Hi everyone, I am still new here but honestly had a major question. I hear so much about Rooney and his possible signing. But to me emphasis ought to be on a new attacking midfielder, or another central midfielder. Giggs trailed off late in the season, and though Ronaldo certianly appears to be close to domination, the lack of a attacking midfielder in Man U's plans troubles me. Look at Arsenal who had Robert Pires delievering so much offense from the midfield. It reduced the focus anyone could ever put on Thierry henry. As much as I admire Paul Scholes, Giggsy, and Ronaldo, it seems to me another attacking midfielder is a forgotten need. Maybe a player like Ronaldo who can help now, but later fill a more important role once Giggs or Scholes get older.
I think the Liam Miller signing was a step towards this direction as well as Kleberson continuing to improve in his second season with us. Klebs was brilliant in a few stints he had covering for Scholes when he was out injured last season, it's a shame Klebs was injured and had some off-the-field problems as I think we should be looking for more from him this year too. Miller is, by all accounts, more of a Scholes-type player, so he can do that job as well. Fletcher is a wild card as he started to come good towards the end of last season when he finally had a chance to start some games in the middle. I agree that cover for Giggs should be on our list, but maybe a youth teamer is ready to make a push - Kieran Richardson perhaps? In any case, I think we are good in the midfield for now. Especially if we revert back to the 4-4-2 this year. Our defence should be solid with the off season additions and some proper preparation. I'm really looking forward to seeing the influence Carlos Quieroz's return will have on the team as well.
I think Fletcher is going to be good. He needs to play in a central midfield position for his abilities to be fully shown. He is decent on the wing, but I believe he is better in the center. I think he is gonna be quite good.
I think the return of Queiroz will be good for the team, all around. He got a really bad rap from Perez and the Real management, I think quite unfairly. he had asked for Defensive reinforcements and never got them. But he was easy to blame for real madrids terrible form at the end of last season. I really wish we had gotten Robben. He is something else on the left. What do others think of Van Der Vaart? He can even be a deep striker should we need him there, thus filling a need for more depth up front.
Giggs and Ronaldo on the wings(doesnt matter which one cuz they keep switching anyway), Keane and Fletcher holding down the middle with Keane playing more of a defensive role and Fletcher attacking. Scholes can start as a second forward and drop back into the midfield.
We've been playing primarily a 4-5-1 formation with Ruud playing lone striker with Scholes "in the hole" just in front of the two central midfielders - usually Keane and P. Nev (or N. Butt). We reverted back to the 4-4-2 at times last season to generate some offence, but our back four was in the middle of reshuffling and Wes Brown regaining match fitness so it was a disaster really.... I expect we'll go straight 4-4-2 for most the season and only see the 4-5-1 in some Euro away matches and maybe against Arsenal and Chelsea away depending on our overall form, etc.
I strongly believe that when everyone is fit, and not suspended this will be our line-up for much of next season... -------Saha------Ruud Giggs-----Scholes-----Ronaldo ----------Keane Heinz--Silvestre-Rio--G.Neville I should think that once Rio is fit with all the competition for the other CB spot (Silvestre, Brown Heinz) and the competition for the LB spot (O'Shea/Silvestre/Heinz/Fortune when fit) our defense will be really solid next year and that we will be able to survive playing about 20 games next season with a combination of Scholes and Fletcher in central midfield... that will allow Keane to get some rest... other times when Scholes is rested Klebs will do a good job filling in for him as well as make our midfield stronger defensively... if DjDj can perform consistently then he can play with Keane/Fletcher when we play 2 dmids in Europe... The progress of Fletcher (if he can become half as good defensively as Keane was in his prime), Kleberson (if he can put on a bit more weight and remain injury free) and DjembaDjemba (if he can make his short passing better and maintain his aggressiveness) will be essential to the team in 1 to 2 years... if DjDj proves that he can be the defensive stopper we need, if Fletcher proves he can both stop and start an attack and if Kleberson gets enough playing time with another midfielder who can tackle without fouling (in other words anyone but Scholes) then we will be set... any 2 of those 3 will make a good Central midfield pairing... Wings... wings wings... we have little proven depth on the wings... we have Giggs and Ronaldo and OGS who played well there a while back... if Smith can show himself to be effective there then we will be fine, however it would be great if Richardson gets a chance to play a few games at LW this season... i feel he is ready, he has been impressive in his few chances so far, I hope he gets major minutes in the U.S.
i remember seeing richardson about 1 or 2 yrs ago, havent really seen much of him after that. i remember one thing...he looked very light weight. do you know any news regarding this? also IIRC, he wasn't all that bad at dribbling...how highly do you rate his dribbling?
Thats one critical element we have in our midfield and our overall future, talented young players who are just getting settled in now. I respect the man immensely, but maybe Keano needs a little more cover than being allowed to do by himself. Maybe play Fletcher or others alongside him. That would give more cover to the defense and allow the ball to be moved upfield a lot more rapidly. It would come at the cost of midfielder, and certianly game by game changes could be made. Richardson has talent I hear. He ought to be given a chance and if he can do it, let him come.