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The Manchester United Thread XXII

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Original post by That Bearded Man

Think our main criticism of Sanchez isn't the money but that the only reason we signed him was to one up city (pathetic)

I've never really bought the idea our board are so immature the idea of signing a player we don't want to one up our rivals was a thing. Ed for his faults is a numbers guy not a footballing guy. Basically if that were true the narrative is in the space of 6 months, we've gone from signing unwanted players for crazy money for ego boosts, to the board won't back Jose unless the targets are reasonable?

Maybe Jose wanted to one up Pep...he's petty like that, but even he's not petty enough to sign and play him if he didn't want him. We signed Sanchez because Jose had communicated that wanted him. Proof of that is his instant integration into the team. You've seen with Shaw, Martial, Mhki, Pogba with Sevilla. Jose picks the team 100%. Jose plays him because Jose likes him. From that its seems foolish to conclude he was signed against Jose's wishes.

At most the blame can be laid at the feet of Ed Woodward and co for catering to Jose's wishes to such a ridiculous degree. But then you can't have your cake and eat it, either you are on board with the board backing Jose in all decisions or you are not.

Original post by bj27

Surely you must look at sanchez performance as martial and Pogba and be pissed, it's similar to the Rooney problem. How long is sanchez's contract? I assume its 3 years.

Lol sanchez has 4 years left. Lol I'm sure Ed Woodward is pissed. Sanchez definitely seems like a Jose signing.

I don't think Sanchez is a problem though. He's a good player, one of the best in the league. But he needs to be told what to do, not allowed to do as he pleases. I think even Wenger was smart enough to realise that Sanchez had too much power to be bossed about, but was a liability when he played as he pleased. Thats why he played him as the striker, rather than his preferred position on the left.

Still think until Sanchez enters significant decline, his quality and versatility mean he's not a problem as a player. Rooney was an issue as he could only play one way in one position as was clearly in physical decline.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 4461

bj27

I guess that is true with sanchez, there is obviously a lot of usage in him as a player, I really think mata in the hole would be useful, there is a lack of control in the middle and you are struggling to make good combinations, let sanchez be a runner who stretches play instead of a high usage high wastage creative player(aka do a raheem sterling on him) ibra would have helped here but lukaku is here so what can you do.

With the players you have that are likely to start you have a good counter attacking side here, with a more dynamic Matic replacement and/or a good possession retainer, you could turn it into a pressing side(funnily enough herrera as a DM could work here, maybe pereira can do it too) but with Matic you can't particularly employ a high press system the way city do, because if the first press is broken you guys are exposed, individually your Fullbacks are pretty poor defensively(Shaw aside) and so are the Cbs.

Also Fred seems to me like a 3rd world version of kante/Keita. Guy is probably bakayoko level.

Reply 4462

That Bearded Man

Original post by Fizzel

He is a typical mou player with his work rate tbf. Sanchez played up front in preseason so I see no reason we couldn't use him as a striker at some stage

Reply 4463

bj27

If you switch to 3atb then I see you moving him to striker. Otherwise it's not happening. Mou likes tall strikers, from Porto he's not had a main striker under 6 foot(eto'o at inter was a second striker/left winger)

Reply 4464

Rk2k14

Lukaku isn't a Mourinho striker either.

Might be tall but he is poor at holding the ball up and weak for a man of his size. Get him running in behind where he's more effective.

Reply 4465

trapking

A lot of people be acting like what Scholes said about Pogba was wrong when it was accurate to a T.

Pogba is not really a leader, the guy got dispossessed the most times on the pitch and also had the highest misplaced passes out of any other player against Brighton. If this was Sanchez or Lukaku people would be hounding them non-stop. There's even a video of him passing it to no one and kicking it out of play lol

If anything Pogba should be listening at criticism from United legends like Scholes who bossed that midfield. Ask Zidane, Iniesta, Xavi, Messi what they all think of Scholes :biggrin:

Reply 4466

bj27

Original post by Rk2k14

Lukaku isn't a Mourinho striker either.

Might be tall but he is poor at holding the ball up and weak for a man of his size. Get him running in behind where he's more effective.

Drogba was like that too when he started at Chelsea.

Plus Costa ruined counters for days and couldn't head a ball.

Milito wasn't a hold up guy, higuain wasn't either, benzema and Drogba probably the only guys who did mous job to a t. Don't know much about Mccarthy to talk about him

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 4467

Rk2k14

Them guys made up for it in other aspects. E.g. Milito was a top finisher.

Lukaku plays like he's wearing jeans.

Reply 4468

bj27

That last line made me chuckle. I guess just play a way that allows lukaku to line run fifa 98 style.

Reply 4469

Rk2k14

Original post by bj27

That last line made me chuckle. I guess just play a way that allows lukaku to line run fifa 98 style.

https://twitter.com/Zaahid_LFC/status/1031217918363820032

Jam pls...

Reply 4470

Mess.

Original post by Renaissance-Man

They said that as part of the Scholes renaissance brand. He was never underrated, he just wasn’t really that good in all honesty.

A perfectly fine top four midfielder but not close to world class.

Reply 4471

Rk2k14

That aint it chief^.

Not even talking about him as a footballer, Scholes as a pundit has nothing good to say. Understandable considering he was brought up during the SAF time but he's already been called out by Mourinho for his comments.

Guess the Giggs snubbing plays a big part in their bitterness.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 4472

Rk2k14

Good thread: https://twitter.com/spawnTHegod/status/1031668895013318656

Baffling how people still think its not a coaching problem.

Reply 4473

bj27

Original post by Rk2k14

That aint it chief^.

Not event talking about him as a footballer. Scholes as a pundit has nothing good to say. Understandable considering he was brought up during the SAF time but he's already been called out by Mourinho for his comments.

Guess the Giggs snubbing plays a big part in their bitterness.

He's bitter but he's been clout chasing for the longest since retirement.

Reply 4474

username1315644

Its a pretty good piece because it highlights more than just the defensive frailties of a system which seems to preference numbers behind the ball to compactness, access or spatial control. It also touches on how this blasé attitude to positioning is a major reason we struggle to create good counter attacks. Not only are the players taking up conservative positions but the thoughtless nature by which they are taking up those positions is then reflected when possession is turned over. It affects not only the counter attacks but its the reason we can't sustain a meaningful press.

Kind of amusing how we've gone from suffocated positional discipline under LVG to this mess under Jose. Half these players have played in system where they have had to show good positional discipline too so its not like they aren't capable if coached correctly. Pogba at Juv, Shaw at Saints, Martial at Monaco, Herrera at Athletic, Sanchez at Barca, Fred at Shaktar. All those teams had structures which required collective positional play and intelligent movements from those players; in which they all excelled and in most cases earned themselves transfers based upon that.