I thought we were past Raiola type agent BS, Icardi is another with wife trouble though she is fecking 10.
What would you guys think if we ended the summer with a midfield 3 of Bruno, SMS (heavily rumored again), and Rabiot. Does that 3 even work together? Would be a clear upgrade on our current midfield in just about every area but I still wonder whether Rabiot can operate as the deepest in midfield in the PL. But if the prices rumored (15 mil for Rabiot, 50 for SMS) are true, that’s a fairly huge upgrade for the cost. Probably still leave some funds to go decently big on an attacker (Gakpo the latest name linked, don’t know shit about him other than YT highlights).
Honestly I think our best midfield has Eriksen in it. I’d have him ahead of Bruno every day. I would put money on neither Bruno nor Rashford being 1st choice by mid 23/24. I guess then it’d probably be Eriksen behind Rabiot as the more defensive 8, and SMS as the high 8 & box threat? Maybe swapping Rabiot and Eriksen but like I said this whole time, I don’t know if Rabiot can do that, just wondering if Ten Hag has a theory. The annoying thing is ofc that there’s nothing there that you know will work before you’ve tried it. It’s even more annoying that none of those 3 would have had a meaningful preseason with Ten Hag. SMS hasn’t done a huge amount of pressing at Lazio recently and at 8 is where it counts more than at 6, so I don’t know how well he adapts. If these are the options then we still desperately need De Jong even if it’s unlikely. On that - so funny how much people went with the Chelsea-De Jong momentum before they hit the same brick wall as us. Maybe they do sign him eventually, but it’s as if journos thought that giving the story enough momentum would somehow change the facts that De Jong isn’t speaking to other clubs.
Sorry, didn’t answer about your midfield. My concern is that Bruno and SMS both belong high up. I still worry about Bruno’s passing execution/choices causing us to defend way too much, and SMS isn’t hugely mobile or much of a presser by default. It might happen but it wouldn’t be my first choice. I’m at the point where I’m tired of our transfer window and am resigned to trusting that any signing EtH signs off on, has a plan behind it even if it’s not his first or second or third choice. I don’t think he accepts the same level of panic signing as Ole, however much this situation triggers us fans.
Agreed with @Naboomagnoli well said. This team will look very different next year. It already is different from last year.
I agree that Eriksen could end up pushing out Bruno if he keeps up with his recent Alexis Sanchez like wastefulness. It was fine when he was creating loads of chances but the scales seem to have tipped in the other direction. And now that we’re trying to be a possession team rather than a counter team, it makes sense to leave someone like that out. As for Eriksen as the 6, I just don’t see that working out. As far as collecting the ball out of the back and having the vision and passing to spray it around, yes, he possesses all that. But I only think that works if we become an elite possession team. And I definitely don’t think Eriksen deep works if paired with SMS and Rabiot. I don’t think Rabiot has the workrate to cover that amount of ground to make up for Eriksen essentially being a DLP. I could see us rolling with Rabiot deep (Fred backup) and SMS/Eriksen/Bruno all rotating in the two 8 spots. As for FDJ, I think Chelsea are in the same spot as we were earlier in the window. Someone, whether it be Barca or FDJs reps, are telling clubs he’s open to a move. But all signs from him are he’s staying. It could be about getting his owed wages or it could just be he really isn’t going to leave unless bought out. At this point, who knows. My guess is, in order, this is what’s most likely to happen: 1. Stays at Barca and works some financial deal out with Barca to get some of his owed wages. 2. Goes to Chelsea. They’re more attractive than us and there’s rumors their offering to pay his full deferred wages. 3. Comes to United. Maybe ETH still has some pull with him and maybe the Chelsea interest has been overblown, as they seem to be in for everyone.
At this point you just have to trust ETHs targets. We don’t have a scouting system in place so it’s either trust the managers picks or default to the old scouting that failed us for the last 6 years. It is what it is at this point.
I don't care about anything, just don't get Arnautovic. The chips will fall where they may, but we do have the worst transfer dept. in football. If it truly is the Glazers' insistence that no money is spent before the 2nd quarter (fiscal year, whatever it is) reports are issued that causes these window problems, the club is well and truly f*d for the remainder of their ownership.
The imbalances are worse in a midfield of Sergej, Bruno and Rabiot. They will they not press nor keep the ball well enough to alleviate defensive pressures.
Wait til Rabiot's mom/agent yells at Icardi's wife/agent about missed chances. Are we creating a reality show!?!
it's just yet another United double whammy notoriously bad buyers AND notoriously bad sellers damaging player reputations AND damaging manager reputations imbalanced squad AND imbalanced finances overpaying average players AND underachieving versus average teams lower league positions AND lower transfer budgets it would be nice if we were good at at least a few positive things again
A United reality show would only work if Edwards stayed on and started calling himself "big ed" while putting mayo on his hair.
Here h9w about this... Memphis Depay's agents have made contact with #mufc #mulive [@lauriewhitwell, @PJBuckingham]— utdreport (@utdreport) August 12, 2022 Thats a no thank you for me personally.