross is 250-300k sterling

Ronaldos gross is around 600K sterling

Will I Amnt

kryogen wrote: »

It is a process, it is not an overnight job, there were mitigating factors for today.

That is what I am repeating in my head for about an hour at this point.

We will know a lot more when LvG is able to put close to the 11 players he wants out on the pitch. The squad really is decimated at the moment.

The_Kew_Tour

That was biggest pile of muck I have seen since Swansea game.

Cleverley was awesome as usual

Montroseee

It will take time, it's a long road back to the top. However, Fletcher and Cleverly must be the one of the poorest CM partnerships in the PL. Thank Fcuk Herrera is not out for 6 weeks as previously reported. Clev and Fletch are not even near good enough to be squad players at this stage, this is fact. Only positives from today were that Jones and Blackett had a decent game, impressed with both.

I also found LVG calmness after the match a bit strange, there is for sure another big player coming in after ADM.

twam2008

We either have to spend lots of money or sign lesser players, I couldn't give a damn what they spend on world class players. Wouldn't mind a few lesser players too though.

RobertKK

You would have to wonder why LVG named dropped Messi and Vidal twice today.

In the Sky interview and also the press conference after, a message to the board to sign Vidal?

He named dropped Ronaldo and Di Maria before, we ended up with Di Maria barring a disaster.

RobertKK

https://twitter.com/Sport_Witness/status/503616952590675968

https://twitter.com/Sport_Witness/status/503616147586318336

Interesting tweets, says something about the Italian media..

ArmaniJeanss

Messi's mind seems to be elsewhere.

redbaron_99

RobertKK wrote: »

You would have to wonder why LVG named dropped Messi and Vidal twice today.

In the Sky interview and also the press conference after, a message to the board to sign Vidal?

He named dropped Ronaldo and Di Maria before, we ended up with Di Maria barring a disaster.

I would say you're not too wide of the mark.

RobertKK

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Messi's mind seems to be elsewhere.

Grey and rainy Manchester...

Larry Wildman

Van Gaal's mention of Vidal was pregnant with meaning.

After that dross today, it's as clear as the light of day that we need a world class midfielder to bring it all together.

irishfeen

Cleverly, Valencia & Young will cost us Champions League football if we don't get players in ... they are fcuking septic

Montroseee

At this stage I'd nearly be happy with Cattermole, streets ahead of Clev and Fletch anyway.

billyhead

nuxxx wrote: »

Interview post match

Were reading between the lines re: Vidal comments. Hes a muppet like the rest of us. He was only mentioning his name because we have been linked to him in the press so often. Does not mean he can or will get him. But if we did with Di Maria I would be doing cartwheels around the house:D

Vinz Mesrine

Larry Wildman wrote: »

Van Gaal's mention of Vidal was pregnant with meaning.

After that dross today, it's as clear as the light of day that we need a world class midfielder to bring it all together.

And how will your opinion of him change if he signs Vidal?

kryogen

Montroseee wrote: »

At this stage I'd nearly be happy with Cattermole, streets ahead of Clev and Fletch anyway.

That is a very dark place you are in brother.

FortuneChip

Messi just scored, and pointed to the camera.
I can't help but feel it was a direct response to LVG.

It's happening.